Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Star Trek Beyond

David Vaughn  |  Feb 24, 2017

Picture
Sound
Extras
Three years into their five-year mission, the crew of the Enterprise is in dire need of shore leave. Fortunately, they’re in a sector of space with an advanced star base, and they drop in for a visit. Shortly after their arrival, a distress call comes from a remote nebula, and their leave is cut short since the Enterprise is the only ship in the sector that can navigate through it. Once inside, they meet a deadly alien race in search of a rare artifact that just happens to be located on the Federation ship and will kill anything in their path to obtain it—even the Enterprise crew.

After two successful films, J.J. Abrams moved into the Star Wars universe and left this rebooted franchise in the capable hands of Justin Lin (Fast & Furious) to direct, and he definitely brings a penchant for nonstop action to the table. The screenplay was co-written by Doug Jung and Simon Pegg—who also stars as Scotty—and features a lot of witty dialogue along with the action.

217trek.box.jpgI saw the film theatrically and wasn’t that impressed by the presentation, though things are marginally improved on the 4K UHD release. The film was shot on 3.4K cameras and finished at 2K for its theatrical run, so this 4K presentation is an upscaled affair. Direct comparisons to the Blu-ray shows that the UHD has a bit more detail in close-ups and is a tad sharper on medium to long shots as well. Colors are deeper, especially red, but the black levels on both the Blu-ray and UHD are very inconsistent from scene to scene.

The Dolby Atmos track is very good, especially with its use of overhead effects and how their proper utilization can help draw the viewer into the scene. This is on full display in the first scene of the movie when Kirk negotiates with an alien race in a cavernous chamber. Echoes move about the room as if you’re sitting right next to him as the proceed- ings take a turn for the worse. My only complaint with the track is that the bass levels are occasionally weak and don’t dig as deep as they should to complement the onscreen action.

The supplements are housed on the Blu-ray Disc and include deleted scenes, nine featurettes, a gag reel, and a UV Digital Copy. The best featurette is “For Leonard and Anton” who both passed away before the film hit theaters—they will be missed by their fans around the world.

Blu-Ray
Studio: Paramount, 2016
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Audio Format: Dolby Atmos / TrueHD 7.1 core
Length: 122 mins.
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: Justin Lin
Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Sofia Boutella

COMMENTS
gamera87's picture
Submitted by gamera87 on February 24, 2017 - 3:12pm

How queer that this brief review does not mention the fact that the Barco Escape theatrical presentation of this film included additional footage projected onto the two side screens.

David Vaughn's picture
Submitted by David Vaughn on February 25, 2017 - 12:47pm
With only 420 words for reviews in the magazine, you can't put every tidbit you'd like in there...it's impossible. Furthermore, there are only about 20 theaters or less in the US that offer this "feature," so the vast majority of the readers could care less whether it was presented this way in major markets.
gamera87's picture
Submitted by gamera87 on February 25, 2017 - 12:52pm

I would expect the review at this site to mention whether the additional footage is included on the 4K UHD release.

David Vaughn's picture
Submitted by David Vaughn on February 25, 2017 - 1:35pm
Once again, it's word count. The review was pulled from the magazine and isn't redone for the website. Sorry you're disappointed.
gamera87's picture
Submitted by gamera87 on February 25, 2017 - 1:37pm

Perhaps you could let readers know in the comments if the additional footage is included.

hk2000's picture
Submitted by hk2000 on February 25, 2017 - 10:30am

They should've left this Sci-Fi legend alone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Who F*ING cares- even in 16K it sucks.

notabadname's picture
Submitted by notabadname on February 25, 2017 - 10:52am

I have absolutely loved the reboot of the Star Trek franchise. It is great to see what an awesome job Abrams has done to bring this franchise to a new generation. And with a "Fresh" rating on all 3 films, of 95% on the first to 86% and 84% for the second and third, I would say a majority agree. The ensemble cast was very well chosen and does an excellent job of respecting the history while bringing their own strengths. The 3rd film also is an excellent ride in 3-D. I think I prefer it to the Ultra HD version.

David Vaughn's picture
Submitted by David Vaughn on February 25, 2017 - 12:48pm
As a big fan of the Original Series (and cast), I love what this reboot has done for the franchise.
hk2000's picture
Submitted by hk2000 on February 25, 2017 - 8:55pm

OK, don't know about the 3rd one, but after the 2nd one left me completely disgusted with the whole reboot/parallel universe non-sense, I decided I'd never bother with anything Abrams did- Star Trek to me was a sacred legendary story that he turned into a CGI action flick. This is like replacing an antique meticulously crafted Grandfather clock with a functionally equivalent piece of junk that you can get at Walmart- batteries not included.

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