Don’t forget boys and girls…today is the day (for many of you) to see the first episode of the remastered Star Trek The Original Series: ‘Balance of Terror’. Our stations & showtimes list has been updated again. Showtimes vary from this morning to Monday morning, and if you dont find your showtime…check local listings and then let us know! Some stations will also air ‘Miri’ at a special time this weekend, but if your local does not it will repeate it repeats later in the year. You can check the full list of episdoes air dates here. TrekMovie.com will have reviews of both ‘Balance of Terror’ and ‘Miri’ hopefully by Monday. StarTrek.com has put up a brief promo vid for Balance of Terror
(click to launch player)
What did you think of Trek Remastered?
if you have seen Balance or Miri, feel free to share your thoughts with fellow TrekMovie readers (just make a comment to this article)
without closed caption? i think not fair..
i click to launch player but didnt show? i think something wrong video…
the file is an asx stream…try to save it to desktop and open with windows media player, or click the link to StarTrek.com and try it from there
RE: CC
are you saying it isnt showing on your local station with CC?
OK….as I mentioned earlier for those that live in the Denver area and for those that have Dish-Network and their so called Super Stations (West Coast package) I browsed head and seen that Balance Of Terror actually comes on at 2:00 A.M. – Sunday and not at 12:00 Noon.
If I’m wrong could someone please correct me?
according to zap to it, for Denver Dish Network:
(KWGN) Channel 2 Channel 235 Channel 8204
Sun 9/17 12:00 AM
(WSB) Channel 8300
Sun 9/17 12:35 AM
(KNBC) Channel 242 Channel 8002
Mon 9/18 1:05 AM
(WNBC) Channel 241 Channel 8102
Mon 9/18 1:35 AM
of course our listing here only covers the local showtime, which is according to zap2it, midnight tonight (aka 12:00am Sunday)
Saw Balance of Terror this morning (6 AM– is that dedication or what?) and was not impressed. The new special effects copied the old ones exactly–no attempt to add “pizzazz” to them at all– and the spaceships looked cartoony and half-done. Doesn’t seem to me that it was worth the effort, there was nothing here to draw the kids to watch these, in my opinion.
Just watched Balance. Delivered just what was promised, I thought, which was updated effects that honored the original.
A few things that were particularly nice: light reflection of phasers off Enterprise hull, dynamic comet trail, better starfield everywhere, ship motion no longer jerky as it moves away, such as in opening credits. The Romulan weapon effect was much improved over the ‘cartoony’ version of the original. Romulan cloak/de-cloak effect is no longer ‘watery’ but a nice dissolve. Romulan ship with hull plating section details visible.
As I would expect with this sort of restoration, colors were vibrant and contrast high. However, I watched this off of Tivo on a 25″ CRT, which means I did not enjoy nearly as clean a signal as had I watched it direct off the air due to compression (even at best quality mode). I expect anyone watching in HD wouId be pleased, especially as I’d guess the old exterior effects simply restored would be anachronistic in HD compared to the restored interior shots.
If there were any CG characters in this episode, they were completely unnoticed by me, which means they were perfect as far as I am concerned. I am guessing, however, there were no CG characters this episode. Anyone know for certain? Audio was great. Was very surprised at how true the theme song was to the original.
Overall, I am pleased with the deft touch shown so far with the replaced shots. It would have been easy for someone to hit us over the head with completely new, ultra-detailed exeterior shots, making this something other than TOS (e.g., a 1960s, low-budget sci-fi tv show). I would guess that casual viewer not familiar with TOS would watch this restored episode and not even pause to consider if the effects they see were possible in 1966. At the same time, any fans of TOS would probably notice all of what I’ve mentioned and then some.
Glad to hear a positive in depth review. Also glad he didn’t spoil the ending! :D
yes you right, it isnt showing on my local station with CC in Arizona channel 6
KASW at 9pm tonight. shoot!!!!!!!!!
