2019 marks four decades since Gene Roddenberry’s ‘Star Trek’ was relaunched on the silver screen…
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Bob Peak’s wonderful poster art for ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’ (image credit: Paramount Pictures).
Year: 1979
Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, Majel Barrett, Persis Khambatta, Stephen Collins
Directed by: Robert Wise / written by: Harold Livingston (story by Alan Dean Foster)
What’s it about?
As a mysterious and hostile force advances towards Earth, Admiral James T. Kirk is reunited with his former crew as he takes command of the newly refitted U.S.S. Enterprise on a mission to intercept the intruder…
Retrospective/review
Celebrating its fortieth anniversary this December, Star Trek: The Motion Picture may not be as popular as its 1982 sequel – Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan – but its place and importance in the history of the franchise shouldn’t be overlooked. Originally conceived as a pilot for a new Star Trek television series, the production would evolve into a big budget feature film in the wake of the success of Star Wars – although Star Trek: The Motion Picture would take more of a high-concept science fiction approach similar to that of Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Produced by Gene Roddenberry (who would write the film’s interesting but slightly bizarre novelisation) and skilfully directed by The Day the Earth Stood Still’s Robert Wise with a story, credited to noted SF author Alan Dean Foster, that echoes elements of classic Star Trek episode “The Changeling”, Star Trek: The Motion Picture is presented on a visual scale that could only have been dreamt of back in the days of the original series. The film opens as Klingon (the iconic Trek race given a more alien-like makeover for the big screen) warships commence an attack on an approaching force – an expansive and powerful cloud of energy which soon neutralises the aggressors. As the cloud proceeds on a heading for Earth, an unfulfilled and desk-bound Admiral Kirk (William Shatner) convinces his superiors to place him in command of the newly refitted U.S.S. Enterprise on a desperate mission to intercept and establish contact with the intruder.
Believing the benefit of his experience and leadership will provide the best chance of success, Kirk initially finds himself troubled by an unfamiliarity with the refitted Enterprise and in conflict with her would be captain, Will Decker (Stephen Collins), whose situation is complicated further by the posting of his old flame, Ilia (the late Persis Khambatta, in her introductory film role) as ship’s navigator (Walter Koenig’s Chekov now occupying the post of security chief).
Admiral Kirk (William Shatner) and the crew of the Enterprise (image credit: Paramount Pictures).
Dealing with engine troubles and a near fatal wormhole encounter before rendezvousing with science officer Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) along the way, the stakes are raised as the Enterprise intercepts the approaching danger – traversing the energy cloud to discover a colossus alien vessel at its centre. As Ilia is replaced by an android duplicate serving as a representative of the alien ship, Kirk learns that the intruder is ‘V’Ger’, a life-form on a journey to find and ‘join’ with its creator. It all leads to a startling finale in which (spoilers follow…) Kirk and his crew face V’Ger, which they are astonished to discover is the lost 20th Century NASA probe, Voyager VI – repaired by an unknown machine race and sent on a return voyage to its point of origin where it can complete its programme of “learning all that is learnable” and providing all the information it has amassed to the creator. Having gained sentience on its journey, V’Ger has reached the limits of its understanding and must evolve by joining with its creator…and one amongst the Enterprise crew volunteers to do so.
The film is commonly criticised for its slow pace (detractors unfairly labelling it as ‘The Slow Motion Picture’) and whilst this may be true, Star Trek: The Motion Picture is best viewed for what it is – a cerebral cinematic experience that reunites an iconic and beloved set of characters, unfolding steadily and subjecting the viewer to some striking visuals as it presents intriguing and intelligent science fiction ideas. Despite the more conceptual and visually driven story, the cast are all reliably great – especially the central trio: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley, representing, respectively, the celebrated troika of Kirk, Spock and McCoy. As the main star, Shatner is provided with some decent material as the ever-passionate Kirk wrestles with his regret at accepting promotion and his yearning to return to command of a starship. Likewise, Nimoy gets to once again grapple with Spock’s conflicted half human/half Vulcan nature, his sensing of V’Ger and an inability to attain ‘Kholinahr’, the Vulcan ritual of complete emotional purging, driving his desire to re-join the Enterprise crew and seek out the mysterious invader. DeForest Kelley’s Doctor McCoy is once again the cantankerous yet valued conscience and moral centre.
The glorious refitted U.S.S. Enterprise, designed by Andrew Probert (image credit: Paramount Pictures).
The production design and special effects for Star Trek: The Motion Picture are reasonably impressive considering their age. The redesigned Enterprise is simply beautiful, brought to life by the superb model work. The sets are sparse but have an appropriately futuristic feel to them as do the crew uniforms which are a fitting evolution of those in the original series in comparison to the more military-based attire of the sequels. In terms of the effects, led by 2001’s Douglas Trumbull and Star Wars’ John Dykstra, they remain a key element, the mesmerising sequence of the Enterprise’s penetration of the cloud, the jaw dropping ‘V’Ger flyover’ scenes and Spock’s ‘spacewalk’ being the most obvious highlights – in addition to the wonderfully executed launch of the Enterprise, of course. Jerry Goldsmith’s Oscar nominated score is one of the composer’s best and an inseparable accompaniment to the story and visuals, capturing the romance and majesty of space in the 23rd Century, the grandeur of the Enterprise, the eerie mystery of the enigmatic force that threatens humanity and the wonders of the unknown.
