Star Trek V: The Final Frontier enhanced effects reel

[Penhall99]

Check out this effects reel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCbJ9pG6Sv0

A fan that runs http://www.thecaptainkirkpage.com is making a director's edition of Trek V that is closer to what Shatner wanted to do back in '89. Anyway, he's getting some help from some computer graphic guys, and they've gotten some of it done.

I've always liked Trek V a lot, but I think with some new effects and a beefed-up ending, most people that loathe it (and there are plenty, unfortunately) will see it in a better light.

I hope this guy is able to get his version done, and more importantly, I hope Paramount gets off their asses and lets Shatner do his official Director's Edition of Trek V.

 

[Amaris]

^ Fantastic work! I would love to see this come to fruition, and at least give Star Trek V the makeover it so desperately needs. Not to add flash/bang, but to give it the essential treatment every other Trek movie received.

J.

 

[Kirk1980]

Fan-freakin-tastic. Shatner himself would be proud of that effects work.

I wonder if he'd reedit it judiciously.

 

[Brikar99]

This guy's been working on this project for the better part of this decade. It's good to see that there's actually something to it, now.

 

[Ethros]

That was awesome. Excellent work. I'd love to see that done and released for real

 

[Joker]

If he could replicate the ST:TMP pearl sheen, that would be awesome.

As it stands... great work.

 

[QuasarVM]

I understand what's out there YouTube is only a "previs version", but: overall...not much better than what was there originally.

I don't understand why they didn't change the setup on some of those shots. That shot of the BoP firing on the Enterprise is just a horribly staged shot. Why not change it to have the BoP flying up behind the Enterprise and have the Enterprise jump into warp leaving the BoP behind? I'd still have the close up shot, but it would be much more dynamic to show the Enterprise leaving the photon torpedo AND the BoP in the dust...

And those shuttlecraft shots were always horribly staged as well.

I guess what I am saying is -- why remain slavishly loyal to the way the shots were staged in the film as released?

The problem with Bran Ferren's FX were not just the composites, lighting and miniature work...but he basic staging of the shots!

And why does Nimbus III look like the Mutara moon when Nimbus III has an atmosphere and is clearly Earth-like?

 

[Joker]

Oddly enough, that occured to me on my second viewing.

The angles are identical. The BoP sequence would have benefited from further development in that area.

 

[Penhall99]

I understand what's out there YouTube is only a "previs version", but: overall...not much better than what was there originally.

I don't understand why they didn't change the setup on some of those shots. That shot of the BoP firing on the Enterprise is just a horribly staged shot. Why not change it to have the BoP flying up behind the Enterprise and have the Enterprise jump into warp leaving the BoP behind? I'd still have the close up shot, but it would be much more dynamic to show the Enterprise leaving the photon torpedo AND the BoP in the dust...

And those shuttlecraft shots were always horribly staged as well.

I guess what I am saying is -- why remain slavishly loyal to the way the shots were staged in the film as released?

The problem with Bran Ferren's FX were not just the composites, lighting and miniature work...but he basic staging of the shots!

And why does Nimbus III look like the Mutara moon when Nimbus III has an atmosphere and is clearly Earth-like?

I agree that they could definitely change things up, but I think it looks pretty damned good, and much better than what was in the film. The shuttlecraft entering the Enterprise, Spock in the viewport window, the Enterprise entering the barrier (and encountering turbulence)...Not everything was exactly the same as in the movie.

The guy doing this described some other shots, and they also differ from the angles and stuff originally in the film. For example, at the end when the Bird of Prey fires on the Entrprise, we will actually see BOTH ships in the shot, with the torpedo actually hitting the Enterprise.

 

[QuasarVM]

I understand what's out there YouTube is only a "previs version", but: overall...not much better than what was there originally.

I don't understand why they didn't change the setup on some of those shots. That shot of the BoP firing on the Enterprise is just a horribly staged shot. Why not change it to have the BoP flying up behind the Enterprise and have the Enterprise jump into warp leaving the BoP behind? I'd still have the close up shot, but it would be much more dynamic to show the Enterprise leaving the photon torpedo AND the BoP in the dust...

And those shuttlecraft shots were always horribly staged as well.

I guess what I am saying is -- why remain slavishly loyal to the way the shots were staged in the film as released?

The problem with Bran Ferren's FX were not just the composites, lighting and miniature work...but he basic staging of the shots!

