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William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Stephen Collins, James Doohan ... see more see more... , George Takei , Majel Barrett , Persis Khambatta , Walter Koenig , Nichelle Nichols , Mark Lenard , Billy Van Zandt , Grace Lee Whitney , David Gautreaux , Marcy Lafferty , Michael Rougas , Ralph Brannen , Roger Aaron Brown , Ralph Byers , Paula Crist , Gary Faga , John D. Gowans , Jon Rashad Kamal , Tom Morga , Franklyn Seales , Craig Thomas , Paul Weber , Joel Kramer , Momo Yashima , Susan Sullivan

When a destructive space entity is spotted approaching Earth, Admiral Kirk resumes command of the Starship Enterprise in order to intercept, examine and hopefully stop it.

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47% liked it

61,615 ratings

Critics

47% liked it

32 critics

G, 2 hr. 23 min.

Directed by: Robert Wise

Release Date: December 7, 1979

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DVD Release Date: November 6, 2001

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Stats: 3,081 reviews

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Pavel Chekov The Shatner as The Kirk Admiral Kirk and Scotty USS Enterprise Admiral James T. Kirk Star Trek: The Motion Picture Admiral James T. Kirk Mr. Spock (from the original series) Spock James T. Kirk Dr. Leonard H. McCoy V'Ger James T.Kirk Star Trek: The Motion Picture Cast Group Picture The original Enterprise Spock Spock
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Flixster Reviews (3,081)

  • spielberg00
    December 23, 2011
    spielberg00
    This certainly isnâ(TM)t the ideal sci-fi film, but rather a decent one. Itâ(TM)s quite likely that fans of the original series will not enjoy it all too much, whereas mostly anyone else should enjoy it well enough. Although one who turns off his or her brain will enjoy it mu... read morech more, it might be better to just stick with the 2009 saga update.

    Full Review: http://wp.me/p1Urcx-zx
  • cosmo313
    May 8, 2011
    cosmo313
    When this came out in 1979, it was a big deal. It was the first piece of new Trek in a decade. Then, as now, this is a baffling movie, and back then, probably not what people expected. I kind of liked it though. It basically is something like the Star Trek version of 2001: A Spac... read moree Odyssey. That's cool, because it shows Trek really going for art, but at the same time, the film is lengthy, slow, a bit boring, and doesn't have much rewatch value. 2001 actually does have mroe rewatch value than this, but not greatly so.

    Even though this film is getting up there in years, the visual effects still look really cool. They were really impressive back in the day, and now have the distinction of having a cool datedness to them that doesn't actually work against the film. Aside from the drab uniforms (and no explanation for why they have the drab clothes), the art direction, set design, visual and sound designs, hell, all the technical stuff, is awesome. The music is damn phenomenal, too.
  • ajv2688
    January 7, 2011
    ajv2688
    The worst Star Trek movie ever filmed, mostly because of the director, who wasn't very familiar with the series, and the costume director who came up with the worst outfits ever seen. This movie is slow, boring, and way too long, sometimes I use it to help me fall asleep at nigh... read moret. It doesn't have a bad story really, the story is good, but everything else makes it torture to watch this movie. Only see this if you're a big fan of the show and don't mind fast forwarding a lot.
  • FilmFanatik
    December 22, 2009
    FilmFanatik
    Wonderful adventure. Can be a bit boring at times, but overall, satisfying.
  • blacksheepboy
    December 20, 2009
    blacksheepboy
    Not at all original, as it looks like a stretched TV episode, and it tries too hard to be 2001, dragging endlessly in long, contemplative scenes that seem to exist only to show the higher budget.
  • SirPant
    September 21, 2009
    SirPant
    Robert Wise was an interesting choice of director for the re-launch, in film, of the popular 60?s sci-fi TV series that had already reached cult status. His CV matched Star Treks intense sci-fi themes and so the first and most original of the films was born. Wise?s classic is one... read more long psychedelic dream sequence with brilliant lines like ?V-ger is a child?. It?s got a 2001: A space odyssey feel about it, that I?m sure was intentional and yet, exceeds it in many ways and really stands alone in its bizarre but beautiful structure. This really was boldly going where Star Trek had never been before and it was brilliant! A classic that I never tire of but I guess it helps if your already a trekkie! :o)
  • stormyweather980
    September 14, 2009
    stormyweather980
    After a 10-year vacation (in human years at least), Kirk, who is now Admiral Kirk, goes onboard his old spaceship, the U.S.S. Enterprise once again. The Enterprise is now vastly updated with slicker looks and most of its crew members are relatively new; they never had to work und... read moreer the eyes of Captain Kirk.
    When a mysterious alien creature sets its sights on Earth, Captain Kirk, being the ruthless leader he is, just can't help but to take things in his own hands along with the help of some familiar faces (Spock, Bones, Uhura, etc.), and some new faces (Ilia, Decker, etc.). Will this be something such as a troublesome morphing creature, a device that swallows galaxies whole, or a simple Klingon invasion? Will it be a mission that just about anybody can solve or will it be so complicated that it requires things such as a Vulcan Mind Meld? There's only one way to find out!

