CBS Home Entertainment just released the disc-by-disc details for the seventh and final season of Star Trek: The Next Generation Blu-ray and the "All Good Things" stand-alone Blu-ray, both due in stores in December. See below for all the details, box art and trailers.
TNG Season 7 Blu-ray coming December 2nd
The project to bring Star Trek: The Next Generation into the world of HD is finally coming to a conclusion with the December 2nd release of Season 7 on Blu-ray. In addition, the season finale "All Good Things" is getting a special stand-alone release. Season 7 contains all 25 episodes completely remastered in high definition, along with a new collection of special features, including a three-part documentary “The Sky’s The Limit: The Eclipse Of Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “In Conversation: Lensing Star Trek: The Next Generation.” Also included is an unreleased gag reel and exclusive deleted scenes.
Season Seven Trailer
The Blu-ray release of the feature-length series finale "All Good Things" (winner of the 1995 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation) comes with the newly produced documentary “The Unknown Possibilities of Existence: Making ‘All Good Things…’” and never-before-released deleted scenes.
All Good Things Trailer
TNG Season 7 Season Disc Breakdown
Box Art
Disc One:
Episodes
• Descent, Part II
• Liaisons
• Interface
• Gambit, Part I
• Gambit, Part II
Special Features
• Archival Mission Log: Mission Overview Year Seven (SD)
• Deleted Scenes (HD) – NEW!
o Descent, Part II
o Liasons
o Gambit, Part I
o Gambit, Part II
• Episodic Promos (SD)
Disc Two:
Episodes
• Phantasms
• Dark Page
• Attached
• Force Of Nature
Special Features
• In Conversation: Lensing Star Trek: The Next Generation (HD) – NEW!
• Gag Reel (HD) – NEW!
• Archival Mission Log: A Captain’s Tribute (SD)
• Archival Mission Log: Departmental Briefing Year Seven: Production (SD)
• Deleted Scenes (HD) – NEW!
o Dark Page
• Episodic Promos (SD)
Disc Three:
Episodes
• Inheritance
• Parallels
• The Pegasus
• Homeward
• Sub Rosa
Special Features
• Audio Commentary by Brannon Braga (2008)
o Parallels
• Archival Mission Log: Starfleet Moments and Memories (SD)
• Deleted Scenes (HD) – NEW!
o Inheritance
o Parallels
o Sub Rosa
• Episodic Promos (SD)
Disc Four:
Episodes
• Lower Decks
• Thine Own Self
• Masks
• Eye of the Beholder
• Genesis
Special Features
• Audio Commentary by René Echevarria and Mike & Denise Okuda – NEW!
o Lower Decks
• Archival Mission Log: Special Profiles (SD)
• Deleted Scenes (HD) – NEW!
o Thine Own Self
o Masks
o Genesis
• Episodic Promos (SD)
Disc Five:
Episodes
• Journey’s End
• Firstborn
• Bloodlines
• Emergence
• Preemptive Strike
Special Features
• Audio Commentary by René Echevarria, Naren Shankar, and Mike & Denise Okuda -NEW!
o Preemptive Strike
• Closed Set: A Tour of the Real Enterprise (SD)
• Archival Mission Log: Inside Starfleet Archives: Dressing The Future (SD)
• Deleted Scenes (HD) – NEW!
o Journey’s End
o Firstborn
o Bloodlines
o Preemptive Strike
• Episodic Promos (SD)
Disc Six:
Episodes
• All Good Things…
Special Features
• The Sky’s The Limit: The Eclipse of Star Trek: The Next Generation (HD) – NEW!
o Part One: Umbra
o Part Two: Penumbra
o Part Three: Antumbra
• Journey’s End: The Saga of Star Trek: The Next Generation (SD)
• Archival Mission Log: The Making of “All Good Things…” (SD)
• Episodic Promos (SD)
All Good Things Blu-ray
Box Art
Episode:
• All Good Things…
Special Features
• Audio Commentary By Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga – NEW!
• The Unknown Possibilities of Existence: Making “All Good Things…” (HD) – NEW!
• Deleted Scenes (HD) – NEW!
• Episodic Promos (SD)
Next Gen HD Complete
With the Blu-ray release of season seven, Star Trek: The Next Generation will now be completely available in high definition. All seven seasons are available to order at Amazon.com.
