I’ve made no secret of the fact that, in a world where every Trekkie worth their weight in salty dodecahedrons worships at the altar of The Wrath Of Khan, I have been, and always shall be, a Motion Picture guy. I’ve never seen it as plodding or “motionless”. The characters never seemed wooden to me, the sets and uniforms never seemed colorless. And finally, there’s a version of the movie that seems to show everyone else what was in my head all along – this is not a bad movie at all.
And what a package for its return! I’m specifically covering the “Complete Adventure” box set in this review, a three-disc set that gives The Motion Picture the kind of lavish treatment it deserves. From the extras to the delightful “feelies” – scaled-down reproductions of ’70s bumper stickers, lobby cards, and other memorabilia – everything about this package celebrates what an event the 1979 release of The Motion Picture was. Interviewed in one of the bonus features, author Mark A. Altman comments that in the always-on media ecosystem we live in now, Star Trek would never have been allowed to languish for a decade, long enough for the fanbase to multiply in size due to the constant reruns of the 79 TV episodes. The closest analogy the 21st century has to offer of a media property coming in from the cold with this much ambition and just sheer swagger would be the return of Doctor Who.
What’s nice about the Complete Adventure package is that, while is does bring you the long-awaited 4K UHD reconstruction of the 2001 Director’s Edition (previously made at DVD resolution for a DVD release), the second disc gives you the un-messed-with original cut of The Motion Picture in 4K as well, along with the “Special Longer Version” that was a mainstay of cable TV reruns and videocassette releases. I really appreciate that addition to the package: whichever Motion Picture flavor you’re in the mood for – untouched, slightly added to, totally revised – it’s all here.
And let’s just say it up front – this revision of the Director’s Edition is a vast improvement of the previous DVD release. Not just in terms of sheer resolution (though it’s definitely no slouch visually), but in terms of the audio mix. With its finished-at-the-last-minute final cut, there was no time in 1979 to make the abundant ADR dubbing sound like anything other than… well, abundant ADR dubbing. The new Dolby Atmos sound mix finally takes the cast’s re-recorded voices and makes them part of the soundscape of their scenes, rather than overlaid on top of the sound mix. As for the upgraded, re-rendered-from-scratch visual effects, just about the only “tell” of such a shot is if the Enterprise reflects the lighting around it; that’s typically the giveaway of a new effects shot. (And there aren’t enough revised effects shots to really stick out.)
And if you want extras, the third disc has you covered. The original 2001 bonus features accompanying the DVD release of the 
Director’s Edition are presented in glorious standard-def; the killer app of the 2001 features remains the piece on Star Trek: Phase II, including the surprising amount of test footage shot for a show that never got made. Features from the 2016 Blu-Ray release of The Motion Picture‘s theatrical cut are also included, which tend to be more in-depth, discussion/interview based pieces, and then there’s a whole new selection of features for this 2022 release, including never before seen photos and footage, covering everything from costume tests (such as the unused “caveman” look for Spock’s return from the desert for the Kolinahr scenes) to fascinating elements such as unused effects shots, including the agonized Mylar-reflected victims of the transporter accident early in the film.
The extras cover everything from the long shadow cast by The Motion Picture (and, really, Phase II) across the future of the franchise, to the sound mix, to the film’s equally storied soundtrack, with archival interview footage of the late Jerry 
Goldsmith included, and footage of the Blaster Beam in action. (Anyone who knows me knows I’m always ready for some Blaster Beam love.) Each of the “generations” of bonus features have their advantages – the 2001 material is contemporary, with all of the major behind-the-scenes players still alive, the 2016 material is more contemplative and delves deep into historical context, and the 2022 bonus material has the benefit of hindsight from a vantage point in time where the franchise has come roaring back to life (and not for the first time). All added up, it’s a very interesting spread of bonus material.
But there are other bonus pieces as well – my favorite, since I was that kid who drew Okudagrams in his high school notebooks, being the compilation of 16mm and 65mm film animations that were rear-projected onto the “monitors” on the bridge of the Enterprise. Seen out of context, it’s amusing how primitive some of it was in trying to set a “futuristic” look for all of those screens on the bridge, though some of these also cast a long shadow across future iterations of Star Trek. In the Red Alert animation and the animated Enterprise schematics, one can pick up on a look that influences the makers of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds today.
With all of the options for seeing different versions of the movie, a wide array of bonus bits and bobs, and yes, the fun “feelies” included in the package, this really is the best possible presentation that this film is ever likely to get, and it’s nice to see it treated with some reverence and a decent (if easily-damaged-in-transit) package. The one drawback: the Complete Adventure set is a limited edition, and it’s already proving to be scarce. It’s a pricey package, but if you love The Motion Picture as much as I do, that price tag is just about worth it.
