If you haven’t heard Star Trek The Next-Generation received its season 1 remastering in high definition. To celebrate on July 23 Fathom and CBS TV put on a nationwide screening of two episodes: “Where No One Has Gone Before” and “Datalore.”.
As of course a fan of Star Trek I had to attend the screening. The idea of The Next-Generation being remastered in HD is an awesome one indeed. After watching it for so many years on TV, DVD, and Netflix you see that the show visually speaking hasn’t aged well. The stories are definitely still entertaining, but the episodes just look soft and fuzzy when compared to current TV shows.
For me this was the big question as to whether or not this remastering would truly improved the visuals. After watching both episodes it was still a tough call. I don’t know if it was their copy of the episodes, their project system or just the fact that they were blowing up TV shows on the big screen – but there was still a lot of noise during the episodes. Nonetheless the colors definitely popped and there was so much clarity to the image.
The part of this theatrical experience that you could definitely experience a leap in the difference was in the 7.1 audio. Hearing the ship warp during the intro and the orchestral score definitely made for an iconic experience.
In addition to the two screened episodes there was Star Trek trivia before the episodes aired. Before and after each episode there were trailers for the new Bluray of season 1 and 2 along with special features from the Bluray itself. A couple times during the special features the video glitched up for a couple seconds. Of course it just had to be during a portion that you wanted to hear what the actor was talking about.
Of course if you weren’t able to attend this event season 1 is now available for purchase. Like many TV series, the first season isn’t the strongest. Just from the two episodes that we watched there were plenty of awkward moments. Many of the characters feel like complete strangers from what you remember them as because the actors and writers had yet to truly understand their roles. But that’s part of the fun of rewatching a TV series.
