Original or remastered effects?

[Melakon]

This is basically a shopping advice question.

I'm a TOS fan since its first months on NBC. I first bought a VCR specifically to tape Star Trek reruns. When Paramount was releasing the single episodes in the 80s, I bought them all. Now I'm down to only a dozen or so of those left.

Those original effects are what I'm used to. I think the only remastered episode I have is "Mirror, Mirror" on the Alternate Realities Collective. I've read positive and negative evaluations on the remastered effects. I'm sort of interested in seeing them, since I play around in my 3d software sometimes doing spaceship scenes.

I can play DVD only and cannot afford to get into Blu-Ray. A few months back I saved up and bought the entire series collection for Enterprise, and I'm thinking I want to do the same for TOS.

Should I get the remastered versions? Or being the olden days type fan that I am, should I go for the originals?

 

[Mario de Monti]

That is so much a question of taste really. Personally I mostly like the new effects, especially the digital matte paintings that make the planetscapes so much more "realistic". What´s also great is all the spaceships you get to see in great detail (like the Botany Bay) and sometimes get to see those we haven´t seen at all (like the Antares). You can also enjoy the Enterprise itself in a way not previously possible (close-ups, etc.) which is just fun.

The plating they added to the saucer however, is something that makes me cringe every time I see it. Additionally some visual ideas I don´t like at all, like the "bomb-bay doors" for launching the satellites in "Operation: Annihilate".

Against that stands the nostalgia of the old effects, so of course you have to judge how important that is to you. If I had to make the choice, I´d go with the remastered version, since it lets TOS shine in a way it deserves.

Mario

 

[Melakon]

It is sort of a tough decision for me. I first saw TOS at 15 in 1966. I knew about old style effects like miniatures and wires from the Lydecker Brothers work on Republic serials of the 1940s. But I could not figure out how Star Trek did the space scenes, because the Enterprise wasn't on wires, and wasn't a cartoon. So I started to read about optical printers, blue screen photography, and would pick up American Cinematographer magazine if I saw it. So those original effects are an important landmark for me.

Contrariwise, I have a 3d Enterprise in my animation program, and I have used it a few times just to try closer angles than the series could.

 

[LOKAI of CHERON]

Overall, I'd say 70, maybe 75% of the new FX are rendered well and stand up to repeated viewing. However, when it goes wrong, it REALLY goes wrong. Example, some shots of the Galileo are just awful - looking like they've come straight out of some cheap mid 90's computer game!

 

[Melakon]

Hmmm. Well, I have terrible animation skills. But if I see one of the remastered effects that I don't like, I could always try my own staging of it. It just wouldn't look as professional.

 

[F. King Daniel]

If you've seen the old episodes a million times, it might be nice to see the new effects just for a change. Even if some of the effects aren't great, it made my last watch through (when I got the TOS-R DVDs) a little more fresh.

 

[DeepSpaceWine]

The remastered effects seem to be tastefully done. What I mean is they don't try to really deviate from that original broadcast, trying to keep in spirit of the limitations, trying to just show a better effect, not trying to make something wildly new (though we got more variation for the planets, like Mudd's spectacular planet). We don't get whole battles made up from nothing basically. When I heard about the remastering, I feared what it might do because so many remasterings go wrong. This one didn't. I can understand people who prefer the original, though TOS avoided having a horrid abomination masquerading as its 'next generation' of broadcasts (The Me TV network shows the remastered episodes on Saturdays). It will be the best of both worlds if it makes the show more palatable to a newer generation who might be turned off to a series as old fashioned in its production and style as TOS (something I find absurd, of course, I grew up with shows from the 40s/50s [well, repackaged movie serials] into the 80s/90s, all side by side, so decade of origin and whether it was color or B&W I didn't hold as a mark against it) because at least in my view, it hasn't been a travesty (even if, as some have pointed out, there are weak moments).

I'd recommend watching more episodes before getting them. Besides being on the Me network, they are also on Amazon Prime IIRC, both the original & the remastered IIRC.

