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Summary: billZ
Review: Thrilling special f/x, and great cinematography make up for this awesome movie!
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Summary: Boldly Going Where No One Has Gone Before
Review: Gene Roddenberry's "Star Trek" is one of the most unique TV shows of its type. When it originally aired on NBC-TV between 1966 and 1969, it did no better than No. 35 in the Nielsen ratings, and was cancelled by NBC at the end of the '68-'69 season. But then a funny thing happened in the 1970s: Syndication. It was syndication that bought "Star Trek" a renewed following, making it a massive cult favorite whose followers came to be known as "Trekkies." It was only a matter of time before the series made the leap from the small screen to the big screen. That happened in December 1979. William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, James Doohan, and Walter Koenig were reunited for what turned out to be the first of many successful "Star Trek" movies. And while this initial entry is somewhat imperfect, it nevertheless shows a fair amount of style. The film focuses on the crew of a now-redesigned U.S.S. Enterprise, once more commanded by James Kirk (Shatner), heading out to confront a vast alien cloud making its way towards Earth on a mission of destruction. Shatner this time also runs into conflict with the new "Enterprise" commander (Stephen Collins) over his usurping of authority. But for the most part, the differences are put aside to confront this hideous threat to Earth's population. The alien force, which calls itself "V'ger", has taken over the body of one of the "Enterprise"'s medical officers (Persis Khambatta). As the crew learns, "V'ger" is in actuality an ancient "Voyager" space probe launched from Earth three centuries ago. It now makes what is obviously quite an impossible demand to meet: either it reunites with its "Creator", or it wipes out the "Creator"'s planet--Earth. Originally budgeted at five million dollars by Paramount Pictures when production started in mid-1977, the size and scope of STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE grew very fast; and as a result, so too did the budget until it came out to a then nearly-unheard-of forty million. Much of that budget, not surprisingly, was spent on production design and the wide array of special effects. On that score, STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE certainly looks every bit like it. And having a veteran director like Robert Wise, who made films like WEST SIDE STORY, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, THE HAUNTING, and THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN didn't hurt either. But the slow, leisurely pace of the film did turn off many filmgoers, even some Trekkies; in that sense, it closely resembles 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY more than it does, say, STAR WARS, let alone the original TV series. But even that can be a plus, because the series was not merely concerned with fancy visuals; it was concerned with deep human issues, and the movie itself concerns itself with an issue as old as humanity itself--God, or, The Creator. The ultra-familiar cast was one of the reasons that STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE was a box office smash, despite its flaws. Another reason, of course, was the superb visual effects work supervised by Douglas Trumbull, John Dykstra and Richard Yuricich, which got nominated for an Oscar. The other high point of the film is Jerry Goldsmith's magnificent music score, with echoes of Debussy's "Nocturnes" and parts of Holst's "The Planets"; it is easily one of the greatest music scores produced in Hollywood during the last four decades that John Williams did NOT compose, and it too was recognized with an Oscar nomination. Despite its extreme length (at 144 minutes) and somewhat slow pace, STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE is still eminently watchable on all counts, and comes highly recommended for all science fiction film fans, even those who are not necessarily Trekkies.
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Summary: Not What Star Trek Fans Were Expecting In 1979
Review: 10 years following the cancellation of Gene Roddenberry's sci-fi television series, "Star Trek", fans of the show (that aired for only 3 years between 1966 and 1969) were elated to learn that the original "Star Trek" cast had been reunited for a 2-hour feature film. The much anticipated film, entitled "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", was placed under the direction of probably one of the best directors of all time, Robert Wise, who had previously won two Oscars for Best Director for the films "West Side Story" (1961) and "The Sound of Music" (1965). He also edited the 1941 film "Citizen Kane" and directed "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951) and "The Andromeda Strain" (1971). However, even with such an impressive director at the helm, long-time "Star Trek" fans, as well as the rest of the audience, were not particularly impressed with the film. Why? The primary cause was poor writing, but Robert Wise may not have been the best choice for director either. And what of the writers? Though not credited, Gene Roddenberry was involved with writing the story, but the film's story was credited to Alan Dean Foster, who started writing sci-fi novels in 1972, but had no previous film or television writing experience. Other writing credits go to Harold Livingston, whose previous writing experience was primarily for television shows, but he had never written anything for the original "Star Trek" television series. Additional non-credited writing was done by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. The story itself begins as follows: a massively large cloud emerges from unknown regions of space and is first detected by the Federation when it passes through Klingon space and is attacked by three Klingon warships. The Klingons are destroyed, and the cloud is found to be heading directly for Earth. Conveniently, with no other starships available to intercept the massive cloud, only the U.S.S. Enterprise, which is nearing the completion of its redesign, is in range to intercept the cloud. The now Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) easily convinces Star Fleet Command to give him command of the Enterprise, even though a new captain has already been assigned, Captain William Decker (Stephen Collins). (Capt. Decker is the son of Commodore Matthew Decker, who died in the original "Star Trek" series episode, "The Doomsday Machine", which aired on October 20, 1967. In that episode, Commodore Decker was played by William Windom.) Most of the original crew is already on board the Enterprise, including Commander Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott (James Doohan), Lt. Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig), Lt. Commander Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), the now Dr. Christine Chapel (Majel Barrett, who married Gene Roddenberry) and the return of Janice Rand (Grace Lee Whitney), who was removed by producers during the first season of the original series. Dr. Leonard 'Bones' McCoy (DeForest Kelley) is drafted back into Star Fleet at the behest of Kirk, but Spock (Leonard Nimoy) has been busy purging all emotions on Vulcan for several years. A new alien crew member is introduced in the film, Lt. Ilia (Persis Khambatta, who got to shave her head for the role.) From that point on, much of the film is essentially a rework of the original "Star Trek" series episode "The Changeling", which aired originally on September 29, 1967. The subplot between Capt. Decker and Lt. Ilia is very interesting and should have received greater attention. The most memorable scenes in the film include the transporter accident, McCoy's arrival on the Enterprise, Spock on Vulcan, the Klingons' battle with the cloud, the arrival of Lt. Ilia, the worm hole, Spock's arrival, the Enterprise's first cloud encounter, the probe, Spock's space-suited journey, Kirk's challenges to V'Ger and the final bridge scene. The two worst scenes in the film are both lengthy and have very little dialog: Kirk's lengthy external tour of the Enterprise and the psychedelic cloud light show reminiscent of the final scenes from "2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968). Acting in the film was certainly not stellar, and was often rather emotionless and uninspired. The best acting came from Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, the Klingon Captain (Mark Lenard, who usually played Spock's father Sarek in other "Star Trek" projects) and James Doohan. Other notable characters include Sonak (Jon Rashad Kamal) and the female Vulcan Master (Edna Glover). One thing that this film forever changed was the appearance of the Klingons who have the now familiar ridged foreheads. In the original television series, they appeared far more human. Special effects used in the film may seem dated to some viewers, but were quite good for the time. Overall, I rate "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" with 3 out of 5 stars. It certainly could have been much better, but it's not a complete waste of time. Had more of the original "Star Trek" television series writers been involved with this film, it probably would have been far more memorable and enjoyable. At least the DVD version includes many deleted scenes. These scenes help to explain the story and should probably have remained in the original film.
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Summary: Self-indulgent effects show with minimal plot and acting.
Review: This is BY FAR the worst thing to come out under the Star Trek name - and I'm counting the cheesy original show! This movie went far too long with far too little reason to. The effects may have been cool in the 70's, but they aren't now. Even that would be fine if there was some interesting plot to back it up, but there isn't. With maybe one funny part in the whole movie (which is bad for a usually pretty funny series), this needs to be put on display in a museum, not rented out for home use. You have far better things to do with your time. If you want some good Star Trek, check out 'Wrath of Khan', 'Voyage Home', "Undiscovered Country', or 'Genesis'. The new ones are good too - especially 'Insurrection'.
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Summary: Ooo. Look at the swirling colors¿ Man merging with machine¿
Review: OOOoo. Look at the swirling colors... Man merging with machine... Far out. In 1966, as freshman in a 12 story college dorm with only 2 tv rooms in the basement, one had to arrive real early on Monday nights for the next installment of STAR TREK the TV series. I was hooked and have been ever since. Years later when they made the first movie, I was there in line to see it the first day. The movie started out well enough with the Klingons attacking a cloud. The movie moved along with the gathering of the crew. Then it struck me that I had seen this all before. They had remade the Vger episode from the TV show and merged it with 2001 Space Odyssey! Dah, did I feel cheated. I know a lot of you like this first episode and the newer directors cut, but I fall on the side of those that argue that this is the first and the worst of the 10 star trek movies. With so much competition for worst movie, I decided this one was it. As for the Goldsmith score, come on, who goes to a sci fi movie for the music. The score is important but is only 4th in priority for a movie. I liked Steven Collins in Tales of the Gold Monkey, but here, he walked a line real close to getting a court marshall charge. Sir, permission to speak. I would have said: "NO. Shutup, I'm Admiral Kirk, the greatest star fleet Ship Commander ever, and you will step down and follow orders mister". I am a hugh Shatner fan. His 1st six ST books are the best of the bunch. I read most of his Tek War books, and I highly recommend them. You know who liked this movie a lot more than I did. My acid dropping buddies. It was psychedelic. What a trip. The swirling color, Collins merging with a machine, wow. Boring if you are sober or not tripping. I rank this 10th out of 10.
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Summary: Disappointing when made, even worse with time.
