Star Trek TOS Season 1 coming to BD in May-what we know so far (1 Viewer)

[cafink]

Those are some pretty strong words for someone who's been as vocal as you have about wanting BOTH versions of the Star Trek movies.

And no, it hasn't been confirmed that the original versions of the episodes are going to be included. That's the current rumor as passed along by The Digital Bits and some Star Trek fan sites, but it hasn't been confirmed by the studio. And even if they are included, we don't know that they'll be in HD like the reworked versions.

 

[Nelson Au]

I thought that Camper was being jokey, no?

I think there's a fair chance we will get the original episodes in hi-def. They've already been remastered prior to the CGI work, so it exists. It's whether CBS will let us have them that is in question.

I had posted on Trekmovie some time ago that I hoped that CBS would include the originals. A response came from someone who claimed to have some inside info and that CBS had no interest in including them. This was well before the Digital Bits story. So either that poster was totally wrong, or they changed their plans.

 

[Joel Fontenot]

I'll definitely get these if they do include the originals.

I've watched the remastered episodes locally on TV and while the new CGI does do a good job, if it comes to actually watching an episode, I'll pick the original.

It's what I do to this day with the Star Wars OTs. I've watched the SE versions once each, but it's the originals I've gone back to several times since.

 

[SilverWook]

For what it's worth, that theatrical showing of "The Menagerie" I saw a couple years back had a restoration demo. The original "before" shots appeared to be in Hi-Def.

It is really too bad the original FX elements aren't sitting in a vault somewhere. What the Star Wars special editions did get right was cleaning up and re-compositing many of the original model shots.

 

[Camper]

I WAS joking & poking a little fun as well. I way prefer the remastered, but absolutely they should include the original as well.

To my mind the devotion to the original FX is silly, but it IS a fact many people want them and they should get them. I hope it's not just a rumor that they will be included---because that would disappoint many folks and also cause sales to be fewer & I want them to sell big to show Paramount that giving both versions is better than the double-dipping theory of boosting sales.

Also as a fan of the remastered version I'd love to compare the old vs the new just for fun. I'd also like to see just how much they are capable of upgrading the space shots.
I watched the HD DVDs of season 1 in a 'picture beside picture' comparison with the old box set on my TV and I really preferred the new FX, but of course the old set wasn't HD.

Of course the important thing in Trek is the stories, the characters, the acting, the morals etc & the Fx are simply an enhancement. But I felt after comparing that the new FX enhanced the story better. No deigration to the old FX---they had big time constraints with budget, time & technology.

One quick example in 'Charlie X'...........

In the original the Kirk voice-over says, "we are pulling alongside space vessel Antares."
In the original they clearly filmed the first part of that---the Enterprise moving sideways toward something, but they had no time (or money) to include the Antares in the shot.
The remaster honors the original shot by duplicating the movement of the enterprise, but of course adding the Antares in the shot.

If I was showing that episode to a trek newbie and he saw the original they might think or say, "where's the other ship he's talking about?"

I'd rather show them the remastered and then, after they admired the quality of a claasic 1960s sci-fi drama i might say, "some of the FX are new--in fact the ship at the begining wasn't in the original because of constraints."

Was the original version good? Of course, but I like the remastered a little better that's all. I don't see the reason for all the hate directed toward the new.

I hope both groups get their preferred in this first release.

 

[Jay Pennington]

I fail to see justification for the rudeness of your responses.

 

[Jay Pennington]

double post

 

[Camper]

Yes, I was sorta hard on Paramount but they have to accept that some folks want the non-remastered version.

It's the only way some folks will make the purchase.

As the opeiing post states they are including them, but it's not official. I hope they do, just as i hope people read the opening post and understand it is probable we will get both---if Bill Hunt's sources are correct.

 

[TheBat]

I would think that most star trek fans already have the standard versions on dvd? wasn't the HDversion both the remastered on HDdvd and then standard dvd for the non remasters?
I have all 3 sets.
Jacob

 

[Nelson Au]

Camper, you mean some fans want the remastered live action and non-cgi version of TOS.

Jacob, you're correct, most, as least I can speak for myself, have the standard originally aired versions of Star Trek on standard definition DVD. The carrot we are chasing is the original version of TOS in hi definition. With the original optical effects and original opening title music. Though I know that some will comment that the last SD DVD didn't have certain first season TOS episodes with the slightly different version of the titles music before they standardized it for the rest of the season.

 

[Camper]

The HD DVD release had both HD & standard of the RE-MASTERED version.

What some folks want is the NON-REMESTERED in HD.

Paramount stated that after cleaning up the live-action elements---the space shots lokked so terrible in comparison it was pointless to make an HD version of the old FX in HD.

The series used & re-used the same 17 space shots of the Enterprise so many times they were to degraded to total crap in most shots. Heavy, heavy, dirt & multiple layers of grain, parts of the ship missing etc.

Some folks hoped they could find clean elements of the space shots and insert those, but since there so many dissolves that precede the space shots--they'd have to lose some of the live-action footage. Also, many orbiting shots involved different color planets. Therefore to insert clean elements, they'd have to composite the clean shot of the ship with say, a new purple planet for it to be clean. Which of course is redoing the FX by any other name anyway.

