Star Trek - The Motion Picture

Television, Movies Games and Books Star Trek
#1

Okay so I know we are starting with Wrath of Kahn…but since i’ve never seen any of the original Star Trek movies (or the original series for that matter) i decided to watch them all in order on my own.

So I just got through watching the first movie - and I gotta say it was the most boring movie I’ve ever seen. Seriously. The last ten minutes were okay. But before that - they could have cut out like 30 minutes just by taking out all the long panning shots of A) the Enterprise in the beginning and B) the big cloud/energy field thingy the entire rest of the movie.

Also could have done without the excruciating back and forth shots between Decker and Ilia. Yes we get that they are in LURVE and there’s is a forever love…bleh.

Here’s hoping Wrath of Kahn is better.

#2

Don’t worry, KHAAAANNN!!! has much better pacing.

#3

OK first… Wrath of Khan is WAY better!!!

Second, Leonard Nimoy said it best it best in a commentary for either 2 or 3 about the first film. The Enterprise is a Character in the movie, but the movie isn’t about the Enterprise. Implying one of the failures of ST:TMP, is that they tried to make the movie about the Enterprise. That mistake does get corrected. Please don’t hold the movie that almost killed the franchise against the movie that saved the franchise.

#4

Remember, the original script that the movie came from was supposed to be a pilot for a new ST TV series.

Many of the scripts they wrote for that series ended up being used in ST:TNG. Heck even some characters made it over (sorta).

Decker and Ilia became Riker and Troi (sorta kinda).

#5

Khan is waaaaaaaay better, though I actually enjoy TMP more than I used to.

One can indeed argue that Wrath of Khan is THE Star Trek movie … with, just maybe, First Contact challenging it.

#6

missmuffet, which version did you watch? The Director’s Cut?

#7

Yes I think so - I bought all six movies in a set and all of them seem to be either the special edition or directors cut.

#8

Take solace in the fact that it’s widely considered the better version. :smiley:

#9

Yeesh - remind me never to watch the theatrical version. :slight_smile:

#10

hmmmm now you’ve intrigued me… I may have to postpone the celebratory bsg rewatch I have planned to go get this from the liberry :slight_smile:

#11

I love how a lot of Next Gen episodes mirror those from the original series.
Even the basic premise for The Motion Picture originated in the original (The Changeling).

#12

I wish you had spoke to me at the meetup about that. I would’ve told you to read the novel. Much better.

Wrath of Khan and TMP are night and day.

#13

Well I kind of just decided yesterday on the way home that I was going to go ahead and watch all of them instead of just watching the ones for the podcast arc. :rolleyes:

#14

It is definitely way boring. I finally saw all the movies straight through a year or two ago and couldn’t believe how achingly slow ST:TMP was. And then the payoff… shakes head. It would’ve been like if the end of BSG was a camera panning back and finding out the show we see is just a show for Capricans. Ta daaa!

#15

remember Roddenberry post1975 = Bad Trek

Phase two would have been horrible if they had let him have control.

After ST:TMP they took the movies away from him. the other movies are done by people who know how to entertain,

He HATED ST2!!! That should tell you how crazy he was.

Even the TNG SUCKED until he died. He didn’t have 100% control of the show for the reason of ST1 and also because when he was in 100% control of TOS ( season 3) they made some of the worst episodes ever. They let him pretty much do as he wished for weekly episodes but “handler producer” Rick Berman had the job of pushing “popular” storylines over gene.

Some examples of Gene’s tastes

-He rejected the darker Borg arc that would have went for several episodes in season 2.
-He was against any of the Kilinon storylines ( because they were an old bad guy turned good and they were supposed to be over with.

  • He created the original Ferengi
    -The Captain that didn’t fight
  • he had Tasha Yar ( the 5ft 3 wimpy girl) as the security chief. She never appeared tough or confident and she cried and or whined at the drop of a hat. Set the women’s movement back a few years.
  • He had Worf as a Science officer
    -Wesley Crusher ( no offense to Will- it wasn’t his fault)
  • He wimped down the federation
  • He fought with the studios against every insistance that Starfleet was military
  • He was against all the greatest story arcs ( the only ones that make the TNG watchable Borg, Killing Yar, Romulan Invasion of Vulcan, Klingon plots, Worf as a budding Warrior. Klingons as Warriors instead of TOS Klingons turned peaceful. )

Read some of the Blogs by former Trek writers and producers. And read what his wife says. ( of course she says a lot of this like it’s a good thing)

#16

One good thing did come out TMP for me. It led me to believe that we accidentally created the Borg. V’ger came from a machine planet outside our known universe. Decker fused with Ilea and V’ger and boom. Accidental Borg.

#17

Well Enterprise kinda answered that the Borg from Earth went back and made contact with old Borg and … too complicated to try to make sense of.

#18

Yeah i know but I had that idea before they aired Enterprise.

#19

yeah, tha’s a pretty good theory.

I always wondered why the Borg didn’t build an army of Datas. I mean they had Picard and the Enterprise’s data. No doubt Data’s specs are in there.

#20

That all may be true… but in his defense. He did give us Star Trek. I mean without him there is not ST2, no TNG, no nothing.