Original effects or new?

[johnnybear]

This must have been addressed already but if not here goes!
Who prefers the original effects to the new digital updated effects of TOS? I'm afraid that I prefer the original although the new stuff looks very good (Doomsday Machine) and the earth type planet is much better than the green globe hanging in space look, but one thing I dislike is the nacelles being on the viewscreen, I mean surely you wouldn't see them? you didn't in TNG or the original effects so why now?
Plus all that model work done back in the 60s like Frank Van Der Veers Tholian craft and their web and the single celled Amoeba are now just CGI shadows of their former selves!
So guys and gals, old or new?
JB

 

[BillJ]

you didn't in TNG...

You did in "Coming of Age" and a few other TNG episodes.

As far as the new effects go, sometimes they worked and sometimes they didn't. When I watch the show on Blu-ray, I usually go with the originals.

 

[johnnybear]

I must have blocked that from my mind although I still haven't seen seasons six and seven of TNG!
JB

 

[BillJ]

I must have blocked that from my mind although I still haven't seen seasons six and seven of TNG!
JB

Season one. Where Wesley goes to test for Starfleet Academy. Shuttle is stolen from the Enterprise by a kid who got rejected.

 

[CaptainMurdock]

Well, I was first introduced to TOS-R, so that's what I prefer. The original effects were great in their time, but I like the newer effects better.

 

[Richard Baker]

Personally I like the engines being visible in the rear view- it gives you the feeling there is actually a camera mounted on the hull facing that way instead of some magical virtual camera floating behind the ship. When they added the nacelle to the window shot in TMP it really provided you with the location of that room and that you were on a real starship instead of a sound stage. Seeing nothing but the stars outside a window is a budget cheat- you should be able to see the upper hull out of Picard's Ready Room and the Observation lounge from where they are placed and where the camera is pointed as well.

With regards to the SFX between TOS & TOS-R, I generally like the TOS-R version because they show some interactive lighting on the hull when firing weapons and the planets look much more realistic. Some shots like the City in 'The Cloudminders' never did look right in the original, seeing that city from additional angles really helps.

Not all the new SFX is better, there are places where TOS nailed it the first time, but on a whole when given a choice I prefer to watch the TOS-R shows.

 

[F. King Daniel]

The fan film Star Trek Continues does a fantastic job of updating the original effects - same angles, same tone and vibe but in glorious HD. I wish they'd done that. TOS-R's updated effects are hit and miss, like they couldn't decide if they were gonna be faithful or to George Lucas the hell out of it and so you get some faithful shots, some cool new shots and some utterly pointless change-for-the-sake-of-change shots.

 

[Jonas Grumby]

I prefer the original effects. When I watch TOS, I watch it to appreciate the work and talent of the guys who originally made the show. The actors, writers, directors, composers, set designers, art directors, Jerry Finnerman's superb cinematography...all of it! Why the special effects guys--who were producing movie-quality work at the time on a television budget--should be arbitrarily excluded is beyond me.

 

[erastus25]

This must have been addressed already...

Possibly the biggest understatement ever posted on the Internet... I'm not sure if that's hyperbole.

 

[1001001]

This must have been addressed already...

Possibly the biggest understatement ever posted on the Internet... I'm not sure if that's hyperbole.

Yes, johnnybear, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but you've started something like 7 threads in the past couple of days,

*Deep Breaths*

 

[TOSalltheway]

I was not improsed with most, and I emphasize most, of the new effects. They do have a video game quality about them.

I love the little CG changes that were made to tweek the look of show. A great example is the addition of the bullet holes during the escape scene from Bread and Circuses. The lack of bullet holes always bothered me.

 

[bbailey861]

I prefer the originals but sometimes I think that's just because that's what I grew up watching. I just love it and still watch those original shows with the same feeling as I had way back then. That being said, every now and then I will be pretty amazed at some of the updated visuals.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I love them both.

I love the faithfulness of TOS-R's Enterprise to the original model design, excepting only that the R version is gray and too dark a shade of gray at that, and the font of the ship's name atop the saucer is not quite right (how could they get that wrong?). But again, I still love that ship, even slightly altered.

