On top of that, the early seasons look better, more cinematic. They're much better lit and they're benefiting more from the HD remaster than I think the later seasons will.
Season THREE OFFICIAL TNG Blu-Ray Discussion Thread
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On top of that, the early seasons look better, more cinematic. They're much better lit and they're benefiting more from the HD remaster than I think the later seasons will.
I really like the work Ed brown did on Seasons one and two... and those seasons definitely benefit greatly from the new film scans. I do, however, prefer Marvin Rush's photography over that of Brown's. I like the way Rush re-interpreted the look of TNG. He made it brighter and crisper, more colorful, while still allowing for contrasty, low-key lighting when the script called for it. And the new tabular grain film stock they switched to at the start of S3 (5296) really makes the show pop in a way it didn't previously. Like Robert Meyer Burnett said, it looks like candy. It really lends itself to HD and looks fabulous on Blu-ray.
I thought he was worried that Data was treating this as just another experiment, and did not fully appreciate the ramifications of creating a new life form. Picard was basically worried about test tube embryos being experimented upon. Once he realised Data was serious and knew what he was doing, he was onboard. The same with the admiral too.
Watched Hollow Pursuits, and I'm more impressed than ever by how Dwight Schultz was able to be two such totally different characters in that. It's a really great performance.
Although as the season progresses, I can't help but be bothered more and more by the lack of any actual exploration on this show. They didn't do a whole lot of that in the first two seasons either, but by the third it seems like they've forgotten about it completely.
It seems like all they ever really do is fly from one Federation world to the next, ferry ambassadors around from place to place, or provide relief for some planetary disaster somewhere. And even all that is usually just incidental to whatever drama the main characters are going through on the ship that week.
I know it's been said before, but TNG might as well be a drama taking place in a luxury hotel somewhere. I hardly ever get the sense that the Enterprise is out there exploring uncharted space like I so often do with TOS.
Although as the season progresses, I can't help but be bothered more and more by the lack of any actual exploration on this show. They didn't do a whole lot of that in the first two seasons either, but by the third it seems like they've forgotten about it completely.
It seems like all they ever really do is fly from one Federation world to the next, ferry ambassadors around from place to place, or provide relief for some planetary disaster somewhere. And even all that is usually just incidental to whatever drama the main characters are going through on the ship that week.
I know it's been said before, but TNG might as well be a drama taking place in a luxury hotel somewhere. I hardly ever get the sense that the Enterprise is out there exploring uncharted space like I so often do with TOS.
I remember thinking Tin Man was an overrated episode because I didn't like Tam at all, but in HD, it's a very beautiful episode to look at. The music is great, but the effects here are stunning, especially Gumbto. I also didn't find Tam as annoying this time around, but then I haven't seen the episode in a long while before tonight. I will say I really hope we get a Music special feature because the music in this episode might be some of the series best, even though it might have been overused in Voyager.
I remember distinctly that in 1992, when I first got into Trek, there were many people who referred to TNG as "New Trek" or "the new series" or something to that effect. There was no talk of a "franchise". I suppose that happened around the time that VGR premiered, no? After all, that was when three "generations" were active at the same time across TV and theaters.
Trek was referred to as a "franchise" or the "franchise" before DS9 or Voyager. It easily could have been called that before TNG's run (which I believe is true).
At the time of the late 70's to early eighties Trek was huge on national daily stripping, and since actors, writers, directors only got residuals for a handful of broadcasts it was all pure profit for Paramount.
You even had studio people refer to Trek has a being money printer. All profit at no costs, besides the initial purchase from Desilu.
Then teh film franchise started, and while TOS films were never huge, they were very solid dependable performers and until new Trek arrived each was in the top ten of the year it was released.
During those two decades no other property was successful in both sides of the visual entertainment industry.
Of course when TNG arrived, in steadily grew to becoem a huge national program, generated millions, but it also hit the profitability of TOS reruns (which took a sizable ratings hit and never recovered), and the Trek films never again when new Trek aired performed strong enough to be a top ten performer.
And as crazy as it sounds TNG at least in teh first couple years probably hit TOS reruns hard enough that the tv side of Trek probably made less money then before TNG aired. again TOS cost nothing to make tens of millions every year. While at first TNG, wasn't a huge as it it become, and at was an expensive program at the time.
At the time of the late 70's to early eighties Trek was huge on national daily stripping, and since actors, writers, directors only got residuals for a handful of broadcasts it was all pure profit for Paramount.
You even had studio people refer to Trek has a being money printer. All profit at no costs, besides the initial purchase from Desilu.
Then teh film franchise started, and while TOS films were never huge, they were very solid dependable performers and until new Trek arrived each was in the top ten of the year it was released.
