Remastered “The Doomsday Machine” Airs Today – as if you didn’t know

Kirk and crew find a weapon of mass destruction, and an unshaven superior officer obsessed with taking it down. 

Preview | Ep. Info | Show times

A classic if there ever was one. CBS have been working on this for months with over 100 new effects shots, you will see…

  • Lots of shots of the Enterprise including multiple shots of weapons firing
  • A seriously messed up USS Constellation
  • A big scary planet killer
  • A shuttle and shuttle bay
  • and all of the above from some new angles

At TrekMovie.com the Doomsdaypalooza will continue with wall to wall coverage including screenshots, videos, a  very special guest reviewer, an interview with Norman Spinrad…and more fun stuff

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How have the ratings been for these re-mastered episodes?Anyone?

What an excellent site this is Anthony. Every time I check back something new.

es el capitulo con mas publicidad de la historia jejejejeje ;) ;)

Anyone throwing a Remastered Party? Just to show off that the E really does have big bright glowy balls!
How cool this all is. And how cool it is that there are multiple versions. The future looks bright again for hardcore Trek.

Kudos to everyone at this site – including all the clever and nit-picky commentators – and, of course, to both CBS Digital and Daren Dochterman for making this such a fun time for the fans of classic Trek. Our hungry maws will be busy slicing apart and devouring these two free revisions of this exciting episode in our hungry maws.

This episode looks great! It appears that the CBS team has done a truly amazing job for this one! Can’t wait!

CONCERNS OVER “ULTIMATE COMPUTER” —

Seeing all of the photos and the rundown on “Doomsday” got me thinking about another potential smorgesboard of FX: “The Ultimate Computer.” I’m saddened to say we won’t be getting that buffet.

In “Doomsday,” much of the action was on the screen. But in “Computer,” the M-5-controlled Enterprise’s attack on the other starships happened off-screen, while Kirk looked anguished at his lack of power to stop it. There’s the potential for some good shots of the fleet moving against the Enterprise, but that’s about it.

In other words, enjoy “Doomsday” as much as possible. It’s as close to “balls out” FX as I think we’re going to get.

Concerns over ‘Ultimate Computer’…-

Yeah, I agree, there could be a potnetial letdown for the FX afficionados regarding this episode. Especially if CBS Digital goes ‘by the book’ in scene by scene remastering when the M5 is unleashing the Enterprise in its attack against the fleet.

On the otherhand, CBS Digital could surprise us ‘on the upside’ for both “Elaan of Troyius” and “The Enterprise Incident” episodes and sate our FX appetites!

I’m looking forward to today as everyone else. But I’m tempering my excitement by something everyone is overlooking – – those commercial edits. There is hardly any of “The Doomsday Machine” which can be sliced away without provoking our anger. Some effect shots could also be removed to gain time. We’ll see – – (I do understand the need for this “Necessary Evil”)
It is now Saturday, 10:00am ET, “Doomsday” now 7 hours away for me – –

JON – I saw something on scifi.com this week on ratings and it was one of the top SF/F syndicated shows (5th I think). The ratings were up there with SG-1 and Farscape. Can’t remember the entire list.

re: 9. Greg Stamper

I don’t like the edits, either…..but there is nothing that can be done about it except to wait for the release of the full versions. That is the way it is…..Commercial tv is going to have commercials and as many as they can get by with.

#11 How bout an angry mob!! We raid CBS with pitchforks and torches — take over Master Control!! lol — yes, I know it’s just sad. I’ve done my share of explaining the need for edits on this board since remastered began. Doesn’t mean I like it – –

A very special guest reviewer, eh? Surely not DD, that would be too much evil-good fun! :)

re: 12. Greg Stamper – February 10, 2007

” #11 How bout an angry mob!!”

Angry mob, eh? Hmmmmmmm. Might be fun at that. Kind of like that lame angry mob in “Operation: Annihilate”?

All is not lost vfx fans, Tholian Web and the Immunity Syndrome are coming soon and as I recall the original IS received recognition at the time for the vfx.

When I was in high school, our English Teacher made us adapt a library book to a play and preform a scene. Some did Orwell’s “Animal Farm,” or the “Of Mice and Men” and one guy did the “Hobbit” (before Tolkien was ever popular as today.)

