|
|
|
Star Trek: The Motion Picture | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
n December 1979, when Star Trek: The Motion Picture had its world-premiere theatrical screening in Washington, D.C., loyal fans of the three-season television series, which had become an enormous hit in television syndication, were overjoyed. They eagerly looked forward to seeing Capt. Kirk and Mr. Spock in a brand-new feature adventure after 10 years of reruns.
In the film, Capt. James Kirk reunited with his steadfastly loyal crew in a refurbished starship Enterprise to confront a gigantic cloud of incalculable power that was on a direct course to Earth. They discovered, via a probe replicated in the image of the ship's navigator Ilia, that the entity "V'ger" was Voyager 6, a 300-year old space probe that had gained consciousness and was returning home to "join" with "the creator."
Prior to the film's premiere, anticipation by the fans and filmmakers alike was very strong, and the stakes were very high: If the film were a hit, the potential for a movie franchise was on everyone's mind. Although the adventure was appropriately epic in its grand scope, with top-of-the-line special effects, and the box office wasn't too shabby, with a ticket take of $50 million, many fans were disappointed. Some thought it was boring. Others thought the plot was too cold or derivative of some of the television episodes, notably "The Changeling" and "The Doomsday Machine." Author Harlan Ellison had dubbed it "Star Trek: The Motionless Picture."
But the film did go on, aided by an aggressive merchandising campaign and by loyal Trekkers, to be a worldwide success story that did convince Paramount to try again. And because Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan got made and was an even better success critically and at the box office, we did see the hoped-for movie franchise that will soon produce episode 10.
Now, 22 years later, Paramount has released the Star Trek: The Motion Picture director's cut in a two-disc DVD set with documentaries and supplemental material. Director Robert Wise and team of restoration artists have banded together to complete a film they considered "incomplete." The film has now been reworked, with a finer editing cut, stronger sound effects design and new and subtle visual effects. In making the movie, the filmmakers struggled with a script that did not have an ending and a special-effects team working around the clock to meet a box-office release date. Robert Wise flew to the public unveiling in Washington, D.C., using a "wet print" without a sneak preview. In this DVD release, Wise and his team have returned to the original storyboards and notes to rediscover abandoned designs and sequences because of the difficulties during filming.
Beaming up special features
In this director's cut, there are myriad changes and enhancements, both subtle and prominent, that work toward improving the overall viewing experience. The alterations begin with adjusting the color tones of the film. The bridge scenes, which comprise the bulk of the film, always looked too bright. This has been corrected with better contrast controls for dramatic effect. Certain visual effects, notably the Vulcan mountain sequence, have been replaced with a fantastic new matte painting, and the San Francisco sequence is also reworked with a new shuttle entrance. But other visual bits throughout the story serve to help tell the story better in small ways.
For example, during V'ger's first attack on the Enterprise, a new visual-effects moment demonstrates how V'ger quickly dispatchs the plasma energy just before the ship is about to be hit. In another moment, a new visual replaces an old one, when the Enterprise pulls out of the "wormhole effect" with the destruction of an asteroid. When V'ger's light probe hits the bridge, ready to take Ilia, the special effects are incredibly sharp on a DVD screen. The only puzzling aspect of this director's cut is that in certain bridge scenes the backgrounds appear artificially dark or blurred for no apparent reason.
The DVD extras contained in the second disc are a welcome addition to this package. They include three documentaries, storyboard sketches, and deleted scenes and outtakes from the original theatrical cut and a 1983 television broadcast. Much of the film's history we already know from various books, but it is interesting to actually see and hear William Shatner, Walter Koenig, Majel Barrett, Stephen Collins, Robert Wise, Douglas Trumbull, John Dykstra, Jon Povill and David Gautreaux share their memories.
In watching Star Trek: The Motion Picture again today, the film holds up remarkably well because of the epic scope, stunning visual effects, an exquisite musical score by Jerry Goldsmith, good photography—and simply because it's great to see our favorite characters reunite in a historical moment. For decades fans had only a bad pan-and-scanned edition of the film on videotape. The high-quality DVD image and sound elevate the film to its best possible presentation.
What detracts from the film's age are the overall color scheme aboard the ship, those funky costumes with the belt buckles and all those scenes where everyone stares at the viewscreen in glassy-eyed rapture. The character relationships, at times, remain too militarily stiff or awkward ("Spock! Will you please sit down!"). In the final analysis, however, creating the Star Trek: The Motion Picture director's cut serves to validate Robert Wise's contributions and places it, at last, as an important entry in the Star Trek film mythos.
Of all the DVD special editions that are being produced, this is the one film that actually deserves such treatment. How rarely do we get an opportunity to "finish" an "incomplete" film and fulfill the wishes of the filmmakers as originally intended. — Frank
Also in this issue: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Black Knight and Epoch
|
 |
|
| Home |
Copyright © 1998-2006, Science Fiction Weekly (TM). All rights reserved. Reproduction in any medium strictly prohibited. Maintained by scifiweekly@scifi.com. |
