Khaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!!!

Oh lookey, blue and red stars make their debut as well.

And these Eugenics Wars happened in late 1990’s??
Where the heck was I?
Cool ship, though.

Botany Bay looks great in its more beaten up state!

Alternate history for teh win!

Today is X-Day!!!
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Boys and Girls,
Children of All Ages…
There is a problem.
Let’s chat.
THE REMASTERING
The extra-special uber-revolutionary digital remastering AND refurbishing (revolutionary for we Trekkers) of The Origial Series is, well, pretty terrific stuff to say the least.
I remember seeing just such an episode recently on cable, and not knowing about the changes, I was suddenly doing a double-take when I saw the re-mastered Enterprise in all her majestic glory heading straight on towards the screen, over the azure surface of an alien planet, as if skirting a massive blue wave.
Now, I am an massive Trekker, big time. Yet the original Enterprise was never a great-looking vessel to my eyes, not the way a galaxy-class is a great looker. This time, though, I saw how it as it was supposed to look, perhaps the way that bigger Trekkers than myself (if that is possible) have always seen it.
And she was gloriously beautiful.
I think it’s innovative, not to mention “re”-visionary (I supposed that would be the word to use), that they are now re-dressing the effects and shots and little do-dads in T.O.S. Bravo. It also had a sort of eventuality to it, if you know what I mean. As though it was always going to be done, and they only just got around to doing it.
But–and this is obvious perhaps only to some–I am certain that those who already own TOS, whether partially or in its entirety, are now the proud owners of that which is, sadly, obsolete. And herein lies my dilemma, and my grand reasons for writing this little essay.
OBSOLESCENCE
This is not to be too surprising, I shouldn’t think. After all, there is no downside to owning BOTH the Original Original series, and the New-and-Improved Original series. The older version can be stored for comparison, and there will always be comparisons.
((Tangentially: Better still, DVDs for these remastered episodes could have the option of a “split screen” or changeover while watching the refurbished epsiodes. To clairfy that: You can press the alternate track option on your remote and it will “switch” your view from the remastered version to the original version, without missing your place. Or, better yet, they can have a split screen version: a line down the middle of your screen for comparing old-to-restored. [This can be seen in some “Special Features” sections of digitally restored older films.] Or, even better still, a double screen option: the capability of watching both the original and the restored at the same time. Its ceratinly possible to do it; we’ve all seen variations of it before when they restore films, usually just as documentary examples. But it definitely ought to be as likely as swtiching to a commentary track, and back again, while you watch. Given the ravenous hunger for all the bells and whistles that DVD and production improvers wish to release their movies with—or, as in this case, re-release…all this may be, as far as I am concerned, the inevitable outcome of what-next-to-do-to-improve-the-sales-of-this-and-that. And why not? People buy it because they like it, and because the makers that make it love to go to work, so it isn’t just about the bottom line. There are enthusiasts at both ends, Trekkers all. And God be with you.))
But here it is, and I think this is the larger issue…All technology fails. It can, for instance, become useless. Or It can fall out of general use and become obsolete. Let me put like this: if you think this is the ultimate act they can do to TOS, think again.
TOS will be revisited for even better improvements in a few more years. Digital restoration will itself one day be absolutely left behind for, say, ultra-restoration deluxe. Call it what you will. All changes fall into obsolescence for greater changes.
WAITING FOR THE BIG IMPROVEMENT
The DVD revolution itself is entirely too short-lived to be taken seriosuly for too much longer. We who enjoy DVDs as a medium—we who really enjoy ANY medium except raw, transferable data—must inevitabley acknowledge this. The use of a medium is even now going the way of the hadrosaur: extinction. On the timeline of technological improvements, the DVD itself has been steadily waning.
Those among us who own vast collections of DVDs must come to terms with this. We must accept the inevitability of technical (and technological) obsolescence ,as surely as those sorry, saddened souls who bought and owned massive collections of VHS, knowing–KNOWING–it was the ultimate expression of technology.
It is almost completely pointless to provide, purchase, support, and make gifts out of any medium, over and over, for $10-$30 apiece, assuming we are savvy shoppers, which your typical Trekker often is, no matter what bells and whistles are invented to improve upon it. The only medium that exceeds this exception is that of books, which are timeless.
I tell you now to WAIT. Wait for the technology that allows episose-buying online to really ramp up. Wait. Be patient. Save your hard-earned dollars and buy milk with it.
ONLINE EPISODES ONLY
Lately, I have been trawling the vast waters of our world wide web, searching–sometimes in vain, sometimes not– for buyable and downloadable episodes of my favorite shows. To some this is a great idea, not to mention a huge convenience when you’ve missed an episode of your favorite show. But to me—and listen to this—it seemed only inevitable that this kind of episode-access would occur. And it has already been here a while.
It seems natural that downloadable episodes would occur. Yet its obviousness is matched only by its pitiful lack of features and lower quality playback. But you know what? They said that about Walkman’s; you remember, those clunky little gadgets that used cassettes? Imagine that! Cassettes that had moving parts! I’m 32 and even I don’t have any more cassettes, and I was the cassette KING. And then the makers of things moved on, not without undue pride, to the CDs (wow! It’s like a laser disc–its read with an actual laser! Gotta buy that.); then the iPods, and even lately we are moving beyond the iPod. Moving on to what? Do you know?
How long before all music–all of it— is available to access for $1.00 per month via a simple computer chip….implanted in your ear? Silly? Of course. But silly is inevitable, too. Look at the BlueTooth. For the Multi-Media Implant (We’ve all seen how such industry moves forward in the commercial sense at least. It will probably be called something neat, like an “MMi”..then they’ll improve upon that by making the MMi.2…then the MMi.3…then MMi.Ultimate. Every college kid will have an MMi.Ultimate. Frankly, the whole is already a little boring.) and on which one can make phone calls, acquire and listen to—anything, even the latest news. Live audio shows will see a surge as never before in modern history, unequalled even by radio broadcasts. And all you’d ever have to do to use this technological marvel is say the words “turn on chanel 4″ or “Dial Mom.”
And one day, the children of the implant chip generation will look on that antiquated technology of Mom and Dad’s day, and they will, as inevitable as rain, revise it yet again to fit their times: as who-knows- what? Ocular implants with displays that only you can see, perhaps? Perhaps a display like a menu of items from which you can scroll and choose options based on the movements and blinking of your eyes?Perhaps.
But of course one day…that, too, will be obsolete. Then what? I don’t know. Nothing much is beyond wetware implants. Injectible microscopic machines, maybe, tiny robots given to you in a shot. But if everybody gets the shot, how will it be a sustainable industry? It wouldn’t sustain itself commerically if it’s a one-time only thing, so they will make them failable after, say, 6 months, and you’ll need a new injection. All the information you’ll need–which you can see and hear—all for a mere, say, $2000/year. (And they’ll call it something clever, like BioTech Alpha or MicroBex.)
What then? What comes next? Perfectly engineered technoviruses, maybe. The purposeful infection of yourself with a safe “sickness” that gives you the ability to see episodes of your favorite show anywhere anytime. What then, when that, too, falls away into obsolescence, as it inevitably must, as the trend of history shows that it will? Can you sense how dol that can seem to the generation that comes after it?
It is possible, even on that far-flung and certainly impossible idea, to look on it and know that even as you think of it, you can see how old it will one day seem.
Now…think about a DVD.
Think real hard.

