The long flyby of the Enterprise made this movie for me. She's the most beautiful ship to ever traverse the galaxy. Saw this in the theater in 79 when it premiered. Had a pint of Jack Daniels tucked inside my boot sipping Jack and Coke as the movie began. First sight of the Enterprise I nearly wept.
This was originally set up as an Episode of a new show, with Decker, Ileia and Sonnak being new characters, and no Spock. When Star Wars had its break out, Paramount got excited about doing a big Sci-Fi movie to capitalize on it. So they went with a movie instead. Some of the new characters got re-worked into characters in Next Generation, and they even used a couple of re-worked episodes that had been written for the new show. When you get to Next Gen, look for similarities between Riker and Decker, and Ilea and Troi. (Including that they had a prior relationship)
In the theaters - all effects looked Excellent as well as the sound effects; the only exception is the pillar of light - you could, or at least I could see the difference between both sides. As with the sound - that's complements from sound designers (to most of everyone's hatred). Spock's rocket ride was AWESOME! You both talked about it - I watched ToS in 68 as a kid on a 19' black and white vacuum tube TV, and then there was the movie announcement, not to forget the fact that the first space shuttle was named Enterprise! Voyager 2 was launched not long before. Star Trek II is NEXT! LOL
I think THIS movie is just FABULOUS! . .. and always have! And I suspect that those who've called it "slow" or "booring" were probably just the kind of m@r@ns who crave ohhhhh guns, car chases, and explosions every minute throughout the entire duration of a movie. In fact, such people are the reasons we have all these big, dumb, action "blockbusters" with goons like Vin Diesel and The Rock and Schwarzenegar and so on.
I was 13 when this came.out. Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers, The Black Hole, Logan's Run, Flash Gordon, Moonraker, Galaxy of Terror, Saturn 3 and Star Crash all zapped in this time period. Good time period and the Jerry Goldsmith soundtrack on LP was awesome.
That is pretty amazing. I have watched most of those since the pandemic. I couldn't get through Galaxy of Terror. Or Saturn 3. I did try. Buck Rogers was actually better than I expected. Battlestar Galactica should have gotten at least one more season, they had all the elements for a long running hit series. Logan's Run, the tv series, is very underrated. I really didn't get into Flash Gordon. Might have to try that one again.
BTW, long ago when "BIG" films were released, often times the filmmakers included a "overture" music piece before the film. That's what the black star field is at the beginning of this film.
This takes me back to England, 1979. I was 13 and had already read the book to the movie. God, I loved every second of it, especially all the shots of Enterprise in Space Dock. ENTERPRISE!!! And Spock holding Kirk's hand in sick bay and saying " This simple feeling is beyond VGER'S comprehension." You've seen all the Kirk versus the computer stories, and with our Daystrom-like arrogance, our obsession with VR and Artificial Intelligence could be catastrophic for our species. We risk our humanity for convenience at our peril.
I was at the premiere in Boston. The audience was SO ready for this... The opening credits provoked a huge round of applause way back to the credit for costume designer, the original 60's show designer, William Ware Thiess. When the Klingon plasma torpedoes disappeared into V'Ger without a reaction, the audience gasped.
I was at another premiere, and in 1979 it was before multiplexes, so the screen was huge. Only Imaxes are bigger now. The scene of the little shuttle touring the Enterprise, the crowd just ate it up. Major fan porn.
I think THIS movie is just FABULOUS! . .. and always have! And I suspect that those who've called it "slow" or "booring" were probably just the kind of m@r@ns who crave ohhhhh guns, car chases, and explosions every minute throughout the entire duration of a movie. In fact, such people are the reasons we have all these big, dumb, action "blockbusters" with goons like Vin Diesel and The Rock and Schwarzenegar and so on.
I read about Grace lee Whitney,after she left Star Trek she fell into hard times, she was homeless and had a substance abuse problem,Leonard nimoy helped her get life back
Something I liked about this film was how they gave names to several background characters. They're not main characters, but they are members of the Enterprise crew. They get names, too.
And just a little tidbit for you guys. Do you guys remember the original episode that you both watched called The Doomsday Machine,the one with the planet eater. The captain that goes crazy after his crew is killed, Captain Decker,is the character fom the Motion Picture Decker 's father . Sadly it wasn't touched on much,Kirk recommended him for command because of his dad's death,but it does add a bit of depth to their touchy relationship.
@@brucechmiel7964No problem. I thought it was some interesting background. And I do like the uniforms here although the later ones are my favorite Trek uniforms.
@@brucechmiel7964I'm not sure if I'm familiar with those. Anything past 2009 doesn't interest me so if they are from any of the Kurtzman or Bad Reboot garbage I'll pretend they didn't happen.
Man that was something that should have been added because I just feel the film's story is so damn thin. And it's not a matter of not enough pew pews because Voyage Home is one of the best Trek films because it had such a great story behind it.
You guys always surprise me, thought you guys were gonna be disappointed with this one. Some good catches though, like Decker and Janice, also the Klingon captain was Mark Leonard, making him the first person to play a Klingon, Romulan and a Vulcan. Your bones reaction was hilarious, another great one boys!
I think this is the most “Star Trek” of all the films. The story is classic Trek… exploring the human condition. The journey into the unknown… the journey inward. It’s my favorite of all of them.
The original ideal was for a new Trek tv series called: Star Trek:The Next Phase,but the success of Star Wars changed all that. So Paramount decided to do a feature film.
@neb6 ST 2 had a different director also-Nicholas Meyer.He went back and watched all the episodes of the original series,came to Space Seed and decided Kirk needed a worthy opponent for the next movie and chose-KHAN.GOOD decision.
I think THIS movie is just FABULOUS! . .. and always have! And I suspect that those who've called it "slow" or "booring" were probably just the kind of m@r@ns who crave ohhhhh guns, car chases, and explosions every minute throughout the entire duration of a movie. In fact, such people are the reasons we have all these big, dumb, action "blockbusters" with goons like Vin Diesel and The Rock and Schwarzenegar and so on.
The opening thing is called an overture. Many films of the past had this, as it allowed people to shuffle into the auditorium and find their seats. The house lights would only be at half brightness at this time.
A couple of tidbits about the cast: The Klingon commander was played by Mark Lenard whom you first saw as the Romulan commander in "Balance of Terror". He then went on to play his most notable "Star Trek" character, Spock's father Sarek in "Journey to Babel", a role he would reprise in three of the six TOS based movies (meaning he appeared in four of the six, including TMP) as well as two episodes of TNG. Also, Chief DeFalco (who replaced Lt. Ilea after she was killed by the V'Ger probe) was played by Bill Shatner's then wife Marcy Lafferty. You'd think that, being married to the star of the movie, she could have gotten a bigger role.....
For a starting point I love this movie. They learned a lot from it and made a lot of improvements to the next films. The future films, some are better than others, but they all do a better job with character interaction and chemistry and adding a bit more fun to the films. I've always felt the fans give this film more crap then it deserves.
I've always thought that this movie was like the original pilot, The Cage: a very deep, thoughtful, cerebral story. For the sequel, Wrath of Khan, they definitely went in the direction of the second pilot, Where No Man Has Gone Before.
Star Trek was revived because of the Star Wars craze. Paramount was desperately seeking their own franchise to compete with Star Wars and decided to make Star Trek into a movie series instead of a revived TV series.
@@DP-hy4vh After 10 years of the show becoming more and more popular in syndication, fans begging for some kind of revival, and Star Trek conventions beginning.
My first time watching this, and my most NOTABLE observation was…..HOW THE HELL were you so calm and collected watching those officers getting mashed up in the transporter beam?!?! 😂 That scene gave me nightmares for…….ever!! 🤷♂️😂
One thing to remember about this movie is that it was directed by a big name director (at the time), Robert Wise, who knew little about "Star Trek". He was interested in making a film on a par with "2001: A Space Odyssey", and that's why this film is so SFX heavy, like "2001", and unlike the series which had a practically nonexistent budget. Roddenberry was also more interested in the stories that the effects. He wanted a more "cerebral" show that would make the audience think. However Wise had a much larger budget to work with and he put a lot of that into the SFX, thus the many scenes of the _Enterprise_ flying through the V'Ger cloud. The second movie should be more satisfying, as "Star Trek" fans. It was produced and co-written by Harve Bennett who, to get inspiration for the movie, watched every episode of the series. Since the second film is titled "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan", I'm sure you can guess in which episode he found that inspiration. Also, I do envy you guys. Although I was not "into" the show during its original run in the 60's, I did become a fan when it went into syndication in the 70's. I had to wait nearly a decade for this movie to be released, being teased only with the animated series and rumors of a _possible_ Trek return of some kind. One of those teases was a projected new series called "Star Trek: Phase II" which would have had _NONE_ of the original actors even though, unlike "The Next Generation", it was set contemporaneously to TOS (so it _could_ have had them). So, this movie, at the time, was rather well received by the fans simply because of the decade long wait and anticipation. It also came out on the heels and success of "Star Wars". After the HUGE success of that movie, Paramount said "Don't we own a property like that?". And thus "Phase II" was rolled into "ST:TMP". We then had to wait another THREE YEARS for he next movie, whereas you guys can watch it _right now._
I've seen a number of videos of people watching this and the other TOS films from people who know nothing about Trek or have only seen the JJ Abrams movies (which is basically the same thing), so once again I think it's awesome that you guys didn't take any short cuts before moving on to the big screen.
