Poll Do you prefer the digitally remastered Enterprise?

[spockboy]

Yes but not nearly as much, Maurice.

Silly and Pendantic?
LOL. Too funny.

Actually I was trying to make peace between Warped 9 and Tom Swift 2002
BTW, how many physical model effects videos (with both gloss and flat surfaces) have you shot Maurice?
What, none?

Spockboy

I was shooting models on 8mm film in 1978, thank you very much. How's that foot tasting?

And that comment about the reflective paint wasn't aimed at you, just the general idea that something has to be gloss to reflect anything.

LOL
I just didn't like being called silly or pedantic Maurice.
Luckily I just had a pedicure from a green Orion slave girl, so the foot tastes surprisingly okay.

Spockboy

 

[Maurice]

 

[RAMA]

Obviously biased to this forum. Though interestingly, those expressing no preference or pro are running almost 50/50 even here.

I've taken such a poll several times now on social media based on the general remastering (not just the ship) and the preference is usually about 80% pro 10% con, with 10% showing no preference on the remastering. The largest sample size was 180 respondents.

I'm an admin on the two largest "reboot" movie groups on FB and I'm wondering if such a poll would be appropriate there...hmm. Maybe if we consider the TOS-R version a reboot eh?

RAMA

 

[Tomalak]

I genuinely don't mind either way. The stories are what counts here, and they are still wonderful, for the most part. A digital Enterprise has no more or less impact on those as a blurry, optically printed version for me.

 

[RAMA]

I genuinely don't mind either way. The stories are what counts here, and they are still wonderful, for the most part. A digital Enterprise has no more or less impact on those as a blurry, optically printed version for me.

In my case I'm more concerned with how appropriate the effects are for the format, and a "remastering" was imperative for bluray, especially for a modern audience with a new release of old material. Considering TOS has had a long life, was shown to be a classic and worthy of re-release and maintenance in a much more technologically evolved world, then the project was a necessity and highly successful. Netflix wouldn't even think of showing the old version.

 

[Tomalak]

Though randomly, there is an episode on Netflix which has the original version. I can't remember which it is now - Obsession perhaps?

 

[Kemaiku]

The CGI is the second option on the Bluray that has to be manually enabled when putting in the discs.

And it was mostly necessary since the original film elements of the ship were lost, if those had all survived they would have been cleaned and repaired as much as possible, made the selling point of the set and possibly seen larger sales given that more older fans would have bought it sooner.

I'm sure they'd still have made the second CGI option, but it would have taken lower priority or even been considered as a limited second set.

Either way, we'll see the same result on the 4K.

 

[RColtrane]

Though randomly, there is an episode on Netflix which has the original version. I can't remember which it is now - Obsession perhaps?

This is correct! I remember seeing an episode with the original effects on Netflix a couple of months ago. But I don't remember which episode though.

 

[Tallguy]

So if one were to make a "slavishly faithful" update with CG, would one only do the ships? Or are there live action elements that would need cleaning? Obviously gags like the (wonderfully done) windows of Stone / Mendez's office on Starbase 11 would be out of scope. What would be in / out of bounds for such a project?

The flip side - what if you could go REALLY crazy with an update? Sure, you start with the shuttle deck in Journey to Babel. Or Kirk's headstone in Where No Man Has Gone Before. Fix McCoy's uniform in the photos from Friday's Child to be "Cage" era. Do you lower the roof of the interior of the shuttle (to fit the outside)? Figure out how to expand sets like engineering? I've always wanted to see different corridors on the Enterprise. What else?

 

[ZapBrannigan]

The flip side - what if you could go REALLY crazy with an update? Sure, you start with the shuttle deck in Journey to Babel. Or Kirk's headstone in Where No Man Has Gone Before. Fix McCoy's uniform in the photos from Friday's Child to be "Cage" era. Do you lower the roof of the interior of the shuttle (to fit the outside)? Figure out how to expand sets like engineering? I've always wanted to see different corridors on the Enterprise. What else?

My big idea for "Whom Gods Destroy" was for when Garth detonates the bomb in Marta's necklace. Along with the original explosion, they could have had a bunch of green blood and goop hit the window at high speed and slowly drip down. Then at the end, when Kirk and Spock are having their lighthearted "King Solomon" exchange, that window is visible in the scene, and it would still be stained.

A similar bit of irony is added to the end of "Obsession," when the Transporter Room scene is all smiles, and the final CGI flyby shows how the planet was blasted lifeless.

 

[Kemaiku]

So if one were to make a "slavishly faithful" update with CG, would one only do the ships? Or are there live action elements that would need cleaning? Obviously gags like the (wonderfully done) windows of Stone / Mendez's office on Starbase 11 would be out of scope. What would be in / out of bounds for such a project?

