Star Trek: Remastered

You probably have not have heard of a little series from the 1960's called Star Trek - think of it as "Wagon Train to the stars...".  Oh get the hook, if you're on the Internet you know Star Trek.  You know that its success came in the years of reruns since it's original network outing.  It's spawned numerous television and cinema sequels, and has become the 900 pound gorilla of science fiction.  All of this from an ambitious 40 year old TV program.

The new frontier today is HDTV, so the crew at CBS/Viacom have digitally scrubbed the old Trek to be ship-shape and bristol fashioned (I had to put in at least one actual military reference if we're going to sit here and pretend, okay?).  When I heard news of this project, I was concerned that it would suddenly bear little resemblance to the Trek I knew.  I could live with some sprucing, but if they were going to go crazy with the digital, I was gonna beam the hell out of Dodge.

The first pair of episodes were broadcast last weekend, and I have to admit that it was pretty thrilling.  The only places I saw CG in play was with the recreation of original model shots (they took a lot of care to mimic the original speed and feel of those shots - including film grain!), and a little smoothing over of some on-screen special effects.  They didn't change the story, dub in a lot of extra sound, nor did any of their tweaks change the heart of the show.  It still felt like honest-to-goodness Trek.

In reading up on the restoration, I found that CBS/Viacom went back to the camera negatives - which looks incredible.  Back then, every phase of the editing and special effects process printed in dirt and scratches that the average viewer doesn't normally notice, but once cleaned up it's like looking at a whole new world.  Printing and reprinting the film throughout post-production shrinks and distorts the image, so this new restoration makes details clearer and bigger than ever (and you thought that Shatner's head couldn't swell any more...).

I felt like I was watching a Technicolor print.  The image is pristine.  Though it does come with it's problems.  In the 1960's color TV was still novel, hence the splashes of crazy colored light all over the place.  Back then those colors were a bit more pastel and muted, but the new digital restoration process gooses those colors into a garish mess at times.  There is also way too much skin tone at play, especially in Billy boy.  He looks WAY too tan, and disturbingly shiny.  The restoration process may have emphasized levels of color that were never meant to be seen.  There is such a thing as too much enhancement.

The biggest offense in the two episodes aired so far is the William Shatner Eye Light.  I used to point this out to friends (as the effect used to be less pronounced).  Often The Shat steps on his mark, and there's a perfectly masked-off light hitting just his eyes.  I've heard accounts from the other actors on the series that Shatner insisted on these lights "for eyeshine", but really it's just another way to make sure the spotlight is always on you.  In the restoration the eyelight is at a ridiculous level - like he's constantly stepping into the beam of a Krytpon Mag Lite.  Or ten.

That aside, I do really enjoy the newly scrubbed show.  It looks good, and I appreciate the care and discretion that Viacom's team have showed toward the old battlehorse.  I also appreciate that this isn't only being offered as a DVD exclusive, or is only on cable TV.  The show is on 200 regular stations that you can watch the good old way - for free (I'm watching it on the superlative MeTV channel 23 in Chicago).  Overall, this is a great effort put into a show that really deserves it.

We may talk about the newly restored Trek in later posts here on Retro Thing, but if you can't wait I'll bet that there might be other web sites that discuss Star Trek.  Oh, and one last thing...  how many Star Trek script treatments do you think ended with, "and McCoy gets the last word..."?

Official site with behind the scenes videos

Official site Q&A about the project

Gene Roddenberry's birthplace & Scotty's house are both on the realty market

Stop-motion promo clip for another recent Trek re-release.  Only somewhat related, but damned funny.

Comments

[james]

Wicked. When Bohus and I were chatting about the remastering job, I emailed him a few comments. They're probably worth repeating here.

1. Shatner's voice in the opening dialog is rather oddly buried in reverb/delay. I remember the original version being recorded almost dry (though that might just be my failing memory). It sounds as if they were forced to work with a less than pristine master copy of his dialog and had to mask the imperfections. Also, the title music isn't nearly as punchy as the original. It has a even more of a lounge-lizard quality to it... to the point that I'd swear the string section was on the verge of narcoleptic collapse.

2. The end credits have NOT been remastered. The image registration throughout the show is rock-solid, but there's noticeable film weave in the end sequence. The colors are also quite drab in comparison (although the way they underpin the end sequence with stills would look less-than-stellar in any case). I suppose there's no point in spending money on the last minute of a show... you've already watched the commercials.

My 20 second review:
A satisfying balance between old and new. They were kind enough to leave the cheesy background screens and graphics mostly untouched and the newly inserted stuff felt natural. If anything, it makes me realize that the goofy models and matte lines in the original served as constant reminders that the show was make-believe.

With the FX glitches removed, the disbelief shifts to the garish use of colored gels throughout the shipboard sequences. The overabundance of color isn't helped by their choice to shoot in Technicolor, although that decision accidentally ensured that the original 35 mm camera negatives were well preserved on archival-quality filmstock.

Had they instead chosen to shoot on Eastmancolor film, they would've faced a nightmarish uphill battle to restore extremely faded and color-shifted originals (unless you really like magenta).

[Heath]

I don't know if you have seen this but some fans have been recreating the old feel with new episodes you can check them out here at startrek new voyages

[Victor T.]

Hi, I live in elk grove Ca. and want to know how can I see these new remastered star trek episodes. I love the originals and always wondered when they were going to up grade these classic show. How can I see them? Is it on the Sci Fi channel?

[bohus blahut]

from the post: "The show is on 200 regular stations that you can watch the good old way - for free".

The new Star Trek is being syndicated all over the country. I don't know if there is a central list somewhere that offers a nationwide schedule, but I guess you could just check you local listings at tv.yahoo.com. Some folks have reported that their local station is just showing regular Trek, so don't be surprised if you don't get the restored version on your first try.

[james]

Here's a list of affiliates showing the newly updated series in the USA: http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/news/article/25835.html?page=1

I like the abundance of color, Unlike all the later treks that were filmed in "Lounge Lizard" Brown (aka TNG), or washed out greys and blacks (DS9, Voy, and Ent)...the original has color(!!), Flare, and fantasy...I like the saturated colors...it makes TOS look distinctive and raw.

[Kurt Foster]

Just recently, iTunes "re-released" all of the remastered TOS that they had. The "re-released" remastered TOS episodes are horrible. If you compare the first run of remastered episodes, the color was vibrant, sharp and just warm. The "re added" episodes are terrible. The colors are washed out, no contrast in them, and just look awful. What can we do about this? If you look at both versions you too will feel cheated. I am ruined by this.

[bohus]

That's really odd. I poked around a bit to find any reference to the problems that you're having and I dind't find anything. Perhaps it's just a matter of the movies having been re-encoded with bad settings? I'd shoot an email to their customer service folks and find out who else is having these problems. Every other report I've read has been from people very pleased witht he quality of the iTunes downloads, so perhaps you're early to discovering these problems. let us know how it turns out.

[kenneth Perrone]

HD TREK

[Kurt Foster]

I must be the only one who notices that the colors are very washed out on the "second" run of releases (at least in iTunes). Or perhaps I am the only one who it really bothers, as when I do a search for this problem, I get the posts I have created. Screw 'em.