Ten years after the end of the “Star Trek” television series on NBC, Gene Roddenberry and Paramount Pictures finally released “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” in 1979. The film is set three hundred years in the future, and tells the story of a mysterious and destructive cloud named Vger headed towards Earth. Of course, Admiral James T. Kirk takes over command of the United Star Ship Enterprise to save the day, angering the incumbent Captain William Decker. And so the drama and adventure proceeds from there.
The plot and storyline seems a better fit for an hour-long television show, and is a bit thin for a 132 minute feature length motion picture. “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” did make a modest profit at the box office, but Paramount executives considered it a failure, due to the costs of marketing, and the extended production cost overruns. In addition to the box office disappointment, critics were unhappy with the slow pace, extended dialogue amongst the cast, and the story of a battle between two space ships (Vger & Enterprise), rather than a traditional foe vs. Jim Kirk & company. The result was removal of Gene Roddenberry from production duties of the next film and replacement by Harve Bennett.
The cast includes William Shatner as James T. Kirk, Leonard Nimoy as Spock, DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard McCoy, James Doohan as Montgomery Scott, Walter Keonig as Pavel Chekov, Nichelle Nichols as Nyota Uhura, George Takai as Hikaru Sulu, Majel Barrett as Christine Chapel, Grace Lee Whitney as Janice Rand, Stephen Collins as William Decker, Persis Khambatta as Ilia, and Mark Lenard in a cameo role as the Klingon commander. Lenard had portrayed Sarek, Spock’s father in the original series and in future films.
A successful sequel called “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” was released in 1982. To date, there have been 13 “Star Trek” movies and 12 “Star Trek” television series. It is a major movie-television franchise for Paramount Pictures. Live long and prosper!
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
cinema
My Review
Ten years after the end of the “Star Trek” television series on NBC, Gene Roddenberry and Paramount Pictures finally released “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” in 1979. The film is set three hundred years in the future, and tells the story of a mysterious and destructive cloud named Vger headed towards Earth. Of course, Admiral James T. Kirk takes over command of the United Star Ship Enterprise to save the day, angering the incumbent Captain William Decker. And so the drama and adventure proceeds from there.
The plot and storyline seems a better fit for an hour-long television show, and is a bit thin for a 132 minute feature length motion picture. “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” did make a modest profit at the box office, but Paramount executives considered it a failure, due to the costs of marketing, and the extended production cost overruns. In addition to the box office disappointment, critics were unhappy with the slow pace, extended dialogue amongst the cast, and the story of a battle between two space ships (Vger & Enterprise), rather than a traditional foe vs. Jim Kirk & company. The result was removal of Gene Roddenberry from production duties of the next film and replacement by Harve Bennett.
The cast includes William Shatner as James T. Kirk, Leonard Nimoy as Spock, DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard McCoy, James Doohan as Montgomery Scott, Walter Keonig as Pavel Chekov, Nichelle Nichols as Nyota Uhura, George Takai as Hikaru Sulu, Majel Barrett as Christine Chapel, Grace Lee Whitney as Janice Rand, Stephen Collins as William Decker, Persis Khambatta as Ilia, and Mark Lenard in a cameo role as the Klingon commander. Lenard had portrayed Sarek, Spock’s father in the original series and in future films.
A successful sequel called “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” was released in 1982. To date, there have been 13 “Star Trek” movies and 12 “Star Trek” television series. It is a major movie-television franchise for Paramount Pictures. Live long and prosper!