Adam, you write like a Vulcan at 6 years, 362 days.

wow……………………….that was the longest posting i have read here…………….i just lost 8 minutes of my life

#7, you’re a better man than I.

Wow, and I thought I was long-winded… gotta get some oxygen. Can’t think… hazy… gonna… uhhhhh. Bam!

Adam — since you seem to be living in a vacuum, do a search on “HD DVD” or “Blu Ray”.

the voiceover in that promo is funny. Is Khan REALLY “evil beyond imagination”?

I thought Ted Kaczynski was in jail.

Galaxy Class Beautiful looking???? The uberlong poster lost me with that comment

can posts be deleted?

Shades of “Galaxy Quest”, Batman!

I forget which politician said this, but he was SO right:
“Be sincere, be brief, and be seated.”

Chris, it’s FICTION.

Wow… was that even on-topic?
Anyway…Adam Ward… you really…REALLY gotta give up the coffee and the thesaurus, man.
I agree Enterprise 01 through E are beautiful each on their own merits.

Star Trek.com says, about the Botany Bay:

According to Mike Okuda, “You can’t see it in this image, but the top of the ‘conning tower’ now has a tiny circular docking port, very similar to those used on the real-life International Space Station. The docking port was added at the suggestion of a former NASA engineer who noted that a spacecraft built in 1996 would probably have included such equipment to dock at the station.”

Greg Cox, by the way, has a series of novels, “The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh,” which neatly ties in the Eugenics Wars with history as we know it.

Slightly off topic, but if you haven’t read the “Khan” series by Greg Cox that Ian mentions above… you have to. Cox ties all the ST universe together in a fun way, and creates a very believable story line about Khan and the Eugenics Wars.
And Josh, you wouldn’t like it…too many TNGDSPVOYENT things that you detest.

