I watched the original eps in syndication, way back when they began to run, and over the years since when available in my area. The fx did not do harm to my affection for TOS, like so many, many fans...but, I must say, that I LOVED the 2.0 version. I would hazrd at least a guess, that Gene may not have minded seeing his vision enhanced visually by the wonderful efforts put forth to retool things-and to add some fantastic new fx scenes in, as well. Definitely the new version for me....but the characters remain indelibly marked into celluloid as they are, and our hearts, and minds, from Bill, and Leonard, and De, and the others....
Original, or Remastered?
- Thread starter darkshadow0001
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number6
Vice Admiral
Bob Justman gave the remasters and new FX a hearty ringing endorsement. He often said that he thought the new fx looked like what they would have wanted to do if they had more time and money.
with all due respect to justman, I don't care how much money and time they had, it would not have looked like cgi from an early oughts playstation game cutscene like the new fx often do....... now, i can buy what he said in relation to the matte work, but thats about it
number6
Vice Admiral
I'll take Justman's endorsement over some cynical sy-fy whiner drivel any day.
number6
Vice Admiral
Yeah, that's the only reason he liked it.Yeah, 'cause Justman was paid for his endorsement!
don't take it so personally, buddy
it's not my fault the cgi looks cheap and cartoony.
i still like both the new fake looking FX and the old fake looking FX
My opinion in this case is realistic, unlike the absurd notion that they could have achieved the CGI look in the 1960s if given enough resources.
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Justman's endorsement is fairly meaningless with regard to how someone ought to evaluate the merits of the Remastered shows; it ought, however, to serve as some kind of firewall against hidebound denunciations of the project on the grounds that it "violates the intent of the creators."
The new effects are what they are - some are strikingly good, considering the circumstances and budget and lead-time the artists were given, and some are unimpressive by current standards.
Probably my least favorite element, out of the episodes I've seen, was the needless redesign of the Tholian ships in "The Tholian Web." That was one of the few moments in watching the Remastered show where my gut reaction was "they messed this up, the original was way better."
The new effects are what they are - some are strikingly good, considering the circumstances and budget and lead-time the artists were given, and some are unimpressive by current standards.
Probably my least favorite element, out of the episodes I've seen, was the needless redesign of the Tholian ships in "The Tholian Web." That was one of the few moments in watching the Remastered show where my gut reaction was "they messed this up, the original was way better."
I agree, it does look very good at times, considering the limitations. Unfortunately the limited budget and time did ultimately hurt the final product. Would have really been something awesome if they had more of one or the other. It's kind of funny, you could say the same thing about the original FX as well.
I'd say my least favorite was the Klingon ship. It looks remarkably rushed to the point where you can actually see the individual polygons that make it up. I don't know very much at all about CGI modelling, but I know that's a no no.
The Tholian ships I believe are influenced by their appearances on ENT "Future Tense" and "In a Mirror, Darkly".
Other touches I liked that seemed to have originated on ENT, were the reverse angle on the viewer shots, where the rear of the nacelles are visable - in front of whatever cloud, receeding planet, vessel or space phenomena happens to be there.
In "Amok Time", the old photo of T'Pring on a viewer as a child, is in a courtyard which seems to have lifted been from ENT "Home".
Sadly, I've looked and looked but can't find anything else. No Federation symbols from the later shows and films snuck in undercover. Minature Denobulans or members of the Xindi wandering around the various Starbase FX shots. Or an NX-class portrait handing on Commodore Stone's office wall during "Court-Martial".
Dave Rossi really ought to return that bribe I gave him....
Other touches I liked that seemed to have originated on ENT, were the reverse angle on the viewer shots, where the rear of the nacelles are visable - in front of whatever cloud, receeding planet, vessel or space phenomena happens to be there.
In "Amok Time", the old photo of T'Pring on a viewer as a child, is in a courtyard which seems to have lifted been from ENT "Home".
Sadly, I've looked and looked but can't find anything else. No Federation symbols from the later shows and films snuck in undercover. Minature Denobulans or members of the Xindi wandering around the various Starbase FX shots. Or an NX-class portrait handing on Commodore Stone's office wall during "Court-Martial".
Dave Rossi really ought to return that bribe I gave him....
It's funny how TOS-R threads, like their elder-cousin SW Special Edition threads, always get personal.
Maybe, but Justman was a paid consultant for CBS Digital on the remastering project so I wouldn't really call him an objective source.
And the old effects are what they are. For me it isn't really an issue of FX choices or quality, it's more... it just doesn't interest me. For me TOS episodes are intrinsically part of a their time, and putting in elements from outside that time makes it something else. To me it's like putting a thick coat of polyurethane on an antique oak tabletop. It makes it look glossy but it's not original. I'm interested in what the original craftsman created, and the technological limits of the time are part-and-parcel with the finished piece.
That's my personal take on TOS-R. I have no more desire to see modern FX in TOS than I do in classic Twilight Zone, or Outer Limits, or Buster Crabbe Flash Gordon. It just doesn't add anything of interest for me, and it's someone else's later judgment, informed by years of non-contemporary influence, of how something in the original should look. (I can't read abridged books, either.)
But that's just my perspective, no more right or wrong than the next guy's. It's a personal thing. Somebody might want to put 22" spinner wheels on a '55 Chevy. Not my cup of tea, but I can see why some people would like it.
--Justin
Fortunately the Blu rays play the original shows by default.
Or to put it another way, you have to purposely select Enhanced FX.
If only Lucasfilms would see the light...
Typically people who like alternate versions, generally accept that they're such and in no way want to deprive others of the way it was to begin with.
Good job Roddenberry isn't around to approve everything, as Lucas is or there would probably be no choice. It would be regarded by an ulitimate guardian of the franchise, as definitive and that would be that.
Or to put it another way, you have to purposely select Enhanced FX.
If only Lucasfilms would see the light...
Typically people who like alternate versions, generally accept that they're such and in no way want to deprive others of the way it was to begin with.
Good job Roddenberry isn't around to approve everything, as Lucas is or there would probably be no choice. It would be regarded by an ulitimate guardian of the franchise, as definitive and that would be that.
In more than one way. Last night at a cocktail party I was chatting with Terrance McGovern--who provided a number of voices for the original Star Wars, including, most famously, the stormtroopers who says "We don't need to see his identification"--and he commented about being "erased" from Star Wars since Lucas is overdubbing all the stormtroopers with the Jango Fett/Clonetrooper voice.
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Don't let RAMA hear you say that...
I agree about the changes to the Tholian ships.
My whole deal with the new effects is the simple fact that I don't see an episode that was actually improved with them. Not once have I ranked an episode higher than I did before the new effects.
So... they're pretty. But they don't make an episode any more valuable than it was before.
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