Question re: Original f/x vs. TOS-R...

[Warped9]

Okay, time and time again we hear how "superior" the new f/x are supposed to be.

There is no question the new f/x are technically better as in more polished. And it's not that I want to rehash that debate because it looks like neither camp will convince the other otherwise. But for all from both camps here is a question:

Are there any specific instances where you think the original f/x is indeed better or at least more artistic/interesting than the new version?

 

[HarryM]

The original Klingon Cruiser and Romulan BOP looked better, esp the former.

 

[Green Shirt]

I thought the scene in WNMHGB where Enterprise went through the barrier was better artistically (if not technically) in the original.

Also, the following classic flybys used for stock footage were better in the original . . .

. . . The warp speed flyby with the "swoosh" in the opening credits. They didn't match the original angle of the ship, plus they ruined the sound.

. . . They also couldn't match the "sideways slide" correctly. (could have been a limitation of GCI, probably only worked with a physical model).

. . . I also preferred the original "underside to top of the saucer zoom to the bridge" shot.


I thought they missed an opportunity in TOS-R during the opening credits when they didn't insert the "planet of the week" (when there was one). They took great pains to create interesting new planets for the episodes, but missed out by not inserting them in the opening credits. Probably a money issue.

 

[scotpens]

. . . I also preferred the original "underside to top of the saucer zoom to the bridge" shot.

I'm not a huge fan of the new FX, but I have to admit the CGI zoom-in-through-the-bridge-dome shot is both technically and esthetically superior to the crude, ragged-edged rotomatte in the original pilot. Except that the CG artists still didn't align the elevator doors with the external lift tube; instead, they made the bridge face forward, which is WRONG!

(Runs away to avoid hail of eggs and rotten tomatoes)

 

[evilnate]

In addition to many of the above examples, I didn't like the remastered's shuttlebay sequences as much as the orginal. I also most of TOS-R's "Tholian Web" to be lacking.

Usually though, it's not that I think that the remastered effects are worse than the original, it's just that I find them lacking in different ways, and feel that they could have been better executed.

 

[Skellington]

The new effects are just spit-and-polish really; they don't redefine the series or greatly detract from it. There's a little more variety in the flybys, one episode where probes are released and a few "moody" shots of the Enterprise that largely amount to views from below when it's winning and views from above when it's under pressure. Nothing drastic. I did think that some of the shots were a little clinical, though.

 

[Maurice]

Frankly, for all its defects, the Doomsday Machine itself goes from looking weirdly alien to a metallic rock, and the remastered effect when it 'spits up' on the Constellation going boom is awful. It looks like its spewing blue Kool-Aid, not energy.

Nobody gets the "whoosh" right in the opening credits because they're not using the right virtual lens and they miss the "skid", which I believe was done on the optical printer, not in camera.

 

[GNDN]

. . . The warp speed flyby with the "swoosh" in the opening credits. They didn't match the original angle of the ship, plus they ruined the sound.

Absolutely this. The sense of speed and edge-of-your-seat adventure has not been matched.

Agree on the scale and presentation of the shuttlebay.

Also:
The amoeba from The Immunity Syndrome, much more organic in TOS.

Tholian ships.

Klingon battlecruiser.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

I greatly prefer the original shot of the Enterprise being dwarfed by the Fesarius in "The Corbomite Manuever" to the redone version. They screwed up the scale and thus the drama, IMO.

I wasn't nuts about them getting rid of a bit of live-action footage from "Amok Time" to add in an extra CGI shot of a STIII-esque Vulcan. That seemed to be stepping beyond the bounds of the project.

None of the new CGI backgrounds really matched the original Albert Whitlock matte paintings, IMO. And I hated how they made the colorful planets of TOS all look more Earthlike. It just made the galaxy seem really homogenous.

To be fair, I prefer the new version of the Tantalus Colony in "Dagger of the Mind" as it differentiates it from the Delta Vega matte painting and fits in with the TOS asthetic, and I think the shot of the Botany Bay drifting away from the Enterprise under the "They have my ship" log entry in "Space Seed" is just gorgeous.

 

[Warped9]

The original Klingon Cruiser and Romulan BOP looked better, esp the former.

Definitely. They didn't paint the Klingon cruiser the way Matt Jefferies did and I HATED the obvious plating on the Romulan BoP.

