User Reviews

'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.

This DVD version has improved and restored and made Star Trek: TMP a pleasure to watch rather than a chore. You're less inclined to hit fast-forward in those lengthy scenes. This movie will resonate well with mature-age viewers because the story is not what you would expect from today's action packed cinema. I appreciated the movie more as I got older. Bob Wise explains on the DVD that production was extremely rushed and had no time to preview the film with an audience that would now after 20 years, tell him to tighten the opticals and emphasize characters. This is precisely what he has done in the DVD version and its magnificent.

Aesthetically, the DVD version shows you the best Star Trek: The Motion Picture can possibly look. Film is sharper; color is dead on however there is still a lot of film grain present unfortunately. My guess is they cleaned the original negative up as much as they could but it had deteriorated so much in storage, or was badly preserved. Certainly looks better than my bad pan/scanned VHS copy.

The DVD truly shines with its brand new sound mix. This isn't your standard stereo to 5.1 DVD conversions like they are doing for movies pre 5.1; they have gutted it up and added new stuff. The original release was so rushed that very little in terms of ambient sound and special effects audio elements were done on the sound mix amongst other production elements. For this DVD they went back to the original audiotapes and remixed them digitally.

Goldsmith's score sounded fantastic when it originally came out now sounds even better on the DVD version. It's tremendous, you will hear what your suppose to hear now with the added advantage of 5.1 surround sound. Goldsmith score truly has a chance to soar now by stretching into a clean high fidelity 5.1 environment rather than being squeezed onto a mono or stereo track. Bass kicks in often especially on big musical cues. You'll hear nifty panning and those surrounds and subwoofer will definitely get a workout. In instances they isolate different parts of the orchestra through different speakers, mainly the bass and percussion.

Most onstage dialog was re-recorded afterwards because of onstage noise due to mechanical devices etc; this is now common practice in the industry. The result is cleaner dialog that comes prominently out of your center speaker. The dialog audio is good, but on occasion it shows a mild muffled and tinny quality probably due to age of material or analog technology of the time, nevertheless I guarantee you, the average viewer will like it, I'm just being picky. In short the movie will sound almost as good as if the movie was made recently.

Not only having rebuilt the original audio they have put in more surround elements, like ambient bridge noises and computer voices. Not sure why they changed the `Intruder Alert' voice, I don't mind but I guess it was because they rushed the sound mix in the 70's and chose that voice as a last minute thing. There are other elements that have been changed, for the better I would say.

The DVD contents have been remastered with Wise's overseeing. There are too many subtleties to comment on so shall briefly discuss a few. Before opening credits you are treated to Goldsmiths V'ger/Love theme, a nice touch. Then you hear the bombastic Star Trek Theme. Newly done credits over moving starfield.

First main new special effect is the Vulcan landscape, tilting from sky to the surface. Then cuts to a new matte painting of the beautiful orange sky. Originally Spock shields his eyes and in the reversal, not only is there no sun there is little sky visible. The new matte painting now fits in nicely.

San Francisco sequence has been redone, 3 new matte paintings that better show the futurized city, Golden Gate Bridge and a bigger shuttlebay.

When they get into V'Ger they encounter a weapon heading towards them that is suppose to dissipate, in the original it simply disappears instantly, now we see a new visual that shows it dissipating just before it hits the ship.

Later we see a probe heading towards the ship on the viewscreen and then through some hokey editing it appears on the bridge. This has been replaced with an improved FX shot showing the approach of the entity on an exterior shot.

A new 'Wing Walk' sequence. Breathtaking new CGI's that show the away-team walk from the hull to the V'Ger stage, some using the original live action shots. New FXs for the most part are based on original storyboards. They didn't go overboard with the effects which is good, Bob tells us that they made FX that they could only do in the 1970's, unlike Star Wars whom George Lucas went overkill on new FX when he redid his in the 1990's.

There are trims, some rearrangements of shots for the better. E.g. Ilia/Deckers exchange of looks, Kirk's `Oh My God', his second `Viewer Off.' I suspect they had to edit within Jerry's score, or have to also edit Jerry's score to accommodate the new editing, if so they have done it very well, I couldn't notice. Some lengthy scenes remain in its entirety, e.g. flying up to the enterprise, I don't blame them for not trimming them, some are sentimental.

