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Sci-fi Channel's Star Trek Special edition (a WIP) — Page 4

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ST2112 said:

So if anyone on this forum is looking for anything specific, don’t hesitate to ask.

Just wondered, do you have the TV recordings of the Babylon 5 run?

“Logic is the battlefield of adulthood.”

  • Howard Berk
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ST2112 said:

friedcamera, I wish I had that “Logan’s Run” version! I fell in love (or something!), with Jenny Agutter when that came out and so looked forward to the TV series, only to be incredibly disappointed! I still have a bunch of articles, etc. on the TV show, too. At least they put that series out on DVD! Sorry I couldn’t help, but if you’re interested in the TV series, please let me know.

Hopefully a recording surfaces one day. All that’s left from that cut is the audience recording from an advanced screening and some photos. I’ve been meaning to do my own reconstruction but I’ve been busy with other projects.

I also have three or four VHS tapes of extras from the 1st “X-Files” movie and 2 tapes from the awful “Planet of the Apes” (2001) movie. Anyone interested in those?

Do the X-Files tapes have anything that wasn’t released on the blu-ray?

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I also have a VHS (recorded off-air) with the following listed on it:

“The Force Returns: Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition”, 1997, from the Sci-Fi Channel, 23:30 minutes
“Star Wars-An MTV Movie Special”, 1997, 21 minutes
“Larry King Live: Jodie Foster”, “Contact”, July 1997, 41:26 minutes
“Making of Contact”, 22:45 minutes

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JayArgonaut, no, sorry, I don’t have anything on video from B5.

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friedcamera, I would LOVE to see that “restored” cut of “Logan’s Run”, if it ever happens. There are TONS of material on my “X-Files” VHS’ that were never released, including reviews, FOX promos, box office results, local station interviews/promos, entertainment shows segments, etc. I taped everything that I could that aired in the weeks prior to and subsequent weeks after release for all of my main projects (ST, POTA, etc.) There are 4, I believe, full tapes of material and I may have made note cards detailing the contents. I’d have to look and check. If there are, I can scan them for you.

Generally speaking, for those special projects, I taped segments from the morning shows, any network specials, news shows, cable specials, local affiliates, cable media reports, Entertainment Tonight/Access Hollywood type shows, Siskel & Ebert and other review shows and segments from just about anything else that aired on television.

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Did you happen to record any of the POTA tv movies made by editing the series episodes together? In a few markets, they had new intros and outros by Roddy McDowall in full ape makeup as an older Galen. The only version of these in circulation looks really funky and low res, like the earliest video capture technology was used.

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Where were you in '77?

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ST2112 said:

friedcamera, I would LOVE to see that “restored” cut of “Logan’s Run”, if it ever happens. There are TONS of material on my “X-Files” VHS’ that were never released, including reviews, FOX promos, box office results, local station interviews/promos, entertainment shows segments, etc. I taped everything that I could that aired in the weeks prior to and subsequent weeks after release for all of my main projects (ST, POTA, etc.) There are 4, I believe, full tapes of material and I may have made note cards detailing the contents. I’d have to look and check. If there are, I can scan them for you.

Generally speaking, for those special projects, I taped segments from the morning shows, any network specials, news shows, cable specials, local affiliates, cable media reports, Entertainment Tonight/Access Hollywood type shows, Siskel & Ebert and other review shows and segments from just about anything else that aired on television.

That’s an awesome collection! I would love to see that (when you have the time, of course!)
Regarding Logan’s Run… now that I have some more time I’ll probably start working on it. If you don’t have the audience recording I’d be happy to send it to you.

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ST2112 said:

Thanks so much for the quick and informative reply. I think it’s great that there are dedicated people trying to preserve these “lost” pieces of history. I think it’s shameful that creators/companies often don’t make an effort to re-release things that were put out originally. I know it’s often due to “copyrights”, “Contractual Obligations” and of course, money, but if it was out once, it ought to be released again. I especially hate it when, for instance, extras are not carried over to an updated release. So, good luck on all your efforts. Don’t even get me started on Lucas and his endless tinkering of “Star Wars”. I want exactly what I saw in 1977, and in better quality than Laserdisc…

A nice example is Star Wars - the bonus material from the SE VHS/LD was not released on the 2004 DVDs and the bonus material from both the 2004 DVDs and the prequel DVDs were not added to the 2011 BD set. So if you want to have your bonus collection as complete as possible and not break any laws you have to keep all of the Star Wars releases. Not to mention that every single home video release had a different version of the movies themselves.