Ok, if anyone wants a blow by blow… check out this link.
http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=6601501&an=0&page=0&gonew=1#UNREAD
i wonder anyone can check your local station come with CC? i just want know thanks,,
Balance of Terror shows for me in about an hour and a half, I’ll try and let you know about Closed Captioning and hopefully I can work with Anthony to put up some screenshots for all later on today or tomorow.
err 2.5 hours, I apparently can’t do math… 5pm pacfic time
Seems like Balance of Terror is more like Terrorist. Does this show how to deal with Terrorists? Seems like what our president had to deal with after the bombings on 9/11. Ironic isn’t it? We will have terrorist in the future.
Sorry… didn’t mean to make this political.
I would appreciate it if this site can avoid any political left/right type discussions. Star Trek however has always been topical, although if I remember correctly, the Romulans were really proxies for Communist China, and of course the Klingons were the Soviet Union.
…and then of course there are the space hippies
Yes Romulans and Klingons are widely acknowledged as Cold War superpower metephors rather then random terrorist groups.
Balance of Terror, more then anything else, is actually more like a WWII submarine movie. For most of the episode neither side see’s one another face to face, heck the romulan ship itself is bearly seen (thanks to an early cloaking device), only random sensor ghosts of the ship clue the Enterprise in that a ship exists. This is very much like a submarine hunting another sub via sonar.
First off, I would like to thank CBS/Paramount for giving us a wonderful surprise 40th Anniversary present. That being said i would like to bring up one very important point. This is for us, the Star Trek faithful but I do not think this is something that is going to bring in any NEW fans to the series. What they did was give us a prettier version of Ashlee Simpson and not a major upgrade like Jessica. The one word that can be used to describe the update is: Subtle. Now I know the purists would say that this is a good thing but I beg to differ. If we are to appeal to new fans, especially the younger ones, we need a “WOW” factor not a “Oh, That’s Pretty Cool” factor. This is a new version of TOS so let me see something NEW that I have’nt seen before, not just a prettier face on the same old thing. Sorry I did not mean to rant but after seeing what could have been done by EdenFX and other companies I have to wonder if the choice to go in house with the special effects had more to do with money than preserving the original “Look.” And when you add that about 9 minutes were cut for commercials, the sanctity of the original has already been compromised so why not add something in the form of new outside shots to make up for what was taken out the story. That’s my two bits and I conclude by saying that in the end it is still pretty cool to see my beloved Trek in a new form.
FYI: according to Zap2it my local syndicator has Closed Captions. I’ll let you know more in a bit.
And yes indeed I have CC, heck during the first commercial break there was a bump that even mentioned a local sponsor for CCs.
ah i got it, yes my local station tv come with CC. i was look on http://www.zap2it.com thank you (SpHeRe31459) whew i relief!!
Wow…what a disappointment. Several levels of disappointment on this whole effort.
1) Compared to the series ‘Enterprise’ in particular and Battlestar Galactica in general the CGI effects were very cartoony. It looked like a video game rendering of the ships…from a few years ago. There weren’t even close in trying make them look ‘real’ or even detailed, they just looked cartoony. In some instances they looked MORE fake than the 1966 model shots. The Romulan phaser shot in particular looked much worse than the 1966 effect and the ships in general looked cartoony. Too bad Paramount, after the considerably amount of money they have made with the original series, choose to go with the lowest bidder for this effort.
2) While I like the IDEA of doing a frame for frame remake of the effects shots, in reality it really seemed a lost opportunity to greatly enhance the visual scope of the series. I agree – no barrel rolls – but to slavishly go with a shot for shot recreation, why bother? Sadly another indication of the lack of vision for such a large undertaking. It’s as if they did not trust their own sense of judgement as to what to upgrade and what not to.
3) The editing for syndication was pretty bad. Granted this is not the CGI teams fault. I have not watched the show in syndication for many years having owned them on VHS and DVD. Even with about 8 minutes being taken out for more ads, the cuts for the content chosen to edit was pretty bad.
Now all that being said, there are a few good things to say about this TOS-HD presentation. The comet did look much better than the original, the Phaser bolts did look much better and there were one of two new ship shots that were not in the original and that was a nice touch.
