MovieChat Forums > Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) Discussion > 4K version - a let down

4K version - a let down

posted a year ago by MikeCable (1846)
6 replies | jump to latest

I've always had a lot of love for this film ever since the early 1980s when I started remembering things as a kid.

I started watching the 4K version today on the big screen and feel it's really lost its shine. The picture is sharp and high-quality but the model work in the drydock sequence is just so blurry - the lights, the numbers and signs on things, certain close-ups of the dock's structure and the beautiful refit 1701. It really takes away from it and the grand music just now feels over the top for what I'm seeing.

I have always been aware of this problem, especially later on with certain shots as we move through V'ger, but with this level of clarity, it is just so pronounced.

They really need to get an animator from YouTube to generate new 4K sequences and release it with new updated effects. Take a look at Hike Animation's work - this stuff is pretty much ready for mastering and insertion:

https://www.youtube.com/@HIKEANIMATION/videos

It's time to do this. The original model work on this film has become redundant with today's viewing abilities. If anyone wants the original, it's there in 4K - the completely original theatrical cut with no new effects like in the Director's Edition.

[–] FootOfDavros (8173) a year ago

https://www.urtech.ca/2019/01/video-why-you-cant-see-4k-why-8k-is-nearly-pointless-why-refresh-rate-is-all-that-counts/

Maybe sit back further from your TV? Or watch on a smaller screen?

[–] mikethemartian (6719) a year ago

Personally I would prefer to see a film how it was originally released.

[–] Satan2016 (25525) a year ago

That's how cameras work with close subjects. Depth of field is limited. On some of the side shots they focus on the dock and nacelle, the rest is out of focus. If you were standing a 100 yards from a life-size model everything would be in focus.

CG usually does not do this, which is one reason it looks "fake".

[–] MikeCable (1846) a year ago

Thank you for explaining, I sure do understand how this works and there are similar problems in interior scenes on the bridge and other areas due to a similar issue. They even had to change the way they shot the interior scenes due to significantly blurred surroundings, as documented in Walter Koenig's diary of the shoot (Chekov's Enterprise).

[–] chumbawampa (735) a year ago

Remastering just creates endless new issues. Then you have to go back and re-remaster things , and it never ends. Look at what happened with the original Star Wars films. They remastered it so much, it doesn't even look remotely like the original anymore. The Jabba's Palace sequence, for instance, was originally very blue-toned, darkly lit, very little color. The Return of the Jedi releases now have a Jabba the Hut sequence that's been re-touched and color-graded so much, it looks like Seseme Street. Is that what you want for Star Trek?

Just leave the films as they are. Besides, you aren't just asking for a remaster - you're asking for everything to be fixed , lights, modelwork, etc, you probably want all CGI modelwork done..... You basically just want an entirely new movie.

[–] MikeCable (1846) a year ago

The Director's Edition had been out on 4K for quite some time and I didn't know when I posted the above, because I hadn't kept up with the news. I thought they were not going to do it because they didn't get to re-do it for a Blu-Ray version. I ended up buying it and watching it and was much happier. I don't know if they touched up the blurriness at the drydock sequence (probably not) but it just seemed to look much better, and that out-of-focus stuff with V'ger that I whinged about was gone too. I love how they integrated the new effects into the 1979 movie and kept them simple without going over the top like Star Wars did.

There's a great interview with the DE team on YouTube about the 4K version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_5xZn5yEEc