Review of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) by Gustavo H — 07 Jul 2010

Right off the bat, the first thing I noticed was that the Klingons and Vulcans speak a different language, which they never did on the original series. I like this. Also the Klingon makeup concept has been changed to what is more recognizable from the NG series. There is hardly any character development in this film. All the leads have returned since the original series stopped producing new episodes a decade before. On one hand, the characters had been developed on TV and it wasn't necessary to reintroduce who Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Sulu, Chapel, Chekov, or Uhura were to fans. On the other hand, they come across as one dimensional in this story.

I watched the director's cut. The original movie had been on a strict release schedule, so Robert Wise was happy to re-cut a few scenes and have some new digital effects bring some improvements to his vision. I think the visual effects are the real stars of the picture. Principal photography appears to be B-role instead through large chunks of the movie. With a slow pace the audience is given the chance to inspect the exterior of the newly designed Enterprise while Shatner as Admiral Kirk is shown in brief cuts looking dreamily at it too. The new Enterprise theme music, later adapted as the theme for the NG series is grand. Then through the wormhole, approaching the V'Ger cloud, and exploring the interior of the V'Ger ship, what the crew on the bridge sees on the view screen or what the audience sees from exterior shots in space compose the majority of the viewing interest. Cut to Sulu with a look of awe. Cut to kaleidoscopic visual of the cloud. Cut to Spock raising his eyebrow. Cut to different part of the cloud in a different color with the structure of the V'Ger ship in the distance. Cut to Kirk squaring his jaw and squinting a bit. Cut to wide shot of a tiny Enterprise approaching massive V'Ger ship and clouds still swirling in background. Cut to Chekov with a look of confusion and wonder. Cut to haul of V'Ger ship as Enterprise flies over. Cut to Uhura widening her eyes in disbelief. Cut to further reveal of V'Ger ship. Cut to multiple crew members realizing the enormous size of V'Ger compared to Enterprise. So much of the movie's run time consists of stuff like this. There are quick little flourishes of action then reaction shots where the crew doesn't say much and we are left to observe the handy work of the model builders and other visual effects.

Spock's understanding of V'Ger seeking a response from its creator and wanting to know if there is more to life than pure mechanical logic is quite intriguing. I like the theme. However, I'm not really sure what happens at the end with Decker, Ilia, or V'Ger and why the Enterprise is left to sail another day supposedly untouched. I look forward to a few of the successive movies being structured better and containing more drama.