Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

Back when the first Star Trek feature was released in December 1979, the Trek franchise was still relatively modest, consisting of the original TV series, an animated cartoon series from 1973-74, and a burgeoning fan network around the world. Series creator Gene Roddenberry had conceived a second TV series, but after the success of Star Wars the project was upgraded into this lavish feature film, which reunited the original series cast aboard a beautifully redesigned starship U.S.S. Enterprise. Under the direction of Robert Wise (best known for West Side Story), the film proved to be a mixed blessing for Trek fans, who heatedly debated its merits; but it was, of course, a phenomenal hit. Capt. Kirk (William Shatner) leads his crew into the vast structures surrounding V'Ger, an all-powerful being that is cutting a destructive course through Starfleet space. With his new First Officer (Stephen Collins), the bald and beautiful Lieutenant Ilia (played by the late Persis Khambatta) and his returning veteran crew, Kirk must decipher the secret of V'Ger's true purpose and restore the safety of the galaxy. The story is rather overblown and derivative of plots from the original series, and avid Trekkies greeted the film's bland costumes with derisive laughter. But as a feast for the eyes, this is an adventure worthy of big-screen trekkin'. Douglas Trumbull's visual effects are astonishing, and Jerry Goldmith's score is regarded as one of the prolific composer's very best (with its main theme later used for Star Trek: The Next Generation). And, fortunately for Star Trek fans, the expanded 143-minute version (originally shown for the film's network TV premiere) is generally considered an improvement over the original theatrical release. --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com

A prequel to the next series of Films

Star Trek the Motion Picture is fundamentally ok. I don't regard it as the great reprisal of Star Trek. There are a few areas where this film fails. First, it is has a feeling of being overally romantic, and second, the lavish production was better than the storyline and characters.

Just as an example for the overly romanticism here, The Ship, although redesigned effectively here, is shot too many times. I agree that the Scotty and Kirk sequence around the ship was just entirely too long. When you put this in perspective that the series had been off the air 10-11 years at this point, perhaps this was to serve as it's re-incarnation, but it was shot too long. My Feeling on Roddenberry is that he was good with casting and with writing, but he was not a producer and never was. He produced this movie and it feels he tried to reach for something but never made it there.

Spock's character is something un-recognizable when he returns. His familiarity seems gone. Kirk and McCoy's dialog is weak as well. I don't believe movie captured the relationship well betweek McCoy, Kirk and Spock at all. (They later came back to it in the Wrath of Kahn, and by That Time, Roddenberry was not involved except for exec producer. Harve Bennett saved the movie franchise from that point on along with direction from Nicholas Meyer and Leonard Nimoy).

Star Trek the Motion Picture was lavish in production, short on storyline, but did re-introduce the crew back into the 80's so this movie is more historic than memorable. January 3, 2009

wanted to complete my collection

i used to be a HARDCORE trekker/trekkie now i don't watch as much as i used to but still watch sometimes so i wanted to complete my collection December 18, 2008

What Could (Should) Have Been

Timing is everything.

The snarls and delays in getting the screenplay from paper to film made the journey for this picture very difficult; there was this "little" movie made - Star Wars - that revolutionized the Sci-Fi genre and placed a heavy premium on visual effects.

So, what appeared to be a trade-off with a major part of the Star Trek TV series - the dialogue of the actors - was jettisoned for visuals that looked impressive, but looked to be playing catch-up to Darth and his pals.

The Director's Cut shows what should have been and is a very satisfying mixture of visuals and the personal touch by the cast. This is where the motion picture journey should have began and it was well worth the wait.

October 25, 2008

Star Trek: The Immobile Picture

"Star Trek: The Motion Picture" gives motion pictures a bad name. After having enjoyed a brief cult run on the small screen, the crew of Star Trek dared to embark on an adventure on the silver screen. The crew is reunited, considerably paunchier and wearing outfits that look like hospital scrubs with navel protectors. As usual,the crew gets its Assigned Alien. This time it's the beautiful,bald Ilia (the late Persis Khambatta). A young newbie on the crew, Dekker (he was the pastor on WB's Seventh Heaven) is immediately smitten with her,causing Forbidden Love tensions. Will he put duty before love, or will he sacrifice all for his hairless beauty?

Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) get to lovably curmudgeonly when putting the young man to task. It turns out that an Evil Satellite is destroying everything on Earth. It's a device called V'ger (hence the movie could be titled "The V'Ger Monologues"),in search of its creator. The characters are in search of an author... because the movie is plotless. V'ger is collecting data (yawn) Ilia resists the young man's advances,because she's taken a vow of chastity,making her the 40 light-year virgin. Apparently,her sexual prowess is such that she'd make the "little death" a bigger one. V'ger,wanting some love,uses her as its PR woman. Then there's the long journey into the depths of the V'ger,best described as the crew of the Enterprise staring in awe at Christmas lights. One expects to see Santa Claus and a Nativity scene... but no such luck. In the end,Ilia and the young man "merge" in the rainbow light,their union of one man and one woman saving the Earth. For slash fic fans who love the Kirk/Spock 'ship,this ending is a disappointment. For those anti-Prop.8 here in California,it's heterosexist.

"Star Trek: The Motion Picture",with its sappy ending,would make perfect fodder for the marriage amendments on the ballot. The union of one man and one woman not only saves the Earth,but the cosmos as well! For the Star Trek franchise,this was laughably bad and boring. On the brighter side,it has navel protectors and RAINBOWS!!!! October 13, 2008

Has gotten better with time !

When I watched STTMP in 79 I dosed off a couple of times and thought it was very boring.
The acting was stiff and the uniforms looked liked pajamas.

As an adult now, I appreciate the movie a bit more and enjoy the special effects. October 7, 2008

More reviews at Amazon.com ...