Star Trek movies DVDs, pt. 1
So, here is a list of recommended edits to the various Star Trek movies, and I hope that these edits would be considered in the production of the DVDs of Star Trek movies.
- A new landscape for the planet Vulcan was created for the movie. In the original landscape, an orbiting body and a smaller moon could be seen in the sky. Although this orbiting body could easily be perceived as the moon of Vulcan, it was established in TOS that Vulcan has no moon. So, for the Director's Edition DVD, a new landscape for Vulcan was created and inserted into the movie, one in which there is no moon in the sky. Perhaps this was an attempt to rectify the oversight. Nonetheless, some fans have suggested that the orbiting body was actually another planet in binary orbit with Vulcan, and that the smaller moon was in orbit of this planet. This theory has become generally accepted in fandom, and the twin planet has even received a name, T'Khut. In fact, this theory received some measure of truth recently when in "Unimatrix Zero" (VOY), Tuvok mentioned that he was born on "Vulcanis Lunar Colony", suggesting that he was born on the moon of T'Khut. Other fandom theories include the suggestion that Spock actually performed the Kolinahr ritual on another planet since it was not explicitly stated in the movie that he was on Vulcan. Another theory suggests that Spock was in a holodeck throughout the entire scene.
- An additional shot of the Klingon tactical display, and a reaction shot of the Klingon captain, were both added before the sequence where one of the three torpedoes disappears from sensors on the display.
- Several new CGIs of Starfleet Headquarters were created, showing the arrival of Admiral Kirk's air tram at San Francisco.
- A shuttlepod has been digitally inserted at the orbital office, the original movie had showed Kirk and Scotty entering into a shuttlepod that was not visible in an earlier shot outside the office.
- In the theatrical movie, after Kirk's shuttlepod arrives at the Enterprise, there was an announcement saying that a shuttlepod was now avaliable at docking bay 6. The next shot shows Kirk and Scotty apparently coming out of docking bay 5. While it is still possible that another shuttlepod was indeed avaliable at docking bay 6, the DVD tries to correct this mismatch by abruptly cutting the announcement short, so that it sounds like "a shuttlepod is now avaliable at docking b......"
- Sulu and Uhura now have an extended conversation following Kirk's arrival on the bridge of the Enterprise, with Uhura commenting that their chances of getting back from the mission may have just doubled.
- The cloud surrounding V'Ger was said to be over 82 AUs in diameter in the original version of the movie. In the DVD, the dialog has been altered so that the cloud is now said to have a more realistic diameter of 2 AUs.
- In the original movie, after the Epsilon 9 Station was destroyed, Kirk says "Viewer off." Following that, he repeats the order by shouting the same words. In the DVD, Kirk's repeat order has been edited out.
- The shot of Ilia and Decker smiling at each other after Ilia confirmed Decker's readings has been brought forward to take place after the Enterprise goes into impulse and passes Jupiter. Instead, Ilia's confirmation statement had been entirely cut from the movie.
- A new shot of the asteroid's destruction has been created, which also showed the ending of the wormhole effect. Asteroid debris is now seen on the Enterprise viewscreen.
- The warp nacelles are now visible from the windows which showed the docking of Spock's shuttle. Previously, it was only a starfield.
- Following V'Ger's first attack on the Enterprise, Chekov's arm got burnt. A deleted scene restored in the DVD shows Lt. Ilia using her Deltan telepathic ability to ease Chekov's pain.
- The officers' lounge scene where Kirk, McCoy and Spock were discussing Spock's return to the Enterprise was redone, with the outside windows now showing the starboard nacelle where previously it was only a receding starfield.
- A new CGI shot was inserted which shows V'Ger's second weapon vanishing just before it could hit the Enterprise.
- Another restored scene shows Scotty explaining to a female officer the self destruct order given by Kirk as they approached into V'Ger.
- In the bridge sequence before Kirk and his away team leaves to see V'Ger, a restored scene shows Mr. Spock crying, a demostration of brotherly love for V'Ger, whom Spock sees as a kindred spirit.
- The scene where Kirk and the landing party step out onto the Enterprise hull was totally redone in CGI in order to correct the distorted hull shape seen in the original movie.
- The V'Ger vessel was not seen in its entirety in the original movie, but a new CGI of the vessel was created for the DVD version.
The remastering of the movies for DVD has provided producers a chance to remove the embarrasing effects of matte borders, visible wires or supports. In the Director's Edition DVD of ST:TMP, the support beam of the Enterprise model as it left drydock was digitally removed. It was previously visible on the original footage, and was also seen again in ST2, when the same footage was reused.
Although the ST:TMP Director's Edition DVD has received significant edits and restored scenes, there are apparently several deleted scenes that were not restored. I would recommend the restoration of these scenes as well, and I also suggest some new edits for the movie, such that the movie could be seen in its full entirety.
