Star Trek

'Star Trek: The Motion Picture', originally released Friday, December 7th, 1979. - ORIGINAL Theatrical Version, 1979, Running Time 2hrs&12mn, Rated "G" by the MPAA - SPECIAL Extended Version, 1983, Running Time 2hrs&23mn, Rated "G" by the MPAA - The DIRECTOR's Edition, 2001, Running Time 2hrs&16mn, Rated "PG" by the MPAA - CONTENT for all three versions includes: Mild Adult Language, Mild Sexual Innuendo and Mild Violence.

My take *** (Out of ****) - or 7/10 on the IMDb Scale.

'Star Trek: The Motion Picture' is the big screen debut of the continuation of the science fiction television series 'Star Trek'. The show chronicled the adventures of the crew of the space-going USS Enterprise. The ship explored the galaxy during a historic five-year mission under the command of the charismatic Captain James T. Kirk. Other crew members included the logical first officer/science officer Spock, a half human/half Vulcan hybrid (Vulcans are an alien race, complete with pointed ears) and the passionate country doctor Leonard "Bones" McCoy. The TV series ran on NBC from 1966 to 1969.

'Star Trek' takes place in the latter half of the 23rd Century. Mankind has formed alliances with many alien races from planets throughout the galaxy, collectively forming The United Federation of Planets. These societies thrive peacefully and continue to develop together and independently. To protect this Federation from hostiles and seek out new lifeforms and new civilizations is Starfleet. This organization is diplomatic and scientific, yet serves as a military force as needed.

The movie opens two & 1/2 years after the completion of the starship Enterprise's five year mission. The spaceship is orbiting Earth, in a dry-dock of sorts, completing a complex overhaul. The planet Earth is in the path of a potential destructive alien intruder. The now Admiral Kirk (William Shatner) doesn't have time to spare during this crisis. He takes a grade reduction to captain, wrestling command of the Enterprise away from a less experienced skipper (Stephen Collins), and sets out to counter the alien threat before it can reach Earth. Most of his original crew has been re-assembled for this undertaking. Shortly after Kirk & team embark to stop the intruder, Spock (Leonard Nimoy) joins them on their quest.

'Star Trek: The Motion Picture' trades in on the action, good drama, suspense and wit the TV series offered to a degree. Kirk & company are here pretty much for the ride, instead of being the leaders they're known as. The movie moves at a slow pace, gradually getting into the intricacies of the alien menace. There's a lot of time adoring spaceships as they travel through space. There's not much in the way of real character development.

Despite the compromises, 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture' works on some level. It's interesting to see the familiar crew in action once again. There are some very fundamental questions asked in the movie that we all have asked ourselves. I found those questions to be intriguing. ST:TMP wants to be intellectual and it succeeds a lot of the time.

Jerry Goldsmith, the film's music composer, provides us with one of the most memorable scores in motion picture history. This is a huge plus for a movie noticeably deficient in personality. This lovely score helps to make up for that. The film almost plays like an elaborate special effects music video set to this grand rousing score. I appreciated the film on this level too.

The special effects by John Dykstra were highly imaginative for the late 1970s. They still hold up well over the decades and continue to enthrall me, especially with the mystery of the alien intruder. The intruder sound effects also succeed in giving me an appropriate sense of awe and dread.

The 2001 Director's Edition is the best version of the movie. The theatrical version was rushed to make the movie's scheduled release date. It was regarded by director Robert Wise as incomplete. 'The Director's Edition' restores Wise's planned vision for the movie. This version streamlines the pace of the movie, adds a little more depth to the characters and has the originally desired sound-mix and completed special effects restored for this edition.

'Star Trek: The Motion Picture' was followed by nine sequels to date and four new TV series. There is an eleventh movie currently in production.

'Star Trek: The Motion Picture' was a shaky start for the launch of the 'Star Trek' film series. It's better to simply except this picture for what it is, rather than for what it isn't. It's not a perfect movie, but it did what it set out to do. It invited me for a journey offering good special effects, a great music score and a beloved crew back on the job. The movie also gave me something to think about. It could have been a better movie, but it's still a marginally satisfying one. Though clearly not for everyone, I recommend it to those who would welcome the philosophical ride it offers.

This one starts really slowly but things pickup after that and become really interesting. Even with its weird pace it brings interesting scifi thoughts that are still valid today, probably even more. All in all, a good first motion picture for the series.

Of course the number one most memorable thing about The Motion Picture is the visual effects. The movie manages to show (for long sequences of time) how good the film looks with its budget and it is just incredible to watch. It also helps with the soundtrack being as good as it is. However, although the film has a beautiful look and a great soundtrack, the essential film itself does tend to drag. There are long (and I mean long) periods of time where nothing is happening. It seems like the director and writer were going for a different feel then the normal Star Trek feel. So overall while it does drag, Star Trek The Motion Picture still has some enjoyment to it.

Cult Cuts Volume 24

#2/4: Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

(7/10): Let me open this review by saying that I grew up watching Star Wars and not Star Trek, I never was a Trekkie, that being said I do want to see more of the series.

Being that this is my first viewing of any of the original series films other than bits and pieces, I liked it but didn't love it, however, from what I hear aside from number five the original is the weakest of the original films.

I'll start with the positives. For late Seventies it's got some fantastic visuals and some great production value. The wormhole sequence was very trippy and the overall feel of the unknown spacecraft, once on it looks surreal and futuristic, even more futuristic than the Enterprise.

It's got a great Cast, but it's also a continuation from the Show, anyways we have William Shatner, George Takai, Deforest Kelley, James Doohan and the one that steals the show, Leonard Nimoy as Spock.

It's also got a great score by Jerry Goldsmith who I remember as the composer for the Gremlin Rag. His score is very Large Scale and Grandiose with a sense of exploration to it.

The Dialogue is also pretty great at times, along with the acting, mainly from Nimoy as he didn't become iconic in the role of Spock for no reason, he's very intellectual, logical (as all Vulcans are) and stiff with a hint of humanity to him.

Now comes the part where I say what I didn't like.

The main complaint I have with the film is that it's slow paced and at just over two hours it begins to drag, especially in the third act before the last maybe fifteen to twenty minutes kicks in, then it gets more engaging again. However I found it somewhat difficult to pay attention to once they reach their destination and right before they realize exactly what they're dealing with, the span of time between those two points just became a bit of a slog.

That being said that was really my only major problem with the film, but it's a bit of a big deal cause if it can't hold your attention and stay engaging, you might lose your audience unless they are really invested or have a better level of patience than what modern films have been catering towards.

It's a decent start to a legacy film franchise that I heard gets way better by the very next film, so I can't wait to dig into Khan further down the line.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture - Stardate: 7412.6

Of all the Star Trek films, this is the most impersonal and epic - which necessarily isn't a bad thing. This film really isn't about the Star Trek crew, but about the vast visual effects laden V'Ger and how the Enterprise spends 2+ hours exploring it. The score by Jerry Goldsmith only accentuates this epic-ness - this is one of his best scores and brings a majestic quality to the Star Trek crew. Never really is this film funny (unlike 4) or action-packed (unlike II) but regardless will always have a place in my heart because it tries to be as epic as Star Trek can possibly be. Overall, a 7 out of 10 (mostly because of the state-of-the-art effects of its time in 1979 and a superb score by Jerry Goldsmith RIP).