While many people make that comment myself I was raised off of TOS and TNG before anything else and this film really didn't do it for me. Not because I like more action but the story was very much more focused on look at home much we can push the effects and not enough time was given to the story or other characters.
14. The long sequences of the Enterprise flying through V’ger were even longer in the theatrical version and were among the most controversial scenes in the film. The influence of "2001: A Space Odyssey" on these sequences and Spock’s spacewalk is too obvious to need pointing out. ("2001" is also one of the few films with an overture other than TMP which modern viewers are likely to have seen.) At the time of the original production of the TMP Director’s Edition in 2001, both Robert Wise and Jerry Goldsmith were still living. For the V’ger flythrough sequences, Goldsmith’s music cues were shortened first, and Goldsmith approved the new versions before the pictures were edited to match. The results pleased Goldsmith, who had mistakenly believed in 1979 that the sequences would be tightened before the film’s release and had therefore composed the cues in a modular fashion, with sections that could be lifted out without ill effect.
I was in a theater full of original Trek fans as a kid when this came out, and I can still remember seeing folks sitting near me and my family in tears when they saw the redesigned Enterprise and the musical score during the flyover inspection part.
I was 19 when i saw this movie in 1979 and i loved every moment. By the end i felt almost as transformed at V'ger itself!! I wrote fan letters to several of the actors and Robert Wise very kindly answered me with a letter on Star Trek stationary!! I know many fans prefer Wrath of Khan, but this one will always be my favorite. I'm glad you liked it.
@@AlanCanon2222 He said that he was quite touched by my letter and said that he liked the film and "probably always will". He also sent a very nice autographed photo
I think THIS movie is just FABULOUS! . .. and always have! And I suspect that those who've called it "slow" or "booring" were probably just the kind of m@r@ns who crave ohhhhh guns, car chases, and explosions every minute throughout the entire duration of a movie. In fact, such people are the reasons we have all these big, dumb, action "blockbusters" with goons like Vin Diesel and The Rock and Schwarzenegar and so on.
This movie didn't turn out to be a battle with the Klingons, but I liked that they were in it. Liked seeing them trying to battle V'ger. After all, do all these "end of the world" entities and machines ONLY attack the Federation?( Doomsday Machine, giant amoeba, Nomad, V'ger..) It was nice to see that the Klingon Empire has to deal with the weird stuff too. Also loved the part with your Trek fighting. Many of us did this when we were kids, so you really are getting the FULL experience we had! Re-creating Kirk fight scenes was like a compulsion to us.(sometimes punches accidentally connected, but we had fun)
As a kid I always thought McCoy was over-exaggerating his fears about the transporter, just being funny even. Then I saw this scene and understood him COMPLETELY.
That Decker according to the novelization was Commander Decker's son which I think explains his attitude. The actress playing Ileia was Miss Universe earlier from India. Both of these characters are templates for two characters on Next Generation.
The anticipation for this movie was off the charts as I recall. 10 years of waiting was a long time. It sure was thrilling to see the whole crew again!
I'm glad you guys watched this movie and I'm glad that you enjoyed it. One of the things that struck me when I first saw the film upon it's release was that it was essentially a grander-sized retelling of "The Changeling" (V'Ger in place of Nomad). Both were Earth probes that were modified and enhanced by a alien machine intelligence and that were seeking to return to their initial "launch point" (bit for somewhat different reasons)
Thank you for making this point. I was going to make it until I saw that you did. Yes, this was essentialy the story of Nomad again, except Kirk didn't talk V'ger into blowing itself up.
@@photonicus I had never heard that idea before, but in the episode "the other" was identified as "Tahn Ru" called by Spock "an alien probe of incredible power, whose original purpose was to seek out and to *sterilize* soil samples from other planets probably as a prelude to colonization"
That musical opening at the beginning was an Overture. I've watched some older movies, and some will start with a musical number. Some movies (like The Ten Commandments) will have in big letters OVERTURE. I'm guessing it's supposed to be reminiscent to when an actual orchestra provided the music for motion pictures and played as people came in to fill the theater. Older longer movies also had a thing called an INTERMISSION which gave audiences a chance to smoke, use the bathroom, go to the concession stand, etc.
"2001" has both an overture and an intermission. The latter comes at the point when HAL reads the astronauts' lips. Stanley Kubrick intended for "2001"'s overture, entr'acte (intermission music) and "exit music" to be omitted on home video releases. The first time I saw "2001," on VHS, they were indeed absent -- the film started up immediately with the modernist MGM logo the studio briefly used in the late '60s. However, more recent releases on Blu-ray and 4K have restored the three pieces of music. This makes sense, I think, since people have more sophisticated home theater setups now and may want to replicate the theatrical experience of "2001" as closely as possible. I saw "2001" in a theatrical rerelease a few years ago (pre-COVID) at a theater with curtains over the screen, and they remained closed during the overture, as other commenters have mentioned was the custom for films with overtures. That was the rerelease that touted the film *not* being restored -- vintage 35mm prints were touring the country, complete with whatever damage they had sustained since 1968, to give a more authentic cinematic experience. The print I saw had noticeable scratches when Dave was showing HAL his sketches of the three astronauts in hibernation. Two memorable aspects of seeing the film in a theater with a good sound system were that the signal from the monolith on the Moon reached the verge of being physically painful before stopping, and that HAL's voice was all-pervasive, enhancing the sense of him as a "Big Brother" figure.
9. During the run of TOS, Gene Roddenberry and Nichelle Nichols had discussions about the Uhura character in which they devised background information about her which was never mentioned on screen, but which added texture to Nichols’ performance. One of the things they decided upon was that Uhura was not merely the chief communications officer on the bridge, but that she was the head of an entire Communications Department aboard the Enterprise, other members of which we only got to see when they filled in for Uhura (as with Lt. Palmer in “The Doomsday Machine” and “The Way to Eden,” and M’Ress in multiple TAS episodes). The scene in TMP in which Admiral Kirk arrives on the Enterprise bridge while everyone is scrambling to prepare for departure contains the only hint of this in dialogue that we ever receive: just before Kirk enters, Uhura says to someone over the intercom, “My people are tied up now.” Despite its never being made explicit in dialogue, somehow watching TOS as a child I always knew that Uhura was the head of an entire department of people who reported to her. How, then, did I know this? I think it came across in Nichelle Nichols’ performance. The theatrical edition omits the end of the first scene on the Enterprise bridge, with Uhura snapping that their chances of returning from the mission have just doubled. This is a good example of how the theatrical edition failed to find the right balance between characterization and spectacle due to its rushed post-production.
At the same time, the new sound effects do more to induce laughter than tension. I prefer some scene additions and changes, but the sounds alone are bad - I prefer the extended TV version, which keeps the effects sounds and adds dialogue.
That is a great story about Uhura. It pretty much confirmed every thing I've deduced sense I was a teenager watching Trek. Uhura had to be head of a department of communications, I would also put cryptography, and overlap with security involving coms, and data exchange. In TOS she would have had to be one of the senior Lieutenants, along with Sulu. People always criticize that Uhura never had command of the ship. However Sulu has, because his career path put him in that position, where Uhura is in a key position at her post. However in at least one novel I've read the past month she did take the con, and lead an away mission to assist Kirk, and Spock. By TMP she could have held a similar position to Sulu in chain of command. In Star Trek II she would be 3rd or 4th officer in chain of command. Sulu being 1st or 2nd, whether or not Scotty held that position. I have not read this in a book or manuel. I'm just going on what I see the characters do on screen. Including the PC game footage with live action.
In head canon, Uhura is the senior lieutenant aboard ship who was not in the command division, so she would not necessarily take command of the ship (except that one time in the animated series). I suspect that she could probably be useful in engineering if necessary.
Around 15:00 Someone has probably already said this, but Spock had passed all by the final Kolinahr ritual, the Vulcan way to purge all emotions. Even though he did not "pass" his emotions have been thoroughly suppressed.
This was a great way to start the morning! I loved how you guys reacted to every first sight of a cast member! I saw this when it first came out in 1979 - in 70 millimeter, no less. Went through the whole buildup, the anticipation, read all the articles in Starlog, the whole nine yards. This is a movie that came out very much in the shadow of "Star Wars", which revolutionized the entire industry when it came out in 1977. It was "Star Wars" that helped to convince Paramount to greenlight this as a movie. It was "Star Wars" that was still fresh in people's minds and it was "Star Wars" that it would inevitably be compared to. And, get this: when this was in theaters in 1979, what trailer played in front of it? "The Empire Strikes Back"! Anyway, "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" got a mixed reaction when it first came out and I always thought it was unfair to compare it to "Star Wars". Apples and oranges. But back then it was unavoidable. Personally, this is still my favorite of all the "Star Trek" movies and I've come to really appreciate the themes it deals with as I've grown older. Keep on Trekkin' - as we used to say!
Probably not the movie I would suggest to a newbie for a first approach (the logical choice here is "The Wrath of Khan", with all its flaws); surely not the most entertaining, but surely the most genuinely sci-fi. I think that few movies in history transmits the same sense of venture into the unknown. And V'ger's terrible loneliness has always struck me to the core. This movie is mesmerizing and it shaped a good part of my imagination towards science fiction, back when I was only a child. The best and most ambitious movie of the series, hands down, IMO.
