The Motion Picture

[CorporalClegg]

Just watched this last week and I was struck by how much closer it "felt" to the original Star Trek than just about any of the other movies. It was very much inspired by 2001 and I think it was the "smartest" of the Star Trek films.

Agree 100%. Unfortunately, Little Nicky and Harvey had to go and change the model for Star Trek movies that really ill represents the series. Of course, any time I bring this up. There's always someone who suggests that they're sill in the "spirit" of Star Trek. Except, how many episodes of TOS are are puerile high action, low substance romps?

Yeah. I thought so.

To make a film sound "smart" by sprinkling a few overblown lines from classic literature, telling us the bad guy is uber-smart and then making him dumb as a sign post, and hiding a death scene in laughingly convoluted plot-device really insults the intelligence of the viewer. But it had lots of "Kewl Xplozions!" And unfortunately, each film got more and more stupid 'till the point Gary Mitchell couldn't stop spinning in his rocky grave. But the action was there! Yet, interestingly enough, it was never very good action.

On the flip side, you have TMP which was, as you said, "smart." It had a message. Albeit, the whole "Man creates God. God threatens Man so Man must destroy God, but in order to do so Man must shed its biology and embrace intelligence," thing might be a bit too humanist for some, but it's still substantive. And makes you think. Plus, the heroes actually do some exploring in the movie. You know that whole "Seek out new life and civilizations," thing.

 

[WillsBabe]

I love TMP. It's one of my favourite films. When TMP was announced I never thought that I'd see Trek again so TMP will always be special to me as the film that brought back Trek. After having said that, I don't just love it because of that. I really like the visuals, the sense of awe, and I like the thoughtful (some might say plodding) nature of the film.

 

[KirksFlyingFist]

I think it's 'pure' in that it's not corrupt like some of the later movies (Nemisis) but looking at it in of itself it didn't have enough originality or daring to stand out for me. It's a good movie I suppose, but nothing special.

 

[CorporalClegg]

^
And the others did?

 

[Pineapples101]

It's my favorite Trek film. Epic in scale, thought provoking and faithful to Roddenberry vision of advanced humans exploring the final frontier. It's yet to be surpassed IMHO.

 

[GodThingFormerly]

...Roddenberry vision of advanced humans exploring the final frontier.

Not quite so advanced as they may appear, at least as far as Roddenberry's novelization of the film is concerned.

TGT

 

[Jefferies]

I don't know TGT, in the thread you are refering to Kirk sounds awfully reserved and apathetic about the majorirty of humanity. Also this notion that Starfleet folks are primitive compared to other Federation citizens strikes me as somewhat odd. If anything, what Kirk is describing sounds like a collective society with a low frequency of critical thought. This is rather anti-utopian, at least from a Western perspective. Not exactly what I would call more civilised when compared to people like Kirk. If anything it sounds like a society resembling the Borg. I wonder how such a notion about humanity could stem from Rodenberry, the eternal optimist with regard to our species?

 

[Siwilliams]

^
And the others did?

Generations was/is original

 

[The Grim Ghost]

I liked TMP, I think people are a bit harsh in their criticism of it.

That said, I think it does have a fair amount of problems. All of the actors seem a little off, probably from not playing these characters for so long. People spend too much time staring at the viewscreen in awe and not really doing anything.
The plot was recycled from a TOS episode, yet nobody mentions the fact "Hey, remember that time we encountered that OTHER earth space probe that had been repaired by aliens"
The pajama uniforms are unflattering and ugly. Decker & the Deltan are both boring, bad actors and lame characters.

Despite all of that, I still enjoy the movie quite a bit. It is more than the sum of it's parts in some weird way I can't fully explain.

 

[shivkala]

I just finished re-watching TMP and was struck by how much I really enjoyed it. I never looked down on it like others, but it seems the more I watch it, the more I enjoy it.

And yes, as others have mentioned the asthetics are bland, the actors seem a bit wooden, the characters are not well developed, but it somehow still works.

The scene with McCoy beaming aboard is one of the funniest scenes in all of the Trek movies, even the ones that were trying to be funny.

I also loved how well McCoy and Spock complimented Kirk. They really served as his conscious, especially McCoy dressing him down for how he treated Decker.

