If I could've only seen one scene on the big screen...

[Amasov]

Being 25 years old, Star Trek has been around a bit longer than I have. I've only managed to see five of the ten films on the big screen. The first I saw was The Final Frontier and have seen every subsequent film outing on release day since then. Sadly, I don't think I've been lucky to enough to see any real memorable shots from the movies that just look spectacular when you see them at the movies.

If there was one I could only see, I think it would have to be when the Enterprise is first unveiled in The Motion Picture. That scene is just made for a theater screen. I just don't get the full scope of it on a TV screen. I can't even imagine how she must've looked when you saw her for the very first time.

That whole sequence is just so moving. Some say it's just far too long and I don't know why. If you ask me, it could've gone on for thirty minutes and I still would've wanted to see more. Let's also not forget that Jerry Goldsmith's score is really what brings it all to life.

God, can they just rerelease this movie for like a day? I don't even want to see the whole movie on the theater screen. I just want to see THIS part of it.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

TWOK! The fight in the Mutara Nebula!

 

[SchwEnt]

I agree TMP drydock scene NEEDS theater screen experience.

I saw it back in '79, too young to appreciate its greatness or scope.

When TUC came out in '91, the last TOS film, my local cinema ran all six TOS films in a marathon session.
It was my last chance, as you say, to just see that one scene from TMP on the big screen.

What a disappointment.

TMP film copy they ran was so crappy it was laughable.
Grammar school film reel quality and I'm not even kidding.
Scratchy, dark, literally cut-and-pasted in places, you name it. Really really bad copy.

Oh well, right?

 

[Peach Wookiee]

That sucks...

 

[Therin of Andor]

SchwEnt said:
TMP film copy they ran was so crappy it was laughable.
Grammar school film reel quality and I'm not even kidding.
Scratchy, dark, literally cut-and-pasted in places, you name it. Really really bad copy.

What a shame. Just before ST V came along, here in Sydney we had STs I-IV, plus the trailer for V, on the big screen and all the prints were good.

In LA, they called such screenings "Sit Long and Prosper".

 

[Arlo]

I remember watching TMP, jazzed beyond recognition, and then that amazing reveal of the Big E...and then more...and more...and....zzzzzzz....

 

[Newski]

The whole first film would probably be better recieved as a whole if seen on the big screen. It's epic in scope. That scene, however, did drag. But not as much as people say. Cut out half a minute or so.

Though I have to admit, I would rather see Kirk yelling "KHAAAAN!!!!!!!!" on the big screen, so that his head would be the biggest thing in the frickin theater when he yells.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

Both scenes would totally kick butt on the big screen. I always loved the scene of Kirk seeing the Enterprise though... I thought it was beautiful.

 

[Kryton]

I saw TMP 12/7/79. I was 7th in line for 2 hours, freezing my ass off...but it was worth it. It was the local "prestige" theater with comfortable rocker seats and a 90-foot curved screen. Of COURSE they had Dolby Stereo sound since it was invented for Star Wars.

I saw Star Wars, Superman: The Movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey, TMP, The Empire Strikes Back, and Temple of Doom in that theater. Damned fine experience...haven't been to a similar theater since (though the ones with stadium seating are nice).

 

[Nebusj]

Kryton said:
I saw Star Wars, Superman: The Movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey, TMP, The Empire Strikes Back, and Temple of Doom in that theater. Damned fine experience...haven't been to a similar theater since (though the ones with stadium seating are nice).

I did see 2001: A Space Odyssey at the State Theater in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It has that name because the screen is approximately the size of Rhode Island, and it's a great way to see the movie. Though I would like to see it in proper Cinerama someday, which I understand is not comparable to any other formats in its theatrical experience.

 

[Maurice]

My favorite big screen shots in TMP are:

The rollover above the Klingon ship...see THAT on a 70 ft. wide screen. Woo!

The bookend shot of the Enterprise at the end of the film, where the camera goes under the ship and swivels around. That's my favorite big screen shot of the ship.

 

[Doug Otte]

I always kick myself for not seeing TMP at the Uptown in Washington, DC for its premiere. I had been a fan of ST since the reruns in the early 70s, but in '79 I was in college, and thought I wasn't interested in Trek anymore. I remember during a college class, the professor and several students discussed TMP, as it had just been released. At the time, I found the discussion interesting, but not enough to go see it.

Anyway, I saw II, III, IV, V, VI, and Generations in the theatre during their first runs. I guess my most memorable "scene" was the entirety of III on opening night (another DC theatre - the old Avalon West End? - don't remember). Anyway, that film is mostly derided here, but I've always thought it was a beautiful and coherent cinematic experience. There were many outstanding moments in the theatre - destruction of the E, changing climate on Genesis, Mount Selaya, etc. - take your pick.

Doug

 

[Therin of Andor]

Doug Otte said:
At the time, I found the discussion interesting, but not enough to go see it.

It was friends' discussion of the gala opening night of TMP (Sydney, Australia) at my own 21st birthday party that made me resolved to go and see this reunion movie of a TV show I knew mainly via TAS (in glorious black and white!) and a few random episodes of TOS.

It was a killer to realize, reading a Dennis Fischer article in "Enterprise Incidents", a few years later, that many of the fan extras in the TMP rec deck scene were LA college students in their early 20s - and, but for a few years and a few thousand kms, that coulda been me!