Does anyone know for sure exactly what footage of the rockman was actually shot. From the making of book by Liz Shatner, it is clear that the creature was shot chasing kirk up the mountain, but does anyone know if footage was shot of the creature emerging from the cathedral of boulders, chasing after Kirk spock and McCoy and actually attacking the shuttle craft?
STV The Rockman
- Thread starter jeddah
- Start date
They only test footage of the physical Rockman FX suit appears as a bonus scene on the two-disk DVD of ST V. He's very stilted and phony-looking, mainly blowing smoke and glowing eyes. It worked so poorly they didn't bother trying to make it perform as per the script's requirements.
To see a better rendition, probably made to tease Shatner, see "Galaxy Quest".
I remember reading reports that Shatner had asked Paramount to fund a Director's Cut of The Final Frontier so that he could go back and do the scene with CG. I thought it was a shame they didn't do it. I've always had a soft spot for ST:V, flawed though it may be.
I wonder if the rock creature from the season 3 episode "The Savage Curtain" was any inspiration to whoever came up with the idea?
I wonder if the rock creature from the season 3 episode "The Savage Curtain" was any inspiration to whoever came up with the idea?
You have to know how to shoot costumes like that. The test shot on the DVD looks like crap because the thing waddles towards the camera wiggling its eyebrows like a muppet. If they'd just rim lit the suit and designed the shots right, they could have made it work. However, the question is how much time did they have and how much could they spend to get those shots?
The question is, would a giant Rockman and some rampaging gargoyles save this movie? Nope. May as well go with a giant floating head.
They could at least remake the SFX shots, like they did for TOS. They are unwatchable, especially the barrier and the painted on window moon with the Enterprise in front of it.
I am still amused how bad those effects look like compared to the 10 years older TMP.
With CGI they could also replace that deck "64 error" and revamp some of the other interior scenes.
I am still amused how bad those effects look like compared to the 10 years older TMP.
With CGI they could also replace that deck "64 error" and revamp some of the other interior scenes.
Dang, you beat me to it. The whole argument, "If they'd only let me shoot my rock men they I wanted, it would've been a great movie," is laughable. Delusional, maybe. Oh, well, I'm self-deluded, myself, though of course I know not in what areas. Peace, all.
Bran Ferren's f/x weren't great in 1989, much less now. And the Rockman sequence could easily be reshot with modern CGI if Paramount ever decides to tinker with ST V in order to release an "Ultimate/Director's Edition" DVD and BluRay. The movie is damaged if not ruined in significant part because of the shitty effects and visuals.
I'd love to see the Rockman and the Imps that attacked the shuttle.
"Galaxy Quest" for both. We were literally rolling in the aisle at the cinema gala launch of GQ, saying, "They did it for Bill!"
Exactly. It wouldn't take that much to do both for STV. No, it wouldn't help the story; but at least we could see more of what he intended (lame comedy aside, of course).
I'm all for it. ANYTHING, really, to help the story along. And make the movie less of an endurance race to sit through.
Knowing the fucking bad quality of deleted scenes on those two-disc DVD sets (the alternate Kirk death from Generations for instance is of so horrible quality for instance), I wouldn't be surprised if there was more footage that looks much better. STV has many lows, but cinematography isn't one of them.
The Rockman isn't the worst thing I've seen. Lord knows, the stuff on SyFy is often worse than that.
True.
Pretty much ANY made-for-SyFy movie has f/x that look like they came out of a 1996 Sega Saturn video game. It's pathetic, really.
Okay... Does anybody else want to see a mashup between STV and Galaxy Quest now?
