Rating: 
Summary: It was downright BAD!!! I am sorry to say :(
Review: I am a huge Star Trek Fan 100%...but i am very sad to say that this film was disappointing. It was just downright BAD. Okay..maybe you might have a different opinion on the video, but i just fall asleep about 10 minutes after i put it on. The only part i like is when Spock makes a dramatic enterance onto the bridge. After i see that part, i just turn the movie off because i have more important things to do than waste my time watching a movie that is so boring, i fall asleep through the middle of it. Well, anyway...if i were you, i wouldn't waste my money on this video. No matter how big of a Star Trek Fan you can be..Believe me,you don't want it.
Rating: 
Summary: GOOD MOVIE,BUT IT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER
Review: This first STAR TREK film had alot of great effects,but the second half of the story was damaged.The way it started was great,but the drawn out flyovers and the rushed scenes hurt the picture.Even when the other parts were put back in,one of those had a problem with a scene not being complete (This one is VERY EASY TO SPOT).The character interaction is good,the plotline is fine,but more care had to be put into the overall production.A BIG way to reunite the cast after 10 years and a good film to see.This picture is fine viewing even with the problems. END
Rating: 
Summary: Greatest Movie Ever Made!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Review: Let's see: spaceships, lazer guns, "aliens" in K-Mart-after-Halloween-sale costumes... Oh, and don't let me forget the acting skills of master thespian Bill Shatner. Impressive.
Rating:
Summary: Not Much of An Improvement Story-Wise
Review: When "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" premiered in 1979, many fans of the original series were elated--and many more disappointed. The problem wasn't that the film was cheap or puny in scale, nor that it hadn't finally reunited the primary "Star Trek" cast members, some of whom hadn't been before cameras in years. Thanks mostly to "Star Wars," sci-fi fans by then had developed a ravenous taste for big-budget space opera and because the series had become more cartoonish as the 1960s wore on anyway, they now expected something that would outdo the George Lucas shoot-em-up. What they got instead was a bold, if flawed, attempt to return things to the more serious and understated tones of "Star Trek"'s first season while simultaneously pushing the special effects envelope. And though "Star Trek" always was space opera with harder sci-fi leanings, "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" mistakenly abandoned most of the space opera standards altogether--interstellar battles, "ray gun" fights, scantily-clad "moon maidens," strange and menacing aliens--in favor of an approach that was more in keeping with "2001: A Space Odyssey." The story of the revamped Enterprise's rush to stop a cloud-like entity's march toward earth became, in the end, mostly a platform for technical, not cinematic, achievement. In the years following the film's release, Director Robert Wise did not conceal his disappointment with both the movie's final cut and its critical reception, but thanks to the advent of sophisticated computer graphics, he finally got his chance to complete the film as intended two decades later. The result is a mixed bag. Certainly, the director's cut is more streamlined than its predecessor--several edits speed up the action, and even some of Jerry Goldsmith's excellent orchestrations seem faster. The reimagined special effects are, for the most part, an improvement (watch carefully, for instance, to see a shuttlecraft from the series depart the San Francisco port), though anyone expecting images on the order of "The Matrix" or the later "Star Wars" films will be disappointed. (I'm guessing the technicians had to match image quality to that of the 1979 release.) The credits definitely look better. But the major flaws of the film, including a second half that just seems to drag compared to the first, are intact. Worse, because at least one version of the film with additional footage already shows us what is possible, some of the choices of what to cut and what to keep are questionable. Gone are some great character moments like Kirk telling Bones to get out of his quarters and the computerized translation of the doomed Klingon captain (though some make it as deleted scenes on the bonus disk). Perfectly adequate sound effects, too, have been replaced by others that seem tinny, and many of these effects compete rudely with Goldsmith's score. All in all, the Director's Edition seems a tradeoff, worth viewing mostly by the diehard fan, who will also likely find the second DVD more interesting than the usual chatter and mugshots tossed into the mix.
