After taking a browse through the newly redesigned StarTrek.com, I found a new "features" section that basically tries to steal the idea of what we fans have been doing for years -- write conjectural articles about various controversial topics in the Trek canon.
Their choice for the very first article seemed interesting at first... but quickly turned quite bizarre.
First off is the potentially interesting idea that Vulcans and Romulans are truly different species that evolved on the same world, similar to the Valakians and Menk in ENT, or Humans and Neanderthals on Earth. Overall similar, but with some differences. The basic idea is to explain the nose-ridge issue, of course.
But then things get bizarre. With ideas like suggesting that Romulus is actually the original homeworld, and the Vulcans emigrated to Vulcan instead of the other way around. Or the assertion that the Remans might be exiled Vulcans who didn't make the exodus and were sent to Remus instead. Or the insinuation that the Vulcans might have actually forcibly expelled the Romulans from Vulcan. Even more absurd comes the idea that the Q Continuum actually just transplanted the Romulans away from Vulcan in order to end that "Vulcan-Romulan War" mentioned on Voyager...
The page does have a few reasonably interesting concepts in it, fortunately. Some I found most interesting include the mention of the race of "gods" from TOS (i.e. Apollo), who could easily have served as a source and conduit for common words and concepts, like "Senate" and "Centurion," or even the names "Romulus" and "Remus." Then there's the argument about nose ridges, including a very interesting point that Senator Pardek had served in the government for 90+ years... and if he had ridges, that means that some ridged Romulans must have been around in the late-TOS, early-TMP era.
This "documentary" series is certainly a step in the right direction for StarTrek.com... but I sure as heck wish that they'd come up with some better arguments for their material!
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
So, uh, they "stole" the concept of making stuff up? Which was apparently invented by Star Trek fans? Huh.
Posted by aneurysm (Member # 906) on :
What i find even more amusing is the article about the klingon foreheads. One theory they state is that the smooth headed Klingons were in fact kidnapped and brainwashed Humans and that sometime betwwe TOS and TMP the Klingons decided this was unhonourable and stpped the practice, and performed cosmetic surgery on all smooth headed humans to make them bumpy headed Klingons!!!
Posted by Griffworks (Member # 1014) on :
Guess they forgot about the mentions of human versus Klingon lifesigns being mentioned, as well as the whole Tribbles thing. At least TIIC are being consistant w/their inconsistancy.... Posted by Triton (Member # 1043) on :
Well at least the producers had the good sense in the DS9 episode "Trials and Tribble-lations" for Worf to answer "We don't like to talk about it" when asked about the smooth headed Klingons.
I think that I like the "Under-Resourced Creator" theory the best. I am surprised that they don't call the "Creator" the "Great Bird of the Galaxy".
Maybe they need to come out with a TOS special edition where they use CGI to put forehead ridges on all the Klingon characters. Just kidding! Posted by Futurama Guy (Member # 968) on :
I would have been happier had they just ignored the whole issue.
And if they were to CGI anything into any TOS DVDs reissues...I would have liked to seen better SFX with the ships...versus a 'shimmering star' representing whatever ship they were intending to show. It certainly wouldnt take anything away from the show, and would probably bring it closer to what the original crew always wanted but what the original budget never allowed.
Posted by MrNeutron (Member # 524) on :
quote:Originally posted by Futurama Guy: I would have been happier had they just ignored the whole issue.
And if they were to CGI anything into any TOS DVDs reissues...I would have liked to seen better SFX with the ships...versus a 'shimmering star' representing whatever ship they were intending to show. It certainly wouldnt take anything away from the show, and would probably bring it closer to what the original crew always wanted but what the original budget never allowed.
That would be cool ONLY if they did it the way it was done for the TMP DE...keeping the new effects looking contemporary to what could have been done at the time, and matching film grain and so forth. You'd want them to find Matt Jeffries' concepts for any such ships unbuilt, or at least raid his sketches to make sure whatever new stuff added is "authentic".
Posted by Triton (Member # 1043) on :
I think that ST:TMP DE is the exception, rather than the rule.
I don't know if we could trust the people making the face lift to make the correct creative decisions. What if at the same time they also decided to try and fix other things that seem dated to contemporary audiences. For example, what if they decided that they wanted to fix the miniskirts worn by the female crew members because some consider the outfits to be sexist?
And some of the cheesy special effects are part of the series' charm. The First Federation starship in "The Corbomite Maneuver" looks like a 50 or 60s era chandelier. Would the temptation be too great to use another design for this starship?
I also think that they would have their work cut out for them if they wanted to match the 37 year old special effects footage.
I believe that they have already remastered the original films so they will last a couple of decades more. IMHO they should just leave the films alone.
Posted by MrNeutron (Member # 524) on :
quote:Originally posted by Triton: I think that ST:TMP DE is the exception, rather than the rule.
Not gonna argue with you about that. That's why I said it would be cool ONLY if done as TMP DE.
quote: I don't know if we could trust the people making the face lift to make the correct creative decisions.
No kidding.
quote:I also think that they would have their work cut out for them if they wanted to match the 37 year old special effects footage.
I meant the film grain of the live action, not the effects. The effects were super-grainy and don't really match the on-set shooting because of all the crap matting of elements.
Still, I'd rather NOT see it happen. Any work of art (or TV show for that matter) is as much about when it was made as what its content is.
Posted by Futurama Guy (Member # 968) on :
quote:Originally posted by MrNeutron: Still, I'd rather NOT see it happen. Any work of art (or TV show for that matter) is as much about when it was made as what its content is.
We still have the cream of corny "technobabble" that says a lot yet says nothing compared to the shows contemporaries.
As far as any other alterations to TOS, I was moreless strictly speaking of ship effects in so much as to make the ship more multidimensional rather than a cardboard cutout in terms of the sfx (like what they did to the Enterprise for "Trials and Tribble-ations"). My biggest beef would be to make the phasers, when fired, leave the ship as phasers and not as torpedoes, OR to not have the phaser beams be 'wide' and 'cartoony' walking the line of something you might have seen on the old 'Batman' tv show. Finally, when the Enterprise is firing at other ships to have it look more like a ship is being hit rather than just showing fx resembling anti-aircraft foddar or fireworks randomly exploding on the screen...simple things like that... Posted by Austin Powers (Member # 250) on :
I don't know. I think they should leave it the way it is. The cheesy effects are part of the charm.
If this line would continue, then in ten years we would say, Oh let's remaster the TNG episodes, the effects are so quaint.
I would say that's the whole point of the magic of TOS. It IS almost forty years old and SHOULD look that way.
Posted by Harry (Member # 265) on :
Agreed. Clumsy VFX *are* 60s Star Trek. You could make new stories in a TOS setting though. Something like More Tribbles..
Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
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