The Motion Picture - I remembered it differently...

[sbk1234]

I just watched TMP start to finish for the first time in a bunch of years. I must say, that was not how I remember it. I always thought it was somewhere around OK, but frankly, I see now that that was one hell of a movie.

Sure, it has one long, slow plodding sequence of the V'Ger flyby, but other than that, it is a pretty interesting film with - in my opinion - a very intriguing high concept sci-fi idea.
Much to think about ("We all make God in our own image." "Is this all that I am? Is there nothing more?")

I also found this movie to have some of the gutsiest characterizations of the TV crew in the films. Kirk's personal journey from his obsession with getting his command back, and Spock's understanding of how logic cannot be an end unto itself are very well done. Especially for the first film which could have simply been done like a 2-hour movie with no growth or development.

I will say that the film needed a bit tighter edit to pick up the pace a bit, but except for the afore mentioned VGer flyby, it moved well enough. I think some people just weren't willing to think it through enough.
I'm just saying. Anyone else want to share thoughts?

 

[RoJoHen]

What version did you watch? I find the Director's Cut has the best pacing. I actually used to fall asleep during this movie until I watched the Director's Cut, and now I think it's a fantastic film.

 

[Basill]

I've always thought it was underrated. Sure it has a few flaws (what film doesn't?), but it is still my favorite of the TOS crew films I think.

 

[Alienesse]

I also found TMP rather enjoyable. Its strong point, in my opinion, is the sense of wonder at seeing the original crew reunited and of course, the grand presentation of the Enterprise.

 

[Pauln6]

I didn't see the movie when it first came out (I would have been eight) so I think TWoK was the movie I saw first. However, I did collect the Weetabix cards and TMP action figures and I would have loved it if the movie had got a full set of figures like Star Wars.

I saw the extended version on British TV a few years later with the extra footage (I must have been about 13) and I thoroughly enjoyed how different it was from TWoK. The perfect version for me would be the Director's cut with a few of the cut character scenes from the extended version added back in.

It's one of my favourites too: the Enterprise has never looked better, we got a fair few alien crewmen, Nimoy's plot arc was beautifully nuanced, and Janice got to kill someone!

 

[Warped9]

I saw TMP on its opening weekend, and this after years of pent up anticipation and reading everything I could get my hands on regarding the film. In December '79 I was 20 years old.

In many respects I was blown away by it. This was Star Trek treated with the respect many of us felt it rarely got. It was done as science fiction and eschewed any caricatured silliness. Seeing the refit Enterprise up there on the big screen was amazing. And I remember the audience applauding and cheering aloud when Kirk first appeared onscreen. Then a hushed silence of awe as the refit Enterprise was revealed. The opening scene of the Klingon battlecruisers encountering V'ger was stunning.

The only f/x gaff that immediately stood out to me then was when the crew exit onto the ship's hull to meet V'ger. I could see right off that it didn't look right, the scale and perspective were all wrong.

All that said I had some small reservations in that I would like to have seen more character drama. But all told I thought it was a good start. Later I was disappointed to hear so much harsh criticism of the film. Three years later TWOK did indeed give us more energy and character drama, but I also noted a lot of things changed that I was disappointed with.

After seeing TMP two or three times in theatre I didn't see it again for quite a long time, and my memory of it was partly affected by much of the negative commentary I heard repeated (and still do). I finally saw it again (well the extended version) on VHS some years later and I was again reminded of how much I liked about the film and what little I was disappointed with.

Then the DE version came along and I felt this was the version we should have gotten back in '79. It worked much better particularly in terms of pacing. We now had something that was almost there, but you can't remaster character drama into an old film and restore scenes never shot...well, not yet anyway.

And now TMP remains my favourite Trek film. Even with its flaws it harkens back to "The Cage" and the Star Trek of TOS' first season. It's Star Trek as unapologetic science fiction. And it has aged better than all the others.

And just as TOS is visually distinctive from all the later series I love how TMP is also visually distinctive from all the following films.

