A Fan’s Perspective on the Remastered Star Trek
At a time when Star Trek had been rerun so often that images were scratched, hazy and dull, Paramount/CBS came to the conclusion that it was time to remaster the original series (TOS) by restoring the original master prints, boosting the quality of the images and re-recording the background music. Then they made the decision to take a step futher and replace the old FX shots with digital CGI effects.
All this was spurred on by the appearance of High Definition DVDs in the consumer marketplace. A year ago (late 2007), there was an arms escalation between the two competing High-Def formats: Blu-Ray and HDDVD. There was no clear winner in sight. All that changed in Feb. 2008 when Warner Bros. finally decided to exclusively support the Blu-ray format.
Part of HDDVD’s arsenal, though, was the release of the remastered series one of TOS. Toshiba, who were backing HDDVD, put a sizeable amount of money into the remastering project and the release of the remastered Star Trek series was heavily promoted.
All the original series of Star Trek were recorded on film which is inherently a high-definition, high-contrast medium. Lighting techiniques like those used in movies at the time were also used. Later series of Star Trek such as Deep Space Nine, Next Generation and Voyager were all recorded on video, an inherently low-to-medium definition, non-high-contrast medium. Plus, Next Generation especially, was shot using a flat lighting that was in vogue at the time. The upshot is that it’s [very that any of these series will ever appear in high definition on Blu-Ray. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Original Series does make an appearance on Blu-Ray at some point in the future.
Impressions of Star Trek Remastered
To begin with, it looks stunning in high definition. The original 4:3 aspect ratio has been kept and the prints are exceedingly crisp and clean. Contrast has been boosted somewhat so images have more punch. The only downside I can see is the common criticism levelled at high-def: too much detail is apparent! For instance on the HDDVD you can see the zippers on the cast’s shirts.
The HDDVD release featured a High-Definition version on one side and standard definition on the other side (so it plays in a normal DVD player). Both sides have a good set of extras with little material being repeated.
Now the rest of this review will look at the standard definition DVD releases of the remastered series.
Earlier this year, the first series of the Remastered Star Trek was made available in a standard DVD edition. Since then, the second series has been released and the third series of TOS will become available in November. If you already have a copy of the previously released version of the series on DVD (without remastered special effects and music), is there a reason to acquire yet another edition of TOS?
Since i grew up watching the series, getting the HDDVD version was a must. I was more interested in the quality of the image and the show looking as pristine as it did straight out of the camera in the 1960s. I have to admit to being a little dubious about the new CGI animations replacing old ship and other special effects shots and whether they’d be intrusive. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The effects do make the show even better, giving it a more immersive quality and lending a more realistic feel to the alien landscapes.
All the effects shots were created inhouse by CBS (who now own the TV rights). While, for the most part, they’ve done an outstanding job, a few ship effects look less realistic than others. FX for Enterprise~I believe the company that created the effects for Enterprise} were originally slated to create the TOS effects but they turned out to be too expensive and so CBS did the effects inhouse instead.
The thing that makes the remastered series so enjoyable is that they aren’t trying to alter or re-imagine the episodes (for better or worse). There’s no “look at what we can do” attitude here. Instead what they’ve done is clean the show up and presented it exactly as it was originally meant to be, musical note for note, shot for shot. The background music has been completely re-recorded, but apart from it now being crystal clear (and in 5.1 Dolby Digital) you’d never know it. Effects shots of the ship have been redone with CGI, but it’s hard to tell any difference (except on rare occassions), and it now looks brilliant instead of worn out, washed out and incredibly grainy. The new CGI effects fit seamlessly amongst the original live-action footage. Remember those black matte lines, especially around ships orbiting planets? They’re gone. And Fuzzy images? They are also a thing of the past. The colors are brighter, the shadows are deeper and Star Trek has never looked so beautiful.
Like I said previously, I was dubious about a version of Star Trek that replaced spacecraft models with computer generated images or tampered with the originally recorded musical compositions. But what they’ve done here is so faithful, that there’s nothing that you can do but applaud their efforts. All the work has been carried out by people who love the series; and it shows. It’s just a shame it’s not being put to better use. Paramount has declined to air this new version in high-def, even though they now have the capability to do it. Combine that with how difficult they’re making it to see it on satellite and cable, and it’s hard to find a reason for bothering with it on television.
Better to beam this pristine version of one of TV’s most loved and classic shows onto DVD at warp speed. And if you bought into HDDVD and don’t have the Remastered HDDVD, pick that one up instead. You won’t be disappointed.
Polaroid FXM02611C LCD HDTV with DVD Combo