Star Trek: The Motion Picture *** (1979, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols) – Classic Movie Review 1918

Director Robert Wise’s 1979 first Star Trek spinoff movie of the seminal TV series created by Gene Roddenberry is an astonishingly costly and way over–produced film. Though Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a disappointingly lumbering, unwieldy piece of work, it does certainly still have its appeal and attractions.

And it was a huge cinema hit, although only a third as big as Star Wars, whose success set Paramount studios trekking off to find and hire all the stars of the then decade-old TV series (1966-69), cancelled a whole 10 years earlier. They are, of course, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Walter Koenig and Nichelle Nichols.

In Harold Livingstone and Alan Dean Foster’s screenplay there’s a merely routine story about the Starship Enterprise being undocked from orbit over San Francisco after a major overhaul to repel the evil space invaders in an alien spacecraft of enormous power threatening the Earth. Three years after his last command, Admiral Kirk (Shatner) resumes command of the Enterprise from Captain Willard Decker (Stephen Collins) with orders to intercept and stop the alien intruders.

Director Wise unwisely does little out of the ordinary in the way of showy or dynamic film-making to punch this across, and the beloved, stalwart cast produce no particular surprises either. So it’s thank goodness for Douglas Trumbull’s then awe-inspiring effects and Jerry Goldsmith’s stirring score. So, not a great movie, alas, but then and now, it proves enough for the fans.

The cinema release version runs 132 minutes. The Video and TV version runs 143 minutes. The Director’s Cut runs 136 minutes.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture cost $35million but grossed $82million in the US alone. Paramount were looking for a sequel, and found it in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982).

On 13 October 2021 William Shatner and three other crew members successfully launched into space with Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin. The flight, which took off from Texas, lasted about 11 minutes, travelling 62 miles above Earth. It makes the 90-year-old Shatner the oldest person to fly to space.

http://derekwinnert.com/star-trek-2009-chris-pine-classic-film-review-807/

http://derekwinnert.com/star-trek-generations-classic-film-review-27/

http://derekwinnert.com/star-trek-into-darkness/

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com/