Since When Is The Motion Picture A Good Trek Film?
- Thread starter Similitude
- Start date
Since when??
How about December 7, 1979.
Looking at the number of posts with this answer over the past 60 days (ain't multi-quote grand?), your incredulity is a little late.
trevanian
Rear Admiral
I can't believe it took me this long to notice the post. That's really funny. It's a rare thing that I laugh out loud from a deliberately funny post.
There are a few different thoughts from my opinion:
1) The movie was an event film back when it premiered. I don't think a lot of people take that into account when they write their opinions based on that. Could you imagine being back in 1979, and there hasn't been any new Trek in 10 years? I would have camped out at the theater two days before the premiere!
2) There are a few scenes and characters in this film which have cemented their place in Trek history. The biggest of these is the "approaching the drydock" scene. That's amazing, and perhaps the best use of music throughout the entire film series (subject to debate). Willard Decker. The turbulence and uneasiness of his character throughout the film add some spice to the otherwise vanilla story. And then there is the transporter accident.
3) The various stories about the production of this film make it very interesting. I think it is very safe to say that the story of the production of TMP is WAY more interesting than the movie itself.
The movie now: slow, boring, too heavy, no action.
The movie in 1979: OMG THEREZ LIKE NEW TREK! LOOK AT THOZE KLINGONZ!
Plus, there are like 682349492 different versions and deleted scenes, it kicked off what Trek is to us today and it was an event movie. Event movies (especially these days (I'm talking to you, Transformers 2)) rarely ever are as strong in the film department as other movies, but people still flock to them.
The sum: Yeah, it's not a good movie. It's not bad per se, but it's not the Trek movie you want to show your girlfriend or non Trek friends about how much you love Star Trek. And that's all it is, basically.
P.S.: Doesn't it have the sweetest tagline?: The Human Adventure Is Just Beginning.
1) The movie was an event film back when it premiered. I don't think a lot of people take that into account when they write their opinions based on that. Could you imagine being back in 1979, and there hasn't been any new Trek in 10 years? I would have camped out at the theater two days before the premiere!
2) There are a few scenes and characters in this film which have cemented their place in Trek history. The biggest of these is the "approaching the drydock" scene. That's amazing, and perhaps the best use of music throughout the entire film series (subject to debate). Willard Decker. The turbulence and uneasiness of his character throughout the film add some spice to the otherwise vanilla story. And then there is the transporter accident.
3) The various stories about the production of this film make it very interesting. I think it is very safe to say that the story of the production of TMP is WAY more interesting than the movie itself.
The movie now: slow, boring, too heavy, no action.
The movie in 1979: OMG THEREZ LIKE NEW TREK! LOOK AT THOZE KLINGONZ!
Plus, there are like 682349492 different versions and deleted scenes, it kicked off what Trek is to us today and it was an event movie. Event movies (especially these days (I'm talking to you, Transformers 2)) rarely ever are as strong in the film department as other movies, but people still flock to them.
The sum: Yeah, it's not a good movie. It's not bad per se, but it's not the Trek movie you want to show your girlfriend or non Trek friends about how much you love Star Trek. And that's all it is, basically.
P.S.: Doesn't it have the sweetest tagline?: The Human Adventure Is Just Beginning.
trevanian
Rear Admiral
I'm using a bit of that as a point of departure in something I'm outlining now, about an old & respected director who made a few ethically dubious moves earlier in his life (things that helped get him established), who now is having everything come tumbling down on him during a runaway megabudget feature.
I'd called it COMEUPPANCE, but that'd be too direct a nod to Wise's part in the MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS massacre.
I like it. Let's make it.
Yup, since I was. And that's exactly how we felt!
That Decker tension is often forgotten, I think. It's a nice element. The "ooh" scene of the Ent is great; I just watched TNG "Farpoint" and it has a number of "ooh" scenes and reaction shots, indulging the audience in 1987 (I was there too) who wanted to look at the new Ent, holodeck, Picard walking out of the shadows, etc. Corny and unnecessary now, but right for the initial airdate.
Yup!
I wish more movies had remembered that and told stories in such a vein.
Hey, it's your opinion, that's fine. But I understand. I've gotten used to tacking on a sentence like, "It's all a matter of taste," when I post an opinion since people get very cranky or defensive (esp. in the ST XI forum).
trevanian
Rear Admiral
As much as early TNG disappointed me (and most of the rest didn't knock me out), the bit in FARPOINT where Wesley gets to approach and sit in the chair was terrific, a little bit of subjective 'you are there' that made up for most of the rest. Figured that was as close as I'd likely get to the chair myself, and in that way, it worked.
The release of this film was a huge event. Practically every major news magazine and morning news program did a feature on the movie. I have copies of Time, Newsweek and Playboy with stories on the film's release. The Playboy one was actually the best..it had some great artwork, a little "fold-out" (in addition to the usual one
), and interviews with Roddenberry and Wise. The cover story page had a tiny cut-out oval which, when you turned the page, revealed the message "WHO IS V'GER?" in the starfield. Pretty neat.
The release of this film was a huge event. Practically every major news magazine and morning news program did a feature on the movie. I have copies of Time, Newsweek and Playboy with stories on the film's release. The Playboy one was actually the best..it had some great artwork, a little "fold-out" (in addition to the usual one
I was there as a pre-teen, and yes it was a big deal, I was so excited, what a colossal disappointment it was to me back then, and nothing really changed since then. Then The Wrath Of Khan came out and made it look even worse, if you know what I mean, because I loved that movie just like all the other Trek fans do.
Seriously guys those two movies aren't even in the same galaxy, never mind league.
^^^^^
Agreed. It was a big deal when it premiered (my 18th b-day), but the hoopla wore off pretty quick. There seems to be this mythology that TMP was universally lauded by fandom at the time, and that just ain't so. I've got some Trek-oriented fanzines from the period that are very critical of TMP. It was nice to have some new ST, but it coulda been better. TWoK was a big step up from TMP for most of fandom, IMO, except for all the people that freaked-out about Spock.
Agreed. It was a big deal when it premiered (my 18th b-day), but the hoopla wore off pretty quick. There seems to be this mythology that TMP was universally lauded by fandom at the time, and that just ain't so. I've got some Trek-oriented fanzines from the period that are very critical of TMP. It was nice to have some new ST, but it coulda been better. TWoK was a big step up from TMP for most of fandom, IMO, except for all the people that freaked-out about Spock.
Well, it's all a matter of opinion. I, too, felt a little "gypped" by TMP when I first saw it in the theater, but over the years I realized that I had to mature (quite a bit) in order to enjoy it. I went to TMP expecting to see an episode of TOS, full of phaser banks, slam-bam fistfights, rubber monsters and ripped shirts; what I got was a moving, thoughtful "tone poem" of a film.
I like it a lot more now than I did then.
My oldest son (21) is a Trekker, and he wouldn't even watch TMP because he had read so much dirt about it. When he finally watched the DVD earlier this year, he commented that he thought it was really very good; he didn't understand what everyone thought was wrong with it. I think it was because he grew up watching TNG, DS9, VOY, and ENT (which I lovingly refer to as "Shit Trek").
Oh, definitely not "all."
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So are you saying you hate what is considered to be one of the best Trek movies?
Very true (if you ask me).
Shame it didn't start just a little earlier - maybe shortly after the opening titles?
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