The 2 DVD's come with a plethora of information. Audio commentaries by the director, 2 special effect's guys, an actor and the composer guide you through the director's edition. Text commentary by Okuda gives even more scene specific info. Disc 2 gives you most of the trims, deleted scenes from the TV and Theatrical release not used in the DVD version and an outtake of an abandoned visual effect. Plus 3 documentaries about the abandoned TV series ST:Phase II, Directors edition DVD and the movie itself. Plus advertisements/trailers plus storyboards.

A MUST BUY FOR FANS! You'll Love It!

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).

I've heard George Lucas talk about the change of pacing between films of the 1970's and of films now. He talked about how the pacing of the first Star Wars film was considered rapid at the time but by today's standards, pretty slow. I feel the same can be said about the first Star Trek film (The Motion Picture). The first hour of this film is quite a drag. The special effects are dated, but sometimes that can be forgiven if the story around it is epic (Original Star Wars). The story for this film is embroiled in mystery as we don't even know who or what the villain is for close to an hour and a half.

Overall, I think I can say I enjoyed watching Star Trek: The Motion Picture as it brings back all of the same characters and dynamics from the original series, but the story dragged and I don't feel like this was the particular plot they should have revolved the first feature film around.

The enterprise this time is investigating an alien spacecraft that gets mysteriously close to earth, known as V'Ger. Captain Kirk returned back to his position as head of the Starship Enterprise. Kirk replaced the new head of the enterprise, Decker. Obviously, you know that the dynamic between the two will have plenty of tension knowing there's two captains in the same ship, but it doesn't go to the extent that a normal Hollywood film would do.

Yes, the tone and feel of the film is the same as the series but I think it was lacking the magic. There's a lot of time in the film spent on showing the numerous special effects shots and set pieces they created for the film. With that said, I don't feel like there was enough time spent on character development for people who didn't know the characters from the TV show.

It's not that Star Trek: The Motion Picture isn't a good entry in the series, it's just that there's merely nothing special at all about the film. Its constantly told to us that this mission is to save the entire human race and has a huge scope, but we don't really see that being played out. I liked the ending reveal involving V'Ger, but it didn't save the film from being an average entry in a history franchise.

+Same feel as the series

+Cool reveal

-Don't get a sense of the scope they were going for

-Too much time spent on establishing shots and showing off average special effects

6.3/10

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.

Having been one of the shows that was part of my childhood and growing up, the original 'Star Trek' still holds up as great and ground-breaking, even if not perfect.

The first 'Star Trek' endeavour, 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture', was and still is heavily criticised by critics and the opinions on fans is a mixed bag of passionate defence and extreme hate. Personally belong in neither extreme. 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture' is not as bad as its reputation, but it is a deeply flawed (even for the first 'Star Trek' film and everything has to start somewhere) and paved the way for better 'Star Trek' films, apart from the critically derided 'The Final Frontier'.

Starting with 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture's' flaws, the pace definitely could have been tightened with the first half being particularly ponderous and aside from the visuals uneventful. This part could easily have been trimmed down and considerably shorter rather than being an effort to disguise that there was not enough story to justify the overlong length.

Casting is uneven, with subtlety once again eluding William Shatner and very little done with the Enterprise team. Stephen Collins seems out of his depth as Decker in a role that didn't seem that difficult, instead seeming underwritten. Persis Khambatta spends much of her screen time looking awestruck. Some of the script is too patchwork and talky.

However, 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture' looks amazing, a big improvement over the production values of the show. Whereas the production values were one of the original series' few faults, the production values are where this film most excels. It is beautifully and atmospherically photographed, with a '2001: A Space Odyssey' (which is quite a compliment) influence and awe-inspiring special effects. The music by Jerry Goldsmith adds hugely, it's rousing stuff and the main theme is iconic. The sound effects have a suitable eeriness.

Much of the script is intelligent and thought-provoking, while the more plot oriented and character-driven second half has the delightful interaction, conflicts and development that made me a fan of 'Star Trek' in the first place, this element was always one of the original series' biggest strengths. There is a thrown in and underwritten subplot, but there is an astonishingly clever and shocking subplot and a suspenseful climax There is a '2001' grandeur to Robert Wise's directing.

