Comments on: Review of Space Seed Remastered

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 16:05:43 +0000

Hey guys,
I am extremely grateful to Joe for posting those effects reels. I’m up here in Canada where it HASN’T been broadcast yet (bastards!)and Joe’s reels were wonderful to watch.
However, I managed to get a copy of Space Seed and being that I couldn’t stand seeing those FX reels without that wonderful STAR TREK sound, I threw together an effects reel WITH sound for everyone…
ENJOY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpJufG0VsuY

By: Kyle

Kyle — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 04:24:40 +0000

One more thought about Montalban’s chest…

The necklace thing is a gimmick often used for aging starlets. Just as you might find Susan Lucci (All My Children) wearing a thick pearl necklace or a choker, Khan’s bling hides the area where the neck meets the collarbone — which isn’t very photogenic as we age. De Kelley’s civilian TWOK and SFS/VH costumes had a scarf (ascot?) for the same reason.

I agree, though, that in Montalban’s case, his chiseled chest invited speculation. Even in interviews during the last 5 or 10 years, his upper body strength appears to be amazing for his age and his physical limitations.

Thanks!

By: Pierres Service » Blog Archive » Review of Space Seed Remastered

Pierres Service » Blog Archive » Review of Space Seed Remastered — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 21:28:06 +0000

[...] The Botany Bay sleeper ship is an interesting design and the shots of it being pulled alongside the Enterprise are technically smooth, with no obvious compositing problems. The original shot of the Enterprise abandoning the Botany Bay …Read more: here [...]

By: Litenbug

Litenbug — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 04:36:51 +0000

Are we back on those dam Nacelle domes again? Thought that was fixed and old news…

By: Robert Bernardo

Robert Bernardo — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 01:27:26 +0000

Jeff Bond wrote:

> For the first time the radical improvement in the maligned “nacelle
> domes” is visible here–a nice, frosted glass-like highlight touches the
> leading edge and the colored illumination from within the domes is
> subtle, lacking the painted-on fan blades that plagued earlier shots.

Actually, if you look at the 1701 (but not the Mirror Enterprise) in the enhanced Mirror, Mirror episode, the nacelle dome modifications are already there.

By: Fan since the original aired on NBC

Fan since the original aired on NBC — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 04:49:43 +0000

What still bothers me about the casting of TWOK is the age of Khan’s followers in relation to the original series. All the movie Khanulites seem to be in their twenties, which means that they would have been toddlers on the Botany Bay. But no children were ever seen in that episode nor mentioned at all. Also, leaving children stranded would have cost Kirk his career. No explanation given in the movie commentary, either.

By: MichaelT

MichaelT — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 02:51:18 +0000

It was a 60’s TV show, although ahead of it’s time, it still didn’t portray women as equals. I don not recall a female Starfleet Commander or Captain until… TNG.
It was written in the 60’s for the 60’s audience. Doesn’t make it wrong.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 09:57:25 +0000

Well, since it seems everyone’s gone a bit off-topic here, I’ll drop my two cents on Montalban’s chest in TWOK. A lot had been made about whether his pecs were real or not even back when the movie was in theaters. This was due to two things: One: Montalban’s age, and Two: the thick necklace with the broken Starfleet symbol he wore. Critics maintained that he wore the necklace to hide the seam of the chest prosthesis.
However, it should be easy for even a casual viewer to see that Montalban’s physique hadn’t been enhanced. First, the skin color matches perfectly in any lighting (something even today’s makeup FX can’t do). Second, Montalban’s movements are very natural and fluid. A prosthetic would have restricted how he could move. Third, as mentioned above, he was a disciplined athlete and bodybuilder all of his life. Fourth (and the most convincing), after the Reliant and Enterprise trade phaser and photon fire, Khan has a wide gash across his chest. This is (obviously) makeup FX, and when Khan moves after receiving the wound, you can see it pucker and stretch against his movements. That would only happen if the appliance was attached directly to his chest. If it had been part of a larger chest-piece, it wouldn’t change shape at all. Finally, director Nicholas Meyer isn’t known for maintaining typical Hollywood movie-magic claptrap. If Montalban had been wearing a false chest-piece, Meyer would have said so and put the whole debate to rest long ago.

So, that’s my evidence on that topic. Anyone want to debate about Shatner’s hairpiece?

And to get us back on topic, the new effects in “Space Seed” were the best yet. Dramatic and extremely effective. If CBS Digital keeps this up, they’ll be blowing us away by the time the finish the series.

By: Josh

Josh — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 16:50:18 +0000

Let’s abandon the entirely dated 20th century feminist/sexist mentality here about the Khan/Mcgivers dynamic. It’s so passe’. This is the 21st century, people should update their modalities of thought and frame of reference and let go of petty close-minded philosophies.

Marla Mcgivers was a career professional woman highly trained, highly educated, highly sophisticated with an extreme fascination for history.

Khan Noonian Singh was a highly dynamic, magnetic, living history lesson and Mcgivers became infatuated.

It isn’t a reflection of weakness on McGivers part to have become enchanted by Khan, it is a reflection of how dangerous Khan is. And let’s not forget Khan was pretty damn infatuated with Mcgivers as well.

I’ve found in life that the tighter people cling to ideological status and societal memes and labels that they infact are overcompensating for some serious lack in their own life, projecting their innate prejudices on others-
And these are the same types of people that fault true victims of crime as being “weak.”
It’s hypocrisy, and it’s disgusting.

Let’s leave the dime store professings on what constitutes social status for sociology 101, Star Trek is a fictional science fiction program with fictional two dimensional characters not at all indicative of the true human tapestry of character, integrity, and dimension.

Star Trek was painting women in a positive , professional light 30 years before “Designing Women” or “Ally Mcbeal”.

Star Trek doesn’t play on oxygen network so, let’s keep perspective here.

By: Interositor

Interositor — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 11:58:14 +0000

‘But wussy men, those whom C.S. Lewis called “men without chests”, went out of fashion on Sept 11. And they will never return, no matter how much whining there is.’

Olde Timey Fan, i question your reading of Lewis here, He was talking about having principles on which you based your reading of the world and how if you didn’t it would make you undynamic. It’s not about gender relations. I can accept that McGivers totally fell for Khan, and that women are quite capable of doing so. It’s not that it didn’t ring true that bothered me, it was that her being physically attacked, and her not being outraged by it, is implied, by what you say, to be implicit in the female nature. She accepted being thrown down because she’s an archetypal chick and women are helpless before Ricardo Montalban’s bulging pecs.

Also that feminism has been discredited has nothing to do with whether this is not a potentially harmful representation. It’s remarkable, and indeed is remarked upon, because you don’t see sympathetic female characters knuckle under to male dominion so readily any more.