Because they won't *be* the original film shots, crafted at the time by the original visual effects artists. I want to see the original, warts and all. I don't want to see an AI-generated "cleanup" of it. It's the same reason I have no desire to watch colorized episodes of I Love Lucy or The Dick Van Dyke Show even though that can be very easily and realistically done today.
No one's gonna take the originals away from you. I am simply talking about keeping the original shots and cleaning them up with Ai. The excuse before was they could not transfer them to digital. Which they did with the Blu rays but again not digital. With Ai now they could at least make the Enterprise look like it's not in mid cloak for some shots etc. I'm not talking about replacing the ship with CGI like they did last time. Keep what can be salvaged of the image. I have the original effects on Blu Ray. I would love to see this option instead of the overly done remasters. They can still keep the original shots as an option.
Frankly, I don't get why people can't just accept the original versions as a view into the past ways of making a TV show. Changing VFX shots does nothing but remove context and also wipes from history the incredibly hard and difficult work the model makers and VFX folks did each week to bring the show to life.
That's the fundamental question - why do these shots need to be redone at all?
That's the fundamental question - why do these shots need to be redone at all?
Because newer viewers might not want to try it out if the effects are too distracting. 1960s special effects are one thing, damaged special effects are quite another. When I'm watching Star Wars, for example, I don't want to see rectangular garbage matts moving behind the ships. It's immersion breaking. The Strut on the Enterprise isn't supposed to be missing.
And I don't think being a film snob and saying "well we don't want new fans if they can't ignore poor effects" is a good solution, there lies irrelevance.
I fully agree. I mentioned "Han shot first" because Lucas has gone to great lengths to wipe out all traces of Star Wars (not "A New Hope") the way it appeared in '77. What an insult to the artists who made it happen. At least with the Star Trek episodes, one can view the original VFX—if you don't mind the over-loud thunder of ship's engines drowning out the Captain's log, and color distortions like forcing the command shirts to appear green. (I know that's a hot debate, and the color varied depending on lighting, like an iridescent effect. But when the shirts appear yellow-gold in color behind-the-scenes stills and even TAS, then they're gold.)
But I also feel that many of the original VFX, "warts and all," were better than the digital work. The Doomsday Machine and the "barrier" at the edge of the galaxy in TOS-R make me cringe. I think the original "The Immunity Syndrome" won an award for VFX. (Or was that "The Tholian Web"?)
Up-thread, Publiusr posted a video about Magicam and the VFX on the original Cosmos. Doug Trumbull tried to have that "scale model synchro chroma-key" system ready for The Starlost, but most of the shots ended up being "locked down" (no camera movement). I have only vague memories of that show, as I was 8 at the time. So I chased down DVDs and have been reviewing them.
(Side note on The Starlost and its creator Harlan Ellison: I have to laugh that Ellison created so much noise over The Terminator, whose only likeness to the Outer Limits episodes "Soldier" and "Demon With A Glass Hand" is that it was a time travel story. Yet The Starlost is wholesale Heinlein. Cameron shot back in T2 with that line in the mental hospital, "That's original!")
It's funny you should mention that, as the "Special Editions" did not redo every single VFX shot in that trilogy. Review the asteroid chase scene from the Special Edition Empire, and note the traffic jam of garbage mattes there. If Lucas wanted to make pristine versions of the original trilogy, he could have. Sadly, most of what he did was graffiti better shots with annoying up-staging (the entrance into Mos Eisley), absurd-looking blast rings (if the Death Star were a ship on water, I'd understand), or political posturing (Greedo missing at point blank range).
There you go. An example of "yes, they will, indeed, take away the originals". The most common or easiest to access ways to watch Star Wars or TOS is what is available online and it seems that's only the editions with revised effects.
That's what makes Star Wars re-release next year special as it's supposedly going to be the unspecialized version.
Honestly, though, anyone willing to sit down and watch TOS is likely going to be accepting of the original FX. They are already going in knowing they are watching a 60s TV show with sets that are made out of wood, wobble, looks out of the 60s, etc...
