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Star Trek Into Darkness – Blu-ray review

| September 6, 2013 | By: Matt Wright 204 comments so far

In the wake of a shocking act of terror from within their own organization, the crew of The Enterprise is called back home to Earth. In defiance of regulations and with a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads his crew on a manhunt to capture an unstoppable force of destruction and bring those responsible to justice. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.

Read on for our review of the Blu-ray release.

Star Trek Into Darkness is quite the rollercoaster. I agree with the favorite adjective used by anyone in the cast and crew when interviewed about STID during press junkets, it is “relentless.” They aren’t kidding. Into Darkness takes off at a breakneck pace, and with only a few pauses here and there it mostly keeps that pace.

The plot itself is a bit muddled at times, but makes for a great summer blockbuster. Into Darkness seems to be perhaps the most controversial Trek movie yet. I won’t go into a full review of the movie itself, since by now most TrekMovie readers know the plot and already know how they feel about the movie.

The opening scene of running through an alien red forest is great and could sort of be something out of a TOS episode like “The Apple”.

Bruce Greenwood returns as Admiral Pike and has some of the best scenes in the first third of the movie.

After an attack on Starfleet HQ things kick back up into high gear.

The new choice for the externals of the warp reactor is fantastic, I love that they used the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore Labs.

Zoe Saldana as Uhura gets a great moment as she stares down a Klingon warrior while appealing to his sense of honor.

Peter Weller as Admiral Marcus gets to chew scenery and it’s generally a lot of fun and he’s pretty intimidating at times. For example: talking down to Kirk by calling him “son” while staring him down across the viewscreen in his hulking war machine of a ship.

Then we come to Benedict Cumberbatch, in the controversial role of John Harrison (or Khan if you prefer), whatever he’s saying sounds great, his voice and accent really draw you in. Yep, the old Hollywood gimmick of bad-guy-has-British-accent still works. You really get the sense that he’s sizing a person up with every word he or she says to him, looking for weaknesses both physical and psychological for him to exploit.

Before you know it, who is considered good and bad seem to be flip-flopped, and then we’re off dogfighting around the Sol System, eventually to Earth, to try and save the day once more, but with two megalomaniacs, who have different agendas, to deal with this time.

In the end Kirk and crew are (of course) chosen for the first long-term deep space mission, a 5-year mission, a positive note to end on. One I sincerely hope the writers actually use as a spring board for real unknown exploration (and danger, this is a summer movie after all) in the next movie.

Audio and Video Quality

The audio matches the pacing of the story, it’s bombastic through and through. The 7.1 Dolby TrueHD lossless track sounds great and Michael Giacchino’s score never sounded better.

As one would expect for a brand new film, the video looks fantastic. One thing that I personally like about J.J. Abrams is that he prefers to use real film cameras, he likes the style and feel of film. To that end, the movie isn’t always squeaky clean and digitally sharp to the last drop, it has a sharp yet film-like look for most of the scenes.

Now there is one somewhat perplexing decision that Paramount and Bad Robot have made, they made the same decision with Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol as well, the IMAX scenes are not expanded to full screen 16:9, they kept the aspect ratio constant at 2.35:1. However there is one exception to this, the iTunes version offers the expanded aspect ratio for the IMAX scenes (ala WB’s The Dark Knight & The Dark Knight Rises ). So much for Blu-ray being the ultimate format for videophilles…. For more on the iTunes download see the Bonus Material section below.

Bonus Material

NOTE: This review is of the general retail Blu-ray edition, not one of the exclusive versions with bonus material (i.e. Target or Best Buy editions).

As previously reported ( article 1 / article 2 ), both the Target and Best Buy copies come with ~30 minutes of different exclusive material. Target’s comes on an actual extra disc while Best Buy’s is only available as digital content from the Best Buy owned CinemaNow service. If I were buying a copy this Tuesday, I’d say get one of the Target versions, since it comes with a real disc of extras, that you can access any time, and will never be taken down.

Also note that the DVD (both in retail box form and included as an extra disc with Blu-ray copies) is the movie only. If you want any bonus features you need to get a Blu-ray edition.

What you actually get without any retailer exclusives is a bit disappointing, to say the least. There are seven approximately 5 minute (some as short as 2 minutes, one is 8 minutes long) behind the scenes featurettes. In the industry they call this EPK (Electronic Press Kit) material. EPK material are little video bites that are usually meant to go with a news story about the movie, etc. And that’s what most of these feel like.

Some of these are a pretty good look at how practical sets and effects came together with CGI enhancements, it is nice to see that things aren’t all just actors in front of a green screen (*cough* Star Wars prequels *cough*). However, unlike a good commentary, these are all “watch it once, forget about it” kind of bonus content. Most of the supplements are pretty self-explanatory based on their titles.

“Creating the Red Planet” – Huge practical sets were made over a 6-month period, one outdoors with red foliage and one indoors for the volcano scenes, the amount of real set (versus CGI extensions) in each scene is admirable.

“Attack on Starfleet” – Another breakdown of a big action scene, we see that the production crew used a motion controlled rig with lights mounted on it that simulated the spotlights from the attacking jump ship, so there was real interactive light moving on over the set and actors faces.

“The Klingon Homeworld” – Designing the new Klingon makeup and wardrobe, the production team used a huge 40,000 sq. ft. stage to build the Qo’noS set, and some comments on how well Zoe Saldana took to her Klingon language tutoring, they even brought in Klingon language creator Marc Okrand.

“The Enemy of my Enemy” – This is basically rambling from J.J. and the writers semi-justifying why they went with Khan, in the end it’s seems to comes down to “because we wanted to.”

“Ship to Ship” – A look at the scene of the spacesuit run between the Enterprise and Vengeance that Khan and Kirk make over to a very anxiously waiting Scotty (as one would expect the spacesuit part is green screens and wires). We also get to see the giant warehouse that poor winded Simon Pegg has to run up and down multiple times, it’s an impressively simple use of a real-world location. They took an existing warehouse, gave it appropriate mood lighting and painted the floor black, everything else was pretty much left the way it was.

“Brawl by the Bay” – A look at the floating barge where Spock and Khan pummel each other relentlessly (there’s that word again!) at the film’s climax.

“ Continuing the Mission ” – This is a little 2 minute bit on what we reported back in May, J.J. Abrams used four real world US military veterans as the “Starfleet Ceremonial Guard” in the UFP flag ceremony at the end of the movie.

“ The Mission Continues ” – This is basically a PSA for the veterans group that J.J. Abrams supports.

Digital Copy

So for all the dearth of bonus content, there is one minor consolation, which is that all the Blu-ray versions come with a digital copy code. This code can be used to activate either an UltraViolet copy (if you’re already invested in that digital ecosystem) or it can be used to get an iTunes download. I highly recommend you choose the iTunes download. The iTunes code will allow you to get the movie with the bonus commentary version. This is currently the only way we’re going to get a commentary, so you might as well take it.

The iTunes version is called “Enhanced Commentary”, this is because it is in effect an entirely separate copy of the movie with both visual and auditory commentary in the file. It is like getting an internal presentation on the movie from Bad Robot’s production staff. The commenters are actually able to draw on the movie like a sportscaster. There are also times when there is a little picture-in-picture window showing a behind-the-scenes image of the unfinished scene to compare it to the finished version. TrekCore has full details about the iTunes commentary .

Another feature of the iTunes version is that it is the only way to get the IMAX scenes opened up to full screen 16:9. All North American disc releases keep the aspect ratio fixed at 2.35:1. So the bummer here is that iTunes copies are, out of necessity to make it easily downloadable, lower video bitrate than what the Blu-ray versions offer, and it doesn’t have lossless audio. Of course you’ll also need to hookup your laptop to your HDTV or get an Apple TV box to view the iTunes download on a big screen.

Deleted Scenes? Anybody?

Since we’re provided a way to get a commentary that just leaves the biggest let down of Into Darkness on home video, there is no version, retailer exclusive or otherwise, that has deleted scenes. We know at least one existed, J.J. Abrams himself showed it to the public on Conan O’Brien’s late night talk show, the infamous Benedict Cumberbatch “ Shower of Evil ” scene.

More STID Images

I wondered when this would go up, good job!

TrekCore did a big review of the Best Buy and Target features, too: http://trekcore.com/blog/2013/09/into-darkness-exclusives-part-i-video-vam/

Nice review. So, want phase? order from Amazon. Want extra bonus disc? Order second copy from Target.

No deleted scenes? oh that’s just not right.. maybe it’s on a future exclusive?

No deleted scenes? No audio commentary? OK. Definitely, I’m not going to buy

Now we gotta really start being nice to bob o here at TM ,so that MAYBE we can see those deleted scenes online someday.

So, what’s next for STiD?

The Academy Awards!

No matter which disc or downloadable version you choose to buy, how can a person not feel as if they were somehow shorted? I can only imagine how McDonalds would market a Combo Meal with this marketing gimmick? You want a Big Mac, order of fries with ketchup and a large Coke? Well, this is how you do it. 1) Buy Combo 1 to get the Big Mac and the ketchup packets, 2) Buy Combo 2 to get a Chicken Sandwich and Fries 3) Buy Combo 3 for the Fish Sandwich and Large Coke. There you have it! A Big Mac, Fries, and Coke. And it only set me back $15. WHAT. A. DEAL. !!!

I am pretty sure the cover says Star Trek into Dark-Ness.

Not Star Trek in Dark-Ness EXTRAS.

Can’t see how you are being shorted. If you don’t like the contents, don’t buy.

ALL FANS OF INTO DARKNESS/ STAR TREK CONTINUE TO SOUND OUT A BATTLE CRY OF STUDIO RIP OFF WHEN IT COMES TO DVD CONTENT!!!!!

I’ve read this write up about the different places to get bonus material and I can’t help but feel that this is JJ and company’s way of flipping off all the star trek fans here in America that have given them so much hell over the past 7 of 8 years.

We’ve demanded that they respect canon and respect the fans and made this one of the hardest reboots possible. I just feel like this is their way of paying us back. We love our Trek and are one of the most vocal fan bases int the world.

I think they f*cked up when they decided (in their Arrogance) to redo Khan. They couldn’t leave well enough alone. Don’t know if they started to believe their own press or just thought they could make it better. Either way they should have done something different.

A whole universe of possibilities and they chose the convenient path. What a waste.

The sad thing is I (for myself) never really liked TWOK. It was okay. And I personally liked this one alot, but you have to respect the fans. They are the one’s shelling out money to support the franchise. They are the ones that have made Star Trek what it is today. Big business and directors forget this.

Like I said. Everyone would have been much happier with something original. It was kind of what we were all hoping for and expecting. Maybe even dreaming would happen.

May next time?!?

I was going to boycott this because of the lame “extras cash grab” by Bad Robot and Paramount, but the Joe Dickerson editorial and the nuTrek haters, including the antics of Amhed-Orci situation, have me so pissed off at the nuTrek haters, that I have now changed my mind and have decided to move forward and get the Blu-Ray next week after all.

And to further spit in the face the nuTrek haters/whiners, I am going to buy the iTunes commentary edition now as well.

This is my “FU back at you” to the nuTrek haters on behalf of my good friend, Roberto Orci, who been so unfairly treated by a small BUT VERY LOUD minority of fans on this site. Shame on all of you — you know who you are!

IN FACT, FOR ALL OF YOU WHO APPRECIATE BOB, THE BEST WAY WE CAN GET BACK AT JOE DICKERSON, AHMED AND COMPANY IS TO NOW BUY THIS IN FORCE NEXT WEEK AND MAKE IT THE BIGGEST BLU-RAY EVENT OF THE YEAR !!!!!

Not a great fan of the movie, but that’s one beautiful shot of Jupiter. I forget, which moon is that supposed to be?

People change, MJ.

Don’t get yourself all caught up in that.

I assume there is a DVD version. I hope so.

‘“The Enemy of my Enemy” – This is basically rambling from J.J. and the writers semi-justifying why they went with Khan, in the end it’s seems to comes down to “because we wanted to.”’

I guess they feel they need to justify what they have done because of all the shit leveled against them over this interesting decision. One of the wonderful things that must give movie makers such a thrill is actually being given the opportunity to write their own story and be able to bring it to “life” via the audio-visual medium. It is far better this way than to do something “because we didn’t want to”.

@ 12. Keachick – September 6, 2013

“I assume there is a DVD version. I hope so.”

Yep, here is the link to Amazon where you can get the DVD version.

http://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Into-Darkness-Chris/dp/B00AZMFJYA/ref=tmm_dvd_img_popover

Great review!

Regardless of the squabbles over the movie, it was awesome, fun and beautiful, visually extremely pleasing! I may have my small quips about the movie but as a long time Trek fan, this is Star Trek, and its awesome. I had to see it three times in theatres to get my fill.

Regardless of the lack and spit up of the bonus material (which sucks), its the movie that I am eager to see again. Since I love my blu-ray steelbook’s I will be at Best Buy on lunch day.

