The Original Series, Remastered

[ijdgaf]

I'm a little late to the party, my apologies. I had known they were redoing the FX on original series episodes for a while -- I was unaware, however, that they've been releasing trailers showing what they've done so far. Very interesting.

I admit, I wasn't too keen on the idea before. But I'm pleasantly surprised. It is worth noting, however, that the Hollywood narration is horribly misleading. Also, just plain horrible. Here's what I've dug up on YouTube so far. Fair warning -- some are more FX-heavy than others.

Where No Man Has Gone Before
The Naked Time
Miri
The Corbomite Maneuver
The Menagerie, Part 1
The Menagerie, Part 2
Balance of Terror
Arena
Tomorrow is Yesterday
Space Seed
The Devil in the Dark
City on the Edge of Forever
Amok Time
Mirror, Mirror
The Doomsday Machine
Catspaw
I, Mudd
Journey to Babel
Friday's Child
Wolf in the Fold
The Trouble with Tribbles
A Piece of the Action
The Immunity Syndrome
The Paradise Syndrome
And the Children Shall Lead
For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky
The Tholian Web
Wink of an Eye
All Our Yesterdays

[Nate the Great]

I'm enjoying the new versions of the episodes. I am noticing cut dialogue, though, and hope that it's just for time. If they release these things on DVD I hope that they obey some sort of "keep everything we can as long as it's internally consistent" rule. There are plenty of examples of a line here and a line here that create troubles and nits for other episodes. Snip them and everything holds together a lot better.

[mudshark]

Originally Posted by ijdgaf

I'm a little late to the party, my apologies. I had known they were redoing the FX on original series episodes for a while -- I was unaware, however, that they've been releasing trailers showing what they've done so far. Very interesting.

If I'm not mistaken, each trailer has been shown on NBC (or whatever) the week prior to the corresponding episode's airing, just as would happen with any series airing new episodes.

If you want to look at the changes another way, someone named destructive1 has been posting video clips for each episode aired so far, containing just the new bits -- i.e., just those parts that are different from the original episodes. (Important Note: As these are taken from the episodes as aired, they reflect only the content of the programs as edited for syndicated viewing, and may not contain all of the changes which will ultimately appear in the HD-DVD releases.)

That understood, everything posted to date can be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=destructive1

YMMV

[ijdgaf]

I'm not too surprised about the cut dialogue, really. Nowadays about ten more minutes for each hour are used for commercials than was the case then. As long as the HD-DVDs, BD's, and/or DVDs are alright, then I don't see the big deal.

And thanks for that link, Muddshark. Very informative.

[Nate the Great]

The Original Series on Blu-Ray? Hehehehehehe...

[Gatac]

Man, I love that over-dramatic narration on the trailers. Nothing like spicing up a 60s series with funky CGI and selectively sped-up/speedcut original footage.

Gatac

[mudshark]

Originally Posted by ijdgaf

I'm not too surprised about the cut dialogue, really. Nowadays about ten more minutes for each hour are used for commercials than was the case then. As long as the HD-DVDs, BD's, and/or DVDs are alright, then I don't see the big deal.

Many of the cuts are the same ones everyone has already been watching on television for years, so it isn't too jarring. In some cases, however, the "remastering" has necessitated/made possible a few different cuts and replaced a few bits which haven't been seen for a long time.

Not everyone has been happy with all of the cuts as aired, and some of the usual suspects have been crying "Foul!" since the first one aired, but the general consensus I've seen has been surprisingly positive. Most people seem to be willing to wait for the full versions on DVD (and are hoping that a few of the less-successful tweaks are re-tweaked before the release.)

And thanks for that link, Muddshark. Very informative.

You're welcome. I had a feeling there would be a least one or two around here who'd find those of interest.

[Burt]

hehe. They did used to like to 'big things up'. I remember a trailer for 'Progress' an early DS9 episode. It claimed (In that voice) That a world was on the brink of destruction (A bajorian moon. In a way...sort of), that there was a face off with a rebel leader (he was of course, about 70, and only had like 2 helpers and spent most of his time gardening) and that Sisko faced a rebellion in his own ranks. (I think they meant Kira. Was she really in his ranks? And in any case...she didn't)

Liking the redone TOS. Looks nifty.

[Nate the Great]

Oh yeah. I've fallen victim to redone trailers more than once. One classic trick is to have the first trailer focus on the A plot, and the rerun trailer can focus on the B plot.

Nowhere NEAR enough people say "nifty" these days. Great word. That's why my version of Dax uses it.

[Burt]

I have a trailer of Insurrection, on a old Voyager Tape I think, that is just a joke. It shows scenes from the movie, fine... then there's a scene of the Enterprise E firing........'I don't remember that' I thought. Then theres a ton of other Starfleet ships firing too...and I realized it's from First Contact. Borg Cube above Earth Battle. And there's also a few Best of Both Worlds battle bits too... (a Galaxy class scene?) and then they even have a few scenes from Voyager, with it firing on a Borg cube. All in the same trailer.
whatwhatwhat?

Trade description act violation if I ever saw one.

[Nate the Great]

Tonight was the broadcast (at least in Minnesota) of the remastered Errand of Mercy. I didn't catch all of it, and there isn't much TO remaster, but I had to bring up one change that I liked: the Organian transformation back to their energy selves. Very cool. Shimmering, almost kaleidoscopic effects.