While the Enterprise crew disappoint and Shatner refuses to reign in, the rest of the original 'Star Trek' crew are on top form and their interaction a delight. Can never get enough of Leonard Nimoy or Spock.

In summary, could have been better and the criticisms are valid but there are a lot of things to admire that makes the film much better than its reputation. 6/10 Bethany Cox

I recently watched this movie for the first time in ten or fifteen years. When I was younger I thought this one was even worse than Star Trek V, because as bad as "The Final Frontier" was, at least it had some action and colour.

The version I just saw wasn't the new Director's Edition, just the old video, but I was still completely surprised by just about everything -- partly because I hadn't seen it in so long, and partly because it's so totally different from all the following Trek movies. I even kinda liked the silly space pajamas everyone wears.

After this, the movie series turned to action-oriented stories, a more militaristic look and feel, and infinitely less challenging concepts. True, the pacing of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" drags in parts, and the behavior of its stars is a little cold and stiff. But instead of treating us with space battles and phaser shootouts, it gives us long, loving shots of the newly revamped starship Enterprise, and instead of rather tawdry plots grounded in mundane reality, it takes us on a metaphysical voyage into an unknown, bizarre, and palpably huge alien device. The relationship of the three main characters has changed a little after several years apart, and they're each getting used to things all over again: Kirk has to deal with the unfamiliar new ship; Spock, after trying to purge his emotions, must confront his human half; and McCoy is "shanghaied" out of retirement for the trip. Decker and Ilia, the new characters, provide enough interest that they were virtually resurrected as Riker and Troi in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

The sense of scale is important. The cloud surrounding V'Ger is gigantic, and the ship at the heart of the cloud is a whole world to itself. The Enterprise must fly into the cloud and communicate with the ship, and it's the only time in any of the ten movies that the heroes actually confront something new and unknown. This was a staple of the original show, and some of the best episodes of the spin-off series. The subsequent films were content with setting their battles and chases in space, but "Star Trek I" actually wants to explore that space. The question at the centre of the film, posed by Spock, is "Is this all we are? Is there nothing more?" Kirk, Spock, and V'Ger are all searching for an answer to that question.

However, the thing that definitely drags the film down is the sound. The red alert blares every other minute, and mechanical computer voice-overs announce just about everything they possibly can. In the process of updating the ship, they've emphasized the computers and mechanics of the vessel in a way they never had before or since, and the effect is jarring and interesting at the same time. The Enterprise is much more of a physical ship traveling in space, and less of a device to facilitate storytelling.

The visual effects are amazing enough to warrant some digital cleaning, and the movie should be seen in widescreen, preferably on a large television.

It's too bad that this movie wasn't more of a success, because I would like to see more Star Trek in this style. After many years and many TV shows, I admit I've gotten a little tired of space battles.

UPDATE: I recently watched the Director's Edition DVD. The sound effects are fixed, and the film has been re-edited to tighten the pace ever so slightly. The changes made are not on the level of the Star Wars special editions, but they do make the movie more watchable. It's a little more coherent now, and I like it even more.

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.

This film is bursting with action scenes! The scene where Kirk stares at the Enterprise, the scene where Scotty stares at the Enterprise, the scene where Bones stares at the Enterprise. The scene where the Enterprise is being stared at by Kirk is also a highlight. The scene where the Enterprise is being stared at by Scotty. The scene where the Enterprise is being stared at by Bones is another great one. The scene where they are ALL staring at the Enterprise at the same time is one of my favourites. The scene where the Enterprise is being stared at by ALL of them at the same time is even better.

I love this movie! It's long. I took a girlfriend to see it and by the time it was over I had not only kissed her but we had had three children and a holiday in Greece.

This was an under-rated film in the first version, and it is improved a great deal with the changes that Robert Wise made just a few years before he passed away. There has been a backlash against this picture, mostly for two reasons; it was not Star Wars, and it was not what people expected of Star Trek.

If you put these expectations aside, and if you also have some attention span and willingness to relax into a picture this is a remarkable experience. I often here people use words like boring, too long etc. Well yes, if we are expecting a quick-hit, film that can be digested in 90 minutes like a TV show, this is not that type of film. If we apply these standards to Lawrence of Arabia, 2001, Blade Runner, Bridge on the River Kwai, or Citzen Kane (which Robert Wise edited, none of these films would have ever been made.

