StarTrek :The Original TV Series DVD's ? (1 Viewer)

[Chas_Michael]

I was thinking of taking the plunge on the 3 ST TOS DVD boxes. Is it safe to say these will be the final frontier? Or, will we have new remasters down the road? It's quite a chunk of change!

 

[Scott Kimball]

Down the road? Who knows. TOS and Enterprise are the only Star Trek shows that could benefit from a high def treatment. I would say the current sets are the final frontier of standard def transfers. After higher profile (newer) TV content, and of course the high profile film titles in their library, Paramount could revisit these in high def.

-Scott

 

[TravisR]

Yeah, I'm only venturing a guess but I'd say that all the Star Trek series won't have any more releases on standard DVD. Of course there's the ineviatble HD release.

 

[Tony J Case]

*Shakes magic 8 Ball*

"Signs point to YES"

Are you kidding? Star Trek is Paramount's bread and butter! They will repackage and reformat this bloody show until the end of time itself (and then just a bit beyond). There will never, ever, EVER, be a final release of anything with the Star Trek brand on it.

 

[Scott Kimball]

The question was about the transfers, though. While Star Trek sets will be repackaged (as with the themed sets, as well as any other way Paramount sees fit), I doubt TOS will see new standard def transfers. There's no reason for Paramount to go back and re-transfer TOS until it hits the HD format. Big expense, no return.

-Scott

 

[Jonathan Kaye]

Let's hope that, as and when there's a hi-def remaster of the original Star Trek, it gets a lot more restoration than was the case for the DVDs. One need only look at what the Doctor Who Restoration Team have done with crappy old film recordings (not even original film, as the episodes were VT-recorded!) to see what is possible.

 

[Scott Kimball]

Doctor Who was in much worse shape to begin with.

I think TOS looks great. I don't expect a "restoration" of effects shots, since they have looked grainy and dirty since the day they were made - it's an artifact of the age in which the show was made, not of the age and deterioration of the source. Aside from the effects sequences, the show has been cleaned up rather nicely. "Restoring" dirty effects shots to a state that they've never seen is revisionist.

-Scott

 

[Jack Briggs]

Too add to Scott's comments, TOS looks better than any of the other Treks on DVD -- very filmlike, with excellent color saturation and contrast (I have the original forty volumes released by Paramount).

 

[Ethan Riley]

I think I said on another thread that the dirty process shots of the Enterprise in space made it somehow look more real to me. It was as if there was a camera on an asteroid filming the Enterprise whooshing by. Of course, in that case, it wouldn't be a pristine clear shot; in real life it would be kinda grainy. The grainy-ness always made the Enterprise look gigantic and heavy to me.

 

[Nelson Au]

As said, TOS has never looked so good on a home video format in the current SD DVD's. And never sounded this way either in 5.1.

Scott, you mention TOS and Enterprise as candidates for HD DVD. I assume you mean that the film source of TOS makes it a good place to start from. As for Enterprise, it makes sense as it is filmed and then the last year is digital, in the HD format. So you'd think that would be easy to do. And there's already been discussion that TNG would be difficult due to the older video processes for the effects.

I must say, I am really enjoying the DVDs. If TOS does, and I'm sure it stands a very good chance, come out in HD, many of us will upgrade.

Though, as a side note, Paramount seems to be going through some kind of odd groove lately. There's talk that Startrek.com will close down at the end of this month. The fan club and magazine that used to be privately run, and then was bought out by a big publishing group seems to have shut down too. I hope it's not a sign that the demise of Enterprise and the lack of Star Trek support at Paramount is not a sign that all things Trek are going away.

 

[Dave Mack]

TNG would most likely look horrid in HD as it would be 480 sd video uprezzed since the whole show was edited on videotape and many of the FX were shot on video, yes..?

I would LOVE to get TOS but the dang price is SO bloody High! I would LOVE to see them come down in price the way the X-Files sets now are...

 

[David Lambert]

If junk ideas like this is the alternative, maybe taking a big ol' break isn't a bad thing. I dunno, the idea *could* work, but I've got a bad feeling about it.

 

[Jason_V]

David, you don't like that idea? I mean, what bigger Trek draw could there be than Shatner and Stewart--again--in the Mirror Universe? I'm not a fan of the idea, but I think there definately needs to be some familiarity with the next movie--not the Remans, not the Baku'. People know the MU from TOS, DS9 and ENT. Making the movie will be the hard part cuz there are so many little cameos you can do.

Back on topic, though, I've got the 2 disc movies (all of them) and the season sets of TOS, TNG and DS9. That's all I am ever going to pick up. The next time I upgrade will be when an entire season fits on one or two discs/whatever storage medium works. No interest in VOY or ENT, let alone a "new" edition of what I currently have.

 

[Ethan Riley]

I'm afraid my sets of TNG are far too much of an investment for me to want to EVER upgrade. I paid approx. $99.99 for each. That's $700, okay...way too much to just toss 'em out and buy 'em again. I'm stuck with them, but they are good so I don't care.

 

[David Lambert]

It's too off-topic to fully answer that here, but suffice it to say that this has "gimmick with a bad story behind it" written all over it. Like I said, I've just got a bad feeling about it.

Done well - with good writing, direction, editing, and acting, and with good execution all around - it COULD be good. I just have my doubts.

No doubt Shatner's on top of his game right now (as Boston Legal easily proves), and Stewart's always on form. And if Bakula shows up, I'm sure he'll be up to the task as well. But it takes so much more than 3 actors and a concept - a rather gimmicky one at that - to make a good movie. It's so easy for this to turn out appallingly bad that I shudder at the possibilities!

 

[Mike*SC]

I would really be surprised if this Mirror Universe rumor is true. It seems far too conceptually confusing for casual viewers to get. Even on those DS9 Mirror Universe episodes, they started having fun with the strange contradictions of the Mirror Universe as a premise. In "Wrath of Khan," you didn't need to have seen "Space Seed" (I hadn't at the time) to get it, in "First Contact," no prior knowledge of the Borg was necessary. I think bringing three captains from three time periods into a universe filled with confusing rules is just what Paramount wouldn't want -- a movie that says "Non-Fans, Stay Away!"

Also, is 2006 Shatner really how you want to remember Kirk?

 

[Bill>Moore]

Good points. I like the idea, but whether or not they could pull it off would be up in the air. Whether non-fans would have any interest in it, good or not, is the other question.

 

[TravisR]

I think I illustrate that point too. While I enjoyed First Contact, I still have no real interest in the franchise. Unfortunately, I think Star Trek has a real difficult time of attracting a general audience now. The fans will turn for a movie but it's tough to get non-fans to see a new Trek movie.

 

[Alex cosmo]

It seems crazy now, but when I was a kid, I waited in a huge line to see Trek IV. All the showings for the whole day were sold out. Days later, the same thing at a different theater. Regular people waited for hours to see Star Trek and loved it. The only way that could happen again is for them to do SOMETHING with a little fun and energy. Picard moping about something in FOUR movies ain't it. As for the dvds, I resisted as long as I could, but I finally just gave in and got season 1 and 2 used and I'm glad I did. Gonna get 3 tomorrow.