25 years ago today

[Therin of Andor]

cardinal biggles said:
Those must have been good days, back when a movie would open in June and still be playing in August.

ST:TMP opened in Sydney in December of 1979, but only in the CBD (and perhaps a few regional suburban cinemas). It ran to near-capacity crowds for most of the six weeks of our schools' summer vacation. By the May school holidays, it had moved to a number of suburban cinemas, but was still running in the CBD, IIRC. By the August school holidays, it had moved to some country cinemas for short runs, and it popped up again for some single screenings in suburban civic centre-style halls which were converted to cinemas for school holidays.

ST II had a very similar staggered run, across many months. Film distributors could get by with very few prints of a film for coverage (ie. one or two per state to start off with) and they even recycled advertising posters and banners! Cinemas weren't usually supposed to keep (or sell) daybills etc, and these were returned with the print reels.

The concept of a film opening in 20 or so cineplexes across a city in the "good ol' days" was quite... alien. If you wanted to "own" a movie, you could usually get a very abridged version on a single Super 8 film reel. TMP was available on Super 8 as either the long pre-release presentation film or a set of three abridged reels.

 

[Warped9]

The Squire of Gothos said:
The Wrath of Khan first appeared on the big screen.

What a hoot that must have been, especially after the relative disappointment of the Motion Picture. Another film I wished I'd seen in the cinema on its first release, but then I wasn't even two when it premiered

I wasn't that disappointed with TMP and I wasn't overly impressed with TWoK. And as time has marched on TMP has aged better and TWoK comes off as ever more dumb-as-shit. Now when I look at Trek twenty-five years ago I clearly see with it began going off the rails.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

^I think there are many fans who would disagree with you.

 

[SmoothieX]

I'm with Peach.

To me, TMP seems kinda abstract and dated. I find it long and plodding.

TWOK has more enduring themes to it. Growing old, life and death, friendship, revenge. I still find the battle/action scenes leaving me on the edge of my seat.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

Believe it or not, I rather like both movies. TMP is about the search for what we want in life (Jim Kirk= to be Captain; Will Decker= to be with the woman he loves), and TWOK is about what obsession can do to us, and the ties of brotherhood, friendship and family. That, and kicking some psycho's butt.
Edit: And Smoothie, those action scenes are still incredible! I think the scene in the nebula is partly why I love "The Hunt for Red October."

 

[Borjis]

Therin of Andor said:
If you wanted to "own" a movie, you could usually get a very abridged version on a single Super 8 film reel. TMP was available on Super 8 as either the long pre-release presentation film or a set of three abridged reels.

A SINGLE super8 reel?

Are we talking the standard large size 400ft reel capacity that most projectors can only handle?

That would be just under 30 minutes runtime, possibly 20 minutes if it included sound which runs faster than normal.

abridged indeed!

 

[Therin of Andor]

Borjis said:
possibly 20 minutes if it included sound which runs faster than normal.

Yep, that was about it, IIRC.

I own the presentation reel on Super 8, which is like a long version of the theatrical trailer plus concept footage (the big grid lines in space) and some "making of..." footage. An excellent production. Bought at retail in about 1982.

And then I have one of the three (abridged) story reels, bought in a charity auction, and never played because the projector belt stretched. If I'd known it was only one of three reels, I probably wouldn't have bothered, but then, it was for a charity.

 

[Noname Given]

Peach Wookiee said:
^I think there are many fans who would disagree with you.

Yep, and I'm definitely one. When I first saw TMP in a theatre back in 1979; I came away feeling it failed to capture a lot of the chemistry of the TOS TV show. I didn't hate te film, saw it 3 times in the theatre (this was before the days of films available on VHS tape or 'pay movie channels').

But for me, Star Trek II: TWoK brought that chemistry of the TOS TV show BACK onto the big screen; and that's why I saw STII:TWoK twice on opening day. And the TWoK movie was the first film I ever purchased on video tape (and rushed home to watch it the day I got it).

And you know, it wasn't until I got the tape that I started to think abouty the small inconsistencies - like a Starship sensor array not being able to tell a planet had blown up in a star system; and mistaking one planet for another; or the fact that the Chekov character was a part of TOS intil it's second season AFTER the envents of Space Seed took place.

So, while teh Director's Cut of ST:TMP has made me appreciate it more; I still think STII:TWoK is the best and most faithful overall to the TOS legacy (inconsistencies and all); and don't find it at all 'shitty'.

 

[Warped9]

Peach Wookiee said:
^I think there are many fans who would disagree with you.

So? Is this some kind of popularity contest? I've always been wary of mob psychology and "popular" opinion since I'm often suspicious of it. Popularity doesn't automatically equal "good" in my view. Indeed I've often found things popular with many people to be pure garbage that doesn't stand the flimsiest scrutiny.

- Friends the tv series.
- any and all reality shows.
- the insane support for Bush's stupid lie based war a few years back.
- easily 90% of tv and film sf including the way overrated DS9, and I'm an sf fan.

And theres lots more.

 

[InklingStar]

There is marching to the beat of your own drummer, ignoring the crowd, doing and enjoying whatever you want... and then there is loudly proclaiming in every nook and cranny that the things you like are superior to the things you do not like, and then following that with the assumption that you have better taste than those who disagree with you.

I like TMP and TWoK pretty much equally. They are two entirely different movies but they both capture what was great about Star Trek. TMP is about exploring what it means to be human. TWoK is about the meaning of friendship and growing old. They are both masterpieces.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

Warped9, my purpose was reminding everyone that we all have different opinions of what constitutes a good Trek movie. I love both TMP and TWOK because they're different and good.

 

[Kryton]

Actually, I hold the unpopular view that TSFS is superior in several ways to TWOK...so I guess I SORT OF commiserate with you.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

^I don't know about superior, but the stories of TWOK and TSFS go together. TMP, if you think about it, gets the ball rolling... How did Kirk deal with Decker's choice?

 

[USS Kongo]

I was 17 that summer. Since there were no theaters in my area of New Jersey that showed the film, I took a bus into New York City and saw TWOK on my own. It was the middle of the day in the middle of the week, and the theater was still packed.

Despite having a hell of a time trying to figure out what bus to take back to Jersey at the Port Authority bus station(I'm deaf, and an NYPD cop finally came over and helped me) I still had a great time. TWOK remains one of my favorite Trek films to this day.

Sean