TOS Special Edition

lordpenquin · December 15th, 2003, 02:08 PM

It would be great (but never will happen) if they (whoever they are) would take TOS and redo all the FX shots with current tech. Seeing what this did for star wars with the special editions was incredible. They have enough ability to make new vipers and keep the shots of the original actors in the cockpits. They could even redo the interior of the cockpits too.

Just think, all the great storylines and writing stay the same, but with new special effects (no more "loops" of the same FX shot over and over and over and over again).

Of course the new CG battlestar, basestars, and vipers would have to match the original design as much as possible, only with greater detail and more "realism".

TOS in THX... Dolby Pro Logic II...

drool....

GreggAllinson · December 15th, 2003, 02:32 PM

lordpenquin · December 15th, 2003, 04:18 PM

Ok then. How about a compromise? Galactica 80 with Starbuck and Apollo digitaly added back in where those reject replacements are?

BST · December 15th, 2003, 04:36 PM

Got to give you an "A" for effort, lordpenguin but,

there are some things that cannot be touched: TOS

there are some things that shouldn't be touched (with a 10ft pole): G80
exc. "Return of Starbuck".

Seriously, though, and I won't speak for anyone else, but, it wasn't only the visuals that "drew me in", it was the storyline. In fact, of all the characters in the show, my favorite is Adama. How he handled the grief of the nation and his own personal sorrow, commanded the ship, assumed responsibility for the survivors of the Holocaust, and kept folks focused on the icon of hope - Earth, in my humble opinion, can never be captured with CG. It's intangibles like these mentioned that "got me hooked" those many years ago and that grip is still as tight as ever.

Thanks for trying.

BST

kingfish · December 15th, 2003, 05:40 PM

This was a strong possibility. In an interview Richard Hatch stated that they were going to add new effects to the pilot. One day it was a go and the next Universal pulled the plug.

GreggAllinson · December 15th, 2003, 06:41 PM

But "special editions" suck. I have yet to see one that actually improves on the original. I don't mind "director's cuts" and the restoration of scenes that were edited out of films, but once you start going in and creating new FX and/or scenes...you start distorting the original production and disrespecting the work of people who worked on it.

Plus, like I said, they never improve on the original. The Red Dwarf special editions looked horrific, and the new Star Wars effects clashed very badly with the original effects.

callsignfalcon · December 15th, 2003, 09:58 PM

love the compromise! :laugh:

dru · December 16th, 2003, 03:48 AM

The only episode to mess with is Fire In Space. I just can't sit there and ignore those high-visibility wires on Starbuck & Apollo! I was really disappointed that wasn't fixed.

Otherwise: Leave it alone!

Those supposed "Special Editions" from Lucas were an abomination, a decicration and a sin against cinematic history.

lordpenquin · December 16th, 2003, 05:40 AM

No. What is a sin against Humanity is the fact that Lucas will NEVER release the original untouched versions of the first three films on DVD. We need the original masterpieces on DVD too. That way fans can pick which ones to get, not force us to get only one version. And Lucas needs to be tried for war crimes for episodes I, II, and the upcoming III.

GreggAllinson · December 16th, 2003, 05:55 AM

Well, that's a good point. I don't have *as much* of a problem with special editions if they don't displace the originals. Unfortunately, that's often the case- the original versions of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Superman: The Movie, Blade Runner, and several other classic late 70s/early 80s SF films are unavailable on DVD.

I also have a good feeling about Episode III...I was rubbish and II was embarassing outside of the Obi-Wan detective subplot, but I have a hard time believing that a movie centred around the fall of Anakin Skywalker will be bad. Plus, everything I've heard about it sounds very encouraging.

Proximo · December 16th, 2003, 07:28 AM

Actually, apart from one or two scenes, I quite liked the special edition star wars. I just wish they would release the untouched versions on DVD as well. My vhs tapes are starting to wear out...

I don't see why people are so vehemently opposed to special edition Galactica. The original is already out on DVD and selling well, so I doubt they'd be able to justify discontinuing such a well-sold DVD. As long as the new SFX stay true to the original ideas (unlike red dwarf's) then a special edition would be a great thing. IMO. Besides, there have to be at least a few artists out there who wished they could have worked on TOS. Right?