If you put Star Trek The Motion Picture in context of it's scale and the craftsman involved you start to appreciate it's quality and elegance. Robert Wise does not need qualification. He brings an elegance and texture to work and life in space that StarWars has not put to screen to this day.

Star Wars even now seems like nothing more than an impressive exercise in effects and sound. It is always reminding us that it is a movie. ST-TMP on other hand departed into an "immersive experience" developed by Robert Wise, with the amazing talents of Doug Trumbull and John Dykstra, and the enormous contibutions of Jerry Goldsmith. Likewise, the photography, the scale of the sets and the editing of the film all contribute to a immersive world that saturates the viewer into the film.

You gain a lot of knowledge and appreciation of this film and the experience that they achieved by watching the Director's Edition DVD and listening to Wise, Trumbull, Dykstra, Goldsmith and others discuss the production. This was a uniquely creative and enormous effort, and considering the technological limitations, the demands of the studio, and the many demands of the Star Trek Bible that qualified the creation of the movie. I am pleased to see that other reviewers here have come to appreicate this movie many years later. I encourage the skeptics to find the time to relax and watch it on the biggest screen you can find.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture is completely missing all of the warmth and humor that was the trademark of the TV series.

It is stiff, wooden and boring. It has *loong* scenes of the crew staring at the viewing screen, and many, many, *many* of them at that.

When this film came out, for fans of the original TV series, it was great to see the characters back together and seeing the refitted starship Enterprise was awesome.

But the characters are given nothing to do; the addition of the two new characters adds nothing.

The visual effects are the only great thing about the film that make it worth a watch. After 40 years, Douglas Trumbull's work still holds up as some of the best ever captured on film.

I am a huge Star Trek fan and wanted to love this movie, but it's impossible. (I have seen the director's cut too; it does not save it in the slightest).

5 stars for ST:TMP: 10 stars for the visuals, 0 stars for the rest of it.

For a perfect rendering of why the television series is so beloved, leave this behind and go straight to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

The film deals with the veteran crew that abandon the contemplated retirement to aboard the Enterprise Starship NC 1701 for the confrontation a bizarre foe in shape of giant space entity that's devouring planets and destroying everything in its relentless rout toward Earth . As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew .

Star Trek series remains as a landmark in the science fiction story and continuing the cinematographic adaptation , director Robert Wise makes an interesting film . This epic story is concentrated on characters as well as thrill-packed action and special effects although there're numerous of that too . The movie has thrills , tension , emotion, suspense and sensational spacial scenarios like is customary development of the franchise .Spectacular, exciting , fast-paced , thrilling this is the description of this new outing of Star Trek , film that reinvents the saga through a perfect pulse narrative that does not give a second of rest to the spectator who is trapped for two hours approx. in a genuine visual spectacle . It's essentially a follow-up to the television episodes . In the Star Trek movie the protagonists are incarnated by the usual saga TV , thus are Captain Kirk (Shatner), Spock (Nimoy), Bones (Deforest Kelley), Scotty (James Doohan recently deceased), Uhura (Michelle Nichols) , Chejov (Walter Koenig), Sulu (George Takei), plus appear Captain Decker (Stephen Collins) and lieutenant Ilia (Persis Khabatta), both of who will have an important final role . For comic relief in charge of the various jokes in relationships between James T.Kirk with Bones or Spock and even Scotty . The storyline is developed upon interesting characters as well as the action and magnificent production design and special effects realized by John Dykstra and Douglas Trumbull . Friendship ,idealism , humor, fellowship , humanity are issues which abound and will please the fans as well as the initiated . The yarn has a climatic and stimulating ending . Stirring final amazing the spectator , in which the moving and spectacular scenes create a perfect union that terminates with an ending that leaves you stuck in the armchair facing the formidable spectacle as a privileged witness . Jerry Goldsmith musical score (habitual series musician) is exceptional and impressive ; he composes an impressive musical accompaniment to the film . The motion picture was rightly directed by Robert Wise . Fans of the series will find very amusing and fun . It is fun to watch and Trekkies are sure to love it , and getting a high grossing . The flick will appeal to the science fiction lovers and the trekkers.