I give it a D+, not a total failure but really a disappointment when compared to the level of CGI available in 2006 and Paramount’s cheapness in farming this job out.
“Sorry I did not mean to rant but after seeing what could have been done by EdenFX and other companies I have to wonder if the choice to go in house with the special effects had more to do with money than preserving the original “Look.” And when you add that about 9 minutes were cut for commercials, the sanctity of the original has already been compromised so why not add something in the form of new outside shots to make up for what was taken out the story. ”
I totally agree!
Screenshots coming shortly!
I don’t have as much to say as everyone else, because most of it has been said. The SFX were slightly disappointing after the jaw-droppers we’ve had over the last couple of weeks, and I’ve got to listen to nuTheme a few more times before I can judge. But the Remastered SFX looked darned good, and the image was, as promised, clearer than I’ve ever seen it (though I’ve never seen TOS on DVD). I think this new stuff, placed in a relatively nice timeslot as it is (at least around here), could perhaps bring in a few new fans.
Much more disappointing were the cuts. It’s not that there were cuts; I understand the need, especially with a 40-year-old show. It’s that the cuts were *bad*. Whoever was paring the show down for commercials clearly had no grasp of the soul of “Balance of Terror” — how long did the “three million, million” scene last? About ten seconds? At no point were character-based scenes allowed to last long enough for the viewer to develop an emotional attachment of any sort, and, with all subplots being given short shrift instead of a single one getting knocked out, the episode ended feeling less like the masterpiece it is and more like a rather jumbled mess. I hope they fire whoever clipped this, becuase he/she really damaged this night and hurt the awesomeness of the CGI Enterprise–which was, indeed, quite awesome.
Just saw “Terror” and have to agree with Dave R’s assessment, with just one minor acception… I thought the Romulan plasma weapon effect was an ever so slight improvement over the original.
I’m also an easier grader… I gave it a very lush and colorful C-
Just finished watching “Balance of Terror”, and I am very underwhelmed. I love TOS… it’s always been my favourite. However, I believe that they could have gone much further with the visual upgrades while still maintaining the spirit of th original. I was much more excited by the work done by Daren Dochterman (TrekEnchanced).
Of course, I also think that the Star Wars Special Editions are improvements in all areas except where core content was changed (i.e. Han shoots first, Hayden replacing the original unmasked Vader). As far as visual effects, I’ve never understood the “give me my matte lines!” argument.
Overall, I think this was a waste of time… as someone else stated… “superfluous”.
To the argument that I shouldn’t have expected more, given the available press on the project, I refer to the following:
“Galaxy shots – All the graphics of the galaxy, so frequently seen through the viewscreen on the Enterprise’s bridge, will be redone.”
Based on this, I expected more realistic starfields rather than a digital recreation of the same starfields that were used originally.
“By giving the series a digital upgrade using the best technology available today, it will continue to be a leader in cutting-edge television programming as we introduce the series to a new generation of viewers.”
While not a galxy shot, I fully expected an update of the Romulan neutral zone map as it was viewed through the main viewscreen. I think that both of these updates could have been made without affecting the spirit of the show. I may be at fault for extrapolating on what they said here, but I don’t think that the dated chart that they used would blow the socks off any kid from the ‘new generation’.
Yeah funny that they kept the name for Remus as Romii. Yet they’ve said they will update the viewscreen Gary Mitchel reads in Where No Man Has Gone Before from ’60s typeset text to a more computer-like text display.
Just saw it. I think the new look will please the new generation of viewers. No more sneering the 60’s dated special effects. Which helps by not being distracted to the story.
The editing was awful. Other wise I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I didn’t think it was terrible, I enjoyed seeing it slightly updated. Although a few shots of the Enterprise looking down on it, it did sort of look like a vaccum form model. If this is sucessful, I’m sure they will give the SFX a MAJOR overhaul and adding footage, not just updating it. If that happens we can all start wearing our “Kirk Shot First!” t-shirts. Because I’ll never accept that the Gorn Shot First.
my option about MIRI? hmm guess is B+ because visual effects not too bad but wait see Balance of Terror tmw at 3pm(sunday). i dont see visual effects like who made by Daren Dochterman (TrekEnchanced).
