Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

As this year is the 60th anniversary of Star Trek, I've decided to look at the 5 Trek films that I actually enjoy watching! As the late, great Agony Booth once noted, there was a good 10 years when this film was considered the weakest Trek movie. But, starting with the infamous Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989), a number of Trek films have proven more deserving of that title. Also, unlike those films, this movie has had good points about it from the very beginning. Trek itself was on the cusp of becoming another TV series in the late 70s, until the great success of Star Wars (1977), prompted Paramount to nix those plans and revive the franchise as a feature film. In addition to getting the original cast back, the director was the legendary Robert Wise, whose classics includes The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). The film begins with three Klingon ships encountering a mysterious cloud. After firing on it, the cloud sends out blue balls of fire which vaporize all three ships. This is monitored by the nearby Federation outpost Epsilon IX, which determines the cloud is heading to Earth.

We cut to Vulcan, where Spock is undergoing the Kohlinar, a discipline intended to purge all emotion. He is about to be rewarded for his hard work when he senses a disturbance in the Force-ur, I mean something from space. The Vulcan priestess mindmelds with him determing that an alien entity is contacting him and that Spock's human half is affected by this. As a result, she deems that he has not fulfilled his studies and says he must search for answers elsewhere. As she and her aides depart, Spock picks up the pendant she discarded, even though he was just told he wasn't worthy of it!

Next, we are on Earth, at Starfleet HQ in San Francisco. Kirk arrives there, via shuttle and meets up with Sonak, who is set to be science officer on the revamped Enterprise. Kirk instructs him to report to him on the ship following his meeting.

That meeting obviously took a few seconds because we next see Kirk on a station orbiting Earth. Once beamed aboard, he meets up with Scotty, who informs him that the ship still needs to be worked on, but Kirk informs him of the approaching cloud and that the Enterprise is the only ship that can stop it, because, I guess, the others are all getting their oil changed or something. The next sequence is one reason why some fans calling this film The Motionless Picture is understandable. Scotty and Kirk take a pod and bascially spend 4 minutes gawking at the refitted Enterprise before the damn thing finally docks.

Kirk goes to the bridge, where Sulu, Chekov, and Uhura warmly greet him before Sulu informs him that the ship's new captain Decker (Stephen Collins) isn't aware that Kirk will now take command. After ordering Chekov to assemble the crew for a meeting, Kirk heads to Engineering, where Decker and Scotty are working. Kirk takes Decker aside and informs him that he's in command now, with Decker as his XO. Decker is pissed, but Kirk just orders him to the bridge. That's when an alert sounds, saying that the transporter is in use, even though it is still on the fritz. Kirk and Scotty frantically race to the transporter room, where Sonak and another officer are in the process of being beamed. However, the transporter isn't working properly and, despite everyone's efforts, the duo die because of the malfunction. As no one else is available on such short notice to be science officer, Kirk gives the job to Decker.

The crew is gathered in the crew deck where they see footage of the cloud destroying the Klingon ships. Kirk then steps in and informs them that the Enterprise is the only ship that can stop it. Epsilon IX contacts them, informing them of how big the cloud is before the cloud destroys the station.

The damn transporter is finally repaired as the ship beams up its remaining staff. One of these is the navigator Ilia (Persis Khambatta), whom Decker was once involved with. He warmly greets her as she arrives on the bridge and, for some reason, informs Kirk about her oath of celebacy before he assigns her to her post. Uhura then informs Kirk that one person is refusing to be beamed aboard, prompting him to go to the transporter room. Said person is beamed up and is revealed to be McCoy, with a beard and dressed like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever(1977), so I'm guessing the poor soul who died with Sonak was the ship's original doctor, which prompted Kirk to drag Bones off the disco floor.

Despite being as crouchity as ever, Bones is convinced to be the ship's doctor as the Enterprise is finally launched. After leaving the solar system, Kirk wants to go to warp speed, despite objections from Decker and Scotty. Kirk's insistance though leads to the ship being sucked into a wormhole (which is different here than in later Trek series for some reason). We get another valid criticism for the film's slow pace as everyone literally moves and talks super slowly while in the wormhole.

Ilia picked up an asteroid that was pulled into the wormhole with them. Kirk orders phasers to be used, but Decker counters him, telling Chekov to use the torpedoes instead. That plan works and the ship is pulled back into normal space. As things get back to normal, Kirk orders Decker to accompany him to his quarters with Bones insisting on coming along. Kirk begins to chew Decker out, before the latter states that the ship's new design rendered the phasers inoperable once the engines were cut off. Kirk concedes that he overreacted and dismisses Decker. As Decker and Ilia briefly catch up, Bones drives home the point that Kirk always wanted the Enterprise back and that this emergency gave him the perfect chance for that. That's when Uhura informs him of an approaching Federation shuttle that wishes to dock. Chekov is sent to greet the visitor, who turns out to be Spock, who promptly makes his way to the bridge to the delightful shock of everyone.