 

[Melakon]

I can't pick up regular tv, so I might sample Amazon as I've used them before. I tend to prefer having physical copies in my library though. I probably will go for the remastereds, but it will likely be a month or two before I can afford them. And really.... I've seen the originals for nearly 50 years. It's doubtful I'll have to watch the remastereds for another 50.

 

[BillJ]

There are two 'Best Of' DVD's that feature the remastered effects...

http://www.amazon.com/movies-tv/dp/B001TH16CO

 

[Praetor Baldric]

I really like the remastered effects and I never could understand why so many objected...until I saw the remastered I, Mudd. The scene where Norman reveals that he is in fact an android by lifting his shirt and pulling back his ab panel, is so much better in the original with the little transistors and very very 60s style technical look. In the remastered version, Norman's abs look a little to much like a Hyundai panel accessory.

 

[LOKAI of CHERON]

I really like the remastered effects and I never could understand why so many objected...until I saw the remastered I, Mudd. The scene where Norman reveals that he is in fact an android by lifting his shirt and pulling back his ab panel, is so much better in the original with the little transistors and very very 60s style technical look. In the remastered version, Norman's abs look a little to much like a Hyundai panel accessory.

Weird, I thought that was one of the more successful shots! Awesome avatar by the way, Big Daddy!

 

[Praetor Baldric]

I really like the remastered effects and I never could understand why so many objected...until I saw the remastered I, Mudd. The scene where Norman reveals that he is in fact an android by lifting his shirt and pulling back his ab panel, is so much better in the original with the little transistors and very very 60s style technical look. In the remastered version, Norman's abs look a little to much like a Hyundai panel accessory.

Weird, I thought that was one of the more successful shots! Awesome avatar by the way, Big Daddy!

The new abs are definitely cleaner and sleeker, but somehow it looks like they tried a little too hard to clean it up. I dunno, still I love all the other enhancements, just that one kinda made me cringe a little.

Thanks, glad you like the avatar!

 

[plynch]

OP, Everything you've said says "Buy the originals" to me. It's what I own. I'll not get into a big argument here about the new effects. There are plenty of threads about them. You are investing money, and while it might be nice to see the new effects (try youtube compilations) they - to me - jarringly interrupt the viewing, they look SO different from what was do-able then; and so different (clearly animated) from the rest of the footage. You asked advice; there it is; I wish you very well.

 

[BillJ]

OP, Everything you've said says "Buy the originals" to me. It's what I own. I'll not get into a big argument here about the new effects. There are plenty of threads about them. You are investing money, and while it might be nice to see the new effects (try youtube compilations) they - to me - jarringly interrupt the viewing, they look SO different from what was do-able then; and so different (clearly animated) from the rest of the footage. You asked advice; there it is; I wish you very well.

I didn't find them jarring, I just didn't find them very good sometimes. It seemed like they should've brought in a professional director to handle the composition of the shots.

 

[feek61]

I have the blu-rays which have both the remastered and original effects and I only watch the originals. The remastered effects for the most part do not look like they fit in with the original footage. They almost appear cartoonish in many scenes. There are a few things that look good. The Horta coming out of the rock is good and some matte shots were done well but for the most part I very much dislike the remastered shots.

 

[Harvey]

The subtle changes to the live action footage with the actors are almost all terrific and seamless (stuff like Scotty's phaser beam in "The Naked Time," Sulu's clock in the same episode, matte extensions, etc.). The new model shots, done with CGI, are much more of a mixed bag.

 

[BillJ]

The subtle changes to the live action footage with the actors are almost all terrific and seamless (stuff like Scotty's phaser beam in "The Naked Time,"...

This is the only change that really pissed me off.

 

[Harvey]

Meh, it's more in line with every other use of the phaser, so I don't mind.

 

[BillJ]

Meh, it's more in line with every other use of the phaser, so I don't mind.

But when I was five it seemed really cool and high-tech. Now it's just a regular phaser beam.

 

[CaptPapa]

My personal opinion is very much in favor of the remastered version, but here's a thought - if you have access to Netflix.
Try them for a 30-day free trial and watch the (remastered) episodes for yourself, and evaluate them by your own standards - that's all that counts anyway. If you like what you see, buy that version.
Happy watching