Star Trek: The Motion Picture

What’s the Story?

After years deskbound as an Admiral in Starfleet, James T. Kirk (William Shatner) reassumes command of the starship Enterprise, just refurbished with the latest gear and weaponry. Their mission is to stop a cosmic menace, a shimmering force field from uncharted space that is heading for Earth and destroying anything in its way. Kirk is in an uncomfortable situation, having demoted the younger, more tech-savvy Captain Decker (Stephen Collins) in order to get his ship back. First Officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy) is a late arrival on the mission, having unhappily opted out of joining a monk-like mystical order of pure logic on his home planet of Vulcan.

Is It Any Good?

Far more complex than the film's plot is the story behind the many years it took to bring the first STAR TREK film to the big screen. The $42 million final budget generated almost as much awe in itself as the movie's cosmic menace, but the best part about this movie is the reunion of beloved small-screen cast members. It's commendable that the filmmakers, for the most part, stuck to the TV show's model of character-based dramatics, and an interplanetary menace was defeated using intellect and good judgment, not light sabers.

Still, the film is a pretty ponderous spectacle. When the Enterprise enters the vast, cloudlike boundaries of the intruder, an awful lot of the movie is indeed the cast gaping at the shimmering light show, right up to a quasi-mystical finale that might have some viewers more puzzled than dazzled.