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Classic Star Trek
Glenn A
Posts: 23,877 Forum Member
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Help needed. I really used to enjoy watching the sixties series of Star Trek and would love to know how much DVDs of episodes would cost and if they sell them in stores like HMV( don't trust buying things online?).
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http://www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Trek-Original-Series-Journey/dp/B004E10QC8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394912872&sr=8-1&keywords=star+trek+original+series+dvd
HMV will most likely have the individual season sets, and probably the complete series boxset as well, but you'll definitely pay more than £30 for them.
The series is also available on Blu Ray - the whole series was remastered in full HD - you can choose between the original effects, or newly created ones. Looks glorious.
It'll be one of those titles that either be shockingly expensive - original rrp - or surprisingly cheap.
(My local HMV has the complete Battlestar Galactica on Blu-ray for £40 which seems to be as cheap as anywhere online.)
How come you don't like buying online? The FBI don't check people's mail anymore, so your fine.
I disagree. This is a common complaint you often see on the internet, but I have the Blu Ray Edition of that box set and the DS9 DVD box as well several other series that are similarly packaged. I've never any any trouble with either the discs or the cardboard becoming damaged despite repeated usage. Maybe the people making such complaints just aren't taking enough care when handling the discs, or have chunky fingers or whatever, who knows.
I don't think it is the case of not looking after it. But is down to opinion. I avoid all cardboard case with boxsets, because whether you look after it or not (which i do), the discs become scratched because you don't have the proper protection of a plastic case along with the safety button in the middle to allow it to be released safely as well.
Despite always being careful I've had to replace a couple of season sets because at least one of the discs in the set discs became damaged over time, and they were in the plastic case. Maybe it's down to the quality of the discs themselves (I don't know).
Very true
Yeah. *sigh*. I've got shelf-yards of all Star Trek incarnations in those size cartons. Nice at the time, but they occupy an awful lot of shelf space. I really hope they follow through with Blu Ray releases for all series, though I fear downloads will become the norm before they reach the last of VOY. I even have the all original US releases of original Star Trek. Each of those is one standard DVD case with one disc and two episodes.
What price Blu Ray releases for B5, Crusade and Rangers (or even SG-1)?
Too many people I know have had their bank accounts stolen, so still prefer to pay cash in shops.
It's odd for someone who loves technology, but having been broke in the past in dead end jobs or on the dole, I'm very careful around money.
The Season 6 TNG BD trailer is out - it includes a shot of the DS9 station - looks very good in HD - certainly whets the appetite for a DS9 release. I think the expectation now is that both DS9 and VOY WILL see a HD release - it's just whether they try and cut any corners with the VFX - the ENT BDs for example include VFX upscaled from 480i. Thing is, that was done because they were already upscaled to that level - they literally had to just shove those episodes on BD and it was ready for release. A very quick buck for them there. They couldn't do that with DS9 or VOY. The worst case scenario is that they remaster the live-action stuff, and then upconvert the VFX, but I can't see them doing that. At worst I would imagine that they'll just remaster what they have, rather than re-creating certain effects to improve them, like they've done with TNG.
B5, I had always thought, based on previous comments from Joe, was off the table. However, it looks as though WBs might actually be willing to commit serious money to do the series justice. At least they're willing to think about it;
B5 HD Update?
Sadly, SG1 probably IS off the table. SG1 was another one that was edited together on tape - it would require significant £££ to do properly for HD - something that MGM don't have a whole lot of right now.
Glenn - dependent on whether you want brand-spanking-new releases - you could also try places like CEX;
The Original Series at CEX
The website's quite handy as you can see whether they have any copies in any stores close to you.
That all depends on what sites they have used, plus your judging that based on what someone else has had happen to them, not yourself. Amazon is incredibly secure. They all are. They all have a padlock in the corner of the screen when your processing your details to show how secure it is. Also, there are much more DVD's available online, then there in shops. It got to the point that whatever DVD or CD i wanted was never in store, i could always rely on an online shop on having it.
I am very careful round money to, but I order on line a lot on a month basis and I have never ever had fraud done to me.
SG-1 I thought was made in HD after the first couple of seasons. I seem to remember reading as well that season 1 was shot on film not quite up to HD grade (16mm?) due to budgetary constraints.
On the subject of online purchases - it's become quite normal and quite secure as long as you take care with your own personal information. Yes identity theft and consequent fraud happens, but the vast majority of transactions proceed without any problems. The problem as it really exists is vastly exaggerated by all the media coverage and by the antics of idiots like Jeremy Clarkson.
The risks are really no greater than buying something in a shop with a credit or debit card.
If you want to buy online from say Amazin or iTunes etc. just get one if those pre paid cards you see in Tesco etc. you can buy them in different amounts and once registered work like any ordinary card. In the event of someone getting the card details all that can be lost is what you haven't spent on it. That was you don't need to register your main card etc.
Thankyou, I'll take your advice.
They were rendered in 480p (rather than 480i, apologies), but yeah, still SD. Apparently, they only rendered them in HD if there were any serious aliasing issues with rendering them at the lower resolution. Season 4 might be different though, I think I remember reading that those might actually have been rendered at 720p, but I could be wrong.
In fairness, with ENT, it's a mixed bag in terms of the upscales - some look very nice indeed, given that they're upscales. Others, not so good, but that's pretty much what you'd expect.
No idea what the long-term strategy is for Enterprise and whether they'll eventually get a overhaul. People might be quick to complain if there was another release in the short term, but realistically, with DS9 and Voyager still to come (most likely) then CBS-Digital will be tied up with those for the next 5/6 years anyway, so any ENT re-release is some way down the line.
The 'Animated' series has been re-scanned at 1080p as well, so expect that to come to BD in the not-too-distant future.
SG1 switched to digital cameras for the 8th season onwards. They used 16mm cameras for the first three seasons, but from memory, used 35mm for any scenes involving VFX. They switched to 35mm across the board from the third season finale. To be honest, it's not how the show was filmed, but rather how the VFX were rendered and edited. In the 90s, most shows shot on film, but then edited everything (VFX, music etc) on tape. That's where the issues lie. You end up going back to the individual elements, making them HD-ready, and then editing it all together again. Assuming that all of the individual elements still exist then it's definitely possible, but, it takes time, and the expense that comes with that. As mentioned, it's MGM, so they're unlikely to want to shell out the $$$ given their woes of late.
I suspect, that SG's VFX were rendered at 480i/p, at least for the first 7 seasons. That would mean re-rendering them for a HD release, unless they go down the route of Stargate Atlantis on BD and run with remastered 'live' footage but upscaled VFX. That was easy to do with Atlantis as they'd shot everything with HD cameras from the start (Season 1 filmed alongside SG1 Season 8 which as mentioned above heralded the move to HD cameras).
I'd be happy with a remastered 'live' with upscaled VFX - as mentioned, works for Atlantis, and Firefly didn't look too bad. Sure full HD VFX would be nice, but it's not a deal-breaker.
Thanks for the info, especially news of even the faintest possibility of B5 winding up on BluRay.
I shall be keeping as many digits crossed as humanly possible!
No worries, I'm sceptical of the B5 stuff, because that will require a level of faith from WBs that hasn't been forthcoming previously, but any news is good news there. If I could pick just one show for the full HD treatment then it would certainly be B5.
The DVDs are what they are - but the cropped VFX/Composite shots really grate.
Amazing that they protected for widescreen with the live-action scenes, but then only rendered the VFX at 4:3. To quote the series itself, a real bone-head manoeuvre...:D