Change Three Things About Each Film

[JonnyQuest037]

OK, here's the game: You can change three things, and ONLY three things, about each film. Your changes can range from something as small as altering a line of dialogue to something huge like recasting a part or giving the script another rewrite before it goes before the cameras. What do you change?

TMP
1) I'd make our heroes more active than reactive throughout the story. Kirk can still be off his game a bit at the beginning of the story, but by halfway through he should be getting his bearings back and come up with some cool Kirk strategies for dealing with V'Ger. Maybe that could get them off the damn bridge sooner.
2) The movie desperately needs some humor. Everyone outside of McCoy is just so damn serious throughout the film. I recognize that it's a serious situation, but I wish they'd also recognized that Kirk & Co. have a tendency to banter even in serious situations. Man, how I wish that Gene Coon had still been alive to give the script a rewrite.
3) Change up the uniforms. Not a big alteration, just giving them all a bit of the two-tone thing that Kirk's Admiral uniform had. That would've added a lot more visual interest to the movie.

TWOK
Not much I'd change here, as I feel it's pretty great already, but here's what I'd do:

1) Somehow plug the plot hole of the Reliant not noticing a missing planet. Maybe a meteor could've crashed onto Ceti Alpha V instead, resulting in the atmospheric changes we saw on the planet? I dunno. Something more scientifically plausible that achieves the same story result.
2) Give Uhura and Sulu some character moments in the film to match what Scotty and Chekov got. I'd be good with leaving in the idea of Sulu getting his own command as long as that incredibly stilted dialogue gets a rewrite ("Any chance to go aboard the Enterprise, however briefly, is always an exercise in nostalgia." - WHO TALKS LIKE THAT?!?"). And Uhura... I don't know, even something that gave us an idea of what was happening in her life or career would be nice.
3) A face-to-face meeting between Khan and Kirk would've been cool. Maybe Kirk could beam over to the Reliant in an attempt to stop the Genesis countdown, prompting a last-minute escape just before Spock's sacrifice.

TSFS
1) Kirstie Alley continues as Saavik. I don't care how much more money she wanted. She was worth it.
2) I'd make the other Starfleet personnel less buffoonish throughout the film.
3) Replace Admiral Morrow with Admiral Cartwright. Let's bring Brock Peters in one film early. He's more authoritative and more believable as a longtime friend of James T. Kirk's.

TVH
1) Replace Leonard Rosenman's score. I know TVH is a light and whimsical film, but Rosenman's score is just a bit too light & whimsical for me.
2) Cast another child actor so that that the scene of Sulu meeting his great-great-grandfather could've stayed in the film.
3) I'm at a loss of what else to change, so I'll just say have Kirstie Alley as Saavik again, and bring her along to the 20th century with the rest of the crew.

TFF
Ooh boy. Tough to limit this one to just three, but I'll give it a shot...

1) Sybok is more intense and fanatical, so he's slightly unhinged and scary. Maybe play up the "He hears voices from God" thing.
2) Sybok isn't Spock's literal brother, but instead an old friend from the Vulcan monastery when Spock was studying the Kohlinar. I think 1989 was way too late to play the "Spock's long-lost brother" card, especially considering that McCoy had already carried Spock's katra around for a while.
3) Better special effects. Let's say that somehow the schedules get rearranged so that ILM's A-team is available to work on this picture.

TUC
1) Valeris is still Saavik and Kirstie Alley is still playing her. Then her betrayal would've really taken audiences by surprise. And it'd be cool to give the character a definitive ending. (I love Kim Cattrall in the film, but man, it would've been cool to see Alley play Saavik betraying Spock.)
2) It would've been really nice to include at least the scene of Kirk getting called back to duty, so we could see that he'd reconciled with Carol Marcus. It's a crying shame that Bibi Besch wasn't brought back for any of the other Trek films. The rest of the gathering of the crew scenes I can live without, but that one would've been nice.
3) I've give it a higher budget, so they could give the story some more of the spectacle it deserved. At least enough so that the sets weren't so obviously redressed from TNG.