Thank you for this comment, Lao3D

12. Lao3D - November 17, 2006

I thought Ted Kaczynski was in jail.

I was pretty happy with Star Trek on a 9″ black and white screen awhile back…

and the Galaxy Class blows compared with the original NCC-1701…

and maybe someday the technology will exist to instantly edit your manifesto down to the essential points…

We shouldn’t be to harsh on the galaxy class, as we are near the holidays and it did look very much like a strange overly bright neon lighted christmas orniment. Very festive for the season. Plus they were brilliant enough to have children on a flag battleship. Seriously though all the next Gen era ships look completely ridiculous, especially Voyager. The E isn’t too bad though

“which neatly ties in the Eugenics Wars with history as we know it.”

I’d rather have an alternate universe with an all-out war rather than covert stuff.

I wonder if the CGI version will surpass the awesome origonal shot of the two ships as the Ent pulls away from the BB, after Khan ditches it. That is an incredible-looking sequence already.

I really enjoy the tv promos, but it bugs the crap out of me that the announcer always calls it “Star Track”.

I’m more annoyed that he refers to the ship as Enterprise and not the Enterprise.

Thanks Star Trek:Enterprise, not!

-csâ„¢

Thanks for putting that in my head

I don’t know what the overall effects are going to look like in this episode, but the pic of the Bontany Bay looks great!

I’m hopeful about this one.

Yeah, the Botany Bay looks good… any chance of Chekov being slight of handed into a background scene?
And Adam, come on, if I want to read a book, I’ll read a book! And though I never “loved” the Galaxy Class Enterprise, it certaintly didn’t suck.

Some of you are just so close/small-minded its sickening.

Jon

And then again some of us have superior intellects capable of entertaining a veritable plethora of notions at once multi-faceted yet consistent with plausibility.

Your point is?

Personally, I love the D. Probert’s original design (not the “we need to see more out of scale armor plating” Greg Jein version) is a great sculptural design with terrific curves. I like that it was such a departure from the flying saucer and three tubes design yet still instantly said “Enterprise”. I sure hope that by the time humans can travel the galaxy we’ve achieved such “form over function”.

Shatner’s acting in “Space Seed” was one of his finest performances throughout Star Trek. He and Montalban made great adversaries. Of course, TWOK makes this episode more interesting after the fact, but still, I absolutely love this episode. TWOK was on TV Land last night, of all places! Space Seed and TWOK broadcast on the same weekend? Oh yeah!

Shatner always rose to the challenge of a great script. It was really only some of the clinkers that gave rise to his hammier style.

If that shot of the BB is any indication, I’m going to love this week’s remastering. Not only does the ship look great (as much as we can see of it at least) but that rich, dense starfield looks so much more to my liking than some of their earlier efforts. It may be less accurate but it looks so much more like TOS to me!

Hello #5 Adam A. Ward

I think most of us REALISE that there can, and perhaps will be more improvemants in a few years time…I’d PERSONALLY like to see most of them done over the NEXT couple of years, as opposed to MANY years down the line…

I’d like to see them on the first batch of High Defintion DVDs, not the LAST set before Holovision or whatever…while my eyes still focus…

Can’t wait for this one. The “Botany Bay” was one of my favorite TOS ships, and “Space Seed” was one of my favorite first season episodes. I just hope the edits for syndication aren’t TOO brutal.

I’m looking forward to seeing what they do with the tractor beam. Of course, originally, there was nothing visible, but I’m sure CBS Digital will add something.

I get frustrated with there always being new versions of old things coming out all the time, begging for my dollar. Star Trek Remastered would be an exception to that. I like how it is being redone with respect for the originals, but with high quality, cleaned up images.

I just got the first half of the second season of ‘Voyage To The Bottom of The Sea” and one of the extras has a surface take of the Seaview moving toward the camera (in high quality). It lasts for over a minute, an extended version of the show’s ‘beauty pass’ of the Seaview.

I think it would be great to see such an extra on a new HD release of Star Trek. ….The Enterprise just flying past the camera in an extended version or versions of shots we see in the episodes.

And with the Botany Bay shots, too. Ok, now I’m on topic.

#37 I hope they DON’T add a tractor beam. I like that it’s this invisible beam (like a transporter beam) that has no emitter. I don’t wanna know where it comes from, I don’t wanna see it defined, I don’t want a beam just to add a beam. I got so tired of TNG tractor beams BLECCHHH. Invisible is the way to go! Yes I realize that there was a very bright light cast on Captain Christopher’s plane, but that’s cause he was looking right into an emitter! Pfff, EVERYONE knows you never look directly at an emitter!

#5, have you thought about the wonders that await you on Tantalus V? Ask me how!

Bring on Khan baby!!!

