= 2 stars

Starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley
Directed by Robert Wise

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That Star Trek: The Motion Picture was a box office success and launched a film franchise is hard to believe in retrospect. The jab “Star Trek: The Motionless Picture” is all too true. There are many reasons: in the late seventies, Paramount was working on Star Trek: Phase Two, a new television series that was prematurely aborted. A one-hour television episode V’Ger story was hurriedly expanded into a feature film after the unexpected success of Star Wars. The rest of the movie’s running time is filled with a large, nebulous cloud of pointlessness.

Add to the lackluster story a harried film schedule, unfinished script, an actor reluctant to wear pointy ears, unfinished special effects, and you “get the picture” - pun intended. Director Robert Wise did all he could but for many scenes simply filmed the Enterprise crew staring in awe at the bridge viewscreen, displaying amazing things to be rendered by special effects wizards in post production. The staring doesn’t make much sense, as the crew of the Enterprise, having seen everything from tribbles to a red barrier galaxy’s edge, here stare slack jawed at a nebulous cloud as if they’ve never ventured beyond Mars.

Other plot details make little sense. The crew of the Enterprise, too busy staring at the cool visuals, never seem to ask the question, why does V’Ger think “the creator” lives on Earth? They stumble upon the answer half-heartedly despite never really looking for it. Secondly, why is V’Ger, several hundred times larger than the Enterprise? You’d think the technologically advanced “machine planet” would take advantage of miniaturization.

New characters are also poorly defined. Decker (Stephen Collins), supposed to be a foil for Kirk (William Shatner) as a rival captain, is never fully explored. While initially at odds with each other, the V’Ger situation puts both characters on the same side more often than not. Decker’s relationship with Ilia (Persis Khambatta) is similarly wasted. And give Decker a chair on the bridge, at least! After Spock (Leonard Nimoy) arrives, Decker spends the latter half of the film standing on the bridge, trying to fade into the gray decor. And as we know from the television series, all out of place characters soon succumb to the inevitable “Red shirt” syndrome.

And yes, I did watch the “director’s cut.” While a DVD extra states that Robert Wise was unhappy with the original film and wanted to rework things, I think he didn’t go far enough. Many scenes could still hit the cutting room floor, namely, the pointless transporter malfunction scene, and about half an hour of the Enterprise drifting in slow motion around the V’Ger exterior. Several scenes seem missing: Kirk and his superior? What are the people Earth doing to prepare for inevitable doom? How about some senseless violence like a fleet of starships firing upon V’Ger? Only the Klingons get to fire a salvo, and that’s in the first ten minutes.

So what’s good? The three principal actors, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, and William Shatner, to hold their own despite the chilly material and demonstrate their readiness for the big screen. Nimoy in particular falls right into the Spock role and has many of the film’s best “Star Trek” lines, meaning equal parts half-baked science, wacky philosophical sensibility, and deadpan delivery. Dr. McCoy’s first tirade upon boarding the Enterprise is appropriately humorous and hits the right amount of nostalgic notes. Shatner doesn’t have much to do other than act captain-esque, but he does this expertly. The promise is here, and thankfully realized in later Star Trek movies.

So why was Star Trek: The Motion Picture enough of a box-office success to warrant more films? One must remember the pent-up demand for Star Trek in 1979. This was the first new voyage since the late sixties. Second, due to Star Wars, all things space was the rage, even a cheesy, yawn-inducing journey. Lastly, the special effects were pretty darned excellent for their time. The Enterprise and the Klingon birds of prey, never clearly defined on the television series, are shown in glorious detail. The photon torpedoes and bridge design were all in place, all to be used more effectively in future films.

When one considers the first Star Trek film as a pilot for the entire movie franchise, its place in history can be better appreciated. And had Star Trek: The Motion Picture not been a box office success, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan would not exist.

IMDB: Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Wikipedia: Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Rotten Tomatoes: Star Trek: The Motion Picture 55%

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Categories: 2 Star Movies, Movies :: Tags: 2 stars, DeForest Kelley, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Wise, William Shatner :: Trackback URL
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