I found one of those collections of novelized Star Trek episodes and chose this one. Mainly because our three man Group could not pick who was going to be Kirk.

Thus we did the scene where Commodore Decker takes command…

“We can’t let that thing reach Rigel…why millions of innocent people would die!”

We got an “A” because the teacher said it was unique to do an adpation of Star Trek with such character interaction but without the KIRK/MCCOY/SPOCK triad, which would have been the easy way out.

Am I to assume that Doomsday is in everyone’s top ten?

I decided about a month ago that a Doomsday viewing party was in order tonight. The fun starts at 10:00 pm here in Colorado!!

Bring on the Planet Killer!!

#14 – I would hope for one such as in “Frankenstein” — so we could at least burn something to the ground. (Somebody bring a couple of Phaser IIs just in case).
Passion drives a good angry mob — not body-jumping parasites! This board has plenty of emotion to move it forward!

“Doomsday” now 5 hours away for me – –

#16 “Am I to assume that Doomsday is in everyone’s top ten?”

Number one in this quadrant and has been since I was 10 and that was back in ’72!

If I wasn’t throwing a birthday party for my wife tonight a DDM party would most definitely be happening in its place ;-) Thank god for Tivo as this is going to have to wait till tomorrow for me :-(.

Oh sorry,
#16 – Am I to assume that Doomsday is in everyone’s top ten?
Absolutely for me. Not just because it’s an action episode with lots of effects but it is a classic story of character driven obsession (Moby Dick).

9 et al – This raises the question for Anthony. Is there anyway to YouTube, mirror site, transmorphigize or otherwise make with the goods… to get UNCUT REMASTERED episodes online now? Or are we mere DVD-buying network fodder?
Actually, I’m just thinking that some of the longer projects have already appeared online. Why not this? As soon as my people in Shanghai get their hands on the first DVD, it’ll all be up there anyway. (You think I’m kidding? We visited last summer and saw DVDs on the streets of Shanghai the day before films were due to hit American theaters. Sure, they’re crappy quality, but they exist.)

#21 – Sadly my friend, I believe “Or are we mere DVD-buying network fodder?”. They will use the uncut episodes as a sales pitch. While continuing their efforts to subdue Pirating efforts across the globe.
The news this week about Viacom wanting properties to be pulled from YouTube – – wonder how this will affect anything Trek related now?

#14 Angry mob, eh? Hmmmmmmm. Might be fun at that. Kind of like that lame angry mob in “Operation: Annihilate”?

Actually, that was a group of angry custodial staff employees — from the TRW Corporation facility in Redondo Beach, CA where the exteriors for the ep were shot. They’d just been told that they weren’t getting o/t, but comp time, for being there for the weekend filming.

(Class of ’76 grad from the high school located across the street from TRW)

Hmmm. DDM clearly in FTs top 10 favorites… No particular order

Tribbles
DDM
Tomorrow is Yesterday
Balance of Terror
City on the Edge of Forever
Assignment: Earth
Gamesters of Triskelion (except on Tuesdays, at night, at my weekly Fizzbin party….100 quatloos opening bid…when A Piece of the Action will do)
Charlie X
Devil in the Dark
Journey to Babel

I-TUNES INQUIRY??

Until yesterday I was able to download some of the remastered Treks on I-Tunes… then suddenly I get prompts telling me that TOS is not available for download in the USA. Does anyone have the skinny on this abrupt halt to it’s availability on I-Tunes??

They say the iTunes issue is technical difficulty at startrek.com. One could speculate that the HD-DVD release announcement might have something to do with it, but other “current” shows put their episodes on iTunes as they air prior to DVD release, so it could just be some other reason.

Top Ten Treks?
Gad, I’m sure I’ll miss one, but here’s a stab at it:

Immunity Syndrome
Doomsday Machine
Tholian Web
Balance of Terror
Galileo Seven
The Squire of Gothos
Shore Leave
City on the Edge of Forever
Mirror, Mirror
The Paradise Syndrome

Actually, my top ten is probably 60 episodes long. There are only a handful that I could wish to chuck into a black hole (And the Children Shall Lead, Way to Eden.) If anyone cares why I put The Paradise (“I am Kirok!”) Syndrome on the list… it’s because of the oddity of the plot. I’d love to know more about what happened during the month Spock commanded the E, and also Mirimani (sp?) fills out her buckskins wonderfully.

