Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Robert Wise

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (television series Star Trek) and
Alan Dean Foster (story) ...

Release Date:

7 December 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Fantasy | Mystery | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

The human adventure is just beginning

Plot:

When a destructive space entity is spotted approaching Earth, Admiral Kirk resumes command of the Starship Enterprise in order to intercept, examine, and hopefully stop it.

Plot Keywords:

Alien | Admiral | Space | Space Station | Star Trek

Awards:

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 15 nominations

Cast

William Shatner	...	Admiral James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy	...	Mr. Spock
DeForest Kelley	...	Dr. Leonard 'Bones' McCoy
James Doohan	...	Cmdr. Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott
George Takei	...	Lt. Cmdr. Hikaru Sulu
Majel Barrett	...	Dr. Christine Chapel
Walter Koenig	...	Lt. Pavel Chekov
Nichelle Nichols	...	Lt. Cmdr. Uhura
Persis Khambatta	...	Lt. Ilia
Stephen Collins	...	Cmdr. Willard Decker
Grace Lee Whitney	...	CPO Janice Rand
Mark Lenard	...	Klingon Captain
Billy Van Zandt	...	Alien Boy
Roger Aaron Brown	...	Epsilon Technician
Gary Faga	...	Airlock Technician

Also Known As:

Star Trek II (USA) (working title)
Star Trek: Phase II (USA) (working title)
Star Trek: Planet of the Titans (USA) (working title)
Star Trek: The Motion Picture - The Director's Edition (USA) (DVD title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for sci-fi action and mild language.

Runtime:

132 min | USA:136 min (director's cut) | USA:143 min (TV version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Klingon

Colour:

Colour (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX (director's cut) | Dolby

Certification:

Italy:T | Canada:PG (Ontario - 2006) | Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | Brazil:Livre | New Zealand:G | Netherlands:6 (theatrical rating) | Canada:G (Canadian Home Video rating) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Chile:TE | Finland:K-10 | France:U | Ireland:G | Netherlands:12 | Norway:12 | Sweden:11 | UK:U | USA:G | USA:PG (director's cut) | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG | Canada:F (Ontario) | Canada:PG (Nova Scotia) (director's cut) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:G (Nova Scotia) (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Century Associates

Trivia:

The original TV series theme by Alexander Courage can be heard briefly during Kirk's log entry after Spock rejoins the crew. It can also be heard during two more "Captain's Log" dictations. Except for the opening fanfare which became a regular part of later Trek films and a small excerpt heard at the end of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), and a significant reference toward the end of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), this is the only time in the film series that the television theme is heard in a major fashion.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When Kirk rescues Spock during the spacewalk outside of the entrance to V'ger, an unconscious Spock is floating towards Kirk who catches him. Kirk remains stationary which would not happen in the vacuum of space. Kirk would be displaced by the force of the impact.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Klingon captain: [giving an order in Klingon] Tactical...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Star Trek: New Voyages: Come What May (#1.0)" (2004)

an under-rated film

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.