The Enterprise is endangered by Captain Kirk’s best friend when he is turned into a powerful being…and you know what they say about power corrupting.
This is Star Trek’s second pilot (after the Cage) and the one that convinced NBC to pick up the show. This is the reason there are some differences between this episode and the rest of the series (both visually and with the cast). There are a number of effect shots for CBS to update with CGI…
- New Enterprise shots (ship model is different for this episode)
- Different opening credits
- New galactic barrier
- New planet Delta VegaNew
- matte painting of Delta Vega Station
- Updates on some viewscreen shots
- Possible some new ‘zap’ effects for passing through the barrier and the final fight scene
…but don’t expect to see any changes to Kirk’s tombstone…the team ran out of time before they could decide if they should change it.
Expect TrekMovie.com’s screenshots and videos later
So what did you think of the remastered WNMHGB?
…”the team ran out of time before they could decide if they should change it.”
REALLY? Hell, they should have just “drawn straws”, which would have taken, what, 30 seconds?! I wanted a “T” in there…
i really hope they changed kirk phaser rifle just like the hand phasers last week or the klingon’s phaser the week before. i know it doesnt seem to be changed in the preview, but it would sure be nice. plus it is illogical to change only some of the live action hand phaser effect scenes, and not all of them…
Maybe they are running out of time “before they decide” which ones to fix…
Change ’em ALL!
If they took time out to fix the chronometer, why not the tombstone, too? There are only a couple of shots where you can discern the “R”… so it must be James Riberius Kirk….. once again…
i wonder if they changed the computer displays of mitchell’s and dehner’s “esp-rating”, which looked like a photograph of a typed sheet of paper – not really a credible way of data recording in the 23rd century!
http://www.st-spike.org/images/graphics/display_dehner2.jpg
Somebody fix the typo – “remasterd”
The sickbay viewer needs fixed, when Mitchell turns it off you can still see the text there, just not lit up.
Re: Sally Kellerman/Dr. Dehner
IF (that’s a big “if” so don’t anybody jump down my throat here!!!) they use Dr. Elizabeth Dehner in the new Trek movie, I humbly suggest they look at this actress– Sarah Paulson from Studio 60:
http://tinyurl.com/yudzjv
And here’s Sally Kellerman for a comparison:
http://www.nndb.com/people/983/000023914/kellerman-sized.jpg
And for the record, Paulson is a great actress and she could pull it off (that one was for Anthony ;) )
#8 Except Sally Kellerman is sophisticated and Sarah Paulson is goofy.
#8… I really don’t think they look that much alike at all. Good idea having her character on the ship, though.
I wish they had changed the “R” but since they didn’t if they do have Gary Mitchell in Trek XI it would be a nice nod to fans to hit on it. Even if its a throwaway line or something.
#5. And from what I read they didn’t fix the typwriter screens above! I thought that was one the specifically mentioned was going to be done. It needed it in my opinion… please give it another go before the DVD’s.
Yeah, I’ve been loving Trek Remastered, but this episode looks like a big step backward. So many of the little touches that bring so much to the episodes seem to have been forgotten here. How could they have NOT fixed the sickbay screen? Why did they leave the “R” on the tombstone? Was it really a matter of time? Or did they just forget? I sure hope it’s not that someone didn’t care.
I’ll be listening for the main theme. The little used “Organ” sounding intro. Will it be “Remastered” or just “Rerecorded”?
You….have GOT…to be kidding me.
Did I really read that CBS-D didn’t fix the tombstone?
COME ON GUYS!!! THAT WOULD HAVE TAKEN FIFTEEN MINUTES TO DO! LOL Exaggerating a little…but NOT MUCH!!!
Good grief! Step up to the plate guys!!!
It’s simple. He just thought that Kirks middle initial was an “R”, even someone who thinks he’s a god can make mistakes.
Well, CBS Digital does have a list of effects per show that has priority. WNMHGB has a lot of effects to do, and it sounds like the man power wasn’t there to sneak in time to fix the “R”.
