Star Trek: Der Film (1979)

Star Trek: Der Film: Directed by Robert Wise. With William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan. When an alien spacecraft of enormous power is spotted approaching Earth, Admiral James T. Kirk resumes command of the overhauled USS Enterprise in order to intercept it.

“I recently watched this movie for the first time in ten or fifteen years. When I was younger I thought this one was even worse than Star Trek V, because as bad as u0026quot;The Final Frontieru0026quot; was, at least it had some action and colour.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe version I just saw wasnu0026#39;t the new Directoru0026#39;s Edition, just the old video, but I was still completely surprised by just about everything — partly because I hadnu0026#39;t seen it in so long, and partly because itu0026#39;s so totally different from all the following Trek movies. I even kinda liked the silly space pajamas everyone wears.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAfter this, the movie series turned to action-oriented stories, a more militaristic look and feel, and infinitely less challenging concepts. True, the pacing of u0026quot;Star Trek: The Motion Pictureu0026quot; drags in parts, and the behavior of its stars is a little cold and stiff. But instead of treating us with space battles and phaser shootouts, it gives us long, loving shots of the newly revamped starship Enterprise, and instead of rather tawdry plots grounded in mundane reality, it takes us on a metaphysical voyage into an unknown, bizarre, and palpably huge alien device. The relationship of the three main characters has changed a little after several years apart, and theyu0026#39;re each getting used to things all over again: Kirk has to deal with the unfamiliar new ship; Spock, after trying to purge his emotions, must confront his human half; and McCoy is u0026quot;shanghaiedu0026quot; out of retirement for the trip. Decker and Ilia, the new characters, provide enough interest that they were virtually resurrected as Riker and Troi in Star Trek: The Next Generation.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe sense of scale is important. The cloud surrounding Vu0026#39;Ger is gigantic, and the ship at the heart of the cloud is a whole world to itself. The Enterprise must fly into the cloud and communicate with the ship, and itu0026#39;s the only time in any of the ten movies that the heroes actually confront something new and unknown. This was a staple of the original show, and some of the best episodes of the spin-off series. The subsequent films were content with setting their battles and chases in space, but u0026quot;Star Trek Iu0026quot; actually wants to explore that space. The question at the centre of the film, posed by Spock, is u0026quot;Is this all we are? Is there nothing more?u0026quot; Kirk, Spock, and Vu0026#39;Ger are all searching for an answer to that question.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHowever, the thing that definitely drags the film down is the sound. The red alert blares every other minute, and mechanical computer voice-overs announce just about everything they possibly can. In the process of updating the ship, theyu0026#39;ve emphasized the computers and mechanics of the vessel in a way they never had before or since, and the effect is jarring and interesting at the same time. The Enterprise is much more of a physical ship traveling in space, and less of a device to facilitate storytelling.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe visual effects are amazing enough to warrant some digital cleaning, and the movie should be seen in widescreen, preferably on a large television.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eItu0026#39;s too bad that this movie wasnu0026#39;t more of a success, because I would like to see more Star Trek in this style. After many years and many TV shows, I admit Iu0026#39;ve gotten a little tired of space battles.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eUPDATE: I recently watched the Directoru0026#39;s Edition DVD. The sound effects are fixed, and the film has been re-edited to tighten the pace ever so slightly. The changes made are not on the level of the Star Wars special editions, but they do make the movie more watchable. Itu0026#39;s a little more coherent now, and I like it even more.”