 

[Captain Mike]

I didn't see the movie when it first came out (I would have been eight) so I think TWoK was the movie I saw first. However, I did collect the Weetabix cards and TMP action figures and I would have loved it if the movie had got a full set of figures like Star Wars.

Well we are about the same age Paul... I saw the film when I was 9 on opening day. Funny thing was my brother was supposed to meet me at the theater after my mother dropped me off, but he never showed. But sat right in the front row for that Klingon "rollover" and the big E "flyby"
For the next few following weeks we had to go buy the McDonalds Happy Meals, but unfortunately I ruined them....LOL

What version did you watch? I find the Director's Cut has the best pacing. I actually used to fall asleep during this movie until I watched the Director's Cut, and now I think it's a fantastic film.

Of course I prefer the Director's cut, but still would watch the original.

 

[arch101]

I also saw the film many times during it's original run. Been a big fan of it for years and I think it gets better as I get older. The DE is definitely the best version (so far).

 

[Kaziarl]

I actually always did like TMP. Although I have said a few times, like others have, that the pacing itself is a bit slow.

I thought the special effects were good, the storyline was very interesting and thought provoking, and I do still watch it when i do my occasional "Trek-a-thon." The only thing that still kind of puts me off of the movie is that incredibly long V'Ger flyby, and one or two other scenes that were similarly stretched out. Honestly, I tend to fast forward the flyby and don't feel the movie looses anything for it.

 

[Warped9]

I think part of the problem with TMP is perhaps perception and changing audience tastes over the years. Today and for sometime now we're accustomed to fast paced films particularly Sf works. When I watch TMP I don't feel the flyover is that bad in itself. But today everything is expected to move at at least a brisk clip and perhaps a lot viewers today don't have the patience for how older films unfolded.

No offense meant, just thinking aloud.

 

[number6]

I though TMP looked epic on the big screen. Some of it felt like the original show on the big screen, but just lacked the spark of the characters. The biggest issue with TMP was the story and the endless shots of people looking at the viewscreen with their eyes bugging out.
As the first Star Trek of any kind in a few years, it was a good effort, but I think those involved lost sight of what made Trek successful in the first place.

 

[Warped9]

...and the endless shots of people looking at the viewscreen with their eyes bugging out.

This is true and the DE fixed some of that. Peter Jackson's King Kong also suffered from this in the theatrical version yet it was edited and fixed in the SE version on DVD.

 

[number6]

One thing the DE couldn't fix was the plot. I'm not a fan of any of the King Kong remakes. I believe in Kong purity. Fay Wray forever.

 

[sonak]

TMP re-visited threads come up a lot, so I tend to repeat points:

1. it's slow
2. the plot borrows from TOS' "the changeling"
3. the movie is basically a one-hour episode plot HEAVILY padded with the 45-minute opening "crew re-uniting plot" and interminable special effects shots and shots of the Enterprise
4. it's slow
5. They take away the charm of the interaction of the crew from TOS by having them be cold and awkward to each other and Spock acts like a dick
6. it's slow
7. it takes itself way too seriously




I tend to like mature, more thoughtful, less violent sci-fi, but TMP is not necessarily more thoughtful and mature, it's simply boring and slow

 

[number6]

TMP re-visited threads come up a lot, so I tend to repeat points:

1. it's slow
2. the plot borrows from TOS' "the changeling"
3. the movie is basically a one-hour episode plot HEAVILY padded with the 45-minute opening "crew re-uniting plot" and interminable special effects shots and shots of the Enterprise
4. it's slow
5. They take away the charm of the interaction of the crew from TOS by having them be cold and awkward to each other and Spock acts like a dick
6. it's slow
7. it takes itself way too seriously




I tend to like mature, more thoughtful, less violent sci-fi, but TMP is not necessarily more thoughtful and mature, it's simply boring and slow

This.