The TNG Blu-ray sets
Now, about those other two Star Trek series still stuck in SD…..come on CBS!!
I wish they would just put the deleted scenes into the episode.
Are the “All Good Things” deleted scenes only available on the stand-alone DVD or will they be in the Season 7 box set?
@#2
I’ve heard this wish since deleted scenes first started appearing on discs, and I have to repeat what I’ve always said — as a bonus feature, yes, but unless you’re marketing the product as a “director’s edition” and said director has signed off on the inclusion of the scene, I say a strong “no way” to editing in deleted material into the original broadcast (or theatrical) release. I despise the altering of episodes to include a few extra minutes that more often than not add nothing and were cut for a reason.
That’s our opinion… we welcome yours.
@ #3
The “All Good Things…” bonus features are exclusive to the stand-alone title, as has been the case in the past with “The Best of Both Worlds,” “Redemption,” “Unification” and “Chain of Command”.
Personally, I think that “Gambit” or “Descent” should’ve been the “season 7 feature-length episode”… the discs already include a movie version of “All Good Things…” — a rather useless choice, except that it was one of the finest episodes.
I thought there was going to be a home movie from the Okuda’s touring the sets?
I’m very excited about TNG’s seventh season on Blu-ray. Quite frankly, this is a classic Star Trek at its best. I may not have liked every single episode of this season as much as I would have preferred, but the stories and creative quality, as well as dedication to production excellence, recommend this season over several others in the context of an extraordinary series.
It’s easy to forget, so many years after the end of TNG’s original run, just how amazing this series was. Say what you will about Insurrection and Nemesis in the movie incarnation of this cast and crew, it was clear that with TNG, Trek’s lightning had struck twice in its appeal to critics and general audiences alike. And posterity is the better for it.
# 4. Telly1701 – October 16, 2014
” I despise the altering of episodes to include a few extra minutes that more often than not add nothing and were cut for a reason.” – Telly1701
That cuts both ways. Many are unaware how much has been removed from old television shows in order to cram in more commercials that it is impossible to restore some of them to the state of their original airings. MY FAVORITE MARTIAN is only available in this time compressed abridged state as a result of that.
Then there is the reluctance to navigate musical copyrights that leads to music that was never in the original airings. CBS is especially egregious about this in their other shows. I believe they let this only affect Trek in certain releases of CITY ON THE EDGE OF FOREVER. And the music definitely has been futzed with in TOS Trek’s remastering so that it may be the same composition but it it isn’t the original performance that aired on the theme. And then we have to touch on the redone FX.
So while I generally agree with you on this, I’m willing to make exceptions given the sad state of master prints and recordings preservation for many shows.
Another thing of which people are often unaware is that many American shows have a domestic cut and what I call the “European” cut which is done cognizant that there’s different cultural standards and it is looser in what is permissible to air over there.
In light of this, it isn’t as easy to despise as it once was for me.
#8
You just proved my point — unnecessary editing for syndication/cable broadcasts is sickening. I”m for not cutting material from and restoring cut material from the *original* broadcast versions of episodes. But splicing in these new-found deleted scenes is just as damaging, in my opinion, as cutting out material. Altering a director’s (or producer’s) final vision for any reason is inexcusable.
Can we have a definitive answer one way or the other from CBS on DS9 on Blu Ray now please..
I can appreciate it is a difficult decision for them, but surely there is only a limited period in which they can make the call given the the RESTORATION TEAM will move on to other projects pretty soon and then the project will be lost.
I ‘m thinking that TNG Season 7 will be game over for the current remastering team. DS9 is simply not that popular enough to warrent a release, based on how much it will cost to remaster all seven seasons of the show. It’s taken over two years to remaster TNG and its probably been quite costly. Enterprise was only done because of two factors for me.
1. It’s a relatively recent show. Only ten years old.
2. It’s near-hd ready. Lots of the effects are CGI – Much easier to covert to HD.
TNG is a really popular show in sydnication, has been for 20 years! Incredible really. And CBS obviously want TNG, as popular as it continues to be, in as good shape as the TOS, which also looks stunning and is accessable to younger people (I am 23).
DS9 is not probably going to happen soon. It is not even as popular as Voyager in sydnication?
