Rating: 
Summary: Improved, "finished" film
Review: While it's still flawed, Robert Wise's Director's Edition of ST:TMP shows a huge improvement in pacing, structure and optical effects. Wise had a release date before he had even shot one reel of footage and, as a result, was working against a deadline from day one. With optical effects problems from the very first (the company hired couldn't deliver despite spending 5 million dollars), the original set scrapped (it was build for the planned television series and wasn't detailed enough for the motion picture screen)as well as endless rewrites (Alan Dean Foster's original script was radically rewritten by Harold Livingston), power struggles, etc. Wise had his work cut out for him.The resulting film was compromised from the get go. Eventually John Dykstra (Star Wars, Spiderman)and Douglas Trumbull(2001, Close Encounters)were brought in to complete the massive amount of effects work necessary for the film. Wise didn't get a chance to really fine tune the final cut of the film until this DVD release. He took the opportunity to also go back and redo some of the opticals they didn't have time to finish. The only priviso was that the effects had to look like they were created in 1979. The resulting final product is a marvel to watch. A mysterious cloud posessing enormous power and, perhaps, with a craft at its center advances on Earth. Why it's coming is a mystery. After it disintegrates two Klingon war vessels and a Federation space station, the Federation elects the Enterprise to attept first contact or, failing that, try and destroy the visitor. Admiral Kirk convinces Starfleet to let him command the Enterprise over Captain Decker (recommended by Kirk)because of his experience. The revamped Enterprise isn't quite space worthy yet but must be launched within 12 hours to allow the Enterprise time to cut off the alien visitor before it reaches Earth. Wise uses a slower pace to create suspense in ST:TMP and it's quite different from other installments in the film franchise. The regal pacing and production design might, at first, put off fans of films 2-6 and The Next Generation. Keep in mind that ST:TMP is from a different generation of filmmaking. ST:TMP straddles the line between The Day the Earth Stood Still (another Wise film) and Wrath of Kahn. The first disc includes a combined commentary track featuring Wise, Douglas Trumbull, John Dykstra, Jerry Goldsmith and others commenting on the stress and challenges of making of the original film. There's also comments from Wise about the changes made to the film for this DVD edition. The picture quality is exceptional although there are analog artifacts. Compression isn't an issue and I saw a bit of edge enhancement as well but, on the whole, it looks quite good. The remixed/remastered sound is a huge improvement on the original soundtrack (you can compare it to the deleted scenes to hear the difference). I'm not sure if this is an anamorphic widescreen transfer (it is presented in widescreen). The anamorphic transfer from video to DVd increases the resolution and clarity of the image. I believe it to be an anamorphic transfer but, again, have nothing to compare it against. The second disc has all the extras including the scenes included in the 1979 version that were trimmed/cut/reshot for this edition. It also includes the extra scenes (including the infamous scene where Kirk goes after Spock outside the ship and you can see the edge of the set)for the 1983 television premiere as well. There's also feauturettes devoted to the new optical effects, publicity and interviews. There's also a section called Outtakes that focuses on an incomplete sequence that was replaced in the final film Spock going outside the ship and attempting to mind meld with the alien. Although flawed with a script that was constantly being rewritten (with uncredited help from Leonard Nimoy), director Wise's film manages to capture both the sense of adventure and the larger than life qualities that made the series so popular. Keep in mind this film is less action oriented than other films in the franchise. It has more in common with the episodes like "The Doomsday Machine" and "Nomad" than it does "City on the Edge of Forever" or "Where No Man Has Gone Before". On its own, it's a fine film that has finally been finished in line with the vision Wise had for the film.
Rating: 
Summary: Warning: Not for the weak of mind
Review: This is a great Trek film, despite what most critics say. The movie does a wonderful job of linking the original show to the movie franchise that we all know and love. The special effects are outstanding, the cast performs brilliantly, and the plot is deep and interesting. Not for an audience craving hardcore action, phaser shootouts, and great battle scenes. This film takes a more intellectual position and does Star Trek a great justice. Granted, there are several scenes that invite you to just sit back and enjoy a graphically-charged sensefest, and these could have been made shorter. They don't, however, detract from the effect of this film, and I truly believe that TMP belongs in the list of greater Trek movies.
