Season ONE OFFICIAL TNG Blu-Ray Discussion Thread

[BillJ]

captrek wrote:

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Is the July 24 release date a suggestion that we should be watching TNG 7/24 (or 24/7 for European fans)?

I've been watching since I walked in the door this morning.

[Angel4576]

tomalak301 wrote:

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-The aspect ratio (Or if I'm getting it wrong, simply the black on the left and right of the screen) is something I thought they would adjust for on TVs. They did it on the DVD release so I was surprised they didn't do it here. Again, I'm not technical, so I'm sure there is a very good reason for that.

Well in layman's terms, the only way to get a 16:9 picture out of it, is to crop the 4:3 picture, hence you'd actually lose part of the picture, rather than gain any. Plus, because you're stretching it to fit, the resolution will be worse.

-I watched the first part of Stardate Revisited and man I'm already loving all this new stuff on the series that they never put in the DVDs. That documentary might be worth the 65 bucks I paid already because TNG was a great series and to see it grow from the ground up is really fascinating. I know he isn't the most popular guy around here, but hearing Rick Berman's story of how he got involved was very interesting and I wonder, is he retired?

I couldn't agree more with this. Whilst I do like 'making ofs', I never imagined watching 'screen tests' and being thrilled by them. The way they incorporated them into the doc was a great idea, splicing the 'test' in with anecdotes, and then occasionally them goofing off during the tests as well - a delight to watch.

Likewise Berman - often lambasted, and I'm as guilty as anyone in that regard, but I thoroughly enjoyed listening to him.

I'm taking that the 'to be continued' at the end of the third part of the doc means that they'll be some of these for each season. I sincerely hope so.

Really looking forward to the cast 'round table' as well. The snippet on the season 2 preview makes it look as though it's going to be well worth checking out. From what I could see they got the whole 7-person cast, and then Wil Wheaton? Don't think Denise Crosby or John de Lancie are involved?

Absolutely cannot recommend this set enough. The upgrade from the DVD, in terms of PQ, AQ (barring the obvious mistake on EaF), and extras, is phenomenal.

[Warped Trekker]

BillJ wrote:

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I think Justice is one of the best pieces of 'social' science-fiction Star Trek ever did.

I had a crush back then with the Edo Girl, Judith Jones. I'm surprised they didnt have her back another time in the series. You think Uncle Willy got some booty with her like the other girl? lol.

[tomalak301]

Angel4576 wrote:

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Really looking forward to the cast 'round table' as well. The snippet on the season 2 preview makes it look as though it's going to be well worth checking out. From what I could see they got the whole 7-person cast, and then Wil Wheaton? Don't think Denise Crosby or John de Lancie are involved?

Absolutely cannot recommend this set enough. The upgrade from the DVD, in terms of PQ, AQ (barring the obvious mistake on EaF), and extras, is phenomenal.

Considering how much more involved Denise Crosby was in Trek (Making the Trekkies documentary and all), I would love if one of the features on a season set (Maybe Season 3) is just a candid one on one interview with her. I think some of the things she has to say would be interesting to hear, like her leaving after season 1, coming back to play her again and later on Sela, any regrets she had, stuff like that. Now, if they got an interview with Whoopi as well (Updated done in 2012 or later), I will be impressed. I wonder if she still liked Star Trek and still feels today what she felt when she was on the show.

I know people say special features are something you just watch once, but I think they provide new and interesting insights that make even a 20 year old series feel fresh again. I watched part one of that Stardate revisited, and it almost felt like TNG was new again, waiting to be rewatched with a new mindset and understand the care it went to create the series, and then remaster the series. I know there was some ups and downs early on (Roddenberry's issues and all) but it really is stuff like that that makes things feel new and I like that.

[Angel4576]

Perhaps DC was just unavailable at the time of the 'round table' shoot. It can't be anything personal as she was happy enough to contribute to the Stardate Revisited doc.

I'd be very surprised if Whoopi doesn't make it onto the later season special features. Likewise it really wouldn't surprise me if they have DC back to discuss Yesterday's Enterprise.

[Warp Coil]

My copy delivered from Amazon mid-afternoon. I've watched "Encounter at Farpoint" and the new documentaries/bonus features thus far. Wow, what a difference! And the packaging is so small! I held my new season 1 blu-ray package up to my old season 1 DVD and just shook my head at the size difference. I'll have considerable more room on my shelf once I replace all 7 seasons.

[Warped Trekker]

milo bloom wrote:

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One of the most important things you can do to help yourself look past the black bars is to make sure the brightness and contrast settings are adjusted on your TV. Right out of the box, all TV's have their brightness cranked to the max; this is in case a store were to pull one out to be a floor model, it would need to look good under the harsh fluorescent lighting. But at home, it's just overkill. There are several DVDs out there that have a THX home calibration feature (I know Fight Club and the original Star Wars DVDs have them). Even if you don't have access to those, at least turn your brightness way, way down, even further than looks good. Watch like that for several days, then start creeping it up until it looks better.