Watching “Balance” right now………I’ll ignore the syndication cuts as there’s really no way we could get around those atrocities.
The effects are a mixed bag. The Romulan shots were laughably weak, like the kind of CGI we’d expect to see on TNG. The comet, on the other hand, was gorgeous, definitely a 100% necessary overhaul. As for the rest of the exterior shots, they were ok. Not jaw droppingly awe inspiring, but not too cheap either.
I like the new theme. Very modern sounding. Dialouge comes through the speakers better than ever before and the picture is PRISTINE.
So, all in all, a nice overhaul. There’s not enough here to entice the casual viewer (why didn’t they upgrade the Romulan zone map at the start of the episode?), but it’s great to finally have the series available to most of the country, right in front of them. Bodes well for Trek XI.
Just watched Balance of Terror- Not all that great, especially for all the hype on this. Had expected much more in the way of “improvements” and/or something to make it better than the original version. Three major points: One, several original scenes were cut out. Noticeable short segments were cutout completely. Why? Two, effects and CG substitutions were so-so. The ships lacked the familiar appearances, lighting, and shooting angles. CG could have been better- for a perfect example that it CAN be done, check out Starship Exeter at http://www.starshipexeter.com . For all of the hype that CBS/Paramount was posting about this they could have sprung for better. Third, in the promos, they showed various scenes that looked like they tinkered with the camera angles and close-ups to give the show a fresher or more “up-to-date” appearance. Some of the promos looked like they’d really work but none were apparent in this episode’s airing- a missed opportunity? Not all was bad. The audio re-do of the opening title sequence was very good and sounded like the original music as if it were cleaned up and put in stereo- in otherwords it sounded authentic rather than something remade. I was definitely expecting something better than what was shown and certainly something to indicate that these would make having these on DVD a must replacement for the previous DVD releases of the episodes. All in all, they’d have been better off to simply restore all the original footage and audio (using the new audio for the music) and bringing it up to hi-def. Even if they used stock footage from the rest of the series to correct some of the original version’s errors so that those could be finally made, that would have been better than all out replacement with CG. Either that or get the CG to more closely match the original ships and scenes. I’ll cross my fingers for them doing better on the next episodes but I’m having my doubts. Live Long and Prosper
I also agree that the CGI effects were cartoony in this revised edition… in fact the original special effects looked better to me. The “starshipexeter.com” episodes seem to have much better special effects in my opinion. I’m not sure why Paramont decided to put in such cartoony effects, except to generate curiosity and try to get old trekkies to watch the revised shows.
I’m 10 years-old. See, I found this show with a great story and an amazing looking ship called the U.S.S. Enterprise. I gotta say something. The ship looked and moved as it should. I’m thrilled to see these views of the Enterprise. No more dirty dark opticals. The shots seem to match the film stock. Just before Spock walks into the weapons control room, they inserted a new angle of the ship. No problem. Previously, it was the same shot as was already seen, so rather then use it again, they created a shot which looks like something which came in later seasons. Sure, it’s new, but it belongs. It’s great that there is finally just one ship in the title sequence. Ever since I was very short it always bugged me that the Enterprise looked different in the titles. It no longer looks different, it looks better! And, the planet is such an upgrade I can’t even talk about it. The stars were amazing. The stars were part of the mood of the show. In Classic Star Trek the ship looked as though it was traveling in a vast blackness. Space looked large and lonely, not the colorful friendly place that ships in other shows traveled. I like that. I miss the assorted colored stars, however. I liked the red and blue stars. I suppose they must have decided at some point in the process not to use them. Maybe during some of the later journeys, in varied sectors we’ll see a few colored stars in the background vastness of space. I don’t see the ones that move in the foreground as being stars, by the way; but rather as superheated subatomic warp particles that pass close to the ship. The stars are in the background. No, I’m not a nerd. Anyway, the starfield patterns are the same and look