The opening with the star field and the music is called an overture. It was one last movies to have one. Yes Matt Decker is the son of Commodore Decker, this is explained in the novelization.
I saw this first showing opening day. My friends and I decided to take off work. I couldn't get off. So, I called in sick. While we were waiting in a very long line, a reporter from a local TV channel was interviewing people. He came up to me and I told him I couldn't because I called in sick to work. He moved on. But when the story aired that evening, the reporter mentioned that some people called in sick to see the movie. The audience was pretty much all fans. They all cheered whenever an original cast member appeared just like you two. The opening where it was just music with a black screen was the overture. I saw The Black Hole the same day and it also had an overture. Lots of big event movies had overtures. I remember 2001: A Space Odyssey had one. I was always inpressed that Roddenberry resisted turning this into a Star Wars style shoot'em up. He aimed higher. It made $140 million on a budget that was just over $40 million. But the reviews were bad and the studio expected it to be bigger. Also, it was way over budget (original budget was $25 million). So the producers cut the budget for the next film and replaced Roddenberry as producer. Fun fact: Chief DeFalco was played by Shatner's wife at the time.
I am SO ready for you guys to see Star Trek II... As my dad says, the best thing about Star Trek the Motion Picture is that it was good enough for Paramount to keep making more.
31:15 ST:TOS was so vibrantly colored because back in the 1960s color TV sets were still expensive and a lot of households still had B&W sets. The vibrant contrasting colors still showed as different in gray scale.
17. Spock’s spacewalk was a reshoot late in the production, replacing a substantially different sequence that had been scripted and partially filmed. Originally, Kirk pursued Spock out of the Enterprise as Spock approached a memory storage area within V’ger. Defensive crystals attacked Kirk and nearly encased his spacesuit, immobilizing him. After a few moments of suspense as to whether Spock’s curiosity about V’ger was stronger than his loyalty to Kirk, Spock turned back and phasered the crystals off his captain. Spock and Kirk then passed through a “memory wall” of energy into a “memory vault,” where Spock touched a “meditator ball” to mind-meld with V’ger, producing the same overwhelming effect as in the final film; the action then continued in the Enterprise sickbay. This sequence was extremely challenging to shoot, and Wise was dissatisfied with the completed sections of it. The legendary special effects designer Douglas Trumbull, who was brought in to rescue TMP when the originally contracted effects house produced almost no usable footage, conceived the simpler replacement spacewalk primarily featuring Spock alone. The “memory wall” sequence appeared in the Marvel Comics adaptation of TMP because Marvel was working from an earlier draft of the script. However, Gene Roddenberry kept up to date on the script rewrites, and his novelization reflects the final version of the spacewalk sequence. This section of the book is particularly interesting because Roddenberry writes part of it from V’ger’s point of view. In the theatrical version, as Spock prepares to propel himself through the orifice in V’ger, an automated voice announcement from his thruster suit explains how to trigger the rocket. This announcement, which feels very reminiscent of "2001," is omitted in the Director’s Edition. There is a spectacular and hilarious blooper in the Special Longer Version as it originally appeared on television (and on your VHS tape). In the quest to make the movie as long as possible, the editors added an unused scene showing Kirk departing the Enterprise airlock to rescue Spock (the scene you realized should have been present). Kirk’s spacesuit in this scene is an entirely different design from when he retrieves Spock outside (it was the original design from the “memory wall” version of the sequence). Even more egregiously, as Kirk floats out into space the framework of the set is visible. The scene was never finished by replacing the scaffolding with a matte painting, and yet the editors cut it into the Special Longer Version regardless! (This has been corrected in the Special Longer Version as it appears on the 4K release of the TMP Director’s Edition.)
When I first saw this movie as a kid, I was bored out of my mind.. fast forward to now after watching the TOS series alongside you guys, I loved this movie! Your reaction did not disappoint! And loved the bit at the end!’
It's funny. I saw this when I was 11 and wasn't bored at all. It is slow I'll give you that. But it feels more like Trek than anything made since 2009. My brother and I actually showed it to our 17 year old cousin,after watching some of the original show with him,and we thought he might be bored. Actually he enjoyed it. He really liked the sense of wonder and mystery it had. And he liked how there wasn't a "bad" guy. He wondered why the new films weren't as well written.
@@kellinwinslow1988 that’s awesome about you and your cousin catching onto these over the newer stuff! Growing up, I was into the original Star Wars movies and didn’t understand Trek as much.
@@talynstarburst2l2l2lOh I hear you. I can just remember seeing the original Star Wars I theaters. I was huge into it. Not so much anymore. But since the late 70's and 80' especially Star Trek has taken over Wars for me. Sadly Kurtzman and his friends have ruined it but I'll just play Star Trek Frontiers the board game and forget about the new stuff.
@@kellinwinslow1988 yeah.. sadly a lot of good things being ruined today. That’s how I came to feel about Star Wars, which allowed me to tune into old Trek.. as I have been following along these guys, I just started TNG for a run through the whole series.
Thanks guys for your review. I always loved this film. Saw it back in 1979. Will Decker is the son of the previous Decker. Ilea and Will were in love but he didn't commit because Deltans have to mind meld while mating. When he said he wanted to meld with V-Ger at the end, it was also a commitment to Ilea. . They did put back color uniforms by the next film. The prevous show with a computer that thought Kirk was its creator Nomad.
It's been great seeing you guys become tru Trekkies. And your reactions to everyone's entrance was so enduring. Going forward many of your dislikes will be corrected.
This is the exact moment Mark Leonard was the first person to play a Romulan, a Vulcan and a Klingon. I’m not sure if any other actor got to do the same.
In the shows there were a few who played multiple species (Marc Alaimo was a one episode alien ambassador in TNG, Romulan (first on TNG), human, Cardassian (first one ever seen on screen)), but not in the movies.
James Sloyan played a Klingon, Romulan and Bajoran, and Suzie Plakson played a Vulcan, Klingon/Human hybrid, Andorian and a Q. Jeffrey Combs, of course, got to portray just about everyone.
Great choice to watch it all in release order; gives the perfect set up for y'all to see this movie. Saw it opening weekend and I have to say, y'all had a better appreciation for it than me at the time ( though now it and Wrath are the only 2 Trek movies I find myself drawn back to repeatedly). Seeing the ship n the big screen was epic and so many great visuals and wonderful music blew me away even then. And I remember having the same reaction each time someone from TOS came on screen. But I do remember for a chunck of the movie being let down by not having the vivid primary colored uniforms. At the time what I wanted was a TOS episode just longer and with more FX (especially wanting new and exotic aliens, though disliking the Klingon change), but by the movie's end I was happy with the experience, just nowhere near as much as I would be in the years to come. It's one of the few times a sci-fi show has not only aged well, but gotten better with time.
Fun fact.. It would take over 651 hours and 48 minutes, meaning it will take over 27 days to watch all of star trek and they are yet even more new stuff incoming !!! Enjoy the Ride ! As they say in Enterprise.. It's been a long road getting from there to here. :)
The Klingon Captain is played by Mark Lenard (also known as the Romulan Commander in Balance of Terror & Ambassador Sarek in Journey to Babel) I always thought Willard Deaker was Commodore Matthew Decker's son -no mention of that at Memory Alpha but Memory Beta (the non-canon Star Trek website) says that he is. This movie is the result of a planned reboot series Star Trek: Phase II - all the TOS cast signed on except Nimoy (at the time he didn't want to reprise the role). In his place a new science officer was created Xon (David Gautreaux) who would be fascinated by human emotions and want to be more like humans. The actor is in the movie, - he's the commander of station Epsilon 9. Star Wars ws the catalyst that bumped it from series to movie. That ceremony Spock was participating in was the final step to purge all emotion from him Ilia's race has mega-phermones - hence the need for a celibacy oath to be on record. She didn't heal Chekov she just used phermones to deaden the pain. She was played by the late Persis Khambatta - Miss India in the 1965 Miss Universe pagent. My complaints with the movie was the reuse of The Changeling - the one where the probe Nomad wipes Uhura's memory and she has to re-educated ("The ball is bluey?") ans hte lack of color in the uniforms
I am so excited that you guys have finally got here and even more pleased by how much you appreciated this film. Not everyone does. You will be glad to know that while the VFX have been remastered for 4K, most of them are pretty much as they appeared in the theatrical cut with just a few exceptions. As formthe uniforms, don't worry, there is a major redesign coming and while the colors are not like the classic uniforms, they are very striking.
So glad the TMP uniforms got replaced. Whoever thought attaching the boots into the pants was a good idea should've been canned. Also, one of the stipulations from the cast for doing another film was redoing the uniforms as it was a pain in the ass to go use the bathroom in the TMP outfits.
@@alucard624The boots attached to the uniforms were done again for the first couple seasons of TNG. IIRC there was an elastic strap that went through the instep, so it kept the uniforms stretched. Whoever designed them apparently didn't like any wrinkles in them. The cast hated the original uniforms and they got changed I believe in season three, although some extras were still wearing the original uniforms for awhile after the change. The only issues with the later uniforms was that when they stood up they had to pull down their shirts every time. I think I've even seen compilations of the crew tugging their shirts down.
