Imagine a big-budget Trek movie at that time...

[Kor]

What if Star Trek had gotten the big-budget treatment around the same time as "Planet of the Apes" and "2001" instead of a whole decade later? For some reason, this has always been a dream of mine, though I realize it was rare for a TV show to be adapted into a theatrical feature.

For this imaginary Trek film, I am picturing a big-budget feature with visual effects in the vein of "2001," and A-list guest stars. What do you think would have been a good story, and what actors would you have loved to see interact with the Enterprise crew? What visuals would you have liked? Etc., etc.

I'll start... Yul Brynner as a Klingon captain.

Kor

 

[Melakon]

Are you suggesting that Star Trek as a series never existed? Or a feature film, between season 2 and 3? Or instead of Season 3, at which point the series was already ill-regarded by NBC?

For an example of an actual hit television show making a simultaneous leap to the big screen between seasons, see Batman.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_(1966_film)

 

[Kor]

Well, to get into the nitty-gritty details, I guess it would have been a best-case scenario where the series was regarded so well by the network that the bigwigs pushed for a theatrical feature, perhaps between seasons two and three like you said.

And Batman was the first example I thought of as well. There were also several "Man from UNCLE" features, but they were basically extended episodes in full color, and not even in a wider aspect ratio.

But I'm trying not to dwell too much on the logistics of how this actually would have come about.

Kor

 

[Melakon]

I watched UNCLE from its first year on network, and saw some of those "features" in the theater. I liked To Trap a Spy best, because it had the original Goldsmith theme.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

When TNG moved to the big screen, they tore down the Ent-D sets (or at least the bridge, I know for sure) and built new versions that were more detailed. And they built a new miniature of the ship itself, didn't they?

A full-fledged, big-budget "A-movie" of Star Trek (not the treatment Batman and The Man from UNCLE got) in 1968 would have required new interior sets. Much as I love the TOS bridge, it would suffer in a Hollywood prestige film.

I don't know if the TV 11-footer would have held up to the esthetic standards of a top film director in 1968. My heart says it must, but my head is going the other way. We have affection for the model.

 

[Warped9]

It's an interesting thought. I think it's safe to say that it wouldn't have looked anything like TMP.

That said a lot would depend on how much they would want to remain consistent with the series. If you want it to be consistent and be in the same continuity then in terms of how things looked you could add more detail, but you wouldn't make wholesale changes. So costumes, sets and miniatures could be made to more exacting standards, but would look much the same. That's where you could say, "This is what it really looks like." The third season uniforms were made of better fabric and the recreations we see of them in fan productionss shows they could have worked for a '60's era feature film.

Aliens such as the Klingons got short changed in terms of makeup and wardrobe so we might have seen more exotic looking Klingons though not necessarily what we got in TMP and later. Then again we mightn't have seen Klingons. In TOS Klingons weren't really the major players they were made into in the films and spinoffs.

I like to think we wouldn't have gotten an origin story, but one set within the current 5-year mission.

 

[BillJ]

I like to think we wouldn't have gotten an origin story, but one set within the current 5-year mission.

Wasn't Roddenberry already floating an origin story idea in the late-60's?

 

[Warped9]

I like to think we wouldn't have gotten an origin story, but one set within the current 5-year mission.

Wasn't Roddenberry already floating an origin story idea in the late-60's?

First I've heard of it.

 

[mos6507]

If it were to involve Douglas Trumbull and it were to happen post-2001 then I think it would be very similar to what we got with TMP, just with more of a UFO mod-flavor vs. a disco-70s flavor. Other than Gerry Anderson's people I don't think there was a lot of really A-list FX people capable of doing space shots at the time that was above the quality of TOS.

 

[Kor]

I don't know if the TV 11-footer would have held up to the esthetic standards of a top film director in 1968. My heart says it must, but my head is going the other way. We have affection for the model.

I think it was certainly big enough to use in a theatrical film. Perhaps more surface detail, paneling, weathering, etc., could have been added, similar to Greg Jein's model for "Trials and Tribble-ations." It would have been easy to add lots of protruding pieces for extraneous detail, like the ships in Star Wars, but that would take away from the intentionally sleek and smooth design.

Wasn't Roddenberry already floating an origin story idea in the late-60's?

As early as 1968 from what I gather, and the idea was for a feature.

Kor

 

[Harvey]

What's the source of that claim?

It rings a bell, but I can't remember the details.

 

[TRON JA307020]

I don't know if the TV 11-footer would have held up to the esthetic standards of a top film director in 1968. My heart says it must, but my head is going the other way. We have affection for the model.