I like to put myself in their shoes. Look at it this way, if you were running this project, and the mandate from day one was to only focus on the space ship and space effects and update the matte paintings and then do other stuff if you have time, then they’ve for the most part lived up to that. In some cases they pulled off a few extras. To fix the “R” on the tombstone is an extra. It may seem simple on the surface, but perhaps it came down to either the Delta Vega matte of the “R”. The “R” is lower priority.
And no one here has debated the question of altering the live action in cases like this. The added phaser beam for Naked Time was a nice addition. But the “R” was done at a time when the series was not in production yet, it is a pilot, so a minor thing like that is excusable. And I think for some people, it should stay for historic reasons. This could have been the thinking that went on between Rossi and the Okudas.
Perhaps they can for the DVD’s. And I’d be curious to know what the CBS team would have time or budget for in terms of updating earlier remastered shows with the newer Enterprise for the DVD’s.
Ship shots…engergy shots…eletrical bolts shooting from fingertips….galactic barriers…so much to do here, I’m glad they didn’t waste valuable time on the tombstone issue. As far as remastering FX go, it’s just not that big a deal.
Re: 16
Nelson, I appreciate your level-headed point of view.
If I had limited time and had to make choices between the barrier, the ship, and the matte painting (and any other MAJOR effect), the tombstone and sickbay viewing screen would definitely have taken a backseat. That’s the way it goes.
Like you suggested, perhaps when the episodes are done and are being prepped for DVD release, CBS Digital will go back and tweak anything they might have missed in their rush to get episodes ready for airtime.
Anthony, I wonder if you might be able to find out if this will be the case. If CBS-D will go back at a later time and touch up things that were missed in various episodes, perhaps a vast majority of the bellyaching from some fans will be tempered.
Hopefully, you’ll get a straight answer from someone there and will be able to report back to all of us with some good news.
Really looking forward to TDDM! :)
Yes, remember back at the beginning of the complaining process, the announced intention was to redo the SPACE and MATTE PAINTING shots–anything else was regarded I believe by both the CBS team and us as “extra” touches–remember how thrilled we were to see the reflection of a briefing room viewscreen on the table or a replaced computer graphic or chronometer? Those were surprises…and they were often done on episodes that had a low count of redone space effects. Honestly, I’m hoping they don’t change the phaser rifle effects either as these, like the “Cage” phaser cannon shots, were done with a higher level of animation than the lower-budget shots done later in the show. Ya gotta leave some of this stuff alone so there’s something left of the period to look at; as for the tombstone, it might have been a nice change, but it does serve as a reminder that even burgeoning gods are fallible…
There’s already something of the period left to look at…space hippies, Chekov’s Monkees hairstyle…lots of stuff. Either remaster and redo the FX or don’t…but don’t make it a hodgepodge…
I am getting a feeling of deja vu here…ugh…
…geez…give some people an inch and they want a mile. Be happy you’re getting what you’re getting. They set out to replace the FX shots, everything else is just gravy…be thankful your getting the turkey to begin with.
People need to remember that the brief for the team are matte paintings, space shots and viewscreen shots. Thats it. Anything extra is beyond the scope of work and is ‘extra’. When they have time they try and do some extra work, but it is not required of the team to do so.
yes by doing so much of it in the past, many have come to expect it…but it isnt something they ‘must’ do.
I accept it is extra, but R is one of the most famous, if not THE most famous errors in ST history.
Just saw it. Readouts of the medical records not changed. Mitchell’s book screens not changed. Disappointed in that; the originals look so bad. Phaser rifle shots not changed, but that’s okay.
On the plus side, galactic barrier shots are awesome!
Opening credits have “Space…”, which the original does not.
I just watched the show and it looked great! The effects were awesome! I really noticed the different open credits shot and thought it much improved from “Balance of Terror”.If something was missing, I didn’t notice it, but then I haven’t watched the original series in a LONG time.
The ship shots were AWESOME. I mean incredible. So beautiful… No words… Should have sent a poet.
#11 — That would be too funny… having Mitchell call Kirk “J.R.” and have Kirk fumble trying to correct him. Hardcore fans would laught their balls off.