Some episodes of TOS-R were rushed. The Klingon battle cruiser in "Elaan of Troyius" could have been better, for instance. But in many cases throughout the series, the R spaceship fx are cleaner and sharper, not having gone through all the generational losses inflicted by traditional film techniques.

Perhaps TOS-R's greatest triumph is the supernova at the end of "All Our Yesterdays." That's never getting old. You also see a lot of added value in unexpected places, like the view out of Captain Pike's hospital window in "The Menagerie" Part I, or the Scalosian city in "Wink of an Eye." The city of Stratos in "The Cloud Minders" is also very good.

 

[allstar77]

I prefer the remastered as long as they're not too intrusive. That is, we all know TOS had a tight budget and some primitive effects, if the remastered shows what was originally intended or hoped for, then I'm fine. But if it's pointless or going for a beauty shot to just try and pretty thing up, I'm not impressed.

 

[2takesfrakes]

The New Effects do nothing about Shatner's rug, or hammy acting, or their ill-fitting uniforms, or the corny dialogue, or anything else that makes the show flawed or dated. The "improved" effects look better on their own, but they don't really jibe with the world we're watching. It seems like they're just there to underline the shortcomings of the show in other departments. Also, I do not like the colour enhancement of the cleaned up versions, overall. The tweaking is pretty obvious, from time to time. But the new effects are clearly there with intent behind them, there's some care that went into it. They just create as many problems as they're intended to cure, is all ...

 

[Hober Mallow]

I prefer the original -- some of it even holds up pretty well in HD -- but some of the new stuff looks great.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Original.

However, many of the TOS-R "matte paintings" are pretty cool, especially the new ones like the beam down in "By Any Other Name".

 

[Ssosmcin]

The originals. I like a bunch of the new effects and Tomorrow is Yesterday works SO much better with the new visuals. But I prefer the energy and ingenuity of the 48 year old stuff.

I disagree with Zap, which doesn't happen often. I don't like the new nova in All Our Yesterdays nearly as much. It's over the top. And I truly loved the original, even though it was very simple. It fit the stock music perfectly and was a lovely effect. I always go back to the original in that case.

Also, in some episodes, the CGI artists didn't always match their work with the intentions in the dialog. The Doomsday Machine, for all it's wonderfulness, has a one or two examples of not quite matching what was stated.

Personally I like the engines being visible in the rear view- it gives you the feeling there is actually a camera mounted on the hull facing that way instead of some magical virtual camera floating behind the ship.

Well, a simple zoom lens will move the nacelles out of frame. Also, the camera didn't have to be on the saucer at all. The little dome light above the hanger bay could have held a camera, since there was never an on air explanation of what that dome was. Hell, a camera could have been in the hull somewhere and not shown the nacelles.

 

[Praxius]

I can appreciate both.

The new stuff is pretty good, and I also like the old stuff too.

However, so long as TOS doesn't start getting "Star Wars'd" over and over again and then have the originals wiped from the face of the planet, it's all good.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Well, a simple zoom lens will move the nacelles out of frame. Also, the camera didn't have to be on the saucer at all. The little dome light above the hanger bay could have held a camera, since there was never an on air explanation of what that dome was. Hell, a camera could have been in the hull somewhere and not shown the nacelles.

The secret to a good lie is in the details, the bits that add nothing to one's alibi but create a convincing air about the whole thing. With fx, an "unnecessary" detail like seeing the nacelles on screen can make it seem like there's a real hull camera and this is what it happens to see.

TOS was mostly done in the style of romantic art, focusing on the essential aspects of heroes against their challenges, and generally lacked the tapestry of non-essential details seen in naturalism. The latter style came to televsion in shows like NYPD Blue and ER.

The early episodes had a detail here and there, like Kirk munching chips on the bridge in "The Man Trap," but the show was mainly about the essentials (to good effect), and the original fx never had the luxury of doing the non-essential. An added detail like seeing engine nacelles in the rear view mirror adds a little tweak of naturalism that I think there's room for.