great. As was promised they have the same placement as before. I love that. The Romulan Bird of Prey was perfect. When it hit the outpost, it decloaked and slowly turned into the viewer from the right, when it hit the Enterprise it came in slightly from the left. But the overall shot was the same as original. There was another shot of the adversary at extreme range, veering off to the left of the viewing screen. Then, there was the beauty pass. Come on, need I say the beauty pass was amazing? …(There was deck plating and some windows lights on!) They even had a little bumper during the commercial break. As NBC once did with their bumper, they televised a wonderful still of the ship orbiting a beautiful earth type planet with the words Star Trek below it. Seeing that made me feel like it was a brand new show coming to television. Later they had another new bump with Kirk. Please put those on the new DVD set. Ok, sorry, I’m way ahead of myself. The ship looked great. Better then before. I kept forgetting I was going to see a new shot of the Enterprise, because each time it looked so right. And I started laughing every time I saw it. I laughed because I kept thinking I was seeing black matte lines and stars through parts of the ship. But I can’t, because they’re not there!!! Those were pure laughs of joy, I’m telling you. The music during the titles was the proper version, but it was slightly different in a subtle way. The mix maybe? The blend of sounds? Kirk’s voiceover seemed to echo more, which gave it a punch. The music was very good, same arrangement, but different somehow. It doesn’t have the opera singer just yet, which is proper for this episode. Yes, it’s true, they wanted it to be the same as before, but it was different. I’m not sure if I know what it all means. The sound was good and I’m looking forward to hearing it on the DVD. Yeah, sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself again. They did what they said they were going to do. By selecting “B.O.T” right out of the box, they demonstrated that the effects can be finished as if they were done during the time when the show was produced. I like that. Are there episodes where they should change things? I’d say so. In fact, my only concern now is when they should do something completely new, I’d hope it would complement and enhance the believability of the show, within the style of the show. I mean, sometime it might be good thing if, say, a new ship was done as Matt Jeffries might have done it if he had a little more money. Examine the detail on the bottom of the saucer section. It looks as if there is there… Read more »
All of the closeups of the actors – etc were a lot better as you could really make out detail and enhanced color never seen before. A number of the shots of the Enterprise firing photon torpedos were equally fine but I was disappointed with the closeup shot of the Enterprise from the top when they showed the Hull – while it had some definition you couldn’t clearly see the lettering – it looked like rush job as did all incoming shots of the Bird Of Prey – it looked like half shadow and outline.
If Paramount hopes to sell this to networks in future syndication and of course to fans then they have a lot of work ahead of them. I’d cancel all future releases of any episodes until they can get the job done right. Its
a shame they’re not putting good money into this as it would only pay off for them for generations to come. Overall looks like a rushed job that was done by a struggling company with a low bid – what a real shame that is.
Waiting to watch BoT on KYW tonight at 10PM. But I notice a clear distinction in the reviews, the “it’s not flashy enough for the Nintendo Generation” and the “It’s crisp and clean and no caffeine” to borrow a period phrase. Looking forward to see it for myself.
As for the music, the theme was performed on a Theremin (or similar) device for The Cage soundtack (with winds only, so far as I can tell), which recording was used for the first season. The soprano wasn’t used until season two (when they also introduced strings).
Here, here, Thomas Jenson! I’m with you and am once again that kid in awe with a great story. NCC-1701 (no bloody A, B, C, OR D) never looked better.
That said, a couple things. Milwaukee and Time Warner cable need to get their act together. If only one knew where to begin in order to do something about the situation. There seems to be little appreciation to things Trek around here.
I remembered an article stating that CBS affiliates were not going to be getting the full HD version of the remastered episodes. I forget the technical reason. The minute I heard that remastered Trek was on its way, I was looking forward to seeing it in HD. So I was prepared to be a little underwhelmed in my experience. At least Milwaukee has an HD capable CBS affiliate.
