TOS-R is always shown in widescreen on UK TV, It's on CBS Action 1.78:1 SD.
"Remastered"
- Thread starter dmcco01
- Start date
I don't think widescreen is the issue. It's just how well it looks in HD. There are no presently existing versions of the original effects that look good enough for broadcast in HD, period. The TOS-R VFX win by default, which says nothing about how good they are and whether an option that is superior to them either presently is or ever was feasible.
Though it is no longer on the regular schedule anymore, Space (the Canadian sci-fi cable channel that will be the only broadcast channel in the world to carry the new show once it appears) was having a 50th anniversary marathon on Labour Day Weekend and was broadcasting TOS-R in widescreen. Was a lot more jarring than the new FX.When was TOS-R ever broadcast in widescreen?
I know the new effects were rendered in WS, but as far as I know the actual show has never been shown that way.
Which makes me wonder WHY the effects were ever made in 16:9 in the first place (especially since the live action footage is, and always has been, 4:3).
Fortunately, I have the whole series on Blu-ray, in proper OAR.
If only you were serious.
"New" Does not automatically mean "better" you know.
The greatest delusion of TOS-R is that all the fed ships displayed as Constitution beause of the budget where not turned in different designs.
Use a heavy hand to modernize that Chevelle and watch its value plummet...
Back in 2007 (or whenever they first premiered) the effects looked pretty good broadcast to my SD TV. They simply don't hold up at all on my 50" 4K TV. The original effects actually look better to my eye. Not as sharp, but better. Sharpness is one of the problems with the new effects.
Well, Beyond's Bluray release is a lot less cluttered from the news that broke this week. They might have learned something from last time after all.
The only question I have about the remastered effects is: why didn't they include some kind of warp effect? It wouldn't have been that hard.
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I say this every time, and I know it's done with he benefit of a decade of VFX advancement, but Star Trek Continues' VFX blows TOS-R out of the water for its sheer authenticity. The shots all look like something from the era and they fit with the live action.
My only issue with Continues' FX is the way stars stream by like space dust in recent episodes. That's been a pet peeve of mine forever. When Enterprise did it for sublight scenes I just wanted to scream "That's not how space works!"
My only issue with Continues' FX is the way stars stream by like space dust in recent episodes. That's been a pet peeve of mine forever. When Enterprise did it for sublight scenes I just wanted to scream "That's not how space works!"
STC does a fine job of recreating the TOS look in terms of f/x but they, too, take liberties as well in terms of questionable f/x. Also the artist makes a difference and their most recent episode is clearly not Doug Drexler's work and looks more like TOS-R in some shots. That said STC's shuttlecraft and hangar deck makes TOS-R's look shameful.
One key difference is in how the ship moves. Although the Enterprise might be able to move like a fighter jet (conceptually) it was never shown that way in TOS and depicting it that way looks wrong somehow.
In most cases I would say STC's f/x look like what TOS could have looked like under the best of conditions with more time and money.
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I really don't mind the new effects on principle. When I first saw Balance of Terror, I was very impressed by some of it. The Bird of Prey was excellently done and most of the angles were recreated faithfully. However, the cloaking and firing of their weapon looked a little "video" for some reason. While some folks wish they had gone further and done things they could never do back in 1966-69, I really wanted the effects to be recreated faithfully. Just without the bleeding mattes and increasing grain and cartoony phasers. Have the Doomsday Machine look like the original model, the BoP just "dissolve" instead of particle away and don't give us those really TIGHT close ups of the Enterprise. There's no story reason for 99.9% of them. So, yeah, make it look great for HD, give the new viewers something less to find fault with, but take pains to make them look like it was made in the same era as the live action scenes. Perhaps the time and money made that impossible, but as it stands, there are a few episodes that really look no better than the 60's shots. They just look artificial in a different way.
When they get it right, it's fantastic. When they don't, it looks like a a direct to video animated movie.
When they get it right, it's fantastic. When they don't, it looks like a a direct to video animated movie.
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The Laughing Vulcan said:
When was TOS-R ever broadcast in widescreen?
I know the new effects were rendered in WS, but as far as I know the actual show has never been shown that way.
It's being screened that way right now on Australian television.
It appears that the 'widescreen' versions were originally made for international sale, although they may have slipped into syndication packages in the US as well by now?? I don't know about that, but I can confirm that here in Australia we've only ever seen the WS versions of TOS-R broadcast on TV as far as I know.
The upside is that the new CGI effects are presented in all their uncropped widescreen glory. The downside is that the live-action footage is cropped instead.
Japan market specifically I believe was the target for the WS versions.It's being screened that way right now on Australian television.
It appears that the 'widescreen' versions were originally made for international sale, although they may have slipped into syndication packages in the US as well by now?? I don't know about that, but I can confirm that here in Australia we've only ever seen the WS versions of TOS-R broadcast on TV as far as I know.
The upside is that the new CGI effects are presented in all their uncropped widescreen glory. The downside is that the live-action footage is cropped instead.
I do remember hearing that, but it seems that the WS versions have become the 'standard' versions for syndication, internationally as least.
Well, to be fair, the original Battlestar Galactica only had about six FX shots to remaster.
Given the liberties that were taken with remastering the effects it seems a little odd to be purists about the aspect ratio. Hopefully someday with streaming they could make everyone happy and offer widescreen and OAR and original and remastered effects and let people pick what they want. Some people are adamant against having "black bars" on their TV. Then again, a lot of those people set their TVs to stretch all content at all times to fill the screen so they probably wouldn't even notice.
OAR has a much greater importance than revised f/x in terms of shot composition. And people who "can't stand black bars" should ask themselves how they'd like it if someone grabbed their favourite photos and cropped them to fit some arbitrary different shape "just because they can". Filmmakers compose their shots within a given aspect ratio as an integral part of their work. Things should always have been broadcast in OAR--that way, "black bars" would have been a normal part of the variety of things to watch. At least the vast majority of home video releases today are in OAR. It would have been horrendous if DVD/Blu-ray had followed the "full screen" idiocy of the VHS era. Sadly, many cable movie channels and VOD services do crop 'scope films to give a "full screen" version. They don't get a penny from me.
Gotta love the irony.
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