Despite his almost rude stance, Spock was quickly instated as the ship's science officer before he heads to Engineering to help Scotty with the engines (sure, a science officer can do that). The engines are soon fixed which means the ship can reach the cloud much faster! Spock meets with Kirk and McCoy and informs them that he sensec the cloud's presence on Vulcan. Kirk tells him to keep him in the loop in case he feels anything else from the cloud. After Spock leaves, McCoy tells Kirk that Spock's connection to the cloud may lead to a conflict of interest, not unlike Kirk's in regard to getting the Enterprise back. The ship finally reaches the cloud, with Decker advising use of shields, although Kirk says that may be seen as hostile by the cloud. Spock examines how powerful the thing is before sensing it again, saying that the cloud is contacting them. That's when it shoots out a blue bolt at them, which hits the ship, injuring Chekov. As Ilia saves Chapel the trouble of healing his pain, Spock informs Kirk that they can actually protect themselves from the cloud by sending a message on a special frequency, which he and Decker quickly whip up deflecting another blue bolt just in time. Spock tells Kirk he wants the ship to enter the cloud now while Decker advises caution. Kirk decides to go ahead and we are treated to another several moments of everyone just staring at SFX on the viewscreen. After a while, another blue bolt approaches the ship and materializes on the bridge. Spock id's it as a probe which begins to play with the computers. This leads Spock to smash one of the consoles, which I guess pisses the probe off since it retailates by shocking Spock until it hones in on Ilia before she is basically absorbed by the probe, which vanishes. Decker wastes no time being pissed at Kirk for allowing the ship to enter the cloud before a tractor beam begins pulling the ship in.

With the cloud unable to be scanned, Spock's suggests they are being pulled into the interior of the cloud. Chekov then alerts them to a presence in the Captain's quarters. Kirk and Spock head over there where they see someone in the shower, who turns out to be Ilia. whom Kirk puts clothing on with the push of a few buttons. . However, her voice is different, as she informs them that she is the probe from earlier now with Ilia's form. Spock suggests McCoy analyze it and he and Chapel discover that the exterior perfectly duplicates Ilia. Spock notes that, when Decker arrives, he and the Ilia probe still look at each other with fondness. Outside sick bay, Spock says that this could mean that the probe may have Ilia's memories as well and, as such, may be willing to provide our heroes with more info about the aliens running the cloud. Ilia breaks out of sick bay and wants to tour the ship more, which Kirk complies with ordering Decker to be her guide.

As Decker shows her around, with Kirk and McCoy watching via a hidden camera, Decker begins to somewhat weaken her defenses, although she still states V'Ger, the name she gives regarding who controls the cloud, plans to convert the crew to data storage. But she allows Decker to show her why that may not be such a good idea. At the same time, Spock is sneaking around the ship and nerve pinches the lone crewman in a hanger. The next scene is on the bridge, where Chekov informs Kirk that a thruster suit is missing. Kirk deduces that Spock took one and plans to follow him. In his suit, Spock records a message for Kirk saying that he intends to contact the aliens holding them captive. With the proper button-pushing, Spock rockets his way into V'Ger, surrounded by SFX that still hold up today! Spock notes what he sees as he eventually reaches a facsmilie of Ilia, which Spock gets the idea of mind-melding with. Not surprisingly, this turns out to overwhelm Spock, whom V'Ger subsequently burps out of the orafice next to the Enterprise, where Kirk is suited up and waiting to retrieve him.

In sickbay, Spock slowly comes to and informs Kirk and McCoy of what he saw and that his mind-meld reveals V'Ger to be even more lost than he is. V'Ger apporaches Earth with the Ilia-probe noting that V'Ger has launched deadly weapons in the planet's orbit, which are intended to wipe out all life as V'Ger's signal goes unanswered. But Kirk isn't about to go down without a fight and orders the ship evacuated, threatening that the info V'Ger needs will be destroyed if the Enterprise is destroyed. The Ilia-probe says that V'Ger concedes, agreeing to take the ship to V'Ger directly. When the ship stops, Chekov reports that there is a breathable atmosphere just outside the ship. Kirk sends himself, Spock, McCoy, Decker, and the Ilia probe to see V'Ger. Upon arriving, they see V'Ger is actually the probe Voyager VI (I guess we all slept through the launches of Voyagers III-V), which was reported lost not long after its launch 3 centuries earlier. Spock deduces that it entered the atmosphere of a planet inhabited by machines, which repaired it and souped it up for its return trip. The reason Voyager's signal is not being answered is because there is no one on Earth now familiar with its original 20th century signal.

Spock states that Voyager has advanced to the point where it must evolve and the only way to do that is to merge with a human, as humans are the ones who created it. This gives Decker the idea to volunteer for the job, although Kirk is skeptical. But Decker is adamant as it will obviously allow him to be with Ilia. More SFX happen as Decker and the Ilia probe are absorbed into Voyager, while Kirk, Spock, and McCoy quickly go back to the ship.

Soon, Voyager goes into another dimension as its whole vessel vanishes in a flash of light, leaving only the ship in orbit of Earth. Back on the bridge, Kirk and company smile at the fact that a new life form has essentially been created. He notes both Decker and Ilia as missing, while Spock elects to remain on board and the ship warps off into the stars. The Motion Picture definitely has much to recommend it. The SFX are gorgeous, if excessive, although unlike those in The Phantom Menace, they still look impressive today. The musical score is arguably Jerry Goldsmith's finest work (Roddenberry obviously agreed as he would use it as the title track for Star Trek: The Next Generation. Speaking of TNG, Decker and Ilia would essentially be reincarnated as Riker and Troi on that series. The 2001 director's edition of the film does tighten its pace a bit, although the flaws of the film that still stand out today are that the plot is essentially too similar to that of the original series episode "The Changeling," and that there is almost none of the wonderful interplay between the regulars which became one of the hallmarks of that series. The good news is that the film made enough money to green light a 2nd Trek film, which would more than make up for this one's flaws.