It would be nice if the would just do that little bit “extra” I know it’s not in their current brief or within their current time constraints but I feel they should re-evaluate the brief after they finish the remastered television run. I don’t think you could ever take anything away by adding more to the effects. Its not possible to mistake when this series was made. I think the sixties hair cuts, the uniforms, the bright colors and retro designs used for the sets and of course the mini skirts kind of give it away! It is these things that will always be representative of the time period of the show.
This is a unique opportunity to make changes considering they probably will not look at this again at least for some time… also as a lot of people have said we always have the originals… So I say why not push the boat out a little more for the DVD release? I know it’s very unlikely that they will make many more changes for DVD release as I think a lot of the decision they have made have been creative ones and not time issues. I do respect what they have been doing; the latest work has been exceptional especially when you think that they do have to work to these stupid week to week time deadlines.
I am thrilled this project is happening but every now and again I do feel a little sad when I think about all they could have done. It’s a shame they haven’t gone that little bit further. I may be wrong but I have a feeling that they will not go back to add anything to what we see first time around on these episodes, apart from maybe the earlier model of the ship which I think they said they would be addressing.
Although I do own the originals on DVD I will definitely be purchasing these on DVD when the eventually come out regardless of what they do or don’t do. It would just be so cool if they would give us that little bit extra as I know most of us would love to see a few more surprises. CBS have been very good at staying faithful to the story by not letting the effects change anything that might suggest something different from the plot. I am sure changing a few sound stages, tweaking a few aliens and view screens here and there with the restraint they have shown so far wouldn’t displease many people.
I for one really do hope they do give us that little bit more; maybe I am just being greedy?
Anyway as always I look forward to seeing the screen shots of this week’s episode. I am sure they are going to be great!
There was an ST novel (sorry, way too long to remember which one) that dealt with the “R” thing in a very interesting way. Something to the effect of, early on Gary had a running joke that “Kirk’s middle name is ‘Regulations.'” (Or something that started with an “R”.) Thus, the “R” was actually a taunting in-joke between the two of them.
It’s a really nice way to tidy up the disparity, and actually adds to that scene without erasing it.
uggh, its a never ending story.
I still wish they just uniformed the model of Enterprise, and just used the more known one, i.e. the one with the twirly orbed nacelle caps.
The crimson needle point nacelle capped Enterprise was just a smaller scaled model, and only used due to budget constraints. As far as I am concerned, and obviously as far as future Star Trek projects (possibly even Star Trek XI), this crimson needle pointed nacelled version of Enterprise NEVER EXISTED! As such as it should be.
I know we can’t fix all the irregularities a small budget and a “always in a state of development” world they were trying to create at the time caused, but lets try to get rid of most of them.
1. One USS ENTERPRISE NCC-1701 for Kirk, Pike, and April: it had twirly orbbed nacelles, domed caps on the end, and the impusle engines ACTUALLY light up! It had green and red starboard and port lights, with a CONSTANTLY on or BLINKING ON AND OFF shuttle bay domed light. Remember guys, this is the same ship launched in 2245 (under Captain Robert April) … and yes, I do know the ship must have been refitted at least once or twice from 2245 to 2264, but i just highly doubt that Starfleet ships would go from twirly orbbed nacelle caps (used since Cochrane’s first warp ship, The Phoenix) to crimson needle pointed nacelle caps back to twirly orbbed nacelle caps. Let’s just forget the crimson crappy needle-pointed nacelled Enterprise ever existed.
2. The tombstone shows us a development error. At the time, Roddenberry wanted his new character to be named James R. Kirk. Once the show was officially picked up, he later changed the R. to a T., which is the way it has always been since. Therefore, the tombstone should eventually be changed to reflect this development continuity. It had nothing to do with Mitchell mistaking his middle name, or joking around, or any of that sort. Mitchell was his best friend for pete’s sake. He wouldn’t make such a mistake.