- There is reason to believe that an extended sequence of Lt. Ilia's arrival on the bridge exists, with Ilia making a statement saying that she would never take advantage of a sexually immature species. This scene is neither in the original version of the movie nor in the DVD. Perhaps it was improper to have such a scene at the time of the movie's release in 1979, and maybe it still is in 2001 at the DVD's release.
- The recreation deck has a series of images showing previous vehicles which bore the name "Enterprise". Among the images include a picture of an early Earth spacecraft which had become generally known as the SS Enterprise in trek fandom. TPTB should seriously consider using CGI technology to insert the picture of the Enterprise NX-01 from ENT over that image as this would make the series of images more consistent with the ever-changing history of Star Trek. This would also be a promotion for the ENT series.
- Surprisingly, there is an inconsistency in the original movie which had not been corrected for the Director's Edition DVD release. At the end of the movie, as Spock says that his task on Vulcan was complete, Spock wears the orange armband on his field jacket while McCoy wears the green armband. In the very next shot, Spock is wearing the green armband and McCoy wears the orange armband! I recommend that this oversight be corrected by keeping the correct armband colours for Spock and McCoy.
- An alternate take for Kirk and McCoy's conversation at Kirk's home was used in the DVD, with McCoy saying "I'd usually administer Retinax Five." whereas in the theatrical version he says the words "recommend Retinax Five".
- The scene of Kirk's inspection in Engineering is now extended to include a further conversation between Midshipman Peter Preston and Kirk, in which Peter was revealed to be Scotty's nephew.
- The scene where Chekov informs Dr. Marcus and her team about their new 'orders' has been slightly expanded. After Dr. Marcus asks Chekov who gave the order, Chekov dances around the answer a bit before David says, "Pin him down, mother". David's dialog was not included in the original movie.
- McCoy and Spock's argument about the Genesis device in Kirk's cabin has been slightly expanded. They discuss what might happen if Genesis fell into the wrong hands, and whose hands are the "right" ones.
- Preston's death in sickbay has now been expanded, with additional dialog from Kirk, McCoy and Scotty. Preston now dies in close-up, instead of in the medium shot with his back to the camera.
- Following Kirk's return to the Enterprise, a deleted shot of Kirk, Spock and Saavik climbing a ladder between decks was restored. Kirk tells Spock that David is his son, to which Spock replies, "Fascinating."
- As Enterprise approaches the Mutara Nebula, the bridge scene was slightly expanded, with Saavik wondering if the Reliant would follow them in. Spock then comments that he must remember to teach Saavik about the human ego.
- There is an alternate take of the turbolift scene featuring Kirk and Saavik. In the alternate take, Saavik gestures to Kirk more seductively than seen in both the original movie and the DVD.
- An alternate take of David's speech about "scientists have always been pawns of the military" has David placing emphasis on different words, and one scene is slightly longer.
Certain lost scenes from ST2 were not restored in the Director's Edition DVD version of the movie. Here are some known examples:
- Among many of the fans' complaints about Star Trek movies is the lack of character development for many of the minor characters, such as Scotty, Sulu, Uhura, Chekov and Saavik. The script for ST2 contained a line that would have suggested that Saavik was half-Vulcan and half-Romulan, but the line was cut. Perhaps this line could be reshot and added into the movie, and therefore provide some character development for Saavik, who had already become perceived as an overpaid extra in all the three Star Trek movies she appeared in.
- An additional dialog featuring David and Saavik was shot for the movie's epilogue on the bridge, but this was cut and not restored in the DVD.
- There appears to be a lost scene in which, after Khan activates the Genesis Torpedo and curse at Kirk, he is regressed into a young child by the Genesis effect. Perhaps this scene could be incorporated back into the movie. This scene is similar to the alternate ending to the fight between Picard and Ru'afo in ST8.
- It has been suggested that there is a deleted scene following Adm. Morrow's inspection after the Enterprise returned to Spacedock. Morrow talks to Sulu, who was about to leave to take up command of the Excelsior. Morrow takes Sulu to one side, and informs him that because of the controversy created by the Genesis Incident, in order to avoid any other incident in the forseeable future, Sulu was temporarily passed over command of the USS Excelsior, and the Excelsior was reassigned to Captain Styles, at least until the turmoil dies down. Naturally, Sulu was upset at this news. In fact, with both of Sulu's scenes deleted from ST2 and ST3, we have absolutely no idea that Sulu was supposed to become captain of the USS Excelsior all the way until ST6.
- It has long been suspected that there is a deleted scene following Spock's return to Vulcan. As Spock was brought up to Mount Seleya, a Vulcan girl approached Spock, gave the Vulcan salute, and says "Live long and prosper, Spock." This scene is not included in the original version of the movie, even though in the credits you could see the name of the actress who protrayed the Vulcan child (Katherine Blum). Unfortunately, this scene was not restored in the DVD.
Adm. Morrow talks to Sulu.