I want to watch TOS, but I'm having some difficulty
- Thread starter Swarm Emperor
- Start date
That's because a lot of stories can be told in various settings and various archetypes can be used in those settings. Point is, one of Roddenberry's inspirations for the type of story telling he wanted to use were the Adult Westerns of the era. Non-Western were telling those stories too. But not episodic Science Fiction. Like Westerns, SF was often looked at as kiddie fair. Roddenberry wanted to change that and use SF to tackle current issues.
1. No hats.
2. No horses.
3. People look like they smell nicer.
4. No pockets.
So the people who enjoy TOS-R but not the original effects aren't "true fans", is that what we're saying?
Oy gevalt.
People who are so hung up on special effects that they can't enjoy the story are missing the point is what the royal we are saying. Special effects are candy. The actual story, characters, and narrative whole is the meal.
Could you enjoy an episode of TOS in black and white and with some degree of static running through the episode?
For the people who prefer the TOS-R versions, the originals look dated to a degree they find distracting.
That doesn't make them lesser fans, and it's this kind of snobbery that serves to divide rather than unite the fandom.
Besides, who's to say that if TOS-R doesn't pique their interest that they may not go back and make another attempt to watch the episodes with the original effects work?
As I've said before and I'll say again, despite the Nuniverse films having varying degrees of flaws, I believe they've ultimately increased the size of the fandom and made Trek somewhat more relevant again. If nothing else, they deserve some credit for that. And so does TOS-R.
For the people who prefer the TOS-R versions, the originals look dated to a degree they find distracting.
That doesn't make them lesser fans, and it's this kind of snobbery that serves to divide rather than unite the fandom.
Besides, who's to say that if TOS-R doesn't pique their interest that they may not go back and make another attempt to watch the episodes with the original effects work?
As I've said before and I'll say again, despite the Nuniverse films having varying degrees of flaws, I believe they've ultimately increased the size of the fandom and made Trek somewhat more relevant again. If nothing else, they deserve some credit for that. And so does TOS-R.
I didn't say they were lesser fans. You are not properly interpreting what I am saying. I am saying that emphasis on a special effect primarily for your positive or negative view on something is a matter of not being able to see the forest for the trees. Special effects are not the primary component in any visual story medium. It is the story itself. Depending on one's personal nuances, it may take time to adapt to something, but adapt you can. For example, I have adapted to Babylon 5 because of the strength of the story despite the 90s filmed in Vancouver look of the CGI. Because it is good enough for what they are trying to convey with it, and the narrative puts it in a context where it works, and the narrative itself is strong. Whether the overall story or individual stories are good for you is another matter, and a matter of opinion. But it should never be a matter of special effects.
And on a matter of defense, Star Trek's original effects really were not bad. It's grainy as all get out, don't get me wrong. But that was cutting edge for it's period of time, is contemporary to even film special effects of the time, and everything looks like it is supposed to. It's a space ship going from point A to point B, and it looks like that. The reuse of a space ship or the invisible space ship is lazy (for cost reasons), and it's not always a dynamic thing where the ship is zooming in all sorts of maneuvers. But it works for what it is, and because they use physical models, it looks fine. For me, TOS-R is more a matter of being able to cleanup continuity mistakes and make changes where there was a reuse of a ship or planet or whatever it may have been, as well as the candy of being able to do things the budget couldn't allow, like giving other ships a registry.
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And I think all that's been said is that some people find the original effects to be distracting, in which case seeing the remastered ones may (or may not) resolve the problem. It's worth a shot anyhow.
Kind of like how I can see about 85% normally without my glasses, but there are times when trying to do things without them is...distracting. Which is when I put them on.
Kind of like how I can see about 85% normally without my glasses, but there are times when trying to do things without them is...distracting. Which is when I put them on.
An (Adult) Western is about people who are on the frontier, attempting to set bring to order an environment too vast and too indifferent to humanity to be brought to order, based on their memories and understandings of a far-distant civilization that's so remote it might as well be alien, remembering that for all their experience they are strangers here, and aware that they will certainly fail occasionally and have a serious risk of failing catastrophically. This is more important to what Star Trek: The Original Series is than are the structural elements the show has in common with, oh, Chicago Med or Parker Lewis Can't Lose.
I agree in all of your points. TOS (and TNG, Voyager) are on German TV and I try to watch some episodes when I have the time to. I feel the same like you when I watch it. But I didn`t know it as a kid. I started watching Star Trek as a teenager. My favs are Voyager and some TNG.
I did!
Okay, maybe. I tend not to think of westerns in such noble terms.
It's just a setting. All sorts of stories can be told there. Some may not be so noble. Adult Westerns weren't afraid to show the less than noble aspects. Just as Trek shows people and situations in space that aren't always noble. Sometimes our heroes have to face this in them selves. It's what they do in these situations iis what makes them heroes, be they a US Marshall, an Army squad leader, a gunslinger, a samurai or a Starship captain
And shouldn't be a Star Trek fan. There I said it! TOS-R is rubbish!
*cowers in fear* Ok, please don't kill me.
*cowers in fear* Ok, please don't kill me.
Quoted for truth.
I agree that the best way of getting your head wrapped around it is to think of it like you're watching a play. If that doesn't work- it just isn't for you.
I've been watching since I was a 3-year-old toddler, so I have no such issues. Greatest show in the history of television...hands down.
I've been watching since I was a 3-year-old toddler, so I have no such issues. Greatest show in the history of television...hands down.
As Justman and Solow said to skeptical studio and network executives, TOS was literally going where no one had gone before in television.
