For the past several months, Paramout+ has been advertising itself as the home of Star Trek. “Every series. Every episode,” the advertisements claim. While this is true, all Trek fans know that Captain Kirk was also in seven Star Trek films. But these films have disappeared from Paramount+.
In fact, the ten classic Star Trek films, from the 1979 movie Star Trek: The Motion Picture through 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis, aren’t available to watch on any subscription-based streaming platform. Although you can still buy or rent them through services like Amazon, AppleTV, and Vudu.
Currently, the only Star Trek movies available to stream on Paramount+ are J.J. Abrams 2009 reboot film, Star Trek, and its sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness. The third film in that trilogy, Star Trek Beyond, is only available to stream on AMC. Even the recently released Star Trek: The Motion Picture Director’s Edition has vanished from Paramount+ just months after its much-publicized debut.
It’s impossible to know what’s behind the film franchise’s disappearance from streaming services, as there’s been no announcement from Paramount+ regarding the matter. And although it’s highly likely that they’ll return soon, the event highlights the unreliable nature of subscription streaming platforms’ content libraries. As streaming platforms compete for exclusive content and eyeballs on their apps, licensing deals and rights issues are constantly being negotiated behind the scenes.
The bottom line is that if you want your favorite films to be accessible any time you want to watch them, you have to actually own them on physical media or have a downloaded file available for unexpected blackouts like this one.
Source: Comicbook.com
