Review of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) by Stewart S — 03 Jul 2009

It has a great central idea, stunning modelwork from the great Douglas Trumbull and big, lavish cinematic direction. That said, it is also extremely overblown (the approx 20 minute journey to the heart of V'Ger, whilst boasting the aforementioned modelwork and a stunningly good score that keeps the tension high by Jerry Goldsmith, is also excessive and director Robert Wise (The Sound of Music!!) can only give us endless wide-eyed reaction shots of the crew which becomes dull) and the exciting moments are few and far between (indeed everything takes far too long to happen, including the assembling of the crew).

It is a slightly hokey story but a beautiful remount of the TV series (and a film that works for non-fans) that sets the stage for what was to come.