AUTOGRAPHS

Does Star Trek Remastered Live Up To Expectations?

At a time when Star Trek had been aired so often that prints were dull, scratched and hazy, Paramount/CBS decided it was time to remaster the original series (TOS) by cleaning up the original master negatives, increasing the picture quality and re-recording the background music. Then they made the decision to take a step futher and replace the aging FX shots with digital CGI effects.

This venture was driven by the appearance of High Definition DVDs in the consumer marketplace. A year ago (late 2007), there was all-out war between the two competing High-Def formats: Blu-Ray and HDDVD. There was no clear winner in sight. All that changed early this year when Warner Bros. finally committed exclusively to supporting the Blu-ray format.

Part of HDDVD’s arsenal, though, was the release of the remastered TOS: Season One. Toshiba, who were investing heavily in HDDVD, put a sizeable amount of money into the remastering project and the release of the remastered Star Trek series was heavily publicised.

All the original series of Star Trek were shot on film which is inherently a high-contrast, high-definition medium. It was also shot using filmatic techniques. Later series of Star Trek such as Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager were all recorded using video, an inherently non-high-definition, non-high-contrast medium. In addition, Star Trek: The Next Generation in particular, was shot using low-contrast lighting that was fashionable at the time. The upshot is that it’s extremely that any of these series will ever appear in high definition on Blu-Ray. I wouldn’t be surprised if TOS does make an appearance on Blu-Ray at some point in the future.

Impressions of Star Trek Remastered

To begin with, it looks gorgeous in high definition. The original 4:3 aspect ratio has been kept and the images are exceedingly clean and crisp. Contrast has been boosted somewhat so images have more punch. The only downside I can see is the common criticism levelled at high definition: too much detail is apparent! For example on the HDDVD you can see the zippers on the cast’s shirts.

The HDDVD release was what’s called a Combo – Standard Definition version on one side (so it plays in a normal DVD player) and a High-Definition version on the other side. Both sides have a good set of extras with little material being repeated.

Now the rest of this review will look at the standard definition DVD releases of the remastered series.

Earlier this year, the first series of the Remastered Star Trek was made available in a standard DVD edition. in the meantime, the second series has been released and the third series of TOS will become available in November. If you already have a copy of the previously released version of the series on DVD (without remastered special effects and music), is there any reason to acquire yet another edition of Star Trek?

For me, having grown up watching the series, I just had to get the HDDVD version. I was more interested in image quality and the show looking as clean and pristine as it did straight out of the camera in the 1960s. I have to admit to being a little dubious about the new effects replacing old ship and other special effects shots and whether they’d detract from the show. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The FX do add to the show, giving it a more immersive quality and lending a more realistic feel to the alien landscapes.

All the FX were created inhouse by CBS (who now own the TV rights). While, for the most part, they’ve done an outstanding job, some ship effects look plasticy rather than like hammered metal. FX for Enterprise~I believe the company that created the effects for Enterprise} were originally considered to create the Star Trek Remastered FX but they turned out to be too expensive and so CBS did the effects inhouse instead.

What makes the Star Trek Remastered so great is that no liberties have been taken in altering or re-imagining the episodes (for better or worse). There’s no “look at what we can do” attitude here. Instead what they’ve done is clean the show up and presented it exactly as it was originally meant to be, musical note for note, shot for shot. The background music has been completely re-recorded, but aside from the fact that it’s now crystal clear (and in 5.1 Dolby Digital) you’d never know it. FX shots of the ship have been redone with CGI, but it’s hard to tell any difference (except on rare occassions), and it now looks brilliant instead of worn out, washed out and incredibly grainy. The new FX fit seamlessly amongst the original live-action footage. Remember those black matte lines, especially around the Enterprise as it orbited a planet? They’re gone. And Fuzzy images? They are also a thing of the past. The colors are brighter, the shadows are deeper and Star Trek has never looked as stunning.

As I mentioned earlier, I was dubious about a version of Star Trek that replaced spacecraft models with computer generated images or tampered with the originally recorded musical score. But what they’ve done here is so faithful, that there’s nothing that any Star Trek fan can do but stand up and applaud. All the work has been carried out by people who love the series; and it shows. It’s just a pity it’s not being put to better use. Paramount has declined to broadcast this new version in High Definition, even though they now have the ability and technology to do it. Combine that with how difficult they’re making it to see it on satellite and cable, and it’s hard to find a reason for bothering with it on television.

Better to beam this pristine version of one of TV’s most venerable and classic shows onto DVD at warp speed. And if you bought into HDDVD and don’t have the Remastered HDDVD, pick that one up instead. You won’t be disappointed.

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