Apologies. Just talkin' Trek. I spoiler coded my posts.
Why did TOS:R recreate crappy effects?
- Thread starter WarpFactorZ
- Start date
Apologies. Just talkin' Trek. I spoiler coded my posts.
If only the writers were that smart...
I've never had any problems with the remastered effects in TOS. In fact, in many cases they are an improvement over the original IMO. For example, I love the scene where the Enterprise flies extremely close to the sun in Tomorrow is Yesterday. That is sooooo freakin' cool! About the only effect I saw no reason for remastering is the Zetars in my fave episode, The Lights of Zetar. I think the original was better. The lights look very blurred in the newer version.
I've never had any problems with the remastered effects in TOS. In fact, in many cases they are an improvement over the original IMO. For example, I love the scene where the Enterprise flies extremely close to the sun in Tomorrow is Yesterday. That is sooooo freakin' cool! About the only effect I saw no reason for remastering is the Zetars in my fave episode, The Lights of Zetar. I think the original was better. The lights look very blurred in the newer version.
I default to the CGI fx, but there are some episodes where I'll opt for the originals on Bluray:
- Where No Man has Gone Before: I'll watch either version, but with the original you get the film dissolve near the end, from Kirk to the Enterprise. And the very early fx carry a certain charm or nostalgia (although I prefer CGI for Charlie X, which I think they improved a lot by showing the freighter).
- The Alternative Factor: the original has a single-use aft angle on the Enterprise firing phasers that's really cool.
- The Immunity Syndrome: this one is a judgment call. The amoeba looks more real in the original, but more interactive in the CGI.
- The Ultimate Computer: I'm not thrilled with the new battle fx; the ships are often too far away. The original has that cool "four starships" shot and, near the end, a nice close-up on the engineering hull that dissolves to McCoy.
- The Tholian Web: they did it really well the first time. Won an award if I'm not mistaken.
- The Enterprise Incident: putting a Bird of Prey in there makes it seem like revisionist history. As Kirk would say, "That's not the way it happened!"
- Elaan of Troyius: the remaster wasn't done with sufficient time and care, while the original Klingon model still looks great.
Not sure what award you are referring to, but it's oft claimed that "The Tholian Web" won an Emmy. It didn't. No one on TOS ever got one, although they garnered nominations.
Okay, "The Tholian Web" was nominated for an Emmy in special photographic effects. That was it.
The FX for WNMHGB are astounding.
It's interesting that in the original edit that cross fade is actually a blackout. Kirk calling the Enterprise is the end of the last act. Then we come back from commercial with that shot of the Enterprise leaving Delta Vega for a, um, what are they called? Stinger? The last couple of minutes.
Tag scene.
In the QM Productions shows, which had onscreen act cards like the original version of WNMHGB, they labeled them as Epilogues.
I really didn't care for the barrier in the remastered versions. I thought the barrier in the original was much better.
I always enjoyed the original FX but think they did a nice job with many of the remasters, particularly on the planets and in The Doomsday Machine, and by and large I enjoy them. I agree that both Tholian Web and LOZ (original effects) hold up very well today.
Same here! The new barrier looks more gaseous than if it was made of energy! Although you can see just how the Enterprise gets through it at the end and I prefer the original shots of Andromeda in BAON!
JB
the only thing they have in common is the pylons.
That's right, I forgot about that. I always liked the original shot of Andromeda, with the Enterprise looking so massive and real. In the days of Standard Def CRT, that shot was flawless and gorgeous. In HD it has some issues.
http://tos.trekcore.com/hd/thumbnails.php?album=53&page=49
One thing both versions got wrong is the way a spaceship would make a U-turn. Rather than curve around in an arc, it would simply cut its engine thrust, swivel to point directly backwards, and then resume engine thrust in the opposite direction.
Sadly, no one seems to want to do that, except for B5 with the Starfuries.
But that wouldn't look cool.
Hell, beginning with Star Wars in 1977, we had spaceships doing banked turns, loops, barrel rolls, and other aerobatic maneuvers thanks to the motion-control camera rig. Never mind that those moves are impossible in space where the principles of aerodynamics don't apply.
The rebooted Battlestar Galactica did that too, at least for the first two seasons before they switched VFX vendors and the space visuals became dreamlike.
