TOS-R DVDs...will you buy?

[Harvey]

Unsure. College has made finances tighter than they were before, and I have yet to see the end result of a majority of TOS episodes that frankly, I already own on DVD and have seen many, many times before. If TOS remastered continues to get better and better, and goes back and cleans up early episodes, I would probably buy the original series again.

 

[golakers]

Definitely. After being opposed to remastered TOS over the years, I've been very impressed with the new CGI effects. Last week's Corbomite Maneuver episode sealed it for me. I'd be happy to purchase Season 1 and Season 2 on DVD as long as the price was right.

 

[davejames]

I definitely will. I'll always cherish my original sets, but the new FX have really grown on me, and I can't wait to see them integrated into the full length episodes.

Some people argue that it's disrespecting the work of the original artists, but as much as I admire their efforts, I've always felt that the FX on TOS never did justice to the great writing on the show. It's nice to get away from the same handful of grainy stock shots, and to see more dynamic FX that better reflect the action described on screen. Anything that enhances the storytelling is a good thing, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[T'Pol's Love Slave]

Warped9 said:

Therin of Andor said:

Jack Bauer said:
No. I already have the DVDs. I see no need to rebuy them just to get to see better special effects.

You may feel differently when HD TV is the norm in about a decade's time.

Not me. Having the episodes digitally remastered already shows some of the little things we were never meant to see because of the era in which the show was made. I don't need to see anymore.

True indeed. Defects and whatnot that would never show up on 60's television sets were not bothered to correct. ON THE OTHERHAND there are aspects of the past digital remaster and new Hi-Def remaster that show things that were originally meant to be shown off then but were not. Examples... A lot of folks never new Spock had a yellowish color to his skin. And on the new Hi-Def TTWT, the bruises on Scotty and Chekov's faces are clear as day. I hadn't even noticed them in the original.

 

[historypeats]

I'm finally buying (and watching) TOS for the first time now that Paramount has started to slap normal prices on the season sets, and I'm really happy to own them in the condition that they're in. Yeah, a lot of the effects look crappy by today's standards; however, a) that's part of the charm - it fits with the tone of the show well, and b) the CGI shots I've seen look nice enough in the stills, but terrible in the motion shots - how can they go from having great CGI for VOY and ENT to badly rendered models of a beloved ship?

At this point, I won't buy them unless there's a significant upgrade in the appearance of the effects. I was worried when I heard they'd decided to do the remaster work in-house, and my concerns were justified. The remastered feed looks nice, and I like the more detailed matte paintings, but the CGI actually pulls me out of the episode rather than enhancing the experience. I'm not a purist - I just don't feel like shelling out money for something I don't love, especially when I already own the episodes.

Incidentally, I just got the second-season DVDs yesterday, and I'm about to watch "Amok Time" for the first time. So stoked...

Mike

 

[JNG]

Can't wait to. Having owned them in other forms, as well as easy access to archive DVD copies, I had never gotten around to buying TOS on commercial DVD for myself. The remastered episodes on DVD or Blu-Ray would be a perfect excuse for me to do this. I imagine they'll sell like hotcakes.

 

[Good Will Riker]

I won't be buying. I have seen the new CGI effects, but I have a strong feeling that those effects will be dated within the next 5-6 years.

I prefer the original effects. The original effects show you what went into making the show with the resources they had at the time on a 60's television budget. And it was quite a budget, in terms of 60's TV standards. You lose those original effects and you lose half the aesthetics from that era of television that we grew up with during its original broadcast or (for most of us) during its syndicated reruns.

This is the reason why I won't be a customer of TOS-R when it comes out on HD-DVD. Quite frankly, if the original effects are not there, I'll just end up purchasing the original DVDs (the 3 season sets + TAS) for posterity. You guys can have your TOS-R, and that's fine and all, but these changes to me are worse than the dread that some of you felt when you first heard about TNG and that Shatner, Nimoy, Kelley, etc. were not returning.

 

[Oso Blanco]

Not a chance in hell! I wouldn't waste a penny for the "upgraded" episodes. No way!

I have just completed my Trek collection anyway, and I'm not going to buy everything all over again.

Now, if they would release the UNTOUCHED episodes in HD, I'd think about it. Even though I still don't have any HD equipment, and probably won't have in a long time.

 

[Oso Blanco]

Good Will Riker said:
I prefer the original effects. The original effects show you what went into making the show with the resources they had at the time on a 60's television budget. And it was quite a budget, in terms of 60's TV standards. You lose those original effects and you lose half the aesthetics from that era of television that we grew up with during its original broadcast or (for most of us) during its syndicated reruns.

Very well said! Sums up my thoughts exactly! :thumbsup:

 

[Good Will Riker]

Good Will Riker said:
Yes, this would be an ideal purchase for me for the Next Generation format.