By the time the last of the HD DVD’s come out for Trek, there will be at least fifteen new versions of Star War complete with ASCII Blu-Ray Versions, and the unseen first cut of the original Star Wars.

I’ll admit, I’ve never bought any of the DVD’s I just watch and enjoy them when they are on, and I’m enjoying the Re-mastered ones as well, but I won’t even consider buying these until I see “Mudd’s Women”, this episode will show without a doubt which way the tide is going to go on these. If McCoy is still smiling in his lab, when he’s suppose to be in the transporter room, then I’ll wait for the RE-RE-mastered versions.

I think simple fixes to the flubs they have made because of time or continuity issues can and should be fixed. I have no idea how they would do that with “Charlie X” and the tale of the tunic, but I would like to see them try.

So far I think they have done a reasonable job, and the best part is they can admit when they make a mistake, such as last week’s warp wipe fiasco, although it could become like “Law & Order’s” chung-chung, just use a warp wipe between scenes.

I always like the “Space Seed” and I’m looking forward to watching it, I’m hoping the blurred throw down in the engine room was just for the tease and not actually going to be used.

I can’t wait!

I want them to add CGI seatbelts onto Khan’s people in the cryo chambers on the Botany Bay. You know, like Chekov discovered in THE WRATH OF KHAN. Then, I want them to do a CGI version of Khan swiping a seat belt buckle and slipping it into his pocket as a souvenir.

Oh yeah. No TNG-style tractor beams!

No visible tractor beams, please—–

and no Chekov insert—–

and NO SOUP FOR YOU! COME BACK, ONE YEAR!

Well, I don’t know why there is this animosity toward visible tractor beams.

I mean, even Daren Dochterman’s “Doomsday Machine” FX had a visible beam.

Seen episode — No visible Tractor Beam.

Visible tractor beams always seemed cheesy to me. Even Daren’s. I’m glad to hear that “Space Seed” doesn’t have one.

#45, Zzzzzzzz enough with the references to the 3 minutes of work this guy did lol. He did a test the way he wanted to see the opening of doomsday machine. Now y’all talk about him like the only guy who should do this. I went to his blog or whatever and it’s worse than here lol. It’s obvious he thinks he should be doing this, his site is just a bitch-fest. No one has to agree with everything Okuda and CBS are doing, but at least reviews like the Sternbach one are balanced and tempered. Even when Daren compliments them, it’s delivered by backhand lol. (Anthony, nice job getting Sternbach! Please more professionals!)

Everyone talks about reverence and stuff, but oh, add a tractor beam, that’s cool. LOL it just goes to show that it’s not about reverence, it’s all about what people wanna see personally. And personally, NO TRACTOR BEAMS OKUDA AND CBS, PRETTY PLEASE!!

Oh hey look, I’m standing on a soapbox. How’d that get there lol?

Holy crap, can you imagine when they do Doomsday Machine?! LOL this board is gonna “flare up like an exploding sun within minutes!”

if they do a tracter beam it shoud be green and yellow to be like john deer

re post 48…

I’ve been reading Daren’s blogs too… To be honest, I think the stuff he’s done out of nothing more than a desire to do it, is much better than what I’ve seen from CBS digital…

Of course we now have more variety of effects shots in TOS, but we really don’t have BETTER effects. They’re just not that good, and I think a lot of people are really disappointed.

I’d point you all to Battlestar Galactica for quality digital effects (albeit, stylistically very different) shots on TV as an example. There is no point in tackling this project if it’s not going to be top of the line work. At this point, after seeing a fair sampling of the work done by CBS Digital, I think it would have been better to just clean it up, do the high def transfers and leave the rest alone.

(In case anyone isn’t in the know… Daren’s team did the TMP special edition effects.)

Doug

#31 Josh, can you make sense without the thesaurus-speak? RAMA said nothing more than what I am thinking about some of the posts as well.

re:#50…. Doug, I’ve no doubt that the CBS effects people could create FX that are on-par with your Galactica for TOS, but they likely wouldn’t look right within the context of the rest of the show. True?

#48…Spockariffic, maybe I missed it but I don’t recall Daren comments being negative in the posts.
???

Okay, just saw the show. Holy crap! The best remastered effects so far BY far! The Botany Bay looks amazing and the team did a great job giving us some new angles on familiar shots. The shot of the Enterprise pulling away from the discarded BB — wow! Really good work this week.

Let’s all vote on the tractor beam color and visibility…

Someone speculated on other threads that the CBS remastering team should read the posts on this site for tips on what fans want.
How best could I type my laughter on that one? (no offense, Anthony)

You all disagree on nearly everything and then regularly trash each other for having an opinion. It doesn’t matter on what.

