Is this cool or is it just me? This is, as far as I know, a fan film montage. I found it on YouTube and it is called Star Trek Enhanced. It puts up-to-date special effects in place of the original ones from the original series. I think it's a cool idea... but I would want a DVD in which you could watch both an enhanced version and the original version.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9XHmj-dPEY[/youtube]

Neat idea, as long as Greedo doesn't shoot first.

Seriously though, I liked what I saw, but I'd be really interested to see what it looks like at decent resolution. At 320x240, or whatever it is, it's tough to tell the difference between the CGI and the original model shots.

Ah, yes - the episode featuring the rapacious, planet-destroying cornucopia!

Hey John, weren't you just on TV tonight? Yeah, I remember that planet eater. I wonder how it would have done against Ferro Lad.

Matter Eater Lad grows up to be Planet Eater Man.

I think they ought to do it! And take all the old ones off of the shelf so that everyone has to admit that this is a MUCH better artistic vision. Afterall, the old effects probably were only 25% right. This way, it would be at least 70%.

FWIW, a few of the Doctor Who DVDs have an option to turn on CGI effects.

The Dalek Invasion Of Earth and The Ark In Space are the two that immediately spring to mind. The former has a scene with a Dalek ship that is quite obviously a pie pan with some bits glued on. The CGI version still looks cheesy, but is up to, say, Gerry Anderson's standards, so it doesn't look horribly out of place.

But you're watching the transmitted version by default, and you have to go to the Special Features menu to turn the CGI on. Seems that's the way it should be.

only time it irks me is when I watch an adventure on DVD and THEN find the effects option! I've since learned my lesson but yeah the FX in Dalek invasion were pretty cool and fit in quite nicely. Especially considering you saw the strings on the earlier pie pan.....

A lot of those early episodes of TNG should have the effects redone. If only to get rid of the video shimmer on the stars during the space shots.

Wow, that's really cool. He even enhanced the titles! I'm hoping that's essentially what we're going to get from the new project -- year four of the five year mission -- old costumes and all.

Don't think it'd do to bother with re-releasing actual episodes with those effects added, though. Use just the slightest bit of imagination and that's what you see anyway.

On another note: every time Sulu turns back to look at the camera, take a drink.

I didn't think I would like it, but I enjoyed that the effects were subtle yet detailed. A lot of old effects wil oftne pull me out of an episode as if I should somehow "know better" now.

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." 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 with a bigger orchestra, 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.

http://tvguide.com/News/Insider/default ... e=08312006

Sounds cool to me. (Not Kewl though). I think anything that encourages younger people to check it out is a good thing. A lot of the special effects are really really dated, and some people won't check it out because of that.

The originals are still there but a fun experiment nonetheless.

(and I've seen only a few episodes myself).

OK, where's LUCAS!!!!

Wowee, I read rumors of this at TrekToday, but didn't realize it was a done deal. Is this the stuff going to be showing on TV Land, I wonder? Thought I read somewhere they were adding TOS to their lineup.

I feel like such a sucker for things like this. I don't really care for Smallville too much, but this year I'm all like "Oh boy, Green Arrow!" Now I'm keyed for new Trek FX which are, after all, just window dressing for the stories themselves.

I might as well go read New Avengers, that's obviously where I'm headed...

I don't think this is what is on TV Land.

The first person to call me a "magpie" and BAM! 5 between the eyes!

I'm looking forward to this.

I am too.

You're a magp-- OWWWW!!

Man, he wasn't kidding!

I have already been called a Magpie. I revel in my magpiedness. I also like to make up words for things I have been called.

So anyway, I hve heard that the eventual DVD release will be HD-DVD only. Can anyone confirm this? I don't want to upgrade for quite some time but I would like these since I didn't get them the first time around.

Looks great to me.

Looks great to me too.

I have no problem with this, as long as the originals are still intact and they don't phase out the originals like the did with STAR WARS (but they brought them back!), then I have no problem with it.