Looks like this will be one of the biggest home video sales of the year, if not the biggest.

Guess Abrams and Paramount will not learn their lesson after all. Another win for the producers and studios. And look for all home video packages to be released this way in the future.

But look at it this way, if the dog eats one, or you loan it to a friend and forget, you’ll have several backup copies of the movie to replace them. Or give them as gifts, assuming you know anyone who isn’t rushing right out to buy theirs on Tuesday.

The idea of a boycott was always a joke to begin with.

Well I for one am boycotting the Blu-Ray.

Although I really want it, and I want that iTunes commentary edition as well.

But, but, I just said I was going to boycott all this.

Well, I’m sure I can come up with some transparent, self-righteous excuse to justify both purchases.

As I don’t have the fawning opinion of this film that you do, I suppose that makes me a “hater”. Fine. I am a hater. As a hater, your proposal matters little to me. It doesn’t change my opinion of the film. And, as for your friend Robert Orci, he is your friend and not mine. I am not expected nor obligated to support him. I am thankful that he apologized for his comments. And that is all I will say on that.

@18 “Well, I’m sure I can come up with some transparent, self-righteous excuse to justify both purchases.”

Yes, because you do have “Shatner” in your name, after all.

I don’t have a fawning opinion of STID either. It was a good Star Trek film that came out after a phenomenal Star Trek film which people got spoiled on — just like STIII after WOK in the 80’s — I was there, and a lot of fans had the same arguments, sans the Internet of course.

ROGER EBERT ON ST III (1984)

“This is a good but not great Star Trek movie, a sort of compromise between the first two….The second movie, the best one so far, remembered what made the Star Trek TV series so special: not its special effects, not its space opera gimmicks, but its use of science fiction as a platform for programs about human nature and the limitations of intelligence. “Star Trek III”….has some of the philosophizing and some of the space opera, and there is an extended special-effects scene on the exploding planet Genesis that’s the latest word in fistfights on the crumbling edges of fiery volcanoes.”

SOUND FAMILIAR ?

Just like I said. ST 2009 was just so damn good, that a good STID movie just can never be good enough for some fans — who instead, because it isn’t quite as good at Trek 2009, choose to falsely claim that this good Star Trek movie completely sucks….which is dishonest, disingenuous and as disservices to all involved…not to mention a “dis” to Bob Orci.

(and then of course we have the small contingent here who didn’t even like Trek 2009…that contingent has been gleefully piling on here lately…it’s been like Christmas in summer for all of them)

I have a birthday coming up at the end of October, so I will ask my wife to pick up the Target Blu-Ray and then get the iTunes download.

That way my daughter and I can enjoy the movie everywhere and anywhere just as we enjoyed it together when we went to see it in the theatre — 3 times!

It’s my 50th this year — so why not celebrate with my favorite collection of Sci-Fi characters aboard the beloved Starship Enterprise!

Companies get away with downsizing and frustrating customers because they can. Typically, fans complain, end up settling, and the bar is lowered for the next time around.

Before you know it, we’ll be paying a premium for 1/4 of a movie at 4 different retailers and you’ll have to buy all 4 parts and reassemble them in order to watch the whole movie. One of the 4 parts will be the “chase” part, so it’ll be marketed as some fun treasure hunt thing. In the end, you’ll realize you’ve spent $80.00 for one movie because you had to spend $19.99 per part!

Less for more is their business. Complaining does nothing. Not buying might.

Actually, VHS’s of Trek movies in the 1980’s were about $80, which would be equivalent to about $200 in today’s dollars. So a $25 dollar blu-ray is 1/8 of the cost of trek movie on the media of 30 years ago.

@ 24. MJ (The Original). – September 6, 2013

“@23 Actually, VHS’s of Trek movies in the 1980′s were about $80”

wow $80 , are you serious ?

@25. Yep. That was standard, until the late 80’s when the prices came down to about $40 for an initial release. See:

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/archive/t-407404.html

I am thinking about skipping STID as far as owning a blu ray copy; I really want to see Trek XIII and I hope it will REALLY be more about the characters and less ON the action!!! BTW, I don’t own Trek V on blu ray either, so it’s all good…

BTW, Star Trek BELONGS on TV once again, be it syndication, a network, OR netflix!!! A NEW Series Boldly Going Where None Have Ever Gone Before!!!

I think the term “friend” is used a little too liberally sometimes.

I don’t know if Bob Orci could be my friend or not (one always hopes that another person could be though) and I don’t think anyone else can say that either, unless they have had the opportunity to have met with him on more than one occasion and believed they have both developed a genuine understanding and rapport.

I don’t see Bob Orci as an enemy either. I see him as a usually polite acquaintance who appears to enjoy commenting on some of what people write here, sometimes agreeing with what is written and other times not. Really just doing what everyone else does who posts their comments here.

I think that many of his comments make a bigger impression because he is also so tied up in helping to bring us another iteration of our favourite television/movie series. I think that many of us hope that our opinions and suggestions may make a positive impression on him and guide him to write the next movie using some of the ideas presented to him. However, he is not obliged to…after all, he has many other things to consider as well.

I’m a bit confused at what you are saying in our 16:9 and 2.35:1 quandary? If it was shot in 2.35:1, don’t you want that? Black boxes and all? I know I do, even back on our old 4:3 TVs, I ‘love’ my black lines. I had to get a ‘really’ big 4:3 TV to enjoy my 2.35:1 movies, but I hated all the cropping and fake fading that were added to make them fit.

Granted, 16:9 is a lot closer, but I’d still rather not have my images clipped just to get rid of pretty small borders (these days on the 16:9s).

Unless I’m misunderstanding what you are saying? :\

Thanks for the information about the DVD version.

I hope it might contain some extra features and not just the movie. Having the opportunity to watch it on a small analogue TV while it plays on my $29 TEAC DVD player while I am snuggled up in bed on a cold winter/spring night is just fine by me. It is what I can afford.

Although I think being able to watch all the extra features as well is great, it is the actual MOVIE that really matters.

…yep, the 80’s were conflicting times….it was awesome that my favorite movies and select episodes of my favorite TV series, Star Trek, were one of the first shows to get the video-tape treatment, in both VHS and Beta. But the excitement was short lived as the tapes were the $80 range. Pretty pricey for a kid flipping burgers @ $2.50 an hour. Not to mention the top loading VCRs that you could drop $400 to $600 bucks on, easy…wired remote and all. lol

That fact that my bluray disc and Phaser replica is around the same price of those simple video cassettes is a reminder of just how far tech has come. And the fact that I can afford it is a testament to how far I’ve come! lol.

Cant wait to see it again!

Yeah, VHS tapes used to be insanely expensive back in the day. I actually remember some movies being as high as $100. They would eventually go down to around $30, but only after they’d been out for quite a while (usually 12 months, sometimes sooner than that). That lasted until at least the early 90s, because I remember The Hunt For Red October being super expensive (the tape itself was red and supposedly this was worth extra money). Part of it was to give video rental places a sort of exclusivity period, the idea being if the video was that expensive people would rent it first and then buy it later when the price dropped. And hey, if they were willing to shell out the $79 or $99 to own it, all the better.

Well, I would like to think that Bob is my friend at least in terms of here at Trekmovie. If that sounds dumb and unrealistic, so be it.

And even though you and I get into it now and then, I’d like to think that you and I are kind of friends as well. I know that if something tragic happened to your or others here (even people I disagree with a lot) that I have been conversing with for years, I would be happy to donate time or money to help your or someone in need.

@MJ, Jonboc & sean,

Thanks guys, I grew up in the 90s, so most of that stuff is news to me, the 80s sure sound like fun times :)

and Jonboc, “wired remote”, really ?

$15 bucks gets it to my door? Pretty good.

Blingons lol

MJ – I don’t think it sounds dumb, just a little unrealistic perhaps.

Anyway, you are right. If I read that anything bad had happened to you and/or yours or to anybody else here, irrespective of who they were, I would be very upset. I have no desire nor right to wish harm come to anyone.

@24 True, but I think you’re missing the point here, folks. Yes, I suppose I’m “glad” I don’t pay $80 for a DVD, but that’s not the result of some random or benevolent process. Studios predicted cheaper VHS (and ultimately DVD) prices would be a good business move. And they were right. Rarely are outcomes for business and consumer a clear win-win like this. The point is will they be right when it comes to their strategy for movies like STID–a business move (like most) that screws over fans. Remains to be seen.

Besides, the random “$80” example was obviously satire. Even I’m not cynical enough to think we’re going there quite yet.

@29 Derf – the IMAX sequences are closer to the 16:9 ratio, so since the blu ray is presented in 2.40:1, we see cropped versions of those scenes.

There’s a forum on bluray.com with examples. You can definitely see what is missing, which is why some of us would like to have the IMAX version on disc. Besides, that’s how the movie was intended to be seen.

ST 2009 was far inferior to STID. I mean, a set up movie, as described by JJ and Orci themselves had a thin cardboard villain in Nero. STID was much better.

However, Star Trek Enterprise was a much more fulfilling Trek experience than either of these movies.

I’m definitely looking forward to purchasing my copy of the film. I’ll be one of the first at the local Entertainment store to obtain my copy of it.

It will be better than anything that Farragut Films and Dragoncen has ever released, since that Washington DC based company and its unethical business partner’s slow and unsteady decline since the events of December 2011.

So…what if in Star Trek 3, Harrison’s actually revealed to NOT be Khan.

*mind blown* =P

@25. Ahmed, “Actually, VHS’s of Trek movies in the 1980′s were about $80″ wow $80 , are you serious ?”

That’s incorrect.

Perhaps TMP was $80, but TWOK set a precedent as being one of the first movies to initially retail for the remarkably low price of $39.95. By 1986, older movies were selling for as little as $19.95.

http://www.nytimes.com/1983/12/12/business/hollywood-gambles-on-video.html

#24 TWOK was one of the first titles to be priced to sell instead of rental when it was released on home video in 1983. Around forty bucks or less depending on who you bought it from. It jump started the trend of people buying a movie to keep instead of just renting it.

#42 beat me to it. ;)

Will not buy , will wait 5 full years too buy it, period!

If sales are strong they might leave the Budget for Star Trek 3 intact!

Star Trek 2009 sales were up to 100 mil dollars! Pretty sensational!

Yes, I can somewhat understand their (commercial) motives.

However…

STID is only the 2nd installment. The 5-year mission has yet to begin! [ Side note: Does this mean 5 more sequels at least? ;-) ]

Maybe it would’ve been strategically more valuable to really win and very much so keep the hearts of the – old and newborn – fans by e.g. releasing an ‘ultimate fan edition’ this xmas.

I mean, they did go all the way with the sequel. Why be modest now?

The rollercoaster ought to continue :-)

Cherish the fans.

I for one prefers having just one format throughout. The 2:35 format is great and I didn’t like the aspect ratio changes on the Dark Knight Rises blu-ray. I found that distracting.

Still not getting this until they release a proper version with all the extras in one place. I love my extras! lol! And I do like the movie,but I just don’t like the way this is done. I’ll get the movie illegally for now,lol!

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) Blu-ray Review

"you think your world is safe it is an illusion, a comforting lie told to protect you. enjoy these final moments of peace, for i have returned...".

In 1990, the year before his death, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry told the L.A. Times " there's a good chance that when I'm gone, others will come along and do so well that people will say, 'Oh, that Roddenberry. He was never this good. " Casual audiences might agree, but for the many lifelong Star Trek fans, J.J. Abram's franchise revival opened an interesting aside for a franchise fast approaching 50 years of age, but hardly represents a return to form for the core Star Trek ethos; its philosophical ideals and the promise of a brighter future - in direct contravention of a film entitled Into Darkness .

Three years on from 2009's franchise reboot, whose plot created an alternate timeline allowing the film to take certain liberties with established canon and morph into its own version of Trek , J.J. and company return with Into Darkness .

Following a suicide blast at Starfleet HQ and subsequent aerial attack resulting in the murder of Starfleet commanders masterminded by turncoat Starfleet agent John Harrison (Benedict Cumberpatch), the Enterprise crew headed by Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) are re-commissioned to mount a mission to kill Harrison on Kronos, the Klingon home world. Kirk refuses to accept orders at face value and decides to take Harrison hostage. After a brief battle, Harrison unexpectedly gives himself up, willingly boarding the Enterprise as a prisoner. Unfortunately, it's quickly revealed that neither the mission, nor Harrison are quite as expected, when the crew of the Enterprise finds itself in the middle of a much larger plot and grave danger.

For the uninitiated, Star Trek circa 2013 is an entertaining science fiction adventure, which commands viewers' attention right from the opening scenes. But saddling itself with the name Star Trek automatically attaches 50 years of baggage, and that does this film no favors. The truth is, this modern incarnation of the franchise has little in common with it older siblings. Star Trek has always gladly worn its heart on its sleeve with the epitaph of 'thinking man's sci-fi', but ruminating about the plot only reveals the numerous holes that riddle the script, not least the mind messing alternate timeline, which try as I might to explain to my non-fan girlfriend, really struggled to do.

