Star Trek Into Darkness 3D

Star Trek Into Darkness follows the crew of the Enterprise as a shocking act of terror on Earth sends them on a manhunt to capture an unstoppable force of destruction and bring those responsible to justice. (Gary Reber)

Special features include the following featurettes shot on the Red Epic HD digital camera system and created entirely at Bad Robot Productions: Creating The Red Planet (HD 08:28), Attack On Starfleet (HD 05:25), The Klingon Home World (HD 07:30), The Enemy Of My Enemy (HD 07:03), Ship To Ship (HD 06:03), Brawl By The Bay (HD 05:44), and Continuing The Mission (HD 01:57); and an UltraViolet digital copy.

The 2.40:1 1080p MVC 3D picture is a 3D conversion by Stereo D shot on 35 mm anamorphic Panavision® and 65 mm IMAX® film stock. Theatrically, the movie was shown as an IMAX DMR blow-up (dual-strip 3D) 70 mm (horizontal) and D-Cinema 3D. Color fidelity is nicely saturated with warm, rich, and at times boldly vibrant hues. The texture is filmic and cinematic throughout. Fleshtones are naturally hued. Contrast is balanced with deep, solid blacks and revealing shadow delineation. The 3D dimensionality is terrific, and perhaps the best conversion to date. The imagery exhibits natural perspective and depth perception, which effectively enhances the sense of realism. The main characters occupy the frame, with background depth supporting the sense of dimension. The picture occasionally exhibits out-of-screen negative parallax imagery that heightens the action sequences with visual punch. The 3D effectively puts the viewer in the scene, up close, as an invisible observer. Some of the scenes are absolutely breathtaking in dimensional scope and enhance the scale of the Enterprise as it transverses the universe. Even the lens flares look incredible in 3D. Resolution exhibits fine detail throughout, especially during close-ups of facial features, skin, hair, clothing, and object texture. The scale of the production design, costumes, and overall magnitude of the sets are stunning, with special visual effects further enhancing the visual impact of the 3D presentation. This is a visually spectacular and stunning 3D presentation that is thoroughly visually engaging and allows one to feel greater emotion with respect to the vaster spaces portrayed in 3D. Everything feel more real and engaging in 3D. This conversion, in particular, dispels the myth that if you don't shoot the movie in native 3D it will not look good and demonstrates the impressive technology advancements of the conversion process. It is an awesome 3D experience! (Gary Reber)

The Dolby® TrueHD 7.1-channel's soundtrack is dynamic and dimensional throughout, with a perfectly executed blend of sound elements and holosonic® excellence. The sound is dynamic, with effectively rendered and nuanced low-level ambient atmospherics and a variety of special effect sounds that dimensionalize the soundfield. There are segments during battle sequences where dramatic soundstaging and soundfield dimensionalization are never ending, including effective directionalization. Deep bass is extended in the .1 LFE channel at times to sub-25 Hz frequencies and at times is extremely powerful. The orchestral music score is projected widely and deeply across the soundstage, extending aggressively to the surrounds, for an immersive enveloping experience. Dialogue sounds natural and is effectively well integrated spatially. As with the previous Star Trek soundtrack, the dynamics and subtle ambient qualities never sound exaggerated but are effectively immersive. Deep bass support is provided by the .1 LFE channel with extension to sub-25 Hz frequencies during explosive action segments. The orchestral music score is effectively balanced for both nuanced background accompaniment to a forceful dynamic presence. The channel allocations for the 7.1-channel soundtrack adhere to the Dolby theatrical standard with the added two channels to the back. This is problematic for systems in which the surrounds in a 5.1-channel presentation are already positioned toward the back and not at 90 degrees relative to the primary listening position. Thus, with loudspeakers added to the 90-degree position requires some rewiring to allocate channels appropriately to adhere to the Dolby theatrical standard. This is an exemplary reference soundtrack that is a perfect complement to a well-produced story. (Gary Reber)