And why does Nimbus III look like the Mutara moon when Nimbus III has an atmosphere and is clearly Earth-like?

I agree that they could definitely change things up, but I think it looks pretty damned good, and much better than what was in the film. The shuttlecraft entering the Enterprise, Spock in the viewport window, the Enterprise entering the barrier (and encountering turbulence)...Not everything was exactly the same as in the movie.

The guy doing this described some other shots, and they also differ from the angles and stuff originally in the film. For example, at the end when the Bird of Prey fires on the Entrprise, we will actually see BOTH ships in the shot, with the torpedo actually hitting the Enterprise.

The zoom in on the window is a good case of taking a boring shot -- I think it was just a starfield; no ship originally (if I remember correctly) -- and making it more dynamic. Kudos to him for improving that shot!

The new shots inside the great barrier are nice, but I would cut them faster...still, a nice change from the original shots and I like where he's going with the new stuff there.

I just think he could re-storyboard some of those shots to improve them. The originals are nothing "holy" that need to be preserved -- believe me...

I have to say, that's one of the things I really liked about TOS-R is that they were not afraid to re-stage shots.

They didn't do that as much with the ST:TMP Director's Cut, but that really didn't need all that much -- as opposed to STV. STV could use a complete overhaul.

Even that shot of the Enterprise against the moon...I would completely overhaul that shot. It always looked like a model hanging on a wire in someone's room slowly spinning on the wire. Why go and do replacement CGI shot that looks almost EXACTLY the same? I know...there's a reflection in the window, but that can be replaced too...

Anyway, I am not trying to tear down the guys work -- on the contrary, I applaud him for undertaking this effort!

Just trying to offer some constructive criticism...

 

[Kirk1980]

Well, maybe he just wants to finish it sometime sooner rather than later and is only taking on the big NEW shots instead of restaging some shots that weren't that horrible to begin with.

For instance, doing the powers of ten shot he described as taken from Shatner's original shooting script is gonna be a pain in the ass to shoot.

 

[Maurice]

I did a little playing around with this as an exercise some years ago, and used a warp drive bit from TVH and a replaced photon torpedo, just to see what that would do, and I think seeing the ship whoosh off away from the camera has more punch.

As to the work listed, he is being a tad slavish in a few shots, like the approach to the Enterprise before "Plan B", which repeats compositional errors in the shuttle's approach angle that don't make sense.

 

[QuasarVM]

Well, maybe he just wants to finish it sometime sooner rather than later and is only taking on the big NEW shots instead of restaging some shots that weren't that horrible to begin with.

For instance, doing the powers of ten shot he described as taken from Shatner's original shooting script is gonna be a pain in the ass to shoot.

Yes, they were that horrible.

As far as I am concerned, there is nothing sacred about the original FX in STV. As I mentioned before, the staging of the original FX was horrible!

Why keep it the same?

All I can say is, I wouldn't...

 

[QuasarVM]

I did a little playing around with this as an exercise some years ago, and used a warp drive bit from TVH and a replaced photon torpedo, just to see what that would do, and I think seeing the ship whoosh off away from the camera has more punch.

As to the work listed, he is being a tad slavish in a few shots, like the approach to the Enterprise before "Plan B", which repeats compositional errors in the shuttle's approach angle that don't make sense.

The whole thing (as released) is bad.

In my opinion, the only shot needing to be kept is the one of the shuttle hitting the outside rim of the Enterprise shuttle bay. I'd completely re-choreograph and re-vis the whole thing -- including the graphics on the BoP bridge...

 

[Tomalak]

Even that shot of the Enterprise against the moon...I would completely overhaul that shot. It always looked like a model hanging on a wire in someone's room slowly spinning on the wire. Why go and do replacement CGI shot that looks almost EXACTLY the same? I know...there's a reflection in the window, but that can be replaced too...

I think that, along with the shuttle crash, was one of the only good shots in the whole film. I think I read somewhere that it was the first shot they did, to prove they were up to the task. Needless to say, the rest of their work disappointed.

 

[EliyahuQeoni]

As far as I am concerned, there is nothing sacred about the original FX in STV. As I mentioned before, the staging of the original FX was horrible!

Why keep it the same?

All I can say is, I wouldn't...

Ditto. The quality of theoriginal effects is poor, but what really hurts the movie is the poor staging and composition of those FX. If the staging had been better I think the sub par quality would be overlooked.

