ALL SCI-FI

[Maurice]

This big budget, big screen adaptation of the 1966-69 TV series STAR TREK reunited the entire main cast from the original show on a newly upgraded and untested starship Enterprise on a desperate mission to stop an "alien object of unbelievable destructive power" which is on "a precise heading for Earth." In the process, resident alien Mr. Spock must finally confront the reality of what his lifelong desire to suppress his emotions in favor of pure logic really means.

Directed by Academy Award winner Robert Wise, featuring a classic score by Jerry Goldsmith and containing often striking visual effects by Douglas Trumbull's EEG and John Dykstra's Apogee, the film had an infamously troubled production, with continuous script rewrites in part stemming from a battle between screenwriter Harold Livingston and Executive Producer and Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry principle photography that went over schedule and over budget, and then going financially out of control during post production when the original visual effects house (Robert Abel & Associates, or RA&A) were dismissed and new effects houses took over. The film barely made its contracted Dec. 7, 1979 release date, in a shape which its director consider unpolished.

The film was a box office success but a critical failure. Frequently pilloried for a slow pace and overlong visual effects sequences, some accuse it of nearly killing Star Trek while others point out that its box office gross, despite its dramatic drubbing, are what convinced Paramount to continue making Star Trek films at all, leading to an eventual return to TV.

In 2001 a Director's Edition, featuring a revised edit and some additional and replacement visual effects and a new sound mix was released on DVD, but it remains controversial amongst some fans as to how much it actually reflects Robert Wise's intentions and how much is George Lucas-like tampering by the people doing the new effects.
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"The absence of limitations is the enemy of art."
― Orson Welles

[bulldogtrekker]

Star Trek the Motion Picture

I don't know why my favorite movie is Star Trek the Motion Picture. I enjoyed the original series first run, then watched the reruns over and over. The idea of - FINALLY -a Star Trek movie with the same cast after all those reruns was overwhelming.

And I wasn't disappointed in the movie. Not at all. The flyover to the redesigned Enterprise was amazing. Kirk loves the ship more than any woman. The new Enterprise was what we wanted to see on the original series but the budget was too low. What a bridge! I didn't even mind that the women were wearing pants!

EDIT:Now that Star Trek the Original Series DVDs have been updated with new FX, it is having the same kind of effect on me. There is something about seeing the big E (as in Enterprise) on the big screen (or big-screen TV).

[Maurice]

There's a documentary called Sense of Scale about motion picture model work, and they have an extended clip of the section about ST:TMP on YouTube which has some photos I'd never seen before and some insights into how some of the effects were accomplished.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NICojAZ95aM
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"The absence of limitations is the enemy of art."
― Orson Welles

[Bud Brewster]

After ten years of shameful studio indifference and admirable fan devotion, that funny TV show that the network pulled the plug on in 1969 finally got the recognition it deserved in the form of a big-budget, star-studded movie. That, of course, was the good news.

Now for the bad news. (This is all just my opinion, naturally, but I'm willing to bet I couldn't afford to buy a round of beers for everybody out there who agrees with me.)

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (ST: TMP) changed everything about Star Trek: The Original Series (TOS) that caused it to be a global phenomenon. In the TOS, the guys wore cool bell-bottom pants, snug T-shirts, and cool boots. The ladies wore boots, too , and short dresses that kept us young men up late nights contemplating heavenly bodies that weren't on any star charts.

The captain was a studly young fellow who wooed the ladies. His first officer was lean and smart and an expert at playing hard-to-get (which earned him tons of fan mail from amorous women nation-wide).



The stories were fast-paced, fun, and exciting. The characters were witty and cool, and they joked around with each often frequently. That's what we expected the movie to be, only with better sets, props, and FX.

We got the better sets, props, and FX. But not the rest.

ST: TMP gave us a middle-aged captain who wore a uniform that looked like pajamas and the women wore exactly the same thing. His first officer spoke in a rusty, aging voice and never managed to show that smug and superior expression that had made him a legend to a generation of Trekkers worldwide.



The plot of the movie was somber, serious, and slow-paced as hell. There isn't one fast-paced scene in the whole movie much less interesting. The characters never joked with each other.

All-in-all, one big let-down for millions of fans who waited over a decade to see the 23rd Century of Star Trek finally catch up with the 20th Century of its fans.

Bummer, huh?

[Bongopete]

On the other hand, STTMP is the grandest looking of all the original cast as well as TNG casts.
The Enterprise never looked so huge again in a film.
Like Lucas with the later Star Wars films, I think Roddenberry had a bit too much input.

[bulldogtrekker]

Has anyone seen the Star Trek The Motion Picture Warp Re-Edit version? (from the Digital Fanedits people) A clip of the opening titles can be seen on You Tube. I have read that it is a fan-edited version of Star Trek the Motion Picture with a few space shots from other Star Trek movies and there are no scenes on earth; it runs less than 2 hours. I have read that the way it is edited, Kirk is more forceful in this version.
PS I added the You Tube link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktJst4Bw6sE
and here is a link to the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceqOQ5sQBXU&feature=c4-overview&list=UUuvMZcEG2EIrjn4JYhTtHug

[Bud Brewster]

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I will definitely look at this, BDT! Thanks.

UPDATE: July 15, 2016 - Both of the YouTube videos at the links above have been removed.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Bongopete]

I will have to check into this as well.

[Eadie]

Before the movie came out there was an earlier version that was planned with special effects by Magicam. Their model of V'Ger:



The front of V'Ger:



Traveling inside V'Ger:



Voyager surrounded by other alien space probes which, together, was the basis for V'Ger:

[Pye-Rate]

The front of V'Ger looks like the grill of an alien 1951 Studebaker.

[Bud Brewster]

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Awesome post, Eadie! I love that design. I've always felt cheated by the way they never really showed us what V'ger looked like.

Thanks!

Here's a link to the article that has the pictures you shared with us. Very interesting info about the making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Beyond the Marquee
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[bulldogtrekker]

On this date in 1979, "Star Trek The Motion Picture" premiered. Check out the advertising:

"The Human adventure is just beginning..."

"Ten years ago, a television phenomenon became a part of life, shared in 47 different languages, read in 469 publications, and seen by 1.2 billion people. A common experience remembered around the world. Now Paramount Pictures brings the memory to life."

- 1979 TV ad

LINK: http://trekmovie.com/2012/02/22/watch-original-star-trek-the-motion-picture-commercials-now-in-hd/

[orzel-w]

[bulldogtrekker]

Star Trek The Motion Picture Warp Re-Edit version

[Robert (Butch) Day]

Quite possibly because of a C&D (Cease and Desist) order from the Paramount legal eagles.
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Common Sense ISN'T Common