Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×

Star Trek - Special Edition 282

Posted by Zonk from the ooooo-weeee-ooooooooo dept.
Deathlizard writes "Confirming rumours from last month, Trekkies will finally join their Star Wars brethren and get a taste of the 'George Lucas Treatment' this year. CBS will be rebroadcasting The Original Star Trek Series for it's 40th anniversary. The catch? New Digital Graphics." From the article: "Digitally created images will replace the miniature-scale models used for exterior shots of the various spacecraft on the show, including Kirk's Starship Enterprise and the enemy war vessels of the alien Klingons and Romulans. Shots of distant galaxies and planets also will be touched up with computer graphics to give them greater depth. The flat matte paintings used as backdrops on the surface of the strange new worlds visited by the Enterprise crew will be digitally enhanced to add texture, atmosphere and lighting."
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Star Trek - Special Edition More

Star Trek - Special Edition

Comments Filter:
  • Next up for 'improvement': The Honeymooners [imdb.com] in Color. Where will it end?
    • Well, lets at least HOPE that they didn't destroy all the originals when they did the updating and enhancement.

      Also, at least so far...they didn't apparently alter the actual story like some directors out there have done....

    • Re:CBS raped my childhood! (Score:5, Informative)

      by AKAImBatman ( 238306 ) * <akaimbatman AT gmail DOT com> on Friday September 15, 2006 @03:18PM (#16115814) Homepage Journal
      Okay, wise guy. Just relax and take it easy. Paramount is not "raping your childhood", or even improving the effects. (Much.) All they're doing is resampling the film for HD broadcasts. Unfortunately, a lot of the effects shots and audio will stand out as REALLY bad in High Definition, so they're recreating much of it.

      What do I mean by "recreating"? I mean that they're matching the original shots (from what I've seen, mistakes and all) so that the jump to HD doesn't make them look like cheap models with sparklers on them. The theme song is being re-recorded to match the original exactly, but using modern sound capture technologies. The sound effects will be redubbed over the audio of the characters, again to take advantage of modern sound systems.

      The result is that it will look like Star Trek, feel like Star Trek, and be like Star Trek. It will just look a little better on HD, while SD viewers will notice that the picture is a little cleaner and the audio a bit crisper. Go see for yourself [youtube.com].
      • i'm just playing. i've seen so much 'horror' in the last month or so over star wars and now this that i'm just really tired of it. read down in this thread and see where a '60s sci-fi show is compared to the mona lisa or classic literature. it blows my mind.

      • Re:CBS raped my childhood! (Score:5, Insightful)

        by badasscat ( 563442 ) <basscadet75@NOspAm.yahoo.com> on Friday September 15, 2006 @03:27PM (#16115904)
        Okay, wise guy. Just relax and take it easy. Paramount is not "raping your childhood", or even improving the effects. (Much.) All they're doing is resampling the film for HD broadcasts.

        They're doing a bit more than that.

        But unlike with Star Wars, I'm all for this. There's one crucial difference: the original version is still available, and always will be. Nobody's suddenly denying the existence of the original model-based Star Trek, or telling anyone they "lost" the original negatives, or calling the new version "the Star Trek we had always meant to make".

        There's another big difference: the dramatic content was not changed. Only the FX shots have been changed/cleaned up. I wouldn't have had such a problem with the Star Wars Lucas treatment if he hadn't also gone and made it so Greedo shot first, or Hayden Christensen appeared at the end of Jedi (a face Luke wouldn't even recognize!), or whatever.

        I don't mind updating films and TV shows provided the original is preserved for archival purposes and made available in some form to the public. And I don't mind the updates themselves provided it only applies to the technical aspects of the film rather than the content.

        It sounds to me like this is a worthwhile update to the original Trek, and I'll be watching. (I'll also be buying once it's inevitably released on an HD video format.)

        • The R-r-r-omulans have r-r-r-idges! (Score:5, Interesting)

          by HTH NE1 ( 675604 ) on Friday September 15, 2006 @03:57PM (#16116218)
          or calling the new version "the Star Trek we had always meant to make".

          I remember Roddenberry's original explanation for the new look of Klingons in the movies was that Klingons were always intended to look this new way; they just didn't have the budget to do them right in the original series.

          Or afford to pay for artists of sufficient skill capable of doing them that way for the animated series either, apparently.

