when was star trek remastered

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Star Trek: The Remastered Series Seasons 1, 2 & 3 review

James wades through three box sets of Star Trek's original series...

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Star Trek is one of television’s most iconic series – a formative name for several generations of viewers, and in the case of the original series, for the medium of Television itself. You’ll find closet Star Trek fans everywhere you look, and everyone has their favourite captain. For many, though, there’s only one captain of the Enterprise – James T. Kirk.

The original series of Star Trek ran from 1966 to 1968, and in that time pushed many cultural boundaries. Its writing largely stands the test of time, its actors became legends in their own lifetimes, but 40 years on, its effects are visibly limited by the technology of the time. To commemorate the 40 th anniversary of Star Trek, CBS produced “remastered” versions, shot in HD and with updated effects added. It’s these same enhanced episodes which, on the 27th April 2009, see a re-release in 3 complete-season box sets aimed at Star Trek fans, new and old.

Remastering

Clearly designed to coincide with the 2009 Star Trek film, these standard definition DVDs contain only the remastered version of Star Trek – although if you go for the Blu-Ray version, and you’ll find “alternate angle” features that allow access to the original, unaltered scenes as well. Fans of Red Dwarf and Star Wars may well be wary of any remastering job that includes ‘improvements’ to the original, but CBS’ attempt to update the series is largely subtle and understated. Although purists might mourn the loss of the original model shots in favour of a visibly CGI Enterprise, the improvements are otherwise hard to argue against – in most cases, the changes use the original effects shots as a reference point, and the results appear far closer to the original intention for the scene than the technology of the era allowed.

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Thankfully, CGI has gotten to the point where it can integrate fairly seamlessly with the past. The new effects are subtle, if noticeable, but never out of place. In some shots, what was previously an obvious matte painting has been replaced with an animated CGI cityscape offering far greater depth, and more believable perspective. Phaser effects that once varied from episode-to-episode have been made more consistent. And, finally, William Shatner’s face has been digitally replaced with Chris Pine’s, to ensure that the movie and series match up for new viewers (that last one might be a joke.)

Alongside the new special effects, other areas of the show have also been improved. The soundtrack has been remixed, including a stereo version of the theme tune, and all live-action segments have been re-shot in HD from the original negatives, giving the clearest, cleanest picture yet, even when viewed in standard definition media. Mercifully, the classic transporter effect appears to have been left untouched, as have the actual sound effects themselves, proving that – at last – a remastering team was able to show some restraint, rather than attempting to fix what isn’t broken.

Although the remastered episodes do differ slightly from the originals, it’s worth noting that these aren’t complete re-edits – the intentions of each scene and effect have been preserved at virtually every turn. The show feels – and largely looks – exactly as it always has. If anything has been lost in the translations, it’s only the idea of each episode as historical document of 60s technology and techniques – not the spirit of the story. In any case, the original versions are still available on DVD so no-one is being forced to watch the remastered episodes – but take my word as a Trek fan: you’ll be pleased if you do.

The discs – each one light grey, bearing the Star Trek logo, the season number and a disc number – are packed in a single large, Amray-style plastic case, and mounted so as to partially overlap one another. Discs are found on both the inside covers and an internal ‘page’ that holds 2 discs on either side. The mountings are strong and sturdy, though discs must be replaced in a specific order to properly fit. Season 1 and 2’s box sets both contain 8 discs, while Season 3’s contains only 7 discs to account for slightly fewer episodes in the season’s run.

The sets contain no additional booklet or leaflet – it’s with some (though not great) inconvenience that one finds the episode listings on the inside cover, obscured by the discs mounted there. You can optionally remove the artwork insert or the discs so that you can read the listings, but neither is an ideal solution – contents listings on the discs themselves would’ve been far more welcome. It’s also a shame that there are no episode guides with the sets – viewers without an encyclopaedic knowledge of Star Trek will unfortunately struggle to find a specific episode with only the title to guide them. On the positive side, episodes are listed with their original Stardate, and the names of the additional features on each are themselves included for easy lookup.

Each set is given identical artwork featuring the Enterprise insignia, save for the colouration, which differs from set to set to correspond with different divisions of Starfleet as represented in the original run – Season 1 is tinted Gold, for Command, Season 2 is Blue, for Science and Medicine, and Season 3 is Red, for Engineering and Tactical. It’s a small detail, but it’s a very good indicator of the level of care that’s gone into these sets.

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The Amray cases also come with a metallic slipcase containing identical artwork to the plastic version, with credits down the spine. The Star Trek logo and the Enterprise insignia on the reverse of the packaging are both embossed, standing out slightly from the rest of the tins. The cases themselves are pleasingly weighty and durable, although they are susceptible to denting and the artwork does seem to scratch fairly easily – it may be too early to say for definite, but a protective scratch-resistant layer might have been worth putting on the cases to protect them in the long term.

Menus & Authoring

The menus for the DVDs are lovingly replicated examples of Star Trek ‘s famously tactile control panels, rendered in 3D and with any relevant text integrated into display screens. Although the menu transitions are animated rather than immediate, they move swiftly along when activated without ever leaving viewers with the impression that flamboyance was a more important concern than functionality to the authors. On the soundtrack behind each menu is a satisfying series of clicks, whistles, and other familiar noises that comprise the ambient soundtrack to the Enterprise bridge. It’s nicely atmospheric without being intrusive, contributing well to the overall feel.

The episodes are all presented in the original 4:3 aspect ratio, and with soundtracks in five languages (including English) and subtitles in 10 languages, with an additional ‘English for the hearing impaired’ subtitle track alongside standard English. There are no chapter select options, nor any ‘play all’ option – whether or not you consider this a problem is down to your individual habits, but personally, I miss neither.

Episodes are presented in order of transmission, but in a rare example of a company giving some real respect to geeky concerns, each episode has its production number listed alongside it as a bonus. Sadly, there’s no way to know that’s what the number signifies unless you’re already aware of it, but the hardcore fans at least will appreciate this extra detail.

The discs are fairly thin on bonus material, providing the odd short featurette, but nothing overly substantial. There are none of the usual extras TV shows provide such as commentaries or deleted scenes, but to compensate, the ‘preview’ reels are included alongside their respective episodes. Although these previews aren’t remastered, offering a blurry and dirt-flecked transfer, they are a unique and intriguing piece of history that Star Trek completists will be glad to see, though it’s unlikely a general audience will ever care enough to watch them all.

Season 1: Overview

It’s tough to imagine a time when Star Trek was new. Not so much a brand as a cultural movement, Star Trek had inauspicious beginnings as Gene Roddenberry’s pitch for a TV show described as ‘ Wagon Train in space’ – essentially, a sci-fi western. What made it to the screen was far more complex and nuanced, using all the finest allegorical tropes of science fiction to send progressive socio-political messages under the radar of conservative TV networks in a time when McCarthyism was still fresh in people’s minds, and the Vietnam War was in full swing. No mean feat for a show that was actually initially rejected as “too cerebral”.

Season 1 of Star Trek is where the ground rules for an entire universe were laid out, often in a fairly piecemeal manner. It took the show a while to properly find its footing, giving the show an almost anthological feel, as episodes jerked between high-concept sci-fi and horror – even taking time out to do a submarine movie homage in Balance Of Terror . Fortunately, the chemistry of Shatner, Nimoy and Kelley was immediately evident, and it’s a testament to the strength of the writers and actors involved that the greenness of the universe never threatened the strength of the stories on offer.

Indeed, Season 1 contains many of the most memorable episodes of the entire series – the much-referenced 2-parter, The Menagerie , where a physically ravaged Christopher Pike, original captain of the Enterprise, comes under court martial, Space Seed , the episode that introduced Khan Noonien Singh, a villain who would later face off against Kirk on the big screen in Star Trek II, and The Enemy Within , Star Trek ‘s original ‘transporter accident’ episode.

In addition to all of these classics, Season 1 also contains what is widely considered to be the finest episode of the original series. The City On The Edge Of Forever , an episode as controversial as it is revered, is currently the subject of a lawsuit by original script-writer, Harlan Ellison, who was displeased with the treatment given to him during production of the episode, and the rewriting of the script. Despite this, the episode, which sees Kirk seeking to restore an altered timeline, went on to win a Hugo award – one of science fiction’s top honours.

Season 1 isn’t without its duff moments – The Alternative Factor tells the story of a man named Lazarus who is locked in combat with his duplicate from another universe, in an episode that feels padded even by the plodding standards of 60s television, but otherwise the show quickly displayed the canny storytelling and philosophical bent that would keep it alive in the minds of fans for decades to come.

Season 1: Disc Contents

The Season 1 DVD set includes all 29 episodes of the original series, spread over eight discs. Sadly, the unaired pilot episode The Cage is not included in its original form, and curious viewers will instead have to make do with the cut up version of the episode contained in The Menagerie Parts I & II – it still feels like a disappointing exception in what is otherwise an impressively comprehensive collection of Star Trek’s early episodes.

The bonus features of Season 1 are, as with most TV collections, fairly throwaway. It’s neither unexpected nor upsetting, however, since the episodes themselves are the real reason anyone is buying the collection. As noted, each episode contains its original preview, and every disc has a featurette or two running between 5 and 25 minutes each about the history of the show.

