As a Trek fan, I remember being excited with the announcement that a new film was being made on the heels of the success of Star Wars and how disappointed I was with the first film, Star Trek: The Motion Picture which abandoned all that made the TV series so special. Thankfully, the other five films featuring the entire original cast, were much better and incorporated the interpersonal relationships among the trilogy of Kirk, Spock and McCoy that was so sorely missing from the first film. The inclusion of the humor that was so prevalent in the TV series and missing in the first film was back as well.

When it comes to the Trek films, the general rule is the the even number films are the best of the bunch and the odd numbered films the worst. While that rule of thumb is generally true, it does not apply to the newest film in the bunch , number 11, Star Trek, released to theaters last week. That is one of the best of all the Trek films, if not THE best. Included in this Trilogy set are films II, III and IV, with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home universally considered to be the two best Trek films prior to the release of Number 11. The release of these films on Blu-ray have been eagerly awaited by Trek fans, as the prior releases of these films on DVD left a lot to be desired. Do the Blu-ray releases live up to expectations?

Films

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan 

I am sure that most of you are already very familiar with each of these films so my discussion of them will be fairly brief. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is based on “Space Seed” one of the best of the original TV episodes and featuring Ricardo Montalban as Khan, a genetically engineered super human from the late 20th Century who, along with several other super humans, came to rule the world in that time period. (One of the funny things about the TV series is how different the world ended up in the 1990′s compared to how it was imagined back in the 1960′s!) These super humans had incredible strength and stamina and a much higher intellect than normal humans but were somehow defeated and exiled into space on the SS Botany Bay.

Three hundred years later, the Enterprise came upon the SS Botany Bay as is was drifting in space. They rescued most of the crew from deep freeze and Khan, as was his nature, attempted to seize control of the Enterprise from Captain Kirk. After the insurrection was defeated, the race of super humans was exiled on the planet Ceti Alpha V at the close of the show. However, all did not go well on the planet which was decimated when its orbit shifted upon the explosion of the neighboring planet, Ceti Alpha VI., making life there almost impossible, which is where we find them in The Wrath of Khan.

A Star Ship, the USS Reliant, out scouting locations for a test subject for a new scientific discovery, Genesis, that was designed to remake a dead world into one teaming with life, happens upon Ceti Alpha V mistaking it for Ceti Alpha VI. There, the Captain of the Reliant and his science officer, Pavel Chekov, are taken prisoner by Khan who recognizes Chekov from the Enterprise. Khan learns of the Genesis project and sets out with the Reliant, to capture Genesis and kill his old nemesis, Captain James T. Kirk, who is now an admiral in Star Fleet. The Enterprise, out on a training mission with Kirk on board, confronts The Reliant and Khan in which Captain Spock ultimately loses his life saving the Enterprise from certain destruction.

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock 

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, picks up where the prior film left off. It seems that Vulcans have the ability to transfer their spirt, or Katra, to others before they die. It so happens Spock was able to transfer his Katra to Dr. McCoy before he died. In III, the crew sets out for the Genesis planet to recover Spock’s body so they can unite it with his Katra, thereby bringing Spock back to life. To do so, Kirk, Zulu, Chekov, Scotty and McCoy have to steal the Enterprise from space dock. When they arrive at the Genesis planet, they have to defeat a Klingon ship which is trying to capture and weaponize the Genesis project. In the ensuing confrontation, the Enterprise is destroyed with Kirk and his crew capturing the Klingon ship and traveling to Vulcan with Spock so his mindless body can be reunited with his Katra.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home 

With Spock’s mind and body reunited, The Voyage Home opens with a mysterious probe approaching Earth where is begins vaporizing the Earth’s oceans, potentially endangering all life forms on the planet. On their trip back to Earth for certain court martial, Mr. Spock is able to determine that the probe is attempting to communicate with Humpback whales, which were now extinct. As there was no way to reply to the probe, Kirk decides to take the Klingon ship back in time to the late 20th Century to pick up a pair of humpback whales and transport them to the 23th century, repopulate the species, respond to the probe and save the Earth from destruction.

Of the three films, IV is the best as it is wonderfully engaging story that is very funny, placing the crew smack dab in the 20th Century with very funny results. The film is packed with an ecological message which I am sure some will object to as being overly preachy. The Wrath of Khan is a fine film in its own right and was a welcomed sequel to the first film, as is restored all that made the TV series so great. Of the three, The Search for Spock is the weakest as it has the very difficult task of trying to bring Spock back to life so that the movie franchise could continue. If you are a Trek fan, this set is a must have as it brings together two of the best of the Trek films, which can be enjoyed by fans and non fans of the series alike. Highly recommended.