          ("Heart rate too high, internal organs all wrong, pronounced ridges on the cranium-- Jim, this man's a Klingon!")

          If it weren't for the retconning of DS9 and Enterprise, then I'd expect that in this remastered version, not only the Klingons, but also the R-r-r-omulans would have r-r-r-idges on their foreheads if these were "the Star Trek we had always meant to make".

          Will they be fixing the flying pizza bats in "Operation: Annihilate!" as well?

  • I'm easy to please. (Score:5, Funny)

    by nosredna ( 672587 ) on Friday September 15, 2006 @02:51PM (#16115567)
    As long as Kirk shoots first (or only, as applicable) I'll still be happy.

    • Re:I'm easy to please. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by __aaclcg7560 ( 824291 ) on Friday September 15, 2006 @02:57PM (#16115612)
      As long as Scotty throws the first punch at the Klingon for saying that the Enterprise should be hauled away as garbage, I'll be happy. :P
      • As long as Spock still calls Bones "Illogical" first, i'll be....

        OH NEVERMIND!!
      • As long as the ladies still have short mini skirts, I'll be happy!
      • I can just see Jammie Hynaman doing a cameo, with Adam Savage stumbling over the bridge...

        • I can just see Jammie Hynaman doing a cameo, with Adam Savage stumbling over the bridge...

          Hah! That sounds like a great idea for a Youtube video! Show some footage of the Enterprise rocking violently from some sort of explosion (doesn't really matter), then have Kirk pop in with, "Spock! What was that?" Cut to Jamie and Adam pasted into a Star Trek science lab background. Play some sort of "sorry about that guys, we didn't expect an explosion that big" clip.

          Comedy gold! :D

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by rlp ( 11898 )
        As long as Scotty throws the first punch at the Klingon for saying that the Enterprise should be hauled away as garbage, I'll be happy. :P

        So where can I get the T-shirt?

    • Re:I'm easy to please. (Score:5, Informative)

      by MindStalker ( 22827 ) <mindstalker@@@gmail...com> on Friday September 15, 2006 @02:59PM (#16115632) Journal
      Luckily if you actually read the official site (startrek.com though the site seems to be down so I can't give you the actual part concerning this show). They state that they are making extra careful attention to not change the plot or feel at all. Mainly they are cleaning up the grainy film and turning it into HD, and taking the models and redoing them to look exactly the same. Several mentions on their site on how they actually had to cut back the effects to match the old style as to not make the changes obvious.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Shimmer ( 3036 )
        That's ridiculous. "Redoing them to look exactly the same"? Why bother?
        • They want it to be in HD and and dolby digital sound mainly. Most important, for the DVD and eventual HD-DVD release. Do you think people would shell out that kinda money for the original originals...
        • for the same reason they made the show in the first place -- to get people to watch (and more will with the 'new' graphics) and make money selling advertising. i'm amazed at how many people here seem to think that star trek came to be as something other than a commercial venture first and everything else is incidental.

          i guess you could argue that roddenberry somehow used the system to slip something worthwhile through -- but bottom line is it only existed as long as it was perceived as a means of g

        • Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)

          by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Friday September 15, 2006 @03:46PM (#16116103)
          Comment removed based on user account deletion
      • In other words, Kirk will still be fat and bald,...

  • Say it aint so (Score:5, Funny)

    by QuantumG ( 50515 ) <qg@biodome.org> on Friday September 15, 2006 @02:51PM (#16115575) Homepage Journal
    Next they'll be digitally editing Shatner's hair and waist lines.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by thebdj ( 768618 )
      Actually, there isn't much more they could do about those digitally. I think they are just going to find a body double to re-shoot scenes and digital paste Shatner's head on it...at least the waist line will be taken care of...
  • There's no intelligent posts down here.
    • Kirk's belly will be enhanced with washboard abs.
    • Extra CGI appendages will be added to each attractive alien go-go girl.
    • Embarrassing "we worship the Son" episode will instead end with a CGI explosion.

  • Please God, NO! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by east coast ( 590680 ) on Friday September 15, 2006 @02:58PM (#16115620)
    The flat matte paintings used as backdrops on the surface of the strange new worlds visited by the Enterprise crew will be digitally enhanced to add texture, atmosphere and lighting.
     
    Obviously the dorks at CBS/NBC/ABC or whomever seem to have missed the point: It's the cheese that makes Trek taste so good after all these years.
     