I'm going to abstain from doing the TNG films for now, but if people have ideas for those, feel free!

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

I’ll play.

TMP

• No rank reduction for Kirk; leave him as an admiral and Decker as a captain (as this maintains continuity with the other films)
• The two-and-a-half-year gap between TOS and TMP has never made sense given all the technological advancement seen in the film; a 7-10-year gap is more plausible
• Agree with JohnnyQuest’s desire for more humor; the characters were written too stiffly

TWOK

• Include Khan’s original followers in the film; the all-white group didn’t make sense
• Replace Chekov with Christine Chapel (as Reliant’s CMO), as she was definitely around for “Space Seed”
• Include dialogue indicating McCoy and Terrell’s friendship (as they’d apparently served together prior to TWOK)

TSFS

• Kirstie Alley as Saavik
• Replace Styles with Stiles from “Balance of Terror”
• Include Romulans in the film; perhaps they provide Kruge with the Genesis information because they’re hoping to provoke a war

TVH

• Make the Enterprise-A an Excelsior-class ship
• Alley as Saavik
• Fix Scotty’s rank

TFF

• Eliminate the ship-wide malfunctions; they weren’t even funny the first time
• Give Klaa a better reason than “I’m bored” for wanting to engage Kirk
• Remove the scene with Scotty bumping his head

TUC

• Replace Valeris with Saavik
• Have Saavik betray the crew by conspiring with Chang
• Have Chekov serve as Sulu’s first officer

Edit: Having thought about the TNG films, I've now added my changes for those films to this post.

GEN

• Either leave Kirk out of the film altogether or at least leave him in the Nexus; I'd have preferred that Kirk's ultimate fate remain unknown, but if he had to die, I'd rather he'd done so saving the Enterprise than getting bested by whack-job like Soran
• Eliminate the scenes in which Data's exploring his emotions; they didn't add anything to the film
• Make Soran's co-conspirators Romulans rather than Klingons (especially Lursa and B'Etor)

FC

• I had no problem with the idea of the Borg having a queen, but remove the scenes in which she's trying to seduce Data
• Include O'Brien among the Defiant's crew, as he'd likely have participated in a battle with the Borg because of his combat experience
• Come up with a better design for the Enterprise-E

INS

• Find a way to more directly tie the film to the Dominion War; I realize that not everyone who watched TNG also watched DS9, but there are better ways of establishing solid in-universe continuity than throwaway lines
• Leave Worf out of the film, as his absence could have been explained as part of the dialogue detailing the Federation's conflict with the Dominion; INS would have been a good opportunity to introduce some new crew members
• Actually show the scenes in which Ru'afo and his followers were expelled from the Baku village as youth; the Son'a and the Baku being the same race came out of nowhere and seemed contrived

NEM

• For the love of gawd, no Shinzon and no Remans; make the film about a Romulan civil war/coup d'etat so that the Romulans approaching the Federation about peace actually makes sense, and try to include Spock, Sela or Tomalak
  
• No B4; either kill Data off permanently or allow him to survive the film; leaving back doors for characters to return isn't creative storytelling
• I'm okay with Worf appearing in this film (as dialogue explaining that he hadn't liked his assignment on Qu'nos could have been included in the film), but as above, include some new crew members and holdovers from INS

 

[Lance Warren Baylis]

The rest of the movies require more thought and I might come back to them later But here's what I'd change about The Motion Picture to begin with:

• Dispense so much with the 'getting the gang back together' stuff. Some of that feels even in the finished movie like carry-over from when the script was still a pilot episode for a new TV show. I'd start it in media res, like many an episode of TOS, with the crew already 'out there' when they recieve the call from Epsilon, or perhaps excise Epsilon completely and just have the Enterprise intercept the Klingon S.O.S. directly.

