Star Trek I: The Motion Picture |
  • USA • 1979 • 132m •    • Directed by: Robert Wise. • Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Majel Barrett, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, Persis Khambatta, Stephen Collins, Grace Lee Whitney, Mark Lenard, Billy Van Zandt. • Music by: Jerry Goldsmith.      An alien phenomenon of unprecedented size and power is approaching Earth, destroying everything in its path. The only starship in range is the U.S.S. Enterprise--still in drydock after a major overhaul. As Captain Decker readies his ship and his crew to face this menace, the legendary Admiral James T. Kirk arrives with orders to take command of the Enterprise and intercept the intruder. But it has been three years since Kirk last commanded the Enterprise on its historic five year mission...is he up to the task of saving the Earth?
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Review:
As a fan of the Star Trek franchise, from the visionary original series all the way to the epic JJ Abrams reboot films, I must say that I couldn't help being disappointed by this movie. In my honest opinion, this is the least good of all 12 Star Trek movies (I haven't seen Beyond yet), for even The Final Frontier and Nemesis, generally considered to be the worst of the bunch, were more enjoyable experiences for me. It's weird how the first feature film in such an iconic and beloved saga manages to be such a let-down, but at least for me this one is Hollywood's big anomaly - the number one film that falls short of all its sequels.
The movie starts quite intriguingly, as a few minutes of darkness accompanied by a great soundtrack reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey are followed by a scene where Klingon vessels are attacked by an unknown life form. After this, the film fails to reach that height of interest again. With a universe filled with Gene Roddenberry's genius concepts, I can not fathom how the writers couldn't think of a better story idea for their first movie. The entire plot circling around a mysterious space cloud appearing, The Enterprise travelling to investigate the space cloud, finding out its origin and sending it back, is very uninspired compared to many later - and earlier - Star Trek scripts.
Robert Wise's directing just doesn't sit right for a Trek film. All the best movies and episodes of the franchise, whether they've been from the 60's or 2010's or anywhere in between, have shared the same trademark atmosphere. And that feeling is thoroughly missing from this one. The pacing of the movie is also off, as we spend several minutes with boring visual effect show-off scenes that do nothing to further the plot, as well as many conversations so forgettable that it's hard to remember what happened the moment the dialogue is over. Where are the entertaining and well-written character interactions of the original TV series? Where is the unique creativity of the sci-fi genre that most of the franchise has embraced? And why didn't the filmmakers focus on doing a movie for this awesome franchise instead of trying to rip off Star Wars and 2001? These are the questions I've been wondering about ever since I saw this film.
The best aspect of the movie is the cast. In an age of difficult acting contracts and recasting issues, it's great that they got the entire original main crew back. The way they all enter the ship and come together one at a time is admittedly cool, and Shatner, Nimoy and co. give out decent performances. Still, while it's always a treat to see that cast working together, none of them are quite at their best here. The villain of the film, V'Ger, has a very interesting concept, however the execution of the idea behind it lacks interest and the whole thing falls flat in the end. So even the most fascinating science fiction concept within the movie doesn't really work out, which is a shame.
Of course I have to mention Jerry Goldsmith's score, an other upside for this film. The music is epic and magical, and is one of the qualities that prevent me from giving the movie a rating lower than 5, despite the film being such a mess. The soundtrack is especially powerful in the scenes where the USS Enterprise is shown, as well as the beautiful shots of space throughout the movie. These scenes are a pleasure to watch at first, but the movie overuses them to the point where the viewer loses all interest.
All in all, the Star Trek film series kicks off with a rocky start. As many complaints as I have, I am thankful for this movie existing, as it paves the way for some of the best sci-fi movies of all time. Despite the film's many flaws, I recognize the good aspects within it, and respect the time used to create the state-of-the-art visual effects (for the time being) and the spectacular soundtrack. Still, this installment does leave an overall negative impact on a viewer like myself, hence being on the bottom of my ranking of the Star Trek films. And while this may not be the best starting point for someone getting into the franchise, it is a must-see for Trek fans - even kind of a classic in its own twisted way.
Review by Veikko Hoffman from the Internet Movie Database.
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Dec 5 2016, 15:33
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