The first Star Trek film of 1979 is an exciting, expansive and rather tense first foray into feature length filmmaking for the popular franchise - a bold going where very few, if any, television shows had gone before. There's a polished sense of spectacle, adventure and smarts all wrapped up into one about it; a sheen of precision and careful planning about the production – a sense of craft to it. Indeed, "The Motion Picture" rather than "the movie", or anything else for that matter, is a perfect subtitle for something that has a swagger about it; a piece that has pretensions to be something a little more than your average space adventure blast 'em up, without possessing much in the way of arrogance that comes with a self-conscious knowledge that it's heading down this respective route. The film is set in a distant future further still within deepest of deep space, and yet its chief source of spectacle arrives in the form of the speaking; reasoning and communication between a number of its characters, most notably its protagonist and new-found antagonist during the final act.

The film follows a relatively familiar, if unspectacular, singular line framework, for sure - in that regular battles must be conquered along the way to ending where they do and that the individual misunderstandings crew members have with each other need to be resolved, but it is remarkable how by the time the final act as arrived, the piece is willing to abstain from conventional conclusion. We begin with the focusing on what will come to form as the film's primary source for plight: a huge energy cloud thousands of miles away from an Earth, whose own measurements of time has seen it reach the 23rd century. We observe some spaceships passing by, our eye unsure on what to focus on as lingering shots of the crafts and the distinct turrets that stick up out of them capture our gaze more than anything. A cut inside reveals some ugly looking creatures using an alien language and distinct technology, technology they use to attack the large purple energy cloud before it itself wipes them out with relative ease. The desired effect of lingering on space ships we have never before encountered, and therefore require time so a to become familiarised with them, before cutting inside to reveal the ugly creatures said edit reveals and concluding the process by having those creatures killed off, is an effective procedure establishing distinct hierarchy within this new world and immediately implements this glowing energy cloud at the centre of all the film's tension and wonder.

Director Robert Wise has effectively blended a slow-burning approach to telling a space adventure with an overall narrative framework of race-against-time. The cloud is heading for Earth; it's unstoppable; nobody knows what it is or what it wants and thus far, has only reacted aggressively to what it's encountered. Luckily for Earth based space programme organisation Starfleet, the one ship nearby and able to head on out to intercept and investigate is the famed U.S.S. Enterprise harboured at its sunny, welcoming, radiant and busy-bodied San Fransisco headquarters; far away from the large, open, gloomy, ominous locales of the previous sequences. Said ship is, of course, headed up by its chief: a certain Admiral named James Kirk played, as in the TV show of the 1960s, by William Shatner, somebody whom storms in unopposed and assumes control from acting captain Willard Decker (Collins) thus nicely teeing up the friction existing between the two of them thereafter. The film also makes decent use of a back-burning item in the form of The Enterprise's overall physical state, its potential to malfunction ominous when we recall what the energy cloud is capable of to fully functioning ships; the death of two people trying to use the transporter beams rather-a stark forcing home of this.

The crew will eventually come to be made up of varying people of varying ethnicities, in that an African American; a Hmong man; a young Aryan; etc. will form the nucleus of the ship's diverse operators, successfully getting across a sense of the whole thing being a multicultural effort. Also along for the ride is Indian actress Persis Khambatta's alien life-form named Ilia, who's given a Lieutenant rank and shares a romantic history with the demoted Decker. Of the original crew, a foil arrives for Kirk in the form of the ship's doctor named Bones McCoy (Kelley), whereas male specimen of the Vulcan race variety Mr. Spock (Nimoy) comes aboard when he is drawn to the cloud due to the effect it had on his usually transparent emotional state. Wise shoots the unveiling of The Enterprise, as it undergoes repair work in a series of longing close ups. Kirk and one of his engineers very slowly veer up to it in a transport pod, the reaction on Kirk's face and a general sense of awe is inferred onto the audience, namely the die hard fans of the show, so as to help along the reaction as The Enterprise is revealed on the big screen for the very first time. Wise shoots what feels like all corners of the ship, from all possible angles and compositions, as people stand around it on apparatus seeing to it: a literal repair job for what's happening within the film, a metaphorical preparation/revealing job as the final touches are made and the big reveal is made.