@JMO_1976 yes, on TNG tugging their tops back down after anyone stood up or raised their arms became affectionately referred to as "the Picard maneuver". The season 1 TNG uniforms were so tight that they were giving Patrick Stewart back pain issues. He got his doctor to demand that production revise the uniforms after season 2. Those old uniforms definitely lingered on as costumes for extras as the series progressed with minor additions like collars to match the primary cast.
Back in the day most movie theaters had curtains on the screen. Big epic films tended to have music that would start before the movie that would be played as the audience was coming in and getting their seats. As that music would Fade Out the curtains would open and you would get the opening Paramount logo, or whicheverthe studio was. As it turns out this film and The Black Hole, which was also released in 1979, were the last two films to have opening music intended to be played before the movie started.
Glad you guys liked it. Your reactions were exactly what I was hoping. I'm sure it's been said but the beginning of the film with Jerry Goldsmith's music was an overture. A lot of films used to do that. Ben Hur, Lawrence of Arabia ECT. I kind of miss it now. It helps set the mood. Speaking of the sound. You are right that the mix isn't perfect unless you have a Dolby Atmos set up. I had the same issue you guys did and it annoyed me enough that I upgraded my sound set up a couple of years ago to a Denon AVR X4400H with a 7.4.1 set up and it does make a difference . The ships and shots really go over you and the dialog can actually be heard much better. It sucks but they did a lot of the remixing for that. Although Jerry Goldsmith's son was there to help them do it so that's cool at least. And it's nice that you guys did think of Decker from The Doomsday Machine. They actually asked the great director, Robert Wise who did The Day The Earth Stood Still and The Andromeda Strain as well as helped edit Citizen Kane,if he wanted to cut down the intro of the Enterprise and he said no. It was the first time we had really got to see it in perspective and Goldsmith's score really makes it work. The refit Enterprise is a beautiful ship. The model was huge,over 12 feet I think,and the detail took them a long time to do. Plus you see Kirk's love for the ship so it's a good character moment. The scene of Spock crying was also great. The film is really a lot about him. The studio wanted to cut that scene but Nimoy insisted it be there. Glad to see you guys got into it though. You'll love the next 3 films . 5 ,well that's for later.
Saw this as a kid in the theater opening weekend after being a ST fan through reruns. I never knew a movie was being made until the trailer showed up. Mind Blown.
This one is often called the "Slow Motion Picture" in jest, but it's probably my favourite of the movies. It keeps up the slow-paced, philosophical spirit of the series, and the "this simple feeling" scene is so beautiful.
This was the first movie I remember going to in the theater with my Dad back in 1979. I was 5 at the time and it was Christmas. Every time I see the movie, I remember those times. It was such a big deal at the time because people were waiting a decade for new Star Trek. We also drove from the Suburbs of N Vancouver to Downtown Vancouver to a theater there.
Words can't describe how excited I was when I got to see this in theaters long ago. Seeing your joy and excitement when you saw all the beloved characters again just reminded me of how I felt, thank u for that.
Loved the bit at the end :) I forgot to mention earlier over on Patreon that I thought that it was funny how you both started off liking the new uniforms but seemed to hate them by the end. And once more, big ups to Jerry Goldsmith's score :) Best part of TMP.
I thought the reveal of VGER being a VOYAGER satellite trying to complete its mission while gaining consciousness itself was a brilliant concept. It’s a story that is grounded in realism for a sci-if movie. The movie also had a serious tone to it which I also loved. A lot of people don’t care for this one, but at times I debate it as my favorite of the series.
The opening with the starts and the. music before the Paramount logo comes on is called an overture. Movies used to have them all the time but stopped in the 60's. There were a few movies that still had them but Star Trek the Motion Picture and The Black Hole (both came out Christmas 1979) are the last movies to have an overture. Also the sound mix on the Directors cut 4K was done new by a post production sound guy who works on new films.
I can’t see anyone mention the director Robert Wise. He was probably chosen because he directed one of the best sci-fi films ever: “The Day The Earth Stood Still”. And a more recent sci-fi he did “The Andromeda Strain” is also fantastic.
This is great reaction and love the positive feedbacks as this movie has been talked down a lot. For me this movie and TWOK are the best of the bunch for TOS era movies.
Fun fact, the actor who played the Klingon captain is Mark Lenard, who also played the Romulan captain in the TOS episode "Balance of Terror" and Spock's father, Sarek.
Great reaction again! To me the first movie felt like a TOS episode script that got stretched to movie length with extra character stuff (always love to see it) and impressive visual, showing off the enterprise with new tech. We may have set the happenings of this movie in motion. Voyager 2 lost contact a few weeks ago O_O The part at the end is glorious, love the choreography and all the callbacks :D
It’s actually well known - at least in Trekkie circles - that the story was a repurposed script for the pilot of the Star Trek Phase II show that was itself repurposed into The Motion Picture. The story bears are pretty much exactly the same, though TMP changed a few things to make it more cinematic and offer closure for the V’Ger, Decker, and Ilia story/character arcs.
They had to film the scene where Ilea breaks through the sick bay doors more than five times because Persis Khambata broke through the door she started laughing her head off. (She died in her 40s). Star Trek TMP was nicknamed “the motionless picture.” The next film was much, much better.
I saw this on the theater as a 12 year old, liked it immediately and have come to love it over time. On the one hand it was contemporary to Star Wars, but kept its brand as a story of seeking out new life and making friends. Great optimistic message. Spock’s arc was subtle but great. He tried to purge his emotion, realized he couldn’t, and made peace with his inner humanity.
17:05 Shots like this were done by slowly zooming into a painting, with long exposure... for EVERY FRAME; for the next frame, they would change the starting point and perspective very slightly, and do the zoom again. Same with the stretched-ship effect during the warp drive accelerations, but they streaked the MODEL, not just artwork of the model. (The film consisted of four reels, and when it premiered, the final reel was delivered DURING THE SCREENING - they were working on the special effects THAT long.)
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Except this movie...
The long flyby of the Enterprise made this movie for me. She's the most beautiful ship to ever traverse the galaxy. Saw this in the theater in 79 when it premiered. Had a pint of Jack Daniels tucked inside my boot sipping Jack and Coke as the movie began. First sight of the Enterprise I nearly wept.
Loved it!! Next up - the greatest thing to ever be attached to the name "Star Trek"!
This was originally set up as an Episode of a new show, with Decker, Ileia and Sonnak being new characters, and no Spock. When Star Wars had its break out, Paramount got excited about doing a big Sci-Fi movie to capitalize on it. So they went with a movie instead. Some of the new characters got re-worked into characters in Next Generation, and they even used a couple of re-worked episodes that had been written for the new show. When you get to Next Gen, look for similarities between Riker and Decker, and Ilea and Troi. (Including that they had a prior relationship)
In the theaters - all effects looked Excellent as well as the sound effects; the only exception is the pillar of light - you could, or at least I could see the difference between both sides. As with the sound - that's complements from sound designers (to most of everyone's hatred). Spock's rocket ride was AWESOME! You both talked about it - I watched ToS in 68 as a kid on a 19' black and white vacuum tube TV, and then there was the movie announcement, not to forget the fact that the first space shuttle was named Enterprise! Voyager 2 was launched not long before. Star Trek II is NEXT! LOL
You know when you're a proper Trekkie when you not only enjoy the ship porn but want it to go on longer 😂😂
I'll admit that I've watched a few episodes of Trekyards, exactly for that reason.
@@willsofer3679 Masturbating?
Yeah. This is when longing and lingering gazes at starships became a big part of Trek.
I think THIS movie is just FABULOUS! . .. and always have! And I suspect that those who've called it "slow" or "booring" were probably just the kind of m@r@ns who crave ohhhhh guns, car chases, and explosions every minute throughout the entire duration of a movie. In fact, such people are the reasons we have all these big, dumb, action "blockbusters" with goons like Vin Diesel and The Rock and Schwarzenegar and so on.
@@IanFindly-iv1nl yeah, like the people who love jj.abrams star trek 🤦♂️ just big dumb action movies with little to no substance.
I was 13 when this came.out. Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers, The Black Hole, Logan's Run, Flash Gordon, Moonraker, Galaxy of Terror, Saturn 3 and Star Crash all zapped in this time period. Good time period and the Jerry Goldsmith soundtrack on LP was awesome.
That is pretty amazing. I have watched most of those since the pandemic. I couldn't get through Galaxy of Terror. Or Saturn 3. I did try. Buck Rogers was actually better than I expected. Battlestar Galactica should have gotten at least one more season, they had all the elements for a long running hit series. Logan's Run, the tv series, is very underrated. I really didn't get into Flash Gordon. Might have to try that one again.
BTW, long ago when "BIG" films were released, often times the filmmakers included a "overture" music piece before the film. That's what the black star field is at the beginning of this film.
A beautiful piece, too. One of the all time great scores in movie history.
I am SO EXCITED FOR THIS and I am EVEN MORE EXCITED for the movies that follow.
You guys seeing Bones for the first time and realising you'd forgotten him is my new favourite thing.
Notice the only ones who got big reveal moments were Kirk, Spock, and Bones :P
This takes me back to England, 1979. I was 13 and had already read the book to the movie. God, I loved every second of it, especially all the shots of Enterprise in Space Dock. ENTERPRISE!!!