During those two decades no other property was successful in both sides of the visual entertainment industry.
Of course when TNG arrived, in steadily grew to becoem a huge national program, generated millions, but it also hit the profitability of TOS reruns (which took a sizable ratings hit and never recovered), and the Trek films never again when new Trek aired performed strong enough to be a top ten performer.
And as crazy as it sounds TNG at least in teh first couple years probably hit TOS reruns hard enough that the tv side of Trek probably made less money then before TNG aired. again TOS cost nothing to make tens of millions every year. While at first TNG, wasn't a huge as it it become, and at was an expensive program at the time.
No, I remember ST being referred to as a franchise years before. At least during TNG's run and, I suspect, long before.
Aatrek
Rear Admiral
We're finally catching up (at least, a little bit)! Here's our first two entries into the SD-to-HD comparison project for Season 3, best watched in 1080p for full effect.
Star Trek TNG S3 Remastered - SD to HD: "Evolution" - YouTube
Star Trek TNG S3 Remastered - SD to HD: "The Ensigns of Command" - YouTube
Star Trek TNG S3 Remastered - SD to HD: "Evolution" - YouTube
Star Trek TNG S3 Remastered - SD to HD: "The Ensigns of Command" - YouTube
Finished re watching BoBW and a certain shot of the Enterprise's lighting pass caught my eye, any idea what's going on here?
Finished re watching BoBW and a certain shot of the Enterprise's lighting pass caught my eye, any idea what's going on here?
Hmm, I don't know, but I like the new version! A lot of the remastered lighting reminds me of how the ship looked in Generations, which is no bad thing in my eyes.
I'm almost at the end of the boxset, and I've noticed a couple of things. In The Most Toys, I'd never noticed that Fajo sheds a single tear as he tells Data the fake story of his tragic upbringing. It's a nice little piece of acting from Fajo and Saul Rubinek (who, to be frank, was much better in the role than David Rappaport).
In Ménage à Troi, the new space shots of Betazed are lovely, except for one. When Deanna visits her mother in her quarters on Enterprise, Deanna's dress changes from blue in one shot to green in another. I know the original reason was because of the blue-screen work in that particular shot, but it could've easily been corrected for the remaster.
Here's the SD version of this shot, which actually matches the rest of the scene better than the remaster:
Finished re watching BoBW and a certain shot of the Enterprise's lighting pass caught my eye, any idea what's going on here?
I think it looks great. The darker lighting helps to minimize the "cheapness" of the 4-footer. And I agree with GhostFace1701, the darkness reminds me of the Ent-D in Generations which looked great.
CBS-D similarly did a great job with shots like this:
http://tng.trekcore.com/bluray/images_s4trailer/tngs4_hd_12_large.jpg
http://tng.trekcore.com/bluray/images_s4trailer/tngs4_sd_12_large.jpg
SD - it looks like a model. HD - it looks like a starship.
Absolutely, I love this establishing shot. The Enterprise looks great and the dark lighting hides the flaws of the 4 foot model. But its not the lighting in the scene, its the motion blur on internal lighting and glow elements that look a little off. I wouldn't dare criticise CBS-D's frankly sublime remastering quality.
I thought that was odd too. There appears to be too much directional blur on the deflector and windows. But also, the lighting is noticeably different between them. In the original SD version, look closely at the shadow being cast by the left nacelle onto the support strut beneath it. Now, look at the HD version... no shadow. The backlight is lower. There are other lighting inconsistencies as well. The angle is also subtly different -- the camera is ever so slightly lower in the HD version. This appears to be an alternate VFX take. I guess they weren't able to find the original shot.
But like the alternate takes of Riker on the battle bridge that were used in BOBW II, I'd prefer this to an upscale or CG recreation.
For a number of the ship fly-by shots (especially in Seasons 4 and 5), they were missing elements. Where possible they've used alternate takes which match the original closely or CG substitution if necessary.
If the new CGI substitutions are just as good as the shot of the Enterprise approaching Saturn in BoBW then all is well, that looks as close to the original model work as they can get.
The stock shots in Season 4 I have a particular interest in seeing, I wonder if MV were supplied with the elements CBS-D use or did they have to composite them from scratch like HTV had to?
I hope CBS-D learned their lesson about not supplying the elements means rush job from the other guy.
Oh certainly as good. When I visited CBS-D, I was shown several S5 fly-by shots which were thoroughly impressive only to be told afterwards that they're CG. They have done an amazing job in perfecting their CG.
I wouldn't have too many concerns about your last point. They seem to be far more "complete" in their shared elements, for instance the starbase shots from "Remember Me" (reproduced from "11001001") are just as beautiful, but with a nice bit of difference.
