Star Trek TOS - the restoration!

[Ralph]

Well on my day off before I go my holidays I've just been checking out the special features on the restoration and I must say I think it's really great!

I'm thoroughly enjoying watching the enthusiam of the team that have done the work totally sympathetic to the original and I must say it looks much better quality than I expected! It's a TOS fan's dream come true to see it all so lovingly restored. Excellent indeed!

I think I'll make this the new thread to watch these new episodes - now I want to know when seasons 2 and 3 are going to be available on region 2.

I'm still in the middle of watching the programme on the restoration as I type but the sheer enthusiasm and excitement watching the improvements just compelled me to share the joy of this fine moment!

[Wayne]

Background scenes – Some of the iconic, yet flat, matte paintings used as backdrops for the strange, new worlds explored by the Enterprise crew will get a CGI face-lift, adding atmosphere and lighting.

Ralph approves of CGI shocker!

[Ralph]

Yes Wayne I'm surprised myself! I think it's a no brainer to buy this at the current prices

And the packaging is pure fanboy stuff! even I'm seduced by it

[Perry Vale]

Resurrecting this thread due to the recently announced news that TOS S1 is coming to Bluray on April 28th. The best feature of it, and something the HD-DVD release didn't have, is that you'll have the choice of watching either the Remastered episodes, or the original episode with original fx. Seasons 2 & 3 are due before the end of the year.

Also, the first six Trek films are getting the Bluray treatment, and if rumours are correct, the TNG feature films will join them before the end of the year. My bank balance is going to be hurting, as The Prisoner comes out on Bluray around the same time.

The Star Trek: The Original Series - Season One Blu-ray Disc (SRP $118.00) will include all 29 first season episodes in 1080p high-definition, presented in the original 4x3 aspect ratio. Using seamless branching, you will be able to view the episodes either with the newly-remastered digital effects or the original effects, and you'll also have your choice of newly-enhanced audio in English 7.1 DTS-HD MA or the original English 2.0 Mono. (French and Spanish 2.0 mono are also included. There's no word yet on subtitles and captions - we're checking.) You'll be able to make this choice at the beginning of each episode, or switch back and forth on the fly to compare. (We're told that the newly remastered versions are included in their entirety. Those scenes and shots from the original broadcast versions that are different are included via branching - mostly new effects shots.) Select episodes will also have enhanced Starfleet Access bonus content (specifically Where No Man Has Gone Before, The Menagerie: Parts 1 & 2, Balance of Terror, Space Seed and Errand of Mercy) featuring pop-up trivia and picture-in-picture video commentaries. Other special features on the set include preview trailers for each episode, along with 9 featurettes (Spacelift: Transporting Trek into the 21st Century, Reflections on Spock, Life Beyond Trek: William Shatner, To Boldly Go... Season One, The Birth of a Timeless Legacy, Sci-Fi Visionaries, Billy Blackburn's Treasure Chest: Rare Home Movies and Special Memories and Kiss ‘N' Tell: Romance in the 23rd Century) and the Interactive Enterprise Inspection. What's more, "an exclusive collectible Sulu figure from Diamond Select Toys is also being made available with purchase of the Blu-ray set; fans pay only shipping and handling charges." For those wondering about the packaging, it's a 7-disc Blu-ray Amaray case with an outer O-sleeve (a vertical cardboard slipcase).

From the list above, it appears that this set includes almost everything that was on the HD-DVD side of the previous HD-DVD/DVD Combo format release, though a couple of the features from the DVD side appear to be missing, specifically the Trek Connections featurette, the Star Trek: Beyond the Final Frontier History Channel special and the Star Trek Online game preview. The HD-DVD side also included Starfleet Access on The Galileo Seven, which isn't listed in the official press release, though it's possible that it IS on the set and there's just an error in the release (we're checking on it).

For those trying to decide whether or not to keep your original Season One DVDs, note that none of the Red Shirt Diaries Easter eggs are included on the Blu-ray version. The original Okuda text commentaries are also not included on the Blu-ray (for the episodes Where No Man Has Gone Before, The Conscience of the King and The Menagerie, Parts I & II), though the Okudas do participate in the new Starfleet Access feature (so it's possible that much of the text material appears there). The Okuda text commentary from the Star Trek: Time Travel - Fan Collective is not included either (for the episode Tomorrow is Yesterday).