In true J.J. Abrams fashion, there's a few surprises, but perhaps the worst kept is that of the true identity of the mysterious John Harrison - he's Khan Noonien Singh from both the Original Series episode 'Space Seed' and the feature film The Wrath of Khan . But Khan was never an Englishman, nor does Benedict Cumberpatch even remotely resemble Ricardo Montalban. Try explaining that to newcomers - and that's the whole problem with the film. It tries to be all things to all people and it just doesn't make a lick of sense. Why try and shoehorn Trek lore into a film and then not even attempt to make it cohesive? For every cameo by a tribble or inflection of a classic phrase, we have another franchise contradiction or out of character motivation.

Having been tapped to direct Star Wars Episode VII for LucasFilm, it seems that J.J. Abrams will now slink off from the franchise that he's revealed he was never a fan of, leaving the gates open for someone else to take the reins. I can only hope that that person will stay true to the core ethos of Star Trek , rather than continue to churn out what amounts to, admittedly entertaining, but otherwise generic science fiction action, trading on the basis of Star Trek 's branding.

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) Blu-ray Review 1

Star Trek Into Darkness is presented in the original aspect ratio of 2.40:1, encoded with AVC MPEG-4 compression. Note that some scenes were originally filmed with IMAX cameras in a 1.43:1 aspect ratio, those of which are cropped on this Blu-ray.

Filmed with a variety of camera and lens systems and finished in a 2K digital intermediate, Star Trek Into Darkness looks as fantastic as one would rightly assume, even if you have to occasionally wince over the hugely excessive lens flare that Abrams so adores.

Resembling a Mac store in space, the production design is as sumptuous as ILM's visual effects are impressive and this translates very well to the small screen. Occasionally, some images are a little soft, but as this mirrors the theatrical experience, I'm convinced it's intentional. Otherwise the image is very crisp and detailed, and certainly a sight to behold. It's a bit disappointing that we don't get the mattes opened with an increase to the vertical resolution from IMAX scenes, but perhaps we might get this later down the track.

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) Blu-ray Review 2

Star Trek Into Darkness is presented in Dolby TrueHD 7.1 at 24 bits.

A far cry from the more dated entries in the Star Trek feature film canon, Into Darkness utilizes all the tricks of modern sound mixing, making for one hell of an impressive surround sound experience.

It's certainly easier to pin point the deficiencies in the track, compared to what it does right. But even so, I'm rather struck for complaints. This is an incredibly effective and encompassing track, which from the opening chords of Michael Giacchino's bombastic updated theme song alludes to. Bass performance is tight and strong and resonates where appropriate.

As is the norm with TrueHD tracks, audio here is mastered at a lower level than DTS HD-MA tracks, which may require a minor volume adjustment.

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) Blu-ray Review 3

Star Trek Into Darkness comes to Blu-ray with more than a hint of controversy - in short, production company Bad Robot produced a bunch of extra features and then shopped them around to specific U.S. retailers as exclusives, making obtaining the definitive collection of extra features nigh impossible. Worse, Australia doesn't even have the chance to participate and thus totally misses out. In a global market, this just doesn't cut it. Bad Robot. Very Bad Robot. Still, let's take a look at what is here.

The package is made entirely up of Eight Featurettes , which retain a standard style and editing structure which run approximately 41 minutes in length. Highlights include the Creating the Red Planet short, debatably the best on the set, which runs through the initial concepts and make up designs, which went into to making the film's opening a memorable one.

Attack On Starfleet is concerned with the visual effects and live action stunts of Khan's air attack sequence, while The Enemy of My Enemy had me throwing things at the screen whilst watching the filmmakers justify the inclusion of the Original Series villain.

Sadly missing are any Theatrical Trailers , which I understand are present on one of the U.S. exclusive Blu-ray sets.

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) Blu-ray Review 4

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Ben joined the TweakTown team in 2008 and has since reviewed 100s of movies. Ben is based in Australia and has covered entertainment news and reviews since 2002. A student of film, Ben brings a wide understanding of the medium to the latest happenings in entertainment circles and the latest blockbuster theatrical reviews.

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Star Trek Into Darkness (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

Star Trek Into Darkness UHD 4K Blu-ray Review

Being a huge Star Wars fan all my life, who has more times than I care to admit called Star Trek boring, dull and lifeless with the exception of The Next Generation episodes Ashley Judd breathes life and beauty into, I was astonished by how much fun I had with J.J. Abrams fresh take on the franchise back in 2009. In my opinion, he resuscitated the franchise, actually made it enjoyable even to loyal Star Wars fans and brought much needed life and energy back into it, not to mention some really humorous moments too. And for that, I appreciated J.J. Abrams even more as a filmmaker and didn’t even bat an eye when this sequel was announced back in 2011. I was so thrilled and taken aback by the first one, 2009’s Star Trek , that I had actually been genuinely pumped, geeked and uber excited for this next chapter in what I would presume to be a trilogy, Star Trek Into Darkness . And quite honestly, I never thought I would ever utter those words that I am excited for anything Star Trek . It feels like a betrayal to everything Star Wars (my life’s gospel) and that goes against all my rooted values, but sometimes you need to spice life up and stop being a hater, right? Different is good! Sometimes. In this case…most definitely!

So this time out, J. J. Abrams returns to helm the USS Enterprise once again with a script written by Robert Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof. The cast from the 2009 hit film returns with a few new faces. John Cho, Benedict Cumberbatch, Alice Eve, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Peter Weller and Anton Yelchin comprise the star-studded cast, sadly minus my girl, Rachel Nichols. And in the grand scheme of things, this is actually the twelfth film in the Star Trek series, but make no mistake, this is a direct sequel to the 2009 flick. Thanks be to God because the other franchises bore the bejesus out of me.

I have a sneaky suspicion that you’ll like this one regardless of what kind of presentation you see it in, that is if you like non-stop action and a bikini clad, for no reason at all, hot Alice Eve. Do I have your attention now? Good! So with no colons in the film’s title, Star Trek Into Darkness is set after the events of the former film and we immediately find ourselves amidst the heat of the action as the USS Enterprise and its heroes, namely Kirk (Pine) and Spock (Quinto), attempt to save the inhabitants of Planet Nibiru from a volcanic eruption that threatens to wipe out civilization there. Picture Raiders of the Lost Ark right here. We open brilliantly in the middle of a high speed foot chase through what almost looks like an exotic pink forest with a hurried sense of urgency and nostalgia that magically transports me back to 1981, watching Indiana Jones flee from the natives in the jungle after taking the golden tiki statue. Hopefully you’re picking up what I’m dropping here. I can’t think of a better way to open up a film than to drop you right in the heart of the moment and let you catch up to it while your adrenaline pumps away. Bravo J. J.!

However, no matter how heroic the actions of James T. Kirk were in the very beginning of this movie, as usual, he is scolded and eventually reprimanded for his inability to follow the rules no matter how successful he is, time after time. He’s labeled as arrogant and sadly demoted to First Officer under the TLC care of Christopher Pike (Greenwood), who re-assumes responsibility of the Enterprise. Simply put, Kirk isn’t ready for the chair yet. Boo hoo. I ask myself this every time during each of my viewings…this again?! However, without dishing any spoilers, we all know this will change. And change it does after a short couple of scenes involving a certain family and a mysterious man unravels and results in an Enterprise facility in London being attacked (more like annihilated) and Federation officers being targeted. It isn’t too long until Kirk and team are sent on a tactical, secret mission to a planet far off that I think, deep down inside, every Trekkie wanted to see played out on the big screen once again. Come on. You know you did!

So on the surface, sure S tar Trek Into Darkness is a blockbuster, popcorn film. However, to me it’s much more than that. It’s a rousing visual and riveting space adventure that grabs a hold of you from the beginning and truly never lets you go. And of course you have to know it’s so much better enjoying it in the privacy of your own home in 4K on the new UHD Blu-ray format, right? And sure there’s no reason to see Alice Eve’s character bikini clad, but so what if we do? Those three seconds of beauty were needed to tell this tell of bravery, camaraderie and leadership that touches all too sharply upon the fragile nature of our world currently, namely the fear we live in of terrorism. Truly no one’s safe. And wouldn’t it be grand to know that there’s a Federation out there devoted to peace keeping and procurement of aiding lifeforms to ensure their survival? I think so. Make no mistakes ladies and gentlemen, this isn’t your father’s Star Trek …it’s mine…and I love it.

I can’t really talk more in depth about the film’s story without ruining any of the secrets, so I’ll keep a tight lid on it just like Disney did with Iron Man 3 ’s villainous betrayal to all of man kind who have read comic books. But I will go on record by saying the following. All the chemistry and humor the majority of us loved about the first film and its tangible character relationships/developments are here once again. But the stakes are higher. They’re bolder. And more importantly, more mysterious. What’s really the purpose of this secret mission Kirk is sent on? Is it really to capture this terrorist or is there a hidden agenda the Federation isn’t letting anybody in on? I’ll leave you to think about that. That’s all I can say other than I think fans of the original Star Trek films will be relatively pleased at the revelations and events that unfold here. Please keep in mind that these new Trek films are a reinterpreting of a legendary past franchise, not a butchering or a mockery of them. This is a Star Trek universe for a brand new generation. Keep your grumblings to a minimum and enjoy it for all its marvel and spectacular. And if you have kids into sci-fi, involve them too. Build memories. Foster relationships. Grow those loving and nurturing bonds. This is why these movies are made…to bring us all together. Now how about those 4K A/V specs? Hungry for more? Good! Let’s get cracking!

Star Trek Into Darkness has been digitally remastered with a new 4K UHD transfer for exceptionally brilliant picture quality. To keep this review simple, the below criteria was judged against the UHD disc. The Blu-ray’s video score and comments can be found here .

Encoding : HEVC / H.265
Resolution : 4K (2160p)
Aspect Ratio : 2.40:1 – However, it should also be noted that this presentation graces us with the IMAX version meaning there is aspect shifting going on, but believe me, it won’t damper your viewing pleasure. It will only enhance it! It’s a thing of beauty when that screen opens up. I just wish it all could have been shot in IMAX.
Clarity/Detail : Star Trek Into Darkness on 4K UHD Blu-ray is absolutely stunning in every which way. It’s like a wet reference dream. There is a bonafide money shot in just about every sequence here, and I’m not just talking about the lightning brief Alice Eve scene every one loves. The textures and impeccable details in just about everything here is razor sharp and crisp throughout from the beginning of the film’s first frames with the crackles in the paint on the alien race’s faces to the intricate panels that litter the Enterprise’s bridge. I can go on and on and talk about the intro’s colored vegetation stalks or the fabrics in the clothing to the wrinkles in the faces, but I think you already got the big “picture.” It’s remastered in 4K and it’s a beaut, Clark!
Depth : The depth of field goes on for miles in this presentation. It’s too bad there’s no such thing as 3D 4K Blu-ray as I would love to check this one out in it if it existed. Depth of field is wildly on display here from the corridors well beyond the opening doors on the USS Enterprise to the exploding volcano in the film’s beginning in the distance from the pink stalks Jim and Bones are running through. Let’s not forget the expansive landscape shots of a futuristic looking London.
Black Levels : The black levels, for the most part, are all deep and inky throughout.
Color Reproduction : I know we’re talking about the HDR presentation here, but I believe the colors are more in check here than its previous Blu-ray cousin. Take the opening scene for example, my favorite by the way. It’s not scorching red anymore, but a softer pinkish tone that allows for really defined individual vegetation blades and stalks. Don’t worry either. The bright, unmistakable J.J. trademark lens flares are all in tact in this remaster. This is a bright one so enjoy it. The volcano scene alone will convince you of that.
Flesh Tones : The skin and flesh tones all appear natural and authentic throughout, especially on Alice Eve. Haha. I could not resist.
Noise/Artifacts : Other than some light 35mm grain, there are no problems visually with any artifacts, excessive noise or blemishes to be found anywhere on this print. So in other words, you’re in for a real treat here better than any ice cream goodie you could ever imagine. Be prepared to be dazzled and wowed. If this is how good all the 4K UHD Blu-ray presentations are going to look, I’m never going to buy another regular Blu-ray release ever again.

Star Trek Into Darkness has been digitally remastered and features a Dolby Atmos soundtracks remixed specifically for the home theater environment. To those not in the know, Dolby Atmos delivers captivating sound that places and moves audio anywhere in the room, including overhead, to bring entertainment alive all around the audience. To keep this review simple, the below audio criteria was judged against the UHD disc. The Blu-ray’s audio score and comments can be found here .

