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

[MichaelEl]

I still can't understand why someone would want to see modern effects mixed with 60s-era sets and costumes.

TOS is a classic as it is, Paramount should leave it alone and instead concentrate on restoring older films for DVD release.

 

[Dave Mack]

Jonah, that was a great post!
If they include the original unaltered shows on HD then everyone wins. If they only release the tilt and scanned, CGI modified versions then that sucks.
And are they re-doing EVERY single FX shot?!?!? Even Lucas left most of his from the OT original.
If they must change anything I would be okay with cleaning up the FX shots, removing dirt, debris and maybe bad matte lines so it would still be the same shot.
Also it's not exactly the same as remixing the show into 5.1 as there they used the original music and sound effects tracks. This would be like replacing the music and doing all new sound effects. Why not? They're pretty dated? (sarcasm)
I just bought and recently watched all of the restored Space 1999 season one and it looked amazing. They cleaned it up, that's it. Even when an FX shot looked cheesy it was great.

 

[PeterTHX]

Um, no. Nope.
Roddenberry was almost like George Lucas in lamenting the lack of effects for his show, citing budget.
When he got "TNG" he was able to do many, many more VFX shots that he had always wanted.

As for your SW comments, they most certainly did not in 1977.

 

[Nick Martin]

Once the words 'star' and 'wars' were mentioned, of course it had to get ugly. It's a requirement when talking about such a subject.

 

[John H Ross]

Probably now is a great time to recall the immortal words of the President of the United Federation of Planets as played by (the excellent) Kurtwood Smith in Star Trek VI.

"Let us define progress as "Just because we CAN do a thing, it does not automatically follow that we MUST do that thing"".

Take heed, Paramount.

JR

HIGH DEFINITION: THE DEATH OF CLASSIC TELEVISION

 

[Anthony Hom]

From the POV of Paramount, you have to figure out what is their strategy. Are they releasing HD TOS to just the loyal fans, or do they think the series needs a redux to appeal to a new generation? It's about marketing, possibly politics (maybe an exec has investments in a CGI effects house and want to swing business their way. Is it too expensive to branch both versions of each show, or do you have separate versions of each?) Will the cost improve profits or eat them up? And what about wide screens? I don't see a problem with OAR because everyone who doesn't like black bars will simply do a zoom or stretch. Seems like people who don't care get used to it after a while stretched and if you want OAR, its there, black bars and all.
So in the end, its not whether new effects is good or not, it's whether it will affect the profit margins for Paramount. Either that or a good ol' letter writing campaign for TOS is in order yet again.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Easy. These updates don't affect the episode story and the budget restrictions of TOS always hampered the scope of any SFX shot.

Do none of you ever fix up your house? A coat of paint can change the colour of your room but that kitchen or living room is still the same room.

A 5.1 or SFX enhancement is more in line with that analogy than the hyperboles that are being expressed here.

 

[John H Ross]

I would hardly equate significantly altering the integrity of one of the most famous and celebrated TV shows of all time with painting a kitchen!

 

[seanOhara]

I don't hang a sparkly diamond chandelier in a room with peeling paint and curling linoleum, which is basically what you're doing by replacing the cheesy FX while leaving the cheesy costumes, sets and hairstyles intact.

 

[AlexCosmo]

Is there any reason they wouldn't just include both versions of each episode?
We already have regular dvds with a fullscreen and a widescreen version on the same disc? And again, if this has to happen, (and I wish it wouldn't, but now I'm pretty sure it will)please don't go nuts with the CGI swooping camera and cartoon BS. 2001 or Silent Running should be the template. Better to do one perfect shot than 10 swishy XBOX shots. (I'm sorry, that demo really sucked.)

 

[Brian W.]

Right, but they're not out in high-def format. That's like Lucas saying, "The original untouched Star Wars is already out on VHS and laserdisc."

I'm not against them updating the effects, as long as they also release the original series untouched on HD.

 

[Jonny P]

I agree with the individual that said that CG will be added to try and appeal to a new set of purchasers (in addition to the die hard fans).

I hate to say this, but most consumers who already own any series probably won't purchase again unless the price is low, or there is something significantly different.

