It's been a long time since I was much of a Trekie. Why does Commodore Decker wear a differnet badge than the classic TOS badge?
During the original series, the "delta swoosh" was for Enterprise, not Starfleet. Every ship and station had a different insignia, and you can see a variety of them. Decker's insignia is from his ship, Constellation.
Later, after the original series, the Enterprise's legendary mission cemented it so firmly in Starfleet history that the delta symbol was adopted by all of starfleet as a universal insignia.
During the original series, the "delta swoosh" was for Enterprise, not Starfleet. Every ship and station had a different insignia, and you can see a variety of them. Decker's insignia is from his ship, Constellation.
Later, after the original series, the Enterprise's legendary mission cemented it so firmly in Starfleet history that the delta symbol was adopted by all of starfleet as a universal insignia.
A brilliant distillation of how Star Trek began in the minds of adults and wound up in the hands of fans.
That each ship and station had its own insignia was one of my favorite details of the original series. Very effective in building the idea that Star Fleet was a far-flung organization. And it cost the producers nothing!
Now, when you watch the show, everybody wears the "delta swoosh" and everyone may as well be a crewman on the Enterprise for all that it matters.
Did anybody ever have a better Science Fiction death scene? Nope.
(I remember having truly ghastly nightmares about this episode after it first aired (age 6). I couldn't bear the sight of anything conic for years.... even ice-cream cones....)
Did anybody ever have a better Science Fiction death scene? Nope.
(I remember having truly ghastly nightmares about this episode after it first aired (age 6). I couldn't bear the sight of cornucopias for years....or even ice-cream cones....)
Ha! I was about the same age and I would have nightmares about the Gorn...he would chase me....very....slowly...
If you haven't had a chance to see the "re-mastered" episodes, the incredible graphical update that they gave to The Doomsday Machine transform it unquestionably into one of the best hour-long science fiction dramas of all time. Certainly one of the top few episodes of Star Trek. Decker's performace is exceptional, and the way they fixed the climax visually really gives the viewer a sense of scale and power. Now the Enterprise strafes and zooms around the massive Doomsday device, and it looks perfectly awesome.
Don't get me wrong... it always was a great episode with regards to writing and acting... but now the visuals are just as impressive. Check it out.
I've only seen pieces of the remastered episodes - they updated the look of the Enterprise and all of the other spacecraft, corrected some of the special effects, etc. I would love to see the Doomsday Machine episode again remastered!
If you haven't had a chance to see the "re-mastered" episodes, the incredible graphical update that they gave to The Doomsday Machine transform it unquestionably into one of the best hour-long science fiction dramas of all time. Certainly one of the top few episodes of Star Trek. Decker's performace is exceptional, and the way they fixed the climax visually really gives the viewer a sense of scale and power. Now the Enterprise strafes and zooms around the massive Doomsday device, and it looks perfectly awesome.
Don't get me wrong... it always was a great episode with regards to writing and acting... but now the visuals are just as impressive. Check it out.
Ugh... I've seen side-by-side comparison stills of the re-mastered vs. untouched TOS... and the re-mastered stuff looks like total garbage in my opinion. Makes me think of how Lucas went in and mucked with everything he could touch in Star Wars... and we all know who shot first.
Phnglui mglw nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah nagl fhtagn! With cheeze!
LordBobbio wrote:
Ugh... I've seen side-by-side comparison stills of the re-mastered vs. untouched TOS... and the re-mastered stuff looks like total garbage in my opinion. Makes me think of how Lucas went in and mucked with everything he could touch in Star Wars... and we all know who shot first.
Hmm. I'm a big fan of TOS, and so far, I've quite enjoyed all the remastered episodes I've seen. Makes me think of how I wish Lucas had went in and mucked with stuff. That is, improved visual effects, but not actually changed plot.
Ugh... I've seen side-by-side comparison stills of the re-mastered vs. untouched TOS... and the re-mastered stuff looks like total garbage in my opinion.
Trust me, my friend, if you only saw a still, you didn't get the full impression of these outstanding updates. They're done with total loyalty and love for the original series, and other than miraculously tightening the image over all, the computer graphics are harmonious and masterful. I am as old school and snobbish about the show as anyone can possibly be, and I cannot recommend them enough. Do yourself a favor as a fan of the original Trek and watch one through.
