I had forgotten just how bad Star Trek - TMP was

[skygazer]

The first movie. I guess I hadn't watched it since it came out. I remembered it being a bit slow in spots - make that slow in EVERY spot. Wow. Whoever directed that must have never watched an episode of the show. Nothing but long, slow, camera sweeps of the pretty celestial images and reaction shots of the crew... gaping. For long, long, agonizing moments. Very little dialogue, and none of it more exciting than basic orders and technical snippets. No banter. And no action. Things happen and what do they do? They stand there and gape for long, long, agonizing moments as the camera lingers on their faces.

Horrible. It's amazing they got a second one made.

[Benfea]

1. It did well because people were jonesin' for a fix.

It could've been far worse, and it still would have done well and a sequel still would have been made.

[Deja Q]

2. In 1979 it was cool...

On the big screen, no doubt it looks cooler.

On the small screen, there's nothing big for the eyes to see.

And, yes, the character interplay is all wrong... :D

[skygazer]

3. Right up until the final scene

When they actually DO banter on the bridge. It was such a relief after 2 hours of tedium. Yeah, it always LOOKED good but there was no tension or any real interaction.

But next comes....

KHAN!!!!

[hedgehog]

10. I saw it twice in 1979

The music was great as were various isolated scenes, but overall it came across as a cheap imitation of 2001: A Space Odyssey. ( I saw that one again a few years back and it had my kids rolling on the floor laughing before they all passed out from the sheer tedium!)As noted below, fans were so desperate for a fix we'd have sat through anything. Paramount has done its best since then to kill the franchise by trying to use it to pump life into the decaying carcass of the UPN network.

My daughter was watching an episode of Deep Space 9 today in which Worf is trying to prevent the Klingon Chancellor from sending soldiers into battle for political gain. Another character points out to Worf that the Klingon people respect bravery and honor above all, but are led by a political establishment that is totally corrupt. "When was the last time you respected anyone on the High Council?" Ezri asks. That's when my daughter turned to me and asked how the writers could have known about Bush ten years ago.

[Cannikin]

4. The Directors Edition is much better than the original

[skygazer]

5. Actually, that's what I watched last night

I thought about cueing up the commentary because I wondered what he could possibly say about it - "We thought we'd do a long, slow circuit of the ship here - in retrospect, it really didn't work very well."

[Anarcho-Socialist]

6. It was incredibly slow

It seemed to take forever for the Enterprise to leave space dock.

The point of the movie was to cram it with state-of-the-art special effects (for its time), but unfortunately not much thought was put into anything else.

They also used a script from the aborted Star Trek Phase II series, and so it didn't have the 'big event' feeling of a feature-length movie.

ST2 TWOK seemed to work for the opposite reasons. The writers thought about everything they wanted to see in the movie. They had a tight budget to work on and so had to be ingenious with the budget. They didn't make a meal out of the special effects; they had excellent effects in the right places, leaving time for the actors to really interact.

[samsingh]

7. somebody at paramount made the decision to focus

on special effects and not the characters.

stupid decision. amazing how people who are incompetant get into positions of power. reminds me of bush .

[Rabrrrrrr]

8. I think it's a very beautiful movie.

In terms of Star Trekkiness, yes, it lacks a little on the "keep it moving" scale, but it's still a great story and it's beautifully and wonderfully filmed.

[TheMightyFavog]

9. IIRC,

The sets and costumes were originally to be used for a series called Star Trek: Phase II and were used for the movie when Paramount deep-sixed the series.

And Scotty's costume... Hoo boy, that did not inspire confidence. Holy accentuate the flabbage, Batman!

[Zomby Woof]

11. It was okay

The only truly shitty film in the Original Series movies was number five. What a complete and sorry joke. It was rightfully thrashed in "Futurama".

The even-numbered films were the best ones of the series, with number four as my favorite. A little comic relief was needed after the death and rebirth of Spock storyline. DeForest Kelley was at his curmudgeonly best in that one.

[Xipe Totec]

12. It wasn't a horror movie,

it was a movie horror.

I'd sooner submit to water boarding than watch it again.

And I saw it on the silver screen...

:scared:

[Cobalt-60]

13. It was pretty weak

but we were hungry for Trek.
Its true there was sci fi. Star Wars had been out three years and there were many forgettable imitations.
But none of it measured up to those PBS station re runs of the original series.
those disco era uniforms, Shatner's Vacu Formed hair, the plot stolen from the Nomad episode, none of that mattered. Trek had finally reached the big screen.
Also remember they used sets and stock footage in the Wrath of Khan, the best of the trek movies.
As for the original film, I think I could edit it down into a fair 42 minute television episode...

[Cannikin]

14. I'm in the minority.. I think its great.

[Cobalt-60]

15. Fun with Continuity

When they're scampering about V'Ger, watch the color of the stripes on everyone's arm...