After leaking and being quickly removed the other day, Paramount has now officially released the trailer (albeit only in HD) for the long-awaited 4K release of famed filmmaker Robert Wise’s director’s edition of “Star Trek: The Motion Picture”.
The “West Side Story” and “The Sound of Music” helmer directed the original 1979 feature which sees a mysterious and immensely powerful alien cloud known as V’Ger approaching Earth and destroying everything in its path.
Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) assumes command of the recently refitted Starship USS Enterprise, to lead it on a mission to save the planet and determine V’Ger’s origins.
Upon release the film scored a mixed response, forgoing the more action-centric approach of “Star Wars” films in favour of a big sci-fi idea and visual effects-heavy drama. As time passed the film became seen as something more flawed than bad, which led to Wise doing a much-improved director’s cut in 2001.
Unlike the “Star Wars” special editions a few years before which scored criticisms for unnecessary changes and FX embellishments, this new version trimmed and tightened scenes whilst adding new scenes and incorporating a handful of new visual effects that felt in line with the original – using them judiciously rather than gratuitously.
Until now that director’s edition had only been available on DVD, but now it has been cleaned up with a newly remastered 4K print and higher-grade visual effects. The new version will premiere exclusively on Paramount+ on April 5th ahead of a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release in September.