I understand the impulse to compare the Trek updates with what Lucas did to the original Star Wars movies, but Lucas changed loads of stuff and sort of desecrated what went before. These were done with an abiding respect over all.
If you haven't had a chance to see the "re-mastered" episodes, the incredible graphical update that they gave to The Doomsday Machine transform it unquestionably into one of the best hour-long science fiction dramas of all time. Certainly one of the top few episodes of Star Trek. Decker's performace is exceptional, and the way they fixed the climax visually really gives the viewer a sense of scale and power. Now the Enterprise strafes and zooms around the massive Doomsday device, and it looks perfectly awesome.
Don't get me wrong... it always was a great episode with regards to writing and acting... but now the visuals are just as impressive. Check it out.
Ugh... I've seen side-by-side comparison stills of the re-mastered vs. untouched TOS... and the re-mastered stuff looks like total garbage in my opinion. Makes me think of how Lucas went in and mucked with everything he could touch in Star Wars... and we all know who shot first.
I've heard that in the Super Duper Deluxe Double Secret Version (tm) due out soon, it's actually Jar-Jar who shoots first.
Now, when you watch the show, everybody wears the "delta swoosh" and everyone may as well be a crewman on the Enterprise for all that it matters.
Wait a sec,
You mean they're NOT all a part of the Enterprise crew?!!?
I'm just saying that in old series, you could pick out visitors to the Enterprise even if they wore Star Fleet uniforms: they didn't have the delta swoosh. They had something else in its place.
Now, everyone in Star Fleet wears the delta swoosh. Ensign Jar-Jar, visiting the ship from Star Base 11, could just as easily be another crewman wandering into the scene from another part of the ship.
They were showing them on British TV (can't recall the channel) for a while, I watched them when visiting in those locales. I was pretty impressed with the updated visuals. They left everything almost like they were, but updated the graphics to look like modern special effects.
Okay . . . story time! I made the image after watching the remastered version of the episode (so far the only one of the new versions I've seen). (On the DVD, that missing line isn't cut!)
I did enjoy the updated effects. It's a little jarring at first and purists will likely prefer the original low-tech effects, but Star Trek was never about effects -- so I tell myself these are just bonus eye candy.
Anyway, I noticed Decker kept sliding together two cards, or pieces of wood or something between his fingers. Couldn't figure out what they were. (Anyone know?)
I decided Decker needed a hand full of cards. Race for the Galaxy, obviously.
Yes, in the minds of adults, the legendary mission would have read:
"On a five year mission to seek out new lifeforms and civilizations, to determine which are threats and which can be exterminated."
I think you meant to say, "on a five year mission to seek out new lifeforms and civilizations, to determine which are threats, which Kirk should sleep with, and which can be exterminated."
Those are computer cards Decker's holding. They slip into slots on a panel, presumably data storage. "Mirror, Mirror" features Kirk using them a good bit, I recall.
During the original series, the "delta swoosh" was for Enterprise, not Starfleet. Every ship and station had a different insignia, and you can see a variety of them. Decker's insignia is from his ship, Constellation.
Later, after the original series, the Enterprise's legendary mission cemented it so firmly in Starfleet history that the delta symbol was adopted by all of starfleet as a universal insignia.
A brilliant distillation of how Star Trek began in the minds of adults and wound up in the hands of fans.
That each ship and station had its own insignia was one of my favorite details of the original series. Very effective in building the idea that Star Fleet was a far-flung organization. And it cost the producers nothing!
Now, when you watch the show, everybody wears the "delta swoosh" and everyone may as well be a crewman on the Enterprise for all that it matters.
This is less Star Trek "Falling into the hands of fans" as it is Star Trek "Falling into the hands of typical TV writers and/or Rick Berman". I know lots of fans who prefer the wide-view of starfleet, and love seeing ships other than Enterprise.
Anyway, I noticed Decker kept sliding together two cards, or pieces of wood or something between his fingers. Couldn't figure out what they were. (Anyone know?)
