It seems there is a reason for the visual reboot and the producers aren't being honest about it.

[cultcross]

spend six months before the show starts going out of your way to assure fandom that it's Prime Universe and will match up completely,

Not really what happened. It all started because the fans wouldn't stop asking about timelines. I doubt anyone even would have mentioned it if we didn't keep on about it. In fact, until the release about 'true prequel to TOS' I think it was all question answers at panels and the like. And nobody ever said it would 'match up completely'. Right back in his first answer on the subject, Bryan Fuller said it would obviously look different because, well, 2017.

 

[Rahul]

Sillier than Mirror Georgiou's Ming the Merciless outfit? That one-ups the 1950s costumes with the 1930s!

Design-wise, I thought Discovery's take on the Mirror Universe was campier than what we got back in the '60s, the heyday of camp. It looks like that deliberately (and outrageously) camp Flash Gordon movie.

It's the jacket. It really pushes Phillipa's outfit over the top.

Funny thing I noticed:
Those mirrror uniforms aren't even original. They are re-uses of some of the klingon uniform variants we saw in the beginning of the season, from some of the other houses. That klingon woman that betrays Admiral Cornwell in "Lethe" wore Empress Georgiou's uniform before Georgiou wore it.

 

[cultcross]

Hmm, no. I just checked. They're both gold, but other than that they're quite different.

 

[Rahul]

They heavily modified it of course. But it's the same "golden" plastic thing-y covering the same black leathered uniform underlying it. They just changed them up - luckily quit a lot.

 

[Krandor]

They heavily modified it of course. But it's the same "golden" plastic thing-y covering the same black leathered uniform underlying it. They just changed them up - luckily quit a lot.

So it’s not the same uniform. Having gold and black doesn’t make it the same.

 

[cultcross]

They heavily modified it of course. But it's the same "golden" plastic thing-y covering the same black leathered uniform underlying it. They just changed them up - luckily quit a lot.

It's possible I'm getting the wrong person.
Are we arguing that This and This are the same costume? Because they're really not.

 

[Jadeb]

Those weird alien things in the first pics are one of the coolest things Discovery came up with.

 

[cultcross]

Indeed, I liked them. They did remind me of Futurama's neutrals though

 

[Nerys Myk]

They heavily modified it of course. But it's the same "golden" plastic thing-y covering the same black leathered uniform underlying it. They just changed them up - luckily quit a lot.

Star Trek has been repurposing stuff since the second pilot. So I'm not sure what point is being made.

 

[Rahul]

It's possible I'm getting the wrong person.
Are we arguing that This and This are the same costume? Because they're really not.

You are, of course, correct! I hereby completely withdraw my comment!

I guess I was confused because her shoulderpads:
http://www.cap-that.com/startrek/discovery/106/images/discovery1x06_2357.jpg
look extremely similar to those MU shoulderpads:
https://78.media.tumblr.com/fc680ad502c4ec1e6e0700aaaa62be98/tumblr_p29nl2QgeD1qc2k4vo3_r1_1280.jpg
But even they aren't of the same mold. Just a very similar style.

Star Trek has been repurposing stuff since the second pilot. So I'm not sure what point is being made.

Oh, there is absolutely nothing wrong! In fact, I'm a big fan of that stuff. Usually it shows very creative minds mining their budget hard. Tweaking existing stuff that on first view you'd think they are completely different things is IMO pretty laudable. It gives us things to look out for (like Easter egg hunts - it's fun!), and it enriches the universe, without actually wasting their precious budget. I'm all for it. But also, all for finding those little tricks! If I get that right, of course... *cough

 

[starsuperion]

Except, clearly, for blingy OTT evil universe costumes.

There's only one TV series which did evil universes right, that Was SLIDERS... A universe where the Golden Gate bridge is Blue, and Hillary Clinton was President, and the US was tyrannical was pretty terrifying.. Beats all STD and Classic TREK Mirror universes hands down. I still have nightmares about that episode.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I'd rather watch Fringe.

 

[starsuperion]

I'd rather watch Fringe.

OMG! forgot about that. You know, I always meant to watch that show all the way thru. I only saw like 1 or 2 episodes.. wow.. haven't thought about that series in awhile.

 

[Mudd]

There's only one TV series which did evil universes right, that Was SLIDERS... A universe where the Golden Gate bridge is Blue, and Hillary Clinton was President, and the US was tyrannical was pretty terrifying.. Beats all STD and Classic TREK Mirror universes hands down. I still have nightmares about that episode.

So delicate?

 

[starsuperion]

So delicate?

People got their demons..don't knock it. Clowns are another issue entirely.

 

[Mudd]

People got their demons..don't knock it. Clowns are another issue entirely.

Not necessarily. Delicate clowns exist, too.

 

[Jayson1]

I don't know if they had a legal reason to have to look different, but technology has advanced and aesthetics have changed, why *wouldn't* you visually reimagine Trek?

No reason to do so. The issue has always been less about changing the aesthetics but changing them and pretending they are part of the old prime universe even if they don't fit well with "TOS" which is kind of important when you only got a 10 year gap to work with to try and in-universe explain all the changes. Reboot or show set in the future makes more sense of your going to do this aproach. Well that and the fact they people feel they are lying about it being a prime universe just to sucker in old school fans because they don't respect them enough to feel like they will watch a new Trek show in a new universe with a new set of continuity. The feeling of being lied to is something that just doesn't sit well I suspect with many people.

Jason

 

[Rahul]

I think a bit of a visual re-vamp was inevitable. But the way they did it was pretty off-putting.
I think a "good" visual change would have been to simply add more details and further refine everything. I think the USS Kelvin is a perfect example of how it should have been done. It looked exactly like it belonged in the same timeframe with Kirk and Spock, yet was undeniably a porduct of modern production values and sensibilities.

In fact, the entire Kelvin-verse background fleet would have made a perfect TOS era fleet - it's much more in line with prime verse Trek than either the JJprise or the Disco-fleet. Had they used the hull textures, details and refinements from the Kelvin on the Discoprise, I guess no one would have batted an eye. The problems really arose from them adding design codifiers of other eras of Trek (TMP-style nacelle pylons, TNG era lighning configurations on the ship).

Those are the ones making the problems - because they are so deeply correlated with other, already existing periods of Trek canon. A simply upgrade in production values would have disturbed pretty much no-one.

 

[Jayson1]

Canon or not to me the new look simply isn't that interesting. Even the special effects feel very fake to me. It almost makes me think of the fake feel of "The Phantom Menace." I actually don't mind the overall outside look of the ship and heck I even like the spinning which might be their best effect but I just wish they would revamp the whole thing and give the ship some personality or unique features. The most unique thing is the over use of the color blue and that is one of the worst things about the interior look. Say what you will but with a more retro look it would look like nothing out their on tv but even with a more futuristic look why not go for some new stuff A upper level bridge or some place for the crew to hangout that is interesting to look at. The mess hall is very inferior to previous versions of that set whether it was 10-Forward or Quarks's bar and I even like "Voyager's" mess because the kitchen area was kind of new touch we hadn't seen. One thing I do like though is the corridors and I like some of background sounds like people talking over intercom's and whatnot. Much better background sounds than on any of the other Trek shows.

Jason

 

[Mudd]

I think a bit of a visual re-vamp was inevitable. But the way they did it was pretty off-putting.
I think a "good" visual change would have been to simply add more details and further refine everything.

I think a "good" visual change would have been one done with imagination, a little discipline and some flair. Sadly, not to be.