A re-release of 1960s TV series Star Trek has gone down like a duranium balloon with fans, for featuring updated visual effects. The wobbly, fuzzy starship Enterprise has been replaced with a pin-sharp computer-generated doppelganger, much to the dismay of fans who clearly prefer their nostalgia to look like crap. Never mind that Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry was reportedly appalled by the original special effects - particularly those used for the opening credits sequence - which were shoddy even at the time.

Apparently it’s only the exterior space shots that have been redone - in the scenes where there are actors, polystyrene rocks and papier-mâché monsters, nothing has been retouched, which seems like a job half done to Sneak. But perhaps the graphics wizards are leaving a more extensive redecorating job for a later date, when the technology has advanced sufficiently to generate the illusion that William Shatner could act.

12 Sep 2006