I have been, and always shall be… a fan of Star Trek for life, ever since I saw reruns of the original series on TV as a kid. I’m funny tho, I mostly just dig any of the shows/movies featuring the characters of Kirk, Spock and Bones. I don’t ‘do’ TNG or any of the other incarnations of Trek, for the most part. I have tried, and have enjoyed some episodes and movies here and there, but for me the strength of those characters and those stories told in the original Star Trek’s is where it’s at and where it will always be at. So my Star Trek love is pretty much entirely based on the original TV series, the first 6 movies, the cartoon show from the 70’s, dozens of paperbacks and even the 3 newer Trek films with Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto. As I’ve said, basically anything and everything with Kirk, Spock, Bones and that original set of characters and circumstances.
That being said, I wasn’t so much a fan of the very first Star Trek movie… until I was older. Star Trek: The Motion Picture was released in 1979, directed by Robert Wise and was called by some fans ‘Where Nomad has gone before’, a reference to the excellent second season episode of the show, “The Changeling”, and a comment I always found hilarious and appropriate.
The movie is not an action buffet, to say the least. It is known for being very slow, very thoughtful… boring you might say? The pacing of the movie and lack of action probably led directly to my not enjoying it so much at a younger age. I now, however, see some cool things in it which have highly boosted my feelings for it.
The reveal that V’ger is actually Voyager VI, a space probe sent out from earth in the long-ago past, has always been cool to me and a highlight. It completed its mission: learn all that is learnable. It is returning home after learning everything… every single thing there is to know, about anything and everything… ever. “Look at the big brain on V…Ger!” (Pauly Shore voice.) It now wishes to move on, to evolve and to learn what lies beyond learning itself. The movie is asking hefty questions and addressing the human condition, which the best Star Trek always does. And most interestingly, there is one member of the Enterprise crew who has reached this same plateau at this point in life…
Spock starts the movie as a shaggy haired student bowing before masters on his home planet of Vulcan. He has finished all that is necessary for the attainment of the Kolinahr, a Vulcan discipline designed to shed any remaining vestiges of those pesky, illogical emotions. When he joins the crew of the Enterprise later in the movie, he is absolutely cold, no hint of emotion in him whatsoever. You can tell that he is suffering though, not ok, not fully himself. His story arc directly connects to the arc of V’Ger, and it is so cool! By the end of the film, both he and V’Ger have discovered that pure logic and knowledge are not enough to survive and to be healthy and happy. Spock, in essence, finds himself, or rather finds himself again. By the end, he is back to where we knew and loved him from previous adventures- he will have to deal with both sides of himself, both the logical and the emotional. So when Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan rolled around, it begins with the Spock character we are all so familiar with. But it seemed almost necessary, both for Spock and for actor Leonard Nimoy, that the character go through this period and attempt to become fully Vulcan. Because of the genius stroke of character invention which made Spock half human and half Vulcan, we had seen Spock wrestling with this dichotomy of character before, never fully sure whether to be fully Vulcan and rely only on logic, which his people had urged him toward, or to accept his human half and also rely on emotion, which is shunned and very much looked down upon by Vulcans. This made Spock such a fascinating, legendary, interesting and dramatically deep character and led to many wonderful story lines, bits of dialogue and even funny moments.
So here he finds himself, after the original 5 year mission of the Enterprise is over and now surrounded by his kind and not encumbered with humans and their feelings on a daily working basis, attempting to become full Vulcan. But the movie shows us that this is not going to be the answer for Spock, and that an embracing of both of his halves and innate cultures and tendencies is in order. V’Ger meanwhile wants to ‘touch the creator’, to ‘meet his maker’ and relay all his findings to him personally, and does so by physically joining with Captain Decker and apparently evolving into a new life form. Heady stuff, and much of it not perceived by me at an earlier age but now fully seen and loved.
At some point I realized also that this movie is a ‘disaster flick’, just done in Trek dressings. Other cinematic hits at the time include The Towering Inferno, Jaws, Earthquake and The Poseidon Adventure. The landscape was filled with these kinds of dramas and they had proved successful, so the ST team ended up making one where the disaster at hand is not nature-caused but rather emanates from the strange and terrifying cloud heading straight towards earth and destroying everything in its path.
Some other minor pro’s and con’s about the movie: I never understood why they decided to take all color away from the visual palette. What was an extremely colorful TV series (I understand it was the 60’s) had now become completely drab and colorless. All uniforms are white, gray and tan… (Wretch!) The many shots of V’Ger are very colorful though I guess.. but that leads me to my next point- I should state that when I watch this movie now there are 2 things which help boost the enjoyment greatly:
1. I prefer the ‘Director’s Edition’ DVD version. Minor cuts and additions throughout seem to help with the pacing and make it much more enjoyable. Some updated effects shots are also extremely cool to me.
2. I now fast-forward through the loooong shots of the Enterprise introduction (which are about 5 minutes long but seem like 30) and also through many of the looooooong drawn out shots of the V’Ger interior. They are just horribly long and show-offy to me and I dig the film much more by simply watching them at 2 or 3 times the normal speed (lol). Bones’ beard and sweet leisure suit when he first beams aboard are another (hilarious) highlight, and the film boasts one of my favorite exchanges ever between the good doctor and Mr. Spock:
Bones: You haven’t changed a bit Spock. You’re just as warm and sociable as ever.
Spock: Neither have you doctor, as your continued predilection for irrelevancy demonstrates.
BURRRNNN!! Lol!!
If you’ve never seen this one I do recommend it, but try and get your hands on the Director’s Edition if you can and also you just may want to fast-forward through the loooooooooooooooooong and (sadly) boring effects sequences I mentioned above. The movie has some highly interesting things to say and covers some topical ground which is, as Spock would say, ‘fascinating’.