 

[Therin of Andor]

To be fair, quite a lot of people saying how great it is without having seen it as well.

No, we're saying how great we hope it will be, based upon the excellent images that flash by in the trailers, and the (so far) overwhelmingly positive feedback from people who've seen much more of it that we have. The recent presentation to jaded Aussie journalists resulted in numerous gushy articles about the upcoming event in May.

But to label the film "an abortion" without having seen more than two trailers would seem to be to be unfair. But that's their choice to be naysayers so early, and if they hear that it turns out to be a huge hit, I'm sure JJ's detractors will still end up seeing the film, even if only out of curiosity.

 

[I am not Spock]

I always thought that TMP was too slow-moving, but when I rewatched it recently, I appreciated it a great deal more. It has great music, great visuals, and a sense of wonder. Yes, the uniform designs are ugly, and the actors spend too much time looking at SFX, and yes, the plot is a retread of TOS's 'The Changeling', but there's some very nice scenes there. Everything with Kirk, McCoy, and Spock is, of course, gold. The arguments between Decker and Kirk are good, too. And I like the interaction between Decker and the Ilia Probe.

Certainly not in the same league as Insurrection, TFF, or Nemesis.

 

[dkehler]

After earlier singing the praises of TMP, now I'd like to mention that the whole Deltan celibacy thing (either because of editing or otherwise) made little to no sense in the context of the movie and should have been explained or dropped altogether. And yes, I know all about the pheromones etc. from the novelization.

 

[I am not Spock]

^Agreed. I only understood the whole Deltan celibacy thing after watching deleted scenes on the DVD and from reading the ST Encyclopedia. They should have left the cut scenes in, or just dropped the whole subplot.

 

[Rumor]

I personally think it was a great film. I focus on the smaller things, such as the changes in the uniforms and such. The film was the bridge to the next 5 Star Trek movies that came afterwards. I tribute the length of the movie and such to a testing phase. The producers wanted to see what kind of interest would be sparked by this film.
Like I said.. I thought it was a great film, but in all honesty, it's not one of my top favorites. Growing up, I always enjoyed the films The Final Frontier and The Undiscovered Country... Definitely my top two favorites.

 

[Kryton]

The scene with McCoy beaming aboard is one of the funniest scenes in all of the Trek movies, even the ones that were trying to be funny.

At the time, MAD Magazine's parody did that scene...Kirk says "Bones! What are YOU doing here?!?" and McCoy answers "Everybody's got to be SOMEplace!"

For some reason that's really stuck with me these past 30 years.

 

[CorporalClegg]

I don't get it.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

And for the record, I was very pleased with the DE. I don't know why anyone would prefer the theatrical cut of the extended edition.

I don't prefer it, I just really wish it was included on the DVD. Really no reason for this except I grew up watching the extended edition on VHS and I got very used to it. The new special effects are phenomenal, but I feel like I'm eating a three-layer cake with only two layers of icing.

 

[trevanian]

And for the record, I was very pleased with the DE. I don't know why anyone would prefer the theatrical cut of the extended edition.

I don't prefer it, I just really wish it was included on the DVD. Really no reason for this except I grew up watching the extended edition on VHS and I got very used to it. The new special effects are phenomenal, but I feel like I'm eating a three-layer cake with only two layers of icing.

New effects are phenomenal? They redefine mediocre is more like it.

Edit addon: Oh, NOW I get it. I just realized you were the guy in the probert thread (and the one who didn't get warned in another thread when you told some poster to stop breathing his farts or somesuch.) You're the one who was using examples of design from the late 80s of the 24th century to explain why the abrams ship had some sort of historical design integrity, right, after we pointed out that it was a crap-ass pastiche of ILM 80s elements along with TMP aspects and some bit of TOS, none of which holds together visually? Yeah, to you I guess the de fx WOULD be phenomenal, since your visual sense is so stunted it can't tell from quality.

 

[cardinal biggles]

When you actually admit that you've edited a post to add a flame to it, I kind of don't have a choice but to issue you an infraction. So you've got one. Comments to PM if you want to discuss it further.

Remember: attack the post, not the poster. I don't care if you guys have different opinions and different likes and dislikes, but when you start insulting people for not sharing yours, it crosses the line.