There are a total of ten featurettes spread across the season, of which the most interesting two are ‘Spacelift’, a short documentary about the restoration and remastering process, and ‘Birth of a Timeless Legacy’ which features original interviews with the cast documenting the creation of the show. The ‘Sci-Fi Visionaries’ short looks at the various acclaimed sci-fi authors that wrote episodes of Star Trek , while ‘Trekker Connections’ is a DVD-based trivia game that provides a mild diversion. There’s nothing here that counts as essential material, but the supplements are entertaining in their own right, if not particularly rewatchable.

Season 2: Overview

Although Star Trek was immediately loved by sci-fi aficionados, during Season 2 it struggled to find mass appeal, culminating in a well-remembered letter-writing campaign that would eventually be credited with bringing the series back from the brink of cancellation. With the characters and tone now well established, Season 2 powered onwards, with the only major change being the addition of Walter Koenig as Chekov, expanding the famously multi-cultural cast to include a character of Russian descent – in the middle of the Cold War, no less!

Although Season 1 is widely considered to have the best episodes, Season 2 isn’t without its fan-favourites either. The opening episode, Amok Time , features a famous Kirk Vs. Spock fight over the love of a woman, as the latter experiences Ponn Farr, the Vulcan drive to mate. Almost immediately after comes Mirror, Mirror , undoubtedly one of Star Trek’s most popular episodes, in which Spock is transported to a twisted version of the Trek universe inhabited by violent and evil counterparts. The episode later spawned a series of sequels in the future Star Trek series, Deep Space Nine and Enterprise.

As if those weren’t enough, Season 2 also features one of the few Star Trek episodes that even non-Trekkers are aware of – The Trouble with Tribbles . Despite being unusually light-hearted, Tribbles is rightly considered a classic episode for its memorable alien guest stars, its lightly absurd premise and its wealth of comedic moments – the image of Kirk buried in a pile of Tribbles sums the episode up beautifully, while the Starfleet Vs. Klingon bar-fight – and the post-brawl dressing down that Kirk gives his crew – are as instantly recallable as any Star Trek moment ever was.

Unfortunately, the quality of the series is uneven – Season 2, for better or worse, contains far fewer memorable episodes than either series either side of it, and it’s unfortunate propensity for filler episodes is perhaps best evidenced by the season finale, Assignment: Earth which was actually designed to serve as a back-door pilot for the character of Gary Seven, a futuristic Bond-esque figure played by Robert Lansing who received equal billing in the episode. No Gary Seven series was ever produced, and Trek fans were left with a disappointing episode in return.

Far worse than that, though, is the biblically-inspired episode The Apple, which sees Kirk and crew arriving on a thinly-veiled Garden of Eden, with all the associated imagery lazily and dutifully included. Even Trekdom’s most stringent fans would struggle to defend it, and it arguably signposts the drop in quality that would later afflict Season 3.

Despite these faltering moments, when Season 2 is good, it’s very good, and at its worst it never manages to have the quite same level of quality failure that the series would experience the following year. Season 2 is made essential purely by the inclusion of several deservedly lauded episodes – the rest can merely be considered bonus material.

Season 2: Disc Contents

The Season 2 DVD set includes all 26 episodes of the second series – 3 fewer than the original series – again spread over 8 discs. The most impressive of these is Disc 5, which contains only one episode of the original series – The Trouble With Tribbles – but is then supplemented with addition Tribble-based material, even going so far as to include episodes of two other Star Trek series that featured the Tribbles!

The first of these is an episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series (voiced by the original cast) entitled More Tribbles, More Troubles , which additionally includes an audio commentary by writer David Gerrold. The second is the Deep Space Nine episode Trials and Tribble-ations, which saw the DS9 cast retroactively inserted into the original Tribbles episode using advanced computer effects. Place those alongside some Tribble-based featurettes, and the disc is almost worth the price of entry itself.

The remaining extras, however, are little improvement over the Season 1 box set, with the same workmanlike featurettes available. Unlike Season 1, where featurettes are spread evenly across the discs, Season 2’s features are largely confined to discs 1, 5 and 8. Again, preview trailers for each episode are included, but aside from on the Animated episode (itself an extra) there are no episode commentaries or other supplemental material.

On the whole, Season 2’s extras are largely redeemed by the loving treatment bestowed on the Tribbles disc. Even though the other extras are single-watch affairs at best, the features there will keep you going back again and again. By the standards that DVD extras can be judged, that’s nothing short of the best you can get.

Season 3: Overview

While Star Trek survived the threat of cancellation after a fan-led campaign convinced network executives to keep the show alive, the pioneering series was given a fairly unconvincing stay of execution. Star Trek found itself moved into the 10pm Friday night slot (which was as much a death sentence then as it is today), with its budget slashed to 90% of season 1’s. Roddenberry was already moving on after seeing the writing on the wall, and by this point, the cancellation of Star Trek was all but assured.

However, before that fateful moment came, a third series was nevertheless produced. Disappointingly, budget cuts and poor on-set morale left this episode the worst series of Star Trek by some distance. The camp b-movie feel of season opener Spock’s Brain has left the episode an unlikely favourite for all the wrong reasons. In his autobiography, I Am Spock , Nimoy recalls being almost overcome with embarrassment during the shooting of the episode, while Shatner’s book Star Trek: Memories calls it one of the series’ worst. With 40 years between us and the original airing, only the most humourless Trekker could fail to find a soft spot for the sheer awfulness of this episode, but when examined in context, one can easily sympathise with those that rue its very existence.

A far better candidate for Trekdom’s lowest point, however, comes in what would be the series final episode. While Roddenberry’s vision of the future embraced a world of political and racial equality, it’s hard to ignore his hopelessly misjudged appraisals of women’s role in society. This is seen clearest the episode Turnabout: Intruder where, after rejection by Starfleet (who will not accept female commanders) Dr. Janice Lester switches bodies with Kirk to assume his role as Captain. If the vision of William Shatner speaking in a high-pitched voice and filing his nails doesn’t give you the dry heaves, then Lester’s behaviour – that of an irrational, illogical woman ruled by and eventually undone by her emotions – should be enough to make you switch off in disgust. Roddenberry’s treatment of women throughout Star Trek was often outdated and sexist, and itself serves as a sad reminder that even the most sincere attempt to form a progressive outlook can be fatally sabotaged by ingrained prejudices.

It wasn’t all as bad as that, of course. Even in its most dire times, Star Trek still attempted to push the boundaries, and nowhere is that better evidenced that in the episode Plato’s Stepchildren , the episode that features what is widely considered to be the first interracial kiss on television. It seems almost tame now, but at the time it was breaking a vicious cultural taboo, and its importance 40 years on vindicates Nichelle Nichols’ decision not to quit the series – although given that Martin Luther King himself encouraged her to remain on Star Trek , it’s not surprising that she stuck with it.

Other standout episodes include For the World Is Hollow, and I Have Touched The Sky , in which Doctor McCoy discovers he has a terminal disease and must come to terms with it, Day Of The Dove , a classic Klingon-focussed episode that addresses the destructive cycle of war and hatred, and The Tholian Web , perhaps the final of the ‘iconic’ Star Trek episodes.

Elsewhere, flawed genius is the order of the day. The episode Let That Be Your Last Battlefield is a timely and considered polemic against racial discrimination. The message of the episode is both poignant and relevant even to today’s society – but even the most ardent fan will admit it’s hard to reach that point when watching the episode and being confronted by the silly visual of actors painted literally half-black, half-white.

Season 3 is by far the worst Star Trek season, but that criticism must be lodged against the quality of the series as a whole, which was far higher than its contemporaries. The most convincing argument one can give in favour of Season 3 is that even a bad season of Star Trek is worth watching. (Well, unless it stars Kate Mulgrew or Scott Bakula.)

Strangely, it’s the cancellation of Star Trek after its 3rd series that ensured new life for the show. Placed in syndication re-runs, the fanbase for the show grew and grew until a little known film called Star Wars re-ignited interest in the space opera, giving Star Trek a reason to return in its big screen incarnation. If it helps, consider that cancellation was actually a necessary step towards creating the franchise next time you’re watching McCoy control a brainless Spock’s movements with a remote control. It won’t help, but at least it’ll give you something better to think about.

Season 3: Disc Contents

The Season 3 DVD set includes all 26 episodes of the second series – 3 fewer than the previous series – spread over only 7 discs this time. However, to compensate for the diminished number of episodes, Season 3’s DVD set includes two cuts of Star Trek’s unaired pilot episode, The Cage – both the original and an extended version. While the two aren’t substantially different, they are both interesting curios in their own right, and an introduction from Roddenberry offers some all-too-rare words from the man himself on the matter of the episode’s creation and eventual rejection.

It’s with this inclusion that the omission of Star Trek’s very first episode from the Season 1 DVD set becomes apparent. While The Cage is largely interesting only as a historical relic, with both footage and events of the episode worked into season 1’s The Menagerie Parts I & II , it is gratifying to see it included somewhere. While a fan might have demanded it be included chronologically alongside Season 1’s, it’s not hard to see why the episode was placed in the DVD set of the far leaner Season 3 set instead of the already-packed Season 1 collection.

The extra material in the Season 3 DVD set is, however, even less balanced than in the previous one, with all 9 featurettes crammed onto the final disc alongside both versions of The Cage . The features are largely in the same vein as Season 1 and 2, with the standard ‘To Boldly Go… ‘ season overview, a ‘ Life beyond Trek’ look at Walter Koenig’s post- Trek career, and most interestingly, the ‘Chief Engineer’s Log’ – a retrospective interview with James “Scotty” Doohan, one of the few deceased Star Trek actors.

