Today’s Post by Joe Farace
Hollywood was a good influence because I was madly in love with films, and the films had a direct influence on me.—Ray Bradbury
Since I was a little kid and first saw Rocketship X-M at the Palace theater in Baltimore, I’ve been a fan of sci-fi movies, I even like mediocre (some might say bad) sci-fi movies like Battle Beyond the Stars or genuinely bad sci-fi like the Canadian-made Starship Invasions, which amazingly also stars Robert Vaughn. I love’em all.
Then we come to one of the most beloved sci-fi franchises of all time—Star Trek. There is a trope that says that only the even numbered Star Trek movies are any good. That assumption would mean that the first Star Trek film—Star Trek: The Motion Picture—would not be one of the good ones. Yet in addition to the DVD I have of the Directors Cut (Special Collector’s Edition) of the film, I also have a Blu-ray version as well. Paramount wouldn’t be releasing all of these versions of The Motion Picture if nobody was interested. Would they?
Back when I was an engineer for a great metropolitan telephone company in Maryland, whenever a new sci-fi film premiered I would take a half-vacation day to go to the theater to see it. I know it sounds silly but I had a reason even if it may not make sense to you. In those film projection days, seeing a movie on Day 1 was, for me, the best and only way to see a truly pristine print. This was a practice I continued even after moving to Colorado, and along the way dragged my wife along with me for many years until Mary took me to The Phantom Menace premier in Denver in one of the few theaters in the country that was equipped with digital projection at the time.
Anyway, I took off work in 1979 see Star Trek: The Motion Picture and was mesmerized by the film. I had a similar experience when watching the trailer for the 4K Blu-ray version of Star Trek: The Directors Edition. When that subway door opens and a young, handsome William Shatner steps out I had the same feeling I did when seeing The Motion Picture at the AMC theater in Baltimore’s Security Square mall.
The 4K version of Star Trek: The Directors Edition is said to have been ‘”meticulously restored and remastered for optimal picture and sound. It features a bonus disc with hours of new and legacy special features, including extensive behind-the-scenes footage, deleted scenes, and more.” Immediately, or so I thought, I pre-ordered the 4K disc from Amazon expecting it to be delivered on its September 7 release day but instead Amazon’s website told me it was out of stock. If I had not been a cheapo and opted for the more expensive ($85.56) Complete Adventure box set it would be delivered that very day. If I did, I would have also received the original 1979 theatrical cut in 4K UHD. Something I’m guessing completeists would like and, to tell the truth, so would I. But $25.96 fits my movie budget while The Complete Adventure does not.
After Amazon dropped the ball, I tried picking up a copy of the movie from Best Buy but was was told they would not be stocking it. If I wanted a copy I’d have to order it from their website at a higher price than Amazon and pay for shipping too. As I write this scalpers on Amazon are selling that $25.96 movie for 41 bucks, so I guess I’m in for a wait until sanity returns to the marketplace. As soon as I receive a copy from Amazon, I’ll do a review for my YouTube Channel. I expect that by now all of the cool movie kids on YouTube would have already received their free, review copies of Star Trek: The Directors Edition 4K directly from Paramount, so they can rush their reviews online. And I was correct with at least two of them having a video looking at the expensive ($137.77) Six Movie Collection in 4K, which interestingly enough my local Best Buy originally had in stock but quickly sold out.
You can send me movies—DVD, Blu-ray or 4K Blu-ray— to review that can be used in these videos to: Joe Farace PO BOX 2081 PARKER, CO 80134