# Star Trek The Motion Picture **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies, star-trek-paramount\ **Created:** [September 30, 2021, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-motion-picture/951691 "2021-09-30T21:09:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-motion-picture/951691/101 "2021-10-05T19:51:16Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > the crew going back in time to the Kennedy assassination I see what M-A omitted was that Spock was supposed to shoot Kennedy, to maintain the timeline. Somehow, Roddenberry thought that was a good story idea. At least Edith Keeler was a fictional character. (and if he had done that story, it would be yet another rerun!) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2021, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-motion-picture/951691/102 "2021-10-05T20:15:59Z")
I’ve just scanned this thread, not having read it before, so I apologize if I repeat things here. To all those who complained about the (non-lead) acting – bear in mind that this movie is a gift and a love letter to the fans who kept the franchise going. .Most of that bad acting is by non-actor fans being rewarded. So Ensign Perez (“Carbon Life Forms?”) is a Fan. The people on Epsilon 9 who had those awful lines? Fans. The reason Kirk addresses a big auditorium full of crew members, many of them dressed and made up as aliens? That was the way to “pay off” a lot of fans at once. And we didn’t have to put up with their acting. I was disappointed that the story was basically _The Changeling_ redux, with a bit of _Immunity Syndrome_ thrown in in the form of that “cloud”. But it was tolerable. They had a lot of problems trying to coordinate special effects from multiple effects houses, which is one reason some scenes weren’t done until the TV Director’s Cut edition, but using multiple effects houses, while commonplace today, was still relatively new in 1979. And, yeah, it looked impressive even after Star Wars (Star Wars is a big reason that the famously on again-off again Star Trek movie eventually got the green light). Certainly compared to the TV series, the movie got Big Bucks, and used it effectively. I like that the Enterprise doesn’t glow with light from some undisclosed source, but had to be lit by its own beacon lights. Or that the individual plates covering her skin show up nicely hat way. I don’t even mind the interminable tour when we first see it. It makes more sense in the context of the time – it had been a decade since the Original series. The only Star Trek fix the fans had gotten were the limited animated series and fan art, and a glimpse in 1976 of the “new” Enterprise. Of _course_ they wanted to see the new model from all angles. And the footage wasn’t re-used for Star Trek II just because it was good. They already had it, so it was _cheap._ They didn’t have as much money for ST II, but they used what they had wisely. The Reliant cost a fraction of what the Enterprise model did, and was lighter, to boot. But it looked just as good on the screen. I did go to see it more than once in the theater, although I was aware of its flaws. It was certainly better than **Buck Rogers** , or **Meteor** , or **Moonraker** , or even **The Black Hole** (talk about a missed opportunity – TBH could have been _great_!) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2021, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-motion-picture/951691/103 "2021-10-10T19:34:11Z")
Last night I introduced StarvTrek to a friend who somehow reached his 40s without ever seeing it. I decided to show him these, in order: Star Trek: Conscience of the King Balance of Terror Next Generation: Measure of a Man Deep Space: The Wire He loved it, especially the first two. This is a guy who is into classic film, and film noir, and isn’t particularly into scifi or fantasy (unlike me). > [@Alessan](#): > > It’s not like TOS lacked for battles. > > I happened to rewatch TOS recently, for the first time in decades, and I think people here are overstating how cerebral the show was. It had its intellectual moments, sure, but it was also stock full of fistfights, gunfights, swordfights, bickering and sex - there was probably more sex in the first three seasons of Trek than in the following thirty-odd. Honestly, if TMP were really trek, Kirk and the bald robot chick would have at least made out a bit. > > TOS wasn’t a work of genius. It was pulp sci-fi that just happened to be slightly smarter than anything else on TV, and TMP completely failed in capturing that. I think this is overstating at least what I’m saying. I didn’t say I it was a work of genius or anything. And I always assumed that Decker and Ilia did the deed offscreen. But what it wasn’t primarily is a showcase for great special effects and interminable over the top action scenes. Yes there are all kinds of pulpy fun things. As I remarked about Wrath of Khan above: Even the space battles are mostly people talking. There are not interminable scenes of dogfights, no one has to jump across impossible chasms, no one has to outrun an explosion on foot. Even if someone is doing something dangerous or physically demanding, it doesn’t take up significant running time. Drama, romance, horror, mystery, thrills, and people trying to make the right decisions. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2021, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-motion-picture/951691/104 "2021-10-10T20:00:46Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Balance of Terror This is one of my most favorite episodes. One of the reasons I liked it so much was that the Romulans were humanized as we get to see things from the point of view of the Romulan commander. The Commander voices his opinion that attacking the Federation is a bad idea because the Empire is in no position to fight a prolonged war, he has a relationship with his own ship’s doctor that echoes the friendship of Kirk & McCoy, he’s torn between doing what he thinks is right and being pressured by the political officer, and he was a smart capable commander. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2021, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-motion-picture/951691/105 "2021-10-12T17:56:10Z")
I, to enjoy that episode. It is based on the destroyer/submarine theme. I do find it silly that the Enterprise is “running silent”, like a submarine, but I can fan wank that by theorizing that sensors can detect minute movements of a space vessel’s hull caused by noises inside, sensors being able to detect such movement in a vacuum. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2021, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-motion-picture/951691/106 "2021-10-12T17:59:08Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > It is based on the destroyer/submarine theme. I do find it silly that the Enterprise is “running silent”, like a submarine, but I can fan wank that by theorizing that sensors can detect minute movements of a space vessel’s hull caused by noises inside, sensors being able to detect such movement in a vacuum. I think the “running silent” was actually about power usage. The Romulans figured out where the Enterprise was when Spock accidentally turned on some system while repairing a panel. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2021, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-motion-picture/951691/107 "2021-10-12T18:02:53Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > I think the “running silent” was actually about power usage. The Romulans figured out where the Enterprise was when Spock accidentally turned on some system while repairing a panel. Yes, but it made a heck of a noise, as I recall. But you are going for “silent running” meaning no power usage? Okay, I’ll go with that. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2021, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-motion-picture/951691/108 "2021-10-12T20:05:55Z")
Neither side’s sensors could have been very good if they couldn’t detect such massive objects drifting in space simply from their displacement of the interstellar medium or gravitational waves. A cloaking device might be able to bend light rays, but I doubt it can cover up a hole in space itself. (Sort of the way you can detect a nuclear submarine not by the noise it makes but by the sound it absorbs.) ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2021, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-motion-picture/951691/109 "2021-10-12T20:24:59Z")
Never mind visibility what about heat? A ship is going to generate an awful lot of heat and it’s going to be hard to hide that. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2021, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-motion-picture/951691/110 "2021-10-12T20:29:09Z")
… Especially in the cold of interstellar space. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2021, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-motion-picture/951691/111 "2021-10-12T21:25:26Z")
The show was playing it that everyone on the Enterprise had to be wery wery qwiet. It wasn’t energy consumption, it was noise. It was stupid. In The Enemy Below, they really had to be quiet, because sound carries through water very well. Assuming we forget that, and fan wank it that no power must be consumed, well, there’s the air handlers, the toilets, the eternal hum of the engines, none of which were stopped. And the artificial gravity. How much power does that take? And even so, you know what would give them away in an instant, in the cold blackness of space? Those damn flashing running lights! They never turned them off. Nor put the “blackout curtains” in the windows. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-the-motion-picture/951691.md?page=5)