The Original Series - non-'remastered' version on DVD?

(Apologies if this sounds like a tired subject.)

After not having watched TOS for ages I ordered the remastered DVD set of season 1, and found it not very gripping. More recently I got the Klingon box, which includes a couple of TOS episodes in their original format, and I found them a lot more engaging.

So I would like to buy the series without the updated special effects of the "remastered" version. However, it looks like there is no recent version of this available on DVD. Are there any plans to reissue the original version on DVD as a complete set?
(I'm particularly interested in PAL format DVDs.)

And can someone confirm that those older DVD sets in the primary-coloured plastic cases contain the original versions?

Thanks, all!

 

Mine from 2004 are verifiably the originals. I also have Season 1 of the Remastered episodes on HDDVD/DVD combo pack. This from 2007. I dragged my heels forever about getting the other two, and finally, they came to Netflix so I don't care. I hugely prefer the original effects, myself. (I find that watching the remastered version is like...I'm watching an episode of TOS and then it has to pause for a moment or two so we can watch a cartoon involving a spaceship, and then back to the show. The absurd contrast is like watching an episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus except that the ridiculous juxtaposition is just annoying rather than brilliantly hilarious and well thought out.) And If I'm curious about how they handled something in the HD monkeying then I can view it on Netflix.

As for PAL format, I can't help you there. As for any future releases, I imagine all future releases will be of the compromised second draft, so to speak. But who knows, maybe some day there will be something, somehow.

In the meantime, I suggest you hunt down the 2004 DVDs.

--Alex

 

I can confirm that the 'plastic era' DVD case versions do indeed contain the pre-"remastered" versions of the episodes, although it must be noted that there are still occasional anomalies where the sound remix doesn't match the originals (as the DVDs were remixed in stereo, whereas the original versions were mono sound). Things like engine hums on space footage and the like aren't 1:1 as broadcast. But the special effect shots themselves are the unadulterated originals.

An alternative option would be the Star Trek DVD Files. These were released in PAL regions only (North America never got them) and contained the original episodes in individual cases with three episodes per disc. These also contain the 'original' versions of the episodes, and are notable for the fact they are presented in production order, rather than transmission order. You'd have to search a little harder to get a complete set of these though, as of course they are now out-of-print, and you'd probably pay more for them as a whole anyway.

 

Thanks, guys.

Couldn't be as bad as the remaster, where Kirk's voice during the opening credits is almost inaudible (listening in stereo - presumably this issue derives from a shoddy 5.1 mix).

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$!!!!!!!!

 

I know you asked about DVD, but the Blu-ray discs contain both versions, so you can choose the original effects and even mono soundtracks if you so desire.

Since obtaining these, I've been slowly working my way through them in order, choosing the remastered effects. There are times when they're welcome, and other times when it seems out of place and takes you out of the story.

I have a feeling that when I'm through these episodes in remastered form, I'll probably do all future watching as they were originally.

Harry

 

Agreed! But I'd be derelict in my duty if I didn't tell you the option is there.

I am led to believe the 'DVD Files' versions are at a superior bitrate to the boxset versions, but the difference is probably negligable, and yeah they'll set you back a pretty penny. And chances are slim of finding them all anyway.

Better to stick with the original boxset releases IMO.

 

Blu-ray is definitely the best option available.

Yeah. The remastered effects are very hit and miss.

More often than not, I watch the original effects now that the newness of the CGI has worn off.

 

The Blu-Rays have both versions. Good enough for me.

 

^

 

I haven't got the remastered versions but have seen a lot of them, the planets seem on the whole better (especially the earth type ones) but the spaceships aren't very good at all! The nacelles on the screen I find very annoying to say the least, I stick with the originals as that's the way they were meant to be seen I think!
JB

 

Dammit, I guess I'll have to future-proof my collection and get the blu-ray.

Regarding the new effects, they're not terrible, but there's nothing terribly wonderful about them either, which confirms for me that "good" effects are a matter of style, not level of technology. The original effects are not hugely realistic, but they have great energy and style, which matches the rest of the production. Plus you get the authentic experience, not the synthesised George Lucas-style pap.

 

Dammit, I guess I'll have to future-proof my collection and get the blu-ray.

Regarding the new effects, they're not terrible, but there's nothing terribly wonderful about them either, which confirms for me that "good" effects are a matter of style, not level of technology. The original effects are not hugely realistic, but they have great energy and style, which matches the rest of the production. Plus you get the authentic experience, not the synthesised George Lucas-style pap.

 

I can understand the debate for both versions, but I agree that on the whole there's just something very wrong about watching a vintage TV show or movie that has had its effects bolstered with CGI. The optics are all wrong. The live action footage will always look like a product of its time in some degree, which is why the original effects are really the best way to enjoy the show. The CGI will always look like a product of *now*, which clashes with the obvious product of *then* in the live-action footage of the actors.

Things like, for example, some of the replacement matte paintings aren't too bad. Some of them look terribly out of place, but some of them are okay. But the effects shots, things like the Enterprise fly-bys, or the addition of blinking eyes to the Gorn... it just takes us out of the action. It distracts from, rather than enhancing, the product IMHO.

 

I go into fits and start frothing at the mouth, or at least I feel that way on the inside, whenever I hear the new editions of the 2nd and 3rd season opening theme music, so that makes wanting the Blu-rays pretty much a non-starter for me.

 

^ It was said above that the blu contains both versions.

 

Yeah, the Blu Rays contain both versions, but I think it's done via seamless branching technology, so in practical terms it's kind of more like a combination of the two that switches back and forth at the appropriate bits where the FX shots were changed. So, occasionally anomalies do seep through from one version to the other, particularly with the remixed audio.

 

Well, maybe I'll get the DVDs after all.

 

O RLY?!?

So, all of Loulie Jean Norman's singing is perfectly intact on the Blu-ray mono tracks? If so, then I did not know this. From what I've read on the board in previous threads, it's been said that original soundtracks aren't on the Blu-rays (or at least it was my interpretation that Loulie Jean Norman no longer sings the theme songs on any track). Can someone please clarify and cite references that resolve this by describing exactly what soundtracks are on the Blu-rays?

It's an issue for me, because I don't want to pay money for these only to be extremely disappointed while also being unable to return them.

I can't even check them out from the public library to see for myself before buying, because the library only has the DVDs to loan.

Thanks!

 

^ Yeah, that's kind of what I was alluding to earlier. AFAIK even the 'original' versions of the episodes still use the remastered soundtrack, which is why we end up with Captain Kirk's 'Space... the final frontier...' monologue being heard on "Where No Man Has Gone Before" regardless of which version you choose on the Blu Ray, when it's a matter of fact that this episode didn't originally have the monologue at all.

I'd say the DVD versions are still the best bet *if* you really want to have something which is objectively closer to the true original versions of the episodes. The blu ray versions *have* got some... "inconsistencies".

 

Loulie is on there.

Neil