Star Trek - Space: The Final Frontier

[Migraine Box]

Yeah, TOS was "remastered" between 2006-2008. But unlike the excellent later TNG remaster, I definitely prefer the unremastered version of TOS.

They replaced most of the spaceship scenes with crappy CGI (why it looks "90s") and added a bunch of other updated special effects that tend to be jarring compared to the original low-tech effects. The live action scenes are a lot sharper because they rescanned most of the original film, but this isn't really a benefit, as it just allows you to see how bad the theatrical lighting and makeup was on 60's TV shows. The original version is lower def and in many ways looks crappy, but it gels together much more coherently aesthetically.

Unfortunately, the remastered version is currently the default on most TV networks and streaming services, although I think Amazon Prime Video has the original untouched version as an option. Only other way to get it is the old colored plastic shell DVDs or the newer Bluray release, or of course by hitting up the high seas.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but part of the reason why they shelled out for the new CG effects was because the film elements for the original visual effects were deemed 'lost', right? The Blu-rays still gave you the option to switch between the old and new versions, but the original effects shots were fairly awful-looking upscales.

Several years after the remaster was finished, they found a ton of original 35mm film trims from TOS (behind-the-scenes stuff, outtakes, deleted scenes, mostly from seasons 1 and 2) including the original model shots, and compiled it into a Blu-ray box set called 'The Roddenberry Vault". I'd be curious if anyone has taken it upon themselves to try and 'restore' the show using elements from this set, limited as it may be. I know this is usually the realm of Star Wars nerds (Harmy, TN1, etc), but there have been some rather impressive fan-restoration efforts going on in Trek as of late, so who knows

 

[Captain Syrup]

I'm not sure what the wider thread's opinion of Vic Lasagna's Star Trek Continues fan show is (I find it very hit and miss

I was just thinking I might need to rewatch that show.

Hell yeah bro, gonna jerk off to Gigi Edgley and Rekha Sharma again



I remember being, “oh cool, actual sci-fi people I recognize.” Back when an old actor showing up was exciting, and not, uh..... Picardo shuffling in like, “Remember me? Anyway the Saudis own me now so I have to say "chickenshit" in the first 30 seconds of this episode”

 

[Free the Pedos]

Garak was written brilliantly. Everything was a lie except when it wasn't. You don't need to ruin that kino by making him gay. He simply is. Besides he got with Dukat's daughter if I recall, and I thought that worked

The funniest option is that he was 100% gay but hated Dukat SO MUCH he forced himself to get it up for Ziyal.

 

[Captain Syrup]

The funniest option is that he was 100% gay but hated Dukat SO MUCH he forced himself to get it up for Ziyal.

ZIYAL: Father, this is my new boyfriend, he sells pants and also probably killed like nine hundred of your friends

DUKAT: Ah yes, family values, the cornerstone of our proud culture.



That’s the most Cardassian move. You don’t disown your dad, you just psychologically torture him. The first Ziyal actress really sold that too.

 

[Gregg Turkington]

Wait, why was Tom in prison again? He was piloting a shuttle and blasting Smash Mouth and somebody got hurt. And Janeway needs him to catch Chakotay for some reason? That’s the part which makes no sense. Tuvok is literally right there undercover

I think there was some nonsense about Tom having some association with the Maquis, as well as Chakotay himself and so he would be a good advisor. Plus he was a good pilot? Idk maybe there was some line about how Tom was experienced in piloting through the Badlands, but it seems like you can just get any talented pilot who isn't locked up for getting some kid killed.

 

[m1ddl3m4rch]

At least you know that when they're constantly nagging and arguing they actually want to be dicked down.

 

[Ultraman Orb Dark]

Ethical debates had both sides treated like actual people with opposing views and hashed things out like adults and not immature children.

I always think back to how "A Taste of Armageddon" had the aliens explain why they conducted war the way they did, and how even though Spock saw the logic in the process, he made it clear he didn't approve, he understood.

If it was modern Trek, they'd make the whole computer war thing a giant video game and portray the bad guys as evil livestreamers.

And holy shit, I thought ENT had a bad episode in Dear Doctor but somehow they manage to top it with the third gender episode Congenitor. Trip was absolutely right about how they were treating the congenitor but you had Archer and Tpol chewing him out for it. What the fuck.

"It's your fault this person killed themself!"

Hey, Archer? Maybe they thought suicide was more bearable than going back to a life of slavery after you refused to grant them asylum.

OH and yeah btw what's the Intrepid? Oh right it's a SCIENCE vessel. Why are there nobody in the senior crew a science officer?!?

Wasn't the entire science department killed on the trip to the Delta Quadrant? It's why the closest the Doctor had to a nurse was a two-year-old space elf and the guy whose main job is flying the ship.

