1979 / 136 Minutes / PG
Reviewed by Dale J. Nauertz

For years my path to attaining true geekhood has been blocked by only one thing: I just can’t get into “Star Trek”. I’m not sure why it is, but I’ve watched several episodes of the show and while I find it captivating at times, I’m mostly just staring at the television in boredom, wondering how some people can find so much joy in something I find so hokey and lame. I mean, I like sci-fi. And I certainly admire the antics of William Shatner. But with a few exceptions (the half of the “Tribbles” episode I’ve seen, “Star Trek: First Contact”) I remain unimpressed. It is said that you are either a “Star Wars” person or a “Trek” person. Perhaps that explains it. I’ve always, ALWAYS loved “Star Wars”. My earliest pop culture memories involve begging my parents or grandparents for “Star Wars” action figures (according to my father, I once lost Chewbacca and was inconsolable until they stopped everything, made a trip to the store, and purchased a new one). If it’s an “either/or” thing, then I made my decision about seventeen years ago and “Star Trek” never stood a chance.

But I find myself wanting to see the new reboot of “Star Trek” quite a bit and, as I said, I am a sci-fi fan (I watched “Battlestar Galactica” and “Farscape” almost religiously) so here I am, giving “Trek” yet another shot to get its hooks into me. I would have started by watching the TV series but, let’s face it, that seems like a huge commitment. Instead, I began with “Star Trek: The Motion Picture”. As much as I’ve come to appreciate modern television, I am first and foremost a movie guy, so starting here makes as much sense as anything.

If not for the success of “Star Wars”, it’s likely that “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” would not exist. Paramount only greenlit this damn movie in order to capitalize on the renewed interest in science-fiction brought about by “Star Wars”. There would therefore be no “Next Generation”, no “Deep Space Nine”, and no “Wrath of Khan” without Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia. So you “Trek” snobs should get off your high horses and pay “A New Hope” some respect. (Some would conversely argue that “Wars” would not exist without “Trek”, which to me sounds like bullshit. “Star Wars” would not exist without Edgar Rice Burroughs’ “Mars” novels, “Flash Gordon” serials and the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. It has little or nothing to do with “Star Trek”.) Yet, owing as much as it does to “Star Wars”, “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” is more a spiritual and cinematic descendant of “2001: A Space Odyssey”. For one thing, it is deliberately paced (which is NOT simply a nice way of saying “slow”). For another, this film is concerned more with the meaning of life and the value of emotions vs. logic than it is with space battles and laser swords. That probably has to do with its director, Robert Wise. In his long, illustrious career Wise directed such classics as “Sound of Music” and “The Day the Earth Stood Still” and cut his teeth as editor on a little movie called “Citizen Kane”. He was a legitimately great director and he brings a great deal of class to this film. Which, by the way, is something that any project prominently featuring William Shatner could use. Because of his sure hand at the wheel “ST: TMP” can spend five minutes on a sequence in which Kirk approaches the Starship Enterprise and the time spent feels justified. This man is returning to the only place he’s ever been at home, for God’s sake, and the emotion of this moment is perfectly underlined by Wise’s steady direction and Jerry Goldsmith’s masterful score (it’s one of that fine composer’s best). If you want to know the difference between “slow” and “deliberately paced”, well, the difference is Robert Wise (or Sergio Leone, or David Lean, or any Stanley Kubrick movie without the words “Barry Lyndon” in its title).

So, for those of you keeping score at home, the pacing of the film and the score are both top shelf. What else works? The acting, surprisingly. “Star Trek” has been responsible for its share of cheesy overacting over the years, but here the entire cast is surprisingly effective. Once again, I am tempted to credit Wise with this achievement. Shatner, Takei, Nichols, Kelley (whose entrance with a wild Jim Morrison-the-later-years beard is downright hysterical) and especially Nimoy all slip into these familiar roles like an old pair of shoes that are extremely comfortable but have not yet worn out. Nimoy is, in many ways, the emotional anchor of the film and he does the heavy lifting with grace and admirable restraint. Shatner, on the other hand and as is expected, flirts with hamminess at times. That’s both the blessing and curse of having Shatner aboard. Sure, he’s damned entertaining, but he puts just a little too much oomph into his performance at times. Whenever he sees Spock, for example, his eyes light up as though a gorgeous woman just walked into the room. He even puts a strange amount of passion into saying Spock’s name. I assume this was meant to illustrate how much Kirk admires and respects his friend, but Shatner puts so much into it that you can’t help but think Kirk and Spock’s relationship might go a bit further than anyone has ever guessed. Perhaps Kirk has boldly gone where no man has gone before (the fact that Starfleet Headquarters is in San Francisco only helps this hypothesis). New cast members Stephen Collins and Persis Khambatta (arguably the hottest bald woman in movie history) acquit themselves fabulously. When the old cast shows up to resume their roles, we already know the history they all share. With Khambatta and Collins, however, their previously history is mostly conveyed through their performances. Their body language, eye contact and awkwardness with one another is enough to fill in the gaps that the screenwriters haven’t bothered to fill.

Speaking of screenwriting, the plot behind “ST: TMP” is very solid. A threatening cloud of energy is approaching Earth, destroying virtually every ship in its path. Kirk and the others have to stop it. But, of course, it’s not quite that easy. There’s something at the center of this energy cloud, you see, and it’s coming to Earth to find its creator. The plot moves steadily forward, throwing just enough twists at the audience to keep things interesting without getting convoluted. The threat has an urgency that actually works with the film’s pace (even when things ARE going slow, Kirk is the first one to get frustrated with by it) and takes away the “who cares?” element that hindered more than a couple episodes of the original series (at least for me). Also, Spock has a nice emotional payoff or two in this film which adds some frosting to this particular cake.

On the negative side, well, even Robert Wise and his editor couldn’t smooth over an occasional plodding sequence (it wouldn’t be “Star Trek” without one, so it seems). At times, this film does drag. But still, the reputation this film has as “boring” is completely unwarranted. It has a few down moments, but not nearly enough to sabotage the film’s many, many great qualities. “ST: TMP” is a fine, thoughtful film. It’s got a good plot, some neat ideas, fine special effects, solid acting by actors who are basically defined by these characters, and a stellar score. It won’t replace “Star Wars” in my heart any time soon, but it IS better than possibly any of the “Star Wars” prequels. It’s a damn fine sci-fi film, FAR better than its mediocre reputation would suggest.

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This entry was posted on Friday, April 10th, 2009 at 5:48 pm and is filed under Dale's Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.