If I was CBS Effects….. I’d cringe, look away and go do the best I can….just as I have been doing all along.

Dip…. Tractor beam…or no Tractor Beam?

I agree with Dip. There was something about this one that made me really take notice. To quote Khan “Excellent!”

Wish I had taped this week’s episode rather than just watch it. The FX were superb, I’m ready to watch them again! Outstanding work CBS, bravo!

#23, I am with you 100%. Alternate history all the way.

I saw the show this afternoon. It looked terrific, but all of the “new” stuff, as far as I could tell, was “space scenes”. The Botany Bay looked great and the new scenes were very dynamic. Applause, applause.

I definately vote for NO visible tractor beam. I have never seen a tractor beam effect that I liked. This includes Daren’s (although all I love all of his other effects).

Re: #34 I totally agree about the starfield. It is much more reflective of the TOS effects. Also, keep those colored stars coming! I love it.

I like the idea of the tractor beam having a slight visible component, like what we saw in Cpt. Christopher’s cockpit in “Tomorrow is Yesterday”. Make it look a little bit like a spotlight — a bit of illumination on the target object, but without seeing the beam itself. But I’d also be happy with no visible beam at all.

Glad to hear Space Seed’s effects look good. Less than 2 hours to go here!

we’re dying here in central illinois. although seed shows up as the program description, they replayed mirror mirror instead!!

AND: central illinois reshowing of mirror mirror.
the BIG GLITCH (http://trekmovie.com/2006/11/14/mirror-mirror-goof/) WAS FIXED!!!
that’s some fast work, well done. although i’d rather be watching seed right now.

Really, really good SFX. Except when Khan and Kirk were fighting, for some reason every time there was a punch thrown the screen would go “Kapow” or “Boom!”

The effects on Space Seed were TOP RATE and first class. They were actually too good for TV. Here is one possible scenario for us all.
I’d gladly pay $$ IF these episodes were instead released on the Big Screen like a Saturday afternoon or evening showing. 2 or 3 sawbucks
for a viewing - Popcorn and a small drink? Sounds like a deal to me!

Whoo hoo! Sounds like great response so far! I vote also invisible tractor beam… you don’t see gravity or magnetism, well for the most part, right? Perhaps, there could be some subtle effect on the tractored, but nothing too dramatic.

Well, shit! They showed Mirror, Mirror again tonight in Houston! However, the TV listings for the station say that Monday morning they are showing Mirror Mirror at 1am. Maybe, by some stroke of luck, they’ll show Space Seed instead since they showed Mirror Mirror on Saturday?

Good grief…and this station’s track record had been pristine until now.

TTM

visual effects reel for anyone interested

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbuVVwa6IwU

For these comments go back and read www.trekenhanced.com and go to the Mirror, MIrror section.

ref. #48…”Spockariffic, maybe I missed it but I don’t recall Daren comments being negative in the posts.
???”

It’s interesting how things work backwards: now when Space Seed gets promoted, they do it based on our knowledge of STII:TWOK!

I always thought they missed a great opportunity with the Director’s Editiion of STII:TWOK on DVD by not including a remastered version of Space Seed! I’d have gladly sacrificed the documentary about a couple of Trek writers for that!

Haven’t seen any remastered stories yet, being in the UK, but am intrigued nevertheless. Personally I’d have looked at the TOS movies for reference and blended the style of shots from the likes of STII, STIII and STVI with the intentions of the TV series FX guys.

I think my biggest problem with the FX is that they aren’t models. I know these FX guys keep telling us that CGI is better, but it rarely is: it looks like a cartoon to me. The Star Wars prequels in particular look to me like cartoons. And it’s not just an age thing. I asked some kids whether they thought CGI looked real in films and they said it definitely doesn’t!

Galactica has made CGI work, using the ’shaky camera’ style, but Trek is a model FX show, and I just don’t think they can get the CGI to that standard using the ‘camera’ set-ups Trek convention dictates.

In an ideal world, we’d have all the space shots of the Enterprise shot with a model, and the stars and planets matted in using modern CGI. CGI is a tool in FX, but it’s being made into a fix-all, when the technology still just isn’t there!

To my mind: models+CGI=perfection!

Joe — Always Interested. Thanks Much for the Work and the Visual Effects Link.

Last nite for the first time I finally REALLY bought it. NIce work. The ship looked 3-dimensional, massive and majestic! Great stuff! Cheers!

It has finally happened - the new big E was really sold on-screen as a big ship in maneuvers. The new model continues to look good and this time they had enough on-screen time to let the ship maneuver nice and slow in a close-up. That is what sells you on size and mass.