I thought the scene in WNMHGB where Enterprise went through the barrier was better artistically (if not technically) in the original.

Agreed.

. . . The warp speed flyby with the "swoosh" in the opening credits. They didn't match the original angle of the ship, plus they ruined the sound.

. . . They also couldn't match the "sideways slide" correctly.

Agreed.

I thought they missed an opportunity in TOS-R during the opening credits when they didn't insert the "planet of the week" (when there was one). They took great pains to create interesting new planets for the episodes, but missed out by not inserting them in the opening credits. Probably a money issue.

Agree about many of the planets looking the same. Interesting thought about "planet of the week" in the opening credits. I hadn't thought of that.

In addition to many of the above examples, I didn't like the remastered's shuttlebay sequences as much as the orginal. I also most of TOS-R's "Tholian Web" to be lacking.

Usually though, it's not that I think that the remastered effects are worse than the original, it's just that I find them lacking in different ways, and feel that they could have been better executed.

Very much agreed. I think the shuttlecraft in TOS-R look like shit. And I hate the blue they added to the impulse engines at the back.

Frankly, for all its defects, the Doomsday Machine itself goes from looking weirdly alien to a metallic rock, and the remastered effect when it 'spits up' on the Constellation going boom is awful. It looks like its spewing blue Kool-Aid, not energy.

I much prefer the original planet killer.

I have to add that I greatly prefer the original galactic energy barrier, particularly as viewed from the inside. It looks more like exotic energy. I also vastly prefer the original void seen in "Is There In Truth No Beauty?" The TOS-R version is just blah.

Also really dislike the disruptor fire in the TOS-R version of "Elaan Of Troyius." The original is much better. Lastly I hate that they added a visible beam to Scotty's phaser in "The Naked Time."

 

[number6]

It's not a matter of better. It's different. I enjoy both, even if the new CG looks better on the screen.. Some of the original effects are great for their era and still hold up while others don't. Same can be said for the new FX. I don't see why it always has to be either-or.

 

[Warped9]

It's not a matter of better. It's different. I enjoy both, even if the new CG looks better on the screen.. Some of the original effects are great for their era and still hold up while others don't. Same can be said for the new FX. I don't see why it always has to be either-or.

You can enjoy both if you wish. But the question was for anyone who thought something TOS did that was not improved upon in TOS-R. It's just for the sake of discussion.

 

[number6]

The original matte paintings for the first two pilots alone stand as proof positive. They simply recreated them more or less note for note with only subtle embellishments. I agree with most people about the Tholian Web. The original was more raw and believable. The new version does little if anything to improve on it. The ships looked really silly with all those greeblies added on. They should have left that alone.
The original Fesarius looked more menacing.

 

[number6]

also...

I don't really have a problem with the energy barrier, but I agree that parts of it does look a little cartoony.. I do like that they chose to use a CG model of the pilot Enterprise for this episode..I didn't like how it was "lit."

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Thought of another one... I REALLY hated how they changed the entire color palette of the shot of Scalos for "Wink of an Eye." Why change the cityscape away from the blue that the original creators obviously wanted?

 

[A beaker full of death]

Are there any specific instances where you think the original f/x is indeed better or at least more artistic/interesting than the new version?

Yes -- the invisible phaser beam in Naked Time, with a line burning itself into the wall where Scotty pointed the phaser, was much cooler than the line they drew in later.

 

[Green Shirt]

Yes -- the invisible phaser beam in Naked Time, with a line burning itself into the wall where Scotty pointed the phaser, was much cooler than the line they drew in later.

Yes, the idea that it was meant to be an invisible cutting beam is more imaginative.

 

[scotpens]

Yes -- the invisible phaser beam in Naked Time, with a line burning itself into the wall where Scotty pointed the phaser, was much cooler than the line they drew in later.

Yes, the idea that it was meant to be an invisible cutting beam is more imaginative.

And not having an animated phaser beam saved money on the postproduction FX budget.

 

[number6]

Or they just forgot about it as a result of time/money crunch.

 

[Warped9]

Whatever the reason it fired the imagination and came off well. Sometimes being constrained in some way really prods creativity where if you had all the means at hand you might not have thought of something as interesting.