Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
Directed by Robert Wise

Film Review

A decade on from the cancellation of the cult television series, Star Trek finally managed to drag its way onto the big screen, but the results were far less impressive than had been hoped.   That Star Trek: The Motion Picture was a rushed job is immediately apparent from its singularly unambitious plot, which was so clearly intended for the small screen, in fact the pilot episode of an aborted new television series conceived by Star Trek's creator Gene Roddenberry.  Hoping to cash in on the success of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and Star Wars (1977), the executives at Paramount short-circuited the production process in order to get a Star Trek film onto the screens before the sci-fi bubble collapsed.  Filming began before the script had been finalised and updates to the script were constantly being issued whilst the film was in the process of being shot.  The writers and producers couldn't agree on how to end the film until the very last minute, and it is a small miracle that it manages to hold up as well as it does.

Predictably, critical reaction to the film was mixed and the film continues to divide fans of the series as to its merits.  Paramount's decision to hire Robert Wise to direct the film was always going to be controversial.  True, he had directed The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), a classic in the sci-fi genre.  But he had always helmed the musicals West Side Story (1961) and The Sound of Music (1965), and the last thing Star Trek needed was Kirk and Spock singing a love duet.  Wise may have been an experienced and versatile filmmaker, but, at 64, he was probably not the best choice to direct an effects-heavy, action-oriented film.  That said, the principal failing of Star Trek: The Motion Picture is not its direction, but the poor quality of its screenplay.  The film just feels like a dull episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation that has been stretched to feature film length.  There are not enough original ideas to sustain the narrative for a full two hours, and so it just feels slow and listless.

What just about saves the film is the quality of the special effects, which were state of the art  at the time and hold up reasonably well today.  Once the tedious business of re-establishing all the characters has been dealt with (Star Trek fans could at least console themselves that the entire original cast had been reassembled, albeit with a few grey hairs), the journey of the Enterprise into the mysterious energy cloud is a visually arresting flight of fancy, which is ruined only by the creaking, drawn out resolution which smacks of the tiresome, homespun philosophising which marred the original television series.  Comparisons with Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Richard Fleischer's Fantastic Voyage (1966) are easily made, but whilst the effects offered by Star Trek: The Motion Picture are generally superior, its languorous pace and some toe-curlingly pretentious dialogue preclude it from justifying its place alongside these sci-fi classics.  Overall, as far as reboots go, this isn't a bad attempt, although if it had been given just a little more time and attention it could have been far more impressive.

Film Synopsis

In the 23rd century, a monitoring station in deep space detects a mysterious energy cloud heading on a collision course with planet earth.  The cloud appears to be harbouring an alien presence, but attempts to establish contact with it prove futile.  Starfleet admiral James T. Kirk assumes command of the starship Enterprise shortly after it has been refitted, and intends taking it into the energy cloud before it reaches the earth.  The ship's designated captain, William Decker, resents Kirk's actions but he agrees to lend his support.  Having failed to complete a ritual on his home planet, Mr Spock joins the Enterprise, revealing that he has detected a conscious mind within the energy cloud.   As the Enterprise penetrates the mysterious alien artefact its crew soon realises that it is indeed a living entity.  But why is it so unwilling to communicate with them and what does it want with planet Earth?