
Paramount - Paramount
Release date: 2001-11-06
DVD
Director:Robert Wise
Actors: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei
Adventure, Atmospheric, Chilly, Color, Dreamlike, Eerie, English, Evil Aliens, Excellent For Children, Feature, High Artistic Quality, High Production Values, Horror / Sci-Fi / Fantasy, Menacing, Movie, Mystery, Race Against Time, Sci-Fi, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Science Fiction




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.
"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!!!!
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.