As with the previous sets, all the extras are worth at least one viewing. Season 3’s special features are no worse or better than the previous seasons, though with fewer available episodes, it would’ve been nice to see an additional extras disc, perhaps with additional spin-off episodes, to complement the original as with Season 2’s Trouble With Tribbles extravaganza (the Deep Space Nine episode featuring the return of three ‘original series’ Klingons, including Kang from Season 3’s Day Of The Dove, springs immediately to mind). The extras are, however, a loving tribute to their parent series and if this is the final word in Star Trek DVD box sets, as it clearly intends itself to be, then if nothing else, they’re good enough to stand the test of time.

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Fast forward to the turn of the century when Wise was given the opportunity by Paramount’s Home Entertainment division to revisit the movie and — joined by producers David C. Fein, Mike Matessino, and Daren Dochterman — complete the post-production process the way he intended for DVD release in 2001. Armed with the burgeoning world of CG effects, as well as the time necessary to revisit the movie’s editing, the 2001 edition of The Director’s Edition was released on DVD to great acclaim.

But that DVD release was 21 years ago, and saw the movie released only in the standard definition presentation of the time. During that period, the theatrical edition of The Motion Picture received several re-releases, including on Blu-ray and most recently in September 2021’s remastered 4K UHD box set.

Meanwhile, fans of The Motion Picture Director’s Edition have had only ever had access to the original DVD release (or up-rezzed editions of that DVD picture through some streaming services). Until now!

The Director’s Edition of Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a superior film to the theatrical edition many of our readers are probably familiar with. And while a lot of the attention naturally falls on some of the movie’s sequences that have been significantly altered from the theatrical edition – Starfleet Headquarters has been improved, Vulcan’s moons have disappeared and the planet looks much more like it does in other appearances in the franchise, and we actually get to see the giant V’Ger vessel at the heart of the cloud – the Director’s Edition does more than just update the effects in a few places.

The whole movie has been upgraded, not just in its look and feel, but in how it runs, too. Robert Wise was an Oscar-winning movie editor before he moved to directing, and used the 2000-era opportunity to revisit the film to adjust a significant number of edits to the movie’s flow.

A lot of these changes aren’t major alterations – the movie is fundamentally the same – but through a series of targeted cuts and edits the movie flows better, and most importantly for fans who found the theatrical edition to be turgid, it feels like a brisker movie as well.

Drew Stewart of the Star Trek: The Motion Picture Visual Comparisons project has meticulously documented the ways in which the Director’s Edition of the movie is different from the 1979 theatrical edition, and will be updating his project in the coming weeks with additional changes made in the 2022 version of the Director’s Edition . The new presentation of the movie is unlikely to fundamentally reshape your opinion of it — given that it’s still the same story and the same script — but you are very likely to enjoy it more than the theatrical edition that has been most prevalent for viewers.

And if you prefer the theatrical edition? Well the good news is, it’s available for you in the same 4K Ultra HD presentation thanks to last year’s movie box set. Fans now have the ability to choose which version of The Motion Picture they want to watch, and Paramount+ is to be commended for making that available to them… as another major science fiction franchise whose original versions have been vaulted for thirty years might take note?

Personally, I see no reason to watch the theatrical edition of The Motion Picture ever again. I’ve loved the Director’s Edition since the original 2001 release, and the 2022 4K remaster does the movie all the justice in the world. The picture is crisp, the colors more vibrant, the sound is incredible, and Jerry Goldsmith’s outstanding score has never sounded better.

The new effects are definitely not egregious additions for the sake of it; they help tell the story of the movie better for the viewer. It never made sense in the theatrical edition that on Vulcan Spock shields his eyes… from the night’s sky. And during the Enterprise’s approach to and journey inside of V’Ger, good luck being able to figure out where anything is or where the Enterprise is in relation to V’Ger as a whole.

The new quick effects shots help the viewer better understand the Enterprise’s journey, and provide more effective visual reference for how large V’Ger is… and what the ship actually looks like! The theatrical edition of the movie never even shows you a wide shot of the V’Ger spacecraft at the heart of the cloud. The Director’s Edition corrects this oversight, not for the sake of it, but because it really helps tell the story better.

The history of Star Trek: The Motion Picture — The Director’s Edition is not one of making changes to the movie just to sell a new product for fans, but of honoring the legacy of the movie’s director and giving him the chance to finish it so that fans could see it in the way it was intended.

Even though Robert Wise passed away in 2005, he lived long enough to work with the Director’s Edition team through the original project that was released in 2001, and that same team has picked up the baton to remaster the movie for a 4K presentation today based upon his guidance during the first project.

The voyage of the Star Trek: The Motion Picture — The Director’s Edition may be at an end, but the Human Adventure is Just Beginning, and you’d be wise to give this movie a chance using the biggest screen and the best sound system you have access to.

I know the Director’s Edition has significantly improved my opinion of the movie as a whole, and I hope it does the same for you.

The newly remastered  Star Trek: The Motion Picture — The Director’s Edition  arrives in 4K UHD format April 5, exclusively on Paramount+. The new edition of the film will be screened in theaters in the United States in May,  followed by a 4K Blu-ray physical release  this September.

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Star Trek: The Original Series - Seasons 1-3 Remastered

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The Star Trek: The Original Series – Seasons 1-3 Remastered DVD collection is a box set containing all three seasons of the remastered Star Trek: The Original Series . Released simultaneously with the last individual, Season 3 DVD set, this collection was in essence nothing more than a simple bundled shrink wrapped repackaging of this and the previous two individual season releases for Region 1.

Compared to the later released Region 2 and 4 counterparts this release contained two extra discs, which however did not constitute extra content; it was due to the fact that Region 1 had the disc contents for Season 1 differently arranged, whereas the other regions followed the more compact arrangement as utilized on their later "slimline" releases.

Contents [ ]

The episodes on the discs, and their arrangement among them, are identical to the individual Original Series Region 1 season sets. Please refer to the following entries for the discs' episode and special features arrangement,

• TOS-R Season 1 DVD
• TOS-R Season 2 DVD
• TOS-R Season 3 DVD

Still missing though, remain the "Red Shirt Logs" hidden mini-featurettes, and Mike and Denise Okuda 's episode text commentaries , not ported over from the original DVD releases.

Episodes in production order [ ]

Since episodes on the discs are in the order in which they aired, and episodes are listed on Memory Alpha in production order, here is a handy guide to watching TOS-R in production order:

• ↑ "The Cage" is on Disc 7 of the Season 3 boxset

Star Trek: The Original Series (Remastered)

In the first chapter of the series that started a cultural phenomenon, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy project humanity into the 23rd century with compassion, boldness, and a curiosity to meet the unknown. For more than 40 years, viewers hungry for optimism have found inspiration from Gene Roddenberry's visionary allegory, hooked on the thought-provoking moral tales, the humor, the romance, the philosophy, and the inspired gadgetry aboard the first U.S.S. Enterprise.

Other seasons

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Description.

In the first chapter of the series that started a cultural phenomenon, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy project humanity into the 23rd century with compassion, boldness, and a curiosity to meet the unknown. For more than 40 years, viewers hungry for optimism have found inspiration from Gene Roddenberry's visionary allegory, hooked on the thought-provoking moral tales, the humor, the romance, the philosophy, and the inspired gadgetry aboard the first U.S.S. Enterprise. Now these remastered adventures look and sound even better than ever, with dozens of new and higher-detailed visual effects that blend seamlessly into the episodes you fondly remember.

The Man Trap

Season 1, Episode 1 TV-PG CC HD CC SD

Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy meets a former girlfriend when the Enterprise brings supplies to a remote archaeological survey group. Still attractive to McCoy, the woman's current appearance and her colleague hide a deadly secret, ultimately revealed as a tragedy of ecology.

Charlie "X"

Season 1, Episode 2 TV-PG CC HD CC SD

Raised from infancy by noncorporeal beings, 17-year-old Charles Evans is ferried by an Enterprise crew unaware of his true nature. Once aboard, the teenager develops a crush on Yeoman Rand and proves dangerously unable to wield his enormous psionic powers with maturity until higher authorities intervene

Where No Man Has Gone Before

Season 1, Episode 3 TV-PG CC HD CC SD

While exploring the energy barrier at galaxy's edge that crippled an earlier ship, Kirk's long-time friend and crewmate Gary Mitchell begins mutating into a god-like entity disdainful of the "mortals" around him. Can the captain overcome his own feelings for his friend before the new entity grows too powerful to stop?

The Naked Time

Season 1, Episode 4 TV-PG CC HD CC SD

An alien virus picked up from the now-dead Psi 2000 outpost strips the crew of their inhibitions, causing chaos as each individual is overcome by hidden emotions -- even Spock. Meanwhile, the disabled crew have left the Enterprise unable to react to the planet break-up below that is pulling them down.

The Enemy Within

Season 1, Episode 5 TV-PG CC HD CC SD

A magnetic ore brought back from Alfa 177 causes a beam break-up in the transporter, splitting Captain Kirk into two different beings: one "good" and one "evil." The malfunction must be repaired before Sulu's stranded landing party freezes to death -- and Kirk's separated "halves" perish.

