THE CAGE is coming to TOSR!!!!

[Psion]

The problem with the original depiction of the ship going to warp to get to Talos IV was that it was SO different from how warp was depicted later, it just didn't fit, but them CHANGING it in the name of "remastering" has left me torn.

The problem I always had with the original warp effect is that it was ambiguous. I was never sure exactly what the intent was. Was the ship suppose to be actually transparent or was this just a cheap way to illustrate an intentionally ambiguous technology?

I thought, without any supporting evidence to back me up, that the effect was intended to demonstrate an actual change caused by the warp engines ... consider that the production crew had no previous work to go by except perhaps for movies such as Forbidden Planet in which dropping out of superluminal velocities required retreat into some sort of stasis chamber. I think what we saw in The Cage was an attempt to demonstrate a similar process, but with more benign consequences for the crew. They didn't need to retreat into a protective container, but still something dramatic happened when they used the warp engines.

 

[RobertScorpio]

Forgive my lack of enthusiasm. With the exception of the planets and the "beauty shot" flybys, most of the changes in TOSR have added very little for me. Some of the changes have been nonsensical, some just look bad. Some are different than the original effects, but really don't look like they were done with modern technology. They just look different for the sake of being different (I'm thinking of the Romulan ship in Balance of Terror).

I agree...Some of the SHIP effects from TOS hold up quite well after all these years...the early CGI was a step down, IMO..

Rob

 

[Christopher]

I hate what they did with the window in Pike's quarters -- it makes it look like the hull of the ship is only half an inch thick. In the original set, there was pretty clearly a thick cross-section of hull showing in that window space, with the camera angled so we couldn't see the stars beyond. The remastering should've kept most of that hull thickness and just shown a sliver of stars.

 

[Cyrus]

In the Los Angeles area it will air at 4 AM Sunday morning. I have already programed the DVR for it.

 

[Kelso]

The effects reel does look fabulous.

I need to get a blu-ray player.

 

[EliyahuQeoni]

CHANGING it in the name of "remastering" has left me torn.

I know now it "fits", but it's also a major change. I mean, we could have lived with the idea that during that point experts in warp had come up wtih something that caused the ship to become transparent during transition or something, and that later updates caused that effect to no longer be seen.

Honestly, I have never taken that sequence to mean that the Enterprise literally became transparent when in warp. I've always just seen it as a metaphoric way of portraying FTL travel. It was unique to the Cage and changing it is horrible.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

CHANGING it in the name of "remastering" has left me torn.

I know now it "fits", but it's also a major change. I mean, we could have lived with the idea that during that point experts in warp had come up wtih something that caused the ship to become transparent during transition or something, and that later updates caused that effect to no longer be seen.

Honestly, I have never taken that sequence to mean that the Enterprise literally became transparent when in warp. I've always just seen it as a metaphoric way of portraying FTL travel. It was unique to the Cage and changing it is horrible.

I thought it was an artsy transition and I liked it. In fact, I kinda wished they did it in the series proper.

 

[EliyahuQeoni]

What I like about Remastered Trek is that they aren't trying to add anything new. The basic idea is to bring us HD versions of the original effects.

That may be the basic idea, but it isn't what they're doing. If it were the CGI effects they use would just look like HD versions of the original and not like totally new effects. They wouldn't be totally redoing sequences (Like the War games in Ult Comp) or adding things (like the new helm clock in Naked Time). I'd hate to see what crap they'd come up with if they were trying to add anything new..

 

[Warped9]

Forgive my lack of enthusiasm. With the exception of the planets and the "beauty shot" flybys, most of the changes in TOSR have added very little for me. Some of the changes have been nonsensical, some just look bad. Some are different than the original effects, but really don't look like they were done with modern technology. They just look different for the sake of being different (I'm thinking of the Romulan ship in Balance of Terror).

This basically sums of my feeling. Much of this is change for change sake without being better and particularly looks jarring alongside the remaining live-action footage.

And generally, while I've kinda liked some occasional ideas presented, I don't much like how they've done the Enterprise. There's something missing. I haven't much liked how it's been lighted and how it's been photographed.

