'Star Trek' DVD: Prepare for a deleted scene geek out

Good news, Trek fans. The wait is almost over. Just seven more days until J.J. Abrams’ two-disc special edition of Star Trek comes to DVD. Naturally, that means the usual loving assortment of behind-the-scenes extras, including a commentary track from Abrams and his producing and writing teams. But the nuggets you’ll want to check out first are the nine deleted scenes. If you can’t wait, here’s a breakdown of the lost goodies.

Scene 1: Spock’s birth. This was originally supposed to be the first shot in the movie. A touching and tender scene set on the Vulcan home planet with Winona Ryder (Spock’s human mother) and Ben Cross (Spock’s Vulcan pops) being handed their infant son, who the camera pulls back to reveal has, yes, pointy baby Vulcan ears! Awesome. Part of this was in the trailer for the film. And no doubt some fans were bummed when it was nowhere to be found in the version they saw. Well, better late than never.

Scene 2: A scene of Nero’s ship surrounded by Klingon vessels. The f/x are unfinished in this one, which actually makes it even more interesting.

Scene 3: Back on Earth, a young James Tiberius Kirk background scene, which includes the red Corvette he ends up taking or a joyride in the theatrical version of the film. This one was cut because Abrams thought there was too much backstory in the first reel of the film. He’s right.

Scene 4: Young Spock after he gets into a fight with green blood on his lip, while his parents argue about the boy’s half-human/half-Vulcan nature and the trouble it will bring him later in life. It doesn’t add much, except for the groovy crocodile-skin jumpsuit Spock’s dad is wearing. Who knew they even had crocodiles on Vulcan?

Scene 5: This one’s a honey. An action scene on a Klingon prison planet where Nero is interrogated by threatening Klingons in cool Planet of the Apes-style helmets. The main Klingon interrogator (under all that makeup, of course) is none other than Victor Garber from Alias. For the ladies, there’s also a nice beefcake shot of a bare-chested Eric Bana as Nero, who gets tortured by a nasty insect a la Wrath of Khan. Nice call-back, fellas.

Scene 6: More Winona Ryder, who must be steamed that a third of these scenes collected from the cutting-room floor feature her. In this one, she witnesses the beginning of the destruction of her planet. Meh.

Scene 7: For the horndogs, here’s one of Chris Pine’s Kirk getting his alien freak on with a slinky green girl. This is nearly identical to the scene that made the final cut of the movie where Zoe Saldana’s Uhura walks in and strips down to her skivvies before noticing Kirk hiding under the bed.

Scene 8: Kirk apologizing to the green girl for tricking her during his Kobayashi Maru test. But wait, that’s not the same green girl he was grappling with in the previous scene. Awkward!

Scene 9: Leonard Nimoy’s Spock crossing paths with — and almost getting noticed by — his father Sarek, barely escaping a time-travelling no-no.

Which of these deleted scenes are you most looking forward to checking out? And what was your favorite scene that did make it into the film the first time around?

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