Best TNG Special Effect?

[Meredith]

If that's a "boner" I feel really sorry for Mr. Collins. At least he was making "headines" (ba dum BUM).

In the book Chekov's Enterprise Walter Koenig mentioned that the costumes came with regulation undergarments to prevent such a scene as above. Curiouser and curiouser....

They could re-do the effects in TMP but they couldn't airbrush out the tents.

I will buy a TMP DVD if they could airbrush out the man tents or maybe digitally replace the uniforms with ones from STII.

 

[CaptainStoner]

I know a lot of people are gonna disagree with me, but I'm holding to my opinion... I think the FX shots from "Where No One Has Gone Before" were the best of the series... they really gave us some spectacular vistas to look at in that episode.

That was the first ep that came to mind for me also. I'm not sure about best FX for the entire series, but for awesome and unique shots of the mighty D, I can't think of any better.

 

[Green Shirt]

I liked it when the FX people finally understood that these were space ships and not airplanes. Somewhere around season 4 or 5, when E-D would be sitting at a full stop, a heading would be ordered. But instead of the ship making a hard left or right banking turn and then going to warp, the E-D would back toward the direction it was headed, make a 180 degree turn at speed, then go to warp. I remember the first time they used it, my reaction was something like 'about time'.

This was the first thing that came to mind when I started reading this thread. Wasn't it first used in "Unification" when Enterprise left Picard and Data on the Klingon ship?

 

[TheSeeker]

I think one of the coolest shots they did was the final fly-by used every week in the opening credits, where you can see someone walking through the observation lounge right before the mighty D heads off to boldly go.

No shit, I never noticed that. Thanks

Really?!

I remember watching the pilot when it first aired and that was one of the shots that really stood out to me! I think this has always been my favourite shot because it really gives you a sense of the scale of the ship.

I'm also quite fond of the scene where the Borg cut into the hull and pull a section out.

 

[JRS]

I think in overall TNG had great special effects, that still hold up quite well even today.
"Tin Man" had some great stuff in it. The appearence of the Gomtuu for the first time on the screen and the shot where the Warbird flys over Enterprise and fires disruptors the same time.

 

[Lt.Cmdr.LaForge]

my personal fave special effect (even though there were hundreds of effects like it) was in 'All good things' when the suped up ent-D appears with Riker in command and easily annihilates that klingon cruiser. I dont suppose it was particularly hard to pull off or anything, but it just looked incredible to see what a phaser looks like when it goes right through a klingon hull =]

 

[Keith1701]

Remick's exploding head in "Conspiracy."

that was a good one.....

 

[Trevacious]

I enjoyed the Enterprise vs Vortex footage in Time Squared.

 

[Mojochi]

Worf spewing plasma-like venom into Beverly's face, in "Genesis"

 

[Zeta]

I always liked the special effects from the episode "Conundrum," especially the Lysian Central Command space station and the scene where the Enterprise destroys the attacking Lysian fleet...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlobZcUJ9lg

 

[ClayHefner]

My favs
- "Reunion". The Vor'Cha facing the E and the two BOP's arriving
- "The defector": Warbird in pursuit of shuttle firing away
- "Preemptive strike": Swarm of Maquis attacking the Galor
- "The chase": Cardies leaving orbit
- Asteroid belt in this atrocious ep. with Lwaxana, Alexander and the mudbath
- "Final Mission" the mining shuttle spiraling into the solar system, also surprisingly many good closeups of the freighter
- Everything in Tinman
- Most stuff from "Contagion"
- Asteroids+ Alien ship in Booby Trap

 

[Evil_Kirkneivel]

The first one that came to mind was Riker drowning in and being swallowed by Armus in Skin of Evil. They did a good job of making it look like Riker was really in that black goo.

 

[Plecostomus]

I love the scene in "Cause and Effect" when the Bozeman appears from the rift. As Bozeman approaches the Enterprise the crew interaction and dialogue (except Troi saying "We have to get out of here. Now.") was awesome. The image of the two nacelles dragging against each other and then the nacelle from the Enterprise exploding was just shocking the first time I saw it. I'd have to rank that as my favorite TNG special effect scene. What comes later with the bridge officers being tossed around the ship was a bit over the top (Frakes Directing) and the final explosion was okay. The physical contact between the two ships was TNG's best in my opinion......

I hated the way the ship exploded, it's spinning and then IT STOPS. Because it was on a string or a hook, or some such for shooting, but the damned thing STOPPED moving when it blew up!

Also: Notice the final series of explosions originate in the saucer not the engineering hull. That's bugged me for years.

 

[Green Shirt]

The first one that came to mind was Riker drowning in and being swallowed by Armus in Skin of Evil. They did a good job of making it look like Riker was really in that black goo.

Frakes claimed he WAS in the goo.

 

[KirksFlyingFist]

I think the Holodeck stuff was all pretty good.

As for the rest of the effects, they never really felt that great to me. They weren't "gritty" enough to feel real.

 

[trevanian]

I hated the way the ship exploded, it's spinning and then IT STOPS. Because it was on a string or a hook, or some such for shooting, but the damned thing STOPPED moving when it blew up!

To be fair, it was a hell of a lot better than the usual type of ship explosion we'd get on the show; namely, they matte a fireball in over the ship and then remove the ship element. Exciting! At least this way, it looked like the Enterprise was really blowing up.

It's funny, back on SPACE 1999 they'd do this but start the explosion so small in frame that you couldn't help but realize the ship had been taken out before the blast. I really wish TNG had stayed away from the fireball in vacuum look, though. Way too SW.

 

[Tomalak]

The first one that came to mind was Riker drowning in and being swallowed by Armus in Skin of Evil. They did a good job of making it look like Riker was really in that black goo.

Frakes claimed he WAS in the goo.

He was for much of it, but there was a fake head made as well. I hope the guy in the Armus costume got paid well for holding his breath underneath a vat of oil all day.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

I've always been awed by the saucer separation in EaF. It's the combination of effects, editing, and music that makes it a winner in my book. Plus, it's the first saucer sep.

 

[Trevacious]

The first one that came to mind was Riker drowning in and being swallowed by Armus in Skin of Evil. They did a good job of making it look like Riker was really in that black goo.

That's because Jonathan Frakes really was submerged in black goo -- a combo of metamucil and ink. No CGI here. That's all in-camera.

 

[Captain Martin]

Alot of the ones I like were already mentioned here ... but I did like the effect in Descent Part II where Data deactivates Lore and you see the life fade away out of his eyes ...

Edit ... thought of another one ... I always liked when they would pop open data's head to work on him or connect him to another computer ... especially when Riker took his head to engineering in Disaster ...