Mudd's Women

Season 1, Episode 6 TV-PG CC HD CC SD

Just as his ship is destroyed by an asteroid field, conman Harry Mudd and his "cargo" of three beautiful wives for lonely miners are rescued by the Enterprise and arrested. The rescue burns out the big starship's dilithium crystals, but Kirk's unhappy reliance on Mudd's clients for replacements is in jeopardy when the women's real secret is exposed.

What Are Little Girls Made Of

Season 1, Episode 7 TV-PG CC HD CC SD

Viewers are introduced to Nurse Christine Chapel in this story as she signs aboard the crew to search for her missing fiance, the brilliant Dr. Korby. He turns up on Exo III, oddly working on a plan to create android duplicates of key figures, beginning with James Kirk - until the captain sabotages his duplicate to alert Spock.

Season 1, Episode 8 TV-PG CC HD CC SD

On a planet just like Earth that is populated only by children, Kirk's landing party contracts the virus that killed adults while stretching the youngsters' lifespan to hundreds of years. Enduring the natives' bizarre and violent tactics, the trapped party must cure themselves and the children - including one who has a crush on Kirk.

Dagger of the Mind

Season 1, Episode 9 TV-PG CC HD CC SD

Tipped off by a crazed runaway who is far more than he seems, Kirk investigates an experimental facility at Tantalus II for mentally ill criminals and finds a sinister scheme behind its amazing research.

The Corbomite Maneuver

Season 1, Episode 10 TV-PG CC HD CC SD

While exploring an uncharted area of space, the Enterprise is outmatched and taken in tow by a massive spherical spaceship. Doomed by the imposing being Balok and his huge ship, Kirk finally resorts to a bluff about a self-destruct system that will also destroy Balok's ship -- and the gamble pays off with surprising results.

The Menagerie, Part 1

Season 1, Episode 11 TV-PG CC HD CC SD

Apparently summoned to Starbase 11, Kirk, Spock and McCoy visit a former Enterprise commander, the paralyzed and horribly disfigured Christopher Pike. Incredibly, Spock then kidnaps his old captain, commandeers the Enterprise without Kirk, sets it on a forbidden course, and then turns himself in for court-martial. (Part 1 in Star Trek's only two-parter)

The Menagerie, Part 2

Season 1, Episode 12 TV-PG CC HD CC SD

Forced to watch Talosian transmissions of Captain Pike's visit during Spock's shipboard trial, Kirk learns just why their planet is off-limits under penalty of death - and why Spock wants to return his former captain there. (Part 2 in Star Trek's only two-parter)

The Conscience of the King

Season 1, Episode 13 TV-PG CC HD CC SD

As one of the two surviving witnesses to the mass murders of "Kodos the Executioner," Kirk learns that the criminal may be disguising himself as an actor in a traveling troupe. But Shakespeare has nothing on this real-life tragedy once Kirk meets the suspect's beautiful daughter.

Balance of Terror

Season 1, Episode 14 TV-PG CC HD CC SD

Like the Enterprise crew, viewers got their first look at the Romulans in this tale as Kirk engages the enemy commander in a cat-and-mouse game of wits. How should Kirk react as the Romulans wipe out century-old treaty border outposts with a new superweapon, and Spock's loyalty is suddenly questioned?

Shore Leave

Season 1, Episode 15 TV-PG CC HD CC SD

When McCoy sees the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland and is later stabbed by a black knight, the crew begins to realize that the idyllic planet they are visiting is anything but. Somehow, the planet holds the dangerous power to turn any thought into reality.

The Galileo Seven

Season 1, Episode 16 TV-PG CC HD CC SD

Crash-landing on Taurus II, the seven crewmembers aboard the Shuttlecraft Galileo are unable to communicate with the Enterprise or to escape the planet's atmosphere and its hostile, giant natives. Spock's first command finds him with a restless crew as he faces the failures of logic at every turn.

The Squire of Gothos

Season 1, Episode 17 TV-PG CC HD CC SD

Encountering an uncharted planet in an empty region of space, Kirk and his crew are entertained by Trelane, a playful being who lacks the self control to wield his great psionic powers with discipline. When he threatens the whole ship, Kirk himself faces down Trelane's tantrums until relief surprisingly arrives.

Season 1, Episode 18 TV-PG CC HD CC SD

To settle a skirmish between the Enterprise and a Gorn ship, a powerful race calling itself the Metrons force Kirk and the Gorn captain to fight to the death on a empty world, using only their wits and natural materials. The captain eventually finds empathy with the Gorn, surprising not only him but the Metrons as well.

Tomorrow Is Yesterday

Season 1, Episode 19 TV-PG CC HD CC SD

Transported back in time to 20th century Earth by a black star's gravity well, Kirk rescues the pilot of a destroyed U.S. interceptor plane who had seen the ship as a UFO. Now the pilot must be returned without altering Earth's future - and the Enterprise and crew get back to their own time.

Court Martial

Season 1, Episode 20 TV-PG CC HD CC SD

Arriving at Starbase 11, Kirk faces court-martial for negligence resulting in the death of a colleague. Accused by the victim's family and prosecuted by a former lover, Kirk's career seems doomed until an unlikely attorney and Spock's chess game uncover the truth.

The Return of the Archons

Season 1, Episode 21 TV-PG CC HD CC SD

Searching Beta III for survivors of the USS Archon, Kirk and crew discover a society whose citizens appear to be staid and respectable, until the advent of "Red Hour" allows them to run amok. Kirk and Spock avoid being "absorbed" into the "body" long enough to discover the bizarre source of the planet's unity.

Season 1, Episode 22 TV-PG CC HD CC SD

Kirk meets Khan, a leader of Earth's Eugenics War of the 1990s who has been preserved in a old cryo-stasis ship along with dozens of his fellow genetically-bred "supermen." But Khan is anything but an antiquity, and his ambition and ruthlessness burn anew in a bid to hijack the Enterprise with the help of an admiring female officer.

A Taste of Armageddon

Season 1, Episode 23 TV-PG CC HD CC SD

Ordered to open relations with Eminiar VII, the Enterprise finds itself tagged in a mutual "computer war" with the planet's neighbor, Vendikar. The idea that citizens report voluntarily for disintegration according to the program of the "clean" war drives Kirk to dirty things up at the source, forcing a real peace.

This Side of Paradise

Season 1, Episode 24 TV-PG CC HD CC SD

The Enterprise visits a colony where flower spores provide the settlers with peaceful contentment - and Spock finds he can experience love. The spores also offer protection from fatal stellar radiation, but Kirk's crew finds they also have a more sinister effect.

The Devil in the Dark

Season 1, Episode 25 TV-PG CC HD CC SD

When mysterious deaths and damage in the mines of Janus VI threaten operations at several colony worlds, Kirk and Spock find not a monster but a mother - a silicon-based lifeform just doing its duty. The foe becomes a friend thanks to McCoy's cure by concrete and the Vulcan's mind-meld.

Errand of Mercy

Season 1, Episode 26 Unrated CC HD CC SD

In the first episode to feature the Klingons, Kirk and Spock intervene to offer protection to the people of a planet caught dangerously between the Empire and the Federation. But the seemingly lethargic Organians turn out to have a few surprises of their own.

The Alternative Factor

Season 1, Episode 27 TV-PG CC HD CC SD

When the entire universe seems to "blink," the Enterprise suspects invasion but finds only Lazarus, a man who seems to alternate between two different extremes of nature. In time, "he" is found to be two twinned beings locked in eternal struggle between their matter and anti-matter universes - a rift Kirk must help seal.

The City on the Edge of Forever

Season 1, Episode 28 TV-PG CC HD CC SD

Accidentally overdosing on medication, a psychotic McCoy leaps through a time portal into the 1930s and somehow disrupts Earth's future so that the Federation and Starfleet do not exist. The stranded Kirk and Spock follow him back to set things right, where a tragic love tests Kirk's resolve.

Operation Annihilate

Season 1, Episode 29 TV-PG CC HD CC SD

Kirk's brother, his wife, and much of the Deneva colony are found dead from a mysterious epidemic of mass insanity. Spock too becomes infected but survives with Vulcan techniques until he is blinded by the cure McCoy tests on him.

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In the 23rd Century, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets. In the 23rd Century, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets. In the 23rd Century, Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise explore the galaxy and defend the United Federation of Planets.

• Gene Roddenberry
• William Shatner
• Leonard Nimoy
• DeForest Kelley
• 277 User reviews
• 99 Critic reviews
• 16 wins & 31 nominations total

Episodes 80

Photos 1999

• Captain James Tiberius 'Jim' Kirk …

• Mister Spock …

• Lieutenant Leslie …

• Nurse Chapel …

• Ensign Freeman …

• Yeoman Rand …

• Announcer …

• Beta 5 Computer …
• Security Guard …
• All cast & crew
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• Trivia In the hallways of the Enterprise there are tubes marked "GNDN." These initials stand for "goes nowhere does nothing."
• Goofs The deck locations for Kirk's Quarters, Sickbay and Transporter Room vary (usually between decks 4-7) throughout the series.

Dr. McCoy : "He's dead, Jim."

