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Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) (1 Viewer)

Stan

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Easily the worst of the Star Trek films. Went opening night with friends to a sold out theatre with close to 1,000 seats.

All of us very disappointed. Thankfully Star Trek II got things back on track.
 

Scott-S

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I really liked the idea and story they were trying to tell in TMP. The execution wasn't the best. Because it was the first movie, and the fans hadn't had any Star Trek for a long time, they felt the need to really take their time when "showing off" the Enterprise. I thought the way they showed the scale of the Vger ship was really impressive.

I certainly do not think it was the "worst" of the movies. It still holds a fond place in my heart. Even with the cheesy costumes. :)
 

Joel Fontenot

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Easily the worst of the Star Trek films. Went opening night with friends to a sold out theatre with close to 1,000 seats.

All of us very disappointed. Thankfully Star Trek II got things back on track.

Not all of us here feel that way. I loved it back then (I saw it in its first run too) and love it more today. Still preferring the original theatrical cut to the Directors Edition (although, I am okay with about half of the changes). I love Trek 2 also, but I appreciate the effort and spirit of that first film better.
 

Stan

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I guess "worst" is a bit harsh. But going in with such high expectations, it was a disappointment. Not only the cheesy costumes, but the "characters" weren't themselves.

The Vger thing and the new characters brought in also didn't help. So many of us expected the spirit of the old show and it wasn't there.
 

Jonathan Perregaux

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When I first saw TMP in 1979, I came away thinking it was "the worst." I really didn't like it. Then the Odd Numbered Curse kicked in with III and V. Suddenly, TMP didn't look so bad. By the time the TNG films took up the cursed reins with VII (Generations) and IX (Insurrection), then broke the curse by making everything suck in X (Nemesis), I was convinced that TMP was a masterpiece of science fiction cinema.

Along comes Into Darkness, and by this time I have constructed a giant pyramid in honor of TMP's godhood.
 

Oliver Ravencrest

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I find that TMP gets better each time I watch it. TWOK is my favourite but TMP is right behind TVH, and not by much, as my top 3 ST films. The biggest complaint I heard when it first came out was that it was too much like TOS. I think they spent too much time on setting up the story and showing the Enterprise but it is a solid movie.
 

Ushabye

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Despite it's issues, I've always liked this film. It's clear Robert Wise didn't direct the actors performances sufficiently distracted as he was with the scale of the production. Plus it is quite amazing it turned out as well as it did when you read the account of its epic road to production in William Shatner's book. And then theres the nostalgia of my grandfather and great uncle taking my brother and I to see it at the Adelphi cinema in Dublin (now a car park). I've never forgotten his bemused review: "That was all just...lights."
 

Lord Dalek

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The main problem with TMP is that it's clearly obvious that it was an old tv script that got expanded rather badly. The actual V'Ger plot would have made for a taught 60 minutes had the original Phase II made it to the tubes. But once you graft on the Illia probe, that pointless wormhole scene, the addition of Spock who comes off as rather pointless, and all those endless, monotonous, runtime padding shots of the Enterprise in space that even Wise's director's cut can't salvage, it just becomes a flabby unmitigated disaster.

Worst of all, the budget overruns and studio micromanagement ment future Star Trek films would never quite get as much attention slaved over them. Not until JJ at least.
 

Bryan Tuck

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When I first saw TMP in 1979, I came away thinking it was "the worst." I really didn't like it. Then the Odd Numbered Curse kicked in with III and V. Suddenly, TMP didn't look so bad. By the time the TNG films took up the cursed reins with VII (Generations) and IX (Insurrection), then broke the curse by making everything suck in X (Nemesis), I was convinced that TMP was a masterpiece of science fiction cinema.

Along comes Into Darkness, and by this time I have constructed a giant pyramid in honor of TMP's godhood.

Of course, some people like to count Galaxy Quest as an honorary Star Trek movie, which sort of maintains the odd-even quality thing.

