I’m including this review of the first theatrical Star Trek movie as a Recent Release because I just saw it again in a theater thanks to a Fathom Events presentation.  I had to talk myself into it — I do own the DVD, after all — but I just had one of the best evenings at a theater that I can remember.  The nostalgia flowed around me, the music was sensational and I realized just how much this flawed and very slow — yet ultimately very rewarding — movie means to me.

Robert Wise’s movie takes place in 2273, some years after the events of the original series.  The Enterprise is being newly refit, but it is rushed into service with Captain Kirk (the inimical William Shatner) once again in command because a vast cloud of . . . something is headed toward Earth and destroying every trace of humanity with which it comes in contact along the way.  Along with bitterly disappointed Captain Decker (Stephen Collins) and a Deltan officer, Lieutenant Ilia (Persis Khambatta), the old familiar crew of the Enterprise is present to meet this object and try to prevent it from destroying the Earth.

That premise should be familiar because it was used previously on the “Star Trek” television series, on other Gene Roddenberry series, and in other movies and television shows as well.  It is pure science fiction that posits that technology originally created by humankind will eventually threaten it, often after a span of time so vast that humankind will have forgotten its very existence.  That’s one of the aspects I truly appreciate about this film; it is a cerebral premise that eschews the ever popular but often nonsensical action that became so prevalent with the popularity of Star Wars movies.  Ironically it is that very popularity that led to films like Star Trek: The Motion Picture and The Black Hole and Starman and Dune being made at all, not to mention such goofball adventures as Starcrash, Message from Space or The Ice Pirates.  But Paramount Pictures, which was trying to refashion a second Star Trek television series at the time, finally relented and decided to go for the gold with a Big Budget Theatrical Release.

When a theatrical release was determined, Paramount hired the brilliant, versatile director Robert Wise to helm the picture.  Wise had previously made two genuine science fiction classics: The Day the Earth Stood Still in 1951 and The Andromeda Strain in 1971, as well as winning Oscars for his musicals West Side Story and The Sound of Music.  What could go wrong?  Well, one thing that the executives either didn’t realize or care about was the fact that Robert Wise was not a “Star Trek” fan.  When I interviewed him in the summer of 1980, just months after the release of this movie, he told me that he had never watched the series at all but that the ideas the film embraced which intrigued him.  His cinematic prowess serves the film well, yet his unfamiliarity with the cast and their relationships is a definite handicap.  The film is largely cold and sterile in terms of human drama, when it was the cast interaction that was so popular on the original series.

Mr. Wise’s lack of connection to the original show leads to other issues as well.  The costumes are disappointing; every subsequent film and show used more colorful, playful costumes and this movie’s stand out for being so boring.  And what’s with the subdued lighting on the bridge?  In fact the Enterprise interior itself is just weird at times, way too large in the gaming room but with strangely cramped doorways at others.  Part of the problem is that after a decade away from low budget television production nobody was really sure what should be shown, and how.  Much of the “Star Trek” canon had yet to be created by 1979.  The Vulcan language subtitled during Spock’s time on Vulcan (actually filmed at Yellowstone National Park) was devised by James Doohan, better known as Scotty, the engineer.  Lots of stuff was just being made up on the fly.

So much stuff was being made up on the fly, especially the special effects shots, that the finished film wasn’t actually finished when it finally premiered in December of 1979.  Mr. Wise told me that he was still editing the print days before he personally carried the final print to the premiere, the date of which had been chosen more than a year in advance and could not be changed.  The result is a film which never felt finished, or at least fully edited, because it never was.  Mr. Wise revisited the film in 2001 and cleaned it up a bit, forming what he felt was a “Director’s Edition” at that time.  He died in 2005.  This version, dictated by his notes and plans, resulted in the release this year which I just saw.  This is a newly restored version of the 2001 Director’s version in a stunning new 4K print, with the complete overture and accompanied by an introduction by some of the special effects wizards who recreated quite a few of the shots to make them more impressive than ever.

The new print is gorgeous and it sounds wonderful, too.  It begins with Jerry Goldsmith’s beautiful “Ilia’s Theme” as the overture piece before the main credits begin with his main theme, which was later used as the main theme for the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” television series.  Goldsmith’s score is among his finest, with that love theme becoming one of the most lyrical themes he ever produced.  It was nominated for the Best Original Score Oscar for 1979 and should have won.

Besides the nostalgia factors for me of Goldsmith’s great music and the memory of interviewing the amazingly versatile director about his science fiction films, this movie also evokes the year of 1979 to me.  It was August 22, 1979 when I began writing down all the movies I was seeing, when and where I saw them and my ratings for them, a practice that I have continued to this day.  I was 18 at the time and I wish I had started a decade earlier.  I can track a great many events in my life by this ongoing record because it evokes memories that would otherwise be forgotten.  I first saw Star Trek: The Motion Picture on December 12, 1979 at the Yorktown theater in Elmhurst, Illinois, rating it three stars.  I saw it again at Yorktown on January 25, 1980, again giving it three stars.

Despite its flaws I like this movie; I always have.  Gene Roddenberry’s optimistic vision of humanity facing the unknown dangers in space shines past the drab costumes, weird lighting, slow pace and lack of character development.  When the drama falters Jerry Goldsmith’s great score is there to carry things forward.  When the interminable trip into the heart of V’Ger begins to look like Stanley Kubrick’s trippy fifteen-minute sequence in 2001: A Space Odyssey (“The lights! The stars! The colors!”) at least we have the reaction shots of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy to break the monotony.  I noticed this time around that on two occasions Bones McCoy (DeForest Kelley) visits the ship’s bridge as it nears V’Ger, spends a bit of time watching people and then leaves without doing much of anything.  Just visiting, I guess.

I like the dynamic relationship between Kirk and Decker; it invigorates the bridge environment and keeps everyone on their toes.  Persis Khambatta is wonderful as Ilia; she’s the sexiest bald woman of all time, in my opinion.  Loved her in Nighthawks, too.  The sequence when the plasma probe invades the Enterprise bridge is really well done, starkly lit and very suspenseful.  I love the way that Kirk and his officers figure out what V’Ger really is, and how to diffuse the threat to Earth that it poses.  The very last part of the ending doesn’t make sense to me (where does V’Ger go after the meld?) but all’s well that ends well.  To me there are enough positives to outweigh the negatives and the slow pacing.

Finally, this movie is the one that proved to the film industry that adapting and expanding a television premise could be big business.  Even with its flaws and technical issues the fan base gave it enough support to lead to a sequel, which eventually led to more films, several other television series and a business juggernaut that may never end.  It’s quite a ride for a television show that barely lasted three seasons when I was a kid.  Seeing this movie again tonight reawakened all those memories and rejuvenated me in ways I did not expect.  A lot of it is the music, yet a lot of it is the legacy.  When it comes to “Star Trek,” live long and prosper!  ☆ ☆ ☆.  23 May 2022.