I think it was certainly big enough to use in a theatrical film. Perhaps more surface detail, paneling, weathering, etc., could have been added, similar to Greg Jein's model for "Trials and Tribble-ations." It would have been easy to add lots of protruding pieces for extraneous detail, like the ships in Star Wars, but that would take away from the intentionally sleek and smooth design.

Wasn't Roddenberry already floating an origin story idea in the late-60's?

As early as 1968 from what I gather, and the idea was for a feature.

Kor

I thought it was early 70s.

 

[BillJ]

What's the source of that claim?

It rings a bell, but I can't remember the details.

I can't either, but the 1968 date definitely sounds right. But I'm getting old and could be getting details confused.

 

[Navigator_NCC2120]

Well, off the top of my head, how about Charlton Heston as a rogue Star Fleet Captain or Commodore hell-bent on revenge against the Romulans for killing a close friend or family member that was posted on one of those outposts along the Neutral Zone from TOS Episode “Balance of Terror”. His hate and anger has driven him insane, so he and his crew start using their starship to destroy Romulan outposts along the Neutral Zone. Star Fleet sends the Enterprise to investigate because they have lost contact with this starship and is not aware that it has gone rogue. Kirk and crew figure out it has gone rogue and Kirk tries to reason with Heston’s character, but fails. A Romulan D7 battlecruiser has received the distress calls from the Romulan outposts and arrives and decloakes on the scene. The Rom D7 works together with the Enterprise to disable the rogue Fed starship. Enterprise may have to possibly beam over boarding parties to subdue its crew in order to tow this starship back to the nearest Starbase.

For more conflict you could have the Romulan D7 betray Kirk by it (Rom D7) trying to destroy the rogue Fed starship, forcing the Enterprise to disable both the Fed starship and Romulan D7 at the same time or have the Enterprise arrive just in time to prevent the Rom D7 from trying to destoy the rogue Fed starship forcing the Enterprise to disable both the Rom D7 and the rogue Fed starship.

It is just a rough idea, if it sounds lame to you or too fan wanky or not long enough to be a feature film then please feel free to modify it and/or add to it.

The Monkees TV series only ran for 2 years from 1966 to 1968 and then they made a theatrical film released in 1968 called “Head”, which bombed. I was a fan of the Monkees TV show, but this film was terrible. My point is that even though NBC canceled the Star Trek TV series we can pretend Paramount made a Star Trek film after NBC canceled it. So in this hypothetical situation Paramount does not necessarily have to make a Star Trek film between Seasons 2 and 3, but after Season 3. Either way would be fine by me.


Navigator NCC-2120, USS Entente
/\

 

[Warped9]

Well, off the top of my head, how about Charlton Heston as a rogue Star Fleet Captain or Commodore hell-bent on revenge against the Romulans for killing a close friend or family member that was posted on one of those outposts along the Neutral Zone from TOS Episode “Balance of Terror”. His hate and anger has driven him insane, so he and his crew start using their starship to destroy Romulan outposts along the Neutral Zone. Star Fleet sends the Enterprise to investigate because they have lost contact with this starship and is not aware that it has gone rogue. Kirk and crew figure out it has gone rogue and Kirk tries to reason with Heston’s character, but fails. A Romulan D7 battlecruiser has received the distress calls from the Romulan outposts and arrives and decloakes on the scene. The Rom D7 works together with the Enterprise to disable the rogue Fed starship. Enterprise may have to possibly beam over boarding parties to subdue its crew in order to tow this starship back to the nearest Starbase.

For more conflict you could have the Romulan D7 betray Kirk by it (Rom D7) trying to destroy the rogue Fed starship, forcing the Enterprise to disable both the Fed starship and Romulan D7 at the same time or have the Enterprise arrive just in time to prevent the Rom D7 from trying to destoy the rogue Fed starship forcing the Enterprise disabling both the Rom D7 and the rogue Fed starship.

It is just a rough idea, if it sounds lame to you or too fan wanky then please feel free to modify it.

The Monkees TV series only ran for 2 years from 1966 to 1968 and then they made a theatrical film released in 1968 called “Head”, which bombed. I was a fan of the Monkees TV show, but this film was terrible. My point is that even though NBC canceled the Star Trek TV series we can pretend Paramount made a Star Trek film after NBC canceled it. So in this hypothetical situation Paramount does not necessarily have to make a Star Trek film between Seasons 2 and 3, but after Season 3. Either way would be fine by me.


Navigator NCC-2120, USS Entente
/\

So essentially the TNG episode "The Wounded" done twenty some years earlier.