TOS was out on bluray for a good two years after the project was completed before TNG was announced so there may be a break, or it may not happen for a long time, or ever. As fans we should just pray for a better version of these episodes because against bluray they look abysmal, honestly.
I just finished Season 1 on bluray. I did not like it. Despite the cleaned up SFX and restoration…it’s still the same bland show…I wasn’t blown away by the resolution like most people. I’d rather keep the DVD versions. This is for hardcore TNG fans…and I’m not one of them.
This is my favorite season by far of TNG. Pegasus, Parallels, and Lower Decks are my favorite episodes, followed closely by All Good Things.
I honestly think this show had another good two years left.
12… I don’t. The show was running on fumes by Season 7, as evidenced by all the “long lost family member” episodes (Data’s Mom, Beverly’s Grandmother, Geordi’s parents, Picard’s “son”, Worf’s foster brother, Deanna’s sister) and probably the weakest pseudoscience stories since Season 1 (“Genesis”, “Force of Nature”). Had TNG continued another two years, it would have been more or less the same stories as Voyager’s Season 1 and 2 (which were pretty awful) recast with TNG characters, and would have lessened TNG’s legacy (which somehow survived Season 7’s “Masks” and “Sub Rosa” more or less intact.)
Big fan of this season (Masks and Sub Rosa aside), but I think the Season 7 dvds I bought off Ebay for about $8 a few years back still work just fine….:)
Nice try, CBS, but I’ve bought enough episodes of Trek for my lifetime.
@13 Thorny
Yes, they had those crappy filler episodes because they had to make about 25 shows a season, which is twice too many for any show IMHO. But I think that for another two seasons, we could have had many more great TNG episodes (mixed in with a few filler ones). I think the creative team was just hitting their stride in 1994-1996. They made the First Contact movie and a bunch of great DS9 and even some good Voyager eps.
I wish that Paramount would have held off canceling TNG in 1994 and NOT make a movie. But, it is to dream, eh?
I guess we got Ron Moore to come to DS9 out of TNG ending, so that was a huge plus. And the TNG movies and Voyager occupied more of Berman’s time so he left DS9 alone. So, it did work out for the best.
But back to topic: if I ever get this set, I am most looking forward to disc six about the end of this epic series. I remember 1994 so well, I proposed to my wife then and almost lost my life in a car accident. Star Trek was on the cover of Time magazine, and even nominated for an Emmy for best series. I recorded and re-watched All Good Things many, many times that year.
Season 7 was a mixed back but the actors had their roles down so well that even the bad episodes were pretty “okay”.
And ofcourse we got the “real” TNG movie in All Good Things (which could EASILY have been made into a feature film including the original cast…*sigh*).
Here’s a question: Are the masters restored to only HD quality or are they film quality and thus can be released in Ultra HD in a few years?
Related question: Does anyone here have an Ultra HD TV/Player and if so, to what extent does it upconvert material like this?
I’d like to know why we they don’t offer all of the two parters as separate movie features. I guess the sales aren’t there.
I recently read that the sales of the TNG Blu-Rays weren’t very strong and that conversion of the other series is unlikely due to that. Does anyone know for a fact that the sales were low?
Sales of season 1 were good. Subsequent sales were very poor. Sadly, I don’t think that the demand is there for DS9. Let alone Voyager.
There might come a time when they convert DS9 and Voyager too. If they want to continue to syndicate them, they will want to upgrade them to full HD. it will likely get cheaper to do so as time goes on.
And CBS might just have to accept that its the price of doing business to keep your content fully up to date.
When are we going to see DS9 BLU-Rays?
I have a question for all these posts I see, that say there DVDs are fine, and will not be buying the Blue Rays. Do you fellow Trek fans have a big HD TV? If you have only a small 32inch or smaller, you will not see much of a difference, but when you get a bigger HD TV, say a 40inch or bigger , you may or should see the difference. I have the DVDs and they look like crap in comparision on a 40inch or bigger HD TV , so I do not know or understand these statements. I will tell you that these new TNG Blue Rays, they blow this Star Trek fans mind. Maybe you are to far back on the couch to see it. Also for the poster who said he had season one of TNG on Blue Ray, and it did not blow him away. Well the first season used a different film stock, and I think a different film speed as well. Because the proceeding seasons look fantastic in HD. The first season was a bland season anyway, ha ha ha ha.
