Keith Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 Last Starfighter & Babylon 5, top contenders for needing redone CGI to fix them up and make them HD presentable. Quote
myk Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 Keith, if Babylon 5 has your blessings then maybe I'll revisit that series; I never gave it a chance back in the day... Quote
JB0 Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 As I recall, Babylon 5 has a Gunstar-inspired fighter, too. Reason enough to watch it right there. Incidentally, I just rewatched Last Starfighter because why not. Every scene around the asteroid segment seems to be rendered in low-detail(perhaps for scheduling, perhaps to free more processing time up to draw the asteroid itself), but the biggest problem shot is later. The closeup of the Death Blossom panels opening is a very low-detail shot, and that's one that NEEDS to be badass. There's some trouble with their lighting in some shots(as the command ship crosses the frontier, shadows "skip" from poly to poly instead of gliding smoothly), but the fact that much of it is in space helps prevent that being a large issue. And again, I think that's due to the detail level. The dramatic shots of the Gunstar in the hanger have none of those issues. (It even self-shadows as it launches!) And on a less effects-oriented note, the scene with the arcade machine "unmasking" the assassin scared the hell out of me as a kid. I thought it was killing the dude and turning him INTO an alien. Also, the remaster has very aggressive despeckling. To the degree that the stars on the side of the arcade cabinet flicker in some shots, and completely disappear in others. Sadly, Universal's never gonna give this movie the A-list treatment, and the remaster is still WAY better than the old DVD release was(film damage EVERYWHERE). Quote
Kelsain Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 (edited) I thought the same thing! And I had nightmares about beta-Alex's halfway state. Myk: you should give B5 a try. It had a tightly planned 5 year arc, loosely based on Lord of the Rings. The sfx were great at the time, later seasons still look good.production design is great. It starts slow, but start kicking ass about 1/2 way through season 2. 3 is perfection, but 4 is a little rushed, because they lost their contract for the 5th year, and they had to finish the story. Then TNT gave them season 5, which became an over extended epilogue. Almost like the end of Return of the King -but a season. Edited May 21, 2015 by Kelsain Quote
Dynaman Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 Last Starfighter & Babylon 5, top contenders for needing redone CGI to fix them up and make them HD presentable. Yes on B5, they had a short (less then a minute) space battle sequence in "The Lost Tales" that shows what it could look like if redone. Sadly the rest of the DVD is not worth the price. Quote
technoblue Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 Yes! Season 1-4 of Babylon 5 are excellent. When it was on the air, I was into Deep Space 9 and didn't give the show as much of a chance as I should have done. I got back to it years later and ate it up on DVD. Season 1 is my favorite, but it isn't always a favorite among fans and the CGI effects are weaker. For story, I think season 5 is weaker due to the issues Kelsain noted above but it does wraps up one important subplot. I'll save the details since they are worth seeing for yourself, myk. As I recall, Babylon 5 has a Gunstar-inspired fighter, too. Reason enough to watch it right there. I remember thinking the same thing about B5's Starfuries and the Gunstars from TLS after watching the movie again on Blu-ray recently. It is a cool design for a fighter. Quote
myk Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 Alright, thank boys. I'll start sniffing around for the B5... Quote
Dobber Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 YES!! B5 is incredible! I agree that seasons 2 and 3 are the best. Season 1 is little rough at the start but lays the foundation and is definitely needed. Season 4 as was said is a little rushed but is still great. A certain characters....awakening...in the transport tube on Mars, and realizing what was done was one of my favorite moments on the show. Chris Quote
ErikElvis Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 Did you watch the 25th anniversary Blu-ray? They cleaned up the CGI quite a bit. It still looks dated, but I think there is a marked improvement over the original film. Im not sure what version it was. I (paid) to watch it on amazon. It said it was HD and it did look fairly clean throughout. She's 56, but has maintained her looks pretty well. And I have to agree that the Gunstar is a cooler ship than the X-Wing. Im down for a good looking 56 year old! Quote
areaseven Posted May 21, 2015 Author Posted May 21, 2015 I'm down for a good looking 56 year old! No kidding. Catherine Mary Stewart Quote
Keith Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 Alright, thank boys. I'll start sniffing around for the B5... Start with the movie "The Gathering." And don't expect a whole lot to start making sense until mid season 2. Quote
F-ZeroOne Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 (edited) Babylon 5 takes a while to get going, and when its bad its really bad, but when its good - which is quite a lot, actually - its really, really good (its also occasionally a little hamstrung by the era in which it was made; if HBO made it today T.V. critics would be falling over themselves to claim why it can't possibly be science-fiction because they like it so much, just as "Game of Thrones" can't possibly be fantasy because otherwise they wouldn't enjoy it... ). Stick with it into Season 2, you'll thank us in the end... Edited May 21, 2015 by F-ZeroOne Quote
Dobber Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 Babylon 5 takes a while to get going, and when its bad its really bad, but when its good - which is quite a lot, actually - its really, really good (its also occasionally a little hamstrung by the era in which it was made; if HBO made it today T.V. critics would be falling over themselves to claim why it can't possibly be science-fiction because they like it so much, just as "Game of Thrones" can't possibly be fantasy because otherwise they wouldn't enjoy it... ). Stick with it into Season 2, you'll thank us in the end... Agree, the scene I mentioned before and everything that led up to it was just so heartbreaking. I thought the actor did a great job with that scene And how the episode just ends with the persons screams as the car moves down the tube. The show really did have great moments. I think I'm going to watch it again Chris Quote
Dynaman Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 Start with the movie "The Gathering." And don't expect a whole lot to start making sense until mid season 2. Be Warned, watching The Gathering is what turned me OFF of B5 for a long time... Taken on its own it is pretty bad. The amazing thing is how well JMS managed to keep everything pretty tightly wrapped till the end. Even having to switch lead actors after the end of the first season seems like it was part of the plan from the start. Quote
technoblue Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 I'm with Keith on this. The Gathering is what helped me to fall in love with Season 1 (and accept the changes that came in the following seasons). On it's own, it does seems out of place. And there were certain make-up changes and character changes that were made when the show was picked up (the DVD commentaries mention this history if you are into learning about that sort of thing). And now that I've seen the entire series, it is fun to go back and watch this pilot movie to see how JMS was busy planting seeds for his 5-year long plot. Also, there are a total of five movies. The fifth introduces the next series, Crusade. But, alas, that only lasted for one season. Quote
Keith Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 (edited) I'm still torn on Crusade, so much awesome potential lined up for a senseless slaughter. TNT should have been ashamed of themselves. Also, I enjoyed Lost Tales for what it was, but refuse to watch Legend of the Rangers. Edited May 21, 2015 by Keith Quote
Dobber Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 I'm still torn on Crusade, so much awesome potential lined up for a senseless slaughter. TNT should have been ashamed of themselves. Also, I enjoyed Lost Tales for what it was, but refuse to watch Legend of the Rangers. QFT Chris Quote
Dynaman Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 Also, I enjoyed Lost Tales for what it was, but refuse to watch Legend of the Rangers. Oh how I wish I could UN watch it! Have to give JMS credit though, he owned up to being behind the worst parts of it. Quote
M'Kyuun Posted May 24, 2015 Posted May 24, 2015 (edited) Spurred on by all the talk here, I rented Last Starfighter this weekend. I hadn't seen it since the mid 80's, and my wife never saw it. I'm happy to say it still holds up pretty well, although the CG really looks dated. My wife even commented sarcastically on its realism, but we both liked it otherwise. Edited May 24, 2015 by M'Kyuun Quote
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