Rating:
Summary: Worth Watching
Review: I'm not afraid to admit that I love this movie! For some reason the critics seem to think it is slooooow paced. My question to the critics is what's wrong with that? Not every movie has to have the, whats now known as, the "MTV Edit" of quick, flashy edits. I like a movie that takes it's time. This DVD is PACKED with GREAT extras! The other special edition Trek movies that recently came out are loaded with extras too, but nothing like this DVD. I love the TV spots and the documentaries! Great nostalgia and awesome interviews! Notably absent from the interviews is Leonard Nimoy. Also I had no idea they had plans to make another Trek series back in the mid seventies. They even show test shots of the would be new cast (featuring Persis Khambatta who would have played Ilia on the show!) and the new sets on this DVD! Very interesting stuff! They were way ahead of their time. TNG was still over 10 years away from being made at this point.
Star Trek The Next Generation "borrows" a lot from this movie. From the intellectual story telling, the theme song, the uniforms, and Jonathan Frakes owes his career as Riker to Commander Decker.
This movie has been labeled a "bomb", but critics should know that this movie was the 3rd highest grossing movie of 1979 and it came out in December of that year! It made more money than the original Alien and Apocalypse Now! Both of those movies are considered classics. The new CG shots are amazing! They really add to the film! V'Ger is no longer just a cloud in space, but is now a massive probe looking for it's creator! The only drawback to this version is there is 7 minutes cut out. I would've liked to have seen maybe an egg (like T2) where you can watch the original version and/or the television version. But that is a minor point.
So, just relax (forget the MTV flashy edit style movies of today) and indulge yourself in this bit of Star Trek history!
Rating: 
Summary: Ponderous, but the 143 minute version has something extra
Review: This review applies only to the VHS version. There has been enough written about this movie (especially the non-"director's Cut" version) that almost sank the Star Trek movie franchise before it had a chance to get going. It's so busy being impressed with itself that it forgets to think about itself. There are so many "illogical" parts of this movie (as Spock would say) that you can't stay immersed in the story too long before you pop up and say "Now, wait a minute". They're in there to add "drama" and "spectacle" but fall flat because they don't make sense. Without giving too much away for the 12 or so people that haven't heard about the movie: You've got Capt. Kirk being able to run faster than the Flash as he manages to make it all the way from Engineering to the Transporter room in less time than it takes someone already beaming up to (awesomely) reassemble; an airlock that has a guard on it even though the ship is in deep space so there's no reason to be there (guard only exists because they couldn't think of any better way for Spock to use the Vulcan nerve pinch that everyone expects him to use Somewhere); a "thruster suit" that is for emergencies, but takes so long to (impressively) tell you about itself and then count itself down that you'd be dead before it finished telling you how it was going to work; said suit that only makes sense if Starfleet had planned for the existence of an intergalactic shortstop, becuase unless there's somone to catch you, there's no way to stop in the suit; an incredibly wise and knowledgeable sentience (much spectacle) that somehow isn't clever enough to wipe off its nameplate and learn its own name, etc. To confirm the problems with the flick as originally sold, when was the last time you heard of a tape being pulled and then being rereleased because the version that was shown on TV was Better than the theatrical release? That's the 143 minute version, and it is. Note tht this is Not the "Director's cut", which is also better than the theatrical release. The 143 minute VHS version, though has something that is not in the DVD version (although it was on TV when first shown). Not going to give it away, but watch when Kirk leaves the Enterprise to go and rescue Spock (this is not in the other versions, all you see is Kirk catching Spock). There is a ponderous moment when he (impressively) floats off from the airlock. You might miss it at first because your mind will fill in what it expects to see. Watch it again, and you'll see probably the most spectacular gaffe in a released version of a flick in movie history (makes the momentary view of a freeway view in Ben Hur pale by comparison). Let's just say the scene wasn't quite "finished". Again, this is Not in the other versions of the film. The DVD is better, but this goof has to be seen to be believed! Aside from that, we shouldd all give thanks for Kahn and his Wrath, or there wouldn't have been any more ST picutres.