Even if you dont like the pictures quality, the special features are a great value, and a must see. I would say, buy these Blue Rays if you have a HD TV bigger than a 32inch one. I have seen some blue rays and dvds on a small 32inch HD TV, and yes, there is not a lot of difference unless you sit right in front of the screen. Fellow Trekkers , you need these Blue Rays, and it is too bad they are so costly. But the amount spent to remaster them is very high.
16. Mad Mann. We have to agree to disagree then. Far from hitting their stride (which I submit happened in Season 3-4), I think Season 7 was the beginning of the creative burnout which plagued Voyager and Enterprise. (DS9 seemed to be on a separate trajectory with a different crew of producers and writers, thank heavens.) Sure we got “All Good Things…” and “First Contact” in there, but very little else rose to that level of greatness, and don’t forget we had to sit through the train wreck that was “Generations” first.
@mark Daniels – Amen brother. To be fair, it seems some people truly cant see the difference between SD and HD. My parents dont seem to notice. For me, the day I put my first blu-ray in on my first big tv (52″), it was breathtaking (and it was a crappy movie).
Not only the picture quality, the sound quality. I love good sound. The Watchmen is a revelation in HD with the picture and sound quality.
Funny aside – I watched STID once at home. As I was watching I thought ‘this picture quality is not impressive’. But I was too lazy to check the disc. Turns out I put the DVD in instead of the Blu Ray. My player up-converted it but you could still tell.
Sadly, I havent bothered to watch STID again even though I have yet to see it on the big TV in full HD.
I hope Netflix replaces the current sub quality TNG eps with HD once Season 7 is released.
The thing is — CBS overestimated their marketing strategy by vastly overpricing the TNG blu rays. Close to a hundred bucks apiece?
I understand that they need to recoup the money spent in the restoration and upgrades, but the fact is, most Trekkies are fed up with having to spend loads of money re-buying the same product over and over.
The TNG blu ray season sets should have been set at no higher than $55.
So now we’re going to have to wait another ten years for CBS to upgrade DS9.
I doubt CBS will license out TNG HD to Netflix or tv networks. They will continue to air the SD versions because they don’t want to give away anything without anyone paying for it. They desperately need the blu ray sets to sell.
@6. jwelch7208
TrekCore says its the feature on disc five called “Closed set”
A failure is a failure at any price point.
I seem to recall that to help generate interest in the first few releases, CBS held special screenings for certain episodes. But I don’t recall seeing any screening announcements since the screening for Best of Both Worlds. Have I missed something?
I also was able to purchase the first four seasons at reasonable prices instead of the insane list price. But I have not been able to find Seasons 5 or 6 for anything less than $70
OK i can see the difference,i have only brought the single disc as way to much the box-sets(they are coming down) i compare it to watching the original broadcast standard is like underwater without any goggles on
my only gripe so far is they cut about a minute of footage for the best of both worlds single discs(i am guessing they did not for the box-set)
it was film on 35 mm film so can that be transferred to 4K i am pretty sure the bonds filmed were 70 mm they were scanned in at 4K however its not 4K not far off so i cant see next gen being able to be in 4K not unless they can add detail
@26. Driver,
“I hope Netflix replaces the current sub quality TNG eps with HD once Season 7 is released.”
Season 1 is already airing in HD on BBC America. I’m sure CBS will get around to updating all of their versions if the broadcasters are willing to pay for it. They also created the CGI space shots in 16:9, presumably for future release of a cropped HD version of the series as they have already done in some markets.
@32. pilotfred,
As I recall, the film elements were scanned at 4K if not higher. So they should easily be able to distribute in that format if warranted. Frankly, 4K is not so much about added detail when it comes to cinema, as much as it is about maintaining the current level of detail when blown up larger than the typical 40-60″ HD TV. As the average home TV screens approach 70 & 80 inches and even larger sizes become more affordable in the future, a 1080p picture will begin to fail horribly.
@ 33. Curious Cadet:
TNG was scanned at 2K. The high-speed motion picture film stocks that were in use from ’87-’94 aren’t capable of much more than about 2.5K in resolution at typical contrast levels according to Kodak’s own technical data sheets (50 line pairs per millimeter). Also, much of the film was push processed (i.e. overdeveloped) to increase its sensitivity, making it grainier.