• Crazy credits On some episodes, the closing credits show a still that is actually from the Star Trek blooper reel. It is a close-up of stunt man Bill Blackburn who played an android in Return to Tomorrow (1968) , removing his latex make up. In the reel, He is shown taking it off, while an off-screen voice says "You wanted show business, you got it!"
• Alternate versions In 2006, CBS went back to the archives and created HD prints of every episode of the show. In addition to the new video transfer, they re-did all of the model shots and some matte paintings using CGI effects, and re-recorded the original theme song to clean it up. These "Enhanced" versions of the episodes aired on syndication and have been released on DVD and Blu-Ray.
• Connections Edited into Ben 10: Secrets (2006)
• Soundtracks Star Trek Music by Alexander Courage

User reviews 277

• Oct 1, 2006
• How do they maintain Gravity on the the U.S.S. Enterprise ? .
• All aliens on all planets speak the English language?
• What does "TOS" mean?
• September 8, 1966 (United States)
• United States
• Star Trek: The Original Series
• Backlot, Culver Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA
• Desilu Productions
• Norway Corporation
• Paramount Television
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Was Remastering Star Trek: TOS Necessary? – Mike Matei Blog

In 2006, a Remastered version of Star Trek: The Original Series was attempted. Beyond simply moving the show into an HD screen format, every special effect shot in the series was replaced with computer generated ones. Now, if you try to watch this series on Netflix, these “modernized” versions are the only things being offered.

When the Star Wars Special Editions were being teased before their release, I have to admit I was somewhat into the idea. Something like that had never really been attempted before. Who knew, maybe if it was executed artfully it could be great? I was willing to at least give it a chance.  But sure enough, sitting in the theater and watching all these classic scenes with weird rubbery, shiny CGI monsters pasted over the film footage it became clear pretty quickly that these kinds of remasters just aren’t a good idea.

A Jim Henson Muppet looks more like a living creature than this.

But, I’ve been curious about whether it’s the execution of these remasters that make them bad, or if doing special-effects remasters is even worth attempting in the first place? After a lot of thought, I want to make the case for the latter.

My gut reaction on watching the Remastered version of Star Trek: TOS was I had an intense desire to turn it off and watch the originals.  But why? Why am I so much more interested in the original special effects instead of these new ones?

I’m not going to pretend like there’s not some aspect of psychological bias to this. We do have a tendency to like the versions of things we’ve seen first. You’ve likely heard cover versions of your favorite songs that you absolutely didn’t like, or read a book that got adapted into a movie you didn’t like. But does this always happen? There are good cover songs and there are good book adaptations. It can’t just be the case that our brains just latch onto the first thing we see and that’s the only version we’ll find acceptable. There has to be more to this than that.

There’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s go point by point:

Stylization vs. Realism

There’s not one singular goal that all artists should strive towards.  If depicting reality with as much precision as possible was the only goal of every artist, then we wouldn’t have animation or abstract art.  Likewise, we can’t just have everything be stylized either, because realism has weight and grandeur that draws from the existing beauty of nature. Both are worthwhile goals, and we want to have a world that has many different types of art in it.

Star Trek: TOS’s special effects were originally designed with many goals, but hyper-realism wasn’t one of them.

I’d like to think the special effects designers wanted to make things visually interesting and give these space-adventure scripts that were being written for the show the chance to come alive. Of course, they wanted to stay under-budget as well, but I’m not entirely sure they would have gone for as much realism as possible even if they had more money to do so.

If you take in everything visual about TOS besides the special effects, it’s very clearly a show that is intended to be stylized. Look at the set and costume designs, look at the color schemes and abstract lighting used.  The realism came from the stories and the performances, but the show was supposed to be colorful and almost dreamlike.  Later Star Trek series aimed to be visually realistic but TOS was after something different.  This is a stylized show, and it’s not intended to be realistic looking.

Attempting to enhance the realism of TOS’s special effects goes against what the show was trying to do visually, and that’s why the Remastered version sucks all the beauty and fun out of each frame.

Inconsistency

The opening theme song to the Remastered version is the moment when people like me who don’t like this version instantly start to get turned off.

It seems at first that they did their best job. The new theme song is competently recorded and performed well by a live orchestra, but why does it sound terrible? It’s because as soon as the theme song ends, the normal episode’s audio comes in and there’s a drastic difference between the nature of the sound between the two. To be incredibly non-technical about this, the original audio has a “grain” to it that the new recording doesn’t have, and the difference between the two is very jarring and impossible to miss.

This new recording doesn’t sound like it came from the 60s, and even someone who didn’t grow up in the 60s can recognize this fact. And the big kicker is, if they had put a filter over the new audio to clear up the inconsistency, then they might as well have just kept the original! It’s such a waste of everyone’s time and money.

The same thing applies to the special effects. No matter how much effort they put into making an establishing shot of the Enterprise orbiting a planet look beautiful and polished, we’re still going to cut to the bridge and see the 60s set design and 60s costume design filmed with cameras from the 60s.  The juxtaposition of the two is off-putting and doesn’t blend together well.  And the solution to this problem leads back to the same problem with the theme song, trying to build CGI scenes that look like they’re from the 60s will just lead right back to the easier solution of just keeping the footage unaltered.

Now, there are some arguments that could be made for a remastered version like adding more variety to the planets that the Enterprise visits or composing more action-packed space battles, but that leads me to my next point…

Old Things Should Stay Old

Old films and television are always going to have a special quality to them. They were made with very different equipment by very different cultures. They’re always going to have a unique flavor to them that modern creators can only approximate, but never truly imitate.

Star Trek: TOS is a product of the 60s.  It was being influenced by, and was influencing the culture of its time. There’s always going to be a historical context to what you’re watching even if you’re completely uninterested in the history of the 1960s, because this show will have a strange quality to it that is very different from the type of shows that are being produced today.

I’ve spent much of my adult life in the pursuit of historical pop-culture preservation along with James, so of course I would have this opinion. But I really do think that not only is it important for history to be preserved in instances like Star Trek, the old special effects are more interesting.

It’s interesting to see what was possible with visual effects in earlier generations. Sometimes we are amused by how crappy old style monsters and laser effects looked back in the day.  But when you see a special effect from an old movie that looks amazing and still holds up by today’s standards? That’s a special kind of emotion that is exclusive to watching old things.

Also, old things are cool. Show me a group of teenagers here in 2017 and I guarantee you at least one of them is into music, movies, video games or fashion from the 80s or 90s, or even things that are older. It’s not just nostalgia, and you don’t have to live through an era to be fascinated by it.

Overwriting old special effects with newer ones robs the viewer of the unique viewing experience they get watching such an old show.

Star Trek: TOS’s Original Effects Are Actually Good

I’ve seen the original model for the Enterprise at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. It’s an absolutely beautiful piece of craftsmanship and an amazing sight to see in real life. I actually stood and looked at it for over an hour inspecting it from every angle. As I was looking at it, the thought in my head was “I am looking at what is probably the single greatest object on the face of the planet”.

I can understand perhaps preferring a well animated CGI dinosaur to an animatronic robot one. But a spaceship? What can you possibly do with a spaceship that can’t be accomplished just as well with a model, unless it’s some kind of bizarre alien spaceship made out of flesh or goo or energy?

CGI photorealism has the same goal as filming a practical model. You’re trying to simulate a fantasy object, so you want to create a model that has a sufficient amount of detail and use materials that catch light in the correct way.  Real spaceships have sort of a sterile, plastic look to them, so making models out of plastic or smooth painted wood gets the exact look you’re going for. That’s why the special effects in 2001: A Space Odyssey hold up so well.  It’s definitely the case that filming a real model, if done well enough, will look identical or very close to putting an actual spaceship into space and filming it flying around.  That’s why The Orville built a model of their show’s main ship and filmed practical effects flybys with it, even in 2017 where CGI is the industry standard. The model is always going to look superior.

Practical effects vs CGI effects are like two different genres to me. One is better than the other depending on the task.  CGI definitely beats out practical effects if you wanted to make a swarm of alien bugs, but if you want to explode a building, a CGI explosion is not going to look as good as blowing up a practical model, at least with today’s technology.  Each one still has an application where it shines over the other.

I don’t want to be too mean to the Remastered special effects team. They did do a pretty good job considering it was 2006, and parts of the Enterprise model, especially the nacelles, look good.  But the original model looks more like a real object and the Remastered version definitely looks like the fake CGI thing that it is.

Now, the Botany Bay in the episode Space Seed with its blurry textures looks straight out of an N64 game.  In no way can it can be considered to be even close to being as good as the original, and in no way better.  There are plenty of other examples of the Remaster just being absolutely hideous, but I don’t want to be too cruel after I’ve spent all this time criticizing it in this post.

It’s like I’m looking at a screenshot of Wing Commander 3 (Now available for Windows 95 and MS-DOS).

I believe the Remastered version of TOS was made with good intentions.  You can certainly see why the idea was pitched and why the plan went forward.  I think, like the Star Wars Special Editions, we needed to see this experiment tried before we could see why it’s not a good idea.

Unfortunately, Remastered only version of TOS you can watch on Netflix at the time of this writing. It’s time to put this failed experiment behind us and revert the official version back to the original, which the cast and crew got right the first time.

18 thoughts on “Was Remastering Star Trek: TOS Necessary? – Mike Matei Blog”

A good write-up, and I agree with you. I’m actually planning on getting “Star Trek 50th TV and Movie Collection” on blu-ray. Do you happen to know if it’s the original, remastered, or both? I can’t find any confirmation on it. Just thought you might know. Thanks.