Rating:
Summary: Where's Ricardo Montalban When We Need Him
Review: Footnote: Official Review: ** 1/2 (two star and a half star rating) In 1979, Robert Wise's (West Side Story, The Sound of Music, The Haunting) highly budgeted, enormously special effects laden, immensely epic, and dramatically devoid of feeling Star Trek: The Motion Picture hit theaters around the world introducing new fans to the new continuing chronicles of Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner), stoic Science Officer half human/half Vulcanian Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and sardonically comedic Doctor Leonard "Bones" Mc Coy (DeForest Kelley). In the vast horizon of space, there appears to be an immensely lethal gigantic space being intelligence (that goes by the name of V'Ger) that after already easily annihilating several Kilingon Birds of Prey and a Federation Deep Space Station facility is on a direct collision course with the planet Earth. So of course the United Federation of Planets allows recently promoted Admiral Kirk to helm the U.S.S. Enterprise on an extremely vital emergency mission to investigate the mystery alien's intentions. Unfortunately for all but the most blindly devoted of the Trekkie fan base, the film lacked the one crucial engineering ingredient that made the original series glisten amongst all the other one-dimensionally conventional entertainments of the time, character, dimensionality, and humanity. Though we do see momentary glimpses of the Shatner/Nimoy/Kelly character dynamic that propelled the original series ascendance into the syndication stratosphere, Star Trek: The Motion Picture creatively concentrates on a mightily bland ambiguous creature that never really fulfills on it's promise of threat to the audience (only cerebrally never emotionally), adheres too stridently to an old Hollywood pacing structure (form the 50's and 60's) that clashes as badly to Star Trek as platform shoes stand out at a Moshe pit, focuses on a very uninteresting romance between the first officer and a bald female navigator (both before and after one of them becomes an android), and horrendously confuses telling a intensely jargon-filled space odyssey with that of concocting a compellingly motion picture. Though the grave somber literate bent of the film is not lost upon this reviewer, the emblematic spice of argumentative dissension between friends, the palpable and utterly real danger of space travel, spontaneous comedic innuendo that punctuated pompousness away from the drama, and the very fabric of camaraderie that richly effortlessly soared in the series is about as subdued and unappreciatively undeveloped as comedy was previously in any old Dragnet episode. Wise only in a very theatrical or heavily staged manner even remotely alludes to the venerable dependably timeless elements that made Star Trek always and exclusively Star Trek. His "lively" touches of character spontaneity, enthusiastic mood, and jovial levity would have been made traumatically more believable if only they had been frantically re-imaged in a wax museum showcase instead. One dedicated fan may point out the fact that in the initial scenes of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Spock was undergoing a Vulcanian emotional purging ceremony entitled Kolinahr. Given his increasing resolute attempts to purge his own emotions as a character, these strides may have had a "direct" (maybe even commendable consistency of character to some) effect on the profuse mundane character uneventfulness that is being described. This certainly is attributed in the film but where oh where is that legendary DeForest Kelley or James Doohan wit when we ravenously agonize over their absence of them most? Sure there are minor colorful moments prudishly infrequently dispensed throughout the film from point to point. Yet this "levity" is never relentlessly exceptional enough to lug 136 minutes around with it without considerable waisline coverage issues apparent form head to foot. All in all, despite an all-star cast, mind bogglingly excellent special effects, and a superbly noteworthy soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith (that track was later re-used in the vastly popular Star Trek: The Next Generation), Star Trek: The Motion Picture fails to go where almost all of it's sequels later went on to do, make an entertaining picture. It certainly is worth mention and inclusion to one's cinema-going experiences solely for that legendarily diabolically seductive musical score, watching the U.S.S. Enterprise (accompanied by Goldsmith's eternal score) leaving the Federation Space dock for the first time, viewing the Enterprise warping away into the distance at the