Near as I can tell, they're TOS computer files. (Just square wooden tiles painted in primary colors.)
In the movie The Caine Mutiny, Humphrey Bogart (as the unstable Captain Queeg) rattles a pair of ball bearings in his hands whenever he's under stress.
Ah, you're right. There were several episodes where you saw Kirk, et al using them. I didn't realize that's what Decker kept fiddling around with while he was sitting in the Captain's chair.
I never caught the deeper resemblance to Captain Queeg. It's kind of interesting how Trek presaged data storage. They are very similar to 3.5" floppies! Likewise IIRC, Spock used to pop quarter sized "CDs" in and out of his tricorder.
I never caught the deeper resemblance to Captain Queeg. It's kind of interesting how Trek presaged data storage. They are very similar to 3.5" floppies! Likewise IIRC, Spock used to pop quarter sized "CDs" in and out of his tricorder.
If you think TOS computer tech was an accurate vision of what was to come, TNG computer tech was even better. Star Trek is one of the few shows/movie series of ANY kind that pay attention to how their on-screen computers should work.
If you think TOS computer tech was an accurate vision of what was to come, TNG computer tech was even better. Star Trek is one of the few shows/movie series of ANY kind that pay attention to how their on-screen computers should work.
Except the holodeck can create sentient life, but is not itself a sentient being. Other than that, yes, the interfaces and computer abilities were pretty good.
If you think TOS computer tech was an accurate vision of what was to come, TNG computer tech was even better. Star Trek is one of the few shows/movie series of ANY kind that pay attention to how their on-screen computers should work.
Except the holodeck can create sentient life, but is not itself a sentient being. Other than that, yes, the interfaces and computer abilities were pretty good.
A sentient AI requires both hardware and software. The Holodeck itself is not a piece of software, but a character's programming is. Therefore the Holodeck's hardware contains the encapsulated software of a sentient AI.
A sentient AI requires both hardware and software. The Holodeck itself is not a piece of software, but a character's programming is. Therefore the Holodeck's hardware contains the encapsulated software of a sentient AI.
Well, the Holodeck relies on the computing power of the Enterprise. And that computing power apparently involves the EMERGENT ability to create fully sentient AI by accident ("make a holodeck program tough enough to challenge Data")
if we define AI via the Turing test, no TOS AI could ever defeat it (as Kirk demonstrated again and again). Data couldn't pass it by design (he wouldn't use contractions, unlike Lore). but presumably the Enterprise computing resources don't pass it, unless asked to?
Very odd. And IIRC, what bothered me was the crew raised concerns about what do do with Moriarty, the sentient life they created by accident, but never questioned the capacity of the Enterprise computing resources to create AI on the fly.
Very odd. And IIRC, what bothered me was the crew raised concerns about what do do with Moriarty, the sentient life they created by accident, but never questioned the capacity of the Enterprise computing resources to create AI on the fly.
Good point, once you find out your ship is capable of creating sentient life you think there might be a paradigm shift in their exploration policy.
Very odd. And IIRC, what bothered me was the crew raised concerns about what do do with Moriarty, the sentient life they created by accident, but never questioned the capacity of the Enterprise computing resources to create AI on the fly.
Good point, once you find out your ship is capable of creating sentient life you think there might be a paradigm shift in their exploration policy.
You mean they would "boldly stay at home" and explore the new sentient life forms their starships create for them ?
No offense, but you have to be kidding about the visuals. The new effects, are terrible. Modern graphics? No, graphics from 10 years ago. I mean, Bug's Life looks better than that. If you want great effects, watch the Star Trek movie, or Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. They have great effects.
But then, I guess this is all imho. If you like the effects, carry on enjoying them. I personally prefer the original effects, as they match the interiors
No offense, but you have to be kidding about the visuals. The new effects, are terrible. Modern graphics? No, graphics from 10 years ago. I mean, Bug's Life looks better than that. If you want great effects, watch the Star Trek movie, or Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. They have great effects.
But then, I guess this is all imho. If you like the effects, carry on enjoying them. I personally prefer the original effects, as they match the interiors
I prefer the original effects, as it paints a picture of what the state of the art was in television production of the 1960s.
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