 

[m1ddl3m4rch]

OH and yeah btw what's the Intrepid? Oh right it's a SCIENCE vessel. Why are there nobody in the senior crew a science officer?!?

Janeway rose through the science division and switched to command when she was given Voyager. It's in the first episode. It's one reason why they invent so much tech on the show.

Voyager's first mission was military, hunting Maquis in the Badlands. Intrepid class was top of the line in her day.

 

[Captain Syrup]

Wasn't the entire science department killed on the trip to the Delta Quadrant? It's why the closest the Doctor had to a nurse was a two-year-old space elf and the guy whose main job is flying the ship.

It’s very easy to do the lazy VOY dunk, but TNG pushed Federation tech so far that it’s borderline sentient. Why do they need hundreds of highly trained specialists when Majel is basically flying the thing by herself?



So VOY's sickbay being staffed by a sarcastic lightbulb, a failed pilot, and whatever Kes is wasn't that much crazier.

 

[m1ddl3m4rch]

whatever Kes is

poor Jennifer Lien became a lolcow

 

[Dragged Into Sunlight]

poor Jennifer Lien became a lolcow

Mentally, spiritually, and physically

 

[Gregg Turkington]

Mentally, spiritually, and physically

View attachment 8512076

Why are you mocking her for dressing up as the female Founder? Even without the prosthetics she really pulls it off!

 

[Xev]

I don't know why I made this

 

[Sayer of the N-Word]

If it was modern Trek, they'd make the whole computer war thing a giant video game and portray the bad guys as evil livestreamers.

That could be an interesting premise, there are plenty of Trek episodes about alien cultures who incorporate games and entertainment into their societies in unusual ways. One of my favorite DS9 episodes is Tribunal, where the Cardassian lawyer says that trials on Cardassia are televised because they're basically morality plays and not procedures for determining guilt or innocence.

I wouldn't expect today's writing staff not to bungle it, though.

 

[Mr Processor]

Janeway was a nepo baby, too.

View attachment 8498504

Wait, why was Tom in prison again? He was piloting a shuttle and blasting Smash Mouth and somebody got hurt. And Janeway needs him to catch Chakotay for some reason? That’s the part which makes no sense. Tuvok is literally right there undercover.

The funniest detail in VOY is that they needed a childhood photo of Duncan McNeill and apparently nobody could find one. So they just grabbed a picture of Locarno and stuck it on Admiral Paris’ desk.

View attachment 8498527

Speaking of prison, I'm reminded of this from one of Plinkett's Star Trek videos:

Black gloves Janeway is best Janeway.

 

[Platonic Ideal]

he forced himself to get it up for Ziyal

Did anybody else think this plot was a little strange? I was always under the impression that Garak was supposed to be older, like around Sisko's age, but it's like the writers changed their minds later so they could fit him in with Ziyal and Enabran Tain

 

[Sweeter and Savoury]

Did anybody else think this plot was a little strange? I was always under the impression that Garak was supposed to be older, like around Sisko's age, but it's like the writers changed their minds later so they could fit him in with Ziyal and Enabran Tain

meh he's an alien. Who knows what the Spoonhead mating cycle is like. I wouldn't think too deeply on it, for all we know male Cardassian's don't reach sexual maturity until age 75.

Lets not delve too deeply into Berman and Behr's fetishes. Hollywood types always tend to disgust me with their ready access to young, eager woman no matter how old and fugly the guy is. The Casting Couch is a stereotype for a reason after all.

 

[Dragged Into Sunlight]

The tone shift in S3 is jarring. I wanna go back to my fun episode of the week space exploration show please

 

[Free the Pedos]

Did anybody else think this plot was a little strange? I was always under the impression that Garak was supposed to be older, like around Sisko's age, but it's like the writers changed their minds later so they could fit him in with Ziyal and Enabran Tain

It made sense to me because I understood it as “lost girl without a family who wants to know about her heritage gains gay older BFF who’s charming and too nice to break her heart by telling her he’s too old for her and is on Grindr.” Wasn’t she about 17? He probably thought she’d snap out of it herself.

 

[Phillip Green]

Did anybody else think this plot was a little strange? I was always under the impression that Garak was supposed to be older, like around Sisko's age, but it's like the writers changed their minds later so they could fit him in with Ziyal and Enabran Tain

I don't think Garak's age was ever stated precisely, but he appears to be in his mid-40's. I always inferred that Enabran Tain was an older mentor.

Ziyal was 13 when she was captured by the Breen, 19 when the crew of DS9 rescued her in Season 4, and 21 in season 6 when she's killed. She was played by three actresses over that period, ranging from 23 to 35 years old.

While many would frown on the 20-year age gap, this kind of romance is hardly unheard of, even in Trek. Especially since she was intentionally trying to piss dad off. She was an adult by human standards.