The flip side - what if you could go REALLY crazy with an update? Sure, you start with the shuttle deck in Journey to Babel. Or Kirk's headstone in Where No Man Has Gone Before. Fix McCoy's uniform in the photos from Friday's Child to be "Cage" era. Do you lower the roof of the interior of the shuttle (to fit the outside)? Figure out how to expand sets like engineering? I've always wanted to see different corridors on the Enterprise. What else?

Most current TOS fanfilms have been able to find a good balance of using modern 1080 graphics while still keeping the style of the show intact. It does mean new camera angles, some new designs, sets, little details added here and there that are their own aesthetic decision. But they rarely stray too far from the look and feel of seasons 1-2 of the show.

It shouldn't be too hard for a studio to bring in the right people to produce even better results with the same authenticity if they wanted to. The problem was TOS-R being more of a publicity stunt for selling the first Bluray set of the franchise. Now that BR is much more common and affordable, the novelty has worn off.

But, there are some good arguments for making the occasional more drastic change, or fixing goofs internal to the series. Where they literally forgot to, or couldn't, do something that was scripted for the episode.

Let's not add too much blood though.

 

[MGagen]

Why do you think all the drydock scenes in Star Trek TMP were shot in front of black velvet and not bluescreen?
Could it be that the surface of the Enterprise was too reflective?
Spockboy

Actually, the TMP E was planned to be reflective and the black velvet backdrop was intentional, not an afterthought. Dykstra wanted the 2001 effect with natural lens flares and no matte lines. In 1968, they had to hand paint the traveling mattes for Discovery. In 1979, they had motion control which allowed them to capture a matte element in a separate pass. The results are stunning.

It was during Wrath of Khan, when blue screen was the required method for speed and budget, that they had to attack that lovely, shiny paint job with who knows how much dull coat.

 

[spockboy]

Actually, the TMP E was planned to be reflective and the black velvet backdrop was intentional, not an afterthought. Dykstra wanted the 2001 effect with natural lens flares and no matte lines. In 1968, they had to hand paint the traveling mattes for Discovery. In 1979, they had motion control which allowed them to capture a matte element in a separate pass. The results are stunning.

It was during Wrath of Khan, when blue screen was the required method for speed and budget, that they had to attack that lovely, shiny paint job with who knows how much dull coat.

Absolutely true, Whether or not it was planned, does not alter the fact that shiny ships look bad in front of blue screen as I initially stated.

 

[spockboy]

Anyway, back to original models instead of mediocre CG.

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

Spockboy

 

[Maurice]

Actually, the TMP E was planned to be reflective and the black velvet backdrop was intentional, not an afterthought. Dykstra wanted the 2001 effect with natural lens flares and no matte lines.

Dykstra's crew never shot the Enterprise. That was Trumbull's team. The pearlescent paintjob originated while RA&A were the still on the film, and Trumbull inherited it and had to make it work (or repaint it).

 

[Jayson1]

I prefer the remastered versions. I think the only time I kind of miss the old versions is in "I Mudd" when the android on the bridge opens his chest and you see "robot stuff." I kind of miss the old dated "robot stuff" we use to see.

Jason

 

[F. King Daniel]

So if one were to make a "slavishly faithful" update with CG, would one only do the ships? Or are there live action elements that would need cleaning? Obviously gags like the (wonderfully done) windows of Stone / Mendez's office on Starbase 11 would be out of scope. What would be in / out of bounds for such a project?

The flip side - what if you could go REALLY crazy with an update? Sure, you start with the shuttle deck in Journey to Babel. Or Kirk's headstone in Where No Man Has Gone Before. Fix McCoy's uniform in the photos from Friday's Child to be "Cage" era. Do you lower the roof of the interior of the shuttle (to fit the outside)? Figure out how to expand sets like engineering? I've always wanted to see different corridors on the Enterprise. What else?

Add in a CGI Mr Arex at a bridge station, and greenscreen in a bunch of Motion Picture/Kelvin reboot aliens walking down corridors behind our heroes.

Also replace those pictures at the perimeter consoles with animated graphics.

If would be fun to see one or two episodes given a super duper unnecessary George Lucas-style update like this.

 

[MGagen]

My bad about Dykstra. It was Trumbull.

I know it was his plan to film on black, a la 2001. He has stated so in more than one interview.

 

[Tallguy]

My bad about Dykstra. It was Trumbull.

I know it was his plan to film on black, a la 2001. He has stated so in more than one interview.

I thought they actually did that.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Also replace those pictures at the perimeter consoles with animated graphics.

I would have absolutely no problem with that. In fact I wish TOS-R would have done it.

I mean, of course I can understand why the original TOS didn't have the special effects budget to actually use those displays - but it doesn't change the fact that they are there, in-universe. So the way I see it, fixing the utter uselessness of those displays is no less justified than other obvious errors, such as the ship's phaser in TNG's "Darmok".