• Spock as part of the crew from the outset, Decker not. In accordance with above the new characters are largely redundant. Maybe even Ilia.

• TOS was a show that mixed philosophy and punch 'em out action almost equally. TMP needs a punchier climax, and maybe something more immediately threatening during the 'journey into V'Ger' stages, so instead of having it destroy the things it absorbs, I'd have it that the cloud captures them instead. So at the midway point the Klingon cruisers are reintroduced, having been floating around inside V'ger for a while longer than the Enterprise and whose crew are confused, angry and ready to fight, and who assume V'Ger is a Federation weapon and the presence of our crew confirms their suspicions. Once V'ger is dispersed in Earth orbit, we're left with a faceoff between the Klingon ships and the Enterprise. The climax of the movie then becomes a firefight in space, with the Enterprise seperating the saucer in order to even the odds.

 

[tharpdevenport]

ST: TMP
Been too long since I've seen it to suggest anything good. I'm just so bored to death by it I never want to see it again, even though I consider it the one film truly in line with the series.


STII: TWoK
1. Khan knowing Checov.
2. Khan having a movie-era buckle insignia somehow.

Nothing else comes to mind.


STIII: TSfS
Also been too long since I've seen it to comment on changes.


STIV: TVH
Good lord, this film. Three isn't enough!
1. There are no whales. Fuck that. The probe is looking for or doing something else that doesn't require Spock to talk down to us about "human arrogance".
Now it's open space from there on in.


STV: TFF
1. The Enterprise doesn't go [back!] to the barrier, which is said in the original series to be in the center of the galaxy -- it's too far away to reach at their highest warp (yes, I know that was ignored in the original series).
2. Sybok's apparent abilities are explained the way I see them: Sybok's mind has evolved and can affect reality, that's why we see the memories in real life from Spock and McCoy. And in fact in the end, Sybok and the crew aren't battling "God", a deity, a Klingon hologram, but Sybok's own conflicted mind which can't full grasp what it can do and is at odds against itself. Perhaps lines something to the affect:
McCoy: "What do you make of it, Jim?"
Kirk: "You know, McCoy, old Earth lore told of Icarus who flew too high and in the face of God and was struck for it; that perhaps man wasn't meant to fly. Maybe, just maybe, Sybok's mind thought in the realm of God and man isn't mean to have that kind of power; our minds can't handle it."
McCoy: "Man's gotta know his limitations."
3. Absolutely no fucking Uhura naked fan dance.
4. Absolutely no sudden and forced and BRIEF Uhura/Scotty feelings shit.



That's it for now.


EDIT:
Sorry, thought I saw "four".

 

[WarpFactorZ]

I was going to contribute, but I think most of the things I'd change are already mentioned! I'll limit mine to 1 per movie, so as not to bore anyone.

TMP:
1. Set it closer to 10 years post TOS (i.e. real-time), maybe 7 at the least. 2.5 years isn't enough time for Kirk to get really antsy and rusty, nor to miss everyone. It also gives more of a significance for the crew re-uniting. It reminds me of the "reunion" in the last episode of Dawson's Creek, where only 5 years have passed, but they act as if it's 15!

TWOK:
1. Restore the scene where Sulu's promotion to Captain of the Excelsior is mentioned. That would have made his actions / sacrifice in TSFS all the more meaningful, and ties it nicely together with events of VI.

TSFS:
1. Kirstie Alley as Saavik.

TVH:
1. Phasers don't work around nominal background radiation? Chekov should have stunned the guards and ran. Maybe he loses the phaser over the side of the boat when he falls, so no one finds it.

