Our best look into the hidden life of the Vulcans gets remastered.
SFX Video
(WMV)
New and Old
Enroute to Altair VI
A close shot of the Enterprise
Young T’Pring
In orbit of Vulcan
Entering the Arena pt.1
Entering the Arena pt.2
Spock beams out
Assorted
Spock throws his Plomeek Soup
Spock kneels before T’Pau
T’Pring stops Spock
The lovely T’Pring
Stonn — the other man
Spock deep in the Plak Tow
Spock shows his emotions…
Nurse Chapel and Dr. McCoy are quite pleased to have witnessed it
The power of Star Trek Remastered compells you to Trek anytime and anywhere.
This episode, like all the others, was absolutely Fan-Tas-TIC.
That improvement to the picture of young T’pring is something I hadn’t thought about, looks like T’pol’s mom’s house from Enterprise or similar at least.:-) Still curious about the scenes replaced with that new cgi shot, I think they look cool from the pictures and are a nice tie in to the movies but I hope they didn’t cut out too much of the “live action”? I can see if it was a long pan over just the arena but not sure about removing parts with the actors….anyway looking forward to seeing the complete ep.
Thanks for the pics!
#2 don’t worry, what they cut out for the CGI substitiution was of no real value, it was basically Kirk and McCoy walking towards the arena with Spock and mugging, since they hadn’t seen a Vulcan arena before.
^ Cool, thanks Matt. I loved the shots, both the placement of the arena as an explanation for the skyline/tie into the movies and Shir’kar from “Yesteryear”! Looks like they did a nice job, again.
Well, I for one was quite pleased… thought this was the best episode yet of the remastered effort.
Rob+
Very nice. The new shots on Vulcan were all very cinematic and added “scope” to the episode. The close up flyby was a showstopper. Nice work…again!
I ended up missing this episode this weekend, but I will be able to see it when it is replayed next weekend here in the southern oregon coast. But is the classic goof of Spoke leaning againist the set still in this?
“A close shot of the Enterprise”
I’ll say that’s close alright!
excellent
btw I met the actress T’Pring ( Arlene Martel) on the set of ‘of Gods and Men’
http://www.flickr.com/photos/95877115@N00/261625644/in/set-72157594314258476/
Has it eveer occured to anyone how truly amazing it is that Star Trek is really the only phenonemon in pop culture where a one episode cameo stint garnered a lifetime of admiration, curiosity, and demand?
Oh granted other genre shows have their own following and convention circuits but, you don’t often see Queen Ardellas royal guard #8 from the Buck Rogers tv show.
It’s truly amazing.
I’d just like to go on record and say that Arlene Martel was a babe of Julie Newmar-ian proportions. Grrrrreow!
#11 you said it!
FYI The WMV video link is now valid… the YouTube version will be up whenever youtube has finished processing it.
This was fun to watch. It appeared that the background cyclorama didn’t look quite as phony this time. Was it the remaster that made it look better or did they touch it up a little?? I never really noticed the steam fountain in the background but it really stood out here.
Nice touch with the young T’Pring shot. CBS-digital always has a little surprise for us every week. Great job on this episode!!
Hey Matt, I just wanted to say thanks again for putting those images together, week in and week out. My weekend isn’t complete til I soak them in. I really appreciate all your contributions to the site and you are always a pleasure to interact with on these talkback thingys. Good show, sir.
Indeed, another fine outing. The Vulcan city was not very prominent, making it a nice Easter Egg. I thought several of the Big E shots looked especially fine on this outing, including the departure from Vulcan and of course the wonderful close-up fly-by of the starboard side – I liked the reflections off the top of the saucer.
Anyone know if they used the older, more detailed CGI model on that close-up or were still using their newer less time-intensive version?
#14 — thank you sir, it is the whole community and the fun and engaging comments that make it worth it week after week.
#15 — Same model I’m 99.99% certain. The way I understand it when they said “simplified” they basically realized that they were rendering minute details that cannot be seen in any SD or HD format so they refined their model with that new baseline in mind.
Combat to the death.Giving birth in caves.Vulcans are so primitive.
Oh on the video clips, I highly suggest you all watch the WMV version it is quite a bit better quality. I included some live action footage in a few cases to give the new CGI context. If you notice you can see the little silhouettes of the trio walking along the path and into the arena. Later as the camera pulls out as Spock is beaming up you can see a tiny version of him shimmer and disappear in the front-center of the arena.
This episode was very nicely done. I like how they “justify” the red sky from the set by using the CGI shots. Very good enchancements to the episode. The REAL close up of the ship made me need to use my hand to close my mouth. Thanks for TiVo… I just played it again, and again, and again! LOL
I sure do hope CBS-D gets a chance to go back to some of the earlier episodes to make further improvments. They have improved their work and it would be nice if they could take advantage of their current knowledge to re-do some of the FX shots from early on.
#17 – that has always been part of the appeal of Vulcans to me – they are such enigmas. So advanced, logical, peaceful, et cetera, and yet stubbornly clinging to their ancient and completely weird traditions, so secretive and insular in so many ways, steeped in science yet apparently with a rich spiritual side, complete with temples and priestesses. They’re so complex and contradictory, and all the more interesting because of it.
