Thoughts On Remastered TOS?

The Wormhole · Post by **The Wormhole** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 1:51 pm

So what do we all think of TOSR around here? I have to say I haven't been too impressed. The arguments for and against remastering the episodes can go on for a long time, but I will say that based on what I've actually seen of the remastered episodes hasn't been too spectacular. Alot of the changes seem pretty minor and unnecessary. Although I am thankful that they aren't changing things on the scale of the Star Wars Special Editions. I once made a joke that when Trouble With Tribbles got remastered they should have had Korax throw the first punch.

The CGI they use isn't the greated, I've seen better in Voyager and Enterprise. Although it does seem to get better as each episode goes by. Really, the only remastered episode I was impressed with was The Corbomite Maneuver. CGI Fesarius looked really nice. Howver I did miss the remastered Doomsday Machine, which managed to blow away a friend of mine who was skeptical of this whole thing.

So what are your thoughts on remastered episodes of TOS? Any particular favourite remastered episodes? Or are there any which you extremely dislike?

esw01407 · Post by **esw01407** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:36 pm

From what of the few I've seen, I have to disagree about the CGI. I think its just enough to be appropriate, and not overkill like some of the early DS9/VOY episodes. I really do have to watch this series more to catch back up.

Post by **IanKennedy** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:38 pm

Does anyone know when the DVD's will be out in the UK, or if anyone will be showing them here?

Sionnach Glic · Post by **Sionnach Glic** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 10:13 pm

Does anyone know when the DVD's will be out in the UK, or if anyone will be showing them here?

I think they're showing them on the Scif-Fi channel, not too sure though.

Varthikes · Post by **Varthikes** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 1:25 am

They no longer show them in my area on a channel that I get, which REALLY flames me. I was enjoying them.

Space Ghost · Post by **Space Ghost** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 1:39 am

I never know when they're on. But from what I've seen, I'm not terribly impressed.

I Am Spartacus · Post by **I Am Spartacus** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 2:07 am

TOS is only on in Canada at 2 in the afternoon or something like that, so I rarely get to see any of them. I haven't been too impressed, but I can't maul them much either.

Sionnach Glic · Post by **Sionnach Glic** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 9:23 am

I think the remastered episodes are OK, not great but still good.

Bryan Moore · Post by **Bryan Moore** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 2:31 pm

There are a few really impressive shots, and in general the colors were cleaned up very well. But I believe the CGI in some spots is a bit too unreal. For instance, many times when the Enterprise flies by, I think "Oooh cartoons!" It's like they replaced one fake looking model with another.

That being said, I appreciate the different angles we see, the details added to a lot of the alien ships, etc. If I were to rate it on a basic scale, I'd give it thumbs slightly up.

Sionnach Glic · Post by **Sionnach Glic** » Tue Jul 17, 2007 2:55 pm

Yeah, its nice they put in some new ships we didn't get to see.

DBS · Post by **DBS** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 4:56 am

I haven't seen it yet, so I can't say with any sort of solidity. But when they re-mastered the special effects for TMP, the director specifically stated that they didn't do anything that was impossible at the time.

Maybe they carried that ethic into the re-mastered series? I could see them trying to make the Enterprise CGI model as close to the original as possible, so that they could use old exterior footage if there wasn't anything else to do with a given scene. Just speculation, admittedly. But that might explain the "cartoony" look of the Enterprise.

Space Ghost · Post by **Space Ghost** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 5:21 am

I think most of what was done in the remastered versions of TOS and even TMP is well beyond what they had to work with at the time.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not such a purist that I never want anything to change, but I just don't think the remastered parts add too much to the show. But that's my opinion.

Post by **Graham Kennedy** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 11:56 am

I've seen a few of these. I find them pretty good; they've been very careful about what to fix and what to leave alone.

I like that they have fixed some little things; remember how phasers fired beams sometimes and just made the screen go green sometimes? They now fire beams consistently. Stuff like that they could have done originally, but they just didn't have the time or money.

And more ships. We get to see the Orion ship instead of a coloured blob. We get to see the Gorn ship. And they haven't made a big deal of these things, mostly you just see the ship as a small little thing on the viewscreen - not many big beauty passes. But it just makes the universe look a bit more rounded out.

They've jazzed up the planets the Enterprise visits; planets that aren't just a re-use of last week's. Planets with rings, with clouds and weather.

Like I say, my overall impression is that the new stuff doesn't greatly jar. For the most part it looks like TOS done with the same kind of effects it had, but like they had a lot more time and a lot more money to spend on it.

Sionnach Glic · Post by **Sionnach Glic** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 1:25 pm

Mostly it seems they just added in some detail, some new ships, touched up the planets and such. GK pretty much hit it on the head there.

The_Chief · Post by **The_Chief** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 7:08 pm

I actually enjoy watching the remastered episodes. Apart from the SFX, what really grabs me is the improvement over the original soundracks. Sometimes the music on the show can be quite garish and loud, but it sounds like they've toned it down a bit, which to me, makes it sound a lot nicer. The improved image quality is a plus, also. Overall, I think it was pretty unnecessary, but at least they're trying to deliver something (sort of) new to all of us loyal fans!