I'm fully aware of TMP's flaws, but I do have a fondness for it. It was definitely ambitious, and honestly tried to be a real science fiction film.

By the way, if anyone still doesn't have it, I can't recommend La La Land's 3-CD soundtrack release enough. It sounds incredible, and there are some fun extras on there, including the first few raw session takes of the Main Title (Jerry has to cut them off a couple of times).
 

Steve Christou

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I love them all, yes even Shatners, but if I was forced to choose one Star Trek movie it would be ST-TMP. The only one I would watch again on a big screen rerun.

Just to stir the pot a bit I wasn't overly fond of the director's cut. I found it interesting but I'm so glad the original 1979 edition I watched countless times made it to blu-ray. :)
 

Josh Steinberg

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Just to stir the pot a bit I wasn't overly fond of the director's cut. I found it interesting but I'm so glad the original 1979 edition I watched countless times made it to blu-ray. :)

My favorite version of the movie is probably the "special longer version" - that was the one I grew up on. It's not perfect, of course, but none of the versions are.

I like that the Director's Cut includes most of the deleted scenes from the special longer version. What I don't like is that it trims some of the effects work down too much, and adds some new CGI effects that to me stick out like a sore thumb - I appreciate what they were trying to do, but those new shots take me out of the movie more than anything else. I also don't love the new sound design - it removes a lot of the computer dialogue from the Enterprise and other ships. The original and special longer cuts are definitely a colder version of the movie - but I think it makes sense give where the characters are in their lives and the gravity of the mission that they're on.

I realize that the "special longer version" was assembled for television, but I consider it to be as valid a version as any of the others - for years, it was the only version available on VHS or on television, and it wasn't some fanmade bootleg assembly, it was a studio made version of the film. That's the version I'd like in widescreen and HD one day. (There's one shot that doesn't quite work in widescreen - but plays fine in cropped 4x3 - because of an unfinished set that they didn't matte out, but I'd still accept that, or even the simplest of matting, I don't think one unfinished shot should be enough to invalidate the entire thing.)

I had an interesting dilemma last year when I showed the movie to my fiance, who had never seen it before. On one hand, I felt that the theatrical cut on Blu-ray was the better technical presentation, and that the effects work is so beautiful that it deserved to be seen in HD. On the other hand, the director's edition includes a lot of deleted scenes and lines that really enhance the story and the characters, even though the SD presentation would be a step down and it's got some of those new effects I don't like. But knowing that it wasn't likely to be her favorite movie in the first place, and that some added character stuff would go a long way towards helping her sit through it, I went with the director's edition.
 

Nelson Au

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How did your fiancé like the movie, Josh?

I've spoken many times here about how much I've come to feel this film is the very best Star Trek has been in cinematic form. Star Trek truly thrives in the TV format, but as a theatrical experience, this one is the best. It's pure science fiction in the Star Trek format and the one with the most grandeur and scope.

It's not perfect as has been said and in my recent learnings from a Star Trek production book, kind of surprising how much effort and focus Roddenberry had in the first two seasons of the series to make sure each story had a theme, a point to make and that the characters were driving the story and the story wasn't boring. So not sure what happens here. I'm working on another book and will be reading Tomorrow is Yesterday to see if I learn more there.

However, I wanted to say that The Motion Picture is still the best one in my view. Speaking of the 3 CD set from La La Land of the score, I've been listening to it several times recently. I've also been thinking about the story of the film. While many like to compare it to The Changling, I see it as taking it further and really exploring the idea. The idea of a machine as a life form wasn't as widespread in the mainstream then. Merging a human with V'ger was a hard concept to grasp for my teenage mind back when I first saw it. But in a viewing of the Director's Cut a couple of years ago, I saw something that transformed the experience for me. Having seen the film, the Longer Cut and DC more times then I can ever count, it was the first time I ever saw this connection between Decker and Illia and the ending sequence really gave me some chills and had an emotional impact on me. It's the look that Illia gives Decker as she realizes he's going to enter the final sequence of the code to V'ger himself. What is in her/it's mind? Is illia's actual self coming out through the probe of Illia? Is it V'ger expressing excitement? Is it the love between them coming out and feeling like they will now be together forever? Is all those things? I saw it as her love coming through and how she herself is there and happy that he gets it and is completing the program/mission for V'ger. And then the fireworks starts. It was literally a transformative experience from the films plot point to my perception of the story and movie. It's probably being overstated, but for me this scene elevates the movie to Kubrick's 2001 territory.