I can't tell you the number of people that I know who own 50+ inch 16:9 TVs (that are HD capable) who could care less about the HD picture. Seriously, they gladly accept the "stretched" low-res standard resolution signal.

I personally think the "new breed" of video game style special effects are distracting (even in new movies). It looks totally silly to throw them in.

I think they ought to clean up the existing source material as much as they can, and release them in HD that way.

Personally, I don't see them completely redoing a newer ST property like TNG. That would cost a fortune and take years to release all 7 seasons.

 

[Nelson Au]

To address an earlier poster about whether they'd redo all the effects for all 79 TOS episodes. My own conjecture would be that this is still a business and the in-house CGI artists that Paramount will have do the work are likely going to do something similar to what was originally done. They'll create some new effects, but for similar shots that establish location or intros, they'll likely make one shot and reuse it, over and over. Why waste time and cost for a shot that works for many situations.

It just occurred to me, The Immunity Syndrome that had the giant living cell in space was quite a groovy effect, very 1960's in method, but really worked. I see no reason to redo that one. This is still a dodgey idea I think, redoing Khan's sleeper ship Bontany Bay in CGI, would it be an improvement? It wasn't a bad effect either. In so many cases, are they going to recreate the exact same designs and then render them in CGI? And then the Romulan Bird of Prey, would they devolve the design to match what was done on Enterprise for Dead Stop? I hope they keep the design the same!

Alex- It was noted in the original story on the Digital Bits that it looks like the new HD DVD's would have the ability to allow the user to view the enhanced effects or original.

I think I'll load Enterprise now and watch In A MIrror Darkly again.

 

[Lee Jamilkowski]

Well, I'd be a lot happier about this... "news"... if I knew for sure Paramount wasn't going to milk it for $100 a season set (and also not pull that crap with the exclusive bonus discs at certain retailers).

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Which is exactly what I said many posts ago. Do what you want - as long as the original is available IN THE SAME FORMAT.

It perplexes me that some folks here can go banana bonkers if a movie isn't OAR but are totally cool with other radical changes to the source. I don't get that inconsistency...

 

[Gary Seven]

I was considering buying the reduced priced collector sets of Star Trek even though I have most on LD and all of them on DVD in the original 2 ep a disc issue. The inducing factor for me was the fact that the collector sets are apparently in their entirety (as opposed to the Tholian Web on the previously issued DVD). I put it off due to the fact I knew that the HD release was inevitable. However this recent news is cause for alarm.

I take offense to those people who say I have "my Trek" already so shut up and endure the changes so the neophytes can marvel at the new KEWL special effects. If the effects of the show took you out of the show so easily rather than being immersed into the story itself, then guess what? You are not fans of the show.

However, as long as both versions of the show are available on the same HD MEDIUM, as others have suggested while others seem too obtuse to understand this point, then I will wait for the HD release. If the altered shows are my ONLY choice in HD format, then I guess I better get the reduced sets now while I can.

 

[Jay Pennington]

Those who are basing their opinion of this issue upon those Redux samples (or any of the numerous others that have cropped up over the years) are not comparing apples to apples. Like Jake said, it can be done tastefully.

Still, I would like to know if any research has been done to determine if the various camera elements for the effects shots still exist. If they could be recomposited digitally, removing the multigenerational grain and dirt and scratches, we'd still have the "original" shots, but presented in the best possible manner.

Back when TNG did that Scotty episode "Relics", someone in the production remembered having come across the TOS transporter sparkle film element when working at Western Effects (or whatever it was called) years before. They retrieved it, found it in perfect condition and used it in the show. Dare we hope Western was as diligent in preserving the camera elements of the Big E?

 

[Tony J Case]

Naw, blame it on Captain Blood and Horatio Hornblower. Dont you listen to the commentary? I dont think he goes half an hour without mentioning that he's doing a Pirate Movie in space.

 

[jim.vaccaro]

I agree. Count me as one who is disturbed by this tinkering and won't be "upgrading".

 

[Dave Mack]

I guess they should re-do shows like "The Twilight Zone" since they had cheesy effects too. Heck, the first few seasons of The X-Files look pretty dated now too. When will it end? Shame that the hard work of all those effects craftsmen might not get preserved.
If they release both, fine but sounds doubtful.