Season ONE OFFICIAL TNG Blu-Ray Discussion Thread

Re: The OFFICIAL TNG Blu-Ray Season 1 Discussion Thread

I thought the CG model was pretty impressive when I first saw it, but the detail on the real model blows it out of the water!

Thanks for this link. I've been a TNG for over 20 years, and I'd always believed Berman was Roddenberry-approved. My mind boggles at what Trek would be like without the interference of these men in suits.

 

Re: The OFFICIAL TNG Blu-Ray Season 1 Discussion Thread

Thanks for that! As far as I can tell, it was first found and re-used in "Lonely Among Us", albeit flopped. Courtesy of TrekCore:



Full res: http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/7172/lonelyamongushd288.jpg


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I'm still not entirely sure why these found shots were not replaced in episodes like "Encounter at Farpoint" and "Code of Honor". I thought their philosophy was to use whatever they could find that was original (e.g. the 13 seconds they finally located for "Sins of the Father"). According to the time stamps on the stream folders on the Blu-rays, they were authored around late May. Seems like plenty of time to drop the shots back into the episodes and re-render/re-encode.

And now they have a second chance with the replacement program -- though I doubt we'll see a fix there either. Not going to keep me up at night or anything... but strange nonetheless.

 

Re: The OFFICIAL TNG Blu-Ray Season 1 Discussion Thread

Well, Gerrold was only there for six months. So no one honestly knows what types of twists and turns the relationship between Roddenberry and Berman took.

 

Re: The OFFICIAL TNG Blu-Ray Season 1 Discussion Thread

People are complaining about a missing phaser blast in Heart of Glory, the scene is editing slightly different, you see the shot from the gun, then it cuts to the security guy getting hit. The sequence looks better now, with the beams coming from the right place.

-Chris

 

Re: The OFFICIAL TNG Blu-Ray Season 1 Discussion Thread

Well I think everyone agrees that TOS had the best first season of any Trek.

But for my money Where No One, Big Goodbye, 11010011, Heart of Glory, and Conspiracy are still some of the best episodes of TNG that were ever made-- and up there with the best eps of Trek period.

 

Re: The OFFICIAL TNG Blu-Ray Season 1 Discussion Thread

So wait, you're saying that rather than forgetting to add an effect, they actually fixed a continuity error? I guess I have to watch the DVD and Blu-ray again.

 

Re: The OFFICIAL TNG Blu-Ray Season 1 Discussion Thread

I agree with this wholeheartedly. In addition, TNG effects work of 1987 are far better than the TOS work of 1966. TOS effects look amazing for their time and TNG effects look amazing for their time.

 

Re: The OFFICIAL TNG Blu-Ray Season 1 Discussion Thread

I actually think with the bluray sets, the opposite is going to be the case. The season one lighting is so much better than in later seasons, that I think season one (and maybe season two) is going to benefit the most from this remaster. On the sampler, "Farpoint" looked better by far than "Sins of the Father" or "Inner Light." It's like we had to wait all these years to really reap the benefits of the season one lighting, but it's totally made the season one remaster for me.

 

Re: The OFFICIAL TNG Blu-Ray Season 1 Discussion Thread

I think calling Gene an "idiot" is needlessly harsh. His views and direction was certainly different than what others had and maybe not suited for a 1980s TV audience and sensibilities but much of his vision for the series and the "universe" of Trek lasted throughout TNG (though mostly went away in DS9 and in Voyager.) I'd probably liken him to George Lucas in a way that he "had a good idea" that was best brought out by people who were better writers and directors. But Gene an "idiot" no way, he's the one that brought everything to life when it comes to Trek. Without him we never would have had any of it. It was better and stronger because of those he trusted to work under him but it still all started with him. Though it did seem (maybe due to declining health/encroaching senility) he was a bit power-made as TNG's 1st season wound down. But everyone still had strong respect for the man.

 

Re: The OFFICIAL TNG Blu-Ray Season 1 Discussion Thread

Okay, so I just examined the DVD and Blu-ray again and the sequence is edited exactly the same. The phaser beam is genuinely missing and it's a full-on mistake -- there has been NO attempt at correcting beam placement (one isn't required).

Funny thing is, they went to all the trouble of erasing the security guard's pyrotechnic igniter squib from his uniform AND the wire coming out of his pant leg! Everything looks great... except for the missing beam.

 

Re: The OFFICIAL TNG Blu-Ray Season 1 Discussion Thread

Yeah but from the angle the Klingon was shooting from (the hallway) the beam would have been coming from the center of the screen anyway. So we wouldn't really have seen much.

