STAR TREK boldy goes on Blu-Ray!

By Matt Holmes /

I love writing about these Blu-Ray announcements because I just know, for someone, this is their baby and sends them over the edge into buying the next generation of DVD format. For me, it was the Criterion transfer of THE THIRD MAN which was announced earlier last year (though THE DARK KNIGHT and then GHOSTBUSTERS would have pushed me truly off the edge) and now I'm delighted to think that someone out there will be blown over by this release. Trek Movie and The Digital Bits have found cover art for the Blu-Ray set of Kirk/Spock TREK movies leaked on an European DVD site... Although it says "The Motion Picture Trilogy", both sites expect the DVD's to have all six of those Kirk/Spock movies. A bit of a boring cover but of course, it's the discs that matter. And it's early days yet in the promotional design stage. Here's the scoop...

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At least some new extras have been created for new Blu-ray releases, including "famous fan" commentary tracks for each film, as well as new featureettes (for example select scenes from a Klingon performance of Hamlet by the Commedia Beauregard will be packed with Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country - see previous report TrekMovie story). It€™s unknown yet whether these will be Blu-ray exclusive, or if there will be a simultaneous standard DVD release. It is also expected that the four Next Generation feature films (Generations, First Contact, Insurrection and Nemesis) will get the Blu-ray treatment, at a later date.
Famous fan commentary? How cool would it to be to hear Quentin Tarantino on THE WRATH OF KHAN (a movie which surely inspired KILL BILL and the depiction of David Carradine's character). Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright and Bryan Singer doing DVD tracks. That would be cool. Also in an equally exciting announcement in STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SEASON 1 on Blu-Ray... Wow, that first season. I've actually owned it twice already with it's various other releases but now they are packing everything together, I won't need to buy anymore after this. Though I will say, PLEASE INCLUDE AUDIO COMMENTARY TRACKS THIS TIME, WHOEVER THE FUCK THEY ARE FROM. Us TREK geeks deserve such a stellar release...
The release is currently planned to include both the original broadcast versions as well as the new Remastered versions of each episode. If this happens as planned, it€™s obviously very cool news, though we€™re still waiting to hear whether the Blu-rays will include all of the special features that were offered with the previous DVD and HD-DVD/DVD Combo releases of the series.
All sets are set to come out in May to coincide with the release of Abram's STAR TREK. How awesomely exciting.