Five Effects from Star Trek-TNG That Seem Silly Today

A few months ago I talked about how some of the props from the original Trek series seem kind of lame today. As far as The Next Generation, they served a little better. Oh sure some of the stuff is dated but not laughably so. The effects on the other hand, not so much. Oh sure some episodes the effect worked fine, more than fine,  but other effects either due to financial concerns or just lacking time and resources, were weak and seem silly today.



For instance, the awful episode “Manhunt” featured an alien race called the Antedian’s who, well, look like this….







Yeah, pretty silly. Or how about this goofy monster from "The Dauphin". The only thing worst than the hideous design is the atrocious morphing effect that preceded it.

But those are just two examples. Man Season 2 was rough. Anyway here are five of the most notable horrible effects in TNG whether it be bad makeup or awful CGI.





Skin of Evil

I almost feel bad ripping into this one again, but what the hell were the creators thinking with the Armus? A oil slick that comes to life? I suppose there was potential with the idea but not only is the moment of the slick awful animation, but when he forms into a humanoid form it just looks stupid. This was even lame for the time the episode was made!







Conspiracy

I talked once upon a time about how when I first saw Conspiracy, it creeped me out. In this episode aliens infiltrate Starfleet and in the end Riker and Picard had to blow a guy’s head off. Literally. Yeah, intense stuff! But I”ll admit that thirty years later the effects do not age well. The animation of the insect creatures is awful and even the effects of the guy’s head blowing off doesn’t look real anymore.







The Royale

Once in college I saw an ad that featured a clip from this episode where Riker, Worf, and Data are standing in a black background with weird lights above them. I didn’t remember the episode, but it was a weird visual. Of course now I know that the episode is “The Royale” and that shot of the three standing in the dark looks dumber and dumber every time. Even worst, and not pictured, is the door just sitting there. Was there no money for a decent shot of something cool? Lazy.







Night Terrors

Often a series will come back from a hiatus, and the creators aren’t quite into gear just yet. That’s the excuse for this poor episode about the crew having nightmares. Jonathan Frakes even admitted that shot of Troi being suspended is awful. She’s supposed to be dreaming that she’s floating and hearing voices, but the effect is just lame and the episode itself is forgettable.







Aquiel

Ugh, this episode. Actually all five of these episodes are pretty awful and hated by all including the people who created it. This is no exception. This was setup as a big mystery about who the killer on a space station was. And you can figure it out in the first five minutes. Obviously it’s the damn dog! But the climax of crap in this episode comes in the end. The alien stops being a dog and resumes it’s normal shape to attack Geordi. And you will be hard pressed to find a worst CGI effect anywhere else. Just awful.






Finally, I wanted to mention one of the worst movie effects in Trek history. I am jumping franchises here, but in Star Trek V there is a scene where the shuttle has to very quickly return to the Enterprise. The effects in this sequence are just bad!

No Trek is not perfect, and if I missed an example you feel should be mention comment and let me know.