Westy · December 16th, 2003, 07:49 AM

I'd buy a DVD version that had all the chopped, deleted and cutting room floor scenes restored. That's about all I'd like to see done to it though.

Adding new effects would be like....redoing the effects in the Wizard of Oz. Pointless.

lordpenquin · December 16th, 2003, 08:31 AM

well, perhaps it would be better if the the effects were not completely redone, but rather "fixed". Like the wires would be removed, and some of the fx shots would be fixed like in the pilot when all the viper pilots were on the planet surface. There was this huge cylon attack wave coming in, with what two vipers leading the charge. Kinda like the same radar image we saw at the opening with apollo and zack. Retouch some of the images, while leaving the majority of them intact.
That would probably be better recieved than a complete redo of all fx. Maybe find some deleted scenes that were never finished because of the lack of funds. Splice them back into the episodes with new effects.

Sept17th · December 17th, 2003, 01:29 AM

A 20th Anniversary Special Edition of Saga Could of Spared Us from the Mini-Series.

Firstly IMO some special editions work well. I enjoyed the Star Wars SE, nothing is perfect Greedo shooting first comes to mind, over all I thought it worked.

I would not want a SE to do major redesigning of the Vipers and cockpits etc. Minor stuff would be acceptable but the look of Battlestar was not the problem. Over use of the F/X shots was.

A 20th anniversary SE with new F/X shots on DVD/VHS would have generated positive buzz. This would have had a good chance of removing any argument that Battlestar needed to be completely re-imagined.

A few examples, certainly not all inclusive of what I would have liked to see.

The scenes with the battlestars at Cimtar, add some more battlestars and fighters swarming around when the big G pulls away.

Scenes on the Galactica’s monitors during the attack of other planetary defense ships being wiped out.

Carillon ending; instead “static electricity” bolts, violent mountain top eruptions spewing flaming lava and rock at the basestar.

dru · December 17th, 2003, 03:34 AM

I'd like to see the full Saga of a Star World. I happened to scan through my movie DVD and really it wasn't as satisfying as the episodes. Part of that was editing. The 'red sea' reuses the same effects shots a demented number of times. I could see fixing that in a "special edition" but since I assume the entire "Saga" was filmed in a full 1.85:1 aspect I'd like to see the whole *saga* re-edited in full.

Belloby · December 17th, 2003, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by lordpenquin
Ok then. How about a compromise? Galactica 80 with Starbuck and Apollo digitaly added back in where those reject replacements are?

Oh, YEAH!

Now that's the first re-imaging I COMPLETELY SUPPORT!

lordpenquin · December 17th, 2003, 07:16 PM

Now people, when I say a redo of the effects shots, I do NOT mean replace them with new CG effects. I mean replace them them with new matte paintings, minitures, and blue screens.

I think that with today's technology, they could do absolute magic with minitures. There is no subsitute for a well crafted model. Screw the 100% CG images. Give me a blue screen with a mini viper model anyday. I'll give you an example:

Alien

I recently saw the re-release of it to the theaters, and after 25 years, the space shots still work. you know why? Because they used hand painted matte paintings, and well crafted minitures. Now look at the last starfighter. That was the first film (besides tron) to use extended CG work. At the time, it looked great. Now, it's a dated piece of poo. After years of upgrades, any CG work looks dated, but good blue screen, matte painting, and minitures stand the test of time...

GreggAllinson · December 18th, 2003, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by lordpenquin
Now people, when I say a redo of the effects shots, I do NOT mean replace them with new CG effects. I mean replace them them with new matte paintings, minitures, and blue screens.

I think that with today's technology, they could do absolute magic with minitures. There is no subsitute for a well crafted model. Screw the 100% CG images. Give me a blue screen with a mini viper model anyday. I'll give you an example:

That makes a "special edition" even MORE pointless. The original Galactica's effects are still quite spectacular. I thought "special editions" were all about modernizing special effects...not trying to do the exact same thing over again.

Terayon · December 20th, 2003, 08:32 AM

I watch the original Galactica and the effects look astonishingly good. I watch some new show, like Star Trek Enterprise, and the effects are completely ho-hum.

What in god's name is so fantastic about this "new technology"? Matte paintings look more like matte paintings now than they did 20 years ago. And don't even get me started on the ships. Textureless, two-dimensional pixel packages. All that crap is designed to save money, not be better.