film's conclusion, witnessing that infamously beloved Leonard Nimoy eyebrow twinge, and its paternal role as the first feature-length film in the Star Trek film franchise. However don't these scattered moments appear more like anemic scrapes than an entire fluid film ahcievement to you? Other than those inclusions, this is about as barren as the Starship U.S.S. Reliant at the conclusion of Nicholas Meyer's Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan in terms of shear excitement that is. Yet in its favor, its mere trespasses were only excessively bland in comparison with the quality atomic bomb that that was William Shatner's vindictively baleful masterpiece of calamites, Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier. Now that was a cinematic Watergate for the ages. As for the Star Trek: the Motion Picture Director's Cut DVD Special Edition, it's includes a marvelously remastered anamorphic widescreen presentation, a Robert Wise commentary track, 3 documentaries, 11 deleted scenes, and more impressive Star Trek options to shake a replicated steak at. Highly recommended for any Trekkie with a thirst for antiquity, but for all other indifferent non-fans stay as far away from this as you would from the Influencian Flu or Barclay's Proto-morphosis Syndrome. You've been warned P.S. Scotty thin? Naw... Followed by Nicholas Meyer's Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan.
Rating:
Summary: Great tv show turned into a great movie!
Review: Star Trek returns aftr a 10 year absence. This movie paved the way for 9 sequels and 4 tv shows. A must have.
Rating:
Summary: The problem with rushing a movie to the screen.
Review: Back in 1979, the studios had to pay for a movie's release date. Such was the case with this film. Director Robert Wise was under the gun to make it to screen. The special effects, while special for the time, weren't as good as they should have been. The sound editing was done in a rush. The film itself was almost literally thrown together. Rushing it nearly cost Paramount the Star Trek franchise. This restored version helps to make more sense of the storyline. Because of the remixing, every word uttered doesn't sound as though it was dubbed over. There is still a curiously back edit toward the beginning of the film. Beyond that, this DVD is like watching this film for the first time. And enjoying it this time.
Rating:
Summary: Stands apart from the rest of the series on its own
Review: This is really excellent moviemaking and is actually up there with ST III: TSFS and ST VI: TUC as a favorite of mine. It has virtually nothing to do with the rest of the movies in the series, because whether we're dealing with interstellar politics, scientific projects run amok, or both - ST II through VI kind of build on each other in neat ways. This movie is purely Robert Wise, and in ways it's a shame that this is the only Trek he did. I was a Robert Wise fan before I was a Trek fan and this was the first Trek film I had seen. So since it's a Robert Wise sci-fi film in every way, shape, and form, it falls into that odd category of "cerebral" sci-fi films. You know, if you liked The Andromeda Strain, Phase IV, and maybe even something like Futureworld or 2001, I'd say you'll certainly enjoy this. STTMP is slow paced, weighing in at nearly 2.5 hours and even the edited version is still the longest movie in the series. There are 3 versions of STTMP: a 132 minute version, a 136 minute version (which is this DVD), and the 143 minute version, which is the edition that has been out on VHS for a long time. I actually like the latter one the best and was disappointed to see that they were going to edit the film once again (to achieve some kind of "editorial balance") and modernize the special effects to sort of beef it up. That might appeal to some, but I still argue that this is not a movie that needs "beefed up," because it's just not the kind of thing you add bells and whistles to to make it more interesting. It's not like all of a sudden it's going to appeal to the sci-fi/action/suspense crowd, but nonetheless (even though I thought the movie should have been left alone) the DVD picture is excellent and the amazing Goldsmith score sounds better than ever before. What they've done in the end is just toy with it. It's still going to demand a patient audience and won't clear anything up for you if the first version escaped you. Wise's direction is very crisp and he likes to utilize the size of his sets. There are always things going on in the background of almost every frame, people exiting and coming onto the bridge, and screens and panels with all sorts of geometric designs and changing diagrams (all which represent something, such as scanning