Star Trek TMP Director's Cut on 4/30 (retracted by Paramount)*

The film just gets bogged down two thirds of the way in for about 15 mins or so. The ending isn't as bad as I recalled it when I saw it aged 7 at the cinema.

The initial introduction of the re-fitted Enterprise is a little too long and self congratulatory too. It is a superb design though.

 

I remember one joke when it came out calling it "Star Trek: The Motionless Picture." It's a little too serious for its own good.

 

aka Where Nomad Has Gone Before

 

I enjoy the film but if it was any slower when Kirk and Scotty are about to dock on the Enterprise they would have said "open the pod bay door, HAL".

 

I find the slow pace of Star Trek: The Motion Picture to be kind of refreshing these days, I've liked the film since I first saw it in the theater as a kid. I'm partial to films like 2001 and Silent Running that had the patience to create an immersive atmosphere, I don't require space battles every 5 seconds to maintain my interest.

 

I also like slow and long films (The Good, The Bad, The Ugly is my favorite western). But I think the issue with Star Trek: The Motion Picture, is that it is based on the television series. The T.V. series was very fast paced. So, it did have the feel of the show to a fault for me. Leonard Nimoy said the cast felt the same (mentioned in his Leonard Nimoy remembers series from 1982). It just didn't "feel" like Star Trek.

 

I've always loved the Enterprise's entry into the Cloud and discovery of V'Ger. Jerry Goldsmith's score is magnificent and the visuals are hypnotic.

I saw the film in initial theatrical release when I was 13 years old. You could have heard a pin drop in the theater during that sequence. People were leaning forward and their mouths were hanging open.

 

Perspective probably plays a part, I saw Star Trek: The Motion Picture before I had ever watched the TV series (I was 9 when the film came out). I loved the film so much that I started watching reruns of TOS afterward.

 

The Director's version is much better. Not only the edit but the 'finished' SFX are excellent but rendered in SD. Any Blu version will need new, new SFX.

One interesting thing (if like me you are a Trek saddo) they remove the moon of Vulcan. The appearance of the Moon was controversial because in the TOS Spock had said that Vulcan didn't have a moon. That was nerdy I'll get my coat...

 

STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE has been a bit problematic for me - not because I don't like the movie, I do - but for odd technical reasons.

We went to see it in King Of Prussia, PA on opening weekend. The crowds were horrendous on the Friday and Saturday showings, so we opted for Sunday afternoon. After sitting down, the opening overture started, which of course was music we'd never heard, so there was really no clue that it was from the upcoming movie. And then the logos and credits started. They seemed very dark - REALLY dark. Something had gone wrong with the projection system. We could barely make out that it was Spock on Vulcan, and even the more brightly lit Starfleet Headquarters scene was overly dark. After a short while, somewhere as the journey had begun, they finally got the projector up to proper brightness. But as the movie was heading into the final scenes, with them exiting the Enterprise to walk over to V'ger, the film broke.

So now we were in the dark again, waiting for them to fix the film. After an interminable ten minutes or so, the film started up again and continued to its conclusion. Management came in and apologized for the problems and invited all of us to stay and watch a second time if we wanted to. We did, and the second time through was problem-free.

Some months later, a friend had somehow gotten access to another friend with a VHS copy of the movie, long before it was properly released to home video. This was still the very early days of home video, so you didn't ask - you just obtained. I was given this copy as a gift - the obtainer/friend didn't even own a VCR at that point, but we were all Trekkies back then. I was thrilled to get it, and sat down to watch it with the family.

The copy was of course a bit grainy, with shaky images at times, but was watchable on the 19" TV's of the day. As the movie got near the end, right as Decker was getting swept up in the cosmic blow-dryer. the tape stopped and began rewinding. Whoever had dubbed it used the two-hour speed on a two-hour tape for a movie that was longer than two hours. Oh well, you don't look a gift-horse in the mouth.

When my friend asked me how I liked the movie, I replied, "Oh, I loved it no end!", which was totally truthful...