 

[Navigator_NCC2120]

Well, off the top of my head, how about Charlton Heston as a rogue Star Fleet Captain or Commodore hell-bent on revenge against the Romulans for killing a close friend or family member that was posted on one of those outposts along the Neutral Zone from TOS Episode “Balance of Terror”. His hate and anger has driven him insane, so he and his crew start using their starship to destroy Romulan outposts along the Neutral Zone. Star Fleet sends the Enterprise to investigate because they have lost contact with this starship and is not aware that it has gone rogue. Kirk and crew figure out it has gone rogue and Kirk tries to reason with Heston’s character, but fails. A Romulan D7 battlecruiser has received the distress calls from the Romulan outposts and arrives and decloakes on the scene. The Rom D7 works together with the Enterprise to disable the rogue Fed starship. Enterprise may have to possibly beam over boarding parties to subdue its crew in order to tow this starship back to the nearest Starbase.

For more conflict you could have the Romulan D7 betray Kirk by it (Rom D7) trying to destroy the rogue Fed starship, forcing the Enterprise to disable both the Fed starship and Romulan D7 at the same time or have the Enterprise arrive just in time to prevent the Rom D7 from trying to destoy the rogue Fed starship forcing the Enterprise disabling both the Rom D7 and the rogue Fed starship.

It is just a rough idea, if it sounds lame to you or too fan wanky then please feel free to modify it.

The Monkees TV series only ran for 2 years from 1966 to 1968 and then they made a theatrical film released in 1968 called “Head”, which bombed. I was a fan of the Monkees TV show, but this film was terrible. My point is that even though NBC canceled the Star Trek TV series we can pretend Paramount made a Star Trek film after NBC canceled it. So in this hypothetical situation Paramount does not necessarily have to make a Star Trek film between Seasons 2 and 3, but after Season 3. Either way would be fine by me.


Navigator NCC-2120, USS Entente
/\

So essentially the TNG episode "The Wounded" done twenty some years earlier.

Warped9,

Now that you mention it, yes, thank you. I had completely forgotten about "The Wounded" and had to look it up on imdb. So the only difference is I used Romulans instead of Cardassians. Sorry folks I did not mean to plagiarize.


Navigator NCC-2120, USS Entente
/\

 

[Warped9]

Well if it had been done twenty some years earlier it wouldn't have been plagarism.

 

[Nerys Myk]

If it were to involve Douglas Trumbull and it were to happen post-2001 then I think it would be very similar to what we got with TMP, just with more of a UFO mod-flavor vs. a disco-70s flavor. Other than Gerry Anderson's people I don't think there was a lot of really A-list FX people capable of doing space shots at the time that was above the quality of TOS.

Even though a decade had passed, I think TMP and Star Wars were influenced by the look of 2001.

 

[Kor]

What's the source of that claim?

It rings a bell, but I can't remember the details.

I can't either, but the 1968 date definitely sounds right. But I'm getting old and could be getting details confused.

Wikipedia cites the Reeves-Stevens' "The Art of Star Trek." I don't have that book, so I can't verify it.

I seem to recall Stephen E. Whitfield's "The Making of Star Trek" (published in 1968) mentioning the vague possibility of a feature film, but I could be way off base. I have no idea where my copy is. Anyway, it also mentioned several story developments to look forward to in future seasons, but those plot lines never really showed up in the series.

And I think Charleton Heston would be great in the role Navigator_NCC2120 mentioned. I could just picture him chewing the scenery.

How about Christopher Plummer as a Shakespeare-spouting Klingon officer.... oh, wait a minute.

Kor

 

[jayrath]

If such a thing were to have actually happened -- screened in a cinema -- it would have been a few episodes strung together for screening, most likely in Europe, as I believe was done later with the first "Battlestar Gallactica." I recall that Rodenberry argued that one of the TOS pilots could be sent to theaters to recoup its cost. Probably the first, since it was too long for TV.

Anyway, this is a fun thought experiment, so let's not get hung up on reality. Assuming Gene was at the helm for a 1960s or early 1970s feature, I'm sure that we could have looked forward to his, um, interesting casting, casting and costuming of the hottest actresses du jour, with no TV "G" rating to worry about. Just read his later novelization of TMP (with the "new humans"), and recall how Troi was initially supposed to have three breasts. A very early big-screen TOS would have been groovy, baby! (And not in a good way.)

Interestingly, in the 1970s, in the days before videocassettes, I saw many TOS episodes on the big screen -- put there by campus film societies. Their decline is a sad loss. Every weekend, film classics on screen, with an excited audience, for a dollar or two.