Star Trek The Motion Picture
Synopsis: When an alien spacecraft of enormous power is spotted approaching Earth, Admiral James T. Kirk resumes command of the overhauled USS Enterprise in order to intercept it.
Rating: G
Run Time: 2 Hours 23 Minutes
Director: Robert Wise
Nudity Factor: None
Of Note: Uhura’s communications earpieces are the only original props from Star Trek (1966). They were dug out of storage when it was realized someone had forgotten to make new ones for this film.
Recommendations: Star Trek Original Series
Star Trek The Motion Picture 1979 Trailer
Star Trek the Motion Picture movie soundtrack
Star Trek: The Motion Picture brought Captain James T. Kirk, Mr. Spock, and the legendary crew of the USS Enterprise to the big screen for the first time in 1979. After the success of Star Trek: The Original Series, you might expect their cinematic debut to be an exciting adventure filled with mystery, danger, and exploration. Unfortunately, what we get is a surprisingly slow and often dull journey that never quite lives up to its potential.
I’m fairly certain I watched Star Trek: The Motion Picture at some point in the past, but after revisiting it, I now understand why I barely remembered it. This is a remarkably forgettable movie.
The Enterprise Returns for a New Mission
The story begins with a mysterious and immensely powerful anomaly moving through space, destroying everything in its path. With Earth potentially in its path of destruction, Starfleet must respond before it’s too late.
Admiral James T. Kirk, having been promoted since his days commanding the Enterprise, takes the opportunity to reclaim his former ship. However, this isn’t quite the Enterprise he remembers. The vessel has undergone an extensive refit, introducing new systems, unfamiliar technology, and plenty of complications.
Kirk must navigate the challenges of commanding a largely untested starship while reuniting with familiar faces, including Spock and Dr. Leonard McCoy. Together, they must investigate the approaching threat and discover whether there’s any way to stop it before it reaches Earth.
On paper, this sounds like the perfect setup for a thrilling science fiction adventure. A mysterious destructive force, an inexperienced crew aboard a newly rebuilt starship, and the possible destruction of Earth should make for an intense experience.
Unfortunately, the execution is another matter entirely.
A Movie That Takes Forever to Get Moving
My biggest criticism of Star Trek: The Motion Picture is its painfully slow pacing.
It feels like we’re halfway through the movie before the Enterprise even leaves spacedock. The film spends an extraordinary amount of time showcasing the redesigned ship, establishing its crew, and slowly preparing for the mission ahead.
I understand that audiences in 1979 were seeing the Enterprise on the big screen for the first time, and the filmmakers clearly wanted to showcase the impressive new visual effects. There’s certainly something to appreciate about that, especially considering the technology available at the time.
But there’s a difference between building anticipation and bringing the story to a grinding halt.
Far too often, the movie seems more interested in showing us the Enterprise than actually doing anything with it.
Even after the mission finally gets underway, the pacing rarely improves. Scenes stretch on considerably longer than necessary, and the sense of urgency that should accompany a potentially Earth-ending threat is strangely absent.
For a movie about stopping a powerful and mysterious force, it rarely feels particularly exciting.
An Interesting Mystery Buried Beneath a Dull Journey
To the film’s credit, the central mystery does have some intriguing elements.
As the Enterprise gets closer to understanding the anomaly and its origins, the story finally begins to offer something genuinely interesting. The eventual revelation about what lies behind the destructive force is probably the movie’s strongest moment.
It’s a clever science fiction concept, and one that fits nicely with Star Trek’s tradition of exploring the unknown and questioning humanity’s relationship with technology.
Unfortunately, by the time the movie reaches that point, I had already spent so much time waiting for something meaningful to happen that the revelation didn’t have nearly the impact it should have.
What could have been a fascinating payoff instead feels like a small reward for enduring an unnecessarily long journey.
Final Thoughts: A Disappointing Beginning for Star Trek on the Big Screen
Star Trek: The Motion Picture isn’t completely without merit. Seeing the original Enterprise crew reunited is enjoyable, the redesigned starship is impressive, and the underlying science fiction mystery has genuine potential.
However, those positives simply aren’t enough to overcome the movie’s biggest problem: it’s boring.
The pacing is sluggish, the action is limited, and the story takes far too long to reach its most interesting ideas. I appreciate that Star Trek doesn’t always need space battles and explosions to tell a compelling story, but it does need to keep its audience engaged.
For me, this movie fails to accomplish that.
After revisiting Star Trek: The Motion Picture, I can safely say that my lack of memories from watching it previously makes perfect sense. There just isn’t much here that makes me want to revisit it again.
The original Enterprise crew deserved a more memorable cinematic debut.
Final Verdict: A fascinating concept buried beneath a slow, drawn-out story. Star Trek: The Motion Picture may be an important chapter in the franchise’s history, but as entertainment, it struggles to get off the ground.