Favourite original FX shots...

It wasn’t a post production special effect, but the shot of Marta going to pieces was really cool. Sorry Marta.

 

It's a beautiful painting that was obviously meant to suggest the futuristic equivalent of an oil refinery. The only problem is that it looks a bit too much like an oil refinery!

 

Sorry, what is this?

 

He's referring to the View-Master 3-D slide set (post #79).

 

I see. GAF = General Aniline & Film [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_IG], who acquired Sawyer's, the makers of View-Master (I think I finally got that right).

 

Oil refineries are very plentiful in the 23rd Century.

https://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/xihd/trekxihd0634.jpg
https://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/xihd/trekxihd0638.jpg
https://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/xihd/trekxihd0639.jpg

 

TMP did that as well. I wish the sequels had followed suit. As you say, it really does make the ship feel bigger.

https://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/tmp2/tmphd0454.jpg
https://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/tmp2/tmphd0525.jpg
https://movies.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/tmp2/tmphd0985.jpg

 

You know, TMP wasn't a great movie, but it sure was a good-looking one.

 

Yes, $44 million or whatever the budget for TMP ended up being. A very boring light show.

 

Not so bad. I remember when it came out on HBO in 80/81, and as a 6/7 year old, I watched it four times in a row.

But maybe it was only especially appealing to a little kid!

(of course, I also enjoyed TWOK, which I can't stand today)

 

I enjoyed TWOK just because of the vast improvements over TMP. However, now I’m very critical of both movies, especially the Starfleet uniforms from both flicks. From pastel pajamas to Trump Tower doormen. Ugh!

 

I love both films, divergent in their styles are they are. Much like I love both seasons of Space:1999.

Back on topic, the Thasian ship in Charlie X worked better for me in the original episode as well. I liked that it was just an undefined mass of energy rather than a silhouette of ship with engines or whatever. Actually, one thing about the episode that I liked, effects wise, was that ALL of the exterior shots were from the pilots. Not a single "Series" version of the Enterprise was seen outside of the orbit shot in the main titles. This is the only main series episode to have this distinction, a bit of trivia lost, or at least obscured, thanks to the new effects.

 

Teach Yourself Klingon by Hoshi Sato.

 

The non-extended versions are better imo, all the long slow, space shots removed.

Unfortunately the non-extended versions, in their haste to shorten the film cut too much out. All but the main character beats are ripped out. YMMV

 

Wonderful matte painting. Easliy one of the best in franchise history. About that "oil refinery" comment, I always believed the station was deliberately designed to appear like very old tech that is still in use, hence Kirk's observation:

"Even the ore ships call only once every twenty years."

In other words, the station has been around for some time, so the "oil refinery" look was the visual manner of selling its age ; Kirk's line.

 

Those effects and the set design made it the most expensive film made In Hollywood to that point (1979).

 

Plus the work done on the unmade Phase II series.

 

Actually I believe it was quite expensive because they added the cost of the aborted TV series to the final total.

 

I've always liked the amoeba in "The Immunity Syndrome."
Enterprise in front of it: https://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/2x18hd/theimmunitysyndromehd0651.jpg
Shuttlecraft in front of it: https://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/2x18hd/theimmunitysyndromehd0802.jpg
Looking out from the shuttlecraft: https://tos.trekcore.com/hd/albums/2x18hd/theimmunitysyndromehd0839.jpg

Kor

 

The next most expensive film was "Moonraker" at $34 million. Even with folding in the Phase II pre production costs <--- I doubt those add up to $10 million. Probably $1 to $2 million at the most. I think one thing that help 'blow up' the budget was the aborted "Memory Wall" sequence, which had been filmed but the footage discarded and reshoots to get what we saw in the final theatrical version of the film.