And as a end note, I am all for JJ and crew to COMPLETELY Re-imagine and reboot Star Trek. What we all have to remember about The Original Series was they were extremely limited by money, and also their own knowledge of the final frontier. This was the mid 1960’s for pete’s sake. We cannot, as loyal Trek fans, hold onto forever the cardboard boxes and styrofoamed rocks.
Let us let go of the cheesy special effects, yet hold onto what mattered the most: The characters, and the stories. Let us let go of the bridge layout, and remember the friendship that was given birth there, instead.
Is it so bad to update the look and feel, while keeping the core values of the show? I mean, come on! Do you really think a 23rd century starship is going to look like a 1960’s low-budget cardboard box?
LET GO OF LOW BUDGET AESTHETICS, and DEVELOPMENT CONTINUITY ERRORS! (Remember, they didnt even refer to the United Federation of Planets or Starfleet in the beginning for that matter … these things were developed as the show progressed …)
Am I completely wrong?
There are a million ways to explain away or rationalize the “R” but none of them can be fit into the episode.
I was a little disappointed this week. It felt like a step backwards to me too. The barrier looked great but I did not think the Enterprise looked great in it or out of it. I did appreciate that they took the time to put the pilot version in the open credits though. I didn’t think Delta Vega looked too great from orbit either. The matte was essentially untouched, which was fine as it was pretty great to start with.
I guess they’ve spoiled me, but I was let down that they didn’t change the typewriter viewscreen documents, they didn’t enhance the phaser rifle blasts, the “negative” blast on Mitchell and Dehner in the barrier didn’t look much different if at all, Mitchell’s “lightning bolts” weren’t tweaked. I dunno. Maybe I was expecting too much.
I did like the barrier though.
And I am all for cardboard boxes, styrafoam rocks and spiked nacelles.
Nyah.
RE: Kirk’s tombstone.
Nobody seemed to have mentioned the stardate. 1277? And the episode happened at 1312? Explain THAT!
CBS-D said that they were going to fix the sickbay screen back when TOS Remastered started airing. The episode just started for me, so I haven’t seen that far yet.
But one nice thing of note is that they redid the opening credits with the pilot Enterprise model for this episode.
One bad thing is that they didn’t seem to study the pilot Enterprise model very closely, because the back of the nacelles appear to just have the round ball deleted from the model. This means the end piece is still silver/gray (when it is the same color as the rest of ship in the pilot model) and I can’t make out if there is a screen at the back like there should be.
Well booo, they didn’t revise the viewscreens. The files on Mitchell and Dr. Dehner were still very clearly typerwriter typed pages stored on microfische and/or overheard tranparency as were the e-books Mitchell reads in sickbay.
This is how DOOMSDAY could look…
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v617/spockboy/a01-12.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v617/spockboy/a01-13.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v617/spockboy/a01-15.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v617/spockboy/a01-19.jpg
And yes I KNOW i has the Constitution numbers on it……
“Although I do own the originals on DVD I will definitely be purchasing these on DVD when the eventually come out regardless of what they do or don’t do.”
Thus, reinforcing Paramounts’ and CBS’ belief that they shouldn’t do anything extra — or good — because good or bad the fans will pay money for it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ICdcvapSQ8
effects reel
Wow you’re fast today Joe! I’ll put up links inside my screenshot article later on tonight.
38
Yep, I am a sucker I guess… but I seriously doubt me saying I will not buy these dvd’s as they appear now that they will change anything. I just have a feeling there minds are set. Plus I am just being honest… I will be disappointed though.
There are loads of effects they could update but I just dont think they will touch them. They obviosuly have sat down and had a chat about possible further changes, it would be interesting to know what they had decided.
I would image a big part of it comes down to the money men not wanting to anything more into this… (38) as you have rightly said and to my shame, they know suckers like me will always be prepared to buy something they didnt break the bank to make.
James R Kirk,
Pointy spikes,
Theremin music
Please CBS-D, keep these! You have done a superb job of “refreshing” the originals for your stated goal of HD release.
As an advocate of freedom, history and truthfulness, I thank you for not dropping these and other cherished memories down the Memory Hole of the Ministry of Truth.
