Star Trek: Boldly Coming to Home Video in 2016

As Star Trek fans prepare for Star Trek Beyond (opening in theaters on July 22, 2016), the home video market offers a re-release of the first two movies in the rebooted franchise. But this is not just your average second chance to own a copy of the popular films. This time around the packages boast copies in 4K Ultra HD.

Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)—releasing June 14, 2016—will be sold separately, and each 4K Ultra HD package also includes a copy of the movie in Blu-ray and Digital HD. This is good, because if you don’t yet own a 4K player, you can still view the movie. And you can tell your significant other that you are just preparing for the next format. (Once you have enough movies in 4K, you will then have plenty of leverage for talking that special someone into letting you invest in the new player – or at least this is how my husband argues for new technology!)

Also vying for Star Trek enthusiast’s dollars is the re-release of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn (1982), in a Director’s Cut. (Releasing on Blu-ray, June 7, 2016.) Arguably the best of the former Star Trek series, this movie features Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and the rest of the crew facing off against a super human (played by Ricardo Montalban) – and is an important piece of Star Trek history to know if you really want to get the most out of the new, alternative universe stories. But be forewarned: Even though this is the extended version the director didn’t get to show in theaters, the run time on this edition is only 3 minutes longer than the last. (That is 116 minutes as opposed to 113.)

Still, those how follow the Star Trek saga will certainly be excited about these new offerings. And it is likely little coincidence that they are releasing just in time for Father’s Day, too.

Other movies that we have reviewed in this franchise include Star Trek: Nemesis, Star Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek: First Contact.