Rating: 
Summary: The Human Adventure is Just Beginning
Review: In December of 1979, when Star Trek The Motion Picture was released, it was apparent to audiences that this was no ordinary "shoot 'em up" science fiction movie--this was a serious film with complex plotting and "big" ideas. Yet, somehow the whole film seemed "off," and lacking the TV show's charm. What was not generally known at the time was that, with the premiere date looming and numerous visual effects sequences not completed--and never having had a test screening--Director Robert Wise basically assembled what he could and physically carried the print to the film's debut. (The final visual effects sequence was literally cut into individual prints of the film before they were express shipped to theaters.) It says something for Wise's ability to work under pressure (he edited Citizen Kane, after all) that, despite mixed reviews, no major critics were able to deduce that they were viewing an unfinished film. It's also a testament to everyone involved in the project that Star Trek The Motion Picture received Academy Award nominations for Visual Effects and Musical Scoring. Nevertheless, I remember seeing the film as a 12 year old, and hearing my father complain "This movie so slow moving." And for 22 years, that has been the general consensus--ambitious plotting, great score, mostly good visual effects, poor pacing, little chemistry between the characters. For this DVD issue, Paramount has allowed Robert Wise to do what he wanted to do all along--finish his picture. Nearly every scene has been reedited--either radically or merely fine tuned--to bring more drama, better pacing, and more emphasis on the characters. Some of the clunkier bits of dialogue have been excised, along with some unnecessary technobabble. The new editing also gives greater subtext to the story, and hints at why V'Ger's probe chose to assimilate Lieutenant Ilia rather than, say, Mr. Spock. The new visual effects shots flesh out the movie, adding visual excitement without drawing attention to themselves. The technicians have even added film grain so that the new shots fit in seamlessly with the originals. The sound mix is livelier also, with use of some of the original series' sound effects, together with new elements. Jerry Goldsmith's superb score has been altered to conform with new versions of several scenes, particularly the early exploration of V'Ger. The score has been edited in such a way that it still makes musical, as well as dramatic, sense. The picture quality is vastly superior to previous VHS issues, and a modest improvement over my widescreen LaserDisc. Colors and flesh tones are more vibrant, and the image seems sharper overall. While the film appears to have been cleaned, radical computer "scrubbing" has not been done, so effects-heavy shots (which were built up element-by-element) show some grain. This new Director's Edition is now the definitive version of Star Trek The Motion Picture. Retaining all the grandeur of the original, with none of the ponderousness, this is probably the closest realization of Gene Roddenberry's humanistic vision for the future. After 22 years, The Motion Picture finally takes its rightful place near the top of the Star Trek film canon.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting Edition, Nothing More
Review: I have to say that I used to watch the original "Star Trek" T.V. show when I was a kid, but it never really attracted me as a fan. In fact, I just watched it for fun. Until "Star Trek-The Motion Picture" caught my attention. I fell in love with this movie because it was like looking at a painting about outer space, supported by spectacular visual effects by Douglas Trumbull ("Close Encounters Of The Third Kind") and John Dykstra ("Star Wars"), a magnificent musical score by Jerry Goldsmith, and a fine screenplay -although many people think it's too cerebral. Robert Wise directed this film a bit slow, that some people may think it's boring. But I don't care because I'd give it five stars all the same because my admiration for "Star Trek" woke up thanks to this movie.
However, I'm giving this Director's Edition DVD only four stars. Why? Because some scenes were eliminated -or even chopped up - and that makes this version a bit strange, a bit incomplete. In the plus side, though, some visual F/X shots were added, giving the film's look some freshness and a great repair to some incongruent shots in the original cut, apparently because of time constraints. If only the Klingon battle scene had been polished, because the matte lines surrounding the Klingon cruisers are still visible. How sad because that's one of the best scenes in the movie.
As for the extra features, I have to say that they are very good, specially the documentaries regarding the different stages of the film's production, the rush the makers had to face in order to meet their December 1979 opening. Thank goodness that the deleted scenes from the original version are there on the second disc, as well as the unaltered scenes.
