Space. The final frontier! 60 years ago, STAR TREK was released on the small screen. And nearly 50 years ago, STAR TREK THE MOTION PICTURE hit the BIG SCREEN! To celebrate TREK, this week, you Cinema Sleuths investigate Robert Wise’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), the ambitious science-fiction epic that brought the original Star Trek crew to cinemas for the first time.
Starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, and Walter Koenig, the film reunites the crew of the USS Enterprise for a mysterious mission involving an enormous alien entity known as V’Ger, which approaches Earth with seemingly unstoppable power.
Based on the television series created by Gene Roddenberry, Star Trek: The Motion Picture was written by Harold Livingston, with story contributions from Harold Livingston and Alan Dean Foster, and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Robert Wise.
In this episode, we put Star Trek: The Motion Picture under the magnifying glass, investigating the extraordinary journey from beloved television series to blockbuster movie. And we are joined by special cinema sleuth Ayesha Khan, host of Every Sci-Fi FIlm Ever podcast!
We explore the film’s troubled and famously expensive production, the pressure to bring Star Trek to the big screen after Star Wars' success, and the ambitious decision to make a slower, more cerebral science-fiction film rather than simply turning the Enterprise crew into action heroes.
We investigate the movie’s visual effects, Jerry Goldsmith’s iconic score, V’Ger mystery, philosophical themes and spectacular Enterprise flyby, and so much more.
We also look at the movie’s initial reception, its reputation as “the slow one”, and the reassessment it has received over the years.
CASE FILE: STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE (1979)
Directed by: Robert Wise
Written by: Harold Livingston
Based on: Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry
Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols and Walter Koenig
Music by: Jerry Goldsmith
Genre: Science Fiction / Space Opera / Adventure / Mystery
Was Star Trek: The Motion Picture a misguided attempt to compete with Star Wars — or a bold, beautiful piece of science fiction that was simply misunderstood in its time?
CREDITS
Cinema Sleuths is produced by Luke Deckard and Matthew Booth
Edited by Luke Deckard
Music by Luke Deckard
Logo by Phil Dragash
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