TFF:
1. This could have been a better movie, provided:
(a) dial the "humor" back 400%. It worked in IV because of the premise -- crew out of place in 1986 -- not because it was a new formula for Trek success,
(b) Kirk et al. shouldn't suddenly be in top-top-TOS shape. That completely negates the progression of the previous films. Treat them as their proper age,
(c) no galactic barrier, but maybe be scientifically accurate and put Shakari around Saggitarius A* (black hole at the center of the galaxy), and lastly
(d) better SFX.
Oh, one more: lose the Klaa subplot. It's pointless and isn't needed (plus, it goes against the theme established in VI). Or make it another species hell-bent on destroying the Enterprise.

TUC:
1. Restore Saavik and cast Alley.
2. Provide a clause in the contracts such that the actors can never reprise their roles in any stupid movie involving TNG!....

 

[tharpdevenport]

Generations
1. The Enterprise D is either not destroyed, or it another Galaxy-class ship gets re-named to the Enterprise, like in the D.S.9. with the Defiant. This avoids the ugly-ass Enterprise E.
2. A better death for Kirk.

First Contact
1. The Borg are like they were from "The Best of Both Worlds". So, that also means no queen.
2. No time travel shit.
3. No Action Picard. In fact, better character development over all.


Insurrection
I don't need three: the whole idea needs to be junked and a new film in it's place.


Nemesis
Same as above.

 

[Nyotarules]

Star Trek 2009
1.Show Nero attacking Vulcan defenses
2.Get rid of speed by plot, Earth to Vulcan in 5 minutes???
3.Promote Spock to Captain, do not promote Kirk.

Star Trek Into Darkness
1.Put Pike in a coma, make it seem he is going tn die but recover by the end of the movie
2.Make John Harrison, Joaquin instead of Khan
3.Uhura should be professional enough and not be having a heart to heart in the middle of a mission, delete that scene

Star Trek Beyond
1.Keep 'too early for a mid life crisis' Kirk but delete the promote him to Admiral after three years crap, Kirk is not a genius or is Starfleet that desperate? Give him a post that would make him Commodore Paris boss? Please, they need navy advisors for the franchise.
2. Bring back Dr. Carol Marcus
3.

 

[Kor]

TMP:
1. Tighter pacing with a little more of an action/adventure feel.
2. Not so much gray and tan everywhere.
3. A more tangible antagonist.

TWOK:
1. Tie in more closely in tone and aesthetics to TMP (easier if TMP was changed as noted above).
2. Make the "scientific" aspects hold up a little better under scrutiny (even considering that suspension of disbelief is needed to a degree).
3. Khan's crew should include Marla McGivers somehow and they should be his contemporaries, instead of a bunch of folks who are too young to be the original crew from SS Botany Bay but too old to be their kids.

TSFS:
1. Spock is not revivable. Saavik (played by Kirstie Alley) takes on Spock's narrative role as resident Vulcan logician.
2. In addition to the Klingons, somehow involve the Romulans somehow in an epic struggle for the power of Genesis which closely involves Saavik because of her Romulan admixture, which is made explicitly clear in the story.
3. Make the Klingons look a little more like they did in TMP.

TVH:
1. Music by James Horner.
2. More 1980s Cold War-era cloak & dagger, and less lighthearted humor, with Saavik (still played by Kirstie Alley) taking on a more prominent role as she fills Spock's shoes.
3. On a bitter note, Sarek and Kirk are estranged because Kirk wasn't able to save Spock.

More later... maybe.

Kor

 

[Maurice]

TMP

1. Give Kirk an actual arc like Spock has. I've always thought he should be blind to his own obsessions until Spock risks death in search of answers to his own obsession, and this makes Kirk see he's on a similar trajectory and pull himself out of it.
2. Make the crew more active in finding answers, trying to figure things out. As is they are much too passive, I mean, as an example, Spock realizes the Intruder has been attempting to communicate, but no one ever discusses what the incoming message was, tries to follow up with additional messages, or whatever. There ought to have been a brief briefing scene after they get to warp where everyone gets to show their stuff and plan their strategy upon reaching the Intruder, which gives each of the minor players a moment to show their professionalism and satisfy fans while actually moving the story forward. When the meeting adjourns, Kirk stops Spock and they have the discussion that happens in the officer's lounge. That sort of thing.
3. Make Kirk decide to join with V'ger, but have V'ger via Ilia reject him in favor of Decker, that tiny bit of her that was awakened making the "emotional" choice rather than the purely logical one.