The movie has since made its peace with me, technically. I got the Special Longer Version of it on VHS, then the theatrical of it on LaserDisc in the giant five-movie box set that came out in that era. Later I got the special edition 2-disc DVD with the director-altered version, which is the latest one I own. Someday, I'm sure I'll get a Blu-Ray - it just hasn't happened yet.

Harry

 

I didn't think it was any better than the slow, tedious original:

http://www.dvdmg.com/startrekthemotionpicture.shtml

Still slow, still tedious...

No, it just sucks.

 

I dunno. I know there was a conversation at Paramount as to whether to release it, but I think the only person who saw it was the studio exec who supervised the transfer, Wise, and myself. I think the director (and Colin above) had a point: the movie really did get very slow in spots.

 

At least they nailed it with Wrath of Khan. I could do without the rest sadly.

Contrary to Kramer's claims that Search For Spock was better.

 

I would also add that the uniforms for ST:TMP were terrible. The old show had so much color. Funny, the dull clothing ended up matching the film.

Yet again, this problem was corrected in Wrath of Khan

 

I wrote the movie review for my high school newspaper and I called it "Star Trek-The Motionless Picture", gave 2 out of 4 stars and drew the wrath(no pun intended) of every ST fan at school...and I'm a huge ST fan myself. I still like it despite the obvious flaws but I really liked stereo/surround audio mix of the movie. It was the 2nd movie I had ever seen in Dolby Stereo. I got the original letterbox laserdisc(which still plays) and it replicates the audio mix as I heard it in the theater. A friend of mine had the VHS copy and I remember the audio mix sounding slightly different. I agree the Director's Cut made it a more cohesive movie. If the Blu ray is the original theatrical version, I'll buy it again.

 

I am of the mind that Wrath of Khan saved the franchise. It's still the best of the Trek films for my tastes.

 

With what they did with the FX upgrade on the Star Trek shows on Blu-Ray, I think they should do the same with this movie. They can also put out a double disc of Star Trek TMP Director's cut / Theatrical cut like many other movies were done.

Years ago, I learned somewhere that the theatrical cut was so disappointing that it was referred to as "Star Trek: The Motion Sickness". I liked the film & I liked the director's cut too. I want both!

 

Reportedly, it is.

It's an interesting case. While initial reactions to ST: TMP were somewhat divided, it was a hit in ticket terms and a great many people did "sit in slack-jawed wonder" as said above. It seems a lot of initially awed viewers came to take a dim view of it in retrospect. Khan, on the other hand, was a hit and tends to remain well regarded. If the sequel was more like ST: TMP, Trek may have puttered out there but not seen as something that needed rescue so much as perhaps a tapped out fad. With Khan, Trek found its legs again.

 

No it isn't.

It's the definitive version.

 

I think that even though "ST:TMP" did good business, it was regarded as a disappointment - it sold some tickets but didn't seem to excite many people, and it was really expensive. Paramount's backing of "STII" wasn't particularly enthusiastic, which wouldn't have been the case if "ST:TMP" had been a bigger hit.

A second flick as turgid as "ST:TMP" would've killed the franchise. A handful of "Trek" fanatics would've loved it but the wider audiences would've bailed...

 

An old Star Trek film on BD? I have little confidence it'll look any good.

 

Ricardo Montalban's performance of Khan saved the film.

 

Couldn't agree more with you. No, Star Trek The Motion Picture is not slow, it's a visual bliss with a wonderful score and terrific FX, and the Director's Cut is an enhancement of that.
At the moment the Star Trek pack was released I was wondering if they'd released them as separates, but they didn't at the time. I was only interested at Star Trek The Motion Picture, I see the rest as generic "warp-speed-engage, Scotty beam me up and fire photon torpedos now", which looked and sounded good in the 60's but saw as something boring and outdated in the 80's. As I see it, Star Trek The Motion Picture gave a kind of sofistication that Star Trek didn't have before.

 

It looks excellent on my Panasonic plasma.

And "old?" When it comes to movies, 34 years ago is not old.