In some measure context is lacking with TMP today. We have been inundated with new Trek for decades. And any of it, including TOS, can be revisited instantly by streaming or home video. Watching the TOS crew reassemble seems pointless, along with the reveal of the refit Enterprise, because it’s not an event anymore like it was in ‘79 after a dry decade of nothing but reruns and TAS being the only new Trek some years earlier. That and some novels and merchandise.
Fans wanted the crew dynamic just as they had last seen in TOS, but that isn’t there right off because some had gone off in different directions. Thats more realistic than what we got in the later films, but it bugs people because it’s not what they expected from the get-go.
This is the story Paramount chose partly because they wanted a big fx extravaganza. It showed, again, that they didn’t get Star Trek. They wanted, like many fans at the time, for it to be more like Star Wars from two years earlier. There is nothing inherently wrong with the main story in TMP, but there isn’t enough going on to stretch it out for two hours—if that had been addressed in the script it could have helped immeasurably.
A better solution might have been to simply have the crew together aboard the refit E early in its new voyage and then jump into the adventure. There could still have been plenty of opportunity for snippets of dialogue to glimpse backstory of where the characters had been the past few years. And there certainly would be ample opportunity for beauty shots of the refit E just like what we had aplenty in TOS.
Although it wouldn’t exist for more than twenty years Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World is an excellent example of a great Star Trek film never made. It’s a straightforward small scale adventure story superbly delivered with great writing, great acting and great visuals.
