Which do you prefer watching now, Remastered episodes or originals ?
Now that the Remastered Series has been around a while
- Thread starter Dave Scarpa
- Start date
trevanian
Rear Admiral
Have sampled the remastered fx and found all of the spacesjo[ shots lacking. Some of the surface planet stuff is of visual interest, but nothing looks appropriate to TOS in style and execution. I won't ever watch a whole ep in that style, too much like seeing CITIZEN KANE augmented with dream imagery culled from TRON.
I always go back to the originals. I don’t hate the new effects, but I grew up on the original work and it’s what I prefer – warts and all. Most of the time, I find the CGI effects to be fine, but don’t like some of the angles chosen – such as those really tight close up shots where we only see part of the secondary hull and such. Or when the new effects don’t really reflect what the dialog is saying, or when the energy of a scene is diluted by the change.
However, some episodes really benefited from the new effects. I find it difficult to watch the original version of Tomorrow is Yesterday because now the slingshot effect not only makes sense, it’s damned exciting. But, I prefer the original shuttle launch sequence in Galileo Seven, all of the original effects in WNMHGB and even still prefer the original Doomsday Machine effects. It depends. Again, I appreciate the work and like a lot of it, but my taste runs to the originals.
Then again, I also watch the laserdiscs and their measly resolution fairly often, too. Whatever keeps the original feel of the episodes intact [I'll spare you guys yet another rant about the altered sound mix].
However, some episodes really benefited from the new effects. I find it difficult to watch the original version of Tomorrow is Yesterday because now the slingshot effect not only makes sense, it’s damned exciting. But, I prefer the original shuttle launch sequence in Galileo Seven, all of the original effects in WNMHGB and even still prefer the original Doomsday Machine effects. It depends. Again, I appreciate the work and like a lot of it, but my taste runs to the originals.
Then again, I also watch the laserdiscs and their measly resolution fairly often, too. Whatever keeps the original feel of the episodes intact [I'll spare you guys yet another rant about the altered sound mix].
Only the new FX now, it's actually become a "natural" aspect of TOS for me - it just takes time to acclimate as it were.
I certainly recognise some the work is not up to scratch, the shuttle bay/craft being the most egregious examples. But much of it is outstanding, and a definite enhancement to the show IMHO.
I don't know, maybe 60-70% of the shots are good/excellent, with the remainder on a sliding scale from average down to weak or even downright crappy.
I certainly recognise some the work is not up to scratch, the shuttle bay/craft being the most egregious examples. But much of it is outstanding, and a definite enhancement to the show IMHO.
I don't know, maybe 60-70% of the shots are good/excellent, with the remainder on a sliding scale from average down to weak or even downright crappy.
I only got the remastered dvd's last month (used), and only for seasons 1 and 2 so far. Though the disks appear to be double-sided, when I tried the reverse side, it didn't seem to have any data.
I was messing around in 3d with an Enterprise model in 2000, so the remastered effects don't impress me that much though they're much better than anything I can do. One thing I've noticed is camera movement sometimes seems to be focused on the Enterprise, creating a panning effect that looks as bad and artificial as anything I've done myself and try to avoid.
Since the majority of my TOS titles are now remastered, it looks like I'm stuck with them, but I do intend to get the 3rd season (used) when I can find it and have the money.
So for me, it's interesting as a novelty, but anyone who's already experimented with their own 3d or even physical models isn't likely to have their socks knocked off.
I wouldn't have bought them at all if I still had all my Paramount-issued tapes from the 80s, but a thief got all but about 15 episodes twenty years ago (including the two versions of "The Cage").
I was messing around in 3d with an Enterprise model in 2000, so the remastered effects don't impress me that much though they're much better than anything I can do. One thing I've noticed is camera movement sometimes seems to be focused on the Enterprise, creating a panning effect that looks as bad and artificial as anything I've done myself and try to avoid.
Since the majority of my TOS titles are now remastered, it looks like I'm stuck with them, but I do intend to get the 3rd season (used) when I can find it and have the money.
So for me, it's interesting as a novelty, but anyone who's already experimented with their own 3d or even physical models isn't likely to have their socks knocked off.
I wouldn't have bought them at all if I still had all my Paramount-issued tapes from the 80s, but a thief got all but about 15 episodes twenty years ago (including the two versions of "The Cage").
I thought the reverse sides were in HD-DVD?
I dunno. Both my tv's are old tube style, and my dvd player was the cheapest I could get at $30 and it didn't recognize any data if there is some. I was only checking to see if an original fx version was on it.
The remastered version is good for those who can't stand the original effects or just want to see TOS done with current effects, but the original version is how TOS is meant to be, IMO. Each Trek series is a product of the real-world time it was made in and is a snapshot of television history.
I totally get where you guys are coming from, and indeed, I'm usually a traditionalist with these kinds of things. But in the case of TOS-R, I do hold it was a worthy exercise and works well overall.
For me, watching in HD, the new FX actually feel more integrated with the sparkling new prints than the original elements.
Eh, I feel the exact opposite. While I think the remastered team did an awesome job overall, the new FX do tend to stick out as new FXs or as things that weren't there originally when the series was made.
I was thinking more about the "degraded" look of the original FX in comparison to the majority of the restored live action footage.
As I said, the new versions feel totally natural to me now, but of course, I completely understand your reasoning.
I'm glad they made the attempt but overall I found the space and ship shots lacking. Hopefully, a real effects house will one day get a shot at redoing the TOS effects.
It's noteworthy as an experiment, and I think we probably all tried to do similar stuff as soon as we had a model of the Enterprise and a movie camera, or a 3d program. I used to have access to an old Fuji Single-8 that you could backwind the film, and I'd do double exposures with two ships in a scene with just one model.
I absolutely prefer the remastered versions.
I just got the BD set this past Christmas, but haven't watched any of it yet. I've seen a few of the remastered episodes on TV and they're OK, but not anything I needed to have. On the other hand, I absolutely had to have the show with the original effects. That's why I made no effort to get the DVD version as it had only the remastered effects.
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