The remastered space shots did also caused a loss of a few frames of live-action as well (no dialogue though), but since they were new from scratch shots they could be lengthened. The original elements may not have frames at the beginng & end of the shots to sync the soundtrack/music.
And for some reason the origianl soundtrack was considered inviolate---it could not be edited in any way.

So what folks want and may just get is: the super-clean live action attached to the super dirty space shots.

 

[Nelson Au]

And to add to Steve's (Camper) post, regarding some frames that are removed from the live action due to the necessity of the CGI effects requirements to "cover" over the original fades and dissolves, there are some live action bits that do suffer and the music cues sometimes do not match the new effects. It's just an unfortunate side effect of the remastered CGI effects.

And to repeat some things I've written before, there are several scenes that suffer because of this. In Errand Of Mercy, we lose a bit of Kor's "It would have been Glorious" devilish smile right before the shot dissolves to the Enterprise.

In Mudd's Women, there's a sequence when Spock tells the navigator to alter course and he says, "You have the course, Mr. Farrell", and the shot is of Farrell, then it fades a bit sooner to an exterior of the ship and the music is not in synch with the ship's appearance. That's happened several times through the remastered cgi episodes, the soaring music that often accompanies the ship's appearance.

One of the last shots from The Changling also has a bit of live action cut off that I always liked to see. Right after they beam Nomad off and he blows up, the shot dissolves back to the transporter room and is on Kirk's reaction. The shot then dissolves to the new CGI ship fly by. The lose of those frames includes what looks like William Shatner starting to point at or comment to someone off camera. I always thought he was making a joke to the director or some sort of hokum that ended up on the Blooper reel.

 

[Camper]

Amazon France has the Season one Blu-ray set up for pre-orderand shows it as 8 discs & release as April 27---they must have monday release in france. And the price is listed at 82 euros (about $120 ) Maybe someone who reads french could translate the page.

 

[Nelson Au]

Steve-

I used an on-line text translation webpage. here's what is says, nothing enlightening:

Actors: William Shatner, Léonard Nimoy
Language: French, English Subtitles: French
Many discs: 8
Studio: Paramount Entertainment Home
Coming out date of the DVD: April 27, 2009
Average of the comments customer: No comment existing customer.
Be the first.
Functions DVD: ASIN: B001QGCSOS
Classification among the Amazon.fr sales: 2.168 in DVD (See the Best Sales in heading DVD)
And very appreciated in this heading: n°3 in the heading

DVD > Fantastic, Horror and Science fiction > Series of science fiction > Star Trek (Studios: Improve your sales)

 

[Camper]

You're right, that wasn't very helpful.

Even the price fluctuated--it's now 83 euros..

Oh well it can't be more than 10 days till an official US announcement.

I just hope all the stuff we want to know is made very clear and it doesn't just leave us with a different set of questions.

 

[Dave Mack]

I would love to see both versions as well because IMHO, many of the new fancy FX looked worse than the originals. Sure, clean and shiny, but sometimes they looked like cut-scenes from a videogame. I commend the work they did under the time constraints they were given but sometimes, oofah....

 

[Nelson Au]

There's a new thread in the SD-TV software section about the Blu-Ray discs posted by Hollywoodaholic. There's a new link in there I had missed from TVShowsonDVD with some artwork info that was posted on the Digital Bits.

Star Trek DVD news: Rumors about Star Trek: The Original Series Remastered on Blu-ray | TVShowsOnDVD.com

It shows what looks to be tentitive artwork for the 3 season sets emphasizing the Starfleet delta/arrowhead emblem over images of the crew or ship. The theory is that it would tie into the new JJ Abrams film better with the consistant use of the emblem over vintage images of Kirk/Spock/McCoy. My take on this is that could clash or confuse newcomers to the franchise who are introduced to Star trek via the Abrams films. No need to confuse the youth of today with images of that old and funky "Star Trek" TV show from a million years ago.:rolleyes

I like the idea of the use of the emblem. But the article states it's not finalized or confirmed to be the US release artwork as it was written it's likely for the European market. I am a designer and if had designed the cover art, I'd have centered in the cover art. The artwork can also be seen here at the Digital Bits: http://www.thedigitalbits.com/rumormill.html#021109

Hopefully we'll get some official announcements soon!

There's also some updated info on the TOS films in the article, but that's for this thread

: http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...ow-so-far.html

The main question though, will the added inclusion of the original episodes be in Hi Def?

 

[Nelson Au]

Opps, I spoke too soon, here's an announcement from The Digital Bits about the blu ray release of TOS. Woo-hoo, he says seemless branching for both original and CGI effects. I really hope this is the real deal! My Two Cents - Archived Posts (2/16/09 - 2/13/09)

Most content from the HD-DVD appears to be included too. SRP $118.00, but later in the story he says $110. Maybe a typo.

Trekmovie.com also has this story so it just might be real. They list all the specs as well. And the same price, $118.00, with a release of April 28th. CBS & Paramount Announce First Star Trek Blu-ray sets - TOS S1 & All TOS movies coming April/May | TrekMovie.com

 

[cafink]

Great news about the Blu-rays using branching to present both versions of each episode in HD.

 

[Nelson Au]

I just realized, having just seen the remastered TOS series on HD-DVD S1 and then S2 and S3 on SD-DVD, this will be cool to see it again on Blu-Ray with the original effects in Hi-Def!