Star Trek Beyond: 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review
The Movie:
The Enterprise crew explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a mysterious new enemy who puts them and everything the Federation stands for to the test.
I’m a huge Trekkie so any new Star Trek film is always a treat for me but I did have some concerns. The main problem that I had with the previous film was that a lot of the cast didn’t get enough of the screen time that they deserved. This film however totally corrects that aspect. We actually got a whole lot of screen time for the cast and each person felt like they got their moment to shine. The great thing about the film was that even though it was a big budget blockbuster movie it still had plenty of moments where it felt like I was watching a long episode of the TV show. I will admit that I think that’s what the previous two films lacked a bit. Now with that being said there was some dialogue that seemed like it came right out of the TV show or insinuated things about the TV show and that kind of thing seemed cheesy and very out of place. That was probably the only thing that I had a problem with though as the rest of the film was action packed and full of all the Star Trek stuff that I loved. I don’t think that I really have to state it but all the actors are perfectly cast in their roles and have cemented their spot in this franchise forever. Each actor has their certain quips and mannerisms for each character that they have down perfectly. Another thing that I really enjoyed was the brief scene where they paid tribute to the original crew. It was quick, sweet and they didn’t linger on it too much but it did leave a lasting effect. Justin Lin did a fantastic job with this film and you can tell that there was some obvious influences from the Fast And The Furious franchise thrown in with all the action scenes. Hopefully Lin stays on board to direct a few more films in the franchise because his style fit the movie perfectly. If you have yet to see this third entry then I highly suggest doing so and especially if you’re a science fiction fan then you won’t regret it. 8/10
4K Presentation:
Much like I’ve stated in the past, big blockbuster films like these look amazing in this format. With all the various species of aliens that appear throughout the film the improvement of colors and vibrancy look pretty great. It made everything “pop” very nicely and I do think that the best use of the High Dynamic Range came during the starship fights as well as when the crew is running around on the planet in the film. It’s because of this film that I’m really looking forward to experiencing the previous two films on 4K Ultra HD as well.
Special Features:
Deleted Scenes – Only a minute worth of scenes here and they aren’t that interesting. In a way it’s a good thing that there isn’t many because that shows that everything Justin Lin shot made it in the final cut.
Beyond the Darkness: Story Origins – A really great mini-documentary that goes into Lin’s love of the franchise, crafting the story, some plot details and much more.
Enterprise Takedown: Destroying An Icon – A look at the character that attacks and takes down the Enterprise.
Divided and Conquered – This feature looks at how they break the crew apart during the story and how they all hold their own.
A Warped Sense of Revenge – A great look at the villain of the movie.
Trekking in the Desert – A nice feature on how they shot in Dubai for the Yorktown scenes.
Exploring Strange New Worlds – This one focuses mainly on production design and how they created certain set pieces.
New Life, New Civilizations – Designing the aliens in the film.
To Live Long and Prosper: 50 Years Of Star Trek – A fantastic montage of scenes from Star Trek history along with a nice discussion piece of the franchise and what’s to come in the future.
For Leonard and Anton – A really nice and sweet segment featuring the two actors that passed before the movie was released.
Gag Reel – A hilarious look at all the goofing off, missed cues and line flubs.