Video

At the outset, while all of these transfers have their flaws, it is safe to say that they have never looked better than they do on these releases. If you are looking for razor sharp images, these are not the films for you as all three have a soft look as was common back when these films were made. They had a soft look in the theater and do so on these releases. This is how the films were shot. The softness is not the result of the encoding process, at least in regards to the best looking of the three, The Wrath of Khan.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan 

From the materials included with the set, it appears that only The Wrath of Khan underwent a compete restoration and it shows. This is the best looking of the three films. However, it is not quite up to the level of a 4.5 star rating hence the rating of a 4+. At the outset, I am sure than most fans will note that the restored film has a better, more natural color palette than the prior home video releases of the film, which were warmer than this release.

As the color coding was approved by the director, I can only assume that the color scheme in the restored film is truer to how the film looked in the theater as it was released too long ago to remember. Black level is deep and stable. Colors are well saturated and very pleasing to the eye. I also found image detail to be excellent as well with what appears to be appropriate levels of film grain preserved. If digital noise reduction was used on this transfer, it was used sparingly as not only is film grain well preserved, but so is fine image detail such as skin and clothing textures. I was really impressed with this transfer and restoration. The Wrath of Khan has never looked better.

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock 

While I was very impressed, I was less impressed with The Search for Spock but not enough to drop my score down to a 3.5, hence the designation as a 4-. The Search for Spock has a warmer, redder, color palette that is a bit over saturated in comparison with The Wrath of Khan. While black level is good, it is not as deep and stable as in the Wrath of Khan, resulting in a flatter looking image. I also found the level of detail to not be up to the level as the prior film. It is here that the use of digital noise reduction is a tad more noticeable, as film grain, while present, is not as conspicuous as it was on The Wrath of Khan.

In addition, fine skin textures, while visible, are not quite as visible as on the prior film. I didn’t find the use of digital noise reduction to be all that objectionable on III, at least on a 60″ screen, as it looked only slightly less detailed than II. On a much larger screen, I am sure that differences would be more noticeable and objectionable. On my screen, I found the over saturated colors, poorer black level and what I would described as a slightly fuzzier picture in certain darker scenes more objectionable that the use of digital noise reduction. I am sure that other will disagree.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home 

While The Voyage Home is the best of the three pictures, it has the poorest video quality on Blu-ray, even though there is no doubt in my mind that the film has never looked this good on a home video format. Not even close. The Voyage Home has a very different look than the other two films, with a cooler and undersaturated color palette Of the three films in this set, The Voyage Home also had the worst black levels, resulting in the flattest looking image of the three films.

The Voyage Home also has the most digital noise reduction applied, with most but not all of the visible film grain removed. The use of DNR is noticeable at normal viewing distances, as the actor’s skin textures appear to be smoother and less obvious than on the other films. The same is true of background details and the texture of clothing. While I would not describe the look of the actors as clay faced, I would have preferred less strenuous use of DNR as well as better blacks and contrast. The Voyage Home clearly can look better than it does on this release and is fully worthy of the same restoration applied to The Wrath of Khan. While The Voyage Home has never looked better at home than on this release, I can’t help but think that it could have looked better than it does here, at least equal to The Wrath of Khan.

Audio

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan 

While I was thrilled with the look of the newly restored The Wrath of Khan, I was disappointed with the audio. The biggest complaint that I had with the sound was that is was, for want of a better word, rather hollow, especially the musical score. I found the sound of the film a bit on the thin side, lacking the smooth, rich and open sound that you would otherwise expect from a Dolby True HD 7.1 track. The film’s sound lacked the weight, heft and depth that I was expecting. Given the age of the film, I was not expecting an immersive sound experience. However, the surrounds were put to good use throughout the film to create a bit of an immersive feel, but falling short of more modern films. The dialogue track was fairly well recorded and well placed in the mix.

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock 

While I was disappointed with the sound on The Wrath of Khan, I was happy with the sound on The Search for Spock which lacked the hollowness that I found objectionable in The Wrath of Khan. The sound on The Search for Spock was full, smooth and open with good transparency and imaging although far from reference in this regard. The sound mix had a better sense of depth than the prior film along with more heft and weight. The surrounds were also put to better use, generating a more immersive sound field throughout the entire film. The sound design and sound quality was more in keeping with what one would expect from a newer film and another notch better than that on The Wrath of Khan in all respects.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home 

I was expecting a similar sound design when I popped in The Voyage Home but was disappointed to find a sound mix that was more front heavy than I anticipated. I guess I should not have been so surprised as The Voyage Home is more of a dialogue driven film with less action sequences than the other two films. Nevertheless, I would have preferred a much more immersive sound mix than presented here with a more aggressive use of the surround speakers. Otherwise, the fidelity of the sound here is quite good with a smooth and open sound. Dialogue was well recorded and placed in the mix. While the overall fidelity of the sound on The Voyage Home was good, it lacked the sense of immersion that are characteristic of the better sound designs and a step down from that in The Search for Spock.