devices, but what they are isn't important, they're just there for you to look at), so late 1970s fascination with computer technology is obvious. In subsequent Trek films, this stuff would be scaled down or taken out. There is also some nice continuity in that the captain-demoted-to-commander Decker character, who is often at odds with Kirk on how to proceed, is likely commodore Decker's (from the original Trek epsisode The Doomsday Machine) offspring. Like the commodore, commander Decker is always trying to be reckless and is sometimes highly erratic, although not violent, in his thinking. There are some spririted, well acted (but wooden) debates between Decker and Kirk with McCoy sometimes jumping in and taking one's side against the other but usually siding with Decker, while Spock sits back and calmly moderates or agrees with Kirk. And you know who's always right. Sometimes Kirk gets so frustrated with Decker that he'll pull him and McCoy out and take them to his quarters to continue the argument, leaving Sulu in charge, which is mostly cut out in this DVD. Shatner's performance has often been criticized in this one, but I rather enjoyed it. He manages the ship more than he commands it in TMP and of course, has about a zillion opportunities to make the wrong call, but is always right. One final touch is that the Vger cloud is scaled down from over 82 AU's in the Epsilon 9 commander's report in the original version (distance from Earth to the sun times 82) to over 2 AU's in this DVD. It's still immense (fascination with large objects and large concepts, since Vger is basically a concept), but its distance is a bit more manageable for the Enterprise to negotiate in a few hours time. I guess they decided that not even in Trek could one travel 82 AU's in a few hours! In all, one of my favorites, and the extras aren't bad. I'd just like to see the extended special longer 143 minute version on DVD as a companion edition. Go beef up ST V: TFF, it needs it!
Rating:
Summary: Star Trek too slow for warp speed
Review: It is amazing that this first installment in the Star Trek series spawned five sequels. Bogged down by long, twenty minute special effect sequences, this movie maintains the feel of the original series by highlighting how slow and methodical the original crew actually was. Now that's not to say that the storyline is bad. The movie opens with a spectacular sequence between a Klingon battle cruiser and a strange, alien cloud on a direct heading for Earth. Unfortunately for the Klingons, there weapons are all rendered useless by balls of electrical energy launched by the cloud and their ship is eventually destroyed. Enter James T. Kirk, a former Starfleet captain who is using this new threat to Earth as a chance to regain command of the Enterprise. There's also Spock, a Vulcan who has decided to give up pure logic to go on a wild chase with his old friends to commune with the alien intelligence at the center of the alien cloud. Ultimately, with a few casualties along the way, the crew learns that the cloud is being piloted by V'ger, a three hundred year old satellite launched by NASA over three hundred years ago. Having gained sentience after years of exploring the universe, the satellite has returned to Earth to join with its creator. My recommendation with this movie is that you sit down and watch it with the intention of getting up multiple times. As long as you keep that in mind, the twenty minute special effects segments which pepper this movie from beginning to end won't seem as long and the movie might actually seem enjoyable.
Rating:
Summary: The human adventure begins
Review: To me this one is the best Star Trek feature of all time. I still am hoping that someone will have a vision as powerful as Robert Wise and to do even better. I remember when I first saw it on TV, I was about 8 y.o. and I already was a great fan of the series, it was my favorite movie and I didn't even understand what it was about. But the visual poetry was enough to fill my mind with wonder. Now that I am over 30 I realize, watching it over and over again, that what Mr. Wise brought to Star Trek is a lot more than just an underated piece of Sci-Fi, but a vision of the magnitude of what the world could be in the future. Not just a couple of astronauts trying to free themselves from the grip of Apollo, but the feeling of actually being there, sizes of stellar objects, distances + reaching the boundaries of human imagination. Something that has been lost in the last 3 films (First Contact, Insurrection and Nemesis). I think that Star Trek the Motion Picture is the most significant contribution to the Star Trek Universe.
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