Audio Format(s) : English Dolby Atmos (defaults to Dolby TrueHD 7.1), French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, Portuguese 5.1 Dolby Digital, English Audio Description
Subtitles : English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese
Dynamics : Just when thought it couldn’t get any better than the video section above it does…well equally at least since we can’t go any higher than the scale of 5 doggies that we have previously established here. It’s almost like the sound never lets you go here as all channels are continuously active throughout in this immersive Dolby Atmos (or Dolby TrueHD 7.1) surround mix. From the subtle to the bold, things are both atmospheric, engaging and terrifically bombastic here. Besides the excellent dimensional qualities here, spears being thrown overhead fly right at you and past in the film’s beginning, which will instantly have you begging for more and hooked. Trust me!
Low Frequency Extension : The LFE channel will rock your world through the many explosions, the blasters being fired upon you and the wild action sequences that never cease to let up until the film’s final triumphant moments. You sure this is a Star Trek movie?! I know one thing that’s for sure. There’s no doubt your system is going to get a much needed workout from this one. From an abrupt ship stop mid-warp speed to a crashing Vengeance on planet Earth, the bass is powerful and aggressive here.
Surround Sound Presentation : The score’s rousing, emphatic and moving throughout the movie’s runtime, even in your rear speakers. Heck, the experience here begins before the movie even ticks a second with the Bad Robot opening logo swirling behind you. From the blasters to the many explosions, you’re surrounded here, but perhaps one of the coolest uses of the rear channels was on the USS Enterprise when you hear over the loudspeaker “docking clamps, 1, 2 and 3…”
Dialogue Reproduction : The dialogue levels that are all loud, clear and intelligible throughout.

Star Trek Into Darknes s is presented here in a three-disc UHD/Blu-ray/Digital HD Combo Pack. The UHD and Blu-ray discs include the spectacular IMAX version of the film and the package also includes a bonus Blu-ray disc with more than two hours of special features. Also included is a redeemable code for the Digital HD copy of the film, which includes both the iTunes HD and UltraViolet versions of the movie. So without further ado, let’s take a look down below at everything you’ll find spread across the three discs in this UHD/Blu-ray set. It’s a pretty hearty collection of extras in this set, even many that were not in my coverage of the original Blu-ray release in 2013 found here .

Feature film in 4K UHD – IMAX Version

Blu-ray Disc #1:

Feature film in high definition – IMAX Version
Enhanced commentary
The Mission Continues PSA

Blu-ray Disc #2:

The Voyage Begins…Again (HD, 2:28) – Go behind-the-scenes as filming begins on the next Star Trek adventure in this very short featurette. J.J. and crew examine how they crafted this follow-up story and decided upon what is what as the cast reunite like a family. It looks like a great time!
Creating the Red Planet (HD, 8:28) – Experience the creation of a never-before-seen alien world (think red leaves and volcanic sets), as featured in the action-packed opening sequence of the film where the crew talks about abandoning plans of shooting this in Hawaii. This is a gorgeous sequence, by the way.
Introducing the Villain (HD, 2:16) – What do you think this is? It’s not exactly what you think it is. It’s basically the concept of human family and what risks what you endure to keep your family safe. This was much heartfelt than I ever thought this extra could be. But nonetheless it is ultimately about the intro of the bad guy here.
Rebuilding the Enterprise (HD, 5:31) – Here you can see the design and construction of a bigger, interconnected Enterprise set. In the first film the different parts of the ship were on different sets, but not this time because they are shooting on a much larger soundstage this time.
National Ignition Facility: Home of the Core (HD, 4:32) – J.J. talks about the location shooting at the National Ignition Facility. Real locations were very important to him here.
Attack on Starfleet (HD, 5:25) – Go behind the scenes with the cast and filmmakers and witness the creation of the shocking attack on Starfleet Headquarters as we get a closer look at the set design, stunt work and action pieces.
Aliens Encountered (HD, 6:54) – This one is exactly like it sounds, the many designs and application of alien makeup, including Zach’s ears. We even get to see him shave. I had fun with this seeing all the alien designs and how awesome the jobs look here.
The Klingon Home World (HD, 7:30) – Spoiler alert! There are Klingons in this film! Discover the stunning world of Kronos, and see how the filmmakers reinvented the Klingons for a new generation by exploring the set design, the makeup and even the language. Very cool!
The Enemy of My Enemy (HD, 7:03) – Spoiler alert again! Find out how, and why, the identity of the film’s true villain was kept a mystery to the very end. Obviously they teetered here with how to delicately handle this with long term Trekkies and newcomers alike while paying sensitive homage at the same time.
Vengeance is Coming (HD, 4:28) – Here’s a comprehensive look at the design and production surrounding the dread, big black enemy ship. J.J. calls it a stealth version of the Enterprise that they call the Vengeance, which represents the dark side of everything the Enterprise is.
Ship to Ship (HD, 6:03) – An in-depth and thrilling look at the filming of the iconic space jump sequence, which both defied the laws of physics and pushed the limits of visual effects. Now with a sentence like that, how can you not watch this film or this associated feature too?
Mr. Spock and Mr. Spock (HD, 4:08) – Leonard Nimoy makes a cameo appearance and reflects on his history with Star Trek as his Spock ears are sculpted and his eye brows are buzzed and shaped.
Down with the Ship (HD, 6:09) – This is the exciting part folks! Discover the stunt and VFX work involved to make the Enterprise roll over. It’s not as easy as you think, or is it?
Kirk and Spock (HD, 5:36) – In this one you can explore the dynamic relationship between the film’s heroes and their contrasting philosophies and mentalities.
Brawl by the Bay (HD, 5:44) – Sit in with Zachary Quinto and Benedict Cumberbatch as they revisit their intense preparation for the film’s breathtaking climax. And let me go on record by saying I fricking love this scene! The movie went out on a rousing triumphant note because of it in my opinion.
Fitting the Future (HD, 5:03) – Here we take a closer look at the film’s out-of-this-world costumes and designs from Michael Kaplan.
Property of Starfleet (HD, 4:53) – Here you can track all the film’s myriad props. You know you want a tricorder. These are things you can’t buy in stores, folks.
Unlocking the Cut (HD, 5:10) – Here’s a quick discussion with the film editors about all their monumental tasks. Is there where we get all the lens flares?
Visual Affection (HD, 9:03) – Here we have an in-depth look at the creation and implementation of the many visual effects throughout. They touch upon my favorite sequence here too, the film’s beautiful opening run through those red crops.
The Sounds of Music (and FX) (HD, 5:26) – Here we have a discussion with film composer Michael Giacchino and sound designer Ben Burtt as they discuss the gorgeous music in this film. I just love that theme in these first two Star Trek reboots.
Safety First (HD, 2:27)– Simon Pegg pulls a prank on the cast with this cream.
Continuing the Mission (HD, 1:57) – Here we have an inspiring look at the partnership between the film’s crew and the organization that assists returning veterans to find meaningful ways to contribute on the home front through an organization called The Mission Continues.
Gag Reel (HD, 5:48) – It’s quite a lengthy, goofy gag reel here.
Deleted Scenes (HD, 5:26) – There’s a Play All selection for the following deleted scenes: Nibiru Captain’s Log, Marcus’ Office (Alternate Version), Room Attack (Alternate Version), Carol’s Accent, Klingon Conversation (Alternate Version), Scotty Cargo Bay Door and Kirk Meets Girl.
Theatrical Trailers (HD) – Here you will find the Announcement, Teaser and Trailer 2 trailers for this film.

In conclusion, all I have to say is this is how you do a summer blockbuster. Star Trek Into Darkness is a ferocious and unforgiving frenzy of action, mayhem and most importantly a heaping serving of fun. So drop everything you are doing right now and click here to order this precious cargo. It doesn’t matter all that much if you haven’t seen the 2009 film, although the references may be helpful, or even if you are not a Star Trek fan in general, because I’m not. You’re guaranteed to have a rowdy, hooting good time with this one. There’s no complex time traveling. There’s no overly long introductions. We all know who everyone is or supposed to be in case you didn’t see the 2009 one. It’s just a pure injection of adrenaline from the start to one hell of a knockout finish of an ending with knockout audio and reference video to boot. This is how you do it, INDEED…and on UHD! An instant MUST-OWN!

DISCLAIMER: This 4K UHD Blu-ray review was judged and graded using the following 4K certified A/V gear found here .

Brian White

Owner/Writer/Reviewer/Editor, Dreamer, Producer, Agent of Love, Film Lover, Writer of Screenplays and a Devoted Apostle to all things Ford Mustangs (the real ones with V8's!). Some of my favorite films include FIGHT CLUB, MOULIN ROUGE, THE DARK KNIGHT, STAR WARS alongside television shows such as SEINFELD, 24, SANFORD & SON and even the often loathed in the geek community BIG BANG THEORY. Outside of my three lives I live I also enjoy spending time with my girlfriend and our three girls (of the furry kind).

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Star Trek – Into Darkness – 4K Blu-ray Review

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Paramount Picture | 2013

PG 13 | 2hrs 11 min | Sci-Fi | Fantasy | Adventure

HD | 1080P | Dolby TrueHD 7.1

Upscaled 4K | 2160P | HDR10 | Dolby Atmos | Dolby TrueHD 7.1

Aspect Ratio 2.40 & 1.78:1

Directed by: J.J.Abrams

Ratings & Reviews

Please see here for my comments on reviewing movies.

My ratings are simple being marked out of a maximum of 5+. My reviews are biased towards the technical production aspects of the film with brief comments about the story line. Extras, sorry, that’s just not my ‘bag’.

So what did the 7.1 soundtrack sound like? Excellent in all respects, and the 4K HDR10 video? Also excellent especially considering it was upscaled.

Entertainment: 5

More differed gratification, but all 4K comes to those who wait. It was so worth it!

Technical Review – Upscaled 4K UHD HDR10

Star Trek Into Darkness was shot mostly on photochemical film using Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL2 & Arriflex 435 ES cameras (35mm anamorphic) with Panavision Primo, C-/E-Series, ATZ and AWZ2 lenses, and large format 65mm IMAX MSM 9802 & Iwerks MSM 8870 cameras with Hasselblad Lenses. This release includes the film in a variable aspect ratio format that mirrors the IMAX theatrical presentation, shifting from 2.39:1 to 1.78:1 during the specific IMAX-filmed sequences. It was finished as a 2K Digital Intermediate, up-sampled to 4K and given an HDR color timing pass for this Ultra HD release. This UHD presentation shines at every turn, the imaging is simply beautiful, and I saw no evidence of any compression artifacts. Integration between close-ups provide outstanding levels of detail, clarity and definition like the “3D” face paint on the Nibiru aliens and the general great skin tones. From costumes to pores and stubble, eyelashes and skin, tattoos and scars, all show amazing clarity and detail. Surface details are also wonderfully captured from the bridges control consoles to the scuffs and scratches on various shuttles and craft. Despite the amazing detail and clarity there were no issues noted with the integration between real and digital.

Colors are wonderfully saturated with a huge range of hues all being vibrant and richly exquisite, without being overdone. From the red-tinted forests of Nibiru, the nebula star field backgrounds, closing credit graphics and Jupiters swirling red spot, all provide impressive and natural colors and hues.

There is less lens flaring in this film than Star Trek , but when they do appear your eyes reaction to the brightness still allows you to see fine detail, even in the brightest of imagery.

Blacks are deep and noise free, supported by excellent low level detail. Peak whites provide clean detail with no obvious clipping, creating a terrific dynamic range.

This is one of the better looking 4K Ultra HD film images that I have seen. Despite it not being in native 4K, it definitely belongs in the reference category.

Audio – Dolby TrueHD 7.1

Star Trek Into Darkness is presented with an updated Dolby Atmos mix that defaults to Dolby TrueHD 7.1 in my system, this new mix sounds terrific. With its wide sound stage and detailed surround effects, the 7.1 mix abounds with atmosphere especially during the quieter moments, but really heating up during some of the more impactful action moments. Action sequences provide plenty of punch from the various weapons and intense explosions. Action scenes come to life with remarkable dynamics, weight, and detail, whether it’s a firefight on Kronos or combat between spaceships. Effects placement are accurate and natural, with movement in both the rear and side surrounds and various atmospheric effects consistently pulling you into the various locals and environments.

Good sub action certainly makes itself known during the action sequences, explosions and firefights, with a solid and extended bottom end having good punch and muscle where required. Dialogue is always clear and detailed with solid front-center imaging and prioritization.

Music is smooth and detailed, with a tight and deep low end support, effortless integration within the sound stage, and perfect clarity to every note.

There is nothing to criticize regarding this soundtrack, providing as it does, a reference mix.

Story Overview

Star Trek Into Darkness is set about 1 year after the events of Star Trek . Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) is repremanded by Starfleet Command after a first contact incident where he manages to save both the indigenous population of the planet Nibiru, and Spock’s (Zach Quinto) life, but in doing so breaks the Prime Directive. Upon the crews return a force of terror within the organization destroys the fleet and everything that it stands for, leaving earth in chaos. Punished for his Prime Directive infraction Captain Kirk looses his command of the Enterprise to his mentor Admiral Pike (Bruce Greenwood) who manages to keep him on as his First Officer. Now with a personnel score to settle Kirk leads his team on a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one-man weapon of mass destruction before all of the earth is laid to waste.

