Welcome!
Will do!
but I just recently watched The Motion Picture and yes, while it was slow, it was still a great watch! Do people really say to skip it?
Some people do, more did in the past. Others have responded lately that it has had a reappraisal over the years and fans, including me, were given a treat with that 4K release that even provides the same level of loving care in restoring the extended version, shown on TV in puny 4:3 aspect, now fully restored in proper sequence and shown at glorious 2.35:1. It's also the version I recommend the most, especially given the context of fandom
at the time, where there were no new Enterprise missions - just reruns - and a lot of excised material added some neat snippets, even if the overall underlying plot wasn't as great as sliced bread-- more on that later...
The character interactions were funny and memorable, and I really enjoyed the reveal of V'ger being Voyager 6 at the end (I thought it was quite clever, though maybe it was obvious to others).
One has to ask how far it had gone out and what the machine fritter it collided with was doing in our portion of the galaxy, relatively speaking. That aside, Voyager 6 was a cool reveal - even if 6 wasn't a real thing (only 1 & 2 were launched), so the probe - between fictional point of launch and TMP - would have a net shorter distance. But that's part of the fun, and retroactively stamping in a solution isn't as interesting as what fans contribute. At the time of release, 1979, space travel was still exciting and forward-thinking, without all the realities of distance and other factors. In some ways, it still is, but mostly in terms of terraforming possibilities rather than galactic exploration - not just yet anyway.
Plus, Decker and Ilia (whose subplot I originally found annoying) was actually quite sweet. Yes, some scenes are quite long, but the movie has a methodical and steady feel to it, and its comforting. I would enjoy having it on as a kind of filler as it is interesting enough to watch but not super distracting. The DVD I watched it on also had great features with a reunion of some of the extras who were in the big hall scene and I loved hearing the stories they had to share.
It was okay... it was the result of a discarded subplot in the aborted "Phase II" sequel series commissioned for launching a Paramount-centric network around 1975/6. (Am going from memory on that.) The network attempt folded, so Phase II was rested... but retooled as TMP, thanks to Star Wars being popular. (Paramount would eventually get its own network in 1995, however...)
As a new fan, there's something I've noticed: those damn uniforms. What is going on with those?
Earth tones were popular, especially after the more florid late-60s "BROUGHT TO YOU IN LIVING COLOR"*, as well as the 70s' final throes of the - eww, cooties - sexual revolution where anything one got could readily be treated. Note that all this was just before the AIDS crisis hit as there were no medications for that at the time**, where tight clothing was something of the norm. But that's the real-world influence. In-universe, they're supposed to be more wieldy and utilitarian, less militaristic since Starfleet was deemed as being more and other than that pew-pew stuff, as well as showing utopian aspects (yay, everyone wearing the same thing, how utopian! Depends on your POV, though...)
* I love TOS's aesthetic, which - while exploiting new color TV of the time - had the designers really work that color wheel to balance so many hues so effectively. It's legitimately glorious. But a decade later, that sort of thing would never fly. Now imagine the same bold colors, and so many, on a large 65-foot screen. People would need to wear sunglasses...
** but were for everything else, yet little did people know that treatment-resistant versions of bacterial and virii-based STDs would become an issue a couple of decades later, but I digress...
Why do they change so much? Kirk has at least 5 different outfits throughout the film, not to mention the general difference between the uniforms there and in the show. And from glimpses from the other films, they change even more! Does anyone have any behind the scenes information for these decisions or perhaps the uniforms' designs ? I'm sure canon reasons have been created for their exsistence, but the general variety within this film and to the next boggles my mind. I'm interested in why Gene and the producers etc felt these were necessary.
Great questions!
In universe, I've no clue. Captain's prerogative?
In real life, no clue. Then again, Spock and McCoy are seen with swapped command colors in a scene at the end then back again...
Some other thoughts: Spock in the film is particularly interesting if you consider his connection to V'ger and also his reaction to the crew when he comes aboard. He's very cold and awkward, which shocks even his closest friends. To me, it makes total sense: he just failed the Kolinahr and is probably feeling an immense sense of loss and disappointment in himself. So, to fortify his mind against emotions, he ignores his old friends, refuses to take a seat until Kirk practically begs.
Good point! I thought he was still self-practicing for Kolinahr, all while under the psi presence of the alien being. As with all things sci-fi, how electronic gizmos can impact or be recognized by biochemical processes so strongly on conscious level (or vice-versa) remains questionable...At least Spock never put an android out with the neck pinch... then again, electromagnetic radiation and other elements can affect the consciousness in indirect ways - just not telepathy as we coin it. Not to mention no visitations with extraterrestrial fritters of any sort to prove or disprove that, either...
Maybe this is expanded on in the later films, but I have yet to see them.
I promise to keep my mouth shut, but this forum is loaded with spoilers - small or large, so do play hopscotch on this and if you're not into spoilers, I'd opine to make posts and not looking stuff up as you'd stumble on spoilers all over the place for so much...
I have heard how this film is the first adventurous step into adapting Star Trek into a film base, and whenever I found myself perhaps bored or antsy in viewing, I imagined myself as a Trek fan in 79, not having seen new Trek on screen in a decade, and imagine the absolute awe that must have been felt from this film. For that, I forgive and appreciate that 6 minute docking scene haha. It was a bold move in a post Star Wars world.
It is awe-inducing, especially the well-crafted scale of the ships and how the humans therein interact. True, a couple locations beg questions as to where they go to the bathroom and other sundry things (they just use the transporter and beam elsewhere, of course), but that's secondary. The biggie was to show scale, and likely in ways that didn't compete against Star Wars as it already had its own scale. TMP presents this sense of scale magnificently.
Even in rewatches, depending on mood, I will sometimes try to emulate that mindset. Even then as - returning to one thing I'd mentioned earlier - the story isn't quite perfect and some scenes do drag on. All in all, I will watch it all and not go for edited editions where, despite some improvements, there are some minuses as well (If you've not seen the director's edition, I won't say what's what.) Regardless, there are still scenes that always impress and, in rewatches, new facets or perspectives can be found (IMHO).
I know none of this is probably new to any of you on here, but I hope you'll indulge this post
Absolutely! Fresh takes are great!
% agree with this. No Star Trek film has ever came close to the feeling of TOS as TMP did. Except for the updated ship and effects the story is very TOS. (Yes I'm aware the story is similar to the Changling) . 
