Movie Trivia – Star Trek the Motion Picture
Memorable Movie Quotes
Captain James T. Kirk: Damn it, Bones, I need you. Badly!
Captain James T. Kirk: Mr. Scott, an alien object of unbelievable destructive power is less than three days away from this planet. The only starship in interception range is the Enterprise. Ready or not, she launches in twelve hours.
Trivia
William Shatner, who saw the completed film for the first time at the world premiere, was struck by the overall sluggishness of it, and was convinced that the Star Trek franchise died there and then. He opined, “Well, that’s it. We gave it our best shot, it wasn’t good, and it will never happen again.” Recalling his initial reaction 15 years later, he added, “Shows you what I know.”
When Captain Kirk addresses the crew before launching, many of the extras were noted Star Trek fans, including Bjo Trimble, co-organizer of the letter-writing campaign that kept Star Trek (1966) alive for a third season.
The producers and the cast were very worried about the actors’ appearance after being away from Star Trek (1966) for ten years. Special lighting and camera tricks were used to hide the cast’s aging, and William Shatner went on a near-starvation diet before filming. However, in all subsequent Star Trek films, it was decided to make the aging of the crew part of the story.
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.
DeForest Kelley had reservations with the movie script, feeling that the characters and relationships from the series were not in place. Along with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, Kelley lobbied for greater characterization, but their opinions were largely ignored.
This film takes place four years after Turnabout Intruder (1969), the final episode of the original series. This film was released a decade after the original series ended.
Goofs
When Kirk rescues Spock during the spacewalk outside of the entrance to V’ger, an unconscious Spock is floating towards Kirk who catches him. They remain stationary thereafter. This would not happen in the depicted environment. With nothing to keep Kirk in place, they should both move away, at reduced speed based on their relative masses, after Kirk catches Spock.
Box Office Info In USA
Budget $35,000,000
Opening Weekend $11,926,421
Gross $82,604,699
Filming Locations
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA (portions of planet Vulcan sequence filmed at Minerva Terrace)
Paramount Studios – 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (Studio)