TWOK

1. Generally get rid of the plot conveniences, like Kirk and his old crew just happen to be on the Enterprise which just happens to be the only ship in the quadrant when it just happens that his former flame's Manhattan Project just happens to be hijacked by a guy Kirk just happened to ditch on the planet that Chekov's ship just happens to visit after they just happen to miscount the planets.
2. Give Kirk and Khan a face to face encounter.
3. Make up some rules for the goddamned Genesis Device and stick to them so it doesn't do space magic all over the place.

TSFS
Never liked it. Too many things to fix.

TVH

1. Make the Whale Probe less V'ger Mk. II
2. Don't land in Golden Gate Park. A jogger would slam into it every 10 minutes.
3. Tell Rosenman to stop riffing on his Hobbit music.

TFF

1. Start over with a different script.
2. Start over with a different script!
3. Start over with a different script!!!

TUC

1. More Manchurian Candidate and less Scooby Doo.
2. Be more clever with the racism, more subtle, so the audience finds itself caught thinking the same things the crew thinks and realize we're all guilty of stereotyping people.
3. Stop with the literary quotations. It wore out its welcome in TWOK.

 

[Smellmet]

TMP
1. Give the uniforms some more colour, like the series it's based on.
2. Have one of the 3 Klingon cruisers escape vger and have the enterprise face it as it approaches the cloud.
3. Tighten some the longer FX shots for better pacing.

TWOK
1. Slight re-write to tighten up the plot holes in the movie - have Ceti Alpha 5 devastated by an asteroid so we don't have the Reliant 'losing a planet'
2. As mentioned above, set some rules for the Genesis device. At no point in the existing film is it supposed to create a planet and sun from nothing, unless it's the Regula moon becoming a planet we see at the end of the film, still, where does that star come from?
3. Ditch the uniforms.

TSFS
1. Ditch all the Katra stuff and just have the Genesis effect regenerate Spock's adult body, not have him growing from a child, which makes absolutely no sense.
2. Shoot the Genesis scenes on location.
3. Ditch the pace-sapping scenes on Vulcan. Jump straight to the crew being re-united with Spock.

TVH
1. As mentioned above, Horner score please.
2. Tone down the humour a little.
3. Different FX sequence for the time travel sequence.

TFF
1. Different story entirely
2. Totally new FX
3. Tone down the humour again.

TUC
1. Have the Chancellor's D7 fire on the Enterprise before Kirk surrenders, in fact make Chang's ship a D7 too. Can't get enough of that design.
2. Lose the translation scene, or improve it with something that doesn't make the crew look like total buffoons.
3. Have the crew sign off with the character's names, not the actors.

GEN
1. Lose the Nexus entirely and find a better way to get Kirk into the 24th century.
2. Better space battle with the Klingons - if the D has to go down (I love the saucer crash), at least let it go down to something more formidable than an old BoP. Have the Duras sisters in a Vor'cha class vessel at least.
3. Better death for Kirk.

INS
1. As TFF, different story entirely. Make it something to include the Dominion war.
2. Tone down the humour, or at least make it work better.
3. Make it actually look like a big screen movie, not an average looking episode.

NEM
1. Lose B4 and replace with Lore somehow.
2. Replace Donatra with Tomalak, or at least include him somehow.
3. Lose the crap about Shinzon needing Picard's blood, and the making him wait for 17 hours in orbit.

ST09
1. Ditch the fast track promotion stuff. Make Kirk earn the chair, don't have him as captain at the end.
2. Re-write dumping Kirk on Delta Vega and the ridiculous coincidence of meeting Spock there.
3. Re-write Nero's story so he's not sat about for decades twiddling his thumbs.

