Impressions of Star Trek Remastered

At a time when Star Trek had been aired so frequently that prints were hazy, scratched and dull, Paramount/CBS figured it was time to re-engineer the original series (TOS) by restoring the original master prints, increasing the picture quality and re-recording the background music. Then they made the decision to go one better and replace the old special effects shots with digital CGI animations.

This venture was spurred on by the appearance of High Definition DVDs in the consumer marketplace. Just a year ago (late 2007), there was all-out war between the two competing High-Def formats: HDDVD and Blu-Ray. There was no clear winner in sight. All that changed in February 2008 when Warner Bros. finally committed exclusively to supporting the Blu-ray format.

Part of HDDVD's arsenal, though, was the release of the remastered TOS: Season One. Toshiba, who were backing HDDVD, invested a sizeable amount of money into the remastering project and the release of the remastered TOS series was heavily promoted.

TOS was all recorded on film which is inherently a high-contrast, high-definition medium. It was also shot using filmatic techniques. More recent series of Star Trek such as Voyager, Deep Space Nine and Next Generation were all shot using video, an inherently non-high-definition, low contrast medium. Plus, Star Trek: The Next Generation especially, was shot using low-contrast lighting that was fashionable at the time. The outcome of this is that it's [very that any of these series will ever make an appearance in high definition on Blu-Ray. I wouldn't be surprised if Star Trek: The Original Series does make an appearance on Blu-Ray at some point in the future.

Impressions of Star Trek Remastered

Well, first off, it looks gorgeous in high definition. The original 4:3 aspect ratio has been kept and the prints are exceptionally crisp and clean. Images have more punch due to the somewhat boosted contrast. If there is a downside, it is the common criticism levelled at high-def: you can see too much detail. As an example, on the HDDVD you can see the zippers on the cast's shirts.

The HDDVD release featured a High-Definition version on one side and standard definition on the other side (so it plays in a normal DVD player). Both sides have a good set of extras with little material being repeated.

Now the rest of this review will look at the standard definition DVD releases of the remastered series.

A few months back, series one of the Remastered Star Trek was released in a standard DVD edition. in the meantime, TOS: Season Two has been released and the third series of TOS will be available in November. Should you already own the previously released version of the series on DVD (without remastered special effects and music), is there any reason to acquire yet another edition of Trek?

For me, having grown up watching the series, getting the HDDVD version was a must. I was more interested in image quality and the show looking as pristine as it did straight out of the camera in the 1960s. I have to admit to being a little dubious about the new CGI replacing old ship and other special effects shots and whether they'd be intrusive. However, I was pleasantly surprised. The FX do make the show even better, giving it a more immersive quality and drawing you further into each episode.

All the FX were done inhouse by CBS (who now own the rights to the TV series). While, for the most part, they've done an outstanding job, some ship effects look less realistic than others. I believe the company that created the effects for Enterprise were originally considered to create the Star Trek Remastered FX but their expenses were too high and so CBS did the effects inhouse instead.

The thing that makes the remastered series so great is that they aren't trying to alter or re-imagine the episodes (for better or worse). There's no showing off here. Instead what they've done is clean the show up and presented it exactly as it was originally meant to be, musical note for note, shot for shot. The background music has been completely re-recorded, but aside from the fact that it's now crystal clear (and in 5.1 Dolby Digital) you'd never know it. FX shots of the Enterprise have been rendered with CGI, but it's hard to tell any difference (except on rare occassions), and it now looks brilliant instead of worn out, washed out and incredibly grainy. The new FX fit seamlessly amongst the original live-action footage. Remember those black matte lines, especially around ships orbiting planets? They're gone. And Fuzzy prints? They're a thing of the past. The colors are brighter, the shadows are deeper and Star Trek has never looked as stunning.

Like I said earlier, I was dubious about a version of Star Trek that replaced spacecraft models with CGI or tampered with the originally recorded background music. But what they've done here is so faithful, that there's nothing that any Star Trek fan can do but stand up and applaud. All the work has been carried out by people who love the series; and it shows. It's just a shame it's not being put to better use. Paramount has declined to broadcast this new version in High Definition, even though they now have the capability to do it. Combine that with how difficult they're making it to see it on satellite and cable, and it's hard to find a reason for bothering with it on television.

Better to beam this pristine version of one of TV's most iconic and classic shows onto DVD at warp speed. And if you bought into HDDVD and don't have the Remastered HDDVD, pick that one up instead. You won't be disappointed.