Or Star Trek. I wanted to sell my TOS DVDs on eBay as soon as I bought the 2009 Bluray set but then I realized that a couple of bonus features from the DVDs were not brought over to the Blurays, and when I’ve done videos for my youtube channel some fans have informed me that in some cases the DVD version is different from the Blu-ray “original” version. In other words, the original versions are not so original 😃 Or the TNG B;u-ray sets - they could include the original versions of the episodes, in worst case they could do new high bitrate SD transfers of the tapes.

Have you ever compared what Spielberg said about “CE3K” in the Laserdisc releases for the original cut and the longer version? He’s completely dishonest about why he made the longer version, it’s sad. I can’t remember if his remarks carried over to any of the DVD or BD releases.

What was the “original” statement? I’ve seen an interview (don’t know where, maybe on my SE VHS?) where he claimed that basically the studio forced him to the the SE and he was against it.

When the original “Planet of the Apes” films and television series were originally broadcast on network television in the early 1970’s, way before the advent of home video, I would record the dialogue off the TV onto cassettes and listen to them. That was the only way to enjoy your favourite things until their next transmission.

That’s actually a good idea, fans of classic Doctor Who would agree 😃

I can also relate to your efforts in preserving things as they were originally released. Decades ago I taped the POTA TV series when they became a series of 2 hour movies and then added that missing footage to the run when they appeared in their original form on cable, though heavily edited! Remember, I did this all without the aid of any computer programs, just linking VCR’s together.

I’m very glad that I’ve saved all the material I taped over the last 33 years, as I figured it may be lost forever if someone didn’t save it. Being a huge ST fan, I tried to tape everything I could when each movie came out, often running several VCR’s at once.

I totally understand the “nothing to see her…move along…nudge, nudge, wink, wink…” aspect as well!

I forgot to add “Logan’s Run” to my faves and collection list. I wish the later formats of many films released on Laserdisc incorporated all the printed material extras that were on them. Some of the supplements were extensive. I also have three or four VHS tapes of extras from the 1st “X-Files” movie and 2 tapes from the awful “Planet of the Apes” (2001) movie. Anyone interested in those?

As I recall, the extras on the “Star Wars vs Star Trek” were NOT on the STV DVD extras disc. I haven’t seen it in years, but remember being blown away when they showed up. I even made a note of it somewhere. I’d have to see it again to be sure.

As I’ve indicated, I’ve done all of my recording over the years on the (then) popular home video formats. I am not computer savvy at all and haven’t transferred anything to a hard drive before. My question is, would it be best for you to have the original source when you’re doing your preserving? I assume it would, as the best that I can do is copy them to DVD’s at XP speed for the very best DVD quality. Does putting them directly onto a computer skip a whole generation of loss in quality? If so, we’ll have to figure out a way for you guys to get my originals.

Well the optimal thing would be to have access to the original source material, but as I wrote, I live on a different continent 😃 And Silverwook lives in a different state, so a direct VHS > DVD recording is slightly worse, but still great.

Living in the Chicago area I often find the strangest things. Just today I came across a still sealed package of Beta L-750 tapes at a thrift store! Crazy. Also, the controversy surrounding Lucas’ museum is heating up again here. It just may end up in our city after all. Another hideous piece of crap to sit right next to the abomination that has become Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears, right on our beautiful lakefront. Oh well…

Oh, and you’re not being greedy, I still get excited when I see/hear of things that I love that I’ve never seen before! I’ll start documenting what I have it greater detail.

I may be wrong, but I think I also have something taped off-air that featured Mark Hamill hosting a Star Wars or science fiction themed program. Any ideas on what that could have been? I have it somewhere…

I know that Mark Hamill hosted the first ever TV broadcast of Star Wars, which was followed by a short documentary narrated by him (made by scenes from “The Making of Star Wars” if I remember correctly). Could it be it?

Yes, I think I do have that Voyager program that’s from Youtube, thanks. It came on right before the premiere in 1995 and mine should be in FAR better quality. I’ll let you know.

Great.

I also still have my off air recordings of “Harsh Realm”, “Starman” and other things that have original bumpers, etc. that didn’t make it onto official releases. I was very into “Starman”, and was involved with trying to get in renewed, along with the “Spotlight Starman” group. I have many of their original newsletters, etc. I even won an autographed (Robert Hays) cookbook they produced!

Thanks again.