And the whole thing plays so fast you barely even notice it anyway. Unless of course you're actively looking for the beam.

 

Re: The OFFICIAL TNG Blu-Ray Season 1 Discussion Thread

The beam would only have come from the center of the screen if the shot was supposed to be Korris's POV -- which it isn't. It's filmed off to the right of the 180° axis (the imaginary line between the two characters). Take note of the guard's eyeline just before the charge goes off -- he's not looking directly at the screen, he's looking to screen left, and therefore the beam should be seen coming from screen left and make contact with his body.

I have no argument with you there -- I didn't even catch it on my initial watch.

 

Re: The OFFICIAL TNG Blu-Ray Season 1 Discussion Thread

"Too Short a Season" is a... tough episode to get through. I've never been a real big fan of it With all due respect to the makeup artists the "old age" makeup doesn't work in this episode. I don't think it really starts getting "good" until Jameson is aged to a young man (and then his "acting in pain" shtick gets to be a bit much) then parts of the episode almost begin feeling like a decent TOS episode.

In the Blu-Ray you can easily see the "seams" where the pyrotechnics are on the wall the away team will cut out for a pass-through.

Question: Has the "strobing" concentric circles/arcs always been there for a phaser hit? They seem more "obvious" now on the BD and sort-of hokey looking.

 

Re: The OFFICIAL TNG Blu-Ray Season 1 Discussion Thread

Home Soil isn't so great either. I realize we're supposed to be caught up in the awe and wonder of this "amazing new form of life" they discovered... but it basically looks like they're just staring at a couple of flashing LEDs the entire time. Lol

 

Re: The OFFICIAL TNG Blu-Ray Season 1 Discussion Thread

In "The Last Outpost" the Ferengi whips had a similar effect. When Geordi was hit, the circles/waves took down Data and Riker too.

 

Re: The OFFICIAL TNG Blu-Ray Season 1 Discussion Thread

I like Homesoil overall but, yeah, the depiction of the silicone entity doesn't translate well. Neither the blinking Christmas lights nor the giant novelty quartz crystal someone bought from their recent trip to a tourist cave.

Not sure how else they could have pulled it off, but...

I do like how it shows how overly concerned Federation and human scientists are with disturbing life on alien planets. The female terraforming scientist is touchingly upset that they may have disturbed a indigenous life and even the head of the operation seems bothered by the idea once it becomes clear the "Microbrain" is not only life but sentient and even intelligent life. (This in contrast to how Dr. Stubbs behaves in a similar situation in Season 3's "Evolution.")

It's interesting that this episode also suggests the terraforming techniques is a decades or century(ies)-long process when only 70-some years ago in Star Trek II techniques were developed to do it in minutes. (Genesis) Granted, Genesis was a flop due to use of protomatter but "realistically" you'd think the ideas would have been refined and better used in the intervening time to make a more stable device.

But I prefer the long, painstaking, terraforming method here as opposed to the magical McGuffin method suggested by TWK.

One buggy thing is how easily Dr. Crusher was able to, through the computer, determine that the unknown sample they had was a lifeform. Even with all of the computer's mad skillz you'd think determining something is life or not would be harder than asking the computer a few easy questions and getting IT to speculate and theorize on the sample.

I also enjoy Data's agreement with the Microbrain that "ugly bags of mostly water" is an apt description of humanoid life.

Also, everyone seems amazed at how the Microbrain is a non-organic (crystalline?) lifeform. Aren't the Tholians a non-organic, crystalline, lifeform?

 

Re: The OFFICIAL TNG Blu-Ray Season 1 Discussion Thread

Man, the 6 footer is so graceful and much nicer to look at especially when lit so well

 

Re: The OFFICIAL TNG Blu-Ray Season 1 Discussion Thread

The remastered image is using the CGI model of the ship. (You can tell because of the two black boxes on the thruster quads (the orange doohickeys at certain points of the ship.) But, agreed, the 6-footer is a great, great model and really they should (but likely won't) replace all shots using the clunky-looking 4-footer with the 6-foot model/CGI model.

 

Re: The OFFICIAL TNG Blu-Ray Season 1 Discussion Thread

^ This is a comparison of two images from the remaster. The first pic is of the CGI replacement in EaF, the second pic is of the original model shot they later rediscovered (but did not insert into EaF for some reason).

 

Re: The OFFICIAL TNG Blu-Ray Season 1 Discussion Thread

Yeah I thought that was funny as well. All this talk about using the "scientific method", and all she really does is ask the computer to zoom in a few times and theorize about what they're looking at.

You also gotta love the scientist with the bad 80s mullet who looks like he should really be drinking some beers on a porch somewhere.