I’m not sure. I’ve gone back to watching them on VHS lately haha. Thanks for reading!

The TOS Blu-Rays contain both versions (original and remastered).

Yeah, but it defaults to the remastered versions. It should default to the originals.

I feel they should have been remastered for HD, but not tampered with in any way artistically. Like you I say leave the original special effects (and audio) there because the new ones call too much attention to themselves and don’t really fit. Sure, clean up the film to get rid of any dirt, negative dirt and scratches and then use CG for anything that cannot be repaired chemically, but that’s as far as any kind of CG works should go. Star Trek was shot and edited on 16mm film if I recall and that exceeds the resolution that HD is capable of when done properly. Its nice seeing the episode appear closer to the way they shot it with film grain, the bob and weave of the camera gate, and much more detail. Sometimes this detail can be a detriment. They were often pretty lazy with the focus knowing that NTSC TV was TEH SUXORZ (which I’m sure is the phrase they used in the 60’s) and there are other details you can make out like the computer monitor screens being paper, etc. To me though this is all part of the charm. Can’t wait until they CGI Chekov walking around the ship and encountering Khan in Space Seed, though.

Totally agree about the quality upgrade since it was shot on film. They do look nice on blu-ray when you’re watching the original versions. Thanks for visiting the blog

When releasing something that is decades old, companies should remaster and restore the original elements the best they can… but the final product should be 100% faithful to what the original movie/series did.

I can’t see the appeal to “modernize” something like this. And if you do it (because you think sales will increase), at less give the option to watch the original version too.

Hey Mike. Totally agree with you. The Next Generation is also on Netflix. Do you now if that series got remastered too?

Yes it did, in a sense. They went back a few years ago to the original film negatives, cleaned them up and reassembled them from scratch. TNG has never looked better (if you get the bluray ones). ORiginally it was output to video. Now it retains the details that a film strip would give it. Well worth the upgrade to Bluray to see the vibrant colors and remastering! Plus all the bloopers, deleted scenes and extras they have dug up. Unfortunately, the set did not sell super well and so we will not get versions of DS9 or VOY that way.

And Mike on your blog post here, as a longtime Trek fan, I didnt mind the remastering. At least they didnt step on the toes of the old versions too much and gave BOTH options when they released it… rather than saying OH THIS IS THE ONLY VERSION THAT EXISTS NOW. Its sorta just a fun little experiment done with some love, I think. Im just glad I got the OPTION to choose which to watch!

Good blog, keep em coming, sir!

I don’t like that the Blu-rays default to the new versions. If it didn’t do that, it would piss me off less. It’s the arrogance of them covering up the original versions with the new versions that irks me the most. I agree the film restoration clean up is fantastic. Thanks for reading.

I wouldn’t necessarily say they are covering up the originals, not like Star Wars is. It is rather that that they are promoting their remastered version (as that is where the mostly spent the money, doing the actual film restoration did not cost as much).

I love old film as well and, while I do not feel it is 100% necessary, I do appreciate the intentions involved when creating the remaster (which I do like too). There are a lot of people who refuse to watch the original trek and some of the original effects turn people off who would otherwise enjoy the series just fine. I believe that this was what the goal was with Star Wars except they went absolute there and refused to acknowledge the original theatrical releases.

The 50th anniversary set was one of the best restoration sets I’ve seen on Blu Ray (the TAS looks great and all of the movies are unchanged).

I’d highly recommend the Blu Ray sets for TNG as well.

As soon as I see a remastered Star Trek Episode I turn it off and stop watching. The cheesy effects is what got me hooked as a young kid, and making me forever a Trekkie.

This style of CGI remaster came too early imho. The graphics look barely as good as the ones in ST: Enterprise – which aren’t great, although that may be a result of having it added onto old footage. If a CG remaster were to be done, It should have been produced sometime around “nowadays”, 2006 was just a bit too early for the tech AT THE BUDGET THEY HAD. If this were done today with something ridiculous like CBS throwing 1 million dollars per episode into a CGI remaster, maybe we could have gotten something that resembles some of the more modern shows and films instead of a TOS + plastic CGI models. (Replacing originals that often were actual plastic, but better!)

Here’s what I think. When remastering stuff from film, they should get a high as possible resolution on the base master, and then fix some stuff if necessary and leave it alone, they should not change the aspect ratio either, just leave it the way it’s intended to be. Same with audio tampering, maybe cleaning that up a bit if necessary, but not try to mix it again. Hate it when there’s something that’s originally Mono or Stereo and it’s made to 5.1 or something, and naturally leaving the original audio track choice out (Region 2 suffers from this at least from what I’ve seen and heard). Pretty much what I think is “don’t change the thing to be something it’s not”. Unless it’s something already in the first place I don’t mind.

The Directors Edition of Star Trek: The Motion Picture is perhaps the gold standard for remastering with new FX.

They intentionally added grain/noise to the new FX to make them match the original, among other things.

Watching the director’s edition, it’s hard to believe anything was even done, unless you compare it to the original. This is not at all true of the TOS remasters. The external shots of the Enterprise are far more detailed than the interior shots, and the planets and other spatial phenomena look ridiculously good. The Enterprise herself just looks like a highly detailed model. Whether it was done with a computer model or not, the detail simply doesn’t stand up to this level of graphics resolution.

The TNG remasters look spectacular though because the 1701D does have enough detail to appear in HD and the actual live action film is of HD quality as well.

Re-editing with modern effects is like re-writing some historical events so that women suddenly also play an important role where they never did before.

Where can I see TOS episodes with the original special effects, which I love, online? Not CBS Total Access, apparently.

You can watch both versions on Amazon Prime.

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• The Inventory

Star Trek' s 2009 Reboot Changed Everything

J.j. abrams and company didn't just revive star trek, they steered the franchise—and hollywood—in a new direction..

Star Trek has been an important fixture of sci-fi TV for decades, and alongside its continued existence, movies have helped further flesh out the characters. But in both the movies and TV, the early 2000s weren’t kind to the franchise: 2002's Star Trek: Nemesis was a critical and commercial disaster, and Star Trek: Enterprise had a respectable four-season run, but the shortest of the shows since the original series. Change was in order, and it was eventually decided that would take the form of a reboot that took everyone by surprise.

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Star Trek— that is, the reboot film released May 8, 2009—is one of those movies that showed up at just the right moment. At the time, movies based on old TV shows like Starsky & Hutch and Charlie’s Angels had found commercial successes, which gave this reboot some cultural context. It also helped that it was being helmed by a trio of filmmakers who knew how to make hits: J.J. Abrams was still riding the high off directing Mission: Impossible 3 (speaking of movies based on old TV shows) , along with the almost-ended Lost and the still young Fringe . Writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman had written Mission and were further on Paramount’s good side with the first Transformers movie. If there was anyone who could make a new Star Trek flick that’d get anyone’s attention, for better or worse, it’d be these guys.

It really can’t be understated how much Paramount was banking on this new Star Trek being a hit back then. The studio wanted, more than anything, to get audiences to care about Star Trek again, and how best to do that in the 2000s? By hyping up its action scenes and Kirk being quite the ladies man. That didn’t entirely go over well, much like Abrams’ comments that the movie would mainly be for non-Trekkies. Even with that, the movie couldn’t help but look interesting. Those trailers didn’t tell you a dang thing about its actual plot, but they had good vibes, and made you want to see how the Enterprise crew would come to be the adventurers our parents and grandparents had fallen in love with back in their day.

And fall in love, people did: the reboot movie was met with critical acclaim and later four Academy Award nominations, ultimately winning one for Best Makeup and being the only Trek movie to net an Oscar. Despite mixed reactions on the movie splitting off into its own timeline, critics and audiences loved the young cast’s takes on the original characters—especially Zachary Quinto’s Spock and Zoe Saldana’s Uhura—and their chemistry. With a $385.7 million box office, Star Trek succeeded in making people care about the franchise once more. But its high ended up coming down quicker than you’d think, and in the years since, the movies have been marooned in space.

A few years later, 2013's Star Trek Into Darkness left an odd taste in audiences’ mouths. It still made money, but something about it felt off: maybe it was how it did a more convoluted retelling of Wrath of Khan, or maybe it can be owed to its very weird B-plot with 9/11 parallels that feel like they belong in a completely different movie (or another franchise entirely). Star Trek Beyond , conversely, went for a considerably simpler approach and just functioned like a regular episode of the show. That energy, combined with a still- incredible needle drop , was the right move, even if the film wasn’t a smash hit when it dropped in 2016. Paramount’s spent years trying to get a fourth movie off the ground since then, and it’s anyone’s guess as to if it’ll actually happen.

Things have gone much better over in TV land: Star Trek: Discovery and Lower Decks , a pair of well-liked shows, are both ending after their respective fifth seasons—a run that feels like a miracle these days. Star Trek: Picard gave Next Generation fans the legacy sequel they’d been wanting for years, and Star Trek: Prodigy , despite how messily its schedule was handled, brought younger audiences into the fold. It’s Star Trek: Strange New Worlds that’ll be spearheading future TV plans, which currently include a Starfleet Academy show and the Paramount+ film focused on Michelle Yeoh’s Discovery character Phillipa Georgiou .

