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(VERSION 2.1 NOW AVAILABLE - check last post for info!)
Hey everybody, long-time lurker, first-time poster, and I figured I’d start off with a bang.
I just finished my first fan edit of a film, Star Trek: The Motion Picture, one of the films that got me into filmmaking and editing. When I was a kid, I knew there was something ‘wrong’ with the movie, so I took two VCRs and tried to cut it down a couple of times. I always had a project like this in the back of my head for the past 25 years or so and now I finally did it. And just in time for the 40th anniversary of the film!
Here’s a rundown of the edit:
STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE - 40TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION v1.0 BY BAD ATOM
This cut is based on the Blu-ray version of the theatrical cut of the film with the 5.1 sound mix. While I would have liked to have included footage from the Special Longer Version (SLV) and the Director’s Edition (DE), that material does not yet exist in high enough quality to make use of without the transitions being too jarring. Some of the edits are similar to what was previously done on the DE. I also would have liked to include some elements of the DE sound mix, but I would need to separate and recut many of them and decided to stick with the original audio for this version. The goal with this cut was to find a balance between the many versions of the film without making too many drastic changes and restoring the original look and feel of the film.
LIST OF SIGNIFICANT CHANGES:
- Overture removed
- Opening titles recolored to yellow/gold - in between the yellow of the Original Series titles and the gold of the DE
- Starfield added to opening titles
- ST:TMP title zooms in as it does in the DE
- Opening titles reframed to be properly centered.
- Opening titles retimed to better fit the score
- Klingon subtitles added, based on SLV font with original capitalization
- Epsilon 9 establishing shots trimmed, astronaut shots switched as in the DE
- First shot of Spock on Vulcan removed
- Vulcan subtitles added, based on original theatrical font and wording
- Slight zoom effect on UFP logo
- Floating office - Kirk’s transporter entrance trimmed
- Travel pod reflections added on most shots, closeup of Kirk similar to the DE
- Last flyby shot color-corrected (reds in shot were originally green, an error)
- Kirk’s “Oh my God” removed
- “Decker unit” covered up
- 82 AUs is now 2AUs
- Astronaut escaping V’ger effect slightly altered to make clear he was hit/engulfed
- Slight zoom in on last viewscreen shot and Kirk’s reaction
- Second “Viewer off” removed
- Bridge establishing shot and Chekov’s line removed (ADR and he’s clearly not saying the line in the shot)
- Closeups of Ilia now have a slight soft-focus filter similar to the Original Series but more subtle. This is consistent throughout until she is zapped and is not used for her reappearance as the probe
- McCoy’s transporter entrance trimmed
- Shots of Ilia and Decker inserted as Enterprise passes Jupiter, as in the DE
- Slight trims to wormhole sequence, including shot of Ilia shaking after the explosion
- Vulcan shuttle approach shortened
- Spock sending signal to V’ger, shots trimmed to minimize shaky frames
- Major trims and switched out/shortened reaction shots to cloud journey - some shots sped up by 1.3x to 1.8x - approximately 90 seconds shorter in total
- Kirk and Sulu’s lines about magnification removed
- Major trims and shortened reaction shots to V’ger flyover - some shots sped up by 1.5x to 2x - approximately 105 seconds shorter in total
- Increased brightness as V’ger probe approaches
- Cleanup and recomposite of V’ger probe in all shots - brighter, more consistent energy core
- “Negative control at helm” shortened
- Shots of Enterprise entrance inside V’ger and viewscreen shots trimmed
- Shots of tractor beam and photic sonar displays removed
- Slight zoom in on Decker’s reaction to the Ilia-probe
- V’ger now visible in windows of rec deck scene, similar to DE with colors more closely matching previous exterior shots
- Mirror shots of Ilia slightly softened
- Thruster suit vocal instructions removed
- Slight reflection added to Spock’s helmet in one shot
- Shots of multiple planets sped up so animation no longer appears slowed-down
- Scene with Spock being ejected from V’ger and Kirk catching him removed
- Kirk grabbing Spock, McCoy trimmed down, similar to DE
- Shots of V’ger energy bolts firing flipped upside down, similar to DE
- Approach to V’ger island, viewscreen shots trimmed
- Shot of saucer hatch opening sped up 2x
- Slight trims and moved reaction shots between Decker and Ilia by V’ger
- Starfield continues to move under THE HUMAN ADVENTURE title
- THE HUMAN ADVENTURE title and end credits also recolored to yellow/gold
Color regraded throughout to remove blue tint from Blu-ray version - color timing now more consistent with DE look
Slight film grain/noise added to make up for excessive DNR on Blu-ray transfer
Many scenes have very slight trims between shots, a few frames here and there, many of them to remove frame movement between cuts that existed on the original reels.
FINAL RUNTIME: 121 minutes, 4 seconds
To compare:
Theatrical cut: 132 minutes
Director’s Edition: 136 minutes
Special Longer Version: 143 minutes
This entire project took approximately 20 hours over a period of four days. Any comments would be appreciated. At some point I might revisit it if and when HD-quality footage becomes available for the DE and SLV scenes, and to possibly work on the sound mix. Anyone interested in watching it, please PM me, I will try to respond as quickly as possible.
