[ale] OT: FIELD REPORT: TONIGHT&Thursday: Star Trek: The Menagerie in theatres

[Jeff Hubbs]

Michael B. Trausch wrote:
> On Tue, 2007-11-13 at 18:14 -0500, Bob Toxen wrote:
>   
>> Star Trek (TOS) "The Menagerie" is showing tonight at 7:30 pm and
>> Thursday at 7:30 pm and 10:30 pm in selected theaters around Atlanta
>> (and the rest of the country).  Not all events offer advance purchase
>> through Fandango.
My daughter and I just got back from the 7:30 Thursday shaowing at 
Snellville Oaks.  There were probably about six people there including us.

As for the production itself, it's very good.  The introductory material 
is nice and helps to illustrate the effort they went to (this treatment 
is apparently being given to all /TOS/ episodes for the DVD-HD release).

However, if they release another episode to theaters like this, you will 
NOT get your money's worth if you're not in the right theater.  I was 
disappointed that what is being shown in theaters is not a 35mm film 
print but a video projection.  Snellville Oaks apparently only has 
LCD-based projectors; they are dim and the contrast is poor (high black 
level) and color rendition is not very good.  I would expect that if 
you're in a DLP theater (like the Carmike off of Scenic Highway in south 
Lawrenceville), the screening would rock.  The introductory material 
makes a point of showing the quality difference between the typical 
/TOS/ print and the remastered version, which only made me ache to see 
the result with modern digital projection. 

One thing I did not realize is that they re-recorded the Alexander 
Courage opening theme, using as authentic a voicing and expression as 
they could.  I'm not sure to what extent other audio was re-recorded.  
Unfortunately, the theater we were in had a nasty AC hum in the main 
audio the whole time.  It wasn't a total distraction, but shame on 
Snellville Oaks for not addressing the problem as a matter of routine.

Many special effects shots have been completely replaced with modern 
CGI.  Were I in creative control, I would have opted not to continue the 
mid- and low-key work done in recent ST fare for space exteriors but a 
more old-school high-key approach like that in /2001/.  The new CGI does 
not match well stylistically with the bold and contrasty lighting they 
used on /TOS/, although planet shots have more clarity and texture 
informed by high-quality images from real solar system planets that 
postdate /TOS/-era astronomy. 

At least we can be grateful for the fact that the /ST/ crew strove for 
motion-picture quality on 35mm color film week in and week out, such 
that this remastering actually has tangible benefit.

- Jeff
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