Star Trek 2009 's biggest aftershock came outside of its franchise with the big reboot and legacy sequel boom of the 2010s. New takes on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, RoboCop , and Evil Dead were born from this movie’s success, even if it was just to revitalize its own series. Abrams, Orci, and Kurtzman went on to become even bigger names in Hollywood: the former famously went on to revive Star Wars for the big screen, and is a producing powerhouse. Orci and Kurtzman went on to be involved with the Amazing Spider-Man movies, and create or executive produce shows like Sleepy Hollow and Fringe . When the duo separated, Kurtzman—following his directorial debut The Mummy , which failed to launch Universal’s Dark Universe—effectively became Star Trek’s equivalent to Kevin Feige. Orci, last we heard, was writing a Spider-Man adjacent movie for Sony that’s gone quiet in the years since its announcement.

All-in-all, Star Trek was a game-changer, and for better or worse, you don’t get our current movie landscape without it. With how big the franchise is right now, it’s understandable why Paramount’s wanted so much to get a fourth film off the ground—but is it possible by this point? That hypothetical (and surprising ) Star Trek 4 has been waylaid by shifting creatives for years, to the point you feel like someone should finally make the call to pull the plug. Not only did Beyond give the Kelvin universe its cleanest end after the passings of Anton Yelchin and Leonard Nimoy, fourth movies can sometimes be dicey, especially when their franchise wasn’t really built with it in mind. And it’s anyone’s guess as to if a Starfleet prequel set in the same timeline will rejuvenate it for more films or just be a small detour before we head back to Prime time.

In 2022, Chris Pine said the best way forward for Star Trek movies may require they be less bombastic, more geared toward fans, and cost less to make. It’s an easy sentiment to get behind, and that may really only be possible by junking Trek 4 and doing it with another movie. The Enterprise of the Kelvinverse had a good run, and after 15 years, it’s more than fine to boldly go in a new direction.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel , Star Wars , and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV , and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who .

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The great adventure of all time begins with Star Trek, the incredible story of a young maiden voyage onboard advanced starship: the U.S.S. Enterprise. On a journey filled with action, comedy and cosmic peril, the new recruits must find a way to stop an evil being whose mission of vengeance threatens all of mankind. The fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of bitter rivals. One, James Kirk (Chris Pine), is a delinquent, thrill-seeking Iowa farm boy. The other, Spock (Zachary Quinto), was raised in a logic-based society that rejects all emotion. As fiery instinct clashes with calm reason, their unlikely but powerful partnership is the only thing capable of leading their crew through unimaginable danger, boldly going where no one has gone before.

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Space. The Final Frontier. The U.S.S. Enterprise embarks on a five year mission to explore the galaxy. The Enterprise is under the command of Captain James T. Kirk. The First Officer is Mr. Spock, from the planet Vulcan. The Chief Medical Officer is Dr. Leonard 'Bones' McCoy. Their mission is to explore strange new worlds, to seek new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before!

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• Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
• MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ NR (Not Rated)
• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 1.32 Pounds
• Item model number ‏ : ‎ 032429231253
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ Multiple Formats, Box set, Color, Dubbed, NTSC, Subtitled, Full Screen
• Run time ‏ : ‎ 68 hours and 41 minutes
• Release date ‏ : ‎ November 3, 2015
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, James Doohan
• Dubbed: ‏ : ‎ French, Spanish
• Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ French, Spanish
• Studio ‏ : ‎ Paramount
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B013Q1BVIE
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 25
• #220 in Science Fiction DVDs

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Star wars mod for helldivers 2 creates the best clone wars game you've ever seen.

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The Meridia Supercolony In Helldivers 2 Is Really, Really Bad News

Manor lords potential upcoming new feature will totally change the game, new mod gives red dead redemption 2 alternative ending that's great news for arthur morgan.

• A new Helldivers 2 mod brings the Clone Army of Star Wars to fight for Super Earth.
• YouTuber ToastedShoes shared the impressive mod in a video, showcasing iconic Clone Troopers and Separatist enemies.
• Though unavailable for download yet, fans eagerly anticipate the release of the mod.

Helldivers 2 may already be filled with sinister robot armies and an endless supply of highly-trained soldiers, but one impressive mod wants to unite Super Earth's forces with the military might of The Republic from Star Wars . It doesn't take much to see the similarities between the obedient and endlessly patriotic Helldivers and the Clone Army designed and created on Kamino. Both are expert fighting forces with seemingly endless numbers, so mashing them up and creating one of the best Star Wars video games never made feels like an almost obvious idea.

Posted to X (formerly Twitter) by YouTuber ToastedShoes , the creator shared his mod team's Helldivers / Star Wars crossover in an add-on that looks shockingly official .

The mod allows users to step into the armor of an iconic Clone Trooper like Rex, Cody, or Hunter and lay waste to armies of Battle Droids , which take the place of the game's original Automaton faction. To make it an even more authentic creation of the Clone Wars, even vehicles and larger support enemies have been replaced by their Star Wars equivalent, including players' Super Destroyers which are adapted into Republic Attack Cruisers.

The current Helldivers 2 story has Meridia taken over by a Supercolony, and the introduction of new enemies could make Terminids deadlier than ever.

It's A Good Day For The Republic

Clones forever united.

ToastedShoes' video highlights some of the Separatist enemies players will encounter as they play through the mod, including some iconic droids like Droidekas, B2 Super Battle Droids, and even the imposing OG-9 Homing Spider Droid . While the add-on is genuinely impressive with its faithful recreation of Star Wars vehicles and characters, it's currently unavailable to download as ToastedShoes explained that the team wants to spend some more time ironing out some of the bugs and problems. The creator does state that the public will soon be able to give it a try but doesn't specify a release window.

The Star Wars mod for Helldivers 2 is certainly not the first time Arrowhead Studios' game has been compared to The Clone Wars as fans have spent months envisioning what a crossover might look like. One of the more eye-catching creations is a brief clip animated in the style of Genndy Tartakovsky's Star Wars: Clone Wars microseries which envisioned a single Helldivers taking down an entire squad of Automatons by themself. It's undoubtedly a crossover that oozes with potential and given Helldivers 2 is only a few months old, even more impressive pieces of art will likely arrive soon.

Helldivers 2 continues to take the world by storm despite its recent issues regarding the community's rejection of mandatory PlayStation Network account linking . Even though Sony managed to prompt a massive protest against the rule, the player base eventually prevailed, but the game is still delisted from several regions that do not support PSN . Following such a dramatic turn of events, most of the community is simply happy to continue playing Helldivers 2 without all the drama.

Source: ToastedShoes/X

Helldivers 2

• May 13, 2024 | Preview ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Episode 508 With New Images And Clip From “Labyrinths”
• May 11, 2024 | Interview: Elias Toufexis On Making Star Trek History Playing L’ak And Nerding Out In ‘Discovery’
• May 10, 2024 | ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Debuts On Nielsen Streaming Top 10
• May 10, 2024 | Podcast: All Access Breens Out On “Erigah” With Commentary From Elias Toufexis Of ‘Star Trek: Discovery’
• May 9, 2024 | Star Trek Franchise Wins Peabody Award

Interview: Elias Toufexis On Making Star Trek History Playing L’ak And Nerding Out In ‘Discovery’

| May 11, 2024 | By: Anthony Pascale 6 comments so far

The seventh episode (“ Erigah “) of season 5 of Star Trek: Discovery  was a big episode for guest star Elias Toufexis who plays L’ak. Season 5 is actually his second time on Discovery after playing a Federation prisoner in season 1. Toufexis is also a huge fan of Star Trek and TrekMovie had a spoilery (and nerdy) chat with the actor about the latest episode and how excited he was to make Trek history with the return of the Breen.

I know you are a genuine fan so was it difficult to focus on the work and not like just geek out over everything all the time?

They happen simultaneously. I focus on the work the second the camera rolls. No matter what the character is, I’m doing my job. But as soon as they say “cut” to relight or whatever, I’m walking around the set, I’m picking up props, I’m looking at stuff, I’m literally climbing in the Jefferies Tube on the Enterprise. When I really stepped back just as a fan, I was freaking out, every day. I would look around and go, “I have my own phaser, I have my own ship, this is crazy!” And then I would get back to work. Once the camera is rolling it’s what does my character want to do, am I doing all my lines… all that actor cliché crap.

You did have a unique phaser, what is it? Is it Breen?

No, the Breen guns were different. When I shoot it in the first episode, it just traps them in bubbles… there’s no particular backstory other than what I ascribe to it. I’m just like, “I have the most badass gun,” because it looks really cool.

Sonequa Martin-Green as Burnham Elias Toufexis as L’ak in “Mirrors” (John Medland/Paramount+)

I know this was your second time on Discovery . When the casting director brought you back, did you know right away you were playing a Breen?

So they offered me the role and the next day they had me go down and get the plaster mold of my head [for the prosthetics]. And I said I still don’t know what I’m playing, and they said, “Oh, we have some concept art.” And the concept art turned out to be a little different than what it ended up being, but I asked, “What is he?” and they said, “He’s a Breen.” And honest to god, my first reaction was “Breen! Wait, they never take their helmets off.” And then I worked it out in my head, I’m going to be the first Breen that takes his helmet off. I’m going to make Star Trek history! And that really got me excited. Now not only am I a character on the show and not only a big bad antagonist, but now I’m making history.