You *could* scan it at 4K, and you would gain a bit of resolution, but I’m skeptical you would see much of a difference between a native 4K scan of the film and a 2K upconverted image at recommended seating distances.
You should keep in mind that 4K matches the resolution of a 70mm print. 70mm is a large format process intended for super huge screens (60-90 feet wide). Being that they are 3rd generation copies of the original camera negative, 35mm release prints are very soft and have just about 1080p resolution once the image travels through the mechanism and optics of the projector and hits the screen. 1080p is just fine for matching what 35mm can deliver to an audience.
Many movies today still get 2K rather than 4K DI’s (Digital Intermediates). 4K is very expensive. That’s slowly changing, but it’s still the case.
No complete series box set?
@2. Snugglepuff
Agreed. I wish they would do the same for the movies. I had the movie collection on VHS which were the theatrical releases. Some changes made for the DVD’s and now the blu-ray motion pictures are cut again. I am most disappointed with TMP, TWOK, and TUC, many scenes cut out which I do not like. All the movies should be extended versions and the TV series should have the cut scenes added it, its not like they have to fit into an hour time slot like cable.
It like Lord of the Rings. I didn’t buy the theatrical trilogy knowing full well they would release an extended edition trilogy.
Please can we have a Blu-Ray TNG ‘moviebox’ where ALL the 2 parters are spliced together into TV movies, just like the great DVD moviebox from years ago. And as a bonus they could also remaster DS9 Emissary for HD and put that in the set too :-) Again, just like the DVD moviebox!
#28 The Syfy channel in the UK shows the remastered TNG episodes so CBS licensing them out to TV networks is already happening. I don’t see why they can’t get it on Netflix as it would generate some revenue for them. I don’t know how Netflix works economically but there must be something in it for both of them otherwise it wouldn’t exist.
I think the lack of sales is entirely down to the fact that they cost a lot of money. It is understandable that a lot of care and attention went into remastering these and making them look as good as they do but the fact of the matter is it’s a lot of money to sink into a boxset. Amazon UK had them priced at £17 odds the weekend of DSTL and I almost bought them but it would have put me in quite a bit of debt so I’m glad I didn’t.
If they went down to £20 – £25 I would start buying them over a relatively long period of time. It will happen eventually and everyone knows this. i genuinely think that many people are waiting for something similar before shelling out on at TV show they probably already own in one way or another.
I hope they do DS9 and to a lesser extent Voyager, would be nice for all of trek to get this treatment.
Fearless prediction, and you heard it here first:
CBS is too greedy not to offer an HD upgrade of “Deep Space Nine”, but they’re also too miserly to do it right. We *will* get a remastered season 1, but the visual effects will *not* be remastered–they’ll be upconverted, and it will look terrible. Sales will be abysmal, and CBS Home Video will say “see, there’s no market for DS9 on Blu-ray!” The entire project will be canceled before season 2 is released.
Remember, you heard it here first. (Now prove me wrong, CBS!)
I’m surprised Blu-ray is the focus of CBS’s HD strategy, to be honest. Promotion of HD formats has been disastrous and the failure to phase out DVD means many people will put up with TV shows and films in standard def! Many people just don’t care that much about the quality and the excessive pricing has led to an ‘it’ll do’ attitude regarding buying cheaper DVDs. I’m sure the Blu-rays have been ripped and torrented to death anyway.
I’d have thought the whole HD strategy would have been built towards iTunes (and similar streaming/downloading) sales and sales to HD stations. I mean, I’m a huge TOS fan, but I don’t own season three yet because of the cost. I’ve pretty much finished with buying TV shows on disc now: I watch them on Netflix or buy them on iTunes. iTunes HD isn’t as good as Blu-ray, but it’s much better than DVD for most TV shows and only marginally worse than the Blu-ray releases TV. There are limits and TNG is an old, dated show without the niche, cult qualities of TOS to give it it some extra glamour, so weaker seasons will have less enthusiastic buyers at the prices being charged.
I definitely felt the show was at the end of its life by season seven. Some of the stories were appalling: in season one, The Last Outpost was dull, while in season 7, Genesis was an embarrassment, ripping off a Space 1999 episode. All Good Things was excellent, though: it encapsulated many strengths and weaknesses of the show and gave a cohesive future to the TNG universe. Bizarrely, it drew a line under the TNG era so perfectly that the TNG films were relegated to an peculiar coda or afterthought. I’ll certainly pick up the AGT Blu-ray if it shows up in the UK.