Definitely in my Top 10, not only for the scary monster that the behemoth Machine itself is, but also for excellent over-the-top performance by William Windom. You can truly feel his torment and agony throughout the entire episode, and feel sympathy and compassion for him at the same time, even as he wrestles away command of the Big E to try to take another shot at the DDM!

Excellent performances all around! Can’t wait! *getting tingly goose-bumps in anticipation!*

\\//_

It is a bit odd that the powers-that-be decided to do the Remastered treatment on this effects-heavy episode this early in the game. By the time this experiment is winding down, is anyone going to care about new effects for, say, “Spectre of the Gun?”

As for future FX extravaganzas, I don’t see how they can improve upon “Tholian Web”…”Immunity Syndrome” will prove interesting. I’m going to go out on a limb and say half will hate the new amoeba and half will love it. “Ultimate Computer” will ultimately be a let-down…unless they do some serious additional effects for the DVD. “Enterprise Incident?” A lot of the action there was…inaction. Still, it should be fun.

The one I’m most looking forward to after “Doomsday” is “Tomorrow is Yesterday.” That’s easily one of my favorite episodes, yet I always felt it had some of the poorest original effects. Not only are they not well done, they don’t “tell the story” very effectively. I hope CBS-D is really putting a lot of thought into that one.

Another sleeper I’ll vote for — no one seems to have mentioned it that I recall — is “The Deadly Years.” Yes, it’s one of the poorer episodes, but I hope they have some fun with the Romulan BoP stuff at the end.

Setting my alarm clock for 2:00 a.m. tonight…

Scott B. out.

The Doomsday Machine airs tonight in Omaha at 7pm Central.
One of my top ten.
William Windom’s performance is remarkable-a portrait of a captain who has lost it all-his ship, his crew, and is at the brink of madness.
This is the one where the FX really matter, and if the preview pix are any indication, CBS-D is going to do an excellent job.

Watching it now. Woo hoo!

I still don’t like the greys of the CBS-D starships. I liked the white, almost pearlescant look of the old show. Also, the close ups just don’t have the detail to pass photorealistic muster, not on regular TV, and I’m sure not on HD. Still, the blocking of the shots is looking real good. And the DD itself?

Hey, its pattern looks like a whale shark. Awesome.

my number one.

it is one of my sharpest boyhood memories. my father worked a lot of late nights, but we usually watched the weekly rerun of star trek together at 7pm — my bedtime was at 8! one week my dad was late, and i figured our weekly time together was a bust, but luck of luck: star trek had been delayed an hr and started at 8pm, and i was allowed to stay up until 9 to see it. yes, it was doomsday machine, and never was an episode so exciting as that special late viewing. and my dad was totally into it. i think i was 7 yrs old. that was the early 1970s.

what i like best about the episode is that so many elements came together in a very serious, substantial way. spock’s techno-babble, scotty’s fussing with machines, kirk’s swagger. not a trace of camp, nothing overdone. everything deadly serious. even the obligatory fight scene was sharp, quick, and totally plot-dependent. it was character driven, but could only have happened in space, i.e. a true scifi epic. and the music was fab-tastic!

funny: the lines about “back in the 20th century etc etc, the old h-bomb” sort of take on a new resonance. the cold war is over now and the h-bomb in fact was never used in anger. but back in the 60s and 70s, the ominous tone was way more striking. y’all remember the cold war?

I actually like Way to Eden. Bunch of selfish hippies that pay for their actions bigtime. It’s a Republican’s dream! ;)

Still watching. The Enterprise’s attack on the DD is completely different. CBS-D is getting really creative. I like it.

“#21 – Sadly my friend, I believe “Or are we mere DVD-buying network fodder?”. They will use the uncut episodes as a sales pitch. While continuing their efforts to subdue Pirating efforts across the globe.
The news this week about Viacom wanting properties to be pulled from YouTube – – wonder how this will affect anything Trek related now?”

Well of course the uncut will be part of the sales pitch, as will the DVD/HD-DVD format. I do however believe that if they could have shown them uncut they would have. The tv stations would probably not want to show an hour and 15 minute show. The editing has to be done or they’d have even less money to work with than they have now.