    TOS is a classic, in part, because we get to sit back and see the innovation Roddenberry and crew had enough insight to bring to the surface but not enough FX abilities to make it convincing (even back when TOS was in first run). Aside from Shatner's bad acting what else will we have to cheer for?
     
    Frankly, this blows. If people like it I have nothing against it but I will not be party to it either. This is akin to updating all the antiquated language and references in, let's say, War of the Worlds and try to make it new and accessible to a new fanbase... Oh, sorry! (See! I've proven my own point)

    • It's not the cheese (Score:5, Insightful)

      by PCM2 ( 4486 ) on Friday September 15, 2006 @03:13PM (#16115773) Homepage
      I hear this argument about Doctor Who all the time and I call bullshit either way.

      You like to think that you like Star Trek (or Doctor Who) because of the cheese, but you didn't. If you saw these shows as a kid, you fell in love with them because of the memorable characters, engaging plots, the strong moral messages, and (yes) a sense of wonder at the imaginative settings, creatures, and situations. Seriously. You fell in love with these shows because you liked them -- don't try to intellectualize your way out of it now that you're all growed up.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by cant_get_a_good_nick ( 172131 )
        Now everyone flash back to the episode where the half black and half white guys go back to a world that's been destroyed by hatred and still wnat to kick each other's asses. Hard for me to picture it now but i wonder what kind of impact that had in the 60's.

        Don't forget the first interracial kiss on TV was Kirk and Uhura. Not to mention all the alien chicks Kirk got (white green or gold, if she's hot he's going to go where no man has gone before.. care to see the Captain's log??). Kirk getting all he can

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by TubeSteak ( 669689 )
      Aside from Shatner's bad acting what else will we have to cheer for?
      The fact that he meets attractive alien cultures and inevitably sleeps with their women?
    • Oh great. Now it look as "real" as Babylon 5. The models always looked a zillion times better than anything but the most EXPENSIVE digital images. Even the expensive ones can look crappy--see Star Wars Episode 1. Just because some guy uses Bryce instead of painting on glass doesn't make the planets look more real.

    • Obviously the dorks at CBS/NBC/ABC or whomever seem to have missed the point: It's the cheese that makes Trek taste so good after all these years.
      That's funny. I always liked TOS because of the good writing, acting, characters, and storyline. The effects weren't great, but it's not like we're talking about Land Of The Lost here. I also like the TOS doesn't take itself too seriously, something that was lost on TNG. As long as the new effects don't look worse or out of place with the rest of the series, I

  • Ah, well (Score:5, Informative)

    by TopShelf ( 92521 ) on Friday September 15, 2006 @02:59PM (#16115624) Homepage Journal
    At least we still have the motivational posters [echosphere.net]...

  • And to improve the acting. (Score:4, Funny)

    by Kenja ( 541830 ) on Friday September 15, 2006 @03:00PM (#16115636)
    And to improve the acting, Kirk will now be played by Jar Jar Binks. Thanks to the wonders of digital compositing.

    "Mesa shout, Kahn?"

  • dupe of url, url, url

    http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/29/123021 3 [slashdot.org]

  • Understatement (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Marcus Erroneous ( 11660 ) on Friday September 15, 2006 @03:00PM (#16115646) Homepage
    I hope it's a labor of love where they replace the crude effects with superior ones without letting themselves get carried away. Hopefully they won't go the Hollywood route and let the effects overwhelm and upstage the episodes. The real test will be if the episodes look better, but someone has to point out the changes.

  • CBS?! *splutter*... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by alispguru ( 72689 ) <bob,bane&me,com> on Friday September 15, 2006 @03:01PM (#16115650) Journal
    Anyone who saw these episodes when they originally appeared (I was 10 at the time - I got a special dispensation from my parents to see the third season even though it was past my bedtime) knows they came out on NBC. How did CBS get to show them, much less get permission to tart them up?

  • this is not the george lucas treatment (Score:3, Insightful)

    by maynard ( 3337 ) on Friday September 15, 2006 @03:01PM (#16115654) Journal
    TOS [amazon.com] is still available via DVD, it will be rebroadcast in its original form on TV LAND [tvland.com]... there's just no comparison to Lucas' repeated muddling of the Star Wars plot and effects. The only reason Lucas has decided to sell the original unmodified trilogy is because so many people downloaded or bought used laserdisc copies, rather than buy his recent updated box set.