Review: Psychodelic movies were popular once. OOOoo. Look at the pretty swirling colors... Man merging with machine... Far out. In 1966, as freshman in a 12 story college dorm with only 2 tv rooms in the basement, one had to arrive real early on Monday nights for the next installment of STAR TREK the TV series. I was hooked and have been ever since. Years later when they made the first movie, I was there in line to see it the first day. The movie started out well enough with the Klingons attacking a cloud. The movie moved along with the gathering of the crew. Then it struck me that I had seen this all before. They had remade the Vger episode from the TV show and merged it with 2001 Space Odyssey! Dah!! Did I feel cheated. I know a lot of you like this first episode and the newer directors cut, but I fall on the side of those that argue that this is the first and the worst of the 10 star trek movies. With so much competition for worst movie, I decided this one was it. OK, maybe numbers 3 or 5? No, this one is the worst. As for the Goldsmith score, come on, who goes to a sci fi movie for the music. The score is important but is only 4th in priority for a movie. How about a good story as being the most important? I liked Steven Collins in Tales of the Gold Monkey, but here, he walked a line real close to getting a court marshall charge. Sir, permission to speak. I would have said: "NO. Shutup, I'm Admiral Kirk, the greatest star fleet Ship Commander ever, and you will step down and follow orders mister". I am a hugh Shatner fan. His 1st six ST books are the best of the bunch. I read most of his Tek War books, and I highly recommend them. But back to the future and star trek, I rank this 10th out of 10.
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Summary: EXCEPTIONAL !
Review: I think any star trek fan( the real ones ) and not just self ordained critics would rate this film exceptional and it brought back to trekkers and trekkies , a bridge from the old series to the future showings of star trek movies to come. I thought this was a great movie and was not boring, I would not be a person to be so introspective into something as to not enjoy the movie at hand. I look forward to watching star trek till the end of my days.
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Summary: Big Star Trek Fan who thinks this one is the best
Review: Ok, I guess I am a rare breed. I am a huge Star Trek fan and I believe that this movie is the best of them all. Let me explain why I feel this way. The biggest reason is the story. I cannot tell you how engrossed I was with the story in this movie. It is the drive we as humans have to become more than we are. The same holds true for Vger. I thought the acting in this movie was excellent and I cannot understand why other reviewers criticized it. After all, Ricardo Montalban's acting in Star Trek II was cheesy at best. There was no cheesiness in this movie. No stupid scripts like Star Trek V, only pure adulterated fascination and a wonderful visual experience. Some have compared the pace and feel of this movie to 2001:A Space Odessey. And they would be right. Chances are, if you didn't like 2001, you won't like this movie. This movie is not a brainless action movie, it is a film that makes you think, very deeply. My test as to whether a film is great or not is whether or not I'm still thinking about it 2 weeks later. I found myself doing that with this one and even past 2 weeks. Bottom line: Excellent science fiction film. Get it.
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Summary: Star Trek Rediscovery
Review: More Art Film than Pop-Action, Star Trek-TMP probably suffers it's bad reputation because there was a precognition of what the film would be. Kubrick's 2001 has been noted as an obvious influence, but watching Robert Wise's new cut reminds of another film also. The closer twin of Star Trek-TMP is Wise's own "Forbidden Planet". This especially holds true for the way Wise visually frames the characters (almost always at arms length).
Some of the films largest critcisms are now it's biggest strengths. The unveiling of the Starship Enterprise, the flight into the V'Ger cloud, and ruminations about the meaning of life (of which the anwser is 42) are all visual and aural delights. I was even surprised at the calibre of acting among the principles. It's a shame that most of the minor non Star Trek actors are not in same league. The people reporting from the Epsilon 9 station sound as if they are reading the six-o'clock news.
Star Trek-TMP is best enjoyed if it's dispatched from the other films and entire Star Trek legend. In fact, if this was not a Star Trek film it would probably be as admired as "2001" and "Forbidden Planet"
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Summary: Star Trek I: Nice First Try
Review: Because I became a Star Trek fan only gradually after the release of this movie, I have always had mixed feelings about Star Trek: The Motion Picture. On the one hand, the return of Star Trek to any screen was indeed a big accomplishment, considering the genesis of this picture. Indeed, the first hour of this movie is the strongest. Kirk, who -- in the Star Trek timeline -- has spent the last 2 or so years as Chief of Starfleet Operations -- returns to command a refitted USS Enterprise to confront an unknown alien entitity which has already destroyed three Klingon cruisers. The return of Kirk to the starship and the reunion of the Enterprise crew are the main draw to ST:TMP. The second half of the movie is somewhat problematic. While laudably wanting to avoid making Star Trek into a galactic shoot 'em up, the whole V'Ger (sometimes written as Vejur) plot line was essentially a combination of various Star Trek episodes (The Changeling, The Doomsday Machine, and others)) rolled up into one big, ponderous movie. Not that the intentions were bad...they clearly were not, in fact. But the first Star Trek movie depended way too much on visuals at the expense of characterization. Even so, the 2001 Director's Edition DVD is worth getting. The transfer from film to digital is clean and crisp, the sound is excellent, and some of the redone effects are simply amazing! Also helpful are the audio and text commentaries (which Lucasfilm would be advised to include in future Star Wars DVDs); they alone make this DVD worth buying. All in all, not a bad first try for Star Trek feature films...although the next one, The Wrath of Khan, was far better.
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