Rumored for some time, “Star Trek: The Next Generation” has now officially been announced for an intensive HD upgrade, the trailer for which has just debuted online today at StarTrek.com, viewable in the player below.
Celebrating the 24th anniversary of its pilot debut today, September 28th, “The Next Generation” has represented a true challenge to bring to high definition. Unlike the original series, which was shot and edited on film, “The Next Generation” was shot on film and edited on video. While the film itself can be brought up to HD standards, the special effects involved have to be digitally recreated, much like the “remastered” versions of the original series that began syndication in 2006.
To this end, CBS is returning to more than 25,000 reels of original film negatives and painstakingly recreating all 178 episodes of the series as closely to the original versions as possible. Denise and Michael Okuda (who, as fans know, have been closely involved with the franchise for nearly three decades) are serving as creative consultants.
With 2012 marking the 25th anniversary of “The Next Generation”, the first glimpse at reconstructed episodes are set to debut with a Blu-ray release called “Star Trek: The Next Generation — The Next Level”, featuring a sampling that includes “Encounter at Farpoint” (the double-length pilot) and fan-favorite episodes “Sins of the Father” and “The Inner Light”. The disc will head to stores on January 31, 2012 with full-season releases planned to follow sometime later in the year.
Check out the restoration trailer and the Blu-ray cover art below!