As for Viacom they’re nothing but a buch of greedy SOBs. Remember when Star Trek conventions were fun? As a kid I loved seeing and even buying fan made stuff. Now it’s all got to be licensed (which is usually crap or way over expensive). I don’t even go to them anymore. I seem to also recall them shutting down (or threatening to) fan sites b/c they weren’t making any money off them a few years back.

The cut is the same as the TV Land cut. I hate that they cut out Spock’s “Vulcan’s don’t bluff” line. It makes Decker’s relinquishing of command seem too easy.

Update: best shot of the Enterprise I’ve seen so far, portisde pass just before Decker steals the shuttlecraft. Texture looks good, you can see inside windows. Yowza.

Decker drives like a maniac. The shuttle lifts of the pad and flies sideways out the doors before they are even fully open. This shot looked a little funny. Sound might have helped, but so far CBS-D is making no changes to the soundtrack.

Alrighty. Final opinion. I give it an low A.

Many of the shots work perfectly, some are a little off and bring down the grade. But even the ones that were off, come close to achieving what they wanted to do. For instance, the demise of the DD looks a little too cgi-particle-software-blahblah-ish to me. I can’t help feeling that just a bit more rendering time to work with would’ve helped these guys to really achieve what they were hoping for. Still, this is definitely the best Trek-R episode I’ve seen yet.

By the time they’re done with the series, they’ll have shaken the bugs out and they’ll have to go back and do the whole thing all over again.

Also, on the whale shark reference, the DD has more of an upper and lower lip protrusion than the old one, exactly like a whale shark, which swims around with its mouth constantly wide open, digesting krill and plankton as it swims.

I don’t know why they bother with showing”cut” eps. anyway. NO ONE stays up that late just to watch friggin’ commercials! :-(

#38

How was the scale like when it was near the Enterprise or the shuttlecraft. Did they get it right this time? Does the DDM really looks massive? I have to wait until Monday to see it.

mrregular-
Cool, you are from my area. That is what station I watch it on, too. I’m north of Omaha about an hour and can’t wait for this. Kinda cool having two back to backs that are so great (Doomsday followed by Babel). Just a little over two hours to go.

Just saw the episode. Excellent overall. The scale seems right. It is consistant with Decker’s “miles long” description. Looks cool the way the Enterprise reacts to the DM’s tractor beam. The shuttlecraft makes a rather wild turn as it exits the hanger deck. I suppose that is needed for it to clear the hanger doors before they can be closed. Much more realistic scale between the shuttlecraft and the DM. The Constellation lurching forward as the impulse engines come to life is much improved over the original version. The DM looks great! Great job! I loved it!

Wow – I just finished watching it and i thought it was fantastic. Easily met my expectations. This was an example of the new effects not merely looking good and making the show look good, but IMO actually improving the quality of the already wonderful episode by racheting up the sense of jeopardy. Seeing the ships in close proximity to the planet killer, seeing it bearing down on the Enterprise and the Constellation, really enhanced the sense of impending danger and the starships’ inability to effectively deal with the threat conventionally, and making it even more suspenseful to watch. Terrific stuff. Kudos to the CBS folks. I thought they really outdid themselves.

Fantastic! Simply fantastic!

FX reel! FX reel! FX reel!

Watched, and I think that CBS Digital’s team should win an Emmy award.

Not just for the quality, but the fact they took risks, and didn’t just “rotoscope” over the original FX design.

Yes, I admit that I preferred Daren Doc’s take on the doomsday machine, but CBS Digital’s battle scenes were far better choreographed, IMO.

Let’s give credit where credit is due; the team’s work has really, really improved.

Well, the phaser fire animation could’ve been better, minor quibble.

Congratulations to all involved. Keep it up!

:)

Watching it now, so far the views of the Constellation are freakin’ awsome
and ya gotta love Decker’s over the top shock behavior.

And don’t forget this early attempt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HSYC6Wlbv8

Just finished watching the episode here in Boston. All I can say is “Home Run!” My favorite shot wash the Enterprise approaching the Constellation through the debris field. Terrific!

Yep Awsome. Just finished watching the episode on the West Coast. Beautiful job CBS-digital, tell your boss I said you guys could take tomorrow off!