Season TWO OFFICIAL TNG Blu-Ray Discussion Thread

[Trekker4747]

Dick_Valentine wrote:

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(Although....was the Enterprise ALWAYS firing phasers at the Borg ship from it's NACELLE struts? Seems an odd angle and not something it ever did before or since, though I'm sure I'm just mis-remembering rather than doubting the work of CBS-D )

In BOBW one of the times Picard orders Worf to "fire all phasers!" and, yes, Worf does fire from the phasers that are on the nacelle pylons.

[Dick_Valentine]

Trekker4747 wrote:

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In BOBW one of the times Picard orders Worf to "fire all phasers!" and, yes, Worf does fire from the phasers that are on the nacelle pylons.

Odd. In my (admittedly probably wrong) mental picture of the Enterprise's firing arcs It shouldn't be able to do that, those phasers are rear defenders rather than forward attackers aren't they?

If they are indeed able to do that, why don't they always do that when they need the firepower?
They certainly needed as many arrays as possible fighting the husnoc ship among many other possible scenarios

[jimbotron]

Being so used to season 1 and 2, I forgot how much brighter the photography was in seasons 3-7. That will take some getting used to.

Thank goodness the black cardboard on the rear of the bridge sets will be gone going forward. That gets pretty distracting in HD.

[J. Lester]

Madame Mail-lady brought my copy from Amazon today. I haven't watched it yet because of inclement weather in the area; I'm looking forward to seeing the extended version of Measure of a Man.

[Ghostface1701]

Dick_Valentine wrote:

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Odd. In my (admittedly probably wrong) mental picture of the Enterprise's firing arcs It shouldn't be able to do that, those phasers are rear defenders rather than forward attackers aren't they?

If they are indeed able to do that, why don't they always do that when they need the firepower?
They certainly needed as many arrays as possible fighting the husnoc ship among many other possible scenarios

That Season 3 trailer was beautiful. I'm hoping that some of those shots are work-in-progress though, as they could still do with some work. I was hoping they'd correct that shot of phasers coming from half-way up the inside of the nacelle pylons, as there are no emitters there.

[Who1]

Dick_Valentine wrote:

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Season 3 trailer looks EPIC, almost makes me want to forget season 2 completely and move straight on to the season 3 thread!

(Although....was the Enterprise ALWAYS firing phasers at the Borg ship from it's NACELLE struts? Seems an odd angle and not something it ever did before or since, though I'm sure I'm just mis-remembering rather than doubting the work of CBS-D )

Disappointing they didn't improve the flat BOP explosion in Yesterdays Enterprise though, but maybe that's just a trailer goof.
(And I look forward to seeing it AGAIN at the end of Redemption and AGAIN in RASCALS among others.... )

Back to S2, I can't believe they didn't do anything about the 2ft model.
The thing looks damn unwatchable at times. Particularly the scene in the wormhole in Time Squared....honestly, even CGI would've looked better than that debacle.
It doesn't even make sense within episode either.
The Enterprise goes from highly detailed surface textures to suddenly a wormhole appearing completely flat.
Maybe it was a 2-dimensional wormhole but the interior scenes showed no evidence of the crew being crushed inside their own quarters/ten forward nor were there any reports stating as such, so for it to suddenly appear flat and lifeless is just wrong.

I do wish they'd get EdenFX involved for these sets - their experience with the best CGI of the last three Trek series would be invaluable. Their Enterprise D model is ace, and surely they would have done well with wormholes and planets etc.

[tomalak301]

Well, I watched the rest of the special features tonight and "The Child." The only thing I'm going to say about the Child is I think it's the exterior shots that are the biggest issues (The ship itself still looks too washed out) but the interior shots are impressive. While "The Child" isn't one of my favorite episodes, I do think when it comes to visuals, it's underrated and there were two shots (relatively close together) that I really thought were enhanced. The first was the camera panning outside Ten Forward and we see the Mural behind Guinan and that was a great shot. It's so clear and shiny now. That green providing the background came through really well and it's something like that I wish we had seen on Q Who. The second was the warping effect, still inside Ten Forward. Again, great shot back then, better shot now.

As for the remainder of the special features:

Making it So: Part 2

Again, CBS is living up to the standards they set in Season 1. It was great to finally set the record straight on why McFadden left, and it was a great interview with Maulder. I do think though that given another season, Pulaski would have been better developed. I think it was in Part 1 where Michael Dorn was considering leaving because it wasn't worth putting on the Make-Up 2 hours a day just to stand around. Well, he stayed because his role got bigger and we all know how he ended up. I do wonder what Pulaski's fate would have been had Mualder stayed. I was a little bummed we didn't get Maulder to talk about why she left and never came back to the series as a guest star though, but maybe that will come in later seasons.

