Rating: 
Summary: Ambitious to an extent that most fail to realize
Review: Now I am by no means a Star Trek Devotee, but I have seen many episodes of the original series and the movies as well. The first film I recently saw again and my attention was drawn to several things.First, I often hear this film trashed in sci-fi circles. This movie is like a combination of the original series and 2001: A Space Oddysey. That was the intention. After the success of Kubrick's film, Star Trek wanted to recapture some of the wonder and magic that Kubrick's film stole from it. It does, at least in the special effects department, rival Kubrick's film, and there is a scene that sports space suits similar to the ones seen in Kubrick's film. Also, the similar plot device of humans put in danger from a mechanical device helps to prove this. But 2001 was a story of humanity, an epic drama that transcended sci-fi and became a purely philosophical exercise. It helped that the film left ambiguity so that viewers could find a bit of themselves in it. That is the wonder. What we have here is a film about exploration. Star Trek: TMP primarily occupies its time with beautiful and elaborate special effects shots intertwined with segments onboard the Enterprise. There is much underrealized content, such as Spock's being rejected by his people, Deckard's bitterness at losing what was rightfully his command, Kirk's struggle to regain his feeling of unity with ship and crew, Bones having to leave the life he enjoyed because of his devotion to an old friend. But much is explored as well, such as loyalty, honor, devotion, friendship, and the unknown. Although it's not at all a classic film, like its sequel, it is an interesting transitionary film that kept enough to remember why we liked these people on the original series and still lays the groundwork for the epic sequel that is universally renowned as the best. In spite of its underachievement, it is a watchable movie that carries a message on dehumanization and the evolution of technology, just as 2001 does. Eye-candy and witty observations on society make this a recommended pick for sci-fi fans.
Rating: 
Summary: What a mess!!!
Review: There are at least 4 versions of this film available now, and the "Director's Cut" is definitely not the best. Advance publicity promised that the film was tightened and improved. Pure nonsense. Instead, cuts were made in my favorite bits of dialogue "It appears Captain that our transmission was too primitive to be received." and "Of course. We each create God in our own image." I can't believe Roddenberry would have approved such cuts, and the director commentary track is guiltily silent during them, offering no explanation. To cut more dialogue and again merely focus on special effects is UNFORGIVABLE, especially after all this time and in the new format. The DVDs contain all the outtakes and stuff, but of course present them in a format that PREVENTS viewers from reconstructing the original, superior versions of this film. The result is that the film drags more than ever...why can't they realize that fans want to see ALL the dialogue that the characters have on film. Remove the half hour of travel scenes and replace them with the extra scenes of character interaction, already!!!! But no, this sort of "Director's Cut" ruse is set up so that we can be sold the same product, over and over and over again. The original film should have been put on side 2. Or the superior TV version. We do have a few interesting, short documentaries, but for the most part, this DVD is disappointing because the abilities of the DVD medium are being deliberately ignored. We were promised that alternate versions of films like this would be one of the benefits of DVD!!! The producers are up to their same old tired tricks. I'm glad I rented this set first... and as a result I am very reluctant to purchase the overall film package. Hang on to your old "Special Edition" video tapes, fans! Paramount is clearly greedy for your money! It is obvious that what viewers want is ALL available footage, on ONE SINGLE disc, set up to allow them to view the version of the film they prefer. We should not tolerate anything less. And this package is definitely way less...a hacked up version of the film, with alternate footage "safely" buried on disc two to prevent viewers from using it in the film. It is an insult, and we MUST protest such deliberate ploys to keep us buying the same thing again and again in the hopes they get it right, instead of them delivering what the fans deserve in the first place.
Rating:
Summary: Now it's fun to watch this movie!
Review: I consider myself a true Trekker. I have always loved the Star Trek movies except for the original motion picture. I was always a little hesitant to watch it since it contained scenes that I thought were drawn out and unecessary. Well, I believe the director's cut has changed that. I watched the director's cut version and was much more interested in the feature than ever before. The picture and audio is much clearer, some new CGI imagery and all the filler is gone. Good move for Paramount.
Rating:
Summary: STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE
Review: Sadly, this first entry in the Star Trek feature film series is less than the sum of its parts. Despite the reunion of the classic TV series' original cast, augmented by a pair of talented guest stars, the guiding hands of series creator Gene Roddenberry and legendary director Robert Wise, a memorable score by Jerry Goldsmith, and a story concoted by great sci-fi author Alan Dean Foster, the film never rises above the mediocre. The biggest flaw is the pacing, as exemplified by the absurdly long introduction of the Enterprise in spacedock, and the ship's later meandering journey through the internal world of V'ger. The FX and sets are impressive, but never inspiring. The script is built on an interesting premise, but one which never comes to life and finally disintegrates in a melodramatic but unmoving anti-climax. The best parts of this film are the Mr. Spock subplot (in which the Vulcan sees V'ger as a kindred spirit and potential mentor), and the opening segment depicting V'ger's skirmish with a trio of Klingon battle cruisers. There are worse films, even in the Star Trek saga (notably Generations), but this movie will probably only appeal to die-hard Trekkies.
Rating:
Summary: Still as Slow and Dull as Ever!
