It can’t have escaped your notice that computer graphics have improved a lot over the last few decades. Not only are they better than the graphics that computers could create in the 80s and 90s, they’re also better than some of the physical effects that people used to use. Not always (cf The Thing), but sometimes.
Now, some companies – particularly the BBC with its Doctor Who range, but also George Lucas with Star Wars – instead of releasing the original films and TV episodes as they were when they were first made, have been releasing DVDs and Blu-rays with improved versions of the original special effects.
Sometimes, this has been for a good reason: in the case of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the effects needed to be redone for Blu-Ray since they were mastered on video and so were too low quality for Blu-Ray:
But in some cases, it’s purely because the producers of the DVD or Blu-Ray think the effects look bad, need improving, or will improve sales:
To be fair, there’s usually an option to watch a version with the new effects or one with the old. But not always. So this week’s question is:
Would you like to see old films and TV shows improved with modern effects when they’re released or do you want to see something that’s as close to the original as possible?