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ST2112 said:

pittrek, I just looked at a tape that has been sitting RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY NOSE, and on it is the “Star Trek: 30 Years & Beyond” 1996 LIVE UPN special, running time of 1:31:00. I put it in and it looks EXTREMELY good. I assume that this is the one you’re looking for? Ted Danson hosted and the v/o said it was “Live from Hollywood”.

Yes, that would be it. The version I found somewhere on the internet has great picture quality, but also it has Japanese subtitles as part of the picture.

Also on this tape I have listed the following:
“Hollywood’s Aliens & Monsters” (TMP/TWOK/Abyss/ID4, etc.), 1997, 17 min
“S.T.Experience” Beginning 1997 (vc) ad
“ST: Borg” (vc) ad
Persis Khambatta death from Fox News Channel
"Ent. Weekly: “ST Encore”, 32 years, pre-STIX
Forrest DeKelley death: from WGN/ABC/WFLD/MSNBC
“Time and Again”: ST Con from 2/25/1976 on NBC and “Today”, 9/16/1976
“Today”: ST Smithsonian Exhibit, 2/27/1992 and “Time and Again”: Tom Snyder w/ Roddenberry, 3/21/1979

That all sounds fascinating to quote everybody’s favourite Vulcan.

I can’t remember exact details as to what is included in these programs, but this should give you an idea of the kind of things I recorded. As for ST, often I would have several VCR’s going on at the same time to capture interviews, etc. from each network.

Don’t get old… 😉

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ST2112 said:

JayArgonaut, no, sorry, I don’t have anything on video from B5.

No worries. It was worth a try, given the extent of your archives. 😃

SilverWook said:

Did you happen to record any of the POTA tv movies made by editing the series episodes together? In a few markets, they had new intros and outros by Roddy McDowall in full ape makeup as an older Galen. The only version of these in circulation looks really funky and low res, like the earliest video capture technology was used.

These turn up periodically (in PAL) on one of my FTA channels but it broadcasts at just 544 x 576 and has a permanent logo in the corner. Nonetheless, I can keep an eye out for the next airings in case they’re better than what you already have.

“Logic is the battlefield of adulthood.”

  • Howard Berk
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SilverWook, yes, I have the edited TV movies and saw the old Galen ones here in Chicago when they came out, but they aired before I had a recorder, in 1981. I have those intros separately, but they are also in horrible quality. Thanks for thinking of that for me!

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friedcamera, thank you so much. I was hoping to find someone that would be interested in the FTF material. I will revisit the tapes and make sure I save and transfer it one of these days. Please do keep me in mind for a copy of the Logan’s Run tape, we can figure out logistics later.

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pittrek, thank you, I am aware of the Star Wars and Star Trek releases continually leaving out the previous releases extras. I think I’ve given up on Star Wars releases. It’s insane that every release has a different version of the film. Endless tinkering is maddening to me as well. I don’t watch them as much as I’d like to because seeing the differences when they come up are just too jarring for me. 1977-1983 are definitive for me, particularly A New Hope.

As for Speilberg, I don’t remember exactly, but in interviews on the lasers, he first glows about how the studio allowed him to add things he always wanted in the original, then on the next one he says he hated to do it. He’s blatantly dishonest about the making of that movie. I saw it in 1977 also and that version is permanently imprinted in my mind. Even the few seconds he added to the theatrical version in the 1990 Criterion Laserdisc box stands out as a distraction to me.

I forgot to mention that I am also a fan of classic Doctor Who. We had some of the Pertwee years in Chicago long before the Tom Baker years. I have many of the home video releases as well.

I don’t think that the Hamill material you mentioned is what I have. When I come across that tape, I’ll let you know.

pittrek, I’m glad I have the ST:30th. I will try and transfer it soon and upload a screengrab. Thanks so much for all the careful attention you all have paid to my sometimes inadequate posts and knowledge.

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ST2112 said:

I also have a VHS (recorded off-air) with the following listed on it:

“The Force Returns: Star Wars Trilogy Special Edition”, 1997, from the Sci-Fi Channel, 23:30 minutes
“Star Wars-An MTV Movie Special”, 1997, 21 minutes
“Larry King Live: Jodie Foster”, “Contact”, July 1997, 41:26 minutes
“Making of Contact”, 22:45 minutes

Do you still have the 97 SE stuff available somewhere?

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ST2112 said:

Unfortunately, I no longer have any of my DS9 originally recorded tapes. I always edited them down anyway, so any other show’s promos would have been edited out.

Rats! Oh well.

A very good friend of mine just sold her entire collection of…I think it was “Highlander”(?) on VHS, which included tons of bonus fan tapes, etc. I will check with her, as she may have some Xena or Hercules tapes as well.