 

[Pauln6]

TMP re-visited threads come up a lot, so I tend to repeat points:

1. it's slow
2. the plot borrows from TOS' "the changeling"
3. the movie is basically a one-hour episode plot HEAVILY padded with the 45-minute opening "crew re-uniting plot" and interminable special effects shots and shots of the Enterprise
4. it's slow
5. They take away the charm of the interaction of the crew from TOS by having them be cold and awkward to each other and Spock acts like a dick
6. it's slow
7. it takes itself way too seriously

I tend to like mature, more thoughtful, less violent sci-fi, but TMP is not necessarily more thoughtful and mature, it's simply boring and slow

Yeah one man's thoughful is another man's boring I guess but I think everybody agrees that the movie needed more pace. I actually prefer the early part of the movie where the characters are re-uniting. I've always preferred episodes that featured more than just the big 3, much as I do love them. A more traditional landing party exploring V'ger might have made for a bit more excitement I think.

I prefer the crispness of Starfleet in this one to the campness of V & VI and I like the fact that they don't take the complexity of their technology for granted but I do agree that more interaction and humour would have been preferable, partcularly among the supporting cast. Chekov in particular makes very effective comic relief but he was dull for the whole of this movie (well torrrrpeeeeeedoes.... avaaaaaaay is unintnetionally funny) and they even considered kiling him at one stage.

I also actually like the evolution of the Spock character in this one, mirroring V'ger and its quest to evolve. Upon a recent viewing I could see that Nimoy's performance was extremely subtle and effective. It's a shame that more actors can't pull off 'emotionless' as well as he does in this movie.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Chekov in particular makes very effective comic relief but he was dull for the whole of this movie (well torrrrpeeeeeedoes.... avaaaaaaay is unintnetionally funny) and they even considered kiling him at one stage.

I loved Koenig's stuff in TMP. But his best effort was "Chekov's Enterprise", his official diary on the making of this film. Hilarious stuff!

 

[JonnyQuest037]

I loved Koenig's stuff in TMP. But his best effort was "Chekov's Enterprise", his official diary on the making of this film. Hilarious stuff!

Yes! Probably my favorite passage in the book was at the inital costume fitting. When the actresses in the movie were talking about how tight the new costumes were, Koenig wrote that all of the women in the movie had "superior posteriors".

 

[Therin of Andor]

Yes! Probably my favorite passage in the book was at the inital costume fitting. When the actresses in the movie were talking about how tight the new costumes were, Koenig wrote that all of the women in the movie had "superior posteriors".

Maybe he also saw that woman who passes Decker in the corridor, surely one of the more bizarre castings of an extra.

 

[RyanKCR]

TMP re-visited threads come up a lot, so I tend to repeat points:

1. it's slow
2. the plot borrows from TOS' "the changeling"
3. the movie is basically a one-hour episode plot HEAVILY padded with the 45-minute opening "crew re-uniting plot" and interminable special effects shots and shots of the Enterprise
4. it's slow
5. They take away the charm of the interaction of the crew from TOS by having them be cold and awkward to each other and Spock acts like a dick
6. it's slow
7. it takes itself way too seriously

I tend to like mature, more thoughtful, less violent sci-fi, but TMP is not necessarily more thoughtful and mature, it's simply boring and slow

Yeah one man's thoughful is another man's boring I guess but I think everybody agrees that the movie needed more pace. I actually prefer the early part of the movie where the characters are re-uniting. I've always preferred episodes that featured more than just the big 3, much as I do love them. A more traditional landing party exploring V'ger might have made for a bit more excitement I think.

I prefer the crispness of Starfleet in this one to the campness of V & VI and I like the fact that they don't take the complexity of their technology for granted but I do agree that more interaction and humour would have been preferable, partcularly among the supporting cast. Chekov in particular makes very effective comic relief but he was dull for the whole of this movie (well torrrrpeeeeeedoes.... avaaaaaaay is unintnetionally funny) and they even considered kiling him at one stage.

I also actually like the evolution of the Spock character in this one, mirroring V'ger and its quest to evolve. Upon a recent viewing I could see that Nimoy's performance was extremely subtle and effective. It's a shame that more actors can't pull off 'emotionless' as well as he does in this movie.

I actually like the pace in the movie. Stuff didn't move by so fast that you didn't get a chance to even notice what it was. That is one thing about movies today that I really dislike. They mention something big or important or special and when it arrives on screen it is gone two seconds later.