The starboard shot of the E reminded me of the animated series when it would have a similar close up.
That closeup was HOT! It was like a Playboy centerfold, except that it was better!
Dude! If you get excited looking at CGI images of the Enterprise you need serious help! To compare a Playboy centerfold to a starship is just wrong!!
Mike :o
I will say, very nice indeed.
I wonder what they have in mind for the movies. ???
Very nicely done! This was a more artisitic approach than many of the other attempts. I love the new cgi shots of Vulcan with the TAS and movie tie-ins. Fantastic. I also really like the new angles of the Enterprise.
Keep up the good work CBS Digital! Just PLEASE go back and fix the earlier episodes that pale in comparison to your latest work.
indeed
Everything looked great indeed!
They looked like they were practically running towards the arena on the high long shot! I guess they had to speed that up a bit for time to match the original timing.
The close-up side view of the Enterprise was nice, if not a bit too close!
My only quibble is the whole sale edits this time of large chunks. I figured they took as much as they could earlier on so they could leave the last act as intact as possible, though that wasn’t spared the knife either.
#23 > “Dude! If you get excited looking at … the Enterprise ….”
Canon does tell us, Ms. E. has gratifying attributes in the eyes of her man.
(ST:TMP script, scene 118)
> “Kirk … hesitates just an instant. This is the moment
> he’s awaited, and to him it is equally as sensuous
> and gratifying as making love — which, perhaps, he is —
> to his mistress: The Enterprise.”
Whats wrong with getting that excited about checkin out the big E? Does Kirk himself not love that ship as he would a woman?
Hey if you guys can really get “hot” and “sexually excited” looking at screenshots of a computer generated starship, more power to you! Yikes!!
But, if you actually find a picture of the Enterprise more alluring than a “real” photo of a beautiful woman, then you are seriously in need of strong medications and many hours of psychiatric counselling!
#28..Hmm…I guess because the fictional character “Kirk” has a bizarre sensuous relationship with his equally fictional starship, that makes it understandable that a few trekkies have an equally bizarre sexual fetish for the USS Enterprise! Hahahah!!
Long live Spock and Quark!
Mike :o
I wish they’d removed the speck of dirt that appears in the sky as they beam down, but generally this looks lovely. And what a surprise that close up was.
I was very impressed how well the new mattes integrated into the live action. The timing was great and it fit the music so well. That close-up of the Enterprise was unbelievable.
Better than all that, is the episode itself. Such a good story and use of the three main characters. The guest stars are wonderful, especially Miss Lovsky with that accent. I remember how I used to be able to imitate all of her dialogue word for word. Martell is luscious here. I would think about fighting to da det for her.
Incredible.
I love the new mountain stuff, but lets face it, it doesn’t blend very well with the studio bound 60s feel.
Thanks for the screen shots and video Matt. Its nice to have the sound with it. I did notice a fair sized dot of dirt on the live action when they beam down. If you look in between Kirk and Spock as they beam down on the live action before it cuts to the CGI about half way through the beaming effect there is a black dot that appears then disappears. Hope they can sort that out.
Very nice work though!!! I love the new Shots of the ship and the new shots of Vulcan are breathtaking and really help to pull this episode out of the studio. Great work!
For all those posters that never seem to like the look of the infamous “nacelle caps”….I think in this episode they finally nailed down the right look. They look impressive, especially in the extreme close up shot of the Enterprise passing.
Maybe it’s just my eyes, but it seems that every week the shots of the Enterprise are getting sharper and improving in many subtle ways- better color and contrast, less shadows, more and better angles etc.
The CBS CGI team continues to surprise and improve from week to week. Keeps me looking forward to the next remastered episode. Great job!
Mike :o
Absolutely wonderful work! I am even more pissed off now because we can’t watch these wonderful episodes in the UK.
The new shots of the E and the planet Vulcan were wonderful and I really liked the other new stuff. Its hard to tell how well it blends with the rest of the live action stuff but I applaude the creativity that CBS D performed on this episode.
Even though we were all waiting for Doomsday, I think its the little surprises like the Tpring picfture that really impress me because of the level of creative thought that goes into updating something less obvious.
Why hasn’t this site written an article on the Star Trek documentary that is being aired on the History Channel, Monday night at 8 p.m. CST?
I was impressed with this one. The decision to replace the “troika walk” to the arena with the digital matte paintings was right, and it was handled deftly. My only criticism I mentioned in an earlier post was that the geography was too similar to that of ST3, and I fear it might devalue the imagery in that movie if a new fan were to watch the Trekverse in order. But the paintings looked great, and the pull-out as Spock beamed out was very effective. Gotta love that tight shot of the Enterprise CBS-D dropped in there too. I didn’t even notice they had replaced the background in T’Pring’s photograph until I came here. Nice! Kinda looks like the Vulcan homesteads seen in S4 of Enterprise.
The really close pass of the Enterprise reminded me of a shot in TAS. Looks great can’t wait to see this tonight.
