So, tell me about these remastered episodes

[Captain Worf]

Probably a very noobish thread, but I haven't really kept up on Trek since Ent finished. I've heard about these remastered episodes and am interested in checking them out. I bought seasons 1 and 2 on DVD in late '04, but never got around to getting season 3. Today I pulled out season 2 for the first time in over a year. I would like to start watching the series regularly if I can find the time.

What's the best way to check out these remasters? How noticeable are the improvements made? Do they improve the episodes, detract from them, or neither? Is only season 1 being released on DVD in remastered form?

 

[EliyahuQeoni]

Personally I don't think the CGI effects really add much of anything to the episodes. The cleaned up picture and sound is great, but the added SFX will keep me from buying anything but the original unaltered season sets.

 

[Outpost4]

The easiest way for you to get a handle on these episodes is to see one. They are in weekly syndication right now if you live in the United States. Check here to see which station locally is broadcasting them. Don't trust the times shown on the list; check your local schedule instead. Be forewarned that six minutes or so will be cut out for syndication. The remastered DVDs are complete. Anti_Drone and AC84 have been leading discussions in this forum on the broadcasts.

Another way you can judge the remastering is to look at the HD screen caps over on Trekcore. They've posted about half the first season episodes so far.

Otherwise, this is a good time to sit back and enjoy your current DVDs. Only season one of the remastered DVDs has been released and that was on HD DVD, which as you probably know is a dead format. There are regular DVD versions on the flip side of those DVDs, but still, they are $100 on sale and seasons 2 and 3 will never be released on HD DVD. Unless you already own a HD DVD player, I'd recommend waiting for the hi-def Blu-ray versions instead.

As for the effects themselves, it depends on the viewer and the episode. Many purists on this board decry them from the get-go, feeling Paramount is trashing fond memories of theirs. Others find the CGI Enterprise to be cartoonish. While I sometimes felt that way when watching the syndicated episodes, once I had them at home and saw them in hi-def, I no longer believed that. For some reason, in HD, the cartoonish effects go away to me.

Once you accept the remastering, it then depends on the episode. Some, like The Galileo Seven, benefit greatly by the remastering in my book, giving that episode a sense of place that was initially lacking. Others, like The Corbomite Maneuver and Space Seed, just look stunning to me and I thoroughly enjoy the remastering. And then there is the occasional episode like Metamorphosis, where I feel the remastered effects are simply bad and, to me, detract. This fortunately doesn't happen too often.

BTW, the sound track is identical to what you have now.

I hope this helps.

 

[Forbin]

Hastily-done modern CGI effects jarringly obvious amidst 40-year-old classic footage. Sometimes embarassing choices of angles and movement that don't match the style of the original.

Mind you, if was being used in a NEW series with new crew and new stories, set in the same time frame, I'd be kvelling. As it is, it looks like somebody snuck some photographs run thru a photoshop art filter into a Van Gogh exhibit and hoped no one would notice the difference.

 

[Outpost4]

And Forbin's being kind compared to Warped9's reviews. It's at these times I really miss Orion Randy. He would destroy the remastered episodes.

I've been looking for a place to post this. Below is a sequence I came up with using screen caps of the new phaser burst effect from Balance of Terror. If you want it, here is the hi-rez, 2800x2100 version.

 

[c5maier]

Another way you can judge the remastering is to look at the HD screen caps over on Trekcore. They've posted about half the first season episodes so far.

Another good source for screencaps (where all first season in HD is up already) is Ariane's Star Trek Forum http://startrek.crystalfires.net/board/index.php. Go to "Gallery" there.

 

[Captain Worf]

And Forbin's being kind compared to Warped9's reviews. It's at these times I really miss Orion Randy. He would destroy the remastered episodes.

Ah, I remember those two posters. I lurked here sporadically four or five years ago and occasionally posted under a different name. They seem like the types of people who would hate the changes.

I think I might just buy the season 3 package that was released previously since I can probably find it pretty cheap now, and probably wouldn't want to re-purchase the series. These remastered episodes aren't streamed online anywhere are they?

 

[Outpost4]

The price for the boxes just went down. Shop around for season three before you buy.

iTunes has the remastered episodes online. I don't believe anybody else does.

 

[Forbin]

They seem like the types of people who would hate the changes.

Yep. I'd laso hate it if someone decided Starry Night wasn't clear enough and decided to replace it with a photo of St. Remy.

 

[egonbeeblebrox]

I saw "Space Seed" remastered, and the new effects shots, though I didn't see many, really took me out of the episode. It looks way too goofy mixed in with the show. I know the effects are dated now, but so is the rest of the show, and that's part of the charm, I think.

 

[NCC621]

I like the remastered episodes a lot.

If you can, check them out in their full, uncut high-def glory on HD-DVD. Of course, I wouldn't rush out and buy a HD-DVD player, but if you know someone who has a player, it's well worth looking at. The show itself has never looked better, and the new effects are pretty cool.

 

[A beaker full of death]

The easiest way for you to get a handle on these episodes is to see one. They are in weekly syndication right now if you live in the United States.

Actually, they're sliced up so badly that each is really not much better than a clip show.

 

[Forbin]

The easiest way for you to get a handle on these episodes is to see one. They are in weekly syndication right now if you live in the United States.

Actually, they're sliced up so badly that each is really not much better than a clip show.

Indeed! Last week I even noticing missing lines of dialog trimmed from within a scene! They were seamlessy edited out, but obvious when you've seen the ep 276 times like me.

 

[Shatmandu]

The nacelle cap brightness in the early attempts calls for the wearing of a welder's mask, or possibly the use of one of those L-shaped cardboard eclipse viewers.

Joe, hyperbolic

 

[A beaker full of death]

The easiest way for you to get a handle on these episodes is to see one. They are in weekly syndication right now if you live in the United States.

Actually, they're sliced up so badly that each is really not much better than a clip show.

Indeed! Last week I even noticing missing lines of dialog trimmed from within a scene! They were seamlessy edited out, but obvious when you've seen the ep 276 times like me.

Yup - cutting out the texture and flavor in the process.

 

[Outpost4]

As a guy who grew up watching Star Trek that had been hacked to death through syndication cuts, I completely agree. This has nothing to do with the remastering, though. Syndication cuts are bad, whether they be in an episode with the original effects or a remastered one.

 

[EliyahuQeoni]

As a guy who grew up watching Star Trek that had been hacked to death through syndication cuts, I completely agree. This has nothing to do with the remastering, though. Syndication cuts are bad, whether they be in an episode with the original effects or a remastered one.

And sadly it happens to pretty much all old TV shows shown in syndication. I know MASH episodes are also hacked to hell, having whole subplots removed. Its one of the reasons I started buying old shows on DVD

 

[skylark]

Which is why I'm impatiently waiting for seasons 2 and 3 to come out - uncut - on BluRay. I already have season 1 in HD-DVD, which is why I'm not trashing that machine.

 

[jayrath]

As for the effects themselves, it depends on the viewer and the episode. Many purists on this board decry them from the get-go, feeling Paramount is trashing fond memories of theirs.

I believe it's more accurate to state that many, including myself, object to taking any filmed work out of its historic context, whether by colorization or adding in new digital effects. I would protest similar changes to any film or televsion program.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Which is why I'm impatiently waiting for seasons 2 and 3 to come out - uncut - on BluRay. I already have season 1 in HD-DVD, which is why I'm not trashing that machine.

Season 2 has been announced, but it's standard def DVD only. August 5th is the date.