It appears that Star Trek has learnt from Star Wars

[Ranger REG]

I, for one, think that this is a waste of money. I don't mind watching older shows and seeing the effects that look bad by today's standards. It gives them a charm and shows that you don't need cutting edge CGI to tell a good story.

Meh. I think that is expected, but they're banking on new and/or curious audience who have never seen the show before. You know, your children or nieces and nephews who asked, why Trek have such junk special effects compared to B5 and Star Wars Special Edition.

 

[Aaron L]

Judging by the bit on youtube, I am eagerly awaiting these. It was the same show, but looked better. The Enterprise looked the same, just... better, and not like a model.


Im all for this.

 

[librarius_arcana]

The Day The Earth Stood Still.

Another classic, yeah that would be cool

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

So do I need to go buy a Kirk Shot First! T-shirt?

 

[Berandor]

Meh. I think that is expected, but they're banking on new and/or curious audience who have never seen the show before. You know, your children or nieces and nephews who asked, why Trek have such junk special effects compared to B5 and Star Wars Special Edition.

And who now might wonder how a 60's show got better effects than 80's or 90's television?

 

[Thunderfoot]

<SNIP>In that season's "Affliction" episode, it explained why some of them got their bumps removed. In that episode, actor John Schuck, who portrayed a Klingon Ambassador in The Film Series, guest-starred as a Klingon scientist experimenting with Augment DNA.<SNIP>

Now THATS funny! When FASA included the exact same logic in their Klingons supplement to explain the difference (they called them Fusions) Paramount had a cow, a pig, a horse, a hippopotmus and two giraffes. Frankly, anything after 4th season TNG and 3rd season DS9, I have trouble with, the whole Branan & Braga trouble started there.

Okay, I realize that FASA stepped over the line a couple of times, but at least they had a basically stable historical timiline. The later episodes re-wrote history every third episode it seemed, and once Voyage and Enterpoop, er, prise came out, I was fed up. I'm hoping that the new mvie is okay, but if the incorperate the "new" historical stuff into it, I'll pass.

As for updating the effects, I can go for it if they don;t re-work everything just for the sake of re-working it. New phaser effects, great, photon torpedos, awesome, disentigrations, I'm there - CGI the ships so they look more up to date and in line with ENTERPRISE - I think not.

 

[Ranger REG]

Now THATS funny! When FASA included the exact same logic in their Klingons supplement to explain the difference (they called them Fusions) Paramount had a cow, a pig, a horse, a hippopotmus and two giraffes. Frankly, anything after 4th season TNG and 3rd season DS9, I have trouble with, the whole Branan & Braga trouble started there.

Nah, B&B never stepped on Ira Steven Behr's DS9 territory. B&B was too busy setting up UPN's VOY. That's why DS9 with its long Dominion War story arc is heckuva lot better. They have a great pool of talents, and it is from there that the Klingon Loremaster, Ron D. Moore, learned his trade. It shows on his re-imagined BSG.

Okay, I realize that FASA stepped over the line a couple of times, but at least they had a basically stable historical timiline. The later episodes re-wrote history every third episode it seemed, and once Voyage and Enterpoop, er, prise came out, I was fed up. I'm hoping that the new mvie is okay, but if the incorperate the "new" historical stuff into it, I'll pass.

Meh. Just because you're licensed to publish RPG, doesn't mean you're licensed to establish canon for the franchise writers to follow. Granted, John M. Ford who wrote my only favorite Trek novel, The Final Reflection, which gave insight to the Klingon race prior to Ron D. Moore's incarnation*, had close connection with one of the FASA's designers, Paramount has been established that printed stories -- except a portion of it have been aired or mentioned on motion picture media -- are non-canon.

(*Personally, adding Ford's work to Moore's version of the Klingon made it easier to understand ... for this Fan of All Things Klingon).

FASA shouldn't have such a swell head and ego, especially when they tried to sneak a product past Paramount's review.

As for the Klingon bumps or no bumps? We could just agree with the late Roddenberry before he died, "What do you mean smooth head? They always have ridges? I just didn't have the budget for that kind of makeup in the 60's."

Meh. Personally, I think 24's Manny Coto did a good job explaining the differences, even though the story could have been put on hold, now that we know about the digital upgrade.

As for updating the effects, I can go for it if they don;t re-work everything just for the sake of re-working it. New phaser effects, great, photon torpedos, awesome, disentigrations, I'm there - CGI the ships so they look more up to date and in line with ENTERPRISE - I think not.

Well, "assuming" you didn't watch the series finale ENT episode, at the very end had a CG Connie-class Enterprise flying past while we hear Kirk voicing a couple line from the famous Star Trek intro right after NX-1 flyby and Archer's "Space ... the Final Frontier." All in all, it was pretty decent.

They're not going to do just the ships, but all of the ship's exterior shots, including effects. Interior-wise, they'll touch up here and there so it look more detailed and up-to-date rather than spartan.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

I will certainly watch with great eagerness every episode of the Enhanced series. Okay, maybe not Spock's Brain, and a few others. But if you haven't seen the DVD's and the commentary there stressing time and time again how achingly short of money the show always was then you're not giving the concept it's full due.

The original Trek looks cheap because it WAS. It HAD to be. It is certainly not the limits of what they could have done with the available technology, nor was it all that they wanted to be able to do. They just didn't have the money. They reused the standard planet-orbit shot every time and just added a new color filter on the planet to make it look different. In the SAME episode you can see two different versions of the Enterpirse model from one shot to the next (one having the dome on the aft end of the warp engines, the other having the pointy thing at the front and the knot of tubes for exhaust). Re-using one set for another and just adding one or two new wall-hangings, a plaque, or those two-tone half-mold widgets. Bridge computer displays that never changed because there was no money to even do something as simple as back-projecting slides. You can count on one hand the number of shows where a bridge display actually has an active change in a shot. The desktop computer/comm screens were rarely shown with an actual display - they were nearly always shown from behind, especially after season 1. Beam-ins/outs would happen off-camera, with just the sound effects so they wouldn't have to pay for another effects shot. Communicator conversations would only be shown from one side to save having to film on two sets as opposed to just some dubbing.

I have no doubt whatsoever that if Roddenberry were alive he'd be all over this idea. In fact, we likely would not have had to wait this long. From Paramounts perspective, the cost is likely to be easy to stomach when you look at what they can get from syndicating new, effects-enhanced episodes much less selling another set of DVD's. I think that little bit of proof-of-concept footage really ought to be shown side-by-side with the ORIGINAL effects footage before anyone starts to get judgemental. I don't see how it can be anything but good. Hell, before Enterprise came out I was all for just redoing the bulk of the original series with new cast and effects, maybe rewrites to certain episodes to allow for EXPANSION of certain aspects, or omission of those that are best left forgotten. Just watch that episode with the hippies or Spock's Brain and THEN tell me that the original Trek should be considered "untouchable".

 

[Dark Psion]

Here is another enhanced TOS, Funny they both chose tha same episode.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HSYC6Wlbv8

 

[Starman]

You know, your children or nieces and nephews who asked, why Trek have such junk special effects compared to B5 and Star Wars Special Edition.

I all ready watch the old episodes with my 8 and 9 year old daughters. They've never mentioned the special effects, but they are hooked on the show. They bug me to watch it. I feel so proud.