STID
1. Have the Enterprise fire back at the Vengeance and not be overwhelmed so easily.
2. Find a better way to have the ships arriving in earth orbit other than being knocked out of warp at the exact right moment - I mean when was Sulu going to pull the ship back to impulse? Then have earth defences join in the fracas instead of there being nothing protecting the planet whatsoever.
3. Javier Bardem or Del Toro as Khan.

STB
1. Ditch the motorcycle scene entirely. It's shit. Have The Franklin rise above the horizon firing at Krall's goons whilst beaming up the crew instead.
2. Lose the Beastie Boys scene and find a better way to stop the Swarm.
3. Make Altamid seem more alien.

 

[Lance Warren Baylis]

Better space battle with the Klingons - if the D has to go down (I love the saucer crash), at least let it go down to something more formidable than an old BoP. Have the Duras sisters in a Vor'cha class vessel at least.

While I can appreciate the visual interest/reverse David v Goliath idea of seeing one tiny ass fighter taking down the Federation's biggest ship, I think the problem is actually in the direction. The scene seems weak because we only get one or two space shots of the bird of prey firing at the slow lumbering Enterprise. Close inspection shows in the interior scenes that the Enterprise is pretty much under constant attack the whole time (sets shaking, extras being blown across the room, etc) but without the visual elements of actually seeing the bird of prey running circles around them and doing strafing runs on the ship, these things just become background and the battle feels weak. So, the real answer is splash some cash, and give us a few more exterior shots to really help 'sell' the idea of David giving Goliath a beat down. If we actually saw more of the BOP carving up the Enterprise, it might also help emphasize exactly why the ship suffers that coolant leak, if we got to see it taking severe damage in the battle. It's utterly ridiculous that the TV show, which had a smaller effects budget, had more exciting dynamic battle sequences than the one that actually brings the 1701-D down.

 

[Marsden]

While I can appreciate the visual interest/reverse David v Goliath idea of seeing one tiny ass fighter taking down the Federation's biggest ship, I think the problem is actually in the direction. The scene seems weak because we only get one or two space shots of the bird of prey firing at the slow lumbering Enterprise. Close inspection shows in the interior scenes that the Enterprise is pretty much under constant attack the whole time (sets shaking, extras being blown across the room, etc) but without the visual elements of actually seeing the bird of prey running circles around them and doing strafing runs on the ship, these things just become background and the battle feels weak. So, the real answer is splash some cash, and give us a few more exterior shots to really help 'sell' the idea of David giving Goliath a beat down. If we actually saw more of the BOP carving up the Enterprise, it might also help emphasize exactly why the ship suffers that coolant leak, if we got to see it taking severe damage in the battle. It's utterly ridiculous that the TV show, which had a smaller effects budget, had more exciting dynamic battle sequences than the one that actually brings the 1701-D down.

I agree all around, they were so cheap they reused the explosion from the previous movie! I suppose "average movie-goer" might not of noticed, but I did immediately and it sucked.

 

[Maurice]

It's just a poorly conceived scene all the way around. The moment they realized their shields were being breached they should have just pasted the BOP.

 

[tharpdevenport]

Or changed the shield frequency. Or rotated it.

One: they didn't know Geordi can see it.
Two: Geordi wouldn't be seeing it the whole time, so we the audience would have bought my suggestions.

 

[Maurice]

I've aleays said the way to make that scene work is a shot gets through the shields, and Geordi rotates the shield frequency. The Klingons see this, and adjust, getting another hit. After several of these, Geordi realizes what's happening, rips off the visor and yells for a someone else to adjust the shields, but it's too late. You coulda had a tense buildup with that.

Even then, Riker should have just pulverized the BOP with an all out salvo the moment the first hit got through.

 

[WarpFactorZ]

I agree all around, they were so cheap they reused the explosion from the previous movie! I suppose "average movie-goer" might not of noticed, but I did immediately and it sucked.