The film is a surprisingly remarkable piece of drama, with Wise wedging great peril out of the simplest of ideas such as the being on collision course with a small but devastatingly effective asteroid as well as some uncanny happenings during other encounters which are instead helped along by the special effects that greatly enhance the ominous predicaments, rather than just cruelly ageing film and sapping out drama. The film is engaging and workmanlike enough in equal measure to work as both decent escapism and as smart, brooding science fiction.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture was Paramount Studio's attempt at cashing in on the Star Wars craze that was sweeping through the late seventies. However, instead of getting a fast-paced action romp, they got something more in tune with 2001: A Space Odyssey. Therefore, the first big screen Star Trek outing was always left in Star Wars' shadow. This, of course, was slightly rectified by the sequel (and darker and more action-orientated) The Wrath of Khan, but that's another story.

It's easy to see why Star Trek: The Motion Picture never set the box office alight, it's slow, very talky-talky, with lingering shots of things that you don't really know what they are and absolutely no action. However, that said, it's actually quite good (but only if you're in the mood).

If you're looking for something fast-paced then you should probably ignore most of the Star Trek saga and skip straight to the 2009 reboot. Whereas if you are a fan of slow-burning (and dare I say it?) 'intellectual' science fiction then you might get something out of this.

Avatar it is not. Interesting it is. Although, it should probably have an 'Eighteen Certificate' slapped on it - not because the content is particularly 'adult' in nature, but simply because there's no way anyone under eighteen would ever appreciate it and have the patience to sit through it.

May the old crew live long and prosper.

My gosh I forgot just how awesome this film is!! I just finished watching it again after years and years of no see and I'm blown away at how great the film really is. Why is this particular Star Trek movie so underrated? I'll never understand.

The way the characters are re-introduced to the audience and to each other - no to mention the U.S.S. Enterprise - was fantastic. The only character that did not get a grand introduction was Nurse Chapel (I hate she didn't get her grand entrance) but otherwise it was a wonderful way to bring all the characters to the big screen from the TV show.

The story is interesting: there is a highly intelligent life-form threatening to rid the universe of planet Earth. But exactly who, what and why does it want to do such a thing? What does it really want? Captain Kirk and crew are called in to investigate and solve the puzzle.

A severely underrated Star Trek film that really deserves to be re-watched.

10/10

The motion picture is not a very good movie and I can understand why is usually called "The motionless Picture". Although is title to be a adventure and action film ,about seventy five percent of the flick, is some guys wearing stylized pyjamas talking for scientific theories, which would be fine with a kid friendly documentary about science, but in a movie it comes out as boring. If you want a lot of dialogs in an adventure and you aren't Tarantino then don't do it. To be perfectly clear I don't hate it, I honestly think it looks quit pretty,but looks only in a movie are not enough and the the three nominations for Oscar seem to me a bit to much and the fact it didn't won proves me, from my point of view, right. I know that this review may angry some trekkies, but lets be honest here, the Motion Picture does not hold up, sorry but despite that it isn't for any reason a bad film, the fact remains that is boring and dated.

Boldly going where no man (or woman) has gone before, climb aboard the Enterprise and let it fly and soar, as old friends gather, reunite, off to battle and to fight, strange new worlds, civilisations to explore.

There's a cloud that's gathering in outer space, it's heading towards Earth at a great pace, starship Enterprise is sent, to discover its intent, gauge the power of the enemy that they face.

A reflective and contemplative piece reintroduces us to the crew of the starship Enterprise.

They actually encounter technology beyond human understanding, and there is not a single "alien" that looks like a human with a lumpy forehead and has the exact mannerisms of an American teenager.

True, much of it is overlong. Some criticize the graphics, but I remember seeing it opening day and being impressed.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture should have been a big heads up for Treksters that Gene Roddenberry was losing his way -- either that or his vision of Star Trek was always markedly different from what most viewers thought they were seeing.

The studio also had a hand in sending the production down a wrong road, mistaking the popularity of Star Wars, which was released two years earlier, for audience fascination with special effects.

The film is very deliberately paced -- Slow Motion Picture would be a generous subtitle. It lacks virtually all of the charm and humour with which the series was infused. The chemistry between the actors, and so the characters, is entirely absent.

The plot, what there is of it, seems to be based on The Changeling, an episode of the old Star Trek series, and on a bad episode of Space: 1999.

For a real reunion of the crew of the Enterprise, forget this blunder and look at Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Nicholas Meyer knew what virtues make Star Trek the pop-cult phenomenon it is, and he knew how to put it on the big screen.