Review: After more than twenty years and five original-crew sequels, I still consider the first Trek flick to be the weakest. It's slow, droning, and bereft of life, which made for one of the most drawn-out dullsville movies I've ever had the misfortune of viewing. Even the 12 added minutes to the VHS release didn't help things out too much (but I must admit they gave ST:TMP a bit more oomph). But after several months of hearing and reading about the 'Special Edition' treatment that ST:TMP was to be given for its DVD release, I decided to give this misfortune in the annals of Trekdom one more shot. Once a Trekkie, always a Trekkie, y'know? And besides, they couldn't possibly make it any worse, right? Well, it's not any worse-- it's just as dull, colorless & lifeless as I remember it! The so-called improvements have very little effect on this plodding Trek-flick. A few of them are apparent (especially to the Jolt-Cola-laden uber-Trekkies who actually manage to stay awake throughout this cinematic snooze), but aren't nearly as extensive as, say, the Special Edition 'Star Wars' movies. There's a few exterior shots that used to be interior shots, a new approach into Starfleet HQ at the beginning, the new 'walking to V'Ger' sequence near the end, and several other barely-perceivable bits. But I was rather disappointed with what was taken away: most of the scenes that were included in the extended VHS version were not used in this release. I felt that many of these moments actually gave the flick a bit more life to it. Sure, they're included in the deleted/trimmed scenes reels on Disc 2, but it's just not the same, you know? I was hoping they'd at least trim down some of those overly-long 'Inside of V'Ger' fx sequences. That would've improved this movie's pace by leaps and bounds! Sadly, Wise & Co. decided to keep them all. In fact, you can listen to the guys on the commentary track talk about how they felt it was a good idea to keep these parts in the movie! Yeah, a good idea if you need to take a bathroom or snack break without needing to pause the movie that is! Speaking of the commentary track, it goes back and forth between five people- director Robert Wise, f/x wizards Douglas Trumbull & John Dykstra, composer Jerry Goldsmith, and actor Stephen 'Decker' Collins. Unfortunately, I found their memories & anecdotes to be only marginally more interesting than the flick! Wise sounds like he's barely conscious as he recounts his experience in making & re-making of the movie. Of course, I'm barely conscious after watching ST:TMP for more than 10 minutes, so I can relate! Fortunately, Disc 2 does have a decent array of extras to keep the average Trekkie fairly busy. Included are the aforementioned trimmed/deleted scenes, documentaries, trailers & TV spots, and storyboard sequences. One of the docs was a 15-minute discussion regarding Star Trek: Phase II, which was to be a TV series featuring the original crew going on a new 5-year mission, but was scrapped and eventually evolved into ST:TMP. But the most interesting feature by far was the promo for the new Enterprise™ series! Now I've heard the news about Paramount giving all the other Trek flicks similar treatments on DVD, which kinda honks me off. I mean, why couldn't they've done this the FIRST time around? Yeah, yeah, I know- it's all about the Benjamins, baby. Of course, being the dyed-in-the-wool Trekkie that I am, I'll likely grab a hold of these subsequent releases when they come out, which of course makes me just as much of a sellout to "the man" as everyone else who'll be snappin' 'em up! Man, the hell this revelation plays with my self-worth... 'Late
Rating: 
Summary: Get an attention span
Review: The people who say this movie is too slow just need to get an attention span. This is a great movie and can be enjoyed if people would actually like to see a good character movie. Everyone else should go see the The Scorpion King.
Rating: 
Summary: Damnit Bones, I NEED You........ Badly!
Review: Well this movie is the first Star Trek DVD that is worth the money since it has extras and a whole new cut of the film. I think this cut worked much better since things flow better, but the film still seems kind of weak. It just ran too long and it seems more like it was copying 2001: A Space Odyssey. The films after this were much more Star Trek in their spirit. This DVD is a mixed bag.... the video is very soft and grainy, and some shots even have a spot in the frame that is blurred while the rest of the frame is more clear. That makes no sense to me how that could have got around the people restoring this film. The new effects are very well done and look like effects from that era. The sound is the best part though, it really makes up for the bad video. This movie is just fair in my opinion, but the DVD brings new life to it and the new cut is far more entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: A Must See Misfire
Review: The human storylines and character interplay that made ST a hit with fans in the first place are drowned in a sea of needless and endless special effects sequences. That said, I still love this movie. The emotional energy of reuniting the cast and the sub-plot of Spock coming to terms with his humanity make the shortcomings durable. Hint: Get the wide-screen editions of the entire movie series or you will miss a lot.
Rating:
Summary: Star Trek: The Motion Picture Cool Huh?
Review: Hey all you Star Trek Fans! I loved this movie and I'm not really even I star Trek fan really. It was well thought out, and the characters were very believeable. I only rented it because I like Stephen Collins and I rent every movie he's in in fact, I rent every movie that every cast member of 7th Heaven has been in. In this movie in case you don't know him, he played Captain/Comander Willard. Great Guy! Also, I took away one star because the picture quality was crummy.
Rating:
Summary: crummy picture quality
Review: I loved the film in the theater. The new director's changes weren't noticable, & the time & money would have been better spent on making a good quality transfer to DVD. The detail & image quality is worse than about 75% of my DVDs. There's no excuse for a big company like that putting out such a poor quality disc (but Disney & Fox do it all the time too). Did they think we'd all be viewing the DVD on a 12" black & white TV & not notice? Get with the program, it's the 21st century, most of us have big TVs now. My screen is 8 feet wide. If you got widescreen home theater, you'll be disappointed.
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