New to Blu: September 7 – 13

Star Trek goes where it hasn’t gone before — on 4K Blu-ray.

Out the week of the show’s 50th anniversary are the 2009 reboot and and Star Trek Into Darkness.

“Star Trek was shot on 35mm film at the 2.39:1 aspect ratio (using anamorphic lenses), then scanned and finished to a 2K Digital Intermediate. For this Ultra HD Blu-ray release, that 2K DI was up-sampled to 4K and a new HDR colour timing pass was completed.

“The resolution is thus slightly improved over the regular Blu-ray (1556p up-sampled to 3072p vs standard 1080p), but the major improvements lie in the expanded colour gamut and greater dynamic range.”

“The UHD release retains a gorgeous cinematic texturing, boasting a refined and complimentary grain structure that accentuates every detail and visual effect. The image is otherwise clean and sharp, beyond a few soft shots that remain.”

“Star Trek upgrades 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 aggressive from the get-go and doesn’t let up until the end credits roll.

“It goes without saying that every laser blast and explosion sound great here, but smaller things like the beeps, chirps, and whistles f the Enterprise’s various systems are distinct and noticeable throughout.”

“Star Trek Into Darkness receives the UHD/HDR treatment for a genetically superior high definition presentation …

“The UHD presentation dazzles. Much like the 2009 film’s 4K transfer, this one leaves no detail behind. The organically filmic transfer preserves a very light and accentuating grain layer that helps reproduce an endlessly attractive film-style veneer.”

“The real ‘wow’ factor here comes in the IMAX footage – it looks fantastic, despite being downgraded to 2K then upgraded back to 4K.”

Also out this week is the Star Trek: 50th Anniversary TV and Movie Collection.

“The vast majority of the content in this set is previously released material. The original series and movie discs are the same as the previously released Blu-rays, though adorned with gorgeous new artwork customised for each disc.

“This even includes the recent director’s cut Blu-ray of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (fortunately, the set includes the corrected version).

“The biggest selling point of this set, in terms of the content, is the fact that the 1973-74 animated series is available on Blu-ray for the first time, 10 years after receiving a DVD release.”

“It’s great to finally get the HD scans for all of The Animated Series, and the packaging here earns high marks on its own – but for those fans who already own TOS and all the films on Blu-ray, you’ll need to decide if the movie bonus disc and pin/poster material is enough to justify an expensive re-purchase with a standalone Animated Series release expected to arrive later in 2016.”

Also getting a sci-fi spruce-up is Buck Rogers In The 25th Century: The Complete Series, although Home Theater Forum members point out there are some shortcomings in the eight-disc box set.

Other small-screen newcomers include seasons four of Arrow, two of The Flash, 11 of Supernatural and one of Narcos while new theatrical releases are limited to two comedies, with US critics divided over the technical merits of one.

“Whiskey Tango Foxtrot‘s digital source yields a solid enough, but in no way noteworthy, 1080p Blu-ray transfer” vs “The war dramedy debuts on Blu-ray with a first-rate, reference-quality 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 encode that shows exceptional definition and resolution from beginning to end.”

Summed up a third: “The video of the Blu-ray disc is excellent, though perhaps not quite as amazing as you might expect.”

Bad Neighbours 2 lands here ahead of the US and UK , going direct-to-disc is The Call Up and getting dredged up from 1979 is North Sea Hijack.

New on the anime front are Psychic School Wars, Log Horizon Season 2 Part 1 (eps 1-13), Your Lie In April Part 2 (eps 12-22), Yurikuma Arashi Complete Series, Gonna Be The Twin-tail!! Complete Series and Transformers: Prime The Complete Series Boxset.