Would TMP have been better had they used the TOS uniforms?

[RandyS]

Lance wrote:

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I think Bob Wise or somebody else later justified the decision by saying the TOS color sceme wouldn't have photographed well on the big screen, but Trek 2009 seems to have proven that wrong...

I don't know bout this one. You're forgetting how fast technology changes. What might not have worked in 1978, could work in 2008.

[Lance]

^ Very true. Film stock in the late 1970s was very different to what they're shooting with today. I don't see that they should have had problems adapting the TOS color scheme to a movie screen in 1979 though, even if it wasn't 1:1 identical to what was actually used in TOS. If TWOK-onwards can have everybody wearing a redshirt, I don't really see why there should be a complete lack of them in TMP.

(The real answer, of course, would appear to be that Wise himself had a preference against the use of TOS's vibrant colors. He was going for a very neutral look, which IMO he pretty much nailed. TMP's design does look beautiful, just in a very different way.)

[Relayer1]

I like the TMP uniforms.

So sue me...

[Anji]

Better direction by Wise would've helped this film. Changing the uniforms wouldn't have.

[CorporalClegg]

Wise's direction was fantastic. If there was one thing that wasn't wrong with the film it was the direction.

[dub]

CorporalClegg wrote:

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If there was one thing that wasn't wrong with the film it was the direction.

...and the music, and the cast, and the special effects, and the ENTERPRISE!

[J.T.B.]

dub wrote:

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The TMP uniforms do look dated. As someone else mentioned, they are the 1970s view of futuristic...which is now a retro view of futuristic. I'm sure at the time they were awesome.

The dark red uniforms that followed, on the other hand, hold up very well. Instead of trying to be futuristic, they're trying to be militaristic. I know Gene Roddenberry didn't like that direction, but to me it really worked well as a "look," regardless of the inspiration or the implied meaning Nicholas Meyer was going for. It's more unified and just worked better on film in my opinion.

The ST2+ uniforms seem dated, too, just in a different way. The '70s look of exaggerated styles, synthetic material and informality had given way to the return of more traditional styles, natural fibers and a more status-conscious formality. Reagan brought the morning coat back to the inauguration, people were getting fashion ideas from The Preppy Handbook.

Military styles tend to be conservative and resistant to change, and going to a look with more retro military cues may be why the TWOK maroons seem to age better for some people. But they don't for me, they just seem like a cluttered, over-styled attempt to cram a bunch of quasi-military cues onto one costume. Conceptually, TMP is the high water mark of Trek uniforms.

[Therin of Andor]

Anji wrote:

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Better direction by Wise would've helped this film.

Nothing wrong with his directing.

[Lance]

There's nothing wrong with TMP that can't be traced back to the script's original nature as a tv pilot. All that stuff about reintroducing the crew/relaunching the ship... you know, it takes ten hours just to get to V'ger, the same way it takes about 20 hours for the Enterprise-D to deal with Farpoint station. A less flabby version of the same script would have been very achievable IMO.

If anything, Wise's direction is one of the few things that actually almost helps to disguise it. Makes it feel properly theatrical.

[CorporalClegg]

dub wrote:

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...and the music, and the cast, and the special effects, and the ENTERPRISE!

Which are all directly correlated to the direction.

[dub]

CorporalClegg wrote:

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Which are all directly correlated to the direction.

Of course. But I was referring to the individual talent in those other areas. Obviously the director deserves a great deal of credit (and consequently "blame" by that line of thinking) for putting it all together, directing, and making certain changes that had major impacts on the film, but there is something to be said for the players in those categories I mentioned who carried out the vision but also put their own individual marks on the film above and beyond what Robert Wise asked for or ever expected. So that's why I pointed out those four areas which I think were particularly great in this film in addition to the director.

[RandyS]

Lance wrote:

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There's nothing wrong with TMP that can't be traced back to the script's original nature as a tv pilot. All that stuff about reintroducing the crew/relaunching the ship... you know, it takes ten hours just to get to V'ger, the same way it takes about 20 hours for the Enterprise-D to deal with Farpoint station. A less flabby version of the same script would have been very achievable IMO.

If anything, Wise's direction is one of the few things that actually almost helps to disguise it. Makes it feel properly theatrical.

Agreed.

[CorporalClegg]

Yeah. Roddenberry farted on paper. Some other guys came about and tried to make it better only to add to the stink. It's a miracle the film is as good as it is.

The fact of the matter, TMP is one of only two Trek films to be made by a proper filmmaker. The other being, ST09, of course.

[heavy lids]

CaptainMurdock wrote:

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I think one thing we can agree on for TMP that was bad was the bland pajama uniforms that showed off everyone's junk.

Wait, I thought this was why TMP was such a success?

[RAMA]

I think my head just exploded at this question. Maybe it was a meteorite...

RAMA