April is going to be a big month for Star Trek on Blu-ray. First up is season three of Star Trek: The Next Generation coming on April 30th, along with a special stand-alone release of the two-part episode “Best of Both Worlds” on the same day. In addition on the same day Paramount is releasing a number of Star Trek feature films that were previously only available in box sets. And finally “Best of Both Worlds” is also getting a theatrical release. Get all the details below.



Star Trek TNG Season 3 & ‘Best of Both Worlds’ Blu-rays coming April 30th

Confirming our report from a month ago, Star Trek The Next Generation Season 3 on Blu-ray has been officially announced. It is due in stores on April 30th. As with the previous two season releases it will include every episode meticulously remastered in HD along with new special features, including an “Inside the Writers’ Room” featurette with Ronald Moore, Brannon Braga, Naren Shankar and Rene Echevarria (and moderated by Seth MacFarlane). There will also be the usual three-part documentary on the making of the season, blooper reel and new audio commentaries. (tomorrow TrekMovie will have full disc-by-disc details for the set). The set retails for $130 and is already available for pre-order at Amazon – discounted to $91.

Also confirmed from our report from last month is the release of a separate release of the two-part episode “Best of Both Worlds,” cut together as a single feature. This Blu-ray will also include brand new extras and an audio commentary and even a gag reel. The retail prices is $28.88, and it isn’t yet available for pre-order.



Box art for Best of Both Worlds Blu-ray showing fold out cover

Best of Both Worlds Theater Event April 25

The remastered feature-length version of “Best of Both Worlds” will be shown in one night only theater screenings on April 25th. In addition to the two-part episode they will be showing a special behind the scenes feature. You can pre-order tickets now at Fandango and Cinemark Theaters. Note: This event hasn’t been officially announced yet so there may be more theaters to be added.

Star Trek Movie single Blu-rays coming April 30th also – TMP Director’s cut?

Not to be outdone by CBS, Paramount is also issuing some Star Trek Blu-rays on April 30th. Today Paramount listed solicitations for individual Blu-rays for a number of the films that were previously only available as part of the Original Series or Next Generation box sets released in 2009. April 30th will see the releases of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Star Trek: Generations, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek: Nemesis. The remaining movies (II, IV, VI and First Contact were all released as individual discs back in 2009).

These all appear to be the same cuts that were released in the 2009 box sets. However, there is some question over Star Trek: The Motion Picture as the solicitation text describes it as a “newly restored, Director’s Edition.” This would be big news as the version released in 2009 was an HD remaster of the theatrical release and not an HD version of Robert Wise’s director’s cut which was released on DVD. TrekMovie contacted Daren Dochterman who worked on the Director’s Cut and he said he had no knowledge of any work being done for the Blu-ray. This is important as all the new effects would have to be redone in HD for the transfer. It is possible that Paramount mistakenly used the text from the Director’s Cut DVD set without realizing the difference. TrekMovie has reached out to Paramount Home Entertainment to get clarification.

UPDATE: TrekMovie has confirmed with Paramount Home Entertainment that the Star Trek: The Motion Picture release on April 30th will be the same theatrical cut that was in the 2009 Original Motion Picture collection. The “newly restored, Director’s edition” blurb text on the press site was an error.

Buy TNG and Enterprise on Amazon

You can pre-order TNG S3 at Amazon – discounted to $91. ‘Best of Both Worlds’ pre-order is not available yet. You can also pre-order Star Trek Enterprise Season 1 on Blu-ray (due March 26th) – discounted to $78.

You can also order TNG S1 and S2 (both released in 2012) from Amazon.