    "Star Trek - The Motion Picture" was made almost a year before I was born, so I never got the honor of seeing the original TV series or even this movie while they were showing for the first time. Nonetheless, I became addicted to watching Star Trek - The Original Series on the Sci-Fi channel, so I had to watch this movie.

    I can imagine the thrills of the Star Trek fans that were watching this movie in the theatres. For the time (1979), "Star Trek - The Motion Picture" has some SPECTACULAR special effects! You'll see what I mean throughout the entire movie, especially in sequences such as what happens when the Enterprise goes into warp speed for the first time (in the movie). Just as impressive is the musical score and the sound effects. You'll hear an impressive echoing sound at times throughout the film and you'll also hear familiar pieces of music, along with some brand new ones. It's real easy to see why "Star Trek - The Motion Picture" was nominated for an award in both of those categories.

    "Star Trek - The Motion Picture" is also done with style. Its plot is dynamic without being confusing or choppy, and the acting is also very well done. My only complaint with the movie's flow is that at times, certain scenes, such as when the Enterprise is on its path to V'Ger, seem to be pretty slow moving. In my opinion, these parts aren't boring; they give you more time to take in the dramatic visuals and for the suspense to take even more effect.

    The makers and performers of "Star Trek - The Motion Picture" shot for the stars with all they had at the time, and I think they did a great job of making a classic film that will never be forgotten! While it might not be the VERY best movie in the galactic series, it was perfect for getting the series on its feet, or engines, and for showing the fans that the Enterprise and its crew had a great future ahead of them.

    My eyes were glued to the screen the entire time that "Star Trek - The Motion Picture" was playing. There were times that my jaw dropped, even though the film is older than me. If you're a big fan of Star Trek - The Original Series, then don't take my word for it, purchase it for yourself and keep it dust-free in your collection! It's well worth it, to say the least. NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2002. Awesomely underrated!
  • puffchunk
    May 21, 2009
    puffchunk
    Okay. I wish there was more with the hot bald robot chick.
  • sononothing
    April 19, 2009
    sononothing
    After a decade in space dock the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise return in their first movie about an alien cloud that vaporizes everything heading straight for earth. What is it and why is it coming is a mystery for the crew to solve.

    I don't remember seeing this in its theatrica... read morel form. The directors cut suffers from one thing: self important effects shots. Obviously the producers wanted to squeeze every penny out of its effects footage, so we get a ten minute shuttle run to the Enterprise. That damn ride lasted longer than an episode of the TV series. The effects are good, but to just show them off for the sake of showing them off is ridiculous. I know this was the post Star Wars world, but let's be serious. Give us some action. Cutting some of these scenes could have made the film forty minutes shorter and a tighter film instead of this trodding trek through space. The cast is typical with Shatner hamming it up as Shatner and the rest settling into the roles that they'll be stuck with until their dead and gone. The central premise is interesting once we get past the standard Star trek plot of something unknown destroying the universe. Once again, the pacing kills it. The film takes its time getting to the final resolution and wraps that up in a fraction of time. Disappointing.

    But it is an enjoyable, too long film that opened the flood gates for the superior sequel that was scaled down and played tighter causing it to benefit. This film gets the shaft and deservedly so. It plays out more like a competition for the Hollywood space race after Star Wars. Every studio wanted to cash in and this was a great opportunity to dust off Star Trek. Thankfully the race died quick and producers went back to focusing a little bit on stories and not plastic models and lights.
  • matertenebraum
    October 29, 2008
    matertenebraum
    This DVD version has improved and restored and made Star Trek: TMP a pleasure to watch rather than a chore. You're less inclined to hit fast-forward in those lengthy scenes. This movie will resonate well with mature-age viewers because the story is not what you would expect from ... read moretoday's action packed cinema. I appreciated the movie more as I got older. Bob Wise explains on the DVD that production was extremely rushed and had no time to preview the film with an audience that would now after 20 years, tell him to tighten the opticals and emphasize characters. This is precisely what he has done in the DVD version and its magnificent.

    Aesthetically, the DVD version shows you the best Star Trek: The Motion Picture can possibly look. Film is sharper; color is dead on however there is still a lot of film grain present unfortunately. My guess is they cleaned the original negative up as much as they could but it had deteriorated so much in storage, or was badly preserved. Certainly looks better than my bad pan/scanned VHS copy.

    The DVD truly shines with its brand new sound mix. This isn't your standard stereo to 5.1 DVD conversions like they are doing for movies pre 5.1; they have gutted it up and added new stuff. The original release was so rushed that very little in terms of ambient sound and special effects audio elements were done on the sound mix amongst other production elements. For this DVD they went back to the original audiotapes and remixed them digitally.

    Goldsmith's score sounded fantastic when it originally came out now sounds even better on the DVD version. It's tremendous, you will hear what your suppose to hear now with the added advantage of 5.1 surround sound. Goldsmith score truly has a chance to soar now by stretching into a clean high fidelity 5.1 environment rather than being squeezed onto a mono or stereo track. Bass kicks in often especially on big musical cues. You'll hear nifty panning and those surrounds and subwoofer will definitely get a workout. In instances they isolate different parts of the orchestra through different speakers, mainly the bass and percussion.

