STAR TREK:
THE MOTION PICTURE
 
STARRING:
William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, George Takei, James Doohan,
Persis Khambatta
1979, 132 Minutes, Directed by: Robert Wise
 Description:
Capt. Kirk (William Shatner) leads his crew into the vast structures
surrounding V'Ger, an all-powerful being that is cutting a destructive course
through Starfleet space. With his new First Officer (Stephen Collins), the bald
and beautiful Lieutenant Ilia (played by the late Persis Khambatta) and his
returning veteran crew, Kirk must decipher the secret of V'Ger's true purpose
and restore the safety of the galaxy.
—
Amazon.com
Ridiculously
expensive movie (one of the most expensive ever made) which no
self-respecting trekkie, sorry, trekker, admits to liking. Fans often dub it the
"slow motion picture." Ho-ho.
The plot involves
the Voyager space probe returning as a semi-deity after being augmented
by robotic aliens and in search of its makers, threatening to destroy
the earth if need be. So okay, perhaps the plot is somewhat substandard,
but the special effects thrown up by director Robert Wise (Sound
of Music) and a no doubt expert team of special effects craftsmen
actually makes this one well worth seeing.
To be honest, I enjoyed this
film more than its more highly regarded sequel Star Trek II: The Wrath
of Khan - but then again I'm probably
the only person on the planet who feels this way . . .
It was however the
commercial and critical success of its less-expensive sequel, Wrath of
Khan, that ensured the franchise's longevity: several TV shows and big
screen sequels. The latter are: Star Trek II - The Wrath
of Khan (1982),
Star Trek III - The Search
for Spock (1984), Star Trek IV - The Voyage
Home (1986), Star Trek V: The Final
Frontier (1989), Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered
Country (1991), all of which featured the old crew of Kirk, Spock, et al.
The baton was passed to the Next Generation crew in
Star Trek - Generations (1994),
Star Trek - First Contact (1996), Star Trek - Insurrection
(1998) and Star Trek - Nemesis (2002).
The series was rebooted in 2009 with J.J. Abrams'
Star Trek.
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