Having to stay within the confines of the original episode on-screen timings has limited the beauty shots and, as noted elsewhere, the problems of not having camera negatives to work from have hurt the music cues and so on.

So we’re lucky this episode had the time for the long pretty shots and that CBS Digital rose to the occasion. The beautifully weathered and tumbling Botany Bay looks SO much better than the original model. Although you do wonder why the invisible tractor beam decided to flick her off into a tumble upon release. I know, ’cause it looked so darn good!

And I too am glad they avoided the cheesy tractor beams we’ve seen in other series. But I do think Cranston in #59 has a great idea in the spotlight effect, which would be indicative but subtle. If you really want to consider something horrifying, what if they went back and put in visible transporter beams? Ouch!

As for the photography clean-up, what really struck me was the lighting in the oft-used set that served as briefing room, dining room, etc. The remastered show really brought out the changes in wall lighting colors the makers used to try and differentiate the set on a very tight budget.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

The re-broadcast Mirror, Mirror on my local station rather than showing Space Seed!

Agreed I think they truly got it right this time. The E looked big and detailed(especially the underbelly shot that filled the screen which reminded me of the second greatest ever effect shot in star trek -the one at the end of the motion picture underbelly shot fills the screen pull away into warp). I like the color of the ship sort of a silver weathered gull gray- I actually prefer it to the light blue green tint everyone else seems to espouse. The botony bay looked awesome and nicely battered. The transfer was very crisp and the colors very sharp. Holy sh*t we all knew Ricardo was buff but in the new transfer he was shredded too. Greatest movie villian of all time. Now the minor nitpicking. The fight at the end were you clearly and laughably see two stuntment. (don’t understand why Shatner used a double he did most of his own stunts and this fight was far less dangerous than some of the other stufff he did) I was hoping against hope that they would paint Shat and Ricardo’s faces in Lucas would do it. Love to see the high res pipe beating though. Would Picard have tried to play a melodic song on the pipe to lull Khan to sleep? Naccles -look good but I still feel they spin too fast and i find it distracting. What will Daren have to say??? Can’t wait I am still holding out hope they let him do Doomsday Machine and Ultimate Computer.

#73 Let me get this straight: “Agreed I think they truly got it right this time. The E looked big and detailed(especially the underbelly shot that filled the screen which reminded me of the second greatest ever effect shot in star trek -the one at the end of the motion picture underbelly shot fills the screen pull away into warp). I like the color of the ship sort of a silver weathered gull gray- I actually prefer it to the light blue green tint everyone else seems to espouse. The botony bay looked awesome and nicely battered. The transfer was very crisp and the colors very sharp.”

Followed by: “What will Daren have to say??? Can’t wait I am still holding out hope they let him do Doomsday Machine and Ultimate Computer.”

You saw it, you loved it, but yooouuuuuu need to hear it from someone else too LOL? And now someone else should do the other work even though they espouse the blue ships you don’t like?

LOL I give up.

CBS - THAT WAS WICKED COOL!! SPACE SEED REALLY ROCKS NOW!! “Yes, it appears YOU will do well in our century!”

#73 ” Would Picard have tried to play a melodic song on the pipe to lull Khan to sleep?”

So accurate and hilarious it hurts.

Sure wish there were a way to get a clearer “broadcast shot” of these pictures. I hope it is ok that I am putting these up, if not, Anthony, please remove. I’m new to this internet stuff/posting/commenting/etc.

Daren is a talented artist and he clearly loves Star Trek. It seems to me, however, that his blogs and reviews are more than a little colored by his obvious disappointment that he wasn’t hired to work on the Remastered Star Trek. For whatever it’s worth, I like the new CBS Enterprise a little better than Daren’s, even if his nacelle caps look a little more accurate to me.

(The new Botany Bay is seriously hot, by the way!)

Spockarific I love to hear what everyone has to say , that’s the point of the forum. I don’t need anyone to validate what I saw nor do many of our fellow posters but I do as most of us in this forum, place great stock in what Darin has to say. If not for his criticsms I doubt CBS would have been pressured to make the dramatic improvements we have seen for the last few weeks. Darin is as passionate about TOS and the remastering process and we must not forget it was his original Doomsday remastering that pushed this whole thing out of the gate. So yes I feel CBS is getting the model shots mostly right but I would still love to see what Darin could do with it.

I doubt seriously that a disgruntled job applicant would be able to “pressure” CBS to make any changes at all. I’m sure CBS is working very hard to make things as good as possible and to upgrade them whenever they can. It only stands to reason, since they obviously love Star Trek and are obviously skilled professionals.