I will say though, I thought at the end they were focusing too much on the special effects, but it was great to see how Neglium and the Tunnel from Time's Squared came to be. I'm not sure we needed the Q Who explaination on both the documentary and the Tech Update though.

TNG Cast Reunion: Reunification

First things first, I think I was way way too harsh on Marina Sirtis. When I watched the screening and heard her say "With all due respect to the other Trek shows, TNG was the flagship show", I was actually angered by that statement. Well, watching it again and seeing it in context, I still disagree with her that TNG was the flagship show, but I think I understood why she said it. TNG was successful, and in the early seasons of DS9 and most of Voyager, they tried to emulate that success. Still, the flagship show featured Kirk and Spock.

Another thing regarding Sirtis is she really let it all out during this hour. In fact, she made up for that flagship statement with her point about TNG providing a nice counterbalance to a lot of today's TV. I actually agree with her because, let's face it, a lot of Today's TV for one is really negative, and two, there are a lot of bad role models out there. It is great to go back to a series like TNG and think, yeah there is still hope for a better future. It would be nice if we had a TV show where the future was bright and not as dark as most shows have become.

This entire hour was really really awesome. From the Madeline Albright story, to how fans have reacted to the series, I've learned a lot about my favorite show buying these blu rays and visual effects be damned, these special features make that $70 worth it. The story about the woman who had Aspergers, or the cop who has lost all faith in humanity but still holds onto the Trek future, I would love to meet these people. I'm glad the cast did this, and again, I'm sorry to Marina Sirtis for calling her a ditsy chick. I still don't think she was a good actress until First Contact and Voyager though.

Anyway, well done to CBS for putting these together, and I'll end by doing the same thing I did after Season 1 came out, what special features I would like to see for Season 3:

-Gates McFadden coming back and what made her decide to come back

-Denise Crosby having a significant change of heart and coming back and becoming a major player in the Star Trek Universe with the Trekkies movies

-An Interview with Whoopi Goldberg done in 2012/2013

-They say there is going to be a behind the scenes look at the making of Best of Both Worlds. I say awesome

-Some kind of Archival interview with Michael Piller (RIP ) when he was first brought on. If there was one special feature I liked on the DVDs it was anything Michael Piller, North Carolina hat and all, said. I would love a segment covering him coming on to become kind of the new showrunner and how that ended up catapulting TNG into the successful show that it was.

Whatever they come up with in the Season 3 special features, I can't wait.

[jimbotron]

When watching The Schizoid Man, I notice a change to an often-used effect. It happens during that near-warp transport, when the Enterprise warps away.

However, instead of the normal effects shot where it transitions to the 2-foot model after the flash, it remains the 6-foot model. Odd choice, as that forced them to essentially use a still shot of the 6-footer to achieve the warp effect.

[Tommunist]

BriGuy wrote:

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I won't be watching the season 2 set tonight, and I'm pissed - at Best Buy.

They feature it in the ad, and then don't have it available at ANY stores in the metro Pittsburgh area.

It is marked as unavailable at nine - NINE - Best Buys in my area. That is ridiculous.

Plus, after striking out at my nearest Best Buy - and being told the nearest store that has it is in WEST VIRGINIA - I went to WalMart only to find it not there, either.

Grrr.

It's times like this I really, really miss Circuit City.

Same here. None in the Buffalo area. If I wanted to drive 50 miles out, I could pick one up. I will assume it's a distribution issue for now, and will check online again tomorrow. Should've gone with Amazon (which just gave me me "Federation: The First 150 Years" book!) but I am a Best Buy Rewards zone member, so like to rack up some points.

This at least allowed me to finish the above mentioned book tonight (very cool, indeed), but was looking around online in various forms to see if other areas were also in a TNG drought thanks to Best Buy.

By the way, first time post from a lurker. Hello, all!

[Salinga]

There you have it: Season 3 Trailer

[DostoyevskyClone]

As the conversation turns to specific content from the season two DVD, I'd like to follow-up on what others have said about the release in terms of the disappointing effort and decision-making by CBS.

It's been my experience lately that, more often than not, complaining will actually get you somewhere as far as 'change for the good' goes. Personally, from what I've read (and I've been reading everyone's comments with a lot of interest these past few weeks), I don't think CBS has really learned all they could from this.

It's my understanding that CBS is still outsourcing seasons 4 and 6 to another company. While I'm with the people who want to criticize HTV, it's been reassuring to read comments from people who see that CBS is definitely the main problem. They are the ones who originally chose to outsource. Several people have summarized where CBS have failed with season two - including the lack of quality control as HTV worked on that season - so I just want to join in with those who have suggested that fan opinion can make some kind of difference in what CBS is doing.