Last night I watched Miri. Had to wait because our local affiliate delayed the broadcast due to something going on earlier that day. Although it was worth it, I could not enjoy the full experience because I was not watching true HD on my HD set. There were subtle changes, such as the added echo, which made up for the experience.
Balance of Terror was then broadcast on WMLW (I don’t understand the affiliation with the local CBS 58 affiliate). It is not an HD channel. And, the HD box doesn’t process the WMLW signal all that great.
The new effects looked cartoony on the HD set.
So during the second commercial break, I switched to my trusty old 4:3 Toshiba, watched the show using the built-in cable tuner, and piped the cable box through the receiver.
Thank goodness!! No need to restate what others have said above. Everything looked great. Now if only Time Warner would catch up (hey Univeral HD, get the hint!) I’m that kid again.. wow.. :)
Another thought – those of you who recorded the new version, how about stepping through the credits to compare the remastered Bird Of Prey to the original..
If anybody is interested and/or knows how to petition CBS/Paramount about these issues, lets all get together and hound them to make the corrections. At the very least, let’s get them to commit to doing like George Lucas did the latest DVD releases (have one set of 100% restored original and a “companion” disc set with the “enhanced” versions). It’d be a crying shame to let them try and replace the classic versions with these poor remakes.
Let’s band together and send a loud and clear message to CBS/Paramount before it’s too late. It may already be to late to do anything about these “enhanced” versions but surely they’ve got to have the original footage brought up to hi-def before they went and added/replaced scenes.
Somebody lead the way!!!
“Balance of Terror was then broadcast on WMLW (I don’t understand the affiliation with the local CBS 58 affiliate). ”
There isn’t one… Star Trek is syndicated to whatever local station wants it.
CBS and Paramount are both owned by Viacom and Paramount recently turned over the handling of the various Star Trek TV series to CBS which is why you see the CBS name involved.
If you want quality, wait till the next movie comes out. These are only TV shows. You can only put so much in to get a return.
Let us support the crew for reviving the series and Viacom’s effort to restore the Star Trek phenomenon.
Take note… we need each other to make this work.
I just saw “Miri”. Gene Rodenberry was brilliant. The series is about the message. He used our most basic fundamental problems which relates to all nations and all walks of life, combined it with basic psychology and tried to bring the message across with a solution.
Simple brilliant.
This isn’t about what color the nacelles are. It’s about how all the parts together compliment each other to bring a message to a believable level.
I loved it!
WNBC-TV NEW YORK never played it (it was suppsoed to air at 3:30AM today- Monday). Well Sunday Night Football ran over their scheduled time (something I suspect will be normal for the remainder of the season), thus pushing back the whole schedule by well over an hour. Since Star Trek runs up against Early Today (4:30AM), Trek is the show that gets the short end of the stick. So, thanks to WNBC’s wish to hide Trek in the graveyard of the programming schedule, I will likely never see a complete episode ot the remastered episodes until 1) they come to their senses and put the show in ANY OTHER TIMESLOT or 2) I wait until the remastered DVDs come out in three years. Great. Just friggin’ great.
What a huge disappointment! With the exception of the comet, the effects showed only minimal improvements. But on the bright side, with these cartoony effects, they could redo ST: The Animated Series.
I also really missed the red and blue colored stars. Space has lost all of its appeal.
I think I’ll wait until the 50th anniversary and hopefully someone will be willing to spend a few more bucks to make decent effects. I hate to be cynical, but part of me is thinking they are doing this to sell more DVDs when they upgrade the “enhanced” version.
Overall, I give it a D-
The Seattle, KSTW listing is incorrect. It’s on at 6:00PM and, unfortunately, even on their HD version of the station it’s not being broadcast in actual HD.
I saw Remastered Balance of Terror. It was awesome. They did a fine job. And to the idiots who still want to live in the past SFX-wise because you don’t appreciate what CBS and paramount are trying to do with TOS, I say to all of you GET A LIFE!!! and to the dimbulb who suggested canceling all future mastered releases of TOS, GET A CLUE!!!!!