#78 I never meaned to impune his talent. He did the movie stuff (although i don’t know what that means. Did he produce it or do the actual work) which was great, but the test he did is dated 2003. I doubt his name was on the tip of everyone at CBS’ tounges for the past 3 years.

If you look at my earlier posts you’ll clearly see that I’m the FIRST to be in favor of opinions and free thought and offering suggestions, but have you read his reviews? More often than not there’s no constructive criticism, but just how awful their work is and for someone who has done this and had the time to do it the way he wanted, it seems kind of petty to just trash these people’s work the way he and others do. I agree with #77, that his reviews all have that “I could do it better hands down and these people suck at their job” taste. That’s just the way it reads to me.

I work in the printing business and I can tell you that the clock is a harsh mistress and they have to rip stuff out of our hands at the last second. Being IN that business he’s in, I’d just expect reviews to be a bit more balanced and constructive. It’s not about his talent, which he obviously has, but wouldn’t it be more constructive to offer suggestions rather than “This is just awful, they should hire me.” kind of comments? He didn’t get the job, move on. They MUST be reading these boards and they obviously know how much thsi means to the fans. I’ve seen Okuda speak and read a lot of his stuff and no one can tell me he isn’t as passionate about Trek as the rest of us. How about supporting their efforts with CONSTRUCTIVE criticism?

If CBS would have hired DD as part of their staff, how would he have done anything different given the time crunch everyone keeps talking about? How long did he work on those 15 or so shots in his test? I’m sure with no deadline looming he tweaked and tweaked and tweaked. Does anyone honestly think that these poor Joes are happily turning stuff in. They’re artists. They’d probably love MONTHS to work on each show. I just think as fans, there’s a way to criticize that doesn’t have to include badmouthing their efforts so harshly. Especially not knowing what they’re up against and none of us do [that is until Tony posts his CBS article :0)] because we’re not in the trenches with them.

They’re dealing with something we love and while it’s easy to say “Well that’s why I’m being so harsh in my reviews.” how does that kind of bashing help anything?

Damn it! There’s that soap box again! SHOO!

Well said, Spockarrific. I agree that the time constraints must be very frustrating…and to have thousands of people watching for every little thing creates additional pressure. All of those things considered, I think they are doing an excellent job. It will be interesting to see what Daren D says about this week’s entry. I have watched his Doomsday Machine sequences, and they are excellent, but as was brought up, there was probably considerably more time to tweak things with that. Either way, Star Trek Remastered is a hit with me.

You all tire me out….
Does it matter if Daren liked it or not? #81
Does it matter if he said things on HIS site? #80
If I was doing work to build a portfolio to get work work, I’D tweak it until I was satisfied…wouldn’t you?
If he was overly abusive on THIS site, Anthony would ban him.
I highly doubt that this site or Daren’s put pressure on CBS…they have better things to do… be real. They knew they had an inferior product out there and have been striving to improve and/or fix it.

The show looked good… the CBS people seem to be working hard and this episode showed that.

#82:

Does it matter if Daren liked it or not? MY POINT EXACTLY!

Does it matter if he said things on HIS site? PFFF, IT’S HIS SITE, HE CAN SAY WHATEVER HE WANTS. BUT IF YUR GONNA REVIEW (AS HE SAYS) THEN REVIEW. HE BASHES THEM AND IT’S NOT ONLY UNPROFESSIONAL SEEING AS HE’S IN THEIR BUSINESS, BUT UNFAIR. ONLY POINT I WAS MAKING, YOUR HONOR.

If I was doing work to build a portfolio to get work work, I’D tweak it until I was satisfied…wouldn’t you? WE’RE NOT MONKEYS HERE YA KNOW. OF COURSE WE WOULD, BUT THEN TO TURN AROUND AND BASH SOMEONE ELSE’S WORK WHEN THEY DON’T HAVE THE TIME AND IT’S OUT OF THEIR HANDS IS PETTY. BELIEVE IT.

If he was overly abusive on THIS site, Anthony would ban him. AGREED

I highly doubt that this site or Daren’s put pressure on CBS…they have better things to do… be real. AGREED

They knew they had an inferior product out there and have been striving to improve and/or fix it. SO HEY, LETS KEEP BASHING THEIR EFFFORTS. IT’S ONLY STAR TREK AND BASHING THE ARTISTS WILL ONLY HELP. OH SORRY, THOUGHT I WAS ON ANOTHER SITE.

We all clear here?

Spocky… please don’t act like YOURS was the only post I commented on. I’ve not seen Darren trash anything… but I cannot recall EVERY post.
If you have a problem with his comments on his site, email him…

Hmm, I sorta thought, I already posted this, but, anyway, Space Seed, dang good job there, CBS Digital. I watched this sucker twice, really dug the Enterprise shots!