I'll be very disappointed with CBS if they don't end up amending the release schedule so that the people involved with season one can work on all of the seasons. No matter who the company is, an outsourced company's work will be different (i.e not consistent) from what CBS has already done. I was surprised that more comments weren't made when we first learned that season two would not be handled by CBS directly.

I'm reluctant to use the word 'petition,' but I'd support some kind of write-in to CBS which showed the kind of disappointment some fans have had about season two.

[FrontierTrek]

DostoyevskyClone wrote:

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As the conversation turns to specific content from the season two DVD, I'd like to follow-up on what others have said about the release in terms of the disappointing effort and decision-making by CBS.

It's been my experience lately that, more often than not, complaining will actually get you somewhere as far as 'change for the good' goes. Personally, from what I've read (and I've been reading everyone's comments with a lot of interest these past few weeks), I don't think CBS has really learned all they could from this.

It's my understanding that CBS is still outsourcing seasons 4 and 6 to another company. While I'm with the people who want to criticize HTV, it's been reassuring to read comments from people who see that CBS is definitely the main problem. They are the ones who originally chose to outsource. Several people have summarized where CBS have failed with season two - including the lack of quality control as HTV worked on that season - so I just want to join in with those who have suggested that fan opinion can make some kind of difference in what CBS is doing.

I'll be very disappointed with CBS if they don't end up amending the release schedule so that the people involved with season one can work on all of the seasons. No matter who the company is, an outsourced company's work will be different (i.e not consistent) from what CBS has already done. I was surprised that more comments weren't made when we first learned that season two would not be handled by CBS directly.

I'm reluctant to use the word 'petition,' but I'd support some kind of write-in to CBS which showed the kind of disappointment some fans have had about season two.

Season 6 hasn't been decided yet (it may be that CBS-D is able to do it, depending on release schedules) and CBS Digital are hoping to give guidance and influence to the company working on Season 4 to ensure quality is kept high and more consistent.

I understand that for "Best of Both Worlds", both parts are being done by the same company for consistency.

[BrEnDoN]

DostoyevskyClone wrote:

---

As the conversation turns to specific content from the season two DVD, I'd like to follow-up on what others have said about the release in terms of the disappointing effort and decision-making by CBS.

It's been my experience lately that, more often than not, complaining will actually get you somewhere as far as 'change for the good' goes. Personally, from what I've read (and I've been reading everyone's comments with a lot of interest these past few weeks), I don't think CBS has really learned all they could from this.

It's my understanding that CBS is still outsourcing seasons 4 and 6 to another company. While I'm with the people who want to criticize HTV, it's been reassuring to read comments from people who see that CBS is definitely the main problem. They are the ones who originally chose to outsource. Several people have summarized where CBS have failed with season two - including the lack of quality control as HTV worked on that season - so I just want to join in with those who have suggested that fan opinion can make some kind of difference in what CBS is doing.

I'll be very disappointed with CBS if they don't end up amending the release schedule so that the people involved with season one can work on all of the seasons. No matter who the company is, an outsourced company's work will be different (i.e not consistent) from what CBS has already done. I was surprised that more comments weren't made when we first learned that season two would not be handled by CBS directly.

I'm reluctant to use the word 'petition,' but I'd support some kind of write-in to CBS which showed the kind of disappointment some fans have had about season two.

You're right that CBS needed to better oversee the work done by HTV. But that doesn't mean the decision to outsource is a bad one.

There are a lot of talented FX houses out there, not just CBS Digital. If they find the right one, and oversee the project better to main quality control, I'm confident seasons 4 and 6 can match the quality of CBS Digital. It's a little narrowminded to think they're the only ones who can do the job right...

[Trekker4747]

Dick_Valentine wrote:

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Odd. In my (admittedly probably wrong) mental picture of the Enterprise's firing arcs It shouldn't be able to do that, those phasers are rear defenders rather than forward attackers aren't they?

If they are indeed able to do that, why don't they always do that when they need the firepower?
They certainly needed as many arrays as possible fighting the husnoc ship among many other possible scenarios

The pylon phasers have very narrow forward firing arcs but they're there. They may not be used for forward offense often because of that reason, they're not accurate and they can only fire at so many places on the target. With the Borg ship (a giant cube) with uncentralized systems where you just need to hit anything to get your shots in the firing arcs don't matter.

With other ships where you need to hit specific targets (shield generators, weapons, engines, etc.) the pylon phasers wouldn't be useful.

[Dac]

http://tng.trekcore.com/bluray/image...ler_hd_105.jpg

THE PHASERS ARE MISALIGNED! CBS-DIGITAL SUCK BALLS! CURSE YOU DAN CURRY!