WoK and The Whale Movie The Voyage Homewere really good movies. I think the best two in the entire franchise.
I found another pic that was even better, and by that I mean worse, but it wouldn’t link (It’s in the Memory Alpha page)
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These people need underwear under their long underwear!
I think a lot of people in the group shot are “somebodies”, but I’m not sure. David Gerrold? Bjo Trimble? Susan Sackett? More producers’ girlfriends?
I remember being terribly disappointed and deeply bored. Quite a letdown at the time.
No movie can be all bad that used the Blaster Beam.
Before The Motion Sickness came out, I read a quote from…someone behind the scenes. He was very stoked. He said, and I quote, “This movie is going to be a huge mindfuck!”
When it came out, my lazy best friend was slow, and we missed the very first showing. Waiting in line for the second showing, we’re watching the people file out from the first show. I looked at them, and commented to my friend “Do they look like their minds have been fucked?” It was obvious they had not been.
According to the novel (yeah, I bought it 
) everybody wore something called a “perscan” that kept Starfleet Central informed of their whereabouts, vital signs &c. Apparently when you joined Starfleet your ass really did belong to them.
Actually, I remember kind of liking the (dress?) uniform Kirk was wearing when he first appeared. Pity it was never seen again.
“Actually, it’s my first attempt.”
The effects were good enough that the shot of the pod doing a flyby inspection of the Enterprise in dock was reused in Wrath of Khan. Douglas Trumbull, brought in after the original effects company squandered most of their budget building a poorly detailed model and accomplishing little else, managed to whip that and several other effects in seven months, compared to the over two years for the effects-heavy Star Wars and five years for 2001: A Space Odyssey (and without using many of the innovations ILM developed for Star Wars). The movie overall is not very effects heavy for the day, and yes the cel overlay animation is not comparable to modern CGI, but I wouldn’t described it as “horrible”. People like to love on Star Wars because the space combat scenes are well-constructed (themselves stolen from films like Hell’s Angels) but they’re all motion-control matte shots on a starry background, which looks impressive but are pretty easy to do once it is set up. The forced perspective on the sand crawler and detail on the Death Star model is actually a more impressive practical effect.
The story is boring and drawn out, but that is because it was originally written as a fifty minute TV pilot for the aborted Phase II series, and then stretched to theatrical length without much additional content other than awkwardly shoehorning Nimoy (who wanted nothing to do with a TV revival) back in. As slow and pointless as it is, it is Citizen Kane compared to Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.
Stranger
I rather liked this iteration of standard officer uniforms, with the longer shirt and self-belt in front (but I did not like Kirk’s short sleeve uniform shirt fabric, on closeup it looked like it came from the bargain bin at Dillard’s). Here are some drawings of the uniform design. They covered but didn’t conceal much of the torso, but they didn’t require constant pulling down like TNG’s, and the longer “tail” in front provided a modicum of decorum for the men.
I did not like the radiation suits Scotty and the engineering crew wore sometimes, they looked hopelessly retro.
William Shatner was quite good, actually. Some of the other acting wasn’t great, but some of that dialogue wasn’t easy to say.
Really? You don’t just mean “compared to usual, for him?” I didn’t get a genuine emotion from anyone, the acting was mannered and stiff. There was also far too much staring in awe and wonder at something off-screen (I blame the director for that).
Having previously directed a couple well-known sci-fi movies, Robert Wise was an obvious yet poor choice to direct; his hand was way too heavy for the silly story and especially the familiar characters. ST:TMP is a laughably terrible film with lots of cool vfx, some godawful dialogue and acting. Nevertheless, it did do a good job of getting rid of the unwelcome Decker and bald chick for sequels.
I recall seeing some of an extended version on TV. One scene had Spock crying on the bridge. It was totally embarrassing and played like parody.
That’s why a lot of Trekkies refer to it as “Star Trek: The Motionless Picture”!!!
I saw it the day it opened with a bunch of friends who were all ST fanatics. I remember being very impressed by the jump to warp speed special effect. Other than that it was pretty boring.
I do enjoy TMP when I’m in the right mood and it’s probably the closest movie to Roddenberry’s vision. That said, I always think of the last panel of the Mad Magazine parody.
Kirk-“Spock, did we just witness the birth of a new live form?”
Spock with a tear running down his cheek-“No Captain, we witnessed the birth of a new motion picture art form, where the special effects are 10 times more interesting than the plot, characters and dialog.”
What ST:TMP didn’t rip from that TOS episode, it ripped from the ST:TAS episode “One of Our Planets is Missing.”
I recall being baffled and bored when I was 10 but upon viewing it as an adult there’s a lot I like about it. I love the visuals.
The uniforms and the color aesthetics have grown on me. I think all the actors look great. And the pajama-like uniform also makes sense to me in terms of practicality.
I have never liked any of the post 1979 uniforms, neither the heavy jackets and turtlenecks of the Khan style nor the one-piecers and jumpsuits with contrasting shoulders of the later TV series.
The movie is definitely too long for the story as written—that’s its biggest fault.
But looking back I love how faithful it is to Star Trek as a concept. The later movies have all tried to be action-adventures, but that’s not the Star Trek ethos.
Star Trek is a space opera, heavy on concepts and problem solving and morals and ethics and people talking in rooms with the occasional special effect. It’s not about people running and jumping and explosions and big action-heavy climaxes and resolutions.
I don’t ever need to see people jumping over explosions in my Star Trek. Give me talking in rooms. Even the final battle in Khan is more talking than anything else.
Of course, Decker and Ilia were eventually brought back in the guise of Riker and Deanna.
I love the images from this scene. If I could I’d put it on my wall as a wide poster.
We took some Mr. Bill blotter and went to see a double feature. The Wrath of Khan was absolutely hilarious, for all the logical/scientific absurdities, and I was deeply disappointed by how they killed Spock. Yet, it is still the most engaging of the movies (though First Contact has a lot going for it. The second movie was some noir-ish thing with Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer and Sean Young. That was worth it, just for the Dickishness.
I’m forever intrigued by the love for First Contact, a movie that makes about as much sense as garlic scented mouthwash. Is it all the action and violence?