I cannot possibly tell you how many times I have watched the original Star Trek films growing up. Wrath of Khan and The Voyage Home were viewed countless times as a child. For that reason (amongst others) I am excited to tell you about the release of the classic Star Trek movies featuring the adventures of Captain Kirk and the crew of the original Enterprise on Blu-ray. One of these sets is Star Trek: The Motion Picture Trilogy which contains The Wrath of Khan, Search for Spock, and The Voyage Home. These three films take place within a short period of time and act as a continuing adventure.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
"Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."
The film opens with Lt. Saavik, taking the famed Kobayashi-Maru test under the supervision of the crew of the Enterprise. Admiral Kirk and Captain Spock discuss the new trainees who will be taking command of the Enterprise. The men discuss how things have changed and Kirk points out how they are getting older… Meanwhile, the USS Reliant is seeking out uninhabited planet to test out a new device called Genesis and they send an away team to the surface of Ceti Alpha VI to scan for life. Once on the planet the Captain and the Commander of the Reliant (who just happens to be Mr. Chekov) encounter an old enemy: KHAN!!!! It turns out that the Reliant was mistaken and this barren planet is all that remains of the lust Ceti Alpha V, where Khan had been banished to years ago. Khan returns to seek his revenge against Kirk and his crew and uses mind-controlling bugs to take control of Chekov and his commanding officer. Through them, Khan is able to escape the planet and take control of the USS Reliant. They then set out to find the Genesis Device so that Khan can have his vengeance. Dr. Carol Marcus (who happens to be Kirk's Ex- Girlfriend) is the creator of the Genesis device along with her son Dr. David Marcus (who might be someone's son as well). When the Reliant contacts them to say they are taking Genesis, Carol contacts Kirk to get his help and stop Khan from getting Genesis. It turns out Genesis is truly a life creating device and will create a new world within hours. Khan gets his hands on the weapon and the Enterprise races to get it back…but it is too late! While under attack from the Enterprise, Khan plays his final hand and activates the device! With the Enterprise badly damaged, Spock rushes to Engineering to help restore warp power to escape the Genesis wave, and ends up sacrificing himself in order to save the ship. The Enterprise survives, but the men must mourn the loss of one of their own…Spock's body is launched from the ship and crashes on the newly created Genesis planet…DUN DUN DUN!
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Special Features
• Commentary by director Nicholas Meyer
• New Commentary by director Nicholas Meyer and Manny Coto
• James Horner: Composing Genesis (HD)
• A Tribute to Ricardo Montalban (HD)
• Collecting Star Trek’s Movie Relics (HD)
• Starfleet Academy: Mystery Behind Ceti Alpha VI (HD)
• Captain’s Log
• Designing Khan
• Original interviews with DeForest Kelley, William Shatner,
Leonard Nimoy and Ricardo Montalban
• Where No Man Has Gone Before: The Visual Effects of Star Trek I:
The Wrath of Khan
• The Star Trek Universe: A Novel Approach
• Storyboards
• Theatrical trailer
• Library Computer (BD Exclusive)
• BD Live: Star Trek I.Q.
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
When Sarek approaches Kirk regarding the death of his son, it becomes clear that Spock might not be gone after all. It turns out that moments before his death, Spock transferred his Katra to Doctor McCoy. Kirk requests to take the Enterprise back to Genesis to search for Spock, but is denied. StarFleet has decided to decommission the Enterprise! Kirk and the gang hatch a plan to steal the Enterprise out of Space-Dock and set out to find their lost friend. Meanwhile on Genesis, Lt. Saavik and David Marcus realize that the planet is unstable and that Genesis had indeed failed. The two come across a life-sign on the planet and it turns out to be a young Vulcan boy! Could this be Spock? Could Genesis have healed him? Well if things weren't complicated enough, the Klingons get involved (lead by Commander Kruge) and they too want Genesis for themselves. They see it as a potential weapon and want to use it against enemies of the Klingon Empire. The Klingons capture Saavik, David and Young Spock and hold them hostage. They threaten Kirk and want all of the information regarding Genesis and order it transferred at once. When Kirk declines, the Klingons kill David. The Klingons then attack the Enterprise and Kirk determines that they cannot win, and sets the Self Destruct to detonate seconds after they beam to the surface of Genesis. The resulting destruction kills the invading Klingon crew. Using the Klingon's arrogance against them, Kirk's crew are able to beam to the Bird of Prey and take control of the ship, just as Genesis begins to destroy itself. Using their newly commandeered Klingon Ship, the crew travel to Vulcan to reunite Spock with his Katra. Thus, the search for Spock has ended, and their old friend has returned!