It’s no secret that the production of Star Trek: The Motion Picture was troubled by last minute script re-writes, increasing costs (its budget inflating to a then eye-watering $46 million, making it the most expensive feature film at that time) and a tight schedule to meet its 7th December 1979 release date, leaving director Robert Wise with no time to produce a final cut and unsatisfied with the film in its theatrical form. Much of this was remedied with the 2001 DVD release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Director’s Edition, a superior edit of the film with Wise reinstating some of the more character-orientated scenes missing from the theatrical version whilst trimming down some of the longer and more superfluous moments, a fresh sound mix and new CGI effects to enhance and embellish the existing visuals. Unlike the Star Wars Special Editions, the changes made were to benefit what Wise felt was an unfinished film and, largely, choices that would have been made in 1979 had the production been permitted the extra time and resources required.
Despite receiving a critical drubbing Star Trek: The Motion Picture would prove a box office success, paving the way for several sequels and an eventual television rebirth of the franchise. Whilst Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is considered to be closer to the overall spirit of the original Star Trek series with a deeper focus on the characters and emphasis on morality play elements (whilst injecting a larger measure of action and excitement), Star Trek: The Motion Picture is perhaps more cinematic and – especially in its Director’s Edition form – an enjoyable and underrated first big screen adventure for Kirk, Spock and company that’s deserving of a revisit and perhaps a reappraisal as it reminds us that “The Human Adventure is Just Beginning”…
Read the classics review of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan here
Geek fact!
Mark Lenard, who portrayed Spock’s father in the original Star Trek series appears as a Klingon commander in the epic opening scenes of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
Image(s) used herein are utilised for illustrative purposes only and remain the property of the copyright owner(s).
GEEK BLOGGER REVIEWS 
Great look back at Star Trek the Motion Picture. I really like the movies measured pace and high concept Sci-Fi themes. Its great to see how the cast / crew reunite, the effects, especially the Enterprise, look stunning, and Godlsmith’s score is just perfect. Sure, its not got all the action like the sequels, but it certainly has an epic scope and scale. The Director’s edition is also really good with the added CGI ect, one of the few cases where digital additions to the original actually enhance it. My fave scene is the one with the Klingons attacking the VEGER cloud at the start, its so mysterious and exciting! 🙂
Thanks Paul, whilst I won’t dispute that The Wrath of Khan is king when it comes to the TOS Trek films I’ve always loved The Motion Picture for different reasons, many of which you’ve cited. That opening is certainly great and quite tense as well!
Fantastic review for what is probably one of your most beloved movies of all time. I often see you state the Star Trek series as much more “cerebral” than anything else and it’s now hard for me not to see it as such anymore too hahah A bit unfortunate that it got labeled “The Slow Motion Picture”. People must have disregarded any of its conceptual ideas.
It’s amazing that even this movie knew the whole director’s cut post-theatrical release. I sometimes wish companies didn’t intrude on a cinematic piece without understanding how much it impacts it.
I think I’ll definitely keep this movie on my list to be watched when I go through a Star Trek phase (probably post- SW IX). Again, great review, Chris. Thanks for sharing your love for this franchise!
Thanks for reading Lashaan, it is a indeed a very cerebral Star Trek film and would be a bit of shock for newer viewers only accustomed to the J.J. Abrams series which are very different (but highly enjoyable of course).
It’s actually a difficult sell for those who are not fans of the original Star Trek series and films such as 2001, but some have discovered it and gained an appreciation for it in recent years – even Trek fans who never really liked it…believe it or not!
Great write up! Sure the film has its faults, notably its languid pace. But much of the scorn it got back in the day was from people expecting it to be another Star Wars, which it wasn’t. That would not happen until J.J. Abrams took his shot at the film series.
Anyway, TMP is clearly more inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey, particularly with its cerebral tone and the way it spent so much time on long fx shots. But this is what makes the film so memorable. It’s too bad the film was perceived as a disappointment since most of the films afterwards had this studio mandate to be more lively and action oriented. Sometimes this worked but other times those films forgot what made Star Trek special, which was that many stories had a message like this film did.
It’s a must see for any Trek fan, even if it’s to see the original crew reuniting for the first time since the original program. And it would be the last time the entire cast looked as youthful as they did during the original program run. By the time Wrath of Khan came out, it was easy to see that age was catching up to many of them.
Thanks, and wonderful to hear your thoughts on The Motion Picture. I’ve always had a high appreciation for the film, firstly as a fan of Trek and the original series in particular and also given the fact that 2001 is one of my all-time favourites so it’s a perfect marriage although TMP does struggle a little with it’s pacing and lacks some of the ‘warmth’ and spirit of The Wrath of Khan.
Despite it’s slow pace and editing I always have a place in my heart for the film. I give it credit just for trying to be different and more intellectual, though it doesn’t always succeed.
I posted reviews/retrospectives of the original Trek films some time back. Here are my thoughts on The Motion Picture, https://starloggers.com/2013/03/19/star-trek-movie-retrospective-star-trek-the-motion-picture/ check it out when you have a chance.
Oh, I don’t think I have seen that post and will certainly be checking that out soon!