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Why was the budget for The Final Frontier reduced?

I actually thought it was kind of a nice touch that they used sets from TNG even if it was just done to save money. It kind of bridged the visual gap for me between the two shows. As the Original Series movies went on, and TNG started, they started to look more like one another on purpose (the more defined Klingon look) and by accident (sets redressed). Anyway, it always seemed like they were moving closer and closer to that time. So shouldn't it start looking more like it? A happy accident! (I'll admit I like Star Trek V so that may just be rationalization)
 
New for TFF they built the1701-A Brig and the impressive 1701-A Hangar deck set complete with two full-scale shuttlecrafts.
Not to mention that long hallway set just for Scotty to knock himself out on a bulkhead (OK, they could have saved their money there), the turbolift shaft where Spock used his jet boots, and the lounge with the sailing ship's steering wheel. The bridge was so extensively redressed that it was essentially a new set.
 
Not to mention that long hallway set just for Scotty to knock himself out on a bulkhead (OK, they could have saved their money there), the turbolift shaft where Spock used his jet boots, and the lounge with the sailing ship's steering wheel. The bridge was so extensively redressed that it was essentially a new set.
I think the TFF 1701-A Bridge set might have been built new [not a redress of TMP 1701-Refit Bridge] and redressed for TUC?
 
I think the TFF 1701-A Bridge set might have been built new [not a redress of TMP 1701-Refit Bridge] and redressed for TUC?
My understanding was that it was built on top of the same structure as the bridge used in TMP-TVH (and later redressed as TNG's battle bridge and the Stargazer), but I'm not 100% certain. It was definitely the same set redressed in TUC, though.
 
I know that when the bridge set was redressed for the ending of TVH, it was only done to the sections that would be visible on camera (maybe 2-3 sections of the pie wedges), and then it had been twice modified further for TNG. So it's not too surprising that Shatner & co. would essentially be starting from scratch there. As to why the Enterprise-A's bridge in TFF didn't look anything like it did at the end of TVH, I guess the new bridge design just suited William Shatner's personal aesthetics better.

I was really impressed with the redress/redesign that Nick Meyer's crew gave the bridge for TUC, BTW. They got rid of all that uninteresting beige and made it look much cooler. It went from my least-favorite bridge set (TFF) to my absolute favorite.
 
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I was really impressed with the redress/redesign that Nick Meyer's crew gave the bridge for TUC, BTW. They got rid of all that uninteresting beige and made it look much cooler. It went from my least-favorite bridge set (TFF) to my absolute favorite.
Agree, TUC redress/redesign of TFF Bridge is amazing. TFF beige "clean" streamlined design of workstation consoles was much less interesting, felt like a civilian ship, not Starfleet.
 
I know that when the bridge set was redressed for the ending of TVH, it was only done to the sections that would be visible on camera (maybe 2-3 sections of the pie wedges)...
That's what's been claimed, but some behind the scenes photos indicate the repaint was much more extensive than that. In the film you never see Spock's station and the stations counterclockwise from it, but in a pic of Gene and Majel at Spock's station you can see that whole section has been reworked.
 
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That's what's been claimed, but some behind the scenes photos indicate the repaint was much more extensive than that. In the film you never see Spock's station and the stations counterclockwise from it, but in a pic of Gene and Majel at Spock's station you can see that whole section has been reworked.

I wonder if there were alternate takes with Spock at the science station? Which would give reason to update that section.
 
That's what's been claimed, but some behind the scenes photos indicate the repaint was much more extensive than that. In the film you never see Spock's station and the stations counterclockwise from it, but in a pic of Gene and Majel at Spock's station you can see that whole section has been reworked.

Here's what Shane Johnson, author of Mr. Scott's Guide To The Enterprise, had to say about the bridge set during his visit to the lot in this interview at TrekPlace:

The bridge had been modified into the white-and-chrome 1701-A form it knew for about five seconds at the end of ST IV, but only partially -- the entire front half of the set, which was not shown in that scene, had remained gray and was marred with sprayed-on burn marks as was seen in ST II and III. The crew chairs were missing, for someone had vandalized them with a knife a few weeks earlier and they were away being re-upholstered. Also, it tickled me that the outer side of one of the turbo-elevator doors (the side of the door that would have been visible from inside the turbolift) featured a big "Valvoline" sticker, apparently placed there by a member of the production crew.
 
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