And Spock holding Kirk's hand in sick bay and saying " This simple feeling is beyond VGER'S comprehension."
You've seen all the Kirk versus the computer stories, and with our Daystrom-like arrogance, our obsession with VR and Artificial Intelligence could be catastrophic for our species. We risk our humanity for convenience at our peril.
I was at the premiere in Boston. The audience was SO ready for this... The opening credits provoked a huge round of applause way back to the credit for costume designer, the original 60's show designer, William Ware Thiess. When the Klingon plasma torpedoes disappeared into V'Ger without a reaction, the audience gasped.
I was at another premiere, and in 1979 it was before multiplexes, so the screen was huge. Only Imaxes are bigger now. The scene of the little shuttle touring the Enterprise, the crowd just ate it up. Major fan porn.
@@mem1701movies Fans were thrilled to have ST back and largely loved the new Enterprise. I'm not anyone was excited about the uniforms though.
I think THIS movie is just FABULOUS! . .. and always have! And I suspect that those who've called it "slow" or "booring" were probably just the kind of m@r@ns who crave ohhhhh guns, car chases, and explosions every minute throughout the entire duration of a movie. In fact, such people are the reasons we have all these big, dumb, action "blockbusters" with goons like Vin Diesel and The Rock and Schwarzenegar and so on.
I read about Grace lee Whitney,after she left Star Trek she fell into hard times, she was homeless and had a substance abuse problem,Leonard nimoy helped her get life back
you CANNOT comprehend how excited all of us lifetime Trekkers, who grew up on the show, were when this movie was coming out.... you just have NO IDEA.
Something I liked about this film was how they gave names to several background characters. They're not main characters, but they are members of the Enterprise crew. They get names, too.
Just how they used to do it in TOS.
I could also swear *Ensign Perez* was noted in one of the _STAR TREK_ book and record sets in the mid 70's. I still had it when this film came out.
And some got expanded further, in books like Ex Machina, for one (pretty much, a direct sequel, to the film)@@bozzutoman
I WAS the 14 year old kid who saw the beauty shot of Enterprise in theater. I can remember grinning ear to ear at that scene
And just a little tidbit for you guys. Do you guys remember the original episode that you both watched called The Doomsday Machine,the one with the planet eater. The captain that goes crazy after his crew is killed, Captain Decker,is the character fom the Motion Picture Decker 's father . Sadly it wasn't touched on much,Kirk recommended him for command because of his dad's death,but it does add a bit of depth to their touchy relationship.
@@brucechmiel7964No problem. I thought it was some interesting background. And I do like the uniforms here although the later ones are my favorite Trek uniforms.
@@brucechmiel7964I'm not sure if I'm familiar with those. Anything past 2009 doesn't interest me so if they are from any of the Kurtzman or Bad Reboot garbage I'll pretend they didn't happen.
Man that was something that should have been added because I just feel the film's story is so damn thin. And it's not a matter of not enough pew pews because Voyage Home is one of the best Trek films because it had such a great story behind it.
You guys always surprise me, thought you guys were gonna be disappointed with this one. Some good catches though, like Decker and Janice, also the Klingon captain was Mark Leonard, making him the first person to play a Klingon, Romulan and a Vulcan. Your bones reaction was hilarious, another great one boys!
A Klingon, a Romulan, and a Vulcan walk in to a bar.
It was Mark Leonard.
*Lenard; joke?1000%😆😆😆
I think this is the most “Star Trek” of all the films. The story is classic Trek… exploring the human condition. The journey into the unknown… the journey inward. It’s my favorite of all of them.
The original ideal was for a new Trek tv series called: Star Trek:The Next Phase,but the success of Star Wars changed all that. So Paramount decided to do a feature film.
@neb6 ST 2 had a different director also-Nicholas Meyer.He went back and watched all the episodes of the original series,came to Space Seed and decided Kirk needed a worthy opponent for the next movie and chose-KHAN.GOOD decision.
I feel like the odd-numbered films are always more Star-Treky, and the even-numbered films are better films.
I think THIS movie is just FABULOUS! . .. and always have! And I suspect that those who've called it "slow" or "booring" were probably just the kind of m@r@ns who crave ohhhhh guns, car chases, and explosions every minute throughout the entire duration of a movie. In fact, such people are the reasons we have all these big, dumb, action "blockbusters" with goons like Vin Diesel and The Rock and Schwarzenegar and so on.
The opening thing is called an overture. Many films of the past had this, as it allowed people to shuffle into the auditorium and find their seats. The house lights would only be at half brightness at this time.
A couple of tidbits about the cast: The Klingon commander was played by Mark Lenard whom you first saw as the Romulan commander in "Balance of Terror". He then went on to play his most notable "Star Trek" character, Spock's father Sarek in "Journey to Babel", a role he would reprise in three of the six TOS based movies (meaning he appeared in four of the six, including TMP) as well as two episodes of TNG.
Also, Chief DeFalco (who replaced Lt. Ilea after she was killed by the V'Ger probe) was played by Bill Shatner's then wife Marcy Lafferty. You'd think that, being married to the star of the movie, she could have gotten a bigger role.....
For a starting point I love this movie. They learned a lot from it and made a lot of improvements to the next films. The future films, some are better than others, but they all do a better job with character interaction and chemistry and adding a bit more fun to the films. I've always felt the fans give this film more crap then it deserves.
I've always thought that this movie was like the original pilot, The Cage: a very deep, thoughtful, cerebral story. For the sequel, Wrath of Khan, they definitely went in the direction of the second pilot, Where No Man Has Gone Before.
That's a good point, never thought of it like that before but it makes total sense
You can't imagine how thrilled we were to see new "Trek" after all these years. It had been dead and suddenly there was hope.
Star Trek was revived because of the Star Wars craze. Paramount was desperately seeking their own franchise to compete with Star Wars and decided to make Star Trek into a movie series instead of a revived TV series.
@@DP-hy4vh After 10 years of the show becoming more and more popular in syndication, fans begging for some kind of revival, and Star Trek conventions beginning.
You guys understood one of the best things about Star Trek from the very beginning. Watching it with a buddy.
*Remote Control Spock stands in the back corner watching unflinchingly*
My first time watching this, and my most NOTABLE observation was…..HOW THE HELL were you so calm and collected watching those officers getting mashed up in the transporter beam?!?! 😂
That scene gave me nightmares for…….ever!! 🤷♂️😂
Ah, yes. Nomad on steroids. Nice review. Glad you realized Janice Rand was on board!
One thing to remember about this movie is that it was directed by a big name director (at the time), Robert Wise, who knew little about "Star Trek". He was interested in making a film on a par with "2001: A Space Odyssey", and that's why this film is so SFX heavy, like "2001", and unlike the series which had a practically nonexistent budget. Roddenberry was also more interested in the stories that the effects. He wanted a more "cerebral" show that would make the audience think. However Wise had a much larger budget to work with and he put a lot of that into the SFX, thus the many scenes of the _Enterprise_ flying through the V'Ger cloud.
The second movie should be more satisfying, as "Star Trek" fans. It was produced and co-written by Harve Bennett who, to get inspiration for the movie, watched every episode of the series. Since the second film is titled "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan", I'm sure you can guess in which episode he found that inspiration.
Also, I do envy you guys. Although I was not "into" the show during its original run in the 60's, I did become a fan when it went into syndication in the 70's. I had to wait nearly a decade for this movie to be released, being teased only with the animated series and rumors of a _possible_ Trek return of some kind. One of those teases was a projected new series called "Star Trek: Phase II" which would have had _NONE_ of the original actors even though, unlike "The Next Generation", it was set contemporaneously to TOS (so it _could_ have had them).
So, this movie, at the time, was rather well received by the fans simply because of the decade long wait and anticipation. It also came out on the heels and success of "Star Wars". After the HUGE success of that movie, Paramount said "Don't we own a property like that?". And thus "Phase II" was rolled into "ST:TMP". We then had to wait another THREE YEARS for he next movie, whereas you guys can watch it _right now._
I remember this when it first came out. Everyone CHEERED at the first sight of any known character.
"The Bit" at the end is brilliant. Just brilliant. If this movie had a scene or two like that, it would have been much better.
It was just like Arena.
I've seen a number of videos of people watching this and the other TOS films from people who know nothing about Trek or have only seen the JJ Abrams movies (which is basically the same thing), so once again I think it's awesome that you guys didn't take any short cuts before moving on to the big screen.
While many people make that comment myself I was raised off of TOS and TNG before anything else and this film really didn't do it for me. Not because I like more action but the story was very much more focused on look at home much we can push the effects and not enough time was given to the story or other characters.
14. The long sequences of the Enterprise flying through V’ger were even longer in the theatrical version and were among the most controversial scenes in the film. The influence of "2001: A Space Odyssey" on these sequences and Spock’s spacewalk is too obvious to need pointing out. ("2001" is also one of the few films with an overture other than TMP which modern viewers are likely to have seen.)
At the time of the original production of the TMP Director’s Edition in 2001, both Robert Wise and Jerry Goldsmith were still living. For the V’ger flythrough sequences, Goldsmith’s music cues were shortened first, and Goldsmith approved the new versions before the pictures were edited to match. The results pleased Goldsmith, who had mistakenly believed in 1979 that the sequences would be tightened before the film’s release and had therefore composed the cues in a modular fashion, with sections that could be lifted out without ill effect.