That said, I’m sorry to hear DS9 or Voyager won’t get proper upgrades: I actually like the shows better than TNG. I wouldn’t buy them on Blu-ray, but I’d watch them in HD on Netflix or pick up episodes on iTunes!
I may get flamed for this…. But “All Good Things” was just an awful finale. Q help Picard’s hand throughout and even flat out told him the mystery at hand. It was weak. It was not thought provoking. It was merely long, drawn out and tired. DS9 had a satisfying finale. And the unduly maligned “Nemesis” presented a vastly superior finale for our TNG crew. Unlike “All Good Things”, “Nemesis” was very entertaining and our characters grew and moved on.
Unfortunately like TNG, DS9’s first season was pretty bad. I wouldn’t rush out to buy either of those. However, season 2 was good and 3 three and beyond of DS9 were great. I think quite possibly the best of Trek. By season 7 the show lost it’s way a little and I thought the finale was mediocre.
Nevertheless DS9 has the long running plot arcs that would make for excellent telemovies and series releases, and is probably the ST series most deserving of a blu-ray release. Sadly as everyone else has said, these sets are not priced to move and I really have only been able to justify the 2 parters thus far. Unless they can price the season sets more reasonably, I’d probably not be able to get them.
Is it really true the sales of the recent Blue Ray sets are not so good? I think maybe the price, and also the strict code of how they have been re-mastered and presented comes into play. I think it is great they are sticking to having the episodes be as much as possible to the original broadcast versions. But I think they should offer more extended edits to some episodes where the material is not redundant, like the extended version of Star Trek TNG episode “Measure of a Man” that was on the season 2 blue ray. That is what some fans want, and was truly outstanding. That version was the reason I wanted that Blue Ray. Why did that stop after that release in regards to some other episodes that could have had the same treatment that has been a great reason to purchase these Blue Rays, besides them looking fantastic in HD.? I know there are those purists among as Trek fans that don’t want that, that is great, but I am one of those fans who would like both. I mean the episodes presented the way they were, and a re-edited, re-mixed, extended cut of the episodes with deleted scenes edited into a new version. Why do some people think they are damaging something, when this is all done on a computer? It is like when they first movies started to be colorized with the early computer systems (a system that has still not be perfected by the way). These people may have thought that they were taking a paint brush and destroying the original prints. Which is so silly.
In the popular music world there will be remixed, and extended versions put out by artists and produces of music ranging from pop, rock, hard rock, rap, country, blues, soundtracks, and etc.. And some are better than the original, and some are not. These shows are a product, and I think they are not doing what they could do to get more people interested. The documentaries are outstanding. I love the Okudas, and I am not sure how much say so they really have in re-mastering, but I think they should have done something more to offer on these Blue Rays. I know they want too. For example, yes, have the original un-edited versions of these episodes, but also offer more extended version or re-edited version to entice us fans to buy these expensive items. I know the cost is a main reason. Why the hold back after “Measure of Man?
Also these standalone double episode Blue Rays, kind of really really suck in regards to work you are buying. Why would buy something you already have on the set? Why was edit of Best of Both Worlds done so terribly, when in the documentaries it showed an edit that was made, that was seamless? Also why are the deleted scenes in an un-premastered state? Is this to show they were indeed deleted scenes? Is it to costly to adjust the colors? What is the deal? If I am going to buy these standalone episodes, I want both the original and an extended, remixed, wide screened, super-sized, and customized version for my extra dollars.
I know these shows were filmed with Panavision wide screen film stock, and the docs. show that a great number of shots show techs, lighting and stage equipment on the sides, in a number of shots. But why not offer, like I am saying something very different for us fans. Find some trims that don’t have junk on the sides of the wide screen shots. Also with some shots zoom in on the shoot to make it wide screen. I have heard that the detail is just not there. But I find this untrue with a great deal of scenes and shots I see on these Blue Rays. I have to admit that I am a zoomer. Meaning if my blu ray can , I will zoom in and try and make in as wide screen as possible. I know those prusits say that is not the way they were meant to be seen. Well thats nice. But I want to see the actor’s performance, not a nice shot with the actor’s way, way far away. Are there any other fellow zoomers out there? , he he he.