    I mean, I grew up with TOS and think it's kinda cool CBS will rebroadcast it in HD - but I'm not clamoring for it either. I just think the comparison between Paramount's changes tp TOS vs. what Lucas did to the original Star Wars is just plain unfair.

    *shrug*

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by nine-times ( 778537 )

      I agree. You know, if someone wants to go back and clean up the film quality, enhance the special effects, etc., then I don't really see it as a big problem. Even if they go pretty far with it, it could be a little bit of a creative act, like a partial remake. I think the analog with music would be that instead of covering a song (which is like a remake) they'd be doing a remix, and insofar as it's understood as such, it's kind of neat.

      My objection to Star Wars re-editing is only in that it seems to be

  • Animated series (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Shimmer ( 3036 ) on Friday September 15, 2006 @03:01PM (#16115656) Journal
    I think the bigger news is that they're finally releasing the animated series on DVD. I have good memories of these cartoons from when I was a kid, but I never had a chance to watch more than one or two. I'm looking forward to renting them - it's almost like having new episodes of the original series to watch.
    • the animated series on DVD. I have good memories of these cartoons from when I was a kid, but I never had a chance to watch more than one or two. I'm looking forward to renting them - it's almost like having new episodes of the original series to watch.

      Yeah... I saw some in the late 90s....

      Nostalgia will do wonderfull things to your memories :-\
  • Will the new digital phasers still point away from each other, yet somehow converge on their target?

    Because it's not real TOS Star Trek if they don't.
    • This is Lieutenant Sulu of the Enterprise, with... The Doors.

      You know that it would be untrue
      You know that I would be a liar
      If I was to say, to you
      Uhura, we couldn't get much higher
      Come on baby, light my FIRE! [lieutenantsolo.com]

      (Funny stuff. [lieutenantsolo.com] ;-))
  • I'm not sure which to do...

    either way, nerds around the world will unite and make this a succesful venture. Guys, there has got to be something better to waste time on.
    • But it worked out so well when Red Dwarf did it!

      Oh wait... the Red Dwarf special editions were broadcast once ever and never seen again, and aren't available on DVD. So... yeah, great use of that money.

  • I guess they have not figured out that the campy-ness of the show was a big part of the appeal. That and the fact that you were sort of forced to use your imagination to buy into some of it.

    It sort of seems to me like they are saying: "We want to make that Klingon more realistic." Um...

  • Let's give the mona lisa more modern clothing and make her thinner.

    I'm sure this will give that old classic more "modern appeal".

    • Dude, there have been ENDLESS redoings of the Mona Lisa, including nude versions. There's a nude one in the Carrara Academy in Bergamo, Italy dating back to the 17th century.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Scrameustache ( 459504 )
      Let's give the mona lisa more modern clothing and make her thinner.

      This time around, they aren't pulling a Lucas:

      From what I've seen, this is more like repairing all those cracks in the varnish and bringing back the original colors through the years of fading. Technical enhancement, nothing done to the subject of the work.

  • Yes... but (Score:4, Funny)

    by Kesch ( 943326 ) on Friday September 15, 2006 @03:05PM (#16115702)
    Are they ... going to ... fix up ... the choppy audio ... coming from ... Shatner's ... microphone?
  • "Nothing really has changed except for the fact that it's just prettier to look at," John Nogawski, president of CBS Paramount Domestic Television, said in a recent conference call with reporters. "Right down to placement of stars, it is being resimulated to be exactly what was there in the first place."


    That is the way it should be. Clean things up, enhance colors, tweak minor items, but in the end, LEAVE THINGS THE WAY THEY WERE! (You hear us George!?)

    • Weeeelll... they not changing the story (Kirk will still shoot first). I'm sort of curious to see what they do. I was skeptical when I thought it was just going to be new space stuff and the same old "planet of the styrofoam rocks", but I think it might work better if they touch those up as well.
  • It's also remastered from the original 35 mm prints. It looks a heck of a lot sharper... you know you want to see Shatner sharper...
  • Yeah, but the difference here is that real Trek fans won't get their panties in a bunch about it because they embrace technology at every turn. That's what separates the men from the boys. Errr... I mean the Trekkers from the Jedi.
  • See, I like TOS. I don't see this as being the end of the world, because one of two things can happen here.
    1. This will somehow (unlikely) be an absolutely brilliant edit job that enhances and artistically reimagines the amazing wonder of the original classic series.
    2. (More likely) It will suck donkey yamsack.

