Legendary film director Robert Wise made a rare public appearance Sunday in Pasadena, CA to discuss his filmwork and promote the upcoming DVD release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Director’s Edition.

Although new specifics on the eventual DVD release from Paramount Home Entertainment were scarce, due to the project still being in development, Wise said he was very pleased with the results of the disc so far. The director claimed that the new version will be faithful to the fans, but will be fine tuned to avoid much of the frustration the film caused the fans and the film’s creators in its original 1979 release caused by tight deadlines and incomplete editing.

Wise concluded his talk with discussion of his tremendous film career ranging from such landmark films as “Citizen Kane” and “The Sound of Music” to sci-fi classics including “The Day the Earth Stood Still” and “Star Trek: The Motion Picture”, which he feels he can finally watch without being reminded of what he didn’t complete originally.

While none of this news in new, it is encouraging to see dedication from Paramount to get this one right. The short promotional video for the upcoming DVD looks like Paramount is committed to putting out a decent product. “Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Director’s Edition” is a long awaited disc for Star Trek fans and hopefully a new precedent for Paramount Special Editions.