 

[QuasarVM]

As far as I am concerned, there is nothing sacred about the original FX in STV. As I mentioned before, the staging of the original FX was horrible!

Why keep it the same?

All I can say is, I wouldn't...

Ditto. The quality of theoriginal effects is poor, but what really hurts the movie is the poor staging and composition of those FX. If the staging had been better I think the sub par quality would be overlooked.

It needs a dramatic facelift...and some thought put into all those shots.

I'd re-storyboard all of them!

 

[ChristopherPike]

It was a real pleasure to see the NCC-1701-A back in action.

The continuous shot from the exterior, through the window, focusing in on Spock in the "Captain's Wheel" room (for want of a better description)... nicely done.

I was listening to the new Blu Ray commentary for Star Trek V just the other night. It would be nice if the original title sequence plans are realised at some point. Something similiar has been done since, in Contact for instance... From what I've learned, it was a non stop shot from Sybok laughing, up through the clouds, out into space, across vast distances, passing planets in various systems, then into our own, to settle on Earth, descending to see Kirk climbing Yosemite.

So sad that Shatner's original vision, got pruned down each time to a reuse of past starfields and previous ILM footage...

 

[Penhall99]

I understand what's out there YouTube is only a "previs version", but: overall...not much better than what was there originally.

I don't understand why they didn't change the setup on some of those shots. That shot of the BoP firing on the Enterprise is just a horribly staged shot. Why not change it to have the BoP flying up behind the Enterprise and have the Enterprise jump into warp leaving the BoP behind? I'd still have the close up shot, but it would be much more dynamic to show the Enterprise leaving the photon torpedo AND the BoP in the dust...

And those shuttlecraft shots were always horribly staged as well.

I guess what I am saying is -- why remain slavishly loyal to the way the shots were staged in the film as released?

The problem with Bran Ferren's FX were not just the composites, lighting and miniature work...but he basic staging of the shots!

And why does Nimbus III look like the Mutara moon when Nimbus III has an atmosphere and is clearly Earth-like?

I agree that they could definitely change things up, but I think it looks pretty damned good, and much better than what was in the film. The shuttlecraft entering the Enterprise, Spock in the viewport window, the Enterprise entering the barrier (and encountering turbulence)...Not everything was exactly the same as in the movie.

The guy doing this described some other shots, and they also differ from the angles and stuff originally in the film. For example, at the end when the Bird of Prey fires on the Entrprise, we will actually see BOTH ships in the shot, with the torpedo actually hitting the Enterprise.

The zoom in on the window is a good case of taking a boring shot -- I think it was just a starfield; no ship originally (if I remember correctly) -- and making it more dynamic. Kudos to him for improving that shot!

The new shots inside the great barrier are nice, but I would cut them faster...still, a nice change from the original shots and I like where he's going with the new stuff there.

I just think he could re-storyboard some of those shots to improve them. The originals are nothing "holy" that need to be preserved -- believe me...

I have to say, that's one of the things I really liked about TOS-R is that they were not afraid to re-stage shots.

They didn't do that as much with the ST:TMP Director's Cut, but that really didn't need all that much -- as opposed to STV. STV could use a complete overhaul.

Even that shot of the Enterprise against the moon...I would completely overhaul that shot. It always looked like a model hanging on a wire in someone's room slowly spinning on the wire. Why go and do replacement CGI shot that looks almost EXACTLY the same? I know...there's a reflection in the window, but that can be replaced too...

Anyway, I am not trying to tear down the guys work -- on the contrary, I applaud him for undertaking this effort!

Just trying to offer some constructive criticism...

Yeah, I understand what you're saying. Maybe if Shatner gets the chance, he'll really change things up.

With the huge success of the new movie and Trek being popular again, I'm praying Paramount will let him revisit the movie. He approached them a few years ago about doing a Director's Cut and they turned him down...Maybe this time they'll let him do it.

 

[Grant]

Bravo---thanks for posting that. I've wanted to see how far he'd gotten for a long time.

A huge improvement, but I'd agree that he should restage the BOP attack shot and a couple of others. it wasn't just the execution but the entire concept that was bad in most cases.

The pull into Spock was directly from the script and it was great to see.

Imagine what a pro company could do with this project. I bet they could even make the rock creature work.

They actuually DID film a lot of the Kirk vs Rockman stuff, but abandoned it when they couldn't make the suit work. But now CGI could be added to the shots of Shatner either alone or in place of the suited stunt guy.