The original cast was brought back, the fans would have accepted nothing else. A recasting of the roles would have been a disaster and only decades and the deaths of many of the originals made it possible decades later with phalanx of films. William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Deforest Kelly, George Takai, Nichelle Nichols, Majel Barrett, Walter Koenig, and James Doohan were all back for this new sleek rendition of the franchise. Two new actors join the crew -- Persis Khambata and Stephen Collins.
One reason I'm so enamored with this movie is that looks and feels like what a big screen Star Trek movie ought to be, a deluxe version of the episodes. The story of V'Ger, an unimaginable enormous and dangerous probe from the depths of space reminds a veteran Star Trek fan of "The Changeling", an episode from the second season of the show. Toss in some evocative early sequences featuring those pesky Klingons (actually speaking Klingon for the first time), a devastating transporter accident, some generational conflict, and a whisper of unusual but inviting space sex and you have a heady brew for any Trek fan I would have thought.
I for one will never forget the thrill as Kirk is treated to a evocative and nigh erotic encounter with the Enterprise. We follow the beloved star craft over every single curve of her fresh new metallic skin, finally getting to see some of the secrets long hidden by stingy TV budgets and the limits of film technology. The ship is thoroughly reimagined, and this time filled with more aliens than just a single Vulcan. (The cartoon show from Filmation had pointed the way on this point.)
We are treated to stunning views of a future Earth as well Vulcan itself, a landscape filled with cyclopean statues. The movie does first and foremost what any such sci-fi flicker must do, it transports us to another time and place and introduces us to people we are interested in doing things which matter. Admittedly watching the director's cut means the show is a leisurely one, but then after so many years denied fresh Star Trek stories, no one ought to complain. But they do.
Some suggest the movie is a bit sterile and lacks the thrumming of heated human emotions. But this is a movie which follows three traditions. It's a big-screen science fiction flick in the order set into motion by the success of Star Wars. It's a big budget blow up of a beloved science fiction television show. But it also is a movie which seems to me clearly to follow the tradition of Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey which sought to make space and man's place in it epic. The slow but relentless penetration of the alien cloud and the probe that projected it forms a fantastic metaphor for man's quest for dispelling mystery and seeking both knowledge and understanding. The crisis is not resolved until both have been achieved. This movie has high aspirations and the money and talent to deliver. I think it does.
I am going to review and rate all of the original Star Trek movies featuring the original cast. I rate this first effort number one. Gene Roddenberry wanted Star Trek to be about big ideas and none of the movies aspires to this goal as well as this first one he had a direct hand in. He'd be pushed away from the later movies. None of the sequels succeed, in my eye, to equal it in scale and scope and its ability to convince me that I am in another time and place. In this writer's eye, they never did it better.
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It was unkindly called "Star Trek: The Slow Motion Picture" but I liked it too. Did you ever read any of Marvel's Star Trek comics from the early '80s? Unfortunately the comic didn't last very long and got cancelled.
ReplyDeleteThe movie progressed at similar speeds to Kubrick's 2001, and usually slow suggests awesome. That's what I felt at the time. But more action-filled movies in the Star Wars vein ruled the day. And movies have only sped up since then. I was not a reader of the 80's comics sad to say.
DeleteGot to be honest - I found it boring as hell. And the new uniforms seemed like something out of Space 1999. (Not a good thing.) I thought The Undiscovered Country was the best of them.
ReplyDeleteThere was an affinity to the "efficiency" of that Space:1999 uniform, first season only of course. I like Undiscovered Country too, but just how much you'll have to wait to see.
DeleteI have been a huge fan of this movie since 1979. I particularly love that it fully embraces Roddenberry's humanistic view of the future, the notion that we can create a utopia if we're willing to do the work.
ReplyDeleteOver the last few years, The Motion Picture has earned a lot more respect. I especially love the Director's Cut 4K release from last year, where we finally got the best possible version of the first Trek cinematic adventure.
Now I want to watch it again!
Exactly. This is the purest expression of Roddenberry's Star Trek dream ever made. And making you want to watch it again lets me know my job here is done. Enjoy!
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