Poll Which TOS movie had the best overall costuming?

[HMS Ark Royal]

Undiscovered Country - so much colour, design and variation...

 

[2takesfrakes]

Found it! It's the April 1992 issue on STIV. There's also a retrospective on the previous movies. Here's what Walter Koenig had to say in Mark Altman's article:

Koenig said he nearly passed on doing the film a bitter dispute with producer Harve Bennett. "Chekov was virtually nonexistent," noted Koenig. "I wasn't expecting that after STAR TREK II. Bennett asked me to see him after I read the script in his office, but my agent had to go because he had appointments and asked me if I minded leaving also. Since I was disappointed with the script anyway, I said okay. Bennett took inordinate umbrage that I did not come by his office and called up my agent and chewed him out. He said I had the worst Russian accent in Hollywood and if it were not for STAR TREK, I would never work and went on at great length, totally denigrating me, not to my face, but to my agent. I then received what I was told was a final offer to do the movie, a take it or leave it offer, and I demurred. It wasn't easy. I'm not such a strong character by nature, but I was angry at being so undeservedly demeaned by him. I thought that was the end of it, that I was no longer going to be in STAR TREK. I told them I was not going to accept the offer they gave me. I went home and told my family there was not going to be any more STAR TREK in out lives. Interestingly enough, they came back the next day with just enough more for me to be able to save face and accept it. I would not have called back and said I changed my mind. That set the tone for STAR TREK III."

According to Koenig, however, the biggest failing of STAR TREK III--discounting his lack of lines--was his outfit, a pink jumpsuit with a white collar. "I thought it was ridiculous looking, " said Koenig. "Robert Fletcher patterned it after some Russian artist who dressed that way, with a little dicky and everything. We had shot some footage with it and Michael Eisner [then head at Paramount] looked at the dailies and said he didn't like it. Leonard came up and said, 'We're going to take you out of the costume,' And I said, 'Thank God.' Leonard replied, 'Why didn't you say something?' and was a little bit irritated. I thought, 'Why the hell didn't I say something?' I was just so into this mindset that I was just the hired help and had no input. It never occurred to me that I might say, 'I don't like this.'"

So yeah, it doesn't sound like he had a very good time on that movie.

I also found a neat costuming tidbit in a 1987 issue: When they were doing STIII, they wanted to reuse the 12 Klingon outfits that had been made for TMP, but 6 of them were in very bad shape because they'd been used and altered for an episode of Mork & Mindy. The other six had been used in convention appearances and were also rather worn.

Thank you, for posting this, it was an interesting read. When you see Harve Bennett in old interviews, he's so gregarious and grandfatherly, he seems very likable, down to earth and approachable. Then, there's this kind of "playing hardball," or whatever term applies there. It's somewhat incongruous to the typical image we have of him. And it's not like I don't get it, either ...

The STAR TREK movies were still not a franchise, per se. There was only the two out and already there were problems with the third. First, Leonard Nimoy's getting jerked around, with regards to being given the director's job. A supporting cast member whom the public knows and recognises - Kirstie Alley - didn't work out. And now, here's Walter Keonig - seemingly - copping an attitude. So, quite aside from ego, I'm sure Harve did feel that TSFS might be too soon troubled and was kind of venting from the pressures he was under, aside from just berating Walter's abhorrent behaviour to Keonig's agent.

And it's true, though, Walter had already been pinched off like a turd from the production of The Animated Series, so it's not like the show couldn't go on, without him. And you know the Second Bananas of the cast are playing the money game, with every sequel, regardless of the kind of performance they finally give. So, I kind of feel bad for them both, honestly, with regards to this misunderstanding. I'm just glad that Walter stuck it out, because it's just nice to see everyone present and accounted for. It's kind of reassuring, I'm not sure I can really explain it. Like, "Hey! The gang's all here!" Even if I don't otherwise give a shit about most of them ...

 

[JonnyQuest037]

I remember reading an interview with one of the supporting cast members (George Takei, maybe?) who was bemoaning the fact of his small role, but also knew that if he left the series, he'd have to deal with "Why did you leave?" questions for the rest of his life. Kind of a damned if you do/damned if you don't situation.

It's really amazing how little long-term planning went into the making of the Trek films. They assumed that each one would likely be the last one, as Paramount never knew how long this whole Trek cult thing would last, and why should they keep making these things if they're not going to be profitable? It's almost completely the opposite of how they do big film franchises these days, where everyone is planning for a trilogy and they sign the actors to contracts for multiple films right off the bat. Can you imagine what the Marvel films would be like if they had to renegotiate with all of the actors each time the way the Trek films did?

 

[2takesfrakes]

It is fascinating to go back and (re)discover this kind of trivia about what was involved in making a STAR TREK film, in those days. So much of the context is lost when watching the TOS movies, now. They just seem kind of dated, overly self-contained in a very controlled sense, certainly. But where the movies stood at the time, what they were up against and what they were trying to achieve is becoming lost to history. Spock dies and comes back and it's just taken as read, like it was all planned out that way, as a trilogy. Or the effects in TMP, how commonplace they are today and yet, at the time, were beyond what TOS fans could've ever imagined for their favourite T.V. universe. Even the costumes and their evolution gets lost in the translation from where things were then ... and where they are now. It was literally another world .... as you say.

 

[cardinal biggles]

Bob Fletcher's such a great costume designer; I just love what he did. And his work on The Motion Picture is nothing short of impressive, as well. It's like he came full circle, in STAR TREK III. After that, he just sort of disappears, and what a loss it is. The further movies really needed a costumer of his equal and never quite found it, again.

Fletcher was still there for Voyage Home, but found himself left in the cold when Final Frontier rolled around because of a comment he made (maybe in CFQ? It's been a while since I had to dredge this info out of my memory) about needing mutliple versions of Shatner's costumes to accomodate his gradual weight gain as production rolled along. (And while Shatner no doubt found that remark less than flattering, it's also in keeping with Bob Justman's recollections in Inside Star Trek about Shatner showing up at the beginning of each season fit and trim, and gradually pudging up as the season progressed.)

 

[2takesfrakes]

Wow ... how about that? I was completely unaware of that Fletcher story. But you're so right ... look at TMP and Shatner looks impressive. Even his wig looks Top Shelf. And as the sequels went on, he just ballooned out, all the more. Which isn't such a big deal, in and of itself, but c'mon ... Shatner's a Man of means. He can buy a Home Treadmill, or do laps in the pool to keep his weight down, to further assure his marketability. And who was his trophy wife, at the time? Marcie?

Yeah, she would appreciate it, I'm sure. She's already going to bed with Shat keeping his rug on. He's performing his Manly chore and his hairpiece is all discombobulated ... only to slip off his crown, in the night. And in a half-dream state, Marcie thinks it the cat and starts petting it ... so, The Shat was probably getting it from all directions. Something had to give ... and it was Robert Fletcher, along with his "flab" comments. Shatner's stated in his later years that he excels at denial and I believe him.