Star Trek in HD - with revised special effects? (1 Viewer)

[Will_B]

Count me as intruiged. As a Next Generation and Enterprise fan, I would give the old Star Trek a try if they do this.

I am curious about how improved spaceship renderings may help the live-action scenes, by being less interruptive. They can match the grain of the live action scenes...and match the spirit of the original.

 

[Will_B]

Kubrick's 2001, released in 1968, was of the same era. Perhaps they'll just improve the quality to 1968 quality. That would still be a big improvement.

 

[Yee-Ming]

Why "if"? IMHO if you havent already watched TOS, you should ASAP, regardless of whether its effect shots have been upgraded or not. As long as you approach it with an open mind as to the "dated" look of its effects, I'm sure you'll enjoy it, since the effects were never the centrepiece of the show -- it was the themes the show explored, which are as relevant today 30+ years on as they were in the 60s.

 

[Kev_S]

I'd be the first to pick up an X-Files HD set. Thats what I first thought in fact when I first heard this news. I can't understand why people get upset "fans" will always have the old sets if thats what they prefer. I love the X-Files to death and would love an improved version infact i'd pay up to three times more to upgrade from my DVD set. If I was a big fan of Star Trek I'd be over the moon about this release. If it brings more fans to the show as well how can that be a bad thing?

At the end of the day its purely optional if you want to buy it, I'm sure the other versions won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

 

[Jason_V]

So the only reason you haven't watched TOS is because of the effects? Please be kidding.

I don't have nearly enough venom to spew about this. The only people who have any right (moral and ethical, not legal) to mess with the original show are the people who worked on it. Gene is dead. Bob Justman and Herb Wright haven't even been mentioned in any of these conversations. There is absolutely no reason for this.

"Enterprise"--which tried to go for the same idea--failed with state of the art effects. I don't turn "Lost" on for the effects. I don't turn "Battlestar Galactica" on for the effects. If effects and visual eye candy are the only reason you watch a show or a movie, then you have no business saying you're a film fan. It's the story, dummy, not the super kewl computer shit that's being forced down our throats time and again.

I just don't believe there are people here--HERE!!--on board with this idiocy.

 

[Ric Easton]

Wow, 3 pages already! My first reaction to this was "cool!" I gotta admit, I loved seeing a nicer looking version of the old constitution class ships in both "Trials and Tribblations" and "In a Mirror, Darkly". I'd like to see the effects cleaned up or re-rendered if they did them well.

But I agree, that the original versions should and must be included as well, and after I got over the intitial joy of seeing all those purty ships, I would probably want to re-visit the original. And please do not crop for 16x9.

Umm... off topic...

All this also got me thinking about upcoming ST:TOS era movie... Watching Enterprise's "In a Mirror Darkly" reminded me of how well they pulled off the whole thing, not just the outside of the ship. The sets looked pretty much the same, but no longer made of plywood and cardboard. Those walls looked like they had a metal texture to them. Those random blinking lights on the bridge looked like they had actual words in them and seemed to be a pre-cursor to TNG's LCARS system. With the lighting a bit more subdued, I just thought the whole thing worked beautifully, and I hope Abrams and company takes a nod from Enterprise and does not try to redesign the whole thing. If new actors don't take me out of it, a newly redesigned revamp and reboot certainly will.

Just my random thoughts.

 

[Kev_S]

What a daft statement to make. No one is saying they only tune in for one element of a TV show but special FX adds to the immersion. I would be tempted to watch the original Trek for the first time as well if it is re-done well. Perhaps we should have not even moved format to DVD then and stuck with tape to preserve the original vision of the creator(s).

I say if it can be made "better" and brought up to today’s standards go for it, as I said in my earlier post the original will always be available. IMO there is a good chance shows can be made a lot better just look at shows that were upgraded for DVD like Twin Peaks/Twilight Zone etc. This is just the same only a bit more radical with the effects getting re-done. If it all looks more convincing on screen it will add weight to the stories being told, I can't at all see how this is a bad thing.

 

[seanOhara]

 

[Jason_V]

Kev_S...which part is daft? I could be completely and utterly wrong (and I will cop to it if I am), but the overriding idea behind Trek (at least from GR's view) was not to give people something cool to look at. It was to address social problems of the day. The way he could do that was in a future setting. He never said the idea for the show was to have nifty ships flying around.

Second, there is absolutely, positively nothing wrong with TOS as it stands right now. It has surived, thrived and has legions of fans for 40 years. All without the benefit of the current CGI craze. You're basically saying that the fans who fought to keep the show on the air in the 1960s...the ones who supported it in syndication in the 1970s...the ones who kept it alive through movies in the 1980s and 1990s...are wrong. I won't argue (much) with the fact that FX do add another level to the production. But it is a level we have never had before, one that was not intended by the original creators.

Additionally, in reference to moving to the DVD format...what is different between what I have on my shelf right now and what was originally broadcast? Maybe a little dirt? That's it. What is being done is making wholesale changes to the series.

Lastly, it's a bad thing because, as I said before, this material has thrived for 40 years. Redoing the effects are not going to bring in new fans. People will see "Star Trek", laugh at it and move on. Which is definately their perogative just as its yours not to watch. But to say the show can be made better by bringing it "up to date" is insane.

Let's add a digital George Reeves into "The Adventures of Superman". Let's add more shark footage to "Jaws". Hell, let's through some computer robots into "Metropolis". Would any of those additions make those things better? No.

