Star Trek 103: The Motion Picture

103. Star Trek: The Motion Picture

FORMULA: The Changeling + Metamorphosis (Special Edition adds The Empath)

WHY WE LIKE IT: The Enterprise looks beautiful, as does all the model photography. And hey, Star Trek returns to live action, and it's to the big screen to boot.

WHY WE DON'T: Interminable effects shots, even in the paired-down Special Edition, and a plot that's clearly copied from the original series. I also don't care for the 70s Star Wars/Battlestar Galactica look of the interiors and costumes.

REVIEW: What I'm reminded of each time I think of The Motion Picture is how long and boring it is. While it doesn't help that there isn't a clear villain, the real problem, I think, is that it takes a 2001: A Space Odyssey approach to all the outdoor scenes, but what worked there, doesn't work here. Not for an action-adventure franchise. So you've got long sweeping shots of the Enterprise, long sweeping shots of V'ger, long fx shots of V'ger's cloud (especially dull), the ride through the wormhole (totally unnecessary except to show off more acid-induced fx), a couple of boring conversations in alien languages, oh yes, and Spock's trippy journey into V'ger's digitized universe. Great photography, but there's too much of it, even in the better-edited Special Edition. It slows the movie down to a lethargic crawl.

The plot is equally problematic, being very much copied from The Changeling (with Metamorphosis' ending tacked on). NOMAD, V'ger, it's the same exact premise with the numbers filed off. Too close, in fact, for Kirk not to have a sense of dejà vu throughout. At least NOMAD had some personality. V'ger doesn't really have that, not even through Ilia, who's barely got a personality herself. Decker is better, but these two seem to be left-overs from when the movie was going to be a new tv series, and are doomed from the start, since they're the only guest-stars.

The models looks great, and it's really cool to see how big the Enterprise can be on the inside (the rec deck, the engine room, even the bridge is bigger), but the design is largely hit and miss. Everything's blinding white, which again recalls 2001, but also all the SF of the 70s, from Star Wars to Battlestar Galactica. The new uniforms are equally lame. Terribly drab color palette overall. The new Klingons are at least alien, but we're not quite there yet, although the uniforms and computer screen signage will carry through to today's Trek. The music also stands out, and some of it will be reused often, including the main theme, which will become TNG's, and the Klingon theme. The music is much too dynamic for the onscreen action though.

As far as the main characters are concerned, only the big three get any real development, but that's not unusual (just sad). There's nothing really original or exciting happening to them, but there is one moment I find affecting in the movie. After Spock returns from his meld with V'ger, he tells Kirk about it, and very emotionally shows what V'ger is missing from its life. It's a powerful moment, well acted by Nimoy, but it's the only one of note in the entire film. The rest is by-the-numbers, follow-the-plot material.

The Special Edition does cut down on the extended effects shots, and fixes a few effects besides (we now see V'ger without the cloud, and it's cool), plus restores a small scene here and there. For example, Ilia's empathic healing powers. Interesting, but since she's just cannon fodder, who cares? The Special Edition is a vast improvement on the theatrical release, but it doesn't save The Motion Picture from being a slow-paced series of effects and reaction shots.

LESSON: Bald is beautiful. (A lesson that will be taken into account when casting The Next Generation.)

REWATCHABILITY - Low: Though it has a good scene, here and there, this is the most boring of all the Star Trek movies (including ST V), and without the wow factor of seeing a movie-quality Enterprise et al. that might've influenced fans back in the day, there's little to engage the audience here.