    One of these two scenarios is going to happen. Unlike Star Wars, if item #2 comes to pass, then we can simply ignore it. Gene Roddenberry isn't around to "tape over" the originals and absolutely refu

  • Full Circle (Score:2, Insightful)

    by cbhacking ( 979169 )
    So... now that, for the first time since 1987, there's no commercial Star Trek shows in production, they've to "bring back" the classics? I'm not actually upset by them retouching the backgrounds, etc. so much as that after the fiasco of Enterprise, I was hoping for something more progressive, rather than going back and retouching footage from my parents' generation.

    On the other hand, one could argue that, at the very least since DS9, Trek has gone downhill with every successive series. Maybe they think the

  • "Special" edition? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Aelcyx ( 123258 ) on Friday September 15, 2006 @03:12PM (#16115759)
    Does this mean they ride in the short Enterprise?
  • I'll take a CGI chop job over the Spock Market any day.

  • Why not? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by blackholepcs ( 773728 )
    I'm all for them doing a slight overhaul on TOS. As long as its only the ships/planets/space scenes, then I call it an alternative improvement. As long as they keep the originals and have them available as well, theres no harm done. Now, if they start adding creatures running around in the background of planets, Kirk shooting second, or changing the way characters looked (Klingons for example), then I'll probably still watch, but with a bad taste in my mouth. Of course, I'd not mind if they change the vie
  • The revamped episodes start wekly syndication TOMORROW people, it's been all over the 'net for weeks. Check your local listings, it'll typically be where Enterprise was for weekly syndication up till now. Balance of Terror airs tomorrow, tune in THEN decide whether or not to go up in arms. Just remember, they're not gonna stop selling DVDs of the original versions any time soon so it's not like they're pulling a George Lucas on us.

  • Does the Enterprise still go "swoosh" when it goes by in vacuum?

  • I watched the trailer they put together with some samples. Whereas some of the effects look different and definitely more modern. For the purist the real perk is that they remastered all the episodes from the original filstock they were filmed on. Doing a half and half shot of the same scene you see one half which is sharp, clear, and the colors jump out well, and the other half looks like someone filmed it.. through lard.

  • But is it Art? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by tacocat ( 527354 )

    Don't let him get his hands on the Mona Lisa. He'll probably add whitener to her teeth.

    One of the things that I appreciate about these older shows is how much they are able to present of a story with such simple sets. All the glitz just leads to neoronic distractions. Of course some of the alien babes were a bit of a distraction too, but that's also part of the characters of the original show.

    Go back and watch some of the pre-WWII movies and you'll find a fantastic lost technique in movie making. How

  • "Broadcasting it"? Can I get it on DVD?

    Actually if they're re-mastering it in HD, this may be the series that would convince me to make the jump to HD-DVD...
  • I think the best Special Edition [penny-arcade.com] commentary can be found on Penny Arcade. I think for those of us who loved the original series it sums up what we think of Lucas's 'improvements' pretty well.
  • No, not episode IV. Regardless of how they may change TOS in appearance, the stories, the messages and the morals will still be there. I think this may be a good thing. Our societies all over the world are in a rather dark age at this time. What if Star Trek could rekindle the hope that we're not alone on this planet, but if we are, shouldn't we treat each other nicely?

    It could be 1969 all over again! Wooooooooo.... wooo... woo woo.

    At any rate I'll be pleased to see it on prime time again, possibly reac

  • A List of stations that is carrying this can be found here [startrek.com].

    Alternatively, you can go to TVGuide [tvguide.com], set up your local guide, and then punch in "Star Trek".
  • So long as they don't change the color of the Red Shirt guy who dies each episode, that's okay.
  • Get a life, people! It's just a TV show!

    Hey... you! Yes, you. You don't even have a girlfriend, do you???

  • Trailer (Score:3, Informative)

    by antdude ( 79039 ) on Friday September 15, 2006 @04:14PM (#16116367) Homepage Journal
    Here is the trailer [startrek.com] (QuickTime and Windows Media formats) for the remastered version.

Slashdot Top Deals

One man's constant is another man's variable. -- A.J. Perlis

Close