 

[Sam Favate]

Whether you think new effects should be added to TOS or not (and I am of the mind that they should not; leave well enough alone, and so forth), does anyone really think that - given their track record - Paramount would be willing to spend the money necessary to do a good job? This is not Lucasfilm updating its siganture property. This is a vertern studio updating a show (or a series of shows) that it always treated as bargain-basement sci-fi.

 

[Kev_S]

Yes I think its possible to go over the top with the special effects. But so far they have only said there replacing things not adding new things in. I guess we'll just having to wait for more information on what exactly there going to touch up.

I think it comes down to two mind sets at the end of the day those fans that want the original and those that want to see their favourite tv show "improved". I don't disagree with either mindset but lets at least give fans the option. Choice as they say is a good thing.

 

[Jason_V]

Yep, I would like a lot more info from CBS/P'mount right about now on this. Maybe even a sample of what they're doing. What is being changed, how are you doing it, who is doing it exactly, why is it being done. Right now we have one reliable report and lots of side rumors springing from it.

I just hate...underline, underscore, bold, italicize hate...seeing any form of entertainment get changed from its original version for any reason. I don't do Fullscreen movies. I don't do colorized films. I don't do extended/unrated editions unless the original is available (Alien vs. Predator, LotR, SW). It's art and if people can't enjoy it as it was originally intended and created, then it's their loss.

 

[Jonny P]

I still don't think they are going to do a wholesale "redo" to 60 or so episodes.

It would cost way too much money.

My prediction is that they might clean up the title sequence at the beginning (and offer a new 5.1 recording of Alexander Courage's theme).

They might also clean up some "stock" footage of ships flying through space that appear in multiple episodes (namely the the Enterprise) to fix some issues with grain, dust and scratches. However, I see them being relatively minor fixes.

I suppose it depends on how much Paramount believes they can get out of repeat purchasers.

 

[John H Ross]

Can you imagine? There are over 300 episodes of Star Trek including the spin-offs. You really think anybody is gonna change every single effects shot? I guess it's a "necessity" (*cough*) with TNG, DS9 and VOY if Paramount wants to continue milking their cash cow into the next format. And they will.

But there's no logical reason to change the original series unless, of course, they want to tie it in with the new prequel movie (Star Trek XI) and they don't want the 60s effects to look dodgy in comparison. That's the problem with prequels of course. It's the prequel idea that should be dumped, not the original series SFX.

I'm sorry though. Reading some of the comments here I'm absolutely disgusted. I'm told that I have "my" Star Trek and that I should be willing to allow for it to be updated (aka WRECKED) so that a new generation of viewers can enjoy it, but that this new generation can't be bothered watching the show as it stands because the effects are old and creaky. Frankly the new generation doesn't deserve Star Trek. The show is too good for you. Go back to watching Independence Day on your ridiculously flashy 60" plasma screens. Really.

You should be ashamed of yourselves. I mean that.

John

 

[Will_B]

I didn't say I'd tune in ONLY because of the new effects. I said "I am curious about how improved spaceship renderings may help the live-action scenes, by being less interruptive. They can match the grain of the live action scenes...and match the spirit of the original."

There's undue concern that new effects would not match the 1960s style, but we know they can capture the look of the 1960s style because they DID IT on the episode of Enterprise and DS9 where they went back in time.

The revamp of Star Trek the Motion Picture worked. So can this. Today's filmmakers can recapture the look and feel of any era. That wasn't true a few decades ago, but it is certainly true now. I hope they try to capture the look of the 1960s.


LOL!

 

[Dave Scarpa]

That would be true of Next Generation but Not TOS, TOS was totally Filmed.

 

[Nelson Au]

Will, just curious about one of your comments, I'm paraphrasing, you said that the current special effects on The Original Series Star Trek are interruptive and new effects may reduce that for you. Do you really feel that they are interruptive?

 

[Dave Scarpa]

Yeah it seems like 80% of my Film viewing in the Last few years have been going to Classics. I've discovered a love for Film Noir and Westerns of the 50-60's. I find myself watching less and less newer films and what I do manage to watch, most are pretty forgettable.

 

[John H Ross]

There'd be no point re-doing the effects so they look just the same as the originals. What would be the point of that? No, they want them to look newer and more flashy. The SFX in the Enterprise and DS9 episodes looked SIGNIFICANTLY different to their 60s counterparts.

Any new SFX would look a LOT more jarring than the 60 effects. You think they'll help pull you into the drama? They'll do the opposite!

And I was serious about not deserving Star Trek. You want splashy effects? Go look elsewhere!

John

 

[Will_B]

There is a shift in picture quality when they cut to the Enterprise in orbit; this makes it feel like two different programs are fused together. Though the change in grain and exposure may be subtle to some, this sort of mismatch was enough of a problem that today's filmmakers decided to overcome it -- shows like the new Battlestar Galactica have a consistent feel whether a shot is invented or live-on-a-set.

If the CG rendered ships have the same shapes as the old models, as they were in the rendered versions of the old space station and the old Enterprise on that episode of Deep Space Nine, the film quality differences won't be there but the aesthetic of the 1960s (in terms of design) will be.

Of course I am hoping that they won't "go Lucas" and make the new effects distracting! My hope is that they intend to make them well-integrated.

We really need to see a demo reel. Not a fan made demo reel, but one by Paramount.

On a related note, the BBC's old Doctor Who series have remade effects on most of the DVDs, and fans actually support this and are enthusiastic about it...perhaps because those who work on it are very open about each change, blogging in detail about how they made a new Dalek model or created a new rendering. Paramount should follow the example of the Doctor Who Restoration Team in that respect. The before and after pics from Star Trek the Motion Picture were nice. They should do more of that, so that we can assess how the new effects look.