@ 42. Mark Daniels:
You have a few misconceptions that I can hopefully clear up. First, there’s no such thing as “Panavision wide screen film stock.” Panavision makes cameras and lenses, not film stock. The show was shot on Kodak 35mm, color negative motion picture film. The film has no inherent aspect ratio. That is determined by the cinematographic process used, i.e. the specific type of camera coupled with the film gate and a particular ground glass in the viewfinder which determines what portion of the 35mm film will be extracted for presentation. For TNG, that was 4 perf Academy Offset 1.33:1 TV Transmitted Area.
There was no widescreen protection for TNG sadly. If you opened up the framing, not only would you see lens vignetting and all manner of wayward production equipment just outside the 1.33:1 TV area, but the shots would be off center because Academy Offset cameras were used (the lens is mounted over the traditional “Academy” area). You can see this very plainly in the gag reels on the blu-ray sets:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpfgtMhKDTc
You *can* zoom the TNG Blu-rays, but I wouldn’t advise going any further than a 10% zoom (roughly 1.50:1). Beyond that you start impinging on the action safe area. :)
@ Justin Olson
Hello Justin,
I was using Panavision as reference for the cameras they were using. Of course I know they used 35 mm film stock. I think I did mention that on a number of shots to quote you”up the framing, not only would you see lens vignetting and all manner of wayward production equipment just outside the 1.33:1 TV area, but the shots would be off center because Academy Offset cameras were used (the lens is mounted over the traditional “Academy” area). There are some shots that could be used is what I am saying, not all of them, to construct a wide shot. Or to zoom in on the shot, and just generally re-adjust for how much information is on the original negative shots. I have zoomed in more than 10% and it looks fantastic to this eye on a 55 inch TV. I am just saying I as an editor, I would like to have the masters to play around with. I am all for the performance. I do see the clutter on the gag reels on some shots, but not all of the shots look this way. I am sure there that are those working on these remasters that have done some experiments. I just want to see everything. Thank you for the response Justin. You seem well informed. I have studied flmmaking, and I was just trying to use general lingo, that most people may be able to understand what I am saying.
@ Mark,
I apologize, it just seemed — by the way you phrased it — that you were conflating the camera manufacturer, the cinematographic process, and the film stock all together.
One last question, when you zoom the Blu-ray image (presumably to fill the entire width of your 16:9 screen) you’re cutting off the Act One and end titles, right? And probably heads too in many cases? Isn’t that correct? That’s why I said you should probably avoid zooming more than 10%. On my front projector, 1.50:1 looks just fine. Slightly wider without compromising any compositions or cutting off any titles. :)
45. @ Justin Olson
Some types of Blue Ray players have different options for zooming. The zoom feature on one of the current Sony models is very basic and is not very directional. It does cut of the top of heads, and it only has one setting… But for the one LG Blue Ray we have, does have a bit of incremental capability. I can’t remember if it can move its zoom position or not. Meaning, that you could move the zoom area, to not cut the heads off think it is option. I am not sure if I am in a minority here. I think the quality does not suffer too much. But on some shots the grain is very much there. I wish there was an option on some recent TV Blue Ray upgrades or all blue rays, to have the original shot and a zoomed formatted version to fill up your beautiful expensive HD TV. For example, the recent Twin Peaks look great, but the actors look so far away, when compared to the Fire Walk with Me. On some scenes, when zoomed in it looks crystal clear and others, well, not so crystal clear.
@38 Scott Gammans
Nice try… But CBS have already decided to bring a full restauration of DS9 on Bluray in 2016.
I cant agree with the person who said All Good Things was awful. Had they saved that idea for the movie and used the TOS crew for the “past”, it would have been excellent. They would have had to punch up the action etc but it would have been more satisfying.
I disliked that they dropped the Worf/Troi romance without a resolution though (it was never mentioned on DS9 was it??)
I havent bought any of these mostly due to price. But Im considering it. I’d likely buy the DS9 ones if they were done right.
I sort of think the marketing is not quite up to snuff either. Its sort of hard with Paramount doing the new films and CBS focused on TNG. But there has to be a better way.
It’s been a long and interesting road. I’m looking forward to completing my collection. Hopefully there is still a future for Star Trek in the tangible medium market.