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock Special Features
• Commentary by director Leonard Nimoy, writer/producer
Harve Bennett, director of photography Charles Correll and Robin Curtis
• Commentary by Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor
• Library Computer
• Captain’s Log
• Terraforming and the Prime Directive
• Industrial Light & Magic: The Visual Effects of Star Trek (HD)
• Spock: The Early Years (HD)
• Space Docks and Birds of Prey
• Speaking Klingon
• Klingon and Vulcan Costumes
• Star Trek and the Science Fiction Museum Hall of Fame (HD)
• Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 003: Mystery Behind the Vulcan Katra Transfer
• Photo Galleries
• Storyboards
• Theatrical Trailer (HD)
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Taking place three months after the events of Search for Spock, the crew of the Enterprise decide to return to Earth to face the charges against them. While on route, a mysterious probe makes its way towards Earth, rendering all ships in its path helpless. The probe reaches its destination and begins emitting a sound that causes Earth's oceans to ionize. If the probe is not stopped, all life on Earth will be wiped out! A general distress call is place from Earth and is intercepted by Kirk aboard their Klingon Vessel. Spock determines that the signal is not meant for man, but for Whales! But the problem is that whales have been extinct for centuries…now the crew must travel back in time to Earth's past and find a pair of whales…or else…EARTH IS DOOMED!!! Using time travel techniques (apparently all you have to do is fly around the sun) the crew travel to the year 1986. There they locate two whales in San Francisco, CA at the Cetacean Institute. Kirk and Spock meet Dr. Taylor who informs them that the whales are being released into the wild within 24 hours. Kirk and his crew must act quickly or they will loose their window of opportunity.
Honestly, this is my favorite of the set. Don't get me wrong, Khan is an epic movie, but I really enjoy how the cast interact in this film. You could tell they were having fun shooting this story and it was very evident. This is a good old school adventure and is just enjoyable to watch. It didn't rely on tons of special effects. It just relied on the characters to motivate the plot. Spock swimming with the whales was pretty awesome as well.
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home Special Features
• Commentary by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy
• New Commentary by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman
• Pavel Chekov’s Screen Moments (HD)
• The Three-Picture Saga (HD)
• Star Trek for a Cause (HD)
• Starfleet Academy: The Whale Probe (HD)
• Future’s Past: A Look Back
• On Location
• Dailies Deconstruction
• Below-the-Line: Sound Design
• Time Travel: The Art of the Possible
• The Language of Whales
• A Vulcan Primer
• Kirk’s Women
• From Outer Space to the Ocean
• The Bird of Prey
• Original interviews with Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner and DeForest Kelley
• Roddenberry Scrapbook
• Featured Artist: Mark Lenard
• Production Gallery
• Storyboards
• Theatrical Trailer (HD)
• Library Computer (BD Exclusive)
• BD Live: Star Trek I.Q.
Overall:
Flat out: these films look great on Blu-ray. I am a little disappointed that Wrath of Khan is the only one of the trilogy that was truly restored. The other two films do look great since they were remastered…but you can tell the level of attention that was given to Khan was much higher. All three videos are 1080p and feature 7.1 Dolby True HD Audio. The added special features do make this set a lot more enticing. If you don't own the entire Original Series collection however, you might want to spend the extra money and get all 6 films on Blu-ray (which is also available now). But these three films really are the best of the feature films revolving around James T. Kirk.
ComicsOnline gives Star Trek: The Motion Picture Trilogy 4.5 out of 5 classic adventures.