This DVD is an interesting edition that should have deserved five stars if those aforementioned deleted scenes had been included and the F/X on the Klingon battle sequence had been polished.
Rating:
Summary: TREK: The Royal Treatment
Review: I wouldn't consider myself a "Trekkie" but I do enjoy a good sci-fi film. I actually prefer "Star Wars" to "Star Trek". I was a loyal fan to the "Trek" films and enjoyed the first 3 or 4. I remember seeing "Star Trek - The Motion Picture" on New Years Day 1980. It was a thoroughly enjoyable holiday picture. My next memory of "ST-TMP" was when laser disks first came out (mid-80's?). I stood in a department store and forwarded through the scene where Spock hovers outside V'Ger. Laser disks amazed me - what an incredible invention for movie buffs! I like "ST-TMP" for three reasons: the story, the scope, and the effects. I prefer the Trek stories that comment on our humanity - that's what Gene Roddenberry did best with the series. "ST-TMP" definitely makes a wonderful comment on the human condition. The scope of the film is epic. It is definitely an "event" film and probably had the highest budget of them all. Robert Wise's direction is strong and steadfast. The characters (and starship) are given cinematic weight. Finally, the effects, now 22 years old, look wonderful. The Enterprise model is gorgeous. And the V'Ger trip has some beautiful scenery. This new DVD is done very well. There are two disks and lots of bonus stuff. Most interesting is the documentary "Phase II: The Lost Enterprise" which describes a second Trek series that was abandoned and eventually became "ST-TMP". Included are some screen tests for the series - real rare stuff! The main disk contains some neat text commentary (which appears at the bottom of the screen) by Michael Okuda. As for the "Director's Edition" version of the film: I like it. Robert Wise's tinkering has actually made the film's storyline easier to follow. He has clarified what V'Ger (the entity) really is. Before, V'Ger appeared to be a big cloud. We actually see V'Ger as a ship now. The script (and actors) referenced V'Ger as a "ship" or "vessel" - we never got to see it before. Also, Spock's character arc is more clear. "ST-TMP" is a grand film, highly entertaining and thought-provoking. "The Director's Edition" supplements this already wonderful film.
Rating:
Summary: Not "where no man has gone before", but still worthy
Review: Some may consider it just as easy (or difficult) a task to talk about one particular ingredient of a recipe while simultaneously trying to avoid talking about at least one of the others. "Star Trek - The Motion Picture (The Director's Edition)" is a 2000 version of the Robert Wise-directed 1979 movie of what would become Paramount Pictures' extremely lucrative "Star Trek" franchise.
Ten years after the cancellation of the original Desilu-made 1966-69 NBC television series of the same name, which had seen 79 episodes of Gene Roddenberry's "Wagon Train to the Stars" (not a title, just the idea), the original cast of the series assembles to take their space vessel, the USS "Enterprise", out of a space dock orbiting Earth to intercept and deal with the greatest threat the home planet of the United Federation of Planets is facing - an alien entity which has already destroyed three Klingon cruisers and the space station, Epsilon IX, which first made the Federation aware of the "cloud".
Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) makes his presence known in a way that contrasts with his demeanor during the series. He effectively usurps the "untried captain", Will Decker (Stephen Collins), in a scene in the engineering section that looks as if it might have become a fistfight if this had been in the Old West in the 1880s. Kirk stamps his authority, thus creating the possibility of conflict, yet Decker acts the professional at all times, realizing that Kirk is the right man for the job. That, however, is totally lost on the captain, who says to him: "Stop ... competing with me, Decker!" The executive officer, however, retains his composure and lays it on the line regarding his captain's total lack of recent experience of starship command. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley), the ship's surgeon, also effectively condemns his captain and old friend's irrational behavior, yet the man does have a job to do and he is determined to carry it through.