Was the 4K release worth waiting for? A resounding yes, especially for $7.96. This is a fun and entertaining movie and this 4K version provides an astonishing video and audio experience. While there are few improvements to the 7.1 mix, Star Trek Into Darkness looks and sounds terrific. Whether you are a Star Trek fan or not, this is definitely the way to view it at home.

Purchase from Amazon here .

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See my other Blu-ray reviews here.

Star Trek & Star Trek Into Darkness Ultra HD Blu-ray Review

Disc 1: Star Trek Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc 2: Star Trek Blu-ray
Commentary with J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof, Robert Orci Disc 3:
(HD) To boldly go – 16 minute featurette (plus 4 branching pod segments)
(HD) Casting – 29 minute featurette
A new vision – 19 minute featurette (plus Savage pressure branching pod)
(HD) Starships – 24 minute featurette (plus 7 branching pod segments)
(HD) Aliens – 16 minute featurette (plus 5 branching pod segments)
(HD) Planets – 16 minute featurette (plus 2 branching pod segments)
(HD) Props and costumes – 9 minute featurette (plus Klingon wardrobe branching pod segment)
]HD) Ben Burtt and the sounds of Star Trek – 11 minute featurette
(HD) Score – 6 minute featurette
(HD) Gene Roddenberry’s vision – 8 minute featurette
(HD) 9 deleted scenes with optional commentary
(HD) Star Fleet vessel simulation – interactive feature that includes The Enterprise and the Romulan Narada
(HD) Gag reel – 6 minutes
(HD) 4 trailers
Digital Copy Disc 1: Star Trek: Into Darkness Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc 2: Star Trek: Into Darkness Blu-ray
Star Trek Into Darkness IMAX version
Enhanced commentary Disc 3:
(HD) Creating the red planet – 8 minute featurette
(HD) Attack on Star Fleet – 5 minute featurette
(HD) The Klingon home world – 7 minute featurette
(HD) The enemy of my enemy – 7 minute featurette
(HD) Ship to ship – 6 minute featurette
(HD) Brawl by the bay – 5 minute featurette
(HD) Continuing the mission – 2 minute featurette
The mission continues – 1 minute public service announcement for returning war veterans
(HD) National Ignition facility: Home of the core – Production featurette
(HD) Aliens encountered – Production featurette
(HD) Vengeance is coming – Production featurette
(HD) Mr. Spock and Mr. Spock featurette
(HD) Down with the ship – FX featurette
(HD) Kirk and Spock featurette
(HD) Unlocking the cut featurette
(HD) The sounds of music (and FX) featurette
(HD) Visual affection – FX featurette
(HD) Safety first feature
(HD) *NEW Gag Reel
(HD) NEW Fitting the future – Production featurette
(HD) NEW Property of Starfleet – Production featurette
(HD) Deleted scenes
(HD) Theatrical trailers
Digital Copy]

Attachments

Dan Hitchman

Hopefully, someone with a Trinnov Altitude processor and installed speakers for the Front Left Extra and Front Right Extra behind-the-screen speakers will be able to discuss if Paramount left the directionalized, object tracked dialog intact as in the original Into Darkness theatrical Atmos mix... or if they remixed the dialog completely to the center channel.

Ralph Potts

PeterTHX said: Romulan Captain "Nemo"? I thought his ship was the Narada , not the Nautilus . It's "Nero". Like the legend of the Caesar who fiddled while Rome burned. Thanks for the review, it will be great to finally hear the incredible Into Darkness Atmos track at home. Click to expand...

I can't wait to see how the imax scenes look in hdr. Would you say Ralph, that they are reference quality?

Mashie Saldana

At this rate of UHD exclusive Atmos releases I will have to buy an UHD player in the next 18 months...

ThePrisoner

ray0414 said: I can't wait to see how the imax scenes look in hdr. Would you say Ralph, that they are reference quality? Click to expand...

BobbyDigital76

Thanks for the review i will be picking both up tomorrow at BB i was going the Amazon way, For some reason they won't price match BB.

Daniel Chaves

Looking forward to purchasing these this Friday ^_^

Nexgen76 said: Thanks for the review i will be picking both up tomorrow at BB i was going the Amazon way, For some reason they won't price match BB. Click to expand...

natedog1959

I was fortunate enough to see Star Trek: Into Darkness at the Nashville Symphony last night. Hearing the score performed by a world class symphony was breathtaking. The music blended so seamlessly with the action and dialog of the movie that half the time I forgot they were even playing. The dynamic range was incredible. If a quality home theater, along with these new 4k disks can even come close to that performance, we are truly in a golden age of home theater. Nate

Brian Fineberg

wired1 said: Sadly, my Best Buy pre-orders are delayed until 7/12, and this appears to be the case for the stores within 250 miles of me, too. Hmmm.... Just ordered via Walmart for store pick up a few miles from me. Said ONE IN STOCK for each disc. Here's hoping it actually is there, and is the UHD lol! Then, I have to have them pricematch Best Buy as Walmart has them for $43+... crazy. Oh well I will give it a shot. Click to expand...

Brian Fineberg said: same exact story here...heres hoping i dont waste a trip to walmart! worst case I wait till july :/ Click to expand...

Astounding image quality; especially "Into Darkness." This may be the best yet, I'll have to make some comparisons with "Revenant," the current champ.

IAM4UK said: Astounding image quality; especially "Into Darkness." This may be the best yet, I'll have to make some comparisons with "Revenant," the current champ. Click to expand...

So you guys feel the $30 price tag for each movie (some places have a crazy $47 price tag) is actually worth it then? I mean it just seems like a lot for an old movie, its odd how I would be more okay with $25 but not okay with $30 even though its only a $5 difference lol... I guess I just need that push to make the purchase. My situation is Im not taking advantage of the 4k UHD as I am still on a 1080p projector but I am looking at it for its ATMOS sound track so yeah... ^^;;

Daniel Chaves said: So you guys feel the $30 price tag for each movie (some places have a crazy $47 price tag) is actually worth it then? I mean it just seems like a lot for an old movie, its odd how I would be more okay with $25 but not okay with $30 even though its only a $5 difference lol... I guess I just need that push to make the purchase. My situation is Im not taking advantage of the 4k UHD as I am still on a 1080p projector but I am looking at it for its ATMOS sound track so yeah... ^^;; Click to expand...

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Benedict Cumberbatch’s character “John Harrison” became the centerpiece of the debate as soon as the name became public: Was he a new character? Is he Khan in disguise? Maybe he’s the new Gary Mitchell, with Alice Eve as Elizabeth Dehner!

Eventually, Paramount’s unusual international release schedule for the film – premiering in the UK two weeks ahead of the United States – brought all the discussion to a head: Cumberbatch really was playing Khan, and oh boy, you are going to hate this movie!

Once again, the lines were drawn: people either loved the film for it’s action and adventure, incredible visual effects and ship-to-ship battles, and Cumberbatch’s cold, calculating juggernaut of a villain, fighting to protect his family… or people hated it for taking the beloved storyline of Star Trek II , running it through a garbage disposal, setting it on fire, and dumping the ashes into a film can. (Note: an actual review posted on a popular discussion forum).

I’m not going to spend this review focusing on the problems I had with the plot of Into Darkness – though I will address certain issues as they come up in the bonus material – but I’m sure our readers will enjoy a lively debate on the film’s merits (or lack thereof) in the comments below.

Shall we begin?

It’s difficult to find any word besides perfection to describe the visual quality of Into Darkness .

Every single shot – from closeups of the mud-coated Nibiran natives in the lush forests, to the bright halls of Starfleet Headquarters under attack from outside the building, to the high-speed chase above the surface of the Klingon homeworld – provides a dazzling display of color that really propels this film to the top of the “best-looking” Trek release list.

The white corridors of the Enterprise, the bleak planetoid used for torpedo surgery, the flashy nightclubs in downtown San Fransisco… each new location looks better than the last.

There is a lot of darkness in this film as well – pardon the pun – from the depths of the Enterprise engineering section to the bowels of the Vengeance cargo bays. Despite the dim lighting used to accentuate these scenes, there was never a sense of loss of clarity when I rewatched the film on Blu-ray.

The National Ignition Facility reactor at Livermore Labs , used in Into Darkness to represent the Enterprise’s warp core, is a piece of technology that looks just as futuristic as the ship it’s meant to power. Every tube, wire, coil, and switch is viewable in amazing detail in this release, even when the ship is careening towards the surface of the Earth.

The only detraction I have to offer is regarding the lack of IMAX footage in this release. Several scenes from Into Darkness were filmed with IMAX cameras for a dazzling display in theaters, and all of that footage has been cropped to match the standard 2.40:1 aspect ratio of the rest of the film.

This may have been done to reduce viewer confusion, as those unaware may have wondered why the aspect ratio of the film kept changing from scene to scene – but for a movie that looks as good as this one, that extra picture is a significant loss.

It’s been reported that the German edition of the 3D/Blu-ray/DVD combo pack includes the IMAX footage in full aspect ratio, but it’s unclear as to why it wasn’t included in any of the domestic releases.

The standard Star Trek Into Darkness Blu-ray release includes just a handful of behind-the-scenes featurettes – completely produced in-house by Bad Robot, the film’s production company, and not by Paramount – running just over 40 minutes. Yep, that’s it – no deleted scenes, no audio commentary, not even a set of trailers for the film.

Why, you ask? I’ll give you two words every consumer loves to hear: retailer exclusives .

It’s certainly nothing new to Trek fans; ever since the first DVD boxed sets started coming out over a decade ago, words like “Best Buy bonus disc” became synonymous with Star Trek media releases. Even the newly-produced Enterprise and Next Generation Blu-ray sets were hampered by exclusive content (specifically paid for by Best Buy for release at their stores), though that program has thankfully ended for the foreseeable future.

Sadly this isn’t a case of a single feature being produced for a specific retailer: for Star Trek Into Darkness , an entire hour’s worth of additional making-of footage is relegated to Best Buy’s CinemaNow streaming service and Target in-store bonus discs releases (with each retailer offering DIFFERENT content).

On top of that – and brace yourself for this one – the sole audio commentary track is locked into the iTunes digital release package.

Let’s break it down: buying multiple copies of Star Trek Into Darkness in an effort to obtain all the bonus features can get pretty pricey, especially if you paid even more for the 3D/Blu-ray/DVD combo set … and God help you if you’ve already dropped $79.99 on that Amazon-exclusive Blu-ray/Phaser combo set , which includes NONE of the Best Buy or Target features.

As for our international readers, we’re still trying to piece together all the different international options for getting hold of the additional material. Canada’s Best Buy release will include a physical bonus disc in place of the CinemaNow streaming content; the German 3D/Blu-ray/DVD combo set and the the Sainsbury’s (UK) Blu-ray/DVD combo appear to have the same features as the Target release; Tesco’s Blinkbox streaming service is apparently advertising twenty minutes of unspecified extras in the UK – but aside from that, we have no information as to where the rest of this extra content will be available outside of the United States.

There are at least two deleted scenes known to exist for Into Darkness : JJ Abrams showed a clip of Khan showering during his May 2nd appearance on TBS’s Conan , and Alice Eve described a cut sequence involving Carol Marcus’ backstory in a mid-May interview with TrekMovie.com. So where are they?

Well, maybe. The only retailer we’ve found listing any kind of deleted scenes is Australia’s Big W , which also includes “Bloopers”, a mysterious “Roundtable” piece, and “Easter Eggs” on their Into Darkness product listing, along with generic listings for the standard VAM (and some of the Target exclusives). We have not yet been able to confirm this content, so please take this information with a large grain of salt until we can lock down the facts.

SEPTEMBER 2 UPDATE: We’ve gotten a copy of the Australian release details, and it seems that no retailer is set to include deleted scenes in their Blu-ray package. Read more here: http://blog.trekcore.com/2013/09/into-darkness-exclusives-part-i-video-vam/

There’s only one bright spot out of this mess, and that’s the Digital Download code included with the retail Blu-ray set. While you can use it with several online movie services, it’s also compatible with iTunes, which means that it WILL give you access to the iTunes exclusive “enhanced commentary” … if your Internet connection can handle an additional 5Gb download.

I’ve already read comments around the web from people saying that they’ll just play the commentary from their laptop while watching the Blu-ray on their big-screen television, but I’ve got news for you: the iTunes commentary is more than just an audio track – it’s an entirely separate encoding of the film, with on-screen picture-in-picture annotations and behind-the-scenes footage. There’s no additional scenes in this version of the film, but because the commentators often pause and rewind footage to highlight specific elements of production, the thing runs nearly thirty minutes longer than the standard film.

It’s also the full 1.78:1 IMAX version of the film – something I already covered up above, missing from the Blu-ray disc – presented with shifting aspect ratio to provide the true IMAX-sized picture where applicable.