The episode “Mirrors” explored the whole two Breens thing. How did that factor into your performance in the season?

It’s a good question. For me, there were three actually three Breens. There is the unformed. I always think under their helmets, they’re just jelly, completely malleable. So with the helmets on is one form. And if they release their helmets they suck it up a little bit to make this kind of humanoid thing to present themselves, but still gelatinous. And then there is the third form, the forbidden form, which takes focus. It’s an abomination form. I always played it like L’ak is doing it because he doesn’t want to be Breen. He especially doesn’t want to be a prince. He doesn’t want to be forced into this life. He sees it as a life of servitude. Even if he’s a prince and rich, or whatever the Breen do with that, to him it’s just a prison. The helmet is a prison. The gelatinous form is not really him. He even says that. He says, “It’s not me.” I see myself as separate from them. So I take this form even though they look at it as an abomination. He’s also doing it as a kind of “screw you.”

So in “Erigah” you spent the whole episode in a bed. Death scenes are hard enough but you are doing action and emotion and you never get out of bed. Can you talk about how you dealt with that challenge?

[Laughs] That week was rough. It was rough for two reasons. One, even if I wasn’t being shot and they’re shooting stuff around that bed, I still had to do the six hours of makeup. So I’m still doing six hours before I start my twelve hours of lying there. It was uncomfortable. But doing the stuff in the bed, it was okay for the most part. I found it difficult because the prosthetic would bend in these weird ways sometimes. So technically I was trying to find how can I get my head right so it doesn’t have this big extra chin. Then when we did the actual death scene, it was a bit of an emotional challenge because you have to get through that makeup and you have to get through the contact lenses as an actor. You want the audience to empathize with you and it’s tricky. It was hard in episode five with the love stuff to make sure that got through and it did, thankfully. And it was the same when I was dying, but I can’t say enough about Eve [Harlow] and the way she would play the scenes would help me tremendously. When you watch that scene, it’s her that’s bringing all the emotion to it, I just look sleepy. She’s what makes it work.

Sonequa Martin-Green as Burnham, Wilson Cruz as Culber, Elias Toufexis as L’ak and Eve Harlow as Moll “Erigah” (Marni Grossman /Paramount+)

So much of this episode only works due to the chemistry established with Moll and L’ak. How did you and Eve develop that chemistry?

The chemistry was natural. Eve and I became good, good friends. We became friends pretty quickly. I’m about 10 years older than her so off-camera, I kind of felt like a big brother. And on camera, it was very easy to fall in love with her because she plays it so great, and she’s so pretty. It was very easy for me because she’s such a good actor. So the connection, it had a lot to do with Eve. I would always kind of defer to her performance first. And then her performance reflects onto me trying to get through the makeup. So yeah, I definitely feel that we had that chemistry. And we talked about it a lot. And we ran scenes together a lot. Yeah, we tried to make sure that that love came through. That was our big thing. Make the love come through and make people empathize. And if we did that, then we did our job.

This is a nerdy question, but when L’ak dies, why didn’t he revert back to that gelatinous state?

Yeah, I asked that question. I was like, “When he dies wouldn’t he just fall into it, because the other form takes focus?”  I think it’s just one of those Star Trek things, like “Why didn’t?…” and you just kind of let it go. You explain it away in fan fiction, or whatever. Like, once he took that form, when he died that form stuck… It solidified.

Eve Harlow as Moll and Elias Toufexis as L’ak in “Face The Strange” (Paramount+)

Moll’s last line is “This isn’t how our story ends.” So, is this how your story ends?

You think I’m going to answer that question? [laughs]

This was your second time on Trek, is your agent pitching you for a third? You can do makeup, no makeup…

[Laughs] There’s so many possibilities. I’m never going to say no to Star Trek if something comes around, but I’m pretty much on the bottom of the list now. There’s a lot of other actors they are going to want to use before they come back to me.

Well, there is also the tradition of when they just get to like working with and actor, like Jeffrey Combs, Vaughn Armstrong…

That’s true… Like the actor who played Sarek [Mark Lenard], he was a Romulan, a Klingon, and a Vulcan. So yeah, it’s possible. But the way the business works now is a lot different.

Elias Toufexis

Elias nerding out on Twitter

If you haven’t already, Elias has been sharing what a great time he had as a fan shooting the fifth season of  Discovery on his Twitter/X account @EliasToufexis . For example, he recently showed off an early makeup test…

L'ak from #StarTrekDiscovery make-up test. We originally had those extra ridges on my cheekbones, but we toned that down. Everything else more or less, stayed the same. Long process. pic.twitter.com/3SrmrfypQ5 — ᴇʟɪᴀꜱ ᴛᴏᴜꜰᴇxɪꜱ (@EliasToufexis) May 5, 2024

He also shares behind-the-scenes shot, including this one with a bonus image of him playing Star Trek as a teen…

The picture on the left is me at about 15 years old, on a pretend Enterprise, filming a pretend Star Trek show in my friend's basement. The picture on the right is me years later, on the actual Enterprise, playing a main character on an actual Star Trek show. Life's a trip. pic.twitter.com/PVBwnEAEyy — ᴇʟɪᴀꜱ ᴛᴏᴜꜰᴇxɪꜱ (@EliasToufexis) April 25, 2024

The fifth and final season of Discovery debuted with two episodes on Thursday, April 4 exclusively on Paramount+  in the U.S., the UK, Switzerland, South Korea, Latin America, Germany, France, Italy, Australia, and Austria.  Discovery also premiered on April 4 on Paramount+ in Canada and will be broadcast on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel in Canada. The rest of the 10-episode final season is available to stream weekly on Thursdays. Season 5 debuted on SkyShowtime in select European countries on April 5.

Note: The interview has  been edited for brevity and clarity.  

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All Access Star Trek Podcast , Discovery , Interview , Review , Shatner , Star Trek 4

Podcast: All Access Breens Out On “Erigah” With Commentary From Elias Toufexis Of ‘Star Trek: Discovery’

Discovery , Review

Recap/Review: ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Gets Cool Under Pressure In “Erigah”

I would have been happy if there had actually BEEN chemistry between L’ak and Moll. Sadly, there was very little. These were not well-written characters, and the actors didn’t gel onscreen.

I disagree just about as strongly as is possible. I felt like their on-screen connection was visible. The way these characters are written almost make me want them to win. To each their own, I suppose.

I disagree. I definitely saw their chemistry and connection. And, as Scott mentions, the way they were written, I cared about their plight.

I’m glad he had fun. His character wasn’t horrible.

It never gets old seeing huge Star Trek fans getting to live their childhood dreams. Whoopi Goldberg, Mae Jamison, Jason Alexander, Kelsey Grammer et al and now Stacey Abrams, Robert Kazinsky, Tawny Newsome, and Elias Toufexis. Makes me smile.

93-Year-Old William Shatner ‘Might Consider’ Returning as Captain Kirk in New ‘Star Trek’ Project Through De-Aging: ‘It Takes Years Off of Your Face’

By Zack Sharf

Digital News Director

• Anya Taylor-Joy Has About 30 Lines of ‘Furiosa’ Dialogue, Spent ‘Months’ Without Speaking on Set and Fought to Scream on Camera: ‘I’ve Never Been More Alone Than Making That Movie’ 12 hours ago
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William Shatner recently told Canadian Press that he wouldn’t rule out returning as Captain Kirk in a new “ Star Trek ” project if the script impressed him. While the actor’s age might pose an issue as Shatner turned 93 years old in March, that’s nothing a bit of de-aging technology couldn’t fix.

“It’s an intriguing idea,” Shatner said about returning as Kirk. “It’s almost impossible. But if was a great role and so well-written and if there were a reason to be there not just to make a cameo appearance, but if there were a genuine reason for the character appearing, I might consider it.”

Popular on Variety

“[It] takes years off of your face, so that in a film you can look 10, 20, 30, 50 years younger than you are,” Shatner said.

Another issue around Shatner’s “Star Trek” return is Kirk’s death in the 1994 film “Star Trek Generations,” which is the last time Shatner appeared in the iconic franchise. He’s already brainstormed a plot device that could serve as a workaround and have his version of Kirk come back to life.

“A company that wants to freeze my body and my brain for the future might be a way of going about it,” Shatner said. “‘We’ve got Captain Kirk’s brain frozen here.’ There’s a scenario. ‘Let’s see if we can bring back a little bit of this, a little salt, a little pepper. Oh, look at that. Here comes Captain Kirk!’”

Variety exclusively reported in March that Steve Yockey, creator of the Max series “The Flight Attendant,” had signed on to write the script for “Star Trek 4.” The movie is being designed as the final installment for Pine and the cast. Several attempts to get a fourth “Star Trek” movie off the ground with this cast have failed over the years. One version of the project was to be directed by Matt Shakman (“WandaVision”) and written by Lindsey Beer (“Sierra Burgess Is a Loser”) and Geneva Robertson-Dworet (“Captain Marvel”). Shakman left the project to direct Marvel’s “The Fantastic Four” instead.

Other “Star Trek” projects remain in development at Paramount as well. The studio is working with screenwriter Seth Grahame-Smith (“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”) and director by Toby Haynes (“Black Mirror: USS Callister”) on an origin story movie, while a project with screenwriter Kalinda Vazquez (“Fear the Walking Dead”) that was first announced in 2021 also remains in development.

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