    Most onstage dialog was re-recorded afterwards because of onstage noise due to mechanical devices etc; this is now common practice in the industry. The result is cleaner dialog that comes prominently out of your center speaker. The dialog audio is good, but on occasion it shows a mild muffled and tinny quality probably due to age of material or analog technology of the time, nevertheless I guarantee you, the average viewer will like it, I'm just being picky. In short the movie will sound almost as good as if the movie was made recently.

    Not only having rebuilt the original audio they have put in more surround elements, like ambient bridge noises and computer voices. Not sure why they changed the `Intruder Alert' voice, I don't mind but I guess it was because they rushed the sound mix in the 70's and chose that voice as a last minute thing. There are other elements that have been changed, for the better I would say.

    The DVD contents have been remastered with Wise's overseeing. There are too many subtleties to comment on so shall briefly discuss a few. Before opening credits you are treated to Goldsmiths V'ger/Love theme, a nice touch. Then you hear the bombastic Star Trek Theme. Newly done credits over moving starfield.

    First main new special effect is the Vulcan landscape, tilting from sky to the surface. Then cuts to a new matte painting of the beautiful orange sky. Originally Spock shields his eyes and in the reversal, not only is there no sun there is little sky visible. The new matte painting now fits in nicely.

    San Francisco sequence has been redone, 3 new matte paintings that better show the futurized city, Golden Gate Bridge and a bigger shuttlebay.

    When they get into V'Ger they encounter a weapon heading towards them that is suppose to dissipate, in the original it simply disappears instantly, now we see a new visual that shows it dissipating just before it hits the ship.

    Later we see a probe heading towards the ship on the viewscreen and then through some hokey editing it appears on the bridge. This has been replaced with an improved FX shot showing the approach of the entity on an exterior shot.

    A new 'Wing Walk' sequence. Breathtaking new CGI's that show the away-team walk from the hull to the V'Ger stage, some using the original live action shots. New FXs for the most part are based on original storyboards. They didn't go overboard with the effects which is good, Bob tells us that they made FX that they could only do in the 1970's, unlike Star Wars whom George Lucas went overkill on new FX when he redid his in the 1990's.

    There are trims, some rearrangements of shots for the better. E.g. Ilia/Deckers exchange of looks, Kirk's `Oh My God', his second `Viewer Off.' I suspect they had to edit within Jerry's score, or have to also edit Jerry's score to accommodate the new editing, if so they have done it very well, I couldn't notice. Some lengthy scenes remain in its entirety, e.g. flying up to the enterprise, I don't blame them for not trimming them, some are sentimental.

    The 2 DVD's come with a plethora of information. Audio commentaries by the director, 2 special effect's guys, an actor and the composer guide you through the director's edition. Text commentary by Okuda gives even more scene specific info. Disc 2 gives you most of the trims, deleted scenes from the TV and Theatrical release not used in the DVD version and an outtake of an abandoned visual effect. Plus 3 documentaries about the abandoned TV series ST:Phase II, Directors edition DVD and the movie itself. Plus advertisements/trailers plus storyboards.

    A MUST BUY FOR FANS! You'll Love It!

View All Star Trek: The Motion Picture Reviews

Critic Reviews

Richard Schickel
May 3, 2009
Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine

Nothing but a long day's journey into ennui. Full Review

Variety Staff
May 19, 2008
Variety Staff, Variety

The expensive effects (under supervision of Douglas Trumbull) are the secret of this film, and the amazing wizardry throughout would appear to justify the whopping budget. Full Review

Dave Kehr
May 19, 2008
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

This 1979 movie adaptation of the cult TV series is blandness raised to an epic scale. Full Review

Vincent Canby
May 9, 2005
Vincent Canby, New York Times

[It's] like attending your high-school class's 10th reunion at Caesar's Palace. Most of the faces are familiar, but the décor has little relationship to anything you've ever seen before. Full Review

James Berardinelli
January 1, 2000
James Berardinelli, ReelViews

Star Trek - The Motion Picture: Director's Edition is no 2001 (its obvious inspiration -- a fact that is more evident here than ever before), but it represents thought-provoking, well constructed scie... Full Review

Charles Cassady
December 15, 2010
Charles Cassady, Common Sense Media

First big-screen flight of the Enterprise. Full Review

Scott Nash
June 30, 2010
Scott Nash, Three Movie Buffs

Star Trek's freshman big screen effort was crippled by a plodding pace and a somber tone. Full Review

John J. Puccio
May 15, 2009
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis

More of an event than a movie...more flash than content. Full Review

Josh Larsen
March 22, 2009
Josh Larsen, LarsenOnFilm

If the endless interstellar vistas of 2001: A Space Odyssey tested your patience, Star Trek: The Motion Picture will make you cry like a little star child. Full Review

Stefan Birgir Stefansson
July 5, 2008
Stefan Birgir Stefansson, sbs.is

a little too boring

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    • James T. Kirk: Warp drive, Mister Scott!
  • Captain Kirk never said "Beam me up, Scotty," but he did say, "Beam me up, Mr. Scott."
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