-Written by Kyle Bain.
Years after the conclusion of James T. Kirk’s (William Shatner) reign on the Starship Enterprise, he returns to take back control of the beloved ship, get the gang back together, and save the galaxy once more from a new threat. With an alien spacecraft far too close to earth, it’s up to the renowned captain to step up once more. Can he save the world again? Only time will tell.
The opening of Star Trek: The Motion Picture drags on for nearly three minutes, and I believe that’s far too long. A film made today wouldn’t be able to appeal to the average viewer in this regard, and I truly believe that even before the title card appeared on screen, many viewers would have been lost in the monotony of the opening sequence. With that said, however, it feels that Writer Harold Livingston and Director Robert Wise intentionally drew this portion of the film out–with a particular reason in mind. As I’ve mentioned in the past, Star Trek is an intellectual series that is, in most cases, meticulously planned out. It’s been years since fans of the franchise had seen their beloved characters or witnessed a new adventure, and, while the opening can feel a tad boring, I feel that it appropriately prepares the audience for a meticulous and thorough story.
While I can potentially understand where this team was coming from in terms of developing lengthy scenes, there comes a point where it’s too drawn out. Star Trek: The Motion Picture is two-hours-and-seventeen minutes long–far longer than it needs to be. There are literally dozens of scenes throughout the film that play out far too long, drawn out to the brink of disaster–often reeled in just in time so as not to lose viewers. I found myself on many occasions frustrated with how long some scenes were; we don’t need thirty-second shots of the Enterprise floating in space–and it’s instances like this that hinder the film, that slow it down and steal from its successes. This is certainly a sign of the times: longer scenes–but when they ultimately serve no purpose being that long, like many scenes in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, I can’t understand why Wise didn’t make the decision to start cutting.
The idea of hubris is one that plays out in full throughout the course of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Particularly in the case of Officer Will Decker (Stephen Collins), as he and Kirk compete with one another throughout the course of the film–and this is a testament to the mature and sophisticated nature of Star Trek as a whole. It’s storylines like this that have allowed me to fall in love with this franchise, to appreciate it as more than just another science fiction property. This idea drives Star Trek: The Motion Picture forward from the beginning, and it continues to play a role in these characters almost until the film’s conclusion.
Death is prominently featured in the early going of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and that sets a precedent for the rest of the film. They aren’t high-profile characters that face death early on, but it allows viewers to understand that it can and will remain a possibility for everyone moving forward. This being one of the issues I’ve had in previous viewings of Star Trek properties, it greatly appealed to me that Wise, Livingston, and Co-Writer Alan Dean Foster were willing to raise the risk factor at the start of the film.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture is far more about the characters than it is about the narrative as a whole. Sure, the narrative plays a prominent role in allowing these characters to develop, to become updated versions of themselves and progress the greater Star Trek storyline forward–but it’s the characters that hold the film together. With the obvious characters in Kirk and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) developing in interesting ways, Wise and his team develop supplementary characters in Decker, Dr. Bones McCoy (DeForest Kelley), and more in effective and interesting ways as well. With the exception of the long, drawn out, and unnecessary scenes, Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a brilliant work of art. One that manages to stand the test of time, to remain relevant in the twenty-first century, and continue to appeal to longtime and new fans of the franchise.
Directed by Robert Wise.
Written by Gene Roddenberry, Harold Livingston, & Alan Dean Foster.
Starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takai, Majel Barrett, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, Persis Khambatta, Stephen Collins, etc.
8/10 = WORTH RENTING OR BUYING
