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DS9 on blu ray?

If you look at the fan CGI work being done in these very forums and elsewhere, I think there's a distinct possibility that at some point in the future we'll get fan remasters of DS9 and VOY - and probably even a better remaster of TOS. The technology is getting to where non-professionals are able to do work that surpasses what pros could accomplish a few years ago, and fans have the advantage of slave-like devotion an dedication to detail. Of course, the biggest hurdle will be copyright enforcement by our friends at CBS/Paramount...

Well, they would also need access to all the filmed elements and the manpower to redo the post-production process from scratch. This isn't just the matter of the effects, it is a matter of how the 24th century shows were put together.
 
The idea of spending £50 for a season of an eighties TV show seemed ludicrous
It was.

I'm a bigger Trek fan than anyone I know and I work in a comic shop - probably the 'target demographic'. I paid about £50 for the complete seven season boxset a couple of years ago. It's still that price now.
 
I should qualify all of my Debbie Downer comments in this thread by saying I want a DS9 blu-ray release as much as anybody. I would gladly throw down several hundred dollars if there were a crowdfunding campaign for the project. I'd preorder the blu-ray set even though I already have a brand-new DS9 DVD set. I'd tell other people to buy it too.

Alas, fan enthusiasm isn't the issue here. :confused:
 
But in general, it is. CBS has no reason to lay out $20 million when people are just going to wait around for it to hit $50 for the entire series.
Oh well I kind of differentiate between fan enthusiasm for a remaster vs fan willingness to pay upwards of $150 for a DS9 complete blu-ray series.
 
Oh well I kind of differentiate between fan enthusiasm for a remaster vs fan willingness to pay upwards of $150 for a DS9 complete blu-ray series.

$150? Shit, I paid roughly $280 for the first five seasons of TNG-R. That was buying each season the week of release.
 
Is there existing precedent for a mainstream commercial media company using crowdfunding to finance a movie or TV project?

Kor
 
I don't know of any. The crowdfunding DS9 on blu-ray idea sounds like a last-ditch effort. It's an intriguing tactic but can't say it would be effective. Probably you'd need to do some kind of petition first to get CBS's attention. I don't think any person or group could collect funds from people for a property they don't have the rights to.
 
I don't know of any. The crowdfunding DS9 on blu-ray idea sounds like a last-ditch effort. It's an intriguing tactic but can't say it would be effective. Probably you'd need to do some kind of petition first to get CBS's attention. I don't think any person or group could collect funds from people for a property they don't have the rights to.

Fan films do it now to an extreme degree.
 
Nobody really kniowsknowsthe numbers were overall for the stng bluray. We only know it was on the best-seller list briefly and after that, only vague mention of it not having sold well enough to justify DS9 in HD. Which does not in itself mean it didn't sell well.

Of course, the Bluray set appeared at a time as optical disc sales were falling in general, and since then the HD has been enjoyed on both Hulu to a limited extent, and Netflix for the whole series, where the Trek shows often appear in the "most popular" list.

It is true I run into a lot of people online who could care less, or know nothing about the actual work on the "remaster". As I've pointed out, the old idea Trekkies are tech savvy or like new things in general has been disproven many times over. They generally like things they are used to or comfortable rather than innovative.

RAMA

I think you just identified the problem though. The TNG remaster didn't sell very well or make CBS that much money. And when you're a business considering a similar follow-up project, making back more than your investment is the ultimate deciding factor. I think you're absolutely right that people are just watching the TNG remaster on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime, etc. They're not buying the blu-ray and clearly CBS isn't making back their investment on the remaster from either blu-ray sales or whatever it is they get from streaming services' licensing agreements.

And if you give people the option of watching it in HD or SD, a lot of people are just going to shrug and pay less for SD. That'll cut into the profits on the remaster even more. What people need to do is buy the TNG, TOS, and ENT blu-rays. Not on eBay or from friends or whatever. Buy them from Amazon or directly from CBS or Best Buy, what-have-you. They need to make a profit on this if we're going to have any hope of seeing DS9 and VOY in HD.
 
Well, they would also need access to all the filmed elements and the manpower to redo the post-production process from scratch. This isn't just the matter of the effects, it is a matter of how the 24th century shows were put together.
True - a proper remaster, like what was done with TNG, would require the source materials for the live action scenes. That's not true of everything else, though, as the fanbase could conceivably recreate everything in CG (unlike what was done with TNG).

Certainly a re-remaster of TOS with better CG (what CBS released was pretty hit-or-miss) is possible since the it's available in HD.

DS9 and VOY could be dealt with in a non-ideal way by upscaling the live action scenes and recreating everything else in CG. Far from perfect, of course, but I'm willing to bet someone takes it on in the next 10-15 years if CBS doesn't feed the desire.
 
DS9 and VOY could be dealt with in a non-ideal way by upscaling the live action scenes and recreating everything else in CG. Far from perfect, of course, but I'm willing to bet someone takes it on in the next 10-15 years if CBS doesn't feed the desire.
That wouldn't really qualify as a remaster. I wouldn't spend money on something my Blu-ray player can do adequately. It's a full remaster as for TNG or nothing in my view.
 
DS9 and VOY could be dealt with in a non-ideal way by upscaling the live action scenes and recreating everything else in CG.

They explored this option for TNG. It looked like ass (there is a feature about it either on the sampler or season one Blu-ray). There simply aren't many folks who are going to pay for a half-hearted attempt.
 
True - a proper remaster, like what was done with TNG, would require the source materials for the live action scenes. That's not true of everything else, though, as the fanbase could conceivably recreate everything in CG (unlike what was done with TNG).

Certainly a re-remaster of TOS with better CG (what CBS released was pretty hit-or-miss) is possible since the it's available in HD.

DS9 and VOY could be dealt with in a non-ideal way by upscaling the live action scenes and recreating everything else in CG. Far from perfect, of course, but I'm willing to bet someone takes it on in the next 10-15 years if CBS doesn't feed the desire.
An odd episode here or there which fed nostalgia for decades? Perhaps. The whole 7 seasons? Not a snowballs chance in hell.
Will CBS do it, eventually? I *think* so, maybe if done with financing from one of the bigger streaming networks (like Netflix or Amazon Prime) but if the equation is "how many blurays will we sell?" then Nope.
 
I think you just identified the problem though. The TNG remaster didn't sell very well or make CBS that much money. And when you're a business considering a similar follow-up project, making back more than your investment is the ultimate deciding factor. I think you're absolutely right that people are just watching the TNG remaster on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime, etc. They're not buying the blu-ray and clearly CBS isn't making back their investment on the remaster from either blu-ray sales or whatever it is they get from streaming services' licensing agreements.

And if you give people the option of watching it in HD or SD, a lot of people are just going to shrug and pay less for SD. That'll cut into the profits on the remaster even more. What people need to do is buy the TNG, TOS, and ENT blu-rays. Not on eBay or from friends or whatever. Buy them from Amazon or directly from CBS or Best Buy, what-have-you. They need to make a profit on this if we're going to have any hope of seeing DS9 and VOY in HD.

They started screening them on SYFY in the U.K. Pretty much the same time as releasing the blus....and frankly, just as with every other initial release, vhs or DVD...they were just too expensive. Us of that generation are parents and stuff now, and they were priced for the space whale fans (who probably did buy them.) I get the cost in remastering...but they probably should have released all seven series in on hit, at say an eighty quid price point...fifty in sales. Something that people can see themselves buying for relatives at xmas...not something that you look at the cost, then figure out what seven series is gonna cost you...and then decide to see if the inevitable complete set box is cheaper down the line. Especially when modern TVs do upscaling so well.
 
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