I have not watched a TOS episode in over 5 years (Except for "The Cage") because the majority of the episodes are still very vivid in my memory, and by the time I come around to buying an HD-DVD or a Blu-ray player 4 or 5 years down the road, I definitely would like to have something that I am highly familiar with, yet offers something new and refreshing at the sametime.

I know I said that 6 months ago, but that was before I caught one frame of a single new TOS-R episode.

I caught a frame of the "new improvements." And it looked fake. Absolutely CGI fake that takes you out of the moment while watching the episode. I prefer the originals with the original effects. Always have.

 

[Corran Horn]

yeah, I will.

 

[BriGuy]

I'll consider it. Depends how much money they want, and what I have, at the time.

I will buy only if the eps are complete and uncut. I absolutely, positively will not buy them if what they put out are the edited for 2007 syndication versions.

The new effects go a long way to making the show look better, but I want complete, uncut episodes.

 

[jcd132]

I plan to, as long as they are complete and uncut and in HD. I would love to see a boxed set with both the remastered and the original versions on the same disks, though.

 

[ToddPence]

Someone talking about George Lucas' CGI "improvements" to the Star Wars movies made this point, but it also applies to the revamped TOS as well: In ten years' time, these revised episodes are going to look more dated than the original.

 

[Lord Garth]

No. I don't need to buy the same series twice.

 

[Admiral James Kirk]

No. I already gave the 'mount three hundred bucks for the originals. Maybe if I can get the sets for cheap but that isn't too likely.

 

[Trekwatcher]

Only way down the line when the prices fall dramatically,if at all. I still love my original DVDs too much to consider this now.

 

[Spider]

Good Will Riker said:
I caught a frame of the "new improvements." And it looked fake. Absolutely CGI fake that takes you out of the moment while watching the episode. I prefer the originals with the original effects. Always have.

I've seen one remastered episode, and I won't see anymore of them. They cut out nearly ten minutes worth of scenes. This is the reason I didn't watch TOS on the SciFi channel either. I don't like watching it unless I'm going to see the whole thing.

And as far as the special effects go, it certainly didn't improve anything. Yeah, the CGI ship looked nice, and the phaser beams were also cool, but that is not what TOS was about anyway.

I simply fail to understand the point of needing good special effects in order to watch a scifi show. If all a person is after is special effects, then why bother with Star Trek, watch Star Wars instead. And if dated special effects puts a person off, they are missing some wonderful films from the 50s and 60s, and will, of course, be missing everything they watch today they think they like because all that will be dated someday also.

 

[Noname Given]

Spider said:

Good Will Riker said:
I caught a frame of the "new improvements." And it looked fake. Absolutely CGI fake that takes you out of the moment while watching the episode. I prefer the originals with the original effects. Always have.

I've seen one remastered episode, and I won't see anymore of them. They cut out nearly ten minutes worth of scenes. This is the reason I didn't watch TOS on the SciFi channel either. I don't like watching it unless I'm going to see the whole thing.

And as far as the special effects go, it certainly didn't improve anything. Yeah, the CGI ship looked nice, and the phaser beams were also cool, but that is not what TOS was about anyway.

I simply fail to understand the point of needing good special effects in order to watch a scifi show. If all a person is after is special effects, then why bother with Star Trek, watch Star Wars instead. And if dated special effects puts a person off, they are missing some wonderful films from the 50s and 60s, and will, of course, be missing everything they watch today they think they like because all that will be dated someday also.

Actually, all this is being done to make TOS still viable for syndication when the HD broadcast format becomes the U.S. standard in 10 years or so (they are supposed to stop NTSC broadcasting as of 2015, but we'll see).

So, the fact that they're also 'modernizing' some of the shots is just icing. And before folks ask why; I've tried to watch my standard NTSC DVDs on my progressive scan Blu-Ray player on my 73" Mitubishi DLP TV; and the effects shots just look horrible due to lack of focus, and noticable ghosting, film dirt, etc.

Once HD is the boadcast standard; the optical effects shots would be very jarring and noticable in HD format. And before you go "Well, it's still a decade away..."; we all HAVE been watching these episodes for 40 years now, and with this work, we'll probably be seeing them on HD TV for 40 more.

So, it's not to insult the original creators; or to directly pander the the new SFX spoiled kids directly; it's to make TOS viable for the new HD format for years to come. Had the live action stuff not been done on film, I doubt they would have bothered.

In fact, TNG and DS9 would probably need the same treatment to be viable in true HD format, but since EVERYTHING for those two shows was finished not on actual film but on digital Betacam (at NTSC resolution); I doubt we'll see them given the same treatment. Thus we may not be seeing them on TV 10-20 years from now; while TOS will still be broadcasting.

 

[Spider]

^
That makes sense to me, thanks for the post as I didn't realize that. But whether or not it can be shown on TV doesn't matter to me personally, as long as I have my DVDs and a DVD player that I can watch them with. I assume the new DVD players will still read the older sets, if not, I'll just have to keep my current one and hope it doesn't break.