Star Trek – 4K Blu-ray Review
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Paramount Pictures | 2009
PG13 | 2hrs 7 min | Sci-Fi | Action | Adventure
HD | 1080P | Dolby TrueHD 5.1
Upscaled 4K | 2160P | HDR10 | Dolby Atmos | Dolby TrueHD 7.1
Aspect Ratio 2.39:1
Staring: Chris Pine | Zachary Quinto | Leonard Nimoy | Eric Bana | Bruce Greenwood | Karl Urban
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? Very good in most respects, and the 4K HDR10 video? Excellent, considering it was upscaled.
Entertainment: 5
Video: 5
Audio: 5-
Another waiting game and finally the 4K version is mine.
Technical Review – Upscaled 4K UHD HDR10
Star Trek was shot on 35mm film using anamorphic lenses in the 2.39:1 aspect ratio. It was finished as a 2K Digital Intermediate, which is typical for an effects-heavy movie. The 2K DI was upsampled to 4K in the 2.39:1 theatrical aspect ratio and graded for high dynamic range for this Ultra HD release in HDR10. Although this is an upscale, the UHD’s 2160p resolution presents a movie with a excellent command of fine detail and clarity with significant improvements in both color gamut and dynamic range.
The image is generally very sharp, (just a few shots remained a little soft), well defined, and shows no obvious source noise or any compression artifacts. Despite this excellent resolution it never interferes with the interface between real and digital. The only ‘down side’ is that the film grain is a little more obvious but at no time is it ever distracting or objectionable. Close-ups provide excellent detail, clarity and definition with generally good skin tones. The only issue to my eyes was that the occasional skin texture looked a little ‘plastic’. From costumes to pores, eyelashes and skin, tattoos, and scars, all show excellent texture, clarity and detail, as do the more mundane, like general wear and tear and scuffs and scratches seen in the many industrial interior shots from the Romulan vessel to the bar and Star Fleet engineering areas.
From the red, blue, and mustard-colored Starfleet uniforms to the red sports car and the green alien’s skin, the HDR enhanced colors are vibrant and rich with primaries well saturated and a wide range of hues, all having plenty of refinement with added pop and luster.
Lens flares were still abundant, much to some viewers dismay I am sure, but they do add more atmosphere to the movie creating eye reactive visuals to the flickering and flaring bright whites and deep blacks. When added to the weapons blasts, jumps to hyper space and flashing computer data they provide an added level of immersion.
There is little room for complaint with this upscaled UHD movie’s video.
Audio – Dolby TrueHD 7.1
Star Trek warps into 4K with a very good, but not quite fulfilling Dolby Atmos mix. My system defaults to the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 core. The original 5.1 mix was very good and the additional two back surround channels just elevates it a little further. The improvements are generally quite subtle with the rear channels managing to pull you just a little further into the mix, filling out atmospheric clues and directional information, like the phaser firefight on the Narada. There is plenty going on from the pitch battles and bar ambience to the hum of the ship. Explosions, torpedo launches and hyper jumps provide solid bottom end relief, while phasor blasts create intense sharp edge impact. Imaging is very good particularly within the Enterprises’ bridge area. All these sounds combining to provide a realistic and ‘immersive’ listening experience, with Michael Giacchino’s excellent score wending its way throughout the film and supporting both action and relaxed scenes equally well.
Dialogue was always clear and detailed with a fixed, solid, up front, and mostly center imaging.
A very good mix but there is room for improvement.
Story Overview
The galaxies fate is held in the palms of two rivals, James Kirk (Jimmy Bennett), a rebellious Iowa farm boy and Spock (Jacob Kogan), a half human Vulcan. It’s now 25 years on since James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) was born at the instant his father died saving his starships crew from the attack of a Romulan mining vessel, the Narada, captained by Nero (Eric Bana) who was searching for Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy). A bar brawl causes captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood) to challenge James to realize his full potential by joining the Starfleet Academy. Continuing to rebel, James is brought up before the military council for cheating in his final cadet exam, but just before judgment can be rendered an emergency on Vulcan stops the proceedings. The new cadets are posted to various starships, and after a little medical trickery James manages to get assigned to the newly-commissioned USS Enterprise, allowing him to team-up with the usual band of ‘suspects’. James and Spock (Zachery Quinto) form an unlikely but powerful partnership guiding their crew through many dangers. So begins the adventure boldly going where no one has gone before.
My 2 cents
Was the 4K release worth waiting for? A resounding yes, especially for $7.99. This is a fun and entertaining movie and this 4K version provides a significantly improved image over the original HD release. While there are few improvements to the 7.1 mix, Star Trek looks and sounds terrific. If you are a Star Trek fan this is definitely the way to view it at home.
Up next: Star Trek – Into Darkness!