Don’t “act like it?” You call me out in your post by number for cripes sake lol! You said it, now own it. Jeez.

Posts by #6-9 made me laugh! Gosh Very funny! :o)

Spocky.. read MINE.
“Spocky… please don’t act like YOURS was the only post I commented on.”

I did comment on yours and other posts… Like 81.
Additionally, I have seen Darren comment in another thread (on this site)that was slightly negative since our “conversation”. I don’t like it, but it’s his opinion.
… happy?

Thanks to those of your who responded intelligently to my last thing.

I guess I’m sorry about the length of it, but seriously folks: if you dislike reading lengthy things so much, then what you should have done was skip ahead of it. Rather than complain about the quantity I wrote (amdittedly a lot), how about actually having something meaningful to say regarding my topic of technological obsolescence vis-a-vis Trek.
Thanks instead for saying things which amount to, “I can’t believe I read it all. That was so long! Ugh!” For those who actually took the time to comment meaningfully on the content, like Cervantes (November 18, 2006) or Mazzer - (November 17, 2006) I thank you. I may not agree with your responses, but at least you were on topic, and that’s the point.
Adam

Mazzer—
yes, well, that’s sort of what I was talking about. HD DVD, as well as the Blu Ray medium, which I am alreay an expert on, and which you suggest I “look up”, are very nearly obsolete. What’s the matter? Don’t believe it?
It doesn’t take that long. Now, here’s a question for you, Mazzer. Do you know what kind of higher-capacity medium is going to replace the Blu Ray? Because I do.
:O P
Listen to what I am actually saying: MEDIUMs are on their way OUT. A medium is a thing you can hold in your hand that holds information. Books, records, tapes, disks, flash drives, and the Blu Ray are all examples of mediums (whose plural is actually ‘media’, but I don’t want to confuse you into thinking I’m referring to the press). Here’s the point, and say it with me now, over and over again: “ALL MEDIUMS GET REPLACED.” We (people) wil therefore eventually realize the only remaining step is to replace the concept altogether. It’s called a paradigm shift and it happens about once every 3 generations. Can you describe how? I can.
Bye.

I certainly hope mediums are not truly on their way out in my lifetime. I like having the disc or whatever to physically hold in my hand. I don’t want to have downloading or whatever electronic transfer method to be my only option. Apparently I am wrong about this based on your last post, Adam, but it is not what I want.

I think in the future, many people will continue to purchase music CDs or movie DVDs, (or whatever format is available at the time) rather than just purchasing a file download. Today people are doing both, and I don’t see that changing any time soon.

Cosumers like to “physically own” something they payed for, and I think predictions of the demise of digital discs and other physical mediums is wrong, if not completely exaggerated.

I remember years ago when the future hype was all about the truly “paperless” office. Do people remember that? All paper transcations and forms would soon be obsolete, and everything in the common office and in the business world would become completely paperless.

What really happened wasn’t surprising. Almost everything did become digitized and computer based, but people didn’t completely trust the system to store all their important documents. People still wanted and demanded “a hard paper copy”.

Paper documents and files didn’t disappear as they predicted, but they were greatly reduced. This resulted in a dramatic increase in office efficiency.

When it comes to entertainment mediums, I think it’s obvious that formats will always be improving, and newer and better formats will continue to be introduced. We are currently in the midst of the newest format war for the next generation DVD standard. Whatever format arrives or in invented in the future, I think there will always be individuals, like myself, that will want to have “their own copy” of whatever digitial medium they’re purchasing. Maybe a portion of the population would be happy to have all their music and movies stored in some master hard drive in their home or with access thru the net, but I’m not convinced they will be the majority or consumers.

Downloaded files such as MP3s and movies on demand, will continue to make inroads in the future. But, I believe there will always be demand for hard goods: E-books vs paperbacks, downloaded movies vs HD DVDs. downloaded music vs Super Audio CD’s etc.

For myself I say, long live the DVD and CD! I’m sure in the future I will purchase the better quality discs, but any new player I purchase will have to be backward compatible to play my older discs.

Unlike older vinyl LP’s, cassettes, VHS tapes, my current collection of CDs and DVDs is not deteriorating with each play, so I hope to have them the rest of my life.

In the future, the industry will continue to make money on consumers like myself, by offering remastered older music and movies. Those I will buy.

I think CDs and DVDs will be around a lot longer than people think. The big revolution was from analog to digital formats. Going from one digital format to a better digital format will not cause the same massive change in buying, viewing and listening habits.

Well I could be dead wrong, but that’s my two cents!

Time to stuff myself with Turkey. Happy Thanksgiving!

Mike