Rumor: TNG-HD is a-coming

[RAMA]

exalted one wrote:

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I surely hope they'll hire someone else to do it. Okudas, no matter how much I respect their work, took way too much liberty with original Star Trek. Turning black-on-white clock display into yellow-on-black for no good reason (totally oblivious to the fact black on white is inherently easier to read and thus much more probable to be used in a professional environment)? Making stars tiny, almost invisible in standard definition? Recoloring all the pretty planets for the sake of "realism"? TNG doesn't need no such tampering, does it?

No, they did treat it with a lot of respect, and the creators from the original series who are still alive thought so too. Honestly your examples are so miniscule and ridiculous I laughed out loud when I saw it. If anything they should have done MORE work on the original show, not less...but I am satified the product struck a balance that satisfied most people.

RAMA

[MrPointy]

Remastered TNG is going to sell bucketloads on any format. I didn't get TOS-R; I never completely got into 60's Trek, but I would buy TNG Bluray in a heartbeat.

I'm hoping that if it does happen, we'll eventually get HD upscales of DS9 and Voyager, not complete remastering because they probably don't need it.

[BlobVanDam]

MrPointy wrote:

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Remastered TNG is going to sell bucketloads on any format. I didn't get TOS-R; I never completely got into 60's Trek, but I would buy TNG Bluray in a heartbeat.

I'm hoping that if it does happen, we'll eventually get HD upscales of DS9 and Voyager, not complete remastering because they probably don't need it.

I think Voyager and DS9 would require the same level of time and work as TNG, because I think the editing and FX were pretty much done the same way despite the better quality, and I know many if not all of the CG shots are pretty much lost and would need to be redone from scratch (for the later seasons that used CG).
So since they are all 7 seasons, I'd say they're just as much trouble as TNG to remaster in that way, and neither one is as popular as TNG. It just depends on how long it takes before CBS believes it's worth the investment. And let's see how long it takes them to finish up remastering 7 seasons of TNG. I can't imagine them putting that time into Voyager especially (as much as I love it).

[Doug Otte]

I'm highly skeptical about this speculative rumor, for two reasons:
1) Hugely expensive and labor-intensive, as Zaku detailed above;
2) Do Netflix streamers really care about picture quality? Wouldn't they just watch the SD original versions of TNG without complaint?

Doug

PS I hope I'm wrong, and I'll gladly come back here and eat raw Targ (and I'm a vegetarian!) if the rumor is true.

[Campe98]

As a Netflix streamer, I do care about picture quality. You can definitely tell the difference between SD and HD even when it streams.

Having said that, I'm excited to see what they can do with this, but I don't think I'll buy this on Blu-Ray. I don't think TNG has aged all that well, at least enough so I don't want to purchase it.

[BillJ]

Campe98 wrote:

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As a Netflix streamer, I do care about picture quality. You can definitely tell the difference between SD and HD even when it streams.

Having said that, I'm excited to see what they can do with this, but I don't think I'll buy this on Blu-Ray. I don't think TNG has aged all that well, at least enough so I don't want to purchase it.

I'm a Netflix user as well and I can tell a huge difference between SD and HD content.

As far as repurchasing TNG, I'll just have to wait and see. It would have to be a massive upgrade in picture quality and effects to get me to shell out more money on the series.

[Mr. Laser Beam]

This is AWESOME news.

[RAMA]

Doug Otte wrote:

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I'm highly skeptical about this speculative rumor, for two reasons:
1) Hugely expensive and labor-intensive, as Zaku detailed above;
2) Do Netflix streamers really care about picture quality? Wouldn't they just watch the SD original versions of TNG without complaint?

Doug

PS I hope I'm wrong, and I'll gladly come back here and eat raw Targ (and I'm a vegetarian!) if the rumor is true.

Its not a "done deal" but it does have a sense of truth about it.

Also, STNG made a huge amount of money for Paramount/CBS...all they have to do is advertise it with lots of new "stuff" to make it appear like a new purchase.

RAMA

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ All they need is to say "You won't have to see that same damn shot with the Excelsior-class ship every single episode!" and they're guaranteed victory.

[Dukhat]

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

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^ All they need is to say "You won't have to see that same damn shot with the Excelsior-class ship every single episode!" and they're guaranteed victory.

Here, here! Okudas. here's your chance to start designing some of those conjectural class ships like the Rigel and Apollo, and insert them whenever you used to see an Excelsior.

Actually, if this rumor is true (and unfortunately, being the pessimist I am, I doubt it), then the episode they need to re-FX first is BoBW. Imagine seeing the aftermath of the Wolf 359 battle in HD with brand-new ships! They could actually have forty ships instead of the six or seven they originally had.

[BillJ]

Dukhat wrote:

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Here, here! Okudas. here's your chance to start designing some of those conjectural class ships like the Rigel and Apollo, and insert them whenever you used to see an Excelsior.

Actually, if this rumor is true (and unfortunately, being the pessimist I am, I doubt it), then the episode they need to re-FX first is BoBW. Imagine seeing the aftermath of the Wolf 359 battle in HD with brand-new ships! They could actually have forty ships instead of the six or seven they originally had.

Isn't that where the TOS-R team got into trouble though? Trying to remake a classic (Balance of Terror) to relaunch the series without first working out the kinks.

Just start with Encounter at Farpoint and go from there.

[Admiral Bear]

Really hope this happens, although HD in pan & scan is kind of an unwanted novelty these days, being so used to 2:35:1 and the other widscreen ratios.

AFAIK, DS9 and Voyager will never happen on Blu-ray as they were shot straight on to video. There are no HD film masters to clean up and transfer.

[JJohnson]

RAMA wrote:

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No, they did treat it with a lot of respect, and the creators from the original series who are still alive thought so too. Honestly your examples are so miniscule and ridiculous I laughed out loud when I saw it. If anything they should have done MORE work on the original show, not less...but I am satified the product struck a balance that satisfied most people.

RAMA

I'm a bit annoyed to this day that they didn't re-do all the planet skies to look like more than just dinky colored backdrops. Putting in clouds, the occasional bird or bird-like creature, a sun, a moon or three, that would've gone a long way to help the show look better, as well as taking all the upper displays on the bridge and actually animating them so they don't look like little more than portraits.

For TNG, I hope they redo all the FX, especially the planets, and create a few alternative ship flyby shots instead of that one off-angle, through-the-neck view that they over-used.

TNG-R can't come soon enough!

[JJohnson]

BillJ wrote:

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I'm a Netflix user as well and I can tell a huge difference between SD and HD content.

As far as repurchasing TNG, I'll just have to wait and see. It would have to be a massive upgrade in picture quality and effects to get me to shell out more money on the series.

I would agree. I didn't buy it originally due to the exorbitant prices originally asked for the DVD sets (over $100 if I remember right) when other sets were either $40-50 at the time. Even on blu-ray, I would hope it's under $60 for the set.

For TNG-R, I would expect at least the same treatment as the original series got, and hopefully they can make the LCARS look more 'alive' rather than the half-way 'inserted over video' look it has at times.

[JJohnson]

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

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^ All they need is to say "You won't have to see that same damn shot with the Excelsior-class ship every single episode!" and they're guaranteed victory.

Or the same two shots of the Enterprise D (through the neck, and planet orbit)...