Really? Please point me to the option on Paramount+ for streaming the original episodes with the original effects. You won't find it. It's not there. Or should we talk about the original theatrical releases of the original Star Wars trilogy, which Lucas was explicit he never wanted people to see again? Hell, even finding the first two seasons of Bewitched in their original black-and-white is difficult.
Yes, when they redo things they most definitely will take the originals away. And usually do.
EXACTLY what I am saying brother. Redo them the way I said and give the option of those and the original mid cloak effects ON THE BLU RAYS. Then have the P+ and aired versions with the cleaned up effects. Win win. Because You will never see the original mid cloak effects on air or steaming ever again. But cleaned up ones would be your closest for those and I think they would go over better stations that air them. You HAVE to get the blue ray sets though if you want the original effects. It's your only option now. I have them and watch the original effects. Never watch the CGI effects. They just are too jarring to me.
Just tell yourself it's some kind of malfunctioning deflector shield.
Just to be pedantic, but an Ai version is not "keeping and cleaning up" the original shots, it would be replacing the original shots with lookalikes. Just that they would be closer to what you want than the TOSR shots are.
I don't think that's being pedantic, as when AI is changing entire effects shots it really is a replacement. Every pixel is being altered and it likes to make up its own details.
Though I'd much prefer this kind of change than adding more detail to live action shots with actors, as they could use reference images of the miniature to train the AI.
Though I'd much prefer this kind of change than adding more detail to live action shots with actors, as they could use reference images of the miniature to train the AI.
Ai applied to Blu-ray releases of Doctor Who have been controversial. The series was mastered at Standard Definition video resolution, so much of the Ai has been applied to up-scaling. (The series was largely shot in video, although scenes outside the studio were usually film.) Fans complain that the Ai's "choices" make people look waxy and fake, it "fixed" the gap in Tom Baker's front teeth, and a host of other complaints.
Some episodes have had TOS-R-like CGI re-creations of VFX. My complaint in such cases (Trek and Who) is that the new visuals sometimes "violate" the production design of the '60s—such as the Enterprise swishing and sweeping about the screen like a pro skateboarder, rather than the more majestic banks and turns that have more "mass" to them. Thus, it is not simply the VFX technology, but the style.
Some episodes have had TOS-R-like CGI re-creations of VFX. My complaint in such cases (Trek and Who) is that the new visuals sometimes "violate" the production design of the '60s—such as the Enterprise swishing and sweeping about the screen like a pro skateboarder, rather than the more majestic banks and turns that have more "mass" to them. Thus, it is not simply the VFX technology, but the style.
I sure as hell wouldn't want done to Star Trek what primitive AI did to Lucy:
We're lucky our Blu-rays came out in 2016. Yes, they messed with the sound, apparently catering to people with a "Stonehenge" arrangement of speakers around the living room, but there's also a 2-channel stereo track, and the live-action scenes look good.
You can find them in the US at least on Amazon Prime. They're behind a paywall, but you can watch them.
2027 will see the original theatrical version of film returning to theaters. Probably expect to see streaming and even a physical release following. I wouldn't be surprised if the other two films follow quickly. Money isn't being made on new product these days, so Disney will milk that cow.
So those will come back.
Not really. Sony and0000 Mill Creek DVDs of the B&W seasons are easy enough to find. Imprint released them on blu ray recently. They're out of print but still findable. Mill Creek also released them on blu ray, albeit cropped for w/s, but affordable. The first two seasons were sruck from their original prints with the original open credits restored. Even in w/s it looks great.
Nothing is forever.
It's funny how little I care if any new people discovered TOS. Does it have to live forever? My life goes on just fine if a 60 year old show doesn't pick up a single new fan. I have them all on various forms of physical media. Those of us who really want to watch the original effects probably have them at hand.
If people can't understand the limitations of the day, it's def not my problem.
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