It's worth noting that the $110 SRP for the Blu-ray set is substantially lower than the original $217.99 SRP with which the HD-DVD version arrived in stores. The following has yet to be officially announced (so consider it Rumor Mill-worthy), but our studio and industry sources are telling us that Star Trek: The Original Series - Season Two and Star Trek: The Original Series - Season Three will follow on Blu-ray Disc later this year, likely timed to the release of J.J. Abrams' new Star Trek feature film on DVD and Blu-ray. So that's The Original Series on Blu-ray. Now let's take a look at the new feature film sets...

Full story here.....

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/mytwoc...artrekannounce

Make it so.

[Ralph]

I just started on the restored and enhanced episodes at the weekend.

Tonight I watched "Where No Man Has Gone Before" - I found it interesting to spot all the things that were to change,, the lighting in the elevator, costumes, Spock's eyebrows, Bones, the outline on the visual screen, the "War of the Worlds" attachment to Kirk's chair, pointy sideburns, the more polished closing music...

Now having seen 3 episodes in total, the enhancements are essentially the screen visuals and the shots of the Enterprise - I would say it's a definite improvement - I'm looking forward to see how they handle the likes of the Doomday Machine and the Tholian Web. It's good to see the Enterprise from much more interesting angles and it still feels very much in keeping with the 60s feel

These first few episodes Man Trap, Charlie X and WNMHGB seem to me like a warm up for the main event - I haven't quite hit those episodes yet that give me that beaming smile of joy that only ST-TOS can do

[WhiteCrowNZ]

It's slightly unfortunate having Where No Man so close to Charlie X in the running order, as it feels a bit like "we've already run out of ideas".

I'd really like a copy of TOS on DVD or blue-ray, I don't think I'd mind which. But I feel I can't really justify buying them at the moment.

[Wayne]

The proper thing is perfectly good enough without the CGI revisionists tinkering with the true original.
I love the old matte painting backgrounds.



It's all part of the charm & love of the real thing. The new fake insertions just don't look the same, & the re-recorded music doesn't have the same sound as the original orchestra.
Why can't they just leave things as they were meant to be?

[Jeff]

I enjoyed the new movie enough that I was inspired to... acquire the original series, the animated season, and the TOS movies... I'll get around to actually watching them one day...

[Paul Monk]

I love the old matte painted backgrounds. They were truly works of art and I think its a real shame that its died out.

[Wayne]

Ralph's not playing anymore is he?

[Ralph]

It was "The Naked Time" last night - good intro visual helps with the atmosphere.

Probably this episode is most famous for Sulu's swordplay and O'Reilly's singing neither of which were enhanced by the CGI

[Ralph]

Ralph's not playing anymore is he?

I haven't asked for my ball back yet

[Wayne]

And i can't resist kicking it in the puddles.

[Martin Penny]

I've seen a few of the restored episodes, and I don't think they quite work - the new effects shots look dreadfully out of place, and stick out like a sore thumb.

[Wayne]

I've seen a few of the restored episodes, and I don't think they quite work - the new effects shots look dreadfully out of place, and stick out like a sore thumb.

I've only seen a few bits from one of Ralph's discs, but i agree.
The actual restoration per se is lovely, but they've spoilt it by forcing these completely new bits in.
I wouldn't mind if they were optional like the new effects on the Who dvds. I might even have bought the sets if that were the case, because the cleaned up picture quality is actually really good work.

[Captain Tancredi]

I've been watching some of the S1 episodes from the original DVD release lately and it has to be said that DVD shows up some of the grubby prints quite badly. But not having seen some of them for a long time, it's reminded me of just how impressive original Trek can be, before it became a franchise- watched with the proper sense of wonder, there's a real sense of new ground being broken.

[Pip Madeley]

Those of you with either Sky (channel 148) or Freesat (channel 137) may be interested to know a new channel called CBS Action are exclusively broadcasting these remastered episodes, starting this week.

[SiHart]

Othe Trek fans might be interested in this news of the "other" version of Where No Man Has Gone Before being rediscovered... http://www.thrfeed.com/neverbeforese...lot-found.html

Si xx

[Perry Vale]

Bump!

As well as snagging the 10 movie Bluray set for approx £42 last week, I also came out of my local CEX shop yesterday clutching S2 & S3 on Bluray! I'd planned to sell some old dvd boxsets, but couldn't resist picking these up on exchange.

I hadn't seen Si's last post about the discovery of the alternate 'Where No Man', so that was a nice surprise, as was the addition on S2 of the DS9 & Animated Tribbles episodes. Nice.

So last night I started S2, in production order, and watched Catspaw & Metamorphosis. Hmm, not a great start, but I loved Checkov's wig in the first one.

[Rob McCow]

It was the same with Star Wars - they can chuck all the CGI restoration at it they like, but they'll never fix the hair!