I really like this terrific photo of
William Shatner (as Admiral James T. Kirk) and director
Robert Wise on the
Enterprise bridge set during the filming of
Star Trek - The Motion Picture in 1979. Sure, it's almost certainly a staged studio publicity shot... but I like it.
Nice photo.
ReplyDeleteI really like the first Star Trek movie. It was a big deal at the time, and I know a lot of folks diss it mightily these days, preferring the more melodramatic Wrath of Khan.
But to me this was what it promised, a great big Star Trek episode with fantastic (for the time and still pretty impressive) effects and the original cast on board for one more ride. The updates seemed consistent with Roddenberry's somewhat antiseptic view of the future.
The first Star Trek is ripping good sci-fi. Much less appreciated than it should be in my view.
Rip Off
I've said this on countless blogs, but ST:TMP will always be my favorite Trek flick. It's the only 'original cast' movies that actually 'goes somewhere', not melodramatic like Rip mentioned.
ReplyDeleteI especially love the 'Directors Cut', it's a favorite DVD of mine to take on trips. Much improved pacing and human scenes, but most of all, like most ST:TMP lovers, we still look fondly upon all the Shatner-Nimoy stories from the 70s, all the press, all the Starlog articles, you name it.
After SW and Galactica, it returned a lot of fans to more serious sci-fi. Oh, don't get me wrong, I love Galactica to pieces, but ST:TMP was a wonderful mature film. I love grabbing all 'behind scenes' glossies and lots of merchandise from this film.., and virtually nothing from the Harve Bennett franchise that followed. Liked those films, but they don't hold the special place in my heart that this film does.
This was a classy movie, very well made.
Spot on, 'Rip Off'. I've always really liked 'Star Trek TMP' too. It felt like a proper attempt at a cinema version of the TV show. Not perfect, but damn impressive in it's scope and ambition. Robert Wise was very good choice for director too
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing pictures from this as a kid and it looked fantastic, and it still looks cool that uniform kicks ass. However the movie itself was extremely boring and verbose.
ReplyDeleteI'm also a huge fan of TMP and the Director's Cut fixed a lot of the problems that I personally had with the film. It was a rushed production, with some of the final reels arriving to the premiers still wet from development. The theatrical release could have used a bit more polish, but it's still a great film. The transporter accident is still one of the creepiest scenes in sci-fi (minus Shatner's "Oh my God" line). :)
ReplyDeleteThe sets for the bridge and the rest of the ship also feel bigger and I liked that a lot. In follow-up movies, the bridge felt compressed and small. We never again saw the recreation deck or other quarters. Plus, the film introduced us to the new Klingon look and language...and their musical theme! It was also cool to see Earth, Vulcan and more of Starfleet than we had ever seen before. Good stuff.
I'm pleased how much love and respect TMP is getting here, though I shouldn't be that surprised since this is the only place on the web were the really cool SF fans hang out!
DeleteThat picture of still-in-his-prime Shatner and the extraordinarily versatile Robert Wise makes me think how far Paramount have allowed Star Trek to fall - Abrams' nuTrek in no way, shape, or form Real Trek.
TMP is to this day the only truly cinematic Star Trek adventure. Jerry Goldsmith's score is the very essence of Star Trek, as far as I'm concerned, at least the equal of Williams' Star Wars.
Chris B
Wow, so I'm not the only one to think that! Despite it's flaws I think TMP is a far better and more mature film than any of the two new popcorn rethread are. And I doubt they'll age as well over the next 4 decades.
DeleteI really like TMP I was 8 when my parents took me to see it December 1979 I still remember people clapping and cheering before it even started rember in those day yo didnt have 30 minnutes of previews they would actually play the score of the Film.Wrath of Khan is still my fav but TMP comes in close second
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