#41 I don’t blame you for wanting to buy the discs…hell, truth be told I proabably will too. But I sure hope they give us something extra for that hard earned cash…;-)
Holy shit I thought I was cynical. This was Awesome!!!!! The opening shot of the E coming into screen was beautiful and the engine rumble was great. The altered opening credits with the pilot model were an excellent touch. When the E was twisting through the barrier energy I almost pooped my pants!!!! It looked gorgeous. There was a terrific sense of scale. On the closeup you get a sense of the E’s enormous size then as the angles change you see just how small our E is when compared to a stellar phenonoma or the vastness of space. The lighting of the ship was proper on true HD it will have even more punch. it makes me hope they redue TWOK mutara nebula in a similar manner. The end caps were correct as were the impluse engines with the multiple round exhaust ports instead of the round balls. The only difference was they went black with the caps instead of the original silver. I thought they nailed the E in Tribbles but I am contunuely impressed with the subtle improvements each week. I too wish they would go back and redue the landscapes but we can’t have everything. They have to have a reason to re re re release another remastered special edition 5 years down the line afterall. Some have complained of the remastered scenes being too dark. These are HD masters being shown on an analog signal, you don’t get the true potential of how gorgeous the film is in this manner. The xbox 360 HD episodes don’t have this problem. In any case I’m blown away and very happy
#43
me too THEETrekMaster, I am with you 100% . As I have said before lots of times…. I would glady wait a couple more years for these to be released on DVD if it meant they get more time to go back and adds stuff time has not allowed them. I dont want them to rush them out, just to make some money back. I would rather they took their time on this project.
I am just saying when they are out, I’ll probably get them
#39 Hey Joe, many thanks for putting up the effect reel.
#39
Joe, thanks for posting the vfx reel. I wish I could enjoy these on tv like so many of you but here in backwater Columbus we can’t have anything cool. Have to wait on itunes but the effects look great to me. Some great shots of the big E heading into the cloud reminds me of TMP. What about that shot of her coming out of the cloud where we are looking down at E from just ahead of her, great job CBS-D…great job!
#41 Holo J
Hey I’ll be buying these things on DVD too so don’t feel like you are the only one but look at it this way for a minute. When these things do come out who’s to say they won’t go back and make some tweaks they didn’t before and just not tell anybody. They just surprise everyone and get some more positve feedback/word of mouth when they are released
just in time to add to the ST: XI release bandwagon. That’s something I would do and that’s my delusional fantasy til proved otherwise. And if that doesn’t happen I’ll still get what they have done to update the episodes and on HD no less!! I still win.
I’ll be buying the new DVD’s just for the fact that the new remastered prints look so damned good. Just the fact that all the dirt and specs have been removed is worth the price of admission, the new FX is just more delicious gravy. I already own all the episodes, but you can bet credits to navy beans that I’ll be first in line when these hit the shelf.
RE#36: Pretty cool SPOCKBOY. :-)
As for this episode, to be fair, I haven’t seen it yet. I’m kinda torn about some of the same things… what’s far enough? Also, I am cynical enough to believe, that if they didn’t fix it by now, it won’t be done for the DVD-whatever release. How many times was Star Wars- A NEW HOPE released and it still has stupid, simple errors in it, specifically non animated lightsabers! Heck, how long could it have taken just to simple ERASE the “R”!?! A good compromise, I think. ;-) Before some of you lynch me, I am well aware we are getting more than we deserve… Heck, though, it’s just as fun to me discover wasn’t done as what was! :-)
#42
> “Theremin music”
(Off topic)
Disagreements persist on exactly when
a theremin was used in TOS. What’s the truth?
From a Sept. 2006 comment on the “Theremin” Talk page at Wikipedia:
“Lengthy discussions on the Levnet e-mail list have uncovered
suggestions that only one of the recorded versions of the theme song contained theremin, but that it was never used with any actual episode beyond possibly the original pilot ‘The Cage’.”
?
I really like the odd camera angels, But what I really want to know is…
WHY IS SPOCK SCREAMING?