I was in a theater full of original Trek fans as a kid when this came out, and I can still remember seeing folks sitting near me and my family in tears when they saw the redesigned Enterprise and the musical score during the flyover inspection part.
I was 19 when i saw this movie in 1979 and i loved every moment. By the end i felt almost as transformed at V'ger itself!! I wrote fan letters to several of the actors and Robert Wise very kindly answered me with a letter on Star Trek stationary!! I know many fans prefer Wrath of Khan, but this one will always be my favorite. I'm glad you liked it.
What did Wise write to you? He is one of my fave directors.
@@AlanCanon2222 He said that he was quite touched by my letter and said that he liked the film and "probably always will". He also sent a very nice autographed photo
I think THIS movie is just FABULOUS! . .. and always have! And I suspect that those who've called it "slow" or "booring" were probably just the kind of m@r@ns who crave ohhhhh guns, car chases, and explosions every minute throughout the entire duration of a movie. In fact, such people are the reasons we have all these big, dumb, action "blockbusters" with goons like Vin Diesel and The Rock and Schwarzenegar and so on.
Another nugget for you guys. Chief DeFalco was played by William Shatner's wife at the time.
And they both appeared on the gameshow Tattletales together a few times.
I remember being mesmerized by this film as a child.
This movie didn't turn out to be a battle with the Klingons, but I liked that they were in it. Liked seeing them trying to battle V'ger. After all, do all these "end of the world" entities and machines ONLY attack the Federation?( Doomsday Machine, giant amoeba, Nomad, V'ger..)
It was nice to see that the Klingon Empire has to deal with the weird stuff too.
Also loved the part with your Trek fighting. Many of us did this when we were kids, so you really are getting the FULL experience we had! Re-creating Kirk fight scenes was like a compulsion to us.(sometimes punches accidentally connected, but we had fun)
The transporter malfunction traumatized me. even now it sends chills down my spine.
As a kid I always thought McCoy was over-exaggerating his fears about the transporter, just being funny even. Then I saw this scene and understood him COMPLETELY.
That Decker according to the novelization was Commander Decker's son which I think explains his attitude. The actress playing Ileia was Miss Universe earlier from India. Both of these characters are templates for two characters on Next Generation.
"The movie is louder than the dialogue ... " that crap didn't start with Nolan LOL
The anticipation for this movie was off the charts as I recall. 10 years of waiting was a long time. It sure was thrilling to see the whole crew again!
I'm glad you guys watched this movie and I'm glad that you enjoyed it.
One of the things that struck me when I first saw the film upon it's release was that it was essentially a grander-sized retelling of "The Changeling" (V'Ger in place of Nomad).
Both were Earth probes that were modified and enhanced by a alien machine intelligence and that were seeking to return to their initial "launch point" (bit for somewhat different reasons)
Thank you for making this point. I was going to make it until I saw that you did. Yes, this was essentialy the story of Nomad again, except Kirk didn't talk V'ger into blowing itself up.
If I remember correctly, Nomad mentioned being repaired by "the other". I think one of the Trek novels states that "the other" is V'ger.
This gave rise to the cleverest alternative title for 'The Motion Picture'....'Where Nomad Has Gone Before!".
TMP does a better job with it, even if the pacing is slower.
@@photonicus I had never heard that idea before, but in the episode "the other" was identified as "Tahn Ru" called by Spock "an alien probe of incredible power, whose original purpose was to seek out and to *sterilize* soil samples from other planets probably as a prelude to colonization"
That musical opening at the beginning was an Overture. I've watched some older movies, and some will start with a musical number. Some movies (like The Ten Commandments) will have in big letters OVERTURE. I'm guessing it's supposed to be reminiscent to when an actual orchestra provided the music for motion pictures and played as people came in to fill the theater. Older longer movies also had a thing called an INTERMISSION which gave audiences a chance to smoke, use the bathroom, go to the concession stand, etc.
"2001" has both an overture and an intermission. The latter comes at the point when HAL reads the astronauts' lips.
Stanley Kubrick intended for "2001"'s overture, entr'acte (intermission music) and "exit music" to be omitted on home video releases. The first time I saw "2001," on VHS, they were indeed absent -- the film started up immediately with the modernist MGM logo the studio briefly used in the late '60s. However, more recent releases on Blu-ray and 4K have restored the three pieces of music. This makes sense, I think, since people have more sophisticated home theater setups now and may want to replicate the theatrical experience of "2001" as closely as possible.
I saw "2001" in a theatrical rerelease a few years ago (pre-COVID) at a theater with curtains over the screen, and they remained closed during the overture, as other commenters have mentioned was the custom for films with overtures. That was the rerelease that touted the film *not* being restored -- vintage 35mm prints were touring the country, complete with whatever damage they had sustained since 1968, to give a more authentic cinematic experience. The print I saw had noticeable scratches when Dave was showing HAL his sketches of the three astronauts in hibernation.
Two memorable aspects of seeing the film in a theater with a good sound system were that the signal from the monolith on the Moon reached the verge of being physically painful before stopping, and that HAL's voice was all-pervasive, enhancing the sense of him as a "Big Brother" figure.
9. During the run of TOS, Gene Roddenberry and Nichelle Nichols had discussions about the Uhura character in which they devised background information about her which was never mentioned on screen, but which added texture to Nichols’ performance. One of the things they decided upon was that Uhura was not merely the chief communications officer on the bridge, but that she was the head of an entire Communications Department aboard the Enterprise, other members of which we only got to see when they filled in for Uhura (as with Lt. Palmer in “The Doomsday Machine” and “The Way to Eden,” and M’Ress in multiple TAS episodes). The scene in TMP in which Admiral Kirk arrives on the Enterprise bridge while everyone is scrambling to prepare for departure contains the only hint of this in dialogue that we ever receive: just before Kirk enters, Uhura says to someone over the intercom, “My people are tied up now.”
Despite its never being made explicit in dialogue, somehow watching TOS as a child I always knew that Uhura was the head of an entire department of people who reported to her. How, then, did I know this? I think it came across in Nichelle Nichols’ performance.
The theatrical edition omits the end of the first scene on the Enterprise bridge, with Uhura snapping that their chances of returning from the mission have just doubled. This is a good example of how the theatrical edition failed to find the right balance between characterization and spectacle due to its rushed post-production.
At the same time, the new sound effects do more to induce laughter than tension. I prefer some scene additions and changes, but the sounds alone are bad - I prefer the extended TV version, which keeps the effects sounds and adds dialogue.
That is a great story about Uhura. It pretty much confirmed every thing I've deduced sense I was a teenager watching Trek. Uhura had to be head of a department of communications, I would also put cryptography, and overlap with security involving coms, and data exchange. In TOS she would have had to be one of the senior Lieutenants, along with Sulu. People always criticize that Uhura never had command of the ship. However Sulu has, because his career path put him in that position, where Uhura is in a key position at her post. However in at least one novel I've read the past month she did take the con, and lead an away mission to assist Kirk, and Spock.
By TMP she could have held a similar position to Sulu in chain of command. In Star Trek II she would be 3rd or 4th officer in chain of command. Sulu being 1st or 2nd, whether or not Scotty held that position. I have not read this in a book or manuel. I'm just going on what I see the characters do on screen. Including the PC game footage with live action.
The theatrical edition also hides the fact that Uhura smells.
In head canon, Uhura is the senior lieutenant aboard ship who was not in the command division, so she would not necessarily take command of the ship (except that one time in the animated series). I suspect that she could probably be useful in engineering if necessary.
@@MichaelJohnson-vi6eh Also, the actress and the character are both made out of butter. Roddenberry insisted.
Around 15:00 Someone has probably already said this, but Spock had passed all by the final Kolinahr ritual, the Vulcan way to purge all emotions. Even though he did not "pass" his emotions have been thoroughly suppressed.
This was a great way to start the morning! I loved how you guys reacted to every first sight of a cast member! I saw this when it first came out in 1979 - in 70 millimeter, no less. Went through the whole buildup, the anticipation, read all the articles in Starlog, the whole nine yards. This is a movie that came out very much in the shadow of "Star Wars", which revolutionized the entire industry when it came out in 1977. It was "Star Wars" that helped to convince Paramount to greenlight this as a movie. It was "Star Wars" that was still fresh in people's minds and it was "Star Wars" that it would inevitably be compared to. And, get this: when this was in theaters in 1979, what trailer played in front of it? "The Empire Strikes Back"! Anyway, "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" got a mixed reaction when it first came out and I always thought it was unfair to compare it to "Star Wars". Apples and oranges. But back then it was unavoidable. Personally, this is still my favorite of all the "Star Trek" movies and I've come to really appreciate the themes it deals with as I've grown older. Keep on Trekkin' - as we used to say!
Probably not the movie I would suggest to a newbie for a first approach (the logical choice here is "The Wrath of Khan", with all its flaws); surely not the most entertaining, but surely the most genuinely sci-fi. I think that few movies in history transmits the same sense of venture into the unknown. And V'ger's terrible loneliness has always struck me to the core. This movie is mesmerizing and it shaped a good part of my imagination towards science fiction, back when I was only a child. The best and most ambitious movie of the series, hands down, IMO.
