V'Ger Revealed — "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" from the Original to the Director's Edition
Twenty-two years after "
Star Trek: The Motion Picture" first appeared in theaters, the film was re-released on DVD as it was originally intended to be seen. "Star Trek: The Motion Picture ? The Director's Edition" added a new sound mix and new scenes to
Robert Wise's classic film, but one of the most notable changes from the original version is the stunning addition of new visual effects, specifically in how the mysterious craft, V'Ger, is revealed.
Michael Matessino, the Restoration Supervisor on "Star Trek: The Motion Picture ? The Director's Edition," explained that most of the challenges in producing visual effects in the original version were simply a matter of not having enough time. Since the "Walk to V'ger" scene was the climax of the movie, it was important to convey a sense of the extraordinary and fantastic by using the new visual effects to complement the original film rather than overwhelm it. Working with "Director's Edition" producer David C. Fein, visual effects supervisor Daren R. Dochterman, and consulting with original effects supervisors Douglas Trumbull and John Dykstra, Matessino supervised the gathering of original film elements, storyboards, and blue screen plates to reconstruct the scene. Foundation Imaging then completed the final shots, resulting in the sequence as it had originally been envisioned by Robert Wise.
While both scenes run roughly the same length of time, there are a number of elements that differ from the compromised version in the theatrical release. In the original, Captain Kirk and crew exit the ship from the top of the saucer section — a Star Trek first — while the Enterprise rests next to a pre-built pathway of hexagonal blocks. In the "Director's Edition," Captain Kirk and crew (now a combination of original 1979 effects plates and computer-generated people produced in 2000) exit Enterprise in the same manner. However, the emphasis is now placed on what they exit to ? an immeasurable black chamber in which V'ger constructs a pathway of the blocks that build out to the ship's hull and gradually solidify. As the crew begins to walk across the pathway, the camera pulls back and we now see that there is nothing supporting what they are walking on, a fitting visual environment that the film's climax had previously been missing.
It took 22 years, but thanks to the magic of modern filmmaking technology it has finally become possible for "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" to arrive at its original destination. To enable you to see the differences between the two versions, the video shows a split-screen with the original 1979 version of the scene on top and the new restored version below.
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