So If you dislike 2001 or find that film boring, then you're going to find TMP as boring. But TMP is much more literal and spells it out for you.

The whole sequence at the end of 2001 and the alien voices who are monitoring Bowman in that bedroom was potentially an inspiration for all those great cues that Jerry Goldsmith composed for the film, which I've been really appreciating on the 3 CD set of the score.

Again, you may feel I'm applying too much praise for the Motion Picture. It's just my view. It's still miles ahead of the films that followed in the TOS film group, fun as some of those are. And light years ahead of the films that follow those. I might have to make time to view the film again this weekend.

And I forgot to add, As I keep posting, I still wish Paramount would release the DC in high definition!
 
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Josh Steinberg

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How did your fiancé like the movie, Josh?

Well, she was "just" my girlfriend then, and agreed to marry me a few months after we saw the movie - so it could have gone worse :). I think she kinda liked it but certainly didn't love it. She's not a big Star Trek fan, although she enjoys the new films (and in full disclosure, so do I). Of the original cast movies that we've watched so far, "Star Trek IV" was her favorite. For TMP, I think she was turned off by the endless parade of effects, and found the characters to be cold, and the movie too long for the amount of story that it had - basically the same criticisms that have been made by the general public on this movie for a long time. She liked the reveal of what V'Ger was, but I think it took a little long to get there for her. This one could have gone either way, I wouldn't have been shocked if she had hated it, so that it came in as "just okay" was kind of a win.
 

Tino

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Speaking of girlfriends....my very first kiss with my very first girlfriend was during STTMP in December 1979![emoji7] Woo Hoo...Happy Valentine's Day![emoji13]
 

Stan

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When I first saw TMP in 1979, I came away thinking it was "the worst." I really didn't like it. Then the Odd Numbered Curse kicked in with III and V. Suddenly, TMP didn't look so bad. By the time the TNG films took up the cursed reins with VII (Generations) and IX (Insurrection), then broke the curse by making everything suck in X (Nemesis), I was convinced that TMP was a masterpiece of science fiction cinema.

Along comes Into Darkness, and by this time I have constructed a giant pyramid in honor of TMP's godhood.

Never heard the phrase "Odd Numbered Curse", but so true. II and IV were my favorites, VI? not great. But the odd numbers, very forgettable.
 

Scott-S

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All this talk about this movie had me wanting to watch it again. So I pulled out my older DVD and found it no longer plays. I had been thinking about getting the Blu-ray version and I guess now I have to. It looks like the "directors version" is the only one currently available. I know this isn't exactly the correct place to ask, but should I wait for a new release? Is there one coming out eventually?
 

Josh Steinberg

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All this talk about this movie had me wanting to watch it again. So I pulled out my older DVD and found it no longer plays. I had been thinking about getting the Blu-ray version and I guess now I have to. It looks like the "directors version" is the only one currently available. I know this isn't exactly the correct place to ask, but should I wait for a new release? Is there one coming out eventually?

The only version that's available on Blu-ray is the original theatrical version. If you want the Director's Edition, that's only available on DVD.

While many of us had hoped that Paramount would revisit the Star Trek titles on Blu-ray, there's absolutely no evidence to suggest that they have, or that it's under any kind of consideration over there. With this being the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, there was hope that this would be the year. However, Paramount just announced re-issues of the existing Blu-rays, same discs with a new cover, so that probably means that they're not going to do anything additional for these titles in the foreseeable future.

In other words - if you want the movie on Blu-ray, the one that's out now is probably the only one we're going to get.
 

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