I waited to watch the movie so I could enjoy your reaction first. This channel is what got me into Star Trek
Spock was taking the test to remove all his emotions on Vulcan at the start of the movie. That's why he's so "Strict" at the beginning of the mission.
So glad you guys like this one... buckle up for the next 3!
The opening with the star field and the music is called an overture. It was one last movies to have one.
Yes Matt Decker is the son of Commodore Decker, this is explained in the novelization.
The reveal of the new Enterprise was wonderful. They used that footage also in Star Trek II - Wrath of Kahn.
I saw this first showing opening day. My friends and I decided to take off work. I couldn't get off. So, I called in sick. While we were waiting in a very long line, a reporter from a local TV channel was interviewing people. He came up to me and I told him I couldn't because I called in sick to work. He moved on. But when the story aired that evening, the reporter mentioned that some people called in sick to see the movie.
The audience was pretty much all fans. They all cheered whenever an original cast member appeared just like you two.
The opening where it was just music with a black screen was the overture. I saw The Black Hole the same day and it also had an overture. Lots of big event movies had overtures. I remember 2001: A Space Odyssey had one.
I was always inpressed that Roddenberry resisted turning this into a Star Wars style shoot'em up. He aimed higher. It made $140 million on a budget that was just over $40 million. But the reviews were bad and the studio expected it to be bigger. Also, it was way over budget (original budget was $25 million). So the producers cut the budget for the next film and replaced Roddenberry as producer.
Fun fact: Chief DeFalco was played by Shatner's wife at the time.
I am SO ready for you guys to see Star Trek II... As my dad says, the best thing about Star Trek the Motion Picture is that it was good enough for Paramount to keep making more.
Guys...that opening number before the movie starts is called an O V E R T U R E!! Just like in a theatre musical. Never forget that.
31:15 ST:TOS was so vibrantly colored because back in the 1960s color TV sets were still expensive and a lot of households still had B&W sets. The vibrant contrasting colors still showed as different in gray scale.
17. Spock’s spacewalk was a reshoot late in the production, replacing a substantially different sequence that had been scripted and partially filmed. Originally, Kirk pursued Spock out of the Enterprise as Spock approached a memory storage area within V’ger. Defensive crystals attacked Kirk and nearly encased his spacesuit, immobilizing him. After a few moments of suspense as to whether Spock’s curiosity about V’ger was stronger than his loyalty to Kirk, Spock turned back and phasered the crystals off his captain. Spock and Kirk then passed through a “memory wall” of energy into a “memory vault,” where Spock touched a “meditator ball” to mind-meld with V’ger, producing the same overwhelming effect as in the final film; the action then continued in the Enterprise sickbay.
This sequence was extremely challenging to shoot, and Wise was dissatisfied with the completed sections of it. The legendary special effects designer Douglas Trumbull, who was brought in to rescue TMP when the originally contracted effects house produced almost no usable footage, conceived the simpler replacement spacewalk primarily featuring Spock alone.
The “memory wall” sequence appeared in the Marvel Comics adaptation of TMP because Marvel was working from an earlier draft of the script. However, Gene Roddenberry kept up to date on the script rewrites, and his novelization reflects the final version of the spacewalk sequence. This section of the book is particularly interesting because Roddenberry writes part of it from V’ger’s point of view.
In the theatrical version, as Spock prepares to propel himself through the orifice in V’ger, an automated voice announcement from his thruster suit explains how to trigger the rocket. This announcement, which feels very reminiscent of "2001," is omitted in the Director’s Edition.
There is a spectacular and hilarious blooper in the Special Longer Version as it originally appeared on television (and on your VHS tape). In the quest to make the movie as long as possible, the editors added an unused scene showing Kirk departing the Enterprise airlock to rescue Spock (the scene you realized should have been present). Kirk’s spacesuit in this scene is an entirely different design from when he retrieves Spock outside (it was the original design from the “memory wall” version of the sequence). Even more egregiously, as Kirk floats out into space the framework of the set is visible. The scene was never finished by replacing the scaffolding with a matte painting, and yet the editors cut it into the Special Longer Version regardless! (This has been corrected in the Special Longer Version as it appears on the 4K release of the TMP Director’s Edition.)
Mark Lenard (Sarek) as a Klingon here. Also Chris Doohan is an extra here before he went on to play Scotty in ST Continues.
When I first saw this movie as a kid, I was bored out of my mind.. fast forward to now after watching the TOS series alongside you guys, I loved this movie!
Your reaction did not disappoint! And loved the bit at the end!’
It's funny. I saw this when I was 11 and wasn't bored at all. It is slow I'll give you that. But it feels more like Trek than anything made since 2009. My brother and I actually showed it to our 17 year old cousin,after watching some of the original show with him,and we thought he might be bored. Actually he enjoyed it. He really liked the sense of wonder and mystery it had. And he liked how there wasn't a "bad" guy. He wondered why the new films weren't as well written.
@@kellinwinslow1988 that’s awesome about you and your cousin catching onto these over the newer stuff! Growing up, I was into the original Star Wars movies and didn’t understand Trek as much.
@@talynstarburst2l2l2lOh I hear you. I can just remember seeing the original Star Wars I theaters. I was huge into it. Not so much anymore. But since the late 70's and 80' especially Star Trek has taken over Wars for me. Sadly Kurtzman and his friends have ruined it but I'll just play Star Trek Frontiers the board game and forget about the new stuff.
@@kellinwinslow1988 yeah.. sadly a lot of good things being ruined today. That’s how I came to feel about Star Wars, which allowed me to tune into old Trek.. as I have been following along these guys, I just started TNG for a run through the whole series.
Fun fact: The Klingon Commander was played by Mark Leonard, who played Spock's father Sarek as well as the Romulan Cmdr in "Balance of Terror".
Thanks guys for your review. I always loved this film. Saw it back in 1979. Will Decker is the son of the previous Decker. Ilea and Will were in love but he didn't commit because Deltans have to mind meld while mating. When he said he wanted to meld with V-Ger at the end, it was also a commitment to Ilea. . They did put back color uniforms by the next film. The prevous show with a computer that thought Kirk was its creator Nomad.
I love the production design of late70ies/ early 80ies scifi and for me ST TMP has the best look of all star trek ever ... ❤
It's been great seeing you guys become tru Trekkies. And your reactions to everyone's entrance was so enduring. Going forward many of your dislikes will be corrected.
You guys do Star Trek so well.
I love how in the second movie, all the main characters (and some of the minor ones) take turns being made out of butter.
This is the exact moment Mark Leonard was the first person to play a Romulan, a Vulcan and a Klingon. I’m not sure if any other actor got to do the same.
In the shows there were a few who played multiple species (Marc Alaimo was a one episode alien ambassador in TNG, Romulan (first on TNG), human, Cardassian (first one ever seen on screen)), but not in the movies.
James Sloyan played a Klingon, Romulan and Bajoran, and Suzie Plakson played a Vulcan, Klingon/Human hybrid, Andorian and a Q. Jeffrey Combs, of course, got to portray just about everyone.
@@stuartwald2395 Yes, but I think the OP meant an actor being the first to play a species, not just played multiple species.
Without spoiling story for the other films, the uniforms do look better in 2 through 6.
Man, I can’t wait to see you guys bust out in tears on the next one, and you will. I’ve probably seen it 50 times, and it gets me every time
Great choice to watch it all in release order; gives the perfect set up for y'all to see this movie. Saw it opening weekend and I have to say, y'all had a better appreciation for it than me at the time ( though now it and Wrath are the only 2 Trek movies I find myself drawn back to repeatedly). Seeing the ship n the big screen was epic and so many great visuals and wonderful music blew me away even then. And I remember having the same reaction each time someone from TOS came on screen. But I do remember for a chunck of the movie being let down by not having the vivid primary colored uniforms. At the time what I wanted was a TOS episode just longer and with more FX (especially wanting new and exotic aliens, though disliking the Klingon change), but by the movie's end I was happy with the experience, just nowhere near as much as I would be in the years to come. It's one of the few times a sci-fi show has not only aged well, but gotten better with time.
Fun fact.. It would take over 651 hours and 48 minutes, meaning it will take over 27 days to watch all of star trek and they are yet even more new stuff incoming !!! Enjoy the Ride ! As they say in Enterprise.. It's been a long road getting from there to here. :)
If I knew then what I know now I would skip a lot of that. Especially Discovery, Picard and the truly awful Strange New Worlds.
@@trhansen3244 Agree with Discovery, Don't even consider that cannon. But Strange New Worlds Is good. Picard Season 3 was ok.
I am glad to have been a part of your journey!
The Klingon Captain is played by Mark Lenard (also known as the Romulan Commander in Balance of Terror & Ambassador Sarek in Journey to Babel)
I always thought Willard Deaker was Commodore Matthew Decker's son -no mention of that at Memory Alpha but Memory Beta (the non-canon Star Trek website) says that he is.
This movie is the result of a planned reboot series Star Trek: Phase II - all the TOS cast signed on except Nimoy (at the time he didn't want to reprise the role). In his place a new science officer was created Xon (David Gautreaux) who would be fascinated by human emotions and want to be more like humans. The actor is in the movie, - he's the commander of station Epsilon 9. Star Wars ws the catalyst that bumped it from series to movie.
