Word is flying on the 'net, as it has for some time, that the powers that be at CBS plan to redo all the spacial effects for Star Trek. A few more prominent sources have now confirmed this.
We've seen how bad ass it could look on that mirror Enterprise episode and DS9's time travel episode.
This could be really dope.
But in a way it takes away from the tacky greatness that made TOS so great. It's like the SW prequel trilogy.
They computerize the GORN like they did Jar Jar Binks, and I'm bailing with extreme prejudice. Half his coolness is how stiff and slow the dude moves around.
--------
Exclusive! "New" Star Trek Is Set on Stunning
by Michael Logan
Behold Star Trek's "new" Enterprise.
Star Trek purists, take a deep breath! On Sept. 16, the iconic 60s series will return to syndication for the first time since 1990, but with a startling difference: All 79 episodes are being digitally remastered with computer-generated effects not possible when Gene Roddenberry created the show 40 years ago. The news could cause Roddenberry loyalists to have a collective cow, but the longtime Trek staffers in charge of the makeover say they're honoring the late maestro's vision, not changing it.
"We're taking great pains to respect the integrity and style of the original," says Michael Okuda, who spent 18 years as a scenic-art supervisor on Star Trek films and spin-offs. "Our goal is to always ask ourselves: What would Roddenberry have done with today's technology?" Okuda's teammates on the two-year project are his wife, Denise Okuda, with whom he's authored several Trek reference books, and 14-year Trek production vet David Rossi.
The upgraded episodes to be shown out of order and one per week will kick off with "Balance of Terror," a big fan favorite "that gives us a chance to really show off the new' Enterprise," says Okuda. "The exterior of the ship now has depth and detail, and it will fly more dynamically." (Click here for a larger version of the image at left.) Painted backdrops will also be brought to life: Once-empty star bases will have CGI people milling about, while static alien landscapes have been given slow-moving clouds and shimmering water. Okuda notes that a view of Earth in the 1966 episode "Miri" has been "replaced with a more accurate image, now that we've gone into deep space and looked back at ourselves."
Trek's opening theme is also getting an overhaul: The music has been re-recorded in stereo, and a new singer has been hired to wail those famous but wordless vocals. And goofs will be corrected: In "The Naked Time," there was no beam coming out of Scotty's phaser when he tried to cut through the bulkhead outside Engineering. Now there is.
-------
08-30-2006 11:45 PM