That would be fantastic, thank you! Please do! I’ll keep my fingers crossed – if you’d rather not clutter up the thread with Xena Chat, you can send me a PM when she gets back to you. 😃

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ST2112 said:

I forgot to mention that I am also a fan of classic Doctor Who. We had some of the Pertwee years in Chicago long before the Tom Baker years. I have many of the home video releases as well.

You’re not sitting on any “lost” color Pertwee episodes?

Did you witness the Max Headroom incident? 😉

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Where were you in '77?

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jephyork, I just heard back from my friend and she said she no longer has anything on Xena or Hercules. It was worth a try!

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dark_jedi, I’m sorry but were you addressing me? I still have the tape with the SW 97 SE contents that is listed above and I believe I have more material on other tapes that are not handy at this moment. When I do locate the other material I will post it on here. Thank you.

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ST2112 said:

dark_jedi, I’m sorry but were you addressing me? I still have the tape with the SW 97 SE contents that is listed above and I believe I have more material on other tapes that are not handy at this moment. When I do locate the other material I will post it on here. Thank you.

Yes it absolutely was to you, that 97 SE stuff would be great to add to our BD release if you are willing to share?

Thanks

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SilverWook, no, I don’t have any “lost” Dr. Who footage! I’ve been following those developments for decades and only wish I had a stash of episodes somewhere! I used to read a ton of UK magazines in the 70’s and 80’s (I still have a bunch from over the years here and there) and closely followed the attempts to locate more footage. I think I also have some NADWAS material from around the time of “The Five Doctors”. I sold off a lot of these materials over the years, but if someone is interested in it I’ll put it aside. I haven’t sold much in the last few years, there just doesn’t seem to be much of a market for it around here and I only do local selling, no ebay or anything online. I’ve also given away more than I’ve sold, hence the huge amount I still retain. I like to hang on to things until I find a real fan of something I have, as I’ve appreciated people saving things that I like for me. I’m huge on sharing and not being greedy. I’ve found that what comes around goes around!

As for Max Headroom, that was (and still is) my local station. I wasn’t home that evening due to a family emergency, but wish I had seen it. You brought back a lot of memories, thanks!

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ST2112 said:

…and 2 tapes from the awful “Planet of the Apes” (2001) movie. Anyone interested in those?

Can you elaborate more on this please? Not the awfulness of the 2001 POTA movie but what’s on the tapes. 😃

“Logic is the battlefield of adulthood.”

  • Howard Berk
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dark_jedi, thanks. Yes, I am absolutely willing to share anything that I have. Do you have a timeframe for the Star Wars material? I have one tape in front of me, but have more in storage. I don’t have a ton of Star Wars video material, but know there are a few more things. My health isn’t the best, so sometimes getting access to certain things takes a little time. I’m actually quite grateful that I found this forum and people that are passionate about their fandom. I feared that the things I’ve saved and recorded for over thirty years would just be tossed eventually.

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ST2112 said:

dark_jedi, thanks. Yes, I am absolutely willing to share anything that I have. Do you have a timeframe for the Star Wars material? I have one tape in front of me, but have more in storage. I don’t have a ton of Star Wars video material, but know there are a few more things. My health isn’t the best, so sometimes getting access to certain things takes a little time. I’m actually quite grateful that I found this forum and people that are passionate about their fandom. I feared that the things I’ve saved and recorded for over thirty years would just be tossed eventually.

Well those 2 mentioned above we could use now for Empire and maybe the rest on Jedi when you locate them, would this work? if so maybe we can take this to PM so others can chat about other stuff lol.

By the way thank you very much for this.

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JayArgonaut, sure. The 2001 POTA tapes would contain things similar to what I previously posted about my X-Files Fight the Future VHS tapes and their contents. Mainly, interviews, commercials, entertainment show segments, Fox and local affiliate coverage, box office reports, cable new outlets reports, other specials and just about anything that aired at the time of the release. I just found the tapes and will attempt to scan the note cards with all the details on them for you.


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dark_jedi, well, you’re very welcome! I would have to record my VHS to DVD’s, as I don’t have any computer video capture capability, if that quality will do. Please forgive me, but I honestly admit that I’m not that computer savvy and am not afraid to ask for help, so… How do I/we PM each other on here? I’d be happy to, but you must make it easy for me follow! I’m very happy to help out. SilverWook was kind enough to show me how to post pictures on here and I just did it again, so the memory isn’t completely gone…

Happy Father’s Day to one and all!