Opinions on the remastered versions

[Ssosmcin]

Does no one but me recall this shot?

Of course I do, I watch this episode more than any other (at least 4 times in the last month as i replaced the DVD sound mix with the laserdisc in a digital video file).I should have been more clear, so here goes.

The dialog doesn't support using a tractor beam and moving starfields aren't consistent enough to gauge what's happening. It often looks the same whether the Enterprise is at warp or impulse (Elann of Troyius is filled with this). Even when the Enterprise is being pulled into the PK, the starfield is moving in one direction, with the Enterprise going backwards, when it should probably be stationary. Why would the PK need to be moving forward when it has the Enterprise trapped? In fact, when the Constellation is approaching them, the stars are moving towards the screen now. So we can discount background movement.

But okay, for the sake of argument, allowing the tractor beam is on for that brief shot, it's the last shot we see before Spock calls red alert. The time it takes for McCoy and Decker to get off the pad and up to the bridge is more than enough for the Enterprise to cut the beam and move away from the Constellation. The next time we see the Enterprise, it's not towing the Constellation. If they used this shot again, I'd concede the point. Further, nobody on that ship reacts physically when the Enterprise is knocked away. Nor do we see the Constellation as the Enterprise is knocked to the side. So there's one single shot possibly suggesting the Constellation is being towed, but a lot more evidence that it's not when the PK attacks.

 

[Maurice]

You said there were no shots of the ships together, though maybe you meant that in relation to the commercial break. That's all I was addressing.

EDIT TO ADD:
According to the 1967-6-16 Special Photographic Effects for The Doomsday Machine document:

Scene 40 EXT. SPACE - CONSTELLATION & ENTERPRISE.​

Both ships drifting in space.​

The script matches this. No indication of a tow in effect, and this is supported by Kirk's dialog that they'll "get her ready" to tow.

There's a bit of deleted dialog in scene 17A on a blue change page:

​

SCOTT​

The last time I saw anything​

as bad as this was when an​

interplanetary shuttle's impuse​

engines blew. Engineering section​

was shoved half way up to the​

bridge.​

 

[Kamdan]

The most glaring and stupid part of this remastered version was that they left the original effects intact for the end credits!

 

[Maurice]

The most glaring and stupid part of this remastered version was that they left the original effects intact for the end credits!

So, you'd have new effects stills in the end credits, which often credit the original effects companies, like Howard A. Anderson Co.?

 

[Tallguy]

Does no one but me recall this shot?

It's one of the best shots in the series. IMHO.

 

[Tallguy]

The most glaring and stupid part of this remastered version was that they left the original effects intact for the end credits!

That's not stupid. Even if the new FX were everything I would want them to be I would be a-ok with that choice.

 

[Dukhat]

I will echo what many people here have already said. The live-action scenes look absolutely stunning. The CGI effects...don't. I was initially excited at the prospect of them redoing all of the VFX, but in retrospect (and in light of the Blake's 7 and Doctor Who remastering where they went back to using physical models and motion control), I would rather they had just mimicked the original effects as close as they could to match the '60's style of the rest of the show, rather than align it more with contemporary Trek shows like ENT.

And also, some of their VFX choices seemed quite illogical to me. They spent time and money to make the Gorn's eyes blink? WTF? Why did they feel that was at all necessary? Because they wanted to make the guy in a rubber suit look a minuscule bit more realistic as an actual lizard man? Then why not just replace the GIARS with an entirely CGI Gorn? (Because that would cost even more money.) And the Klingon scout in "Friday's Child" replaced by what was clearly their low-poly Klingon D7 model?

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

why not just replace the GIARS with an entirely CGI Gorn? (Because that would cost even more money.)

If they had, or sped up the original footage only for the Gorn, Kirk wouldn't be able to dodge his 1967 swipes so easily.

 

[Nerys Myk]

If they had, or sped up the original footage only for the Gorn, Kirk wouldn't be able to dodge his 1967 swipes so easily.

CGI Kirk as well.

 

[Dukhat]

Also on the subject of the Gorn: They spent time and money coming up with a CGI design for the Gorn ship, and it's only seen as a fast-moving speck where you can make out zero details.

 

[Rowdy Roddy McDowall]

CGI Kirk as well.

Maybe, but he was already well-distanced from the Gorn at most moments because the lizard king was moving 500 feet per hour at best by visible estimation.

 

[Tallguy]

One of the best spaceship accomplishments of TOS-R was translating the blinking lights of the Orion ship in Journey to Babel into a "real" ship that still matches the feeling of the original.

Even better? That ship has now appeared on both Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds. Respect.

 

[Warp Core Breach]

It was very hit and miss for me, mostly a miss. I don't mind it, but given the choice I would prefer just watching the original effects. Anyway, good job on upscaling the live action shots and cleaning them up. Great job there. The planetary orbit scenes do look better than the original ones, but this is also kind of hit and miss. They sometimes look a little video-gamey to me, from that era of video games.

Recreated planetary surface scenes and redone matte paintings? Mostly a hit.

It's the spaceship modeling and space scenes in general that occasionally make me roll my eyes. The Enterprise herself, that fucking D-7 abomination, the starfield ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM effect while at warp on the view screen in some episodes in particular. Also didn't need the Gorn blinking or the digital chronometer or several other wink wink nudge nudge things that were kind of tossed in for reasons.

The sound mix also is kind of abhorrent.

 

[Maurice]

The prosecution rests, m'lud.

 

[Just a Bill]

Whoa, I kinda think there's some meme potential in that surprised face on the cgi D7.

 

[Maurice]

What's appalling is there's not even any shadow-casting going on. Where's the shadow of the neck on the main fuselage? It's just low-end CGI that didn't look good then and looks even worse 18ish years on.

 

[Phaser Two]

Whoa, I kinda think there's some meme potential in that surprised face on the cgi D7.

Oiling its traps.

 

[Uxi]

For the most part I love the new effects. It wasn't outlandish. In some places I wouldn't mind a little better even. Me and my wife have a running joke when TOS remastered is on H&I and will say "pretty good SFX for 1966" (most notably on the Galileo 7 shuttle sequences.

 

[TrickyDickie]

Many moons ago, I purchased the entire series on VHS. When the 2004 DVD sets were released, I let them pass by, being satisfied with what I had. Such has been the case for 21 more years. I still have two TVs with built-in VCRs that are still working just fine. Recently, however, I started thinking about the future and the best plan to move forward. Shell out for sealed sets from 2004? Considering the number of times that I have been burned by brand-new defective discs of movies and shows, I just could not bring myself to do that. Then a solution presented itself. Someone on the Internet Archive uploaded the whole series in original-effects form and even in production order rather than air-date order. The Cage was included. (Yes, I had purchased that on VHS also, when it was released.) The quality was very good. So, I downloaded the eps and archived them on Verbatim AZO discs. I ended up doing the same with the 6 TOS movies, because I already own one of the special limited-to-5000 VHS sets in the black plastic box from 1993.

As I understand it, because the content is identical to what I already purchased, I am good as far as copyright, whereas if I had downloaded the version with cgi-effects, which I did not purchase, it would have been a violation. Correct?

 

[Tosk]

Correct?

No.

Purchasing one copy of something doesn't legally entitle you to all future releases in perpetuity.