Coming on the heels of Star Wars in 1979, the original Star Trek movie, officially titled Star Trek: The Motion Picture, paled in comparison to the epic sci-fi saga that George Lucas was weaving together. This was, nevertheless, the project that essentially paved the path for the franchise’s cinematic streak, leading to the development of classics like The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock, not to mention the modern Kelvin timeline flicks starring Chris Pine.
To celebrate the original film’s legacy, Paramount has remastered Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 4K, and even upgraded the special effects to match the higher resolution output. As you can see for yourself above, the distributor has revamped everything from picture fidelity to sound quality, though there’s only so much you can do for a 1979 film that didn’t have realistic VFX work to begin with, so expect to see quite a few wonky CG shots in spite of the 4K image.
The Star Trek movie reprises William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy in their respective roles as James T. Kirk and Spock, bringing back the original series’ ensemble in a middling adventure that had Trekkies persuading everyone around them to stick to the television show. But with four decades of hindsight, one can’t help but admit the movie now has a ton of nostalgic value.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Director’s Edition is currently slated for an April 5 release on Paramount’s streaming service, but you can also buy the Blu-ray disc sometime in September. Paramount is also planning a limited theatrical release through Fathom Events on May 22 and May 25.