I can hear your response now: “Oh, I’ll just wait for the inevitable ‘ultimate edition’ of Star Trek Into Darkness, with all of this stuff in one package.” Well, I wouldn’t hold my breath – Paramount hasn’t shown any interest in repackaging bonus material sold to different retailers into a combined release in the past, and with so many separate parties involved this time around, it’s unlikely that it’s going to happen anytime in the foreseeable future.

TrekCore was able to obtain ALL of the additional retailer-exclusive material produced for our review – that’s TWELVE MORE featurettes, along with the iTunes commentary – and we’ll cover all of that stuff in a second article, coming in the next few days.

For now though, here’s what’s included in the standard retail release:

There’s no denying that the high definition presentation of this film looks absolutely beautiful – but this is the most confusing, exploitative release ever to bear the Star Trek name. While we can hope that Paramount one day puts out an “ultimate” edition of Star Trek Into Darkness with all of these additional features in one package, there doesn’t seem to be much precedent for such a set, looking at their recent release strategies.

Fans will most likely be forced to troll eBay or other resellers to track down copies of the Target and Best Buy bonus discs, but for those who want to watch the Enhanced Commentary outside of the iTunes restrictions… well, let’s just say they will need to turn to other means.

Are you as angry as I am yet? You have every right to be, but make sure your displeasure isn’t aimed solely at Paramount for this one.

From a source I spoke to familiar with the situation (who requested that we not publish their name):

“Bad Robot had 100% control [over the VAM production], it was all produced in-house, which is new – and they delivered the content to Paramount, who had basically no say. It’s possible – and this is speculation – that the Bad Robot content was delivered late; because account-specific features typically have a later deadline than the Blu-ray, it could have been thrown to different SKUs . That’s a ‘nice’ way of looking at it. The other possibility is that those retail outlets paid for the extra content. Could Bad Robot have sought out those exclusive deals? Possibly… for sure, this is not JUST Paramount’s doing. Nothing happened with that Blu-ray that wasn’t discussed and approved by Bad Robot, even if Paramount drove the decisions. My point is, I think it’s fair to say that Bad Robot was involved in the split VAM decision, and it’s naive to think otherwise – because at Paramount, it’s JJ’s world. If anyone is disappointed in the Blu-ray, criticize the responsible parties – not only the ‘faceless’ studio.”

Bottom line: The old joke about Trek releases becoming “double dip” purchases is once again being told with Star Trek Into Darkness – but this time, it’s no laughing matter.

Star Trek Into Darkness

Star Trek Into Darkness

After the crew of the Enterprise find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one-man weapon of mass ... Read all After the crew of the Enterprise find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one-man weapon of mass destruction. After the crew of the Enterprise find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one-man weapon of mass destruction.

J.J. Abrams
Roberto Orci
Alex Kurtzman
Damon Lindelof
Zachary Quinto
Zoe Saldana
1.3K User reviews
589 Critic reviews
72 Metascore
7 wins & 58 nominations total

(as Zoë Saldana)

Spock Prime

Carol Marcus

Thomas Harewood

Rima Harewood

Ensign Brackett

Lieutenant Chapin

Ensign Froman
(as Jonathan H. Dixon)

Navigation Officer Darwin
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

Trivia Leonard Nimoy 's final film role (and by extension, his final time portraying Spock) before his death on February 27, 2015 at the age of 83. It's also the first in the Star Trek franchise (either movie or TV series) after the death of Majel Barrett .
Goofs (at around 1h 24 mins) While planning the space jump, Sulu's display incorrectly labels the Enterprise as NCC/0514, which is the registry for the USS Kelvin from Star Trek (2009) . It should read NCC/1701.

James T. Kirk : The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Spock : An Arabic proverb attributed to a prince who was betrayed and decapitated by his own subjects.

James T. Kirk : Well, still, it's a hell of a quote.

Crazy credits There are no opening credits in the film except for the title card, making this the third consecutive Star Trek film that does not list its cast at the beginning.
Connections Featured in The One Show: Episode #7.133 (2012)
Soundtracks Theme from 'Star Trek' TV Series Written by Alexander Courage & Gene Roddenberry

User reviews 1.3K

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Aug 19, 2013
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May 16, 2013 (United States)
United States
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Star Trek 2
The Getty Center - 1200 Getty Center Drive, Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, USA (Star Fleet Headquarters)
Paramount Pictures
Skydance Media
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$190,000,000 (estimated)
$228,778,661
$70,165,559
May 19, 2013
$467,365,246

Technical specs

Runtime 2 hours 12 minutes
Dolby Digital
Dolby Atmos
IMAX 6-Track
Dolby Surround 7.1

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Star Trek into Darkness - Ultra HD Blu-ray

Sequel to the 2009 Academy Award-winning spin-off of the classic 1960s sci-fi adventure series. Captain Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise are called back to Earth after a devastating force from within their organisation leaves the planet in chaos and Starfleet in pieces. Determined to settle the score, Kirk embarks on a manhunt with the rest of his crew including Spock, Scotty and Chekov to find the party responsible before their whole world is laid to waste.

Storyline: Our Reviewer's Take

While I would never claim to be the Trekiest of Trekkies, I've been a die-hard fan of the franchise since my parents dumped me off at a theater to see Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan in 1982 so they could get a few hours away from me. For better or worse, I have been pretty happy with 'Star Trek' over the years, mostly because even when they came out with some disappointing movies (see Star Trek V and Star Trek: Nemesis ), they still involved stories that were at least trying to tell something fresh and attempting to remain loyal to principles and canon of 'Star Trek'. I even enjoyed the 2009 Star Trek quite a bit. Even though it was an attempt to reboot the entire universe, it was also smart enough to tie in the events with everything that happened before. It was new and fresh, but it was still very much 'Star Trek'.

Not so with 'Star Trek Into Darkness', a movie that actually starts out very smartly, then manages to sink everything we know and love about 'Star Trek' in its second half. Oh, it's entertaining to be sure, but it makes so many logical (pardon my Vulcan sensibilities) mistakes, that I actually went on a rant about all its problems right here on our 'The Bonus View' blog just a few years ago. Don't worry, I won't get quite that crazy again – I've learned to accept many of those issues I had and just try to enjoy the movie for what it is – but I confess I'm still a little frustrated. Because 'Into Darkness' could have been a very good 'Star Trek' movie if the filmmakers weren't so obsessed with one thing. And that 'thing' is a guy named Khan.

It's no longer a secret that Benedict Cumberbatch plays one of 'Star Trek's most iconic roles in 'Into Darkness'; heck, Paramount even gives it away on the back box cover of this release, even though that reveal isn't made until halfway through the actual film. The problem is that Cumberbatch doesn't even need to play Khan here. He's first introduced as a terrorist named John Harrison, and the fact that he's Khan Noonien Singh actually plays no significant part in the movie other than that his blood contains 'magical' healing powers – an ability that, frankly, could be given to any bad guy. So when Benedict's character sneers at Kirk and Spock and proclaims " I am Khan! " at the movie's midpoint, it's nothing more than an attempt at fan service. Kirk and Spock have no idea who this guy is, nor do they seem to really care much – the film never really delves into Khan's past, reveals his importance in Earth's history (but not important enough that anyone on the Enterprise has ever heard of him), or any of the other facts/personality traits that made the Ricardo Montalban version of the character so beloved among Trekkies.

Actually, I'd love to see someone make a fan edit of 'Into Darkness' where all the Khan mentions are cut out and see how the film plays. I'm guessing it actually might play a little better. It would still have a number of plot holes (the most frustrating being how transporters work in this movie) and that horrible climax where the storytellers think they're being clever by repeating (with a slight twist) the conclusion of The Wrath of Khan and instead just come off as lazy screenwriters, but at least it wouldn't diminish one of 'Trek's best-known villains. Remember how cool Darth Vader was before the Star Wars prequels came along and ruined him? 'Into Darkness' sort of does the same thing to Khan.

But for all the things wrong with 'Into Darkness', it's far from a complete disaster. It's competently made by Director J.J. Abrams (who, in his defense, has confessed in the past to never being much of a 'Star Trek' die-hard), features some great visual eye candy and set pieces, and is more-or-less very well acted (I still have some problems with Peter Weller's slightly over-the-top Admiral Marcus and the way that Cumberbatch enunciates most of his dialogue). So that leaves the big question to be answered: Is it worth picking up on Ultra HD? I think it is. The 4K format is driven by its ability to enhance the visual quality of a movie, and that added boost is definitely a bonus here, particularly when it comes to the IMAX-shot scenes. Even then, I can't endorse 'Into Darkness' as strongly as 2009's Star Trek in 4K Ultra HD, but I'm still giving it a recommendation.

The Blu-Ray: Vital Disc Stats

'Star Trek Into Darkness' sets its phasers for 4K with this Ultra HD/Blu-ray/Digital HD release. The discs are housed inside a black Elite keepcase, with the 4K Ultra HD and first Blu-ray disc (which contains the film) on a plastic hub, while the second Blu-ray is on the inside right. A sole insert contains a code for either an UltraViolet or iTunes digital copy of the movie. A slipcover with artwork that matches that of the keepcase slides overtop.

There are no front-loaded trailers on any of the three discs. The main menus for the Ultra HD disc and the Blu-ray movie disc are identical: a montage of footage from the film with menu selections across the bottom of the screen. The second Blu-ray (with the majority of the bonus features) has a similar menu design, except it has a montage of behind-the-scenes footage from the movie shoot.

All the discs in this release are region-free.

Video Review

Even though the IMAX footage was originally shot in 65mm and scanned at an 11K resolution, everything here comes from a 2K digital intermediate, which was then upgraded to 4K. While visual results of the 35mm part of the movie match the quality of the 2009 Star Trek 4K release (in other words, very good), the real 'wow' factor here comes in the IMAX footage – it looks fantastic, despite being downgraded to 2K then upgraded back to 4K. Since the first portion of the movie has been shot with IMAX cameras, viewers won't need to wait long to see what I'm talking about. The rich reds of the foliage of the opening scene look even richer and deeper in 4K, with some real depth and 'pop' to the image. Every time the movie switched back to it's standard 2.40:1/35mm format, I couldn't wait for the jump back to the full-screen/IMAX scenes. It made me look forward to the day that Hollywood finally shoots one of these big budget films entirely in IMAX (which, last I heard, was happening with the next 'Avengers' film).

Parts of 'Into Darkness' are, well, dark - such as the scenes that take place aboard the Dreadnought-class starship in the second-half of the movie. The 4K boost here definitely helps those moments, as blacks are deeper and details are noticeably better than the 1080p version of the movie. In fact, details are pretty great throughout, and the fact that Director J.J. Abrams seems to pull back a bit on his lens flare obsession in this movie (although the Enterprise bridge scenes are still packed with them) is helpful.

Even though – thanks to those IMAX scenes – I think the visuals here are slightly better than the 4K release of J.J.'s first 'Star Trek' movie, I held back on giving this a reference-quality score, simply because of the 2K DI source used for this transfer. That said, it's hard to imagine anyone will find much to fault here – the image is fantastic.

Audio Review

'Star Trek Into Darkness' beams up to 4K with an English Dolby Atmos track (which plays as a 7.1 Dolby TrueHD track for those without an Atmos set-up) that is nothing short of reference-quality. Even slightly more-so than the 4K version of the 2009 film, every swoosh, crash, bang, zap, buzz, and beep of the track comes off as distinct and with real clarity. Smooth seamless pans and directionality are used throughout, giving the audio a real immersive feel to it. Dialogue is clear and properly mixed with the rest of the track. LFE use is frequent and fun.

There are no glitches to speak of with the audio, and despite as active as this track can get, I never got that 'unbalanced' feeling where the explosions and laser blasts felt excessively louder than they should. Say what you want about the movie itself, but this is top-notch audio that only manages to enhance the already-impressive video quality, making 'Into Darkness' a great disc to throw in your 4K player when you want to show your friends what this format is capable of doing.

In addition to the Atmos track, the 4K disc also offers up 5.1 tracks in Spanish, French, and Portuguese, as well as an English Audio Description track. Subtitles are available in English SDH, English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese.

Special Features

Note: Since all of the bonus materials on this release have appeared on prior releases of 'Star Trek Into Darkness', the Blu-ray supplements descriptions that follow are from fellow HDD writer Joshua Zyber and taken from his fantastic review of Star Trek: The Compendium .

Also note that his 4K Ultra HD release of 'Star Trek Into Darkness' does not include the 3D version of the movie, so if you already own that on Blu-ray, you'll want to hang onto it if upgrading with this release.

4K Ultra HD Disc

Blu-ray Disc 1

Blu-ray Disc 2

Final Thoughts

There's no denying that 'Star Trek Into Darkness' is at times entertaining and action-packed. The movie's biggest faults lie in the fact that it doesn't feel very much like a 'Star Trek' film, nor does it get many of the established (alternate timeline or no alternate timeline) principles of the original show right. Still, it's hard to believe most fans won't want to pick this Ultra HD release up, given its outstanding video and audio. 'Into Darkness' is among my least-favorite 'Trek' movies, but this release is still recommended.