This was probably one of the biggest slaps in the face from Generations for me, after an hour and a half of ridiculous trash. Others felt the same way -- I remember audible "booos" coming from the audience.

Other large slaps in the face: Data's "Tiny Little Life Forms" song, Lursa and B'etor as the villains (really?), Scotty and Chekov clearly delivering lines written for Spock and McCoy, Data in general...

 

[Mudd]

Loved Data's "Tiny little life forms" song. And Data in general.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Here are three little things that I would change in TMP:

1) When the Enterprise is attacked the plasma sphere, it should have been digitized, roll credits. Ergo, you can't have it actually hit. They've seen them attack the Klingon ships, they know what these things are and so do we. So, just fold the first attack into the second, except have Spock, or better yet Uhura, realize that someone's been trying to communicate with them as the digitizer is already on its way. Spock and Uhura get it together and send the reply, just in time for V'ger to turn off the weapon.

2) Cut down the V'ger cloud penetration and object flyover. A lot. Agreed with everybody on this point.

3) The computer voice was interesting and should stay in, but the number of times it repeated things was beyond excessive. Saying each announcement only once or maybe twice would be enough, and it would keep the story moving.

As others have indicated, like @Maurice, there are fundamental story issues that need to be addressed too, like Kirk's arc. But the OP wanted only three.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

TMP

1. Increase the pacing and add some more action
2. Do more with Decker and Ilia
3. Have a greater Starfleet response (rather than just one ship, at least one more that could be lost to heighten the immediate danger to our heroes)

TWOK

1. Include the line in all versions that establishes Scotty's relationship to Midshipman Preston
2. Make Saavik's half-Romulan heritage canon
3. Hint at something between Saavik and David

TSFS

1. Hire Kirstie Alley as Saavik
2. Don't de-age Spock, Saavik and David find his as an adult with no memory and little intellect, acting more on instinct
3. Spock attacks the Klingon landing party and is killed protecting Saavik and David
4. Honourable Mention: Redesign the Grissom to be more practical

TVH

1. Saavik and David join the adventure into the 1980s
2. Tone down the campy humour
3. Keep the Bird-of-Prey's original bridge

TFF

1. Hire a new Director
2. Have a new antagonist, rather than hippy Vulcan with a tenuous connection to Spock
3. Drop the whole Eden/God plot, give the antagonist a different, more impactful, motivation (e.g. looking to start an all-out interstellar war between the big three powers)

TUC

1. Have Chekov as Sulu's First Officer, so when Kirk and McCoy are captured it is Uhura who assumes command of the Enterprise
2. Introduce new Helm and Navigation Officers (in correct uniform colours and ranks) and don't make it as obvious which one is the traitor
3. Have Kirk retire at the end and Uhura promoted to Captain

 

[J.T.B.]

1) When the Enterprise is attacked the plasma sphere, it should have been digitized, roll credits. Ergo, you can't have it actually hit. They've seen them attack the Klingon ships, they know what these things are and so do we. So, just fold the first attack into the second, except have Spock, or better yet Uhura, realize that someone's been trying to communicate with them as the digitizer is already on its way. Spock and Uhura get it together and send the reply, just in time for V'ger to turn off the weapon.

Oh that's good.

3) The computer voice was interesting and should stay in, but the number of times it repeated things was beyond excessive. Saying each announcement only once or maybe twice would be enough, and it would keep the story moving.

I have to admit I miss it when it's not there:

"Emergency alert! Negative control at helm!"
"Emergency alert! Negative control at helm!"
"Emergency alert! Negative control at helm!"

Now to be fair, it would make realistic sense for the alarm to be repeated until someone took whatever action was required. But, yeah, annoying. I have never seen it confirmed, but I have always suspected that particular message was influenced by the airliner stick shakers and audible alarms being developed after major air crashes in the '70s.