What you're trying to achieve is for the black bars to actually look "black", and not glowing grey. If the frame of your TV is also black, this will go a long way towards helping you learn to ignore the black bars.

No, no, no. Brightness = black level adjustment. Contrast = luminance(white level). Get a good calibration disc like Spears & Munsil, which has accurate patterns. Also before calibration, put your TV in 6500k color mode or as close as possible. The default blue-white color of 9300k out of the box is wrong on all tv's.

[davejames]

Frankly I think they were right to have the roundtable with just the main 7. Crosby was only with them for the very first season, so it would seem odd to have her there with people who were there MUCH longer.

[Captrek]

davejames wrote:

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Frankly I think they were right to have the roundtable with just the main 7. Crosby was only with them for the very first season, so it would seem odd to have her there with people who were there MUCH longer.

Good point. If we’re going by episode count, Diana Muldaur, Whoopi Goldberg, and Colm Meaney belong there as much as Crosby.

BillJ wrote:

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I've been watching since I walked in the door this morning.

If they do a DS9 remaster, I hope it debuts on July 26.

[tomalak301]

I'll write more about Part 2 of Stardate Revisited later, but I needed to get this off before I forget. Brent Spiner does an awesome impression of James Stewart. Holy Cow that was funny.

I really love these original costume looks they are featuring. What I said about this special feature being worth the price alone, yep I'll stick by that. These things are fabulous.

[Ysmalari]

Well I only had time to watch EaF last night but I've got to say WOW! The picture quality is amazing, it looks like a newly released show again; I'm fortunate (or not) enough to not have surround sound at home so I'm not affected by the reported sound issues.

Looking forward to watching the documentaries tonight and working my way through the series again.

Really impressed

[tomalak301]

Finished watching the Documentary and that was some really great stuff. Some quick thoughts before I go to bed:

-Denise Crosby sounded really negative throughout this whole thing. She didn't think the show would work, she was being so judgmental, and then it just came down to the fact that she wasn't having a good time anymore so that's why she left. Since this is part of a much larger special, I may have to hold judgement for now, but it does make me wonder what changed her mind. Was it greed, and the whole "This kid is popular now I want to hang out with him" mentality? I mean for someone who seemed to hate her time on the series, to come back and do 3 more episodes and then 2 Documentaries covering the entire franchise almost seems really selfish to me.

-Really loved the original make up/costume shots. There was some really bad ideas thrown around at the time, like Geordi's hair, some of Troi's hairstyle, and pretty much all the original ideas for Data. They wanted a pink, orange eye/yellow eye look? Good thing they went in a different direction.

Really looking forward to Season 2's version of this documentary. I have this feeling, based on the trailer we saw, that we might finally set the record straight as to why McFadden left. Also is Diana Maulder still alive? I would love to get an interview from her in the next release, if she's willing. This doc has gone really in depth and to go in depth on Kate Pulaski would be a thing to behold.

[Angel4576]

I'm sure that previously I've heard that she wanted to leave to pursue a movie career. Obviously this didn't really pan out, and then with TNG getting really popular in the third season I imagine she realized that she'd made a mistake, hence her attempts to get back on the show.

Diana Muldaur - that would be interesting, to see whether she'd participate. I don't think either side were particularly happy with the character at the end of the second season. Muldaur cited a lack of creativity and invention, whilst the production cited a lack of chemistry with the rest of the cast. To be fair, the second season was blighted by the writers strike, so a lack of creativity can be forgiven here I think. In terms of the chemistry, a large part of that was down to the way the character was written. They wanted a female McCoy, cranky, and wanted the kind of relationship with Data that Bones had with Spock. Unfortunately it just came across as being mean-spirited, which meant the fans really didn't latch on to her at all. Personally, I think they were right to get Gates back.

I really do agree with your assessment of the value of these documentaries. At an hour and a half, and together with the half hour 'restoration' one as well, and the other goodies, you certainly get your money's worth here. I hope they keep these going all the way through the season sets.

[BillJ]

Angel4576 wrote:

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I'm sure that previously I've heard that she wanted to leave to pursue a movie career. Obviously this didn't really pan out, and then with TNG getting really popular in the third season I imagine she realized that she'd made a mistake, hence her attempts to get back on the show.

TNG was incredibly popular here in the States right from the beginning. It was already considered a major hit by the time season three rolled around.

[Angel4576]

BillJ wrote:

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TNG was incredibly popular here in the States right from the beginning. It was already considered a major hit by the time season three rolled around.

I think there must have been some doubt in the minds of the cast in the earlier days though. Patrick Stewart's been quite vocal about his 'living out of a suitcase' for the first year at least. It's also apparent from the new doc on the BDs that there was constant concern around whether or not they'd be able to recapture TOS's success.