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Review by Gary Tooze

Production:

Theatrical: Bad Robot / Paramount Pictures

Video: Paramount

Region: FREE! (as verified by the Oppo Blu-ray player )

Runtime: 2:12:05.959

Disc Size: 45,381,287,535 bytes

Feature Size: 36,668,841,984 bytes

Video Bitrate: 26.26 Mbps

Chapters: 16

Case: Standard Blu-ray case inside cardboard slipcase

Release date: September 10th, 2013

Aspect ratio: 2.4:1

Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps

Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

Dolby TrueHD Audio English 4342 kbps 7.1 / 48 kHz / 4342 kbps / 24-bit (AC3 Embedded: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps / DN -4dB) Dolby Digital Audio French 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps / DN -4dB Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps / DN -4dB Dolby Digital Audio Portuguese 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps / DN -4dB Dolby Digital Audio English 640 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps / DN -4dB

English, English (SDH), French, Portuguese, Spanish, none

Featurettes (42:13 in total):

• Creating the Red Planet • Attack on Starfleet • The Klingon Home World • The Enemy of My Enemy • Ship to Ship • Brawl by the Bay

• Continuing the Mission • The Mission Continues (1:29)

DVD of the Feature and code for digital copy

Description: When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.

The Star Trek franchise continues with this follow-up to 2009's J.J. Abrams-directed reboot. Abrams returns to direct from a script by Damon Lindelof and the writing team of Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. The crew of the Enterprise engages in an epic battle of good versus evil after being summoned home, only to discover Starfleet in ruins, and they venture into a war zone to find the powerful villain (Sherlock's Benedict Cumberbatch) responsible for the devastation.

Excerpt from MRQE located HERE

There's plenty of screentime. Into Darkness weighs in at over two hours, and it doesn't mess about. We're into a ridiculous action set-piece from the get-go, in a scene that effortlessly captures the personality of the original series. Fan-pleasing references are littered throughout, from minor character names to major plot points to the aforementioned tribble, with some interesting role reversals and another cameo from Leonard Nimoy. It's impossible to say much more without spoiling the plot, but rest assured the film bounces along for the full two hours, holding attention principally through the strength of the key performances. Cumberbatch carries on the grand tradition of British Hollywood villains, with flashes of both Hans Gruber and Dr Hannibal Lecktor evident in his portrayal of a charming sociopath. Lesser actors would struggle to keep up; it's a testament to Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto that they manage to hold their own. Another unexpected treat is Peter Weller, a criminally underrated actor who'll hopefully pick up some more high-profile roles off the back of this one. As with the 2009 offering, the visuals are stunning, the cinematography dynamic and engaging, the vfx superb. At times it feels rather like watching someone else playing a videogame, but these scenes are few and thankfully brief. We may be going where we've already gone before, but we're plenty bold about it.

Excerpt from Stuart Crawford at Eye for Film located HERE

Image : NOTE : The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

Star Trek Into Darkness arrives on Blu-ray from Paramount to a much-anticipated army of Star Trek fans. The image quality isn't quite as robust (lower bitrate) as the first film but looks quite impressive nonetheless. This is dual-layered for the 2 1/4 hour film. Contrast exhibits healthy, rich black levels but there is a slight softness yet it does export depth. Effects are brilliant - as is the art direction. Close-ups exhibit pleasing detail. It is in the 2.4:1 aspect ratio. Colors, especially in the opening Red Planet sequence, are brilliant. Predictably, this Blu-ray has no flaws and provides a beautiful, rich presentation with so much effort going into the visuals of the film as evidenced by the extra featurette supplements. The battle sequences are riveting and even open space its hard not to stare at the glory of the visuals.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

Like the earlier Star Trek film we get a robust TrueHD but now bumped to 7.1 track at a monstrous 4342 kbps . It duplicated the first movie with aggressive bass and a crisp, sensitive high end . I think it is even more notable in terms of the overall presentation. Effect noises are abundant and coming at you from all angles with subtle and aggressive touches. Michael Giacchino ( The Incredibles (2004), Ratatouille (2007), and Speed Racer - 2008) repeats his infectious score sounding noble and classic as the Enterprise comes into our view. The lossless rendering is, like the image, quite perfect. Mixed in is Alexander Courage and Gene Roddenberry's original theme from Star Trek . There are optional foreign language DUBs and subtitles. M y Oppo Blu-ray player has identified it as being a region FREE disc playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.

Extras include 7 production featurettes (running 42-minutes in total) about such details as all the work put into the opening on the Red Planet sequence, the Attack on Starfleet , the Klingon Home World and others with the cast and crew (Producers, actors, technicians etc.) giving input. It's very informative and worth the watch to those keen enough. There is also an oddly placed 1.5 minute advert for the military entitled The Mission Continues and the package includes a DVD of the Feature and code for digital copy.

BOTTOM LINE: Well just like Abrams 2009 film, Star Trek , my two sons and I can't get enough and have watched it three times now in two days. It may be a notch below it's predecessor but it is still a fabulous action/sci-fi with continued homage around every corner. For Trekkies this is pure entertainment and non-Trekkies might get a lot out of it too if they want to have some fun. The Blu-ray provides an amazing presentation and I think this is well worth owning - great stuff - we strongly recommend!

August 31st, 2013

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Trek (2009) & Into Darkness Coming in 4K Ultra HD

Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness are set to become the Paramount Home Media Distribution’s first two titles to be released in the new 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format. The J.J. Abrams-directed sci-fi adventures – due out on June 14 -- will benefit from the next evolution in home entertainment, as 4K UHD delivers four times the resolution and more than double the number of colors available with full HD. Further, 4K UHD offer exceptional vibrancy and contrast through High Dynamic Range technology, which reveals hidden details and shades that better resemble real life.

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Star Trek: The Compendium

Director J.J. Abrams’ global sensations Star Trek and Star Trek: Into Darkness set a course for the ultimate comprehensive home entertainment package in Star Trek: The Compendium, including the IMAX Version of Star Trek: Into Darkness. This four-disc set is packed with previously released bonus material and additional never-before-seen footage.

Storyline: Our Reviewer's Take

"Our destinies have changed." At the time Paramount handed the keys to 'Star Trek' over to J.J. Abrams, the franchise was on very shaky ground. Its last movie, 'Nemesis', was a box office disaster, and the recent 'Enterprise' TV series had been canceled due to poor ratings. Nevertheless, 'Trek' boasts an enormous and famously ill-tempered fan base that doesn't take easily to change or to disruptions in the series' labyrinthine canon. With that in mind, it took a lot of cojones for the studio to contemplate the prospect of wiping the slate clean, erasing six TV shows and ten feature films worth of continuity, and starting over. Could any movie manage the near-impossible task of appeasing old fans while attracting new ones? That was the challenge laid out for Abrams and his writers. Somehow, they (mostly) pulled it off.

Released in 2009, the newly-revamped 'Star Trek' declared its intentions right from the title. It wasn't 'Star Trek XI'. It was just 'Star Trek'. Full stop. Start over. Reboot. And yet, at the same time, not. Using an ingenious solution that ties the new prequel story to the original continuity through the MacGuffin of time travel, all of the events of the 'Star Trek' that fans followed for four decades still happened, while the new movie creates an alternate, parallel timeline that shoots the characters off in another direction. Fortunately, once that gimmick gets the plot rolling, it's quickly dispensed with, and the film blasts along at lightning speed to show us how the young, rebellious James Kirk enlists in Starfleet Academy and meets important comrades such as McCoy, Spock and Uhura, all of whom eventually wind up on the bridge of the U.S.S. Enterprise.

Although the first reboot movie has some scripting issues that I could quibble about, Abrams does a great job of casting young actors to believably portray the iconic characters that fans have known and loved for decades. Just as importantly, the movie feels fresh and exciting. It's action-packed, with a dynamic visual design and terrific special effects married to some great character development and emotionally gripping drama. The film made 'Star Trek' fun and relevant again.

Paramount's big gamble paid off. The new 'Star Trek' was a huge box office hit (the biggest in the franchise's history), and scored widespread praise from both critics and audiences. Naturally, more had to follow. Buoyed by the enormous good will engendered by his success, Abrams returned to direct 2013's bizarrely-titled 'Star Trek into Darkness'. Unfortunately, his follow-up falls victim to the ills that plague so many sequels. It's bigger, louder and more expensive than the last one, but also duller and dumber, with all the same weaknesses and few of the strengths.

I spent a lot of time cataloguing the crippling story, character and plot deficiencies of 'Star Trek into Darkness' in my original review . In brief, the film is a messy hodgepodge of half-thought-out ideas, ill-considered character arcs, and major plot-points and dramatic moments recycled from earlier franchise entries without any of the original context or emotional relevance – all wrapped up in a bunch of videogame-y action sequences that feel like Abrams' audition reel for his upcoming 'Star Wars' gig. It's flashy and frenetic, but terribly shallow and bereft of imagination.

Even with all of its problems, however, 'Star Trek into Darkness' still falls a rung or two above franchise low points 'The Final Frontier' or 'Insurrection'. While that may not be saying much, 'Star Trek' has suffered worse and will survive this folly. How long that will take remains to be seen.

Both the 2009 ' Star Trek ' and its sequel 'Star Trek into Darkness' were previously released on Blu-ray – the latter in both 2D and 3D versions. If that sounds like it should be enough to satisfy most viewers, Paramount made a very frustrating and consumer-unfriendly decision at the time to divide the bonus features for 'Star Trek into Darkness' up among a host of retailer exclusive editions – making it difficult and expensive for fans to collect all the content for the film. The studio justly received widespread criticism for this move.

To rectify that error (at least, that's allegedly the intention), Paramount Home Entertainment has now reissued both films together into a new package called 'Star Trek: The Compendium'. The choice of title is a little strange, given that the box set only contains two movies out of a franchise of 12, and a new sequel is currently in development with screenwriter Roberto Orci at the helm.

The Compendium is a 4-disc set. Each feature is granted one disc for the movie and another for supplements. Other than the artwork screened on their faces, the two discs for 'Star Trek' are identical to the copies previously issued in 2009, whereas the two discs for 'Star Trek into Darkness' have been re-authored with a new video transfer for the film and new bonus content.

Only the 2D version of 'Star Trek into Darkness' has been provided. If you want the 3D version and don't already own it, you'll need to buy that separately.

The movies are housed in a surprisingly flimsy and cheap-feeling fold-out digipak with discs stacked on top of one another on each interior side. The brittle plastic hubs seem destined to break when removing or replacing the discs.

Owners of the prior Blu-rays for these films are eligible to receive a whopping $5 rebate after purchasing the Compendium.

Video Review

I rated the Blu-ray for J.J. Abrams' first 'Star Trek' movie pretty highly when I reviewed it back in 2009. The copy in this box set is unchanged, but because I now have better equipment, a larger screen and possibly higher standards five years later, I felt it worthwhile to rewatch the disc. Although I'd initially intended just to spot-check a few scenes, the movie is so much fun that I wound up watching the whole thing again.

I'm happy to report that the 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 transfer holds up very well. The 2.40:1 image is nicely detailed with vivid colors and a light presence of accurately-resolved film grain. The picture is a little soft, especially during visual effects scenes (possibly due to the resolution that the VFX were rendered at), but never distractingly so. The movie is extremely stylized with Abrams' fondness for shaky-cam and lens flares. Those affectations may rub some viewers the wrong way (I'm more bothered by the shaky-cam than the lens flares), but overall the disc looks great in high definition. 'Star Trek' is still a fine piece of home theater demo material.

Unlike the first movie, the 'Compendium' Blu-ray of 'Star Trek into Darkness' is a new video transfer. The 2013 Blu-ray edition of the film was presented entirely at the 2.40:1 aspect ratio, like the majority of the movie's original theatrical screenings. However, director Abrams shot portions of the movie on IMAX film stock. Copies that played in IMAX theaters expanded in height during those specific scenes. The 'Compendium' disc replicates this effect by varying in aspect ratio from scene to scene (and often shot-to-shot within scenes) between 2.40:1 and 1.78:1.

The taller IMAX frame is generally used during big action set-pieces (including the opening on the volcano planet, the starship warp-speed chase, and the climax in San Francisco), as well as establishing shots, city views, and pretty much any VFX shot that involves outer space. Meanwhile, any scene that takes place in the interior of a starship or shuttlecraft will revert to 35mm and the 2.40:1 ratio, presumably because Abrams couldn't maneuver the bulky IMAX cameras in those sets. This means that the ratio will sometimes frantically switch back and forth as scenes cut between one location and another. Also, the topsy-turvy scene where the Enterprise spins out of control and the characters run along walls and ceilings – which might have made a good IMAX sequence – had to be shot in 35mm.

Both aspect ratio presentations for the film are legitimate. Because the director had to compose his shots with both in mind, he framed the important action within the 2.40:1 portion of the image. Nevertheless, home theater viewers with Constant Image Height projection screens are advised to stick with the earlier Blu-ray. The 2.40:1 extract is not always taken from the precise middle of the frame (sometimes it's centered high), and on-screen text and subtitles have been repositioned for each version of the movie. As a result, you cannot simply crop off the top and bottom of the IMAX version to get the same results as the dedicated 2.40:1 transfer.

