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Star Trek (2009) Blu-ray Disc Review

By brenden ⋅ December 5, 2009 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

STAR TREK (2009, Blu-ray released November 17, 2009 - MSRP $39.99)

This is probably my favourite new title of the year. Yes, I’m a nerd. But while my Trek-loving tendencies may be to blame in part for my enthusiasm, this new film is so all-around entertaining that everyone I know who had a chance to see it enjoyed J.J. Abrams‘ re-imagining of Star Trek immensely. I just watched the new Blu-ray edition of it and to be honest, I can’t wait to watch it again!

I know some Trek-haters. Only a couple, really. A lot of people with Trek-apathy, though. And yet all of them, every single one dragged kicking and screaming into the theatre, walked out singing the praises of Star Trek. Some even curious to watch episodes of the old TV show. And that, to me pinpoints the success of the film. J.J. Abrams took everything that ever made Star Trek great, distilled it to a couple of hours, packaged it in lightning and unleashed it on an audience who didn’t know they were craving it all along.

Most fans had given up on the franchise long ago. It had been ages since I cared about Star Trek, I know that for sure. I recall starting to feel worn out by the franchise around the time of Deep Space 9. Voyager, Enterprise and a handful of less-than-fantastic Next Gen feature films were the final nails in the coffin for me. By the time the early 2000s rolled around, I barely had a Trek-care left. I’d be happy to watch the odd episode of the original series when they came on TV and Wrath of Khan remained a treat, but aside from that I had little interest left. This new Trek film has managed to turn all of that around. It reminds me of the things that made me fall in love with the franchise to begin with. It manages to do that and so much more, bringing a new, fast-paced action feel to our beloved tale of space exploration. Along the way we’re introduced to younger versions of our favourite characters, all perfectly cast and embodying everything we came to love about them in the TV show and films. Now, I’m not saying that this Chris Pine fellow is any replacement for the legendary William Shatner in the role of Captain Kirk. But he does a fantastic job and even manages to make the character his own, while maintaining a little of the James Tiberius we know and love. A cheeky smile. Commanding authority. Even a hint of classic Kirk conversational cadence. Perfect! A quality indicative of the rest of the film. Damn-near note perfect.

There isn’t another Blu-ray disc in my collection that I want to watch with such frequency as I do Star Trek at the moment. I can’t wait to have a chance to put it on again! It looks damn-near perfect, it sounds damn-near perfect and is a great sci-fi adventure on top of that. It’s a wonderful demo disc that’s going to sell set-top players and PS3s all holiday season.

And aside from just being a wonderful technical showpiece for your home theatre, the Star Trek Blu-ray will provide you with countless hours of additional entertainment, as it’s packed to the gills with special features! I literally spent hours wading through the bounty of HD featurettes on the second Blu-ray disc. They cover every aspect of the film, from the concept, the casting, shooting, make-up, music, sound effects…the list goes on. And almost every little doc can be viewed with or without the ability to see additional branching content. If I have a single gripe with the special features, it’s a common one I have with most modern discs - if given the chance, I’d rather watch all “making-of” featurettes as one lengthy documentary, as opposed to little bits and pieces. To be honest though, I’d happily settle for a “Play All” option.

The commentary track with director Abrams, producers Bryan Burk and Damon Lindelof, and writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci is one of the highlights of the Blu-ray disc set. Listening to it makes you feel like you’re at a production party or an exclusive gathering. It’s equally as enthralling and as frustrating as a commentary track can be! The former, obviously, because it’s so candid and jovial and the latter because there are so many of them with so much to say that they’re constantly cutting each other off! I can’t tell you how many times I felt like we, the listeners were just about to learn another production secret when one of the participants jumps in, cutting off the speaker only to point out something inane onscreen or offer some Trek-based fact. Like I said, frustrating. But a really great listen, nonetheless.

Rounding out the Blu-ray package are some incredible deleted scenes, a gag reel, trailers a digital copy of the film and some HD exclusive Vessel Simulations of the Enterprise and its enormous enemy ship, the Narada!

Super-extra-mega recommended!

Tags: BD Live, Chris Pine, JJ Abrams, Leonard Nimoy, Paramount, Simon Pegg, Star Trek, Zachary Quinto