That ceremony Spock was participating in was the final step to purge all emotion from him
Ilia's race has mega-phermones - hence the need for a celibacy oath to be on record. She didn't heal Chekov she just used phermones to deaden the pain. She was played by the late Persis Khambatta - Miss India in the 1965 Miss Universe pagent.
My complaints with the movie was the reuse of The Changeling - the one where the probe Nomad wipes Uhura's memory and she has to re-educated ("The ball is bluey?") ans hte lack of color in the uniforms
“I love the new uniforms!”
Yeah… about that... 👀
I am so excited that you guys have finally got here and even more pleased by how much you appreciated this film. Not everyone does. You will be glad to know that while the VFX have been remastered for 4K, most of them are pretty much as they appeared in the theatrical cut with just a few exceptions. As formthe uniforms, don't worry, there is a major redesign coming and while the colors are not like the classic uniforms, they are very striking.
So glad the TMP uniforms got replaced. Whoever thought attaching the boots into the pants was a good idea should've been canned. Also, one of the stipulations from the cast for doing another film was redoing the uniforms as it was a pain in the ass to go use the bathroom in the TMP outfits.
@@alucard624The boots attached to the uniforms were done again for the first couple seasons of TNG. IIRC there was an elastic strap that went through the instep, so it kept the uniforms stretched. Whoever designed them apparently didn't like any wrinkles in them. The cast hated the original uniforms and they got changed I believe in season three, although some extras were still wearing the original uniforms for awhile after the change. The only issues with the later uniforms was that when they stood up they had to pull down their shirts every time. I think I've even seen compilations of the crew tugging their shirts down.
@JMO_1976 yes, on TNG tugging their tops back down after anyone stood up or raised their arms became affectionately referred to as "the Picard maneuver". The season 1 TNG uniforms were so tight that they were giving Patrick Stewart back pain issues. He got his doctor to demand that production revise the uniforms after season 2. Those old uniforms definitely lingered on as costumes for extras as the series progressed with minor additions like collars to match the primary cast.
Back in the day most movie theaters had curtains on the screen. Big epic films tended to have music that would start before the movie that would be played as the audience was coming in and getting their seats. As that music would Fade Out the curtains would open and you would get the opening Paramount logo, or whicheverthe studio was. As it turns out this film and The Black Hole, which was also released in 1979, were the last two films to have opening music intended to be played before the movie started.
Glad you guys liked it. Your reactions were exactly what I was hoping. I'm sure it's been said but the beginning of the film with Jerry Goldsmith's music was an overture. A lot of films used to do that. Ben Hur, Lawrence of Arabia ECT. I kind of miss it now. It helps set the mood.
Speaking of the sound. You are right that the mix isn't perfect unless you have a Dolby Atmos set up. I had the same issue you guys did and it annoyed me enough that I upgraded my sound set up a couple of years ago to a Denon AVR X4400H with a 7.4.1 set up and it does make a difference . The ships and shots really go over you and the dialog can actually be heard much better. It sucks but they did a lot of the remixing for that. Although Jerry Goldsmith's son was there to help them do it so that's cool at least.
And it's nice that you guys did think of Decker from The Doomsday Machine.
They actually asked the great director, Robert Wise who did The Day The Earth Stood Still and The Andromeda Strain as well as helped edit Citizen Kane,if he wanted to cut down the intro of the Enterprise and he said no. It was the first time we had really got to see it in perspective and Goldsmith's score really makes it work. The refit Enterprise is a beautiful ship. The model was huge,over 12 feet I think,and the detail took them a long time to do. Plus you see Kirk's love for the ship so it's a good character moment.
The scene of Spock crying was also great. The film is really a lot about him. The studio wanted to cut that scene but Nimoy insisted it be there. Glad to see you guys got into it though. You'll love the next 3 films . 5 ,well that's for later.
Yes. The starfield was added for home releases, originally it was supposed to be played with the curtains still closed.
Saw this as a kid in the theater opening weekend after being a ST fan through reruns. I never knew a movie was being made until the trailer showed up. Mind Blown.
This one is often called the "Slow Motion Picture" in jest, but it's probably my favourite of the movies. It keeps up the slow-paced, philosophical spirit of the series, and the "this simple feeling" scene is so beautiful.
The bit's great, 😂. Alex vs computer and obvious stunt double is obvious are my favorite parts
This was so awesome to see! They are the best reactors on RUclips!
Great skits guys...appreciate the hard work and all the entertainment.
This was the first movie I remember going to in the theater with my Dad back in 1979. I was 5 at the time and it was Christmas. Every time I see the movie, I remember those times.
It was such a big deal at the time because people were waiting a decade for new Star Trek. We also drove from the Suburbs of N Vancouver to Downtown Vancouver to a theater there.
@@mem1701moviesCool! Remember the jackets you mailed away for? I think that was through the comic books.
Words can't describe how excited I was when I got to see this in theaters long ago. Seeing your joy and excitement when you saw all the beloved characters again just reminded me of how I felt, thank u for that.
I’m looking forward to seeing you experience this film for the first time. Underrated IMO.
5:21 "The only starship in interception range is the Enterprise"...this will be a recurring theme in future movies & shows
Loved the bit at the end :)
I forgot to mention earlier over on Patreon that I thought that it was funny how you both started off liking the new uniforms but seemed to hate them by the end.
And once more, big ups to Jerry Goldsmith's score :) Best part of TMP.
I thought the reveal of VGER being a VOYAGER satellite trying to complete its mission while gaining consciousness itself was a brilliant concept. It’s a story that is grounded in realism for a sci-if movie. The movie also had a serious tone to it which I also loved. A lot of people don’t care for this one, but at times I debate it as my favorite of the series.
So excited for this. Only video I will be more excited for is the next movie!
The opening with the starts and the. music before the Paramount logo comes on is called an overture. Movies used to have them all the time but stopped in the 60's. There were a few movies that still had them but Star Trek the Motion Picture and The Black Hole (both came out Christmas 1979) are the last movies to have an overture. Also the sound mix on the Directors cut 4K was done new by a post production sound guy who works on new films.
For such a visual movie, it's very much like a radio play.
I can’t see anyone mention the director Robert Wise. He was probably chosen because he directed one of the best sci-fi films ever: “The Day The Earth Stood Still”. And a more recent sci-fi he did “The Andromeda Strain” is also fantastic.
Img can’t believe we’re finally at the films!! I’ve loved your guys’ Star Trek journey, it’s so refreshing to see people actually invest in TOS!!
This is great reaction and love the positive feedbacks as this movie has been talked down a lot. For me this movie and TWOK are the best of the bunch for TOS era movies.
Agreed. My favorite is TMP. WOK is a close second.
Fun fact, the actor who played the Klingon captain is Mark Lenard, who also played the Romulan captain in the TOS episode "Balance of Terror" and Spock's father, Sarek.
You’ll love the new uniforms in Wrath of Kan. And Recardo Montanan and Shanters performance is all that you want
I prefer the uniforms in TMP.
About the audio, you're wrong. I play this through my ATMOS home theater and it's fantastic.
Same here. I was shocked at that complaint.
ST:TMP is very good. Glad you concur. STII:WOK is my favorite movie of all time. Looking forward to you watching it.
Great reaction again! To me the first movie felt like a TOS episode script that got stretched to movie length with extra character stuff (always love to see it) and impressive visual, showing off the enterprise with new tech.
We may have set the happenings of this movie in motion. Voyager 2 lost contact a few weeks ago O_O
The part at the end is glorious, love the choreography and all the callbacks :D
It’s actually well known - at least in Trekkie circles - that the story was a repurposed script for the pilot of the Star Trek Phase II show that was itself repurposed into The Motion Picture.
The story bears are pretty much exactly the same, though TMP changed a few things to make it more cinematic and offer closure for the V’Ger, Decker, and Ilia story/character arcs.
Just remember that on Vulcan spock is considered a party animal.
They had to film the scene where Ilea breaks through the sick bay doors more than five times because Persis Khambata broke through the door she started laughing her head off. (She died in her 40s). Star Trek TMP was nicknamed “the motionless picture.” The next film was much, much better.
When Spock is traveling through V'Ger, it looks like old covers of OMNI Magazine.
I saw this on the theater as a 12 year old, liked it immediately and have come to love it over time.
On the one hand it was contemporary to Star Wars, but kept its brand as a story of seeking out new life and making friends. Great optimistic message. Spock’s arc was subtle but great. He tried to purge his emotion, realized he couldn’t, and made peace with his inner humanity.
This was a nice little fun bit.
Looking forward to the movie reactions,especially parts 2,3 and 4.
I know it's gonna be fun
Go on to Warp Factor 3.
17:05 Shots like this were done by slowly zooming into a painting, with long exposure... for EVERY FRAME; for the next frame, they would change the starting point and perspective very slightly, and do the zoom again. Same with the stretched-ship effect during the warp drive accelerations, but they streaked the MODEL, not just artwork of the model.
(The film consisted of four reels, and when it premiered, the final reel was delivered DURING THE SCREENING - they were working on the special effects THAT long.)
It only knows that it needs that it needs. But like so many of us, it does not know what.
that last sequence looked like a fan-film, you can expect a call from their lawyers
I think it gets by under fair use as a parody, although I was worried about the extensive use of Gerald Fried's "fight" music from "Amok Time."