Conflict is no stranger to "Star Trek", though, as far as "ST-TMP" goes, this brief interaction is the only instance of conflict, a far cry from when McCoy and Science Officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy) used to be verbal sparring partners in the TV series. Spock himself comes to the ship even more lacking in emotion than he used to be after undergoing the harsh discipline of "Kolinahr" on his home planet of Vulcan, and almost alienates (no pun intended) his fellow crew-members. Yet it seems that the "cloud", referred to as "V'Ger" by a probe sent to the ship in the form of the (former) navigator Ilia (the late Persis Khambatta, who died in 1998 aged only 49), has one thing in common with the Vulcan: a feeling of being incomplete and wanting to find answers to unanswered questions of existence and being.
The Director's Edition includes commentary by director Robert Wise, special effects director Doug Trumbull, legendary composer Jerry Goldsmith (whose theme to this movie became that for the "Next Generation" TV series from 1987 to 1994) and actor Stephen Collins. Their commentary focuses purely on the technical aspects of the making of the movie, which included some new, albeit brief scenes (such as a fireball just vanishing in front of the "Enterprise" after Spock sends the friendship message to V'Ger) and excluded some others (such as Ilia's reference to homo sapiens as "a sexually immature species", a deletion that I personally disagree with, since it just about summed up what Deltans like Ilia think of humans).
I would have liked Collins to have talked (or at least have had the opportunity to talk) about the chemistry between the members of the cast, both old and new, yet he, like the other three, confines himself largely to the technical side of things. He does, however, make references to Khambatta when talking about the penultimate scene when Kirk, Decker, Spock, McCoy and the Ilia-probe make contact with what V'Ger actually is.
Wise admits that the action of the original 1979 offering, which was finished in rather a hurry before the Christmas box office release in the USA, was too long in places, yet, as Nimoy pointed out in his (second) autobiography, "I Am Spock" (1995), the feeling was that Paramount "was doing something historic and important". As a result of what was perceived to be an over-reliance on the importance of the original TV series, 400 of whose fans were gathered in uniform in the scene where Kirk tells them about the danger, only to be horrified at what the alien entity then does to the Epsilon IX station, there was a tendency to sacrifice action and pace in favor of something resembling Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968).
Fortunately for Paramount, the movie did quite well at the box-office if only because of the significance of "Star Trek". Had the movie been a one-off, just as "Alien" was when it was released the same year, it would undoubtedly have bombed and been consigned to sci-fi history. As it so happened, "the human adventure [was] just beginning". The movie is not "where no man has gone before", but, like "Alien" and "2001", it is still a worthy piece of cinematic sci-fi that has endured.
Rating:
Summary: Original theatrical version on VHS
Review: The "Widescreen Edition" VHS of "Star Trek-The Motion Picture" is the version of the film that was originally released to theaters back in 1979. This version doesn't have the extra footage that was added to the 1983 television premier, the "Special Longer Version" VHS, and the DVD, and has the film exactly as it was edited for the original 1979 theatrical release, with all the film's original sound effects, as well. While this original version omitted some of the amusing dialogue which helped give the film more warmth, it also, however, omitted a lot of the unneccessary dialogue that slows the film down too much, like the extended scene when V'ger was attacking the Enterprise, while the Enterprise was still outside the cloud. So if you want a copy of the version of the film that was originally released to theaters (maybe in addition to your new "Director's Edition" DVD version), the "Widescreen Edition" VHS is it.
Rating: 
Summary: My thoughts on the film
Review: I liked Shat's performance in this. He did a great job. I like the crew's uniforms here. They look like what the creww should've worn on TOS. I actually loathe the arctic-like uniforms they wore from Wrath of Khan on. I see nothing wrong with Stephen Collins as the Will Decker character being respectful to Admiral Kirk (unlike another poster here). Ilya exhibits a certain sexuality once she dons the bathrobe and high heeled sandals. It's admittedly a slow film but that gives us more time with the TOS characters. Better with repeated viewings.
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