Special Features 

If you are a Trek fan like me, there is more than enough to keep you interested and occupied with all the extras included with each film. It appears that all of the extras that were included with the prior DVD releases of each of these three films are included here as well along with several new extras in HD as noted.

The extras included with The Wrath of Khan include the original commentary by director Nicholas Meyer, a new commentary by director Nicholas Meyer and Manny Coto, a featurette James Horner: Composing Genesis ( in HD), a tribute to the late Ricardo Montalban (in HD), Collecting Star Trek’s Movie Relics (in HD), Starfleet Academy: Mystery Behind Ceti Alpha VI (in HD), Captain’s Log, Designing Khan, the original interviews with DeForest Kelley, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and Ricardo Montalban, the featurettes Where No Man Has Gone Before: The Visual Effects for Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan and The Star Trek Universe: A Novel Approach, the Theatrical Trailer, the Blu-ray exclusive Library Computer and a BD-Live Star Trek I.Q. Of these, the HD features are the most interesting as are the original interviews with the later DeForest Kelley and Ricardp Montalban.

Extras for The Search for Spock include a commentary by director Leonard Nimoy, writer/producer Harve Bennett, director of photography Charles Correll and Robin Curtis, a commentary by Ronald D. Moore and Michael Taylor, Library computer, Captain’s Log, the featurette Terraforming and the Prime Directive, Industrial Light & Magic: The Visual Effects of Star Trek (in HD), Spock: The Early Years (In HD), Space Docks and Birds of Prey, Speaking Klingon, Klingon and Vulcan Costumes, Star Trek and the Science Fiction Museum of Fame ( in HD), Starfleet Academy SCISEC Brief 003: Mystery Behind the Vulcan Katra Transfer, photo galleries, storyboards and a theatrical trailer (in HD).

The extras included with The Voyage Home include the original commentary with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, a new commentary by Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman, Pavel Chekov’s Screen Moments ( in HD), The Three Picture Saga (in HD), Star Trek for a Cause (in HD), Starfleet Academy: The Whale Probe (in HD), Future’s Past: A Look Back, On Location, Dailies Deconstruction, Below-the line: Sound design, Time Travel: The Art of the Possible, The Language of Whales, A Vulcan Primer, Kirk’s Women, From Outer Space to the Ocean, The Bird of Prey, Original interviews with Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner and DeForest Kelley, a Roddenberry scrapbook, featured Artist: Mark Leonard, a production gallery, storyboards, theatrical trailer (in HD), Library computer and BD-Live: Star Trek I.Q.

While many of these extras were included on the prior DVD releases, it was a great idea to include them here so that all of the extras related to each of the films were in one location for fans of the film. The extras are many and extensive and may take you a week or more to get through. For fans new the Star Trek, I would start out with the newer extras which are in HD and the original interviews with the cast.

Final Thoughts 

I am sure that all fans of Star Trek would love to have all six films featuring the original cast in high definition on Blu-ray. However, it you don’t have the cash to splurge for all six films or just want the best of the films, this trilogy is for you as it has the two best films in the collection. While there are some issues with the video and audio on this collection, the films have never looked or sounded better in a home video release. Highly recommended. Live Long and Prosper!

I had the pleasure of seeing him open for Diana Krall last summer and was similarly impressed by the tone of his trumpet that night in Atlantic City as well. For those of you that think of Chris Botti as a lite jazz artist, see him live, I think you will change you mind. When I heard that a new Blu-ray concert disc was being released featuring Chris and his band, I was anxiously waiting to see if they could improve on the prior release. I am pleased to report that they have.

Concert

Chris Botti: Live in Boston was recorded at Boston’s Symphony Hall on two nights, September 18 and 19, 2008. Chris was backed by the Boston Pops as well as his stellar band which on these nights included Billy Childs on piano, the incredible and acrobatic Billy Kilson on drums, Robert Hurst on bass and Mark Whitfield on guitar. All four are on the top of their game on this release.

As was the case with the Chris Botti: Live with Orchestra and Special Guests release, Chris Botti: Live in Boston is more than a Chris Botti concert as it features performances by several guests, not known for their jazz chops. Returning from the prior release is Sting, who is credited with launching Chris’ carrier as a soloist and headliner. On the prior release, Sting proved that he can’t really sing jazz standards all that well. However, on this release, he sticks to more familiar material with much better results. As was also the case on Chris Botti’s last live recording, the inclusion of the special guests is something of a hit and miss affair. My favorite of the collaborations is the performance of Cinema Paradiso with Yo Yo Ma which is simply phenomenal. I also really enjoyed Smile featuring Steven Tyler which he dedicated to his father. It was a very moving performance. Also near the top of the pecking order was a funky version of The Look of Love featuring Mark Whitfield’s cousin, Sy Smith on vocals. While she is a bit of an unknown, she may not be one for long after this release.  Honorable mention goes to the duet with Emmanuel featuring Lucia Micarelli on violin.

