The first two films in the reboot of the franchise Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness have been released on Blu-ray 4K Ultra HD. While the story here encompasses mostly about the new home viewing experience of Ultra High Definition (UHD), seeing both films through a special Blu-ray player on a 4K TV becomes a thrill in itself. With 4K looming on the horizon in every home, it’s the best thing since the Blu-ray disc.
Right now 4K discs are combined with a separate Blu-ray disc as a combo pack. The biggest reason is that the 4K movie takes up all the memory on the one disc. The Blu-ray disc accompaniment has the movie in the original Blu-ray format that can play on any TV through a normal Blu-ray player. Included on the Blu-ray disc are the film and bonus features that are added to most all major movies released on home video. Both Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness include a Digital HD as well for on the go entertainment.
Why choose 4K? Well for now it’s not easy on the pocketbook and requires a whole new system that’s costly. Back when the change came from DVD’s to Blu-ray, one needed a Blu-ray player to show the format. However, the player could also play DVD’s so you didn’t have to give your collection away or use them for Frisbees. With the 4K system I’m pleased to say that you can play both regular Blu-ray and DVD discs on your 4K TV. That said, there won’t be any noticeable difference in the quality of picture unless you are using a 4K disc in your 4K player.
Then why choose 4K? The TV along with the UHD disc and player will increase the number of pixels that form the movie being sent to the 4K screen. Instead of HD TV 1920 x 1080 pixels, you’re looking at High Dynamic Range (HDR) and Wide Color Gamut (WCG) with 4096 x 2160 pixels. Thus a brighter screen, more colors and less pixilation.
Not being able to afford the system on my pittance of a salary as a film critic, I went to home video outlet hhgregg for a private showing of my Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness 4K discs. The salesman popped the Star Trek ultra HD disc into a 4K Samsung UltraHD Blu-ray player. After a few moments of load in, it fed the movie onto the curved Samsung SUHD TV with Quantum dot display. My first reaction was that it was bright, very colorful and the contrast pin point. Since hhgregg has many regular HD televisions of many brands and sizes around the store, it gave me a chance to compare this new system with the older format.
The opening scene of the movie Star Trek (2009) if you can remember shows the USS Kelvin of the starship fleet under attack from Romulan Captain Nero. Told to shuttle to Nero’s ship, Captain Robau of the USS Kelvin, turns command of the bridge over to assuming Captain George Kirk. When things go wrong on the Romulan ship, Kirk orders the abandoning of the USS Kelvin and has his pregnant wife put into an escape shuttle. The scene includes a few surprises and takes about 10 minutes of exciting action amidst the trademark light flares of director J.J. Abrams. During this mostly dark exteriors and blinking lighted interiors the 4K presentation is about as good as the Blu-ray copy shown on my 60 inch HD TV.
HOWEVER, the 4K becomes amazing just a few blinks later when you see young James T. Kirk driving his father’s Corvette along a dirt road headed for a deep ravine. The colors explode, the wide shots are flawless and the contrast astounding. It’s as good a picture as you see in a movie theater, maybe better because you’re closer to the action in your home theater setting. There’s no comparison between regular HD TV and SUHD (Samsung Ultra High Definition) with the latter winning out tenfold better.
It’s a superb experience watching most of the two Star Trek films in 4K home video. Of course I would have loved to have the set up in my large home playroom, but maybe when other TV and Blu-ray brands start competing. For now I have to only think of what the future of 4K home video, and 4K streaming from the likes of Amazon and other servers can do for those who can afford it. Then there’s Cable TV and who knows where the next 4K outlet will be, computers maybe.
Now for some comments on Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness:
The two films were released 2009 and 2013 respectively and combined brought in nearly a billion dollars worldwide. The franchise began with creator Gene Rodenberry as a Television series 50 years ago in 1966 with James T. Kirk (William Shatner), first officer and science officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy) in charge of the Enterprise. And from there to the big screen.
In Star Trek (2009) we find the fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of bitter rivals, a Romulan band of rogues vs. the Federation. The Romulans are led by Captain Nero (Eric Bana) who during one skirmish with a starship kills Captain George Kirk starting a war with the Federation. Many years pass since the incident and James T. Kirk a thrill-seeking farm boy, has grown into a tough young man. Reluctantly joining the Federation, Kirk finds himself an outcast due to a decision involving a test devised by Spock (Zachery Quinto). The two find themselves on the enterprise together and a battle of wits pursues. When they come in contact with Romulan forces, the two opposites are forced to attract.
Special effects streak to the forefront of this wild and winsome adventure that kept my interest throughout. If you are big space Sci-Fi fan and you know what Trekkie means than you won’t be disappointed with Star Trek. I love the story build up, acting, direction and especially the cinematography combined with CGI. And, it all plays magnificent in 4K and very nicely in Blu-ray HD.
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013). Picking up where he left off with the fine release of his first attempt at bringing back the Star Trek franchise, J.J. Abrams hits pay dirt again with Star Trek Into Darkness. The exciting new chapter tantalizes the mind with amazing improved CGI and special effects while presenting an adventure that’s reminiscent of earlier challenges for the Enterprise. It’s a powerhouse film on Blu-ray and especially 4K.
This chapter in the journey of The USS Enterprise starts off with a thrilling chase of Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) and Bones (Karl Urban) by natives in the jungles on a fledgling planet that’s about to get a blast from an erupting volcano. The natives see the two men as invaders of their land and chase them into the sea. However, the Enterprise emerges from the depths of their ocean and frightens the natives starting a new chapter in their lives and a reprimand for Captain Kirk. It’s not long however until a mysterious adversary, Kahn (Benedict Cumberbatch) enters the picture looking to take down the Starship Council.
BONUS FEATURES:
There are special features on the 2 Blu-ray discs that are included in the 4K Ultra HD package.
Star Trek includes “To Boldly Go”, “Casting”, “A New Vision”, “Starships”, “Aliens”, “Props and Costumes”, “Planets”, “Gene Roddenberry’s Vision”, “Starfleet Vessel Simulator” and more
Star Trek Into Darkness includes: “30 minutes of scenes expanded to fill the screen”, “Enhanced Commentary”, “20 Featurettes”, “Fitting the Future”, “Gag Reel”, “Deleted Scenes” and more
Both films are rated PG-13 for sci-fi action and violence, and brief sexual content. You may want to view the movies prior to deciding whether younger adolescents should see them.
Coming to theaters July of this year is Star Trek Beyond. The film should take over the movie going world by storm. Most of the cast from Star Trek 1 and 2 reprise their roles including Chris Pine as Captain James T. Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Commander Spock, with Simon Pegg as Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott, Zoe Saldana as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, John Cho as Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, Anton Yelchin as Ensign Pavel Chekov and Karl Urban as Lieutenant Commander Dr. Leonard McCoy. Now under Fast and Furious Director Justin Lin it will be interesting if he can turn up the volume and action in this third installment. This time we find Kirk and Spock encounter a mysterious new enemy who puts them and everything the Federation stands for to the test.
FINAL ANALYSIS: Two great movies with the 4K experience in a handy combo pack. (A)
Film Specifications and additional video information:
Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Anton Yelchin and Karl Urban
Directed by: J.J. Abrams
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure
Running Time: Star Trek 126 min. and Star Trek into Darkness 132 min.
Video Release Date: June 14, 2016 on 4K/Blu-ray
Language: English
Reviewed Format: 4K ULTRA HD
Audio: Dolby Atmos sound bar
Video: 4K High Definition
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, Portuguese, French
Number of Discs: 3 Disc combo package includes 4K disc, Blu-ray movie disc, Special Features Disc., Plus Ultraviolet Download
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
