Seven Days of Star Trek, Day One
Feb. 23rd, 2009 09:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
martinlivingsSo, for no apparent reason (other than reading Star Trek Movie Memories by the Shat), I've suddenly found myself craving the Star Trek movies, most of which I haven't seen since childhood. And, for no apparent reason, I'm going to spend the next seven days blogging a little about them.
Day One - Star Trek: The Motion Picture
You know, people give this film shit. They call it Star Trek: The Motionless Picture, to boredly go where no man has gone before. But rewatching it, I actually really enjoyed it. Yes, the pace is slow to glacial, and large chunks of the film (like the ridiculous warp sequence) are just filler to prevent them getting to V'Ger too soon and ending the movie after half an hour. But the film has some good sfnal ideas, some lovely effects, and the cast is as likeable and charismaticas always, with the exception of Decker and Baldchick (sorry, I've forgotten her name... Ilya? Something like that), who are planks of wood and are deservedly removed from the Enterprise at the end. There's something about the original crew, a mischievousness that was sorely missing from every other incarnation, a sense of fun. When Kirk points vaguely and says "thataway", it's appropriate. And the banter between the triad of Kirk, Bones and Spock works well. It was an effective leap to the big screen from a lowish-budget sci-fi TV series.
And who didn't get a lump in their throats as the majestic Enterprise swung into view in "dry dock", with that fantastic music? I remember seeing this as a kid and being utterly blown away. The film has a true sense of wonder to it, like many of the SF movies of the time (Star Wars, Superman, etc), a genuine sense of scale and scope. It's something sorely lacking in SF movies today, visual spectacle and CG replacing actual concepts and ideas.
Three Starfleet badges out of five.
Quote of the film:
Kirk: "I need you, Bones... badly!"
Day One - Star Trek: The Motion Picture
You know, people give this film shit. They call it Star Trek: The Motionless Picture, to boredly go where no man has gone before. But rewatching it, I actually really enjoyed it. Yes, the pace is slow to glacial, and large chunks of the film (like the ridiculous warp sequence) are just filler to prevent them getting to V'Ger too soon and ending the movie after half an hour. But the film has some good sfnal ideas, some lovely effects, and the cast is as likeable and charismaticas always, with the exception of Decker and Baldchick (sorry, I've forgotten her name... Ilya? Something like that), who are planks of wood and are deservedly removed from the Enterprise at the end. There's something about the original crew, a mischievousness that was sorely missing from every other incarnation, a sense of fun. When Kirk points vaguely and says "thataway", it's appropriate. And the banter between the triad of Kirk, Bones and Spock works well. It was an effective leap to the big screen from a lowish-budget sci-fi TV series.
And who didn't get a lump in their throats as the majestic Enterprise swung into view in "dry dock", with that fantastic music? I remember seeing this as a kid and being utterly blown away. The film has a true sense of wonder to it, like many of the SF movies of the time (Star Wars, Superman, etc), a genuine sense of scale and scope. It's something sorely lacking in SF movies today, visual spectacle and CG replacing actual concepts and ideas.
Three Starfleet badges out of five.
Quote of the film:
Kirk: "I need you, Bones... badly!"