While the release has many high points, it had several flat ones as well. The first is American Idol runner up Katherine McPhee’s performance of I’ve Got You Under My Skin. While it features an excellent arrangement, Ms. McPhee’s voice is simply not up to the task, sounding thin and stilted in comparison. The same is true for John Mayer’s performance of Glad to Be Happy from Frank Sinatra’s In the Wee Small Hours of the Mourning album. While Mr. Mayer has a much better voice than does Ms. McPhee, he to lacks the smoothness and ease required to pull these numbers off effectively. However, both Ms. McPhee and Mr. Mayer are to be commended for having the guts to branch out from their more familiar musical styles here and taking chances, especially fronting the Boston Pops in such an incredible venue.

While I am not a big Josh Groban fan, he more than holds his own on two numbers here, one being a duet with Sting on Sting’s Shape of My Heart. While I would have preferred a release featuring more straight ahead jazz and performances by Chris and his band without all the special guests, I can without hesitation recommend this release to fans of Chris Botti as well as those of you out there who are not familiar with his music. I have been lucky enough to have met Chris Botti and can attest to the fact that the warm and gracious performer you see on stage on this release is the same person you encounter off stage. I can’t say that I have ever encountered a more engaging personality. Give this release a look… I think you will be more than glad you did.

Video

While I had some issues with some serious noise on Chris Botti’s prior Blu-ray release, I am happy to report that the video on the Live in Boston release is a substantial improvement over the prior release. The release features exceptional video quality. The release features spot on color reproduction and deep and stable blacks. Clarity and detail are top notch as well. The lighting of this concert is top notch as well and captured incredibly well on this Blu-ray release.

On a large screen, you feel as though you have been transported inside Symphony Hall during the concert. Shadow detail is wonderfully presented here as well with not even a hint of black crush. The only fault I had with the video on this release is that some of the crowd shots taken from the stage lack the sharpness and detail of the rest of the concert. This is a small quibble to be sure but enough of a shortcoming to keep this release from having a perfect score, at least as far as the video is concerned. All in all, this is a great looking release and is one that will no doubt thrill fans of Chris Botti.

Audio

While I had some minor quibbles with the overall video quality, I have no reservations whatsoever about the 7.1 Dolby True HD track presented on this release. It is simply outstanding and the finest audio track I have ever heard of a live concert performance on any home video format. The special quality of this release is apparent as soon as you hear the opening notes on the trumpet during the opening track, Ave Maria, which is not the type of song that you would normally expect to open a jazz show. This recording captures the live sound in Symphony Hall with incredible fidelity, placing you in the hall during the show.

The surround speakers are used perfectly, capturing the hall ambiance, decay and reverberation faithfully. Bass is deep and tight. Transparency and imaging are beyond reproach, creating a sound field of incredible openness, width and depth. The sound of the orchestra is lush and full, just like an orchestra sounds in a live performance and importantly on this release, never drowns of Chris or his band. Dynamics are off the charts as well. Just listen to the band rock out on the second track When I fall in Love, with a deep and driving bass line and mesmerizing drum track. This is about as good as it gets.

Special Features

The extras are rather threadbare consisting of a behind the scenes featurette that shows the rehearsals for the show and interviews with Chris, his producer and fellow performers. The behind the scenes featurette is interesting in that it shows an incident that happened on the concert’s first night where an older man collapsed in the audience in the front rows during the John Mayer performance. Fortunately, the gentleman survived and is even featured during the featurette, apologizing for his mishap. Needless to say, this incident brought the show to a crashing halt.

In order to get things moving and get the crowd back in a happier frame of mind,  Chris Botti, Sting, Yo Yo Ma and Sting’s guitarist Dominic Miller, came on stage and performed a very moving version of Sting’s Fragile as Sting and Chris Botti had done at Sting’s concert on 9/11 while Chris was playing in Sting’s band. In order to access this track, you will have to view the featurette. Unlike the rest of the featurette, the audio on Fragile is presented in Dolby True HD and sounds just as good as the main concert footage. The featurette even shows how Josh Groban lost his train of thought during his performance with Sting and stopped singing while the band continued to play. It is amazing that such an embarrassing moment was included on this release and is a testament to Chris Botti’s friendship with Josh Groban that is was. This extra is well worth a look for the performance of Fragile alone.

Final Thoughts

Chris Botti: Live in Boston captures Chris Botti and his band at their finest. The release features excellent video and one of the finest sounding concert recordings I have ever heard on any home video format. Whether you are fan or Chris Botti or not, please check out this release. You will be glad you did. Highly recommended.