Opinions on the remastered versions

[M'Sharak]

Opinions on the remastered versions

None of it was essential, and what we got was kind of a grab-bag:

Some of it was nice work, but not a good fit for the original show.

Some of it was a questionable choice, and also not a good fit for the original show.

Some of it was "Why did you even bother re-doing that? The original effects were fine, and this--while it kinda fits--simply makes it look different without improving anything."

They did patch a few bits which had been emphasized by higher-res picture quality.

 

[Orac]

I watched the remastered versions on netflix but prefer to get out my DVD's of the originals. My biggest problem with the remastered episodes is the changes to the opening titles, specifically the sound mix, Shatner sounds like he is very far away in the remastered versions and the music is loud, at first I thought maybe I was getting old and couldn't hear properly but when I put on the DVDs I can hear every word loud and clear. Also I really like the original season 2 version of the opening how out of focus the stars are and the (probably unintentional) psychedelic effect of that. In the remastered version they are crisp and clear, IMO this was an error that didn't need fixing.

 

[BillJ]

Some of it was "Why did you even bother re-doing that? The original effects were fine, and this--while it kinda fits--simply makes it look different without improving anything."

Adding the phaser beam to “The Naked Time” still pisses me off to this day.

 

[M'Sharak]

Adding the phaser beam to “The Naked Time” still pisses me off to this day.

I don't think any of it affected me to that degree. I thought there were a few things that were pretty cool, even if they didn't exactly fit -- the shots for "The Doomsday Machine" may have been the peak for that category -- but mostly I could take or leave them. It just wasn't that big a deal for me.

The "adding the phaser beam" bit you mention was definitely an unnecessary step. (One thing you learn early about real light / particle beams is that many of them aren't visible to the human eye, so an invisible phaser beam was entirely believable.)

The recent thread about "anyone hate the swirling lollipops" had me chuckling, though -- mainly because it reminded me of Shatmandu's running "nacelle cap brightness" gag from way back when.

 

[Just a Bill]

In general, I like the remastered versions.

Pros

• Stock shots. I like not seeing the heavy re-use. Instead of the same canned ship maneuver 8 or 10 or 15 times, we get 8/10/15 different sequences. (Seems like every new sequence is unique.)
• Planets. Even half a century ago, those blurry beach balls looked terrible. The new versions are beautiful, and the slingshot around the Sun actually involving the Sun is a welcome addition.
• Romulans. Seeing the mixed Romulan fleet of BoPs and D7s in The Enterprise Incident helps make it more palatable when Spock says "Romulans now using Klingon design" to explain the loss of the BoP filming model.
• Other ships. It's nice to see an actual Orion Raider or Harry Mudd's vessel instead of a blurry yellow blob. The blobs take me out of the story. Sometimes we saw nothing at all back then, like with the Medusans, and it's nice to see that budget gap finally getting addressed. I love that they "canonized" the freighter design from the animated series; the re-use of the Botany Bay model seemed ridiculous to me even when I was a child.
• Phasers. Fixing the wrong colors is good. This too bothered me as a kid.
• Choice. We can watch the new or the old, as we choose. Both are good; just different.

Cons

• Battle maneuvers. I'm not a fan of starship-sized vessels smoothly and quickly swishing, diving, and tilting during combat. We didn't see that kind of motion in the original episodes, and frankly it makes the ships feel much smaller than they are supposed to be. (Star destroyers don't dip, zip, and juke around like x-wings.) I feel like I'm watching a small physical model being moved around by hand on the end of a stick that got matted out in post.
• Digital chronometers. This just might be the worst change for me. The Naked Time's original sequence where the chronometer runs backward, decelerates, pauses for a tick, then accelerates back to forward time was magical. Artistic. It heightened the emotion of this powerful sequence in the episode. In the digital version that is lost, and it doesn't really even communicate the reversal very effectively to the viewer. I actively despise the digital chronometer. This one was a bad call; a lack of discipline, or maybe just a failure to appreciate what was being lost.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Also not a fan. The majority of the Enterprise, starship, and shuttlecraft shots are ass.

The soundtrack changes are also for the worse.

Most of the matte work is alright, and in some cases a definite improvement (e.g. the Majove illusion in "The Cage").

 

[Tosk]

(One thing you learn early about real light / particle beams is that many of them aren't visible to the human eye, so an invisible phaser beam was entirely believable.)

I completely agree that a beam could be invisible. But it's also entirely believable that one would want a visible beam on any handheld device with such destructive capabilities.