Do you think Spock is smiling at the end because he knows he’s not going to jail? I mean, if I thought I killed my boss, I know I’d be going away for quite some time too.
I’m just sayin…
#18 – Matt, that was a super video capture! Your WMV video is much clearer than the UHF signal we get in my town over the cable system – I couldn’t see Spock beaming out until I saw your version. And they are much more enjoyable with the soundtrack included. It will certainly be a treat to finally see these episodes uncut in high definition on HD-DVD.
I’ll also echo Toonoon’s comment in #36 – this episode highlighted the creativity of the remastering team in addressing the Vulcan set limitations and tying together the disparate versions of Vulcan we have seen. And more power to them as they get more creative on the various ship shots. Here’s one vote for less stock footage and more dramatic angles like we saw this time around.
Thanks for including sound on the FX reel this time.
Where’s the shot of the Enterprise leaving orbit? I thought seeing the dark side of the planet with all of the lights from the surface looked spectacular. Is there some way that you could post that picture too?
This was a RADICAL departure from what’s been done til now!!
No one else seems to have pointed out that this remastering has crossed a line into radical territory, which is to excise actual live action dialog and replace it with CGI scenery. Everything til now has simply been replacing one FX shot with another. But now we have lost dialog. Now, i thought it worked brilliantly. A huge improvement, mostly because the music was so stirring. It had been a waste to have that music covered over with banal dialog. The new version is spectacular. But it is, nonetheless, a radical departure from what we’ve seen up until now. What other bits of dialog will be deemed expendable in the face of cool eye candy?
This is an issue that makes the middle initial pale in comparison. All dialog is canon, right?
Thanks for including sound in the FX reel, adds a better sense of context than the silent videos had.
Some great new CGI there, too. I had my concerns about them removing footage of the actos, but it looks like it was totally justified.
# 18, Matt, you’ve outdone yourself. Amazing capture. Could you go back and re-do the Doomsday Machine? ;) Seriously, I think viewing this on a good monitor with a decent graphics card will put paid to all the critics of CBS Digital. Amazing work! I don’t see any harsh or “gamey” looking work; the texture and lighting are damn good.
My TV is an old Phillips CRT, so that helps eliminate any artifacts. I’ll bet that if Canon SED is perfected, or the new Pioneer plasma technology, the HD DVDs will be amazing. Matt’s work here looked like what I saw on TV — almost. Again, maybe those who don’t like the recent efforts are watching on LCDs or older plasma.
Fantastic work. They should at least get an Emmy nomination!
And thanks again, Matt.
#44; keep in mind these are just syndication cuts, in order to meet modern show time length demands. An “hour long” show, which used to run 53 to 55 minutes, now has to be 43 minutes or under. And let’s face it; it’s the new CGI that’s selling this, per se, to a new audience. They’ll come aboard when the TOSR is released on DVD.
#19; agreed; now that I’ve seen more and more, I want a TOSR(R) (or TOSRv2) of “BALANCE OF TERROR”.
re/”Close shot of the ENTERPRISE”
I really want more of this. I want an underside shot (a la the teaser trailer for STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY) as the 1701 approaches a planet.
First of all The close Shot of the Enterprise was a pleasant surprise. The exterior shots are purely fantastic. With a big screen TV I really liked the attention of detail.
The only part I was cringing a little on was the Vulcan arena long shots. I felt it was just a unnecessary shot which more than likely they could have used for improving the background when they are already in the arena. If it was just a lack of time and money than this episode should have been rescheduled and time could have been spent on that.
Yes I do think the stills look amazing but I didn’t feel this had to be in the episode at all. It didn’t take the Vulcan procession that long to arrive in the arena.
#44
“No one else seems to have pointed out that this remastering has crossed a line into radical territory, which is to excise actual live action dialog and replace it with CGI scenery.”
They have been seduced by the power of the dark side of CGI, and made allegiance to Darth Lucas? Now they have started down that path, forever will it hold them …. LOL
I agree to a certain extent that there is a fine line between updating FX, replacing matte paintings, and cleaning up old film stock, and excising portions of Trek (“Classic formula”) ” for “New Trek”. ;)
I’ll acknowledge a slight discomfort with the change, but can always return to the fact that EVERYTHING done in the Remastered project is doing that. The ‘stun sweep’ done in Wink of an Eye (R), where they ‘grabbed’ an image of the Shat’s arm, recreated it, moved it enough to have the phaser fire become a sweep of discrete beams — rather than a green ‘blob’ that covered the entire FOV — was the same basic act. Now, CBS(D) didn’t exise dialog to my knowledge, but, I’m presuming that those extra couple of seconds came at the expense of something else.
Ironically, an argument could be made that the weekly time editing process done for the broadcast is more destructive to the vision of the original ep director and writer.
If what someone wants is the original ORIGINAL, and is uncomfortable with the changes (any) made in the remastering, that’s available for viewing. Someone who isn’t, can watch (for now), and purchase the DVDs when CBS releases them.
For now, I am going to continue to enjoy the remastering. IF they go too far (and I guess that I’ll have to make that call when it happens), then I’ll make a decision as to (a) continuing to watch and (b) purchasing them when they are released.