In scenes that don't involve IMAX footage, the 'Compendium' disc looks equivalent to the older Blu-ray in video quality. The movie is frequently very grainy, more so than the previous 'Trek' film and enough to be distracting at times. The IMAX scenes, on the other hand, appear a little crisper and clearer on the new disc than the same footage did on the prior Blu-ray. During normal playback, the difference isn't necessarily a revelation, but fine detail such as the text written on the indigenous aliens' holy scroll is a little more discernable.

Audio Review

The soundtrack for 'Star Trek' is encoded in lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1 format, while 'Star Trek into Darkness' is in TrueHD 7.1. I didn't notice this when I first reviewed each film individually, but the track for 'Into Darkness' has been authored with a much louder default volume than the first movie. This became painfully clear when I watched both back-to-back. The volume setting I'd left my A/V receiver set for after comfortably watching 'Star Trek' nearly blew me out of my chair when I put in 'Into Darkness'. Fortunately, this just took a quick minute to compensate for.

Both films have very dynamic and aggressive mixes with powerful bass, highly active surround activity and fascinating sound design by the great Ben Burtt. When I last reviewed 'Star Trek into Darkness', I'd complained that the dynamic range sounded a little compressed. I didn't notice that so much this time. I'm in a new listening space now, so it's possible that room acoustics played a part in my original observation. Whatever the case, I still scored the disc highly last time, and it seems fine to me now – at least, it's fine in that respect.

Unfortunately, I experienced frequent and severe audio dropouts all through the new 'Compendium' copy of 'Star Trek into Darkness' when bitstreaming the TrueHD track from my Blu-ray player to my A/V receiver. I put in the old disc to compare and have no issues with that one. Nor did the first 'Star Trek' give me any problems, but the new edition of 'Into Darkness' gave my equipment terrible fits. At a guess, I assume that the way the Blu-ray is authored in a branching format to accommodate the new Enhanced Commentary (more on that shortly) is at fault.

I can't say for certain whether this issue will affect every viewer, or if it's a compatibility problem with my specific Blu-ray player and/or receiver. I can only hope for the latter and hope that this is something that can be resolved with a firmware update.

Special Features

Since the two discs for 'Star Trek' are unchanged from the movie's last Blu-ray release in 2009, they of course contain the same selection of bonus content.

'Star Trek' (2009) Disc 1

'Star Trek' (2009) Disc 2

All of the features from the 2013 general retail Blu-ray release of 'Star Trek into Darkness' have also carried over. Sadly, while the supplements on the prior movie are generally interesting and informative, those on the sequel are mostly insubstantial Electronic Press Kit fluff and barely worth watching.

'Star Trek into Darkness' Disc 1

'Star Trek into Darkness' Disc 2

A printed flier in the package also offers redemption codes for UltraViolet Digital Copies for both films.

HD Bonus Content: Any Exclusive Goodies in There?

Previously, additional supplements for 'Star Trek into Darkness' were sold with retailer exclusive copies of the Blu-ray at Target and Best Buy, as well as the iTunes digital download. (Each edition had unique features.) The Compendium box set brings most of that content together in one place along with some new material.

The Enhanced Commentary is by far the most interesting of the new bonus features. Most of the rest are short, promotional EPK featurettes – the kind of filler you can probably find on the studio's web site or the PR firm's YouTube channel.

The Cutting Room Floor: What Didn't Make the Blu-ray?

The 'Compendium' box set does not include a 3D transfer for 'Star Trek into Darkness'. While you can still buy the separate Blu-ray 3D edition of that film, that copy was transferred at a constant 2.40:1 aspect ratio. The IMAX 3D version of the movie, with both 3D and the variable aspect ratio, has not been released on home video anywhere.

On the one hand, it can be argued that Paramount is trying to correct the mistakes it made with the original Blu-ray release of 'Star Trek into Darkness'. Unfortunately, I don't think that asking fans to pay for yet another copy of the film, plus another copy of the earlier 'Star Trek' (unchanged from its older Blu-ray), in order to get a bunch of mostly worthless new bonus features, is really going to engender a lot of good will from consumers. A piddling $5 rebate probably won't do much to calm those waters either.

Forget the new featurettes. Listed out in bullet-points, they look far more impressive in quantity than they turn out to be in quality. They're not worth wasting your time to watch. The main benefits of this 'Compendium' box set are the IMAX variable aspect ratio transfer for 'Star Trek into Darkness' and the Enhanced Commentary on that film. Each viewer will have to determine for his- or herself whether those alone can justify the purchase price. If not, there's little reason to upgrade from the older Blu-ray editions of both films that most 'Trek' fans already own.

Given the lack of the 3D version, this box set still cannot be considered the definitive edition of 'Star Trek into Darkness' anyway. I suppose that's being held back for a "Twist the Knife Edition" coming sometime in the future.

Be aware that the "Overall Grade" star rating for this review is a composite average of the Movie, Video, Audio and Supplements sections. Though 4 stars may seem like a high score, in this case the star rating does not reflect the actual value or merit of the item.

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Star Trek Into Darkness

Director: J.J. Abrams Director of Photography: Dan Mindel Production Design: Scott Chambliss Costume Design: Michael Kaplan Year: 2013

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Star Trek Into Darkness 4K HDR Ultra HD Blu-ray Review
Star Trek Into Darkness was shot on 35mm film and 65mm IMAX using anamorphic lenses in a mix of 2.35:1 and 1.66:1 aspect ratios and finished as a 2K Digital Intermediate. As such this 2K DI is used here for this Ultra HD Blu-ray and upscaled by Paramount to 4K. The film is presented with a 3840 x 2160p resolution and swaps between aspect ratios.
Star Trek Into Darkness
After much pre-release hoopla, we have our review copy of the Blu-ray of J.J. Abrams Star Trek Into Darkness. ... they kept the aspect ratio constant at 2.35:1.
Star Trek Into Darkness 4K Blu-ray (IMAX)
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1, 1.78:1 Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1 Audio. ... Star Trek Into Darkness receives the UHD/HDR treatment for a genetically superior high definition presentation. Paramount's ...
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
Arriflex 435 ES, Panavision Primo, C-, E-Series, ATZ and AWZ2 Lenses; IMAX MSM 9802, Hasselblad Lenses; Iwerks MSM 8870, Hasselblad Lenses; Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL2, Panavision Primo, C-, E-Series, ATZ and AWZ2 Lenses
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) Blu-ray Review
Star Trek Into Darkness is presented in the original aspect ratio of 2.40:1, encoded with AVC MPEG-4 compression. Note that some scenes were originally filmed with IMAX cameras in a 1.43:1 aspect ...
Star Trek Into Darkness (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)
J.J. Abrams' global blockbusters Star Trek & Star Trek Into Darkness are Paramount's 1st 2 titles released on the new 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format. ... Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1 - However, it should also be noted that this presentation graces us with the IMAX version meaning there is aspect shifting going on, but believe me, it won't damper ...
Star Trek
Aspect Ratio 2.40 & 1.78:1. Staring: Chris Pine | Zachary Quinto | Zoe Saldana | Karl Urban | Simon Pegg | John Cho. Directed by: J.J.Abrams ... Star Trek Into Darkness was shot mostly on photochemical film using Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL2 & Arriflex 435 ES cameras (35mm anamorphic) with Panavision Primo, C-/E-Series, ATZ and AWZ2 ...
Star Trek & Star Trek Into Darkness Ultra HD Blu-ray Review
The aspect ratio switches between 2.40:1 and 1.78:1, and are handled in typical fashion. I don't find that to be distracting and felt that where they were inserted (meaning the 1.78:1 framing) fit nicely with the context of the storyline. ... Star Trek Into Darkness comes to Blu-ray Disc from Paramount Home Entertainment featuring 1080p AVC ...
Star Trek Into Darkness Blu-ray (Blu-ray + Digital)
Star Trek Into Darkness Blu-ray Release Date September 7, 2021. Blu-ray reviews, news, specs, ratings, screenshots. ... Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1 Audio. TBA Audio descriptive Subtitles. TBA ...
Paramount finally makes the Trek Into Darkness BD right with Star Trek
The first disc of the Star Trek Into Darkness SE includes the IMAX version of the film (in 2.35:1 aspect ratio, with select IMAX scenes included in 1.78:1), ... but also to make the spectacle feel real. Every aspect of production—from unique locations to the use of classic Hollywood camera tricks—was guided by this overall objective.
Star Trek Into Darkness
Aspect-ratio hullabaloo aside, Star Trek Into Darkness looks amazing on Blu-ray. The opening sequence on Nibiru sets the stage with its stark red and yellow hues. The planet's inhabitants are striking in appearance, and the image is immediately and meticulously detailed and razor sharp.
REVIEW: "Star Trek Into Darkness" Retail Blu-ray
Star Trek Into Darkness Release Date: September 10, 2013 Blu-ray Disc / DVD Combo • 2 Discs Paramount Pictures. Picture Quality. Bonus Features. It's likely that I'm a bigger fan of 2009's Star Trek reboot than a large segment of our readers, certainly more than our editor. I thought the cast was perfectly chosen; the film made big changes to the world of Trek while taking the time to ...
Star Trek Into Darkness (4K UHD Review)
Paramount's 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray release includes the film in a variable aspect ratio format that mirrors the IMAX theatrical presentation, shifting from 2.39:1 to 1.78:1 during the specific IMAX-filmed sequences. Star Trek Into Darkness was shot largely on photochemical film using Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL2 (35mm anamorphic) and IMAX ...
Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
"Star Trek into Darkness" is a great sci-fi with a good story of Kirk and his crew and a powerful villain. The good acting and direction associated to top-notch special effects make a highly entertaining movie. ... Aspect ratio. 2.39 : 1; Related news. Contribute to this page. Suggest an edit or add missing content. IMDb Answers: Help fill gaps ...
Star Trek into Darkness
'Star Trek Into Darkness' beams up to 4K with an English Dolby Atmos track (which plays as a 7.1 Dolby TrueHD track for those without an Atmos set-up) that is nothing short of reference-quality. Even slightly more-so than the 4K version of the 2009 film, every swoosh, crash, bang, zap, buzz, and beep of the track comes off as distinct and with ...
Star Trek Into Darkness Blu-ray
Aspect ratio: 2.4:1. Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps. Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video . Audio: ... Star Trek Into Darkness arrives on Blu-ray from Paramount to a much-anticipated army of Star Trek fans. The image quality isn't quite as robust (lower bitrate) as the first film but looks quite impressive nonetheless. ...
Trek (2009) & Into Darkness Coming in 4K Ultra HD
By StarTrek.com Staff. Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness are set to become the Paramount Home Media Distribution's first two titles to be released in the new 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format. The J.J. Abrams-directed sci-fi adventures - due out on June 14 -- will benefit from the next evolution in home entertainment, as 4K UHD delivers ...
Star Trek Into Darkness
Star Trek Into Darkness is a 2013 American science fiction action film directed by J. J. Abrams and written by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof. It is the 12th installment in the Star Trek franchise and the sequel to the 2009 film Star Trek, as the second in a rebooted film series. It features Chris Pine reprising his role as Captain James T. Kirk, with Zachary Quinto, Simon ...
Star Trek Into Darkness 4K Blu-ray (Canada)
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1, 1.78:1 Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1 Audio. English: Dolby Atmos French: Dolby Digital 5.1 ... Star Trek Into Darkness 4K Blu-ray, News and Updates
Star Trek Into Darkness [Blu-Ray] (2013)
Star Trek Into Darkness appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-Ray Disc. I felt completely impressed by this outstanding presentation. At all times, sharpness delivered strong images. Virtually no signs of softness arose here, as the movie remained crisp and tight even in the widest shots.
Why was 'Star Trek Into Darkness' aspect ratio expanded to 1. ...
I mean, normally, a film would have its aspect ratio expanded to 1.43:1 during 15/70mm IMAX sequences, right? So why with 'Star Trek Into Darkness', they decided to go with 1.66:1 aspect ratio instead even though it was shot with 15/70mm IMAX camera?
Blu-ray News and Reviews
Previously, additional supplements for 'Star Trek into Darkness' were sold with retailer exclusive copies of the Blu-ray at Target and Best Buy, as well as the iTunes digital download. ... The main benefits of this 'Compendium' box set are the IMAX variable aspect ratio transfer for 'Star Trek into Darkness' and the Enhanced Commentary on that ...
Star Trek Into Darkness
Aspect Ratio; Country; Genre; Year; Films A-Z; Random Post; Support; Contact; Creative Consultancy; SEARCH. menu. Star Trek Into Darkness. ... 2 Replies to "Star Trek Into Darkness" JPD says: March 13, 2017 at 6:43 pm. Reblogged this on The Damnedest Thing You Ever Saw and commented:

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