HTF HD-DVD Review: Star Trek: The Original Series Season One (1 Viewer)

[Walter Kittel]

How many people in this thread who object to the new FX have actually viewed the new Season 1 series in HD?

You're entitled to your opinions, but until you've actually witnessed how well the new FX work, then I am going to take your objections with a rather large grain of salt. (No offense intended, but if you haven't experienced the HD release of Star Trek, well...)

- Walter.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Great review!

And I always love to see someone able to appreciate how even older "dated" recordings still sound better in lossless than in lossy compressed (helps to dispell the misconception that only modern recordings are worth encoding losslessly). thank-you.

dave

 

[RickER]

I sure dont object to the new effects. I just dont think everything they did in the 60s was shit, to be blunt.
The new effects are not 100% better in every shot, of every episode. But i loved what they have done in the ones mentioned. Doomsday Machine, and Charlie X were brought up, and i love what they did. I was not so excited about how the Enterprise zoomed around the sun in Tomorrow is Yesterday, but the shots in low earth orbit were really cool. So much better than the original, but thats still not a 100%, A+ grade.

 

[John H Ross]

Sorry, I don't need to see the changes to know that I object to them. Just as I don't need to see Casablanca in Colour to know that I'd hate it.

 

[Paul_Scott]

I completely understand this attitude.
Popular art is cultural (as well as personal) history. It can be entertainment too- but in that sense, it's little more than product- no matter how well crafted and well liked it is. And product is product. It can be reshaped, re-packaged and resold over and over- the purpose of it is entertainment value, not so much cultural legacy.

As long as Paramount makes a regualr attempt to keep the original, unmodified versions 'in print' in some form or fashion, they shouldn't have to worry about creating the antagonistic feelings that Lucas has engenderd with his properties.
But
There is no reason the originals need to be ever made available in HD either. Unlike theatrical films projected large in a theater, the original episodes were filmed for standard def TV display- and in an era when screen sizes rarely were larger than 32"

Personally, if I had to live with double sided discs, I would have preferred the sd side to have the original unaltered version of the eps. I'm sure this will happen at some point. But now that I've seen quite a few of the shows, I honestly don't think I would watch the originals other than for a quick nostalgia fix- but that would be rare and very limited. For just 'entertainment value' I like the job they did here, and would choose these 19 times out of 20.

I don't have the history built up with this particular property that some here have though. It's not hard at all for me to overwrite the memory of how the original shots look. I might quibble that the planetary ring in Dagger Of The Mind looks too cgi slick- but thats about as much of a distraction as seeing a poor bluescreen fringe around the original model shot. And honestly, I think next to the higher res of the live action here, the cgi is the less intrusive alternative.

but I perfectly understand where John is coming from.

 

[Mark_TB]

I just finished watching the Billy Blackburn's Treasure Chest featurette on the HD side of disc 10 and was surprised by the quality of the original Enterprise effects shots shown there. They didn't look anywhere near as bad as I was expecting based upon some of the comments I've read here and elsewhere. In fact, I thought most of them looked pretty good -- even better than in their previous SD releases. So I'd still like to see the original versions available in HD.

I do enjoy the new effects shots, but I think they should be provided as an alternative to the originals, not as a replacement.

Mark

 

[Nelson Au]

In reference to Paul's comment that the original was shot and meant for TV broadcast in SD, this is true and I did watch it at the time on a 20" black and white tube TV set! Remember those? And I mean tube, before solid state, not the CRT. That set was in a real wooden enclosure as they did in those days! One day in the early 70's, maybe 1969, it actually started smoking and poof, it self destructed!

But going into the 21st Century, I really appreciate now that we can have it on HD. Ignoring the CGI, I really am enjoying the new gloss the show has on Hi-Def and remastered. Today, I watched a few episodes of the SD discs from 2004, the last box set for comparison. While good, I am spoiled now. I just appreciate how the live action looks now. That's the real pleasure I get out of this set.

Regarding redoing the CGI when the original effects were pretty good already? I have to partially agree, the effects in the third season were the best. The first season was iffy a lot of the times. But the 3rd year had the best. CBS chose realisitic lighting over the stylistic lighting used for the asteroid in The Paradise Syndrone. That one was okay as it was. The Tholian Web was okay as it was. Enterprise Incident was nice as they lit the Romulan/Klingon ships with a green gel. I wonder if they'll keep the stock footage of burning buildings in Let That Be Your Last Battlefield!

 

[Douglas Monce]

I believe the largest TV available in the mid 60s would have been a 25". 32" would have been just a bit too large for the glass makers at the time. In fact I think the first TVs larger than 25" were the 3 beam projection TVs that were first available in the late 70s.

Doug

 

[Douglas Monce]

I have to agree with this. The original effects shots in The Tholian Web were some of the best of the whole show and probably would stand up quite well in HD.

Doug

 

[ReggieW]

Is the Blackburn featurette in HD?

 

[Mark Booth]

Exactly! I plan to keep a few episodes on my iPhone at all times!

Mark

 

[Nelson Au]

I saw the Blackburn featurette on the SD side of disc 7, IIRC the disc number. There is an HD version apparently as I just checked the liner notes. It's the HD side of disc 10. I'll have to check that verison out!

 

[Mike_G]

Again with the flawed analogy?

Or, as McCoy said:

"You mean I have to die to discuss your insights on death?"

 

[John H Ross]

Surely what I said was the exact opposite of this?!

 

[Mike_G]

No. The point of the quote was that Spock said that he couldn't talk to McCoy about death because he didn't come back from death yet, just as you haven't actually watched the new DVDs yet.

 

[Nelson Au]

I think John is entitled to his opinion and he shouldn't have to argue his point.

That said, I was thinking of another line that might be fitting here, Worf to Locutus: "I like my species the way it is!"

 

[John H Ross]

Yes I know, I'm familiar with Star Trek IV.

I think where these Trek upgrades are concerned, another quote would be far more appropriate:

Let us define progress to mean that just because we CAN do a thing it does not necessarily follow that we MUST do that thing. (President UFP, Star Trek VI).

 

[Douglas Monce]

Yes. And super 8 film looks amazingly good in HD.

Doug

 

[Chuck Anstey]

I find the new changes quite agreeable but I am partial to model work in general. The one thing that bugs the @$%# out of me is: In 2007, can't the effects people understand yet that SPACESHIPS DON'T FLY LIKE AN AIRPLANE!!!! The ships in TOS all bank left and right instead of pivoting on-center and it drives me crazy. And you can't argue inertial force because the artificial gravity must compensate or they would all be paste on the wall every time they turned or accelerated in a straight line.

On a side note, I just watched "A Taste of Armageddon" and I had forgotten truly how much Capt. Kirk was a man's man of a captain compared all other Star Trek incarnations since. "I didn't start this war but I'm liable to finish it." Yes it totally violates the prime directive especially since they were told not to come there in the first place but damn that was a good line.

 

[Jim_K]

I think an appropriate Star Trek quote for this tired debate is:

"Brain and brain! What is brain?"


Anyhow, I'm still really liking the new CGI space sequences but I think they could've gone the extra mile and CGI'd some of the styrofoam and cardboard sets. Also a CGI redo of some of the aliens and creatures would be especially nice, the blinking eyes on the Gorn is a nice touch but they could've gone further. I hope they did something special to the Horta, Devil in the Dark is a great episode but the FX always looked like ass.