At least they had the decency to not slip in a shot of the NX-01 into the sequence where the Talosians are probing the ship's library banks. That would have certainly made me barf.

 

[N-121973]

Wasn't the remastered version of the Cage released on the Season 3 TOSR DVD set as one of the extras?

 

[Ziz]

Yes, it's on the last disc of TOSR S3, along with the original half b/w half color version with Roddenberry's original intro and outro from the VHS release all those years ago.

 

[miraclefan]

Sorry, but I'm not really jumping for joy about The Cage ''Remasterd''

 

[Alpha_Geek]

Don't expect it to run more than the usual 1 our timeslot. It's unusual for a station to futz much with syndicated scheduling. Trek running over would mean either:

A. Having to cut out time from one of the neighboring shows to keep things on starting on the top or bottom of the hour.
-or-
B. Running over the timeslot and join next show in progress, incurring calls and letters from pissed off fans of the next show.
-or-
C. Cutting time for spots and therefore losing revenue (my stations sales manager would be looking for a bar of soap to wash my mouth out if he heard me saying this. Times are hard in the small markets these days.)

There ya go, that's the sad state of local markets. Hopefully The Cage will show up on remastered DVD or Blue Ray for us.

 

[Hober Mallow]

That may be the basic idea, but it isn't what they're doing. If it were the CGI effects they use would just look like HD versions of the original and not like totally new effects. They wouldn't be totally redoing sequences (Like the War games in Ult Comp) or adding things (like the new helm clock in Naked Time). I'd hate to see what crap they'd come up with if they were trying to add anything new..

Some FX I like, others I don't. Either way, the main point of remastered Trek is the HD video, which is on the new remastered Trek blu-ray complete with original FX and new FX -- you can take your pick and still get the HD video and remastered sound.

 

[N-121973]

Yes, it's on the last disc of TOSR S3, along with the original half b/w half color version with Roddenberry's original intro and outro from the VHS release all those years ago.

And I assume that's the source of the SFX reel for the Cage Remastered on Youtube.

 

[Hambone]

I thought it was an artsy transition and I liked it. In fact, I kinda wished they did it in the series proper.

I'm not sure about this scene. I honestly think the effects were meant to portray that when the ship was in warp, the laws of physics or the crew's senses were somehow changed. Not only does the ship become semi-transparent, but the crew is apparently unable to speak to one another. Notice at one point, Jose Tyler turns to Pike and holds up seven fingers to indicate the ship's speed.

I think that "process" would have worn pretty thin if it had been carried over into the regular series.

 

[Doomsday]

I thought it was an artsy transition and I liked it. In fact, I kinda wished they did it in the series proper.

I'm not sure about this scene. I honestly think the effects were meant to portray that when the ship was in warp, the laws of physics or the crew's senses were somehow changed. Not only does the ship become semi-transparent, but the crew is apparently unable to speak to one another. Notice at one point, Jose Tyler turns to Pike and holds up seven fingers to indicate the ship's speed.

I think that "process" would have worn pretty thin if it had been carried over into the regular series.

Has anyone actually read the original shooting script for this scene? I wonder if there is an explanation in the script as to what GR "intended" for this sequence.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I have the script here somewhere - I'll find it and post the relevant portion.

www.trekmovie.com now has the promo for the remastered version of "The Cage" online - in it, Paramount's now officially identifying Christopher Pike as "the Enterprise's first captain."

 

[Kelso]

Whoever cuts those promos together needs a raise. I've been continually impressed by them.

Where was this guy when ENT and VOY were on the air?

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Okay, this is from the November 20, 1964 draft of "The Cage" (at this point, BTW, the captain's name is "James Winter").

Punctuation, capitalization and underlining are all as in the script:

Number One engages the master control. The WHINE of electronic circuits and the HIGH PITCHED SIGNALS of computers rise enormously in volume. A strange shifting color radiance seems to emanate from the inner walls of the vessel. Suddenly, every sound is abruptly stilled. Then even more startling, the scene seems to dim and begins to become transparent (EFFECT: double-exposure) and we can see interstellar bodies outside which are beginning to accelerate past faster and faster.