When an alien spacecraft of enormous power is spotted approaching Earth, Admiral James T. Kirk resumes command of the overhauled USS Enterprise in order to intercept it.
Admiral Kirk and his bridge crew risk their careers stealing the decommissioned Enterprise to return to the restricted Genesis Planet to recover Spock's body.
Director:
Leonard Nimoy
Stars:
William Shatner,
Leonard Nimoy,
DeForest Kelley
With the assistance of the Enterprise crew, Admiral Kirk must stop an old nemesis, Khan Noonien Singh, from using the life-generating Genesis Device as the ultimate weapon.
Director:
Nicholas Meyer
Stars:
William Shatner,
Leonard Nimoy,
DeForest Kelley
To save Earth from an alien probe, Admiral James T. Kirk and his fugitive crew go back in time to San Francisco in 1986 to retrieve the only beings who can communicate with it: humpback whales.
Director:
Leonard Nimoy
Stars:
William Shatner,
Leonard Nimoy,
DeForest Kelley
On the eve of retirement, Kirk and McCoy are charged with assassinating the Klingon High Chancellor and imprisoned. The Enterprise crew must help them escape to thwart a conspiracy aimed at sabotaging the last best hope for peace.
Director:
Nicholas Meyer
Stars:
William Shatner,
Leonard Nimoy,
DeForest Kelley
Captain Kirk and his crew must deal with Mr. Spock's long-lost half-brother who hijacks the Enterprise for an obsessive search for God at the center of the galaxy.
Director:
William Shatner
Stars:
William Shatner,
Leonard Nimoy,
DeForest Kelley
With the help of long presumed dead Captain Kirk, Captain Picard must stop a renegade scientist willing to murder on a planetary scale in order to enter a space matrix.
Director:
David Carson
Stars:
Patrick Stewart,
William Shatner,
Malcolm McDowell
The Enterprise is diverted to the Romulan homeworld Romulus, supposedly because they want to negotiate a peace treaty. Captain Picard and his crew discover a serious threat to the Federation once Praetor Shinzon plans to attack Earth.
Director:
Stuart Baird
Stars:
Patrick Stewart,
Jonathan Frakes,
Brent Spiner
The Borg travel back in time intent on preventing Earth's first contact with an alien species. Captain Picard and his crew pursue them to ensure that Zefram Cochran makes his maiden flight reaching warp speed.
Director:
Jonathan Frakes
Stars:
Patrick Stewart,
Jonathan Frakes,
Brent Spiner
Set almost 100 years after Captain Kirk's five-year mission, a new generation of Starfleet officers set off in the U.S.S. Enterprise-D on their own mission to go where no one has gone before.
Stars:
Patrick Stewart,
Brent Spiner,
Jonathan Frakes
The brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful Romulan from the future creates black holes to destroy the Federation one planet at a time.
A massive alien spacecraft of enormous power destroys three powerful Klingon cruisers, entering Federation space. Admiral James T. Kirk is ordered to take command of the USS Enterprise for the first time since her historic five-year mission. The Epsilon IX space station alerts the Federation, but they are also destroyed by the alien spacecraft. The only starship in range is the Enterprise, after undergoing a major overhaul at Spacedock on Earth. Kirk rounds up the rest of his crew, and acquires some new members, and sets off to intercept the alien spacecraft. However, it has been three years since Kirk last commanded the Enterprise - is he up to the task of saving Earth?Written by
Colin Tinto <cst@imdb.com>
Director Robert L. Collins, whose background was mostly in television, was hired to direct the two-hour premiere, but after the change to a movie, Paramount wanted a more experienced director, and replaced him with Robert Wise. See more »
Goofs
When the V'Ger probe first comes onto the bridge, the portion of the set around the probe appears to "shrink". For example, the view screen is not as wide in one shot, and the dome in the bridge ceiling disappears and reappears as the probe passes in front of the helm and navigation console. This was due to a distortion effect, done to "hide" the electrician holding the light source used in this sequence. See more »
End title: "The human adventure is just beginning." See more »
Alternate Versions
On November 6, 2001, the Director's Edition supervised by Robert Wise was released on DVD and widescreen VHS, running 136 minutes. The material added to the film consists of the following:
The landscape of Vulcan was changed to include a yellowish sky and new landscape featuring massive statues. All other footage was tinted gold.
The matte painting of the Golden Gate Bridge in the scene where Kirk arrives at Starfleet Headquarters was replaced by a new CGI scene that shows Kirk's shuttle arriving at Starfleet. It is actually slightly longer than the original version.
The matte painting of Starfleet Command was improved with CGI effects, including an original series shuttle launched in the background.
In a close-up shot when Kirk first sees the new Enterprise from his shuttle, the image of the ship was superimposed over Kirk's face as a reflection in the shuttle's window.
After Kirk leaves the bridge, a short conversation between Sulu, Uhura and an alien officer was inserted.
A newly shot scene with a female officer on the transporter room informing Kirk that Dr. McCoy refused to step into the platform was inserted before the Doctor beams up.
A new CGI shot of the Earth is shown on the viewscreen when the Enterprise leaves the planet.
A new CGI effect showing one of the Enterprise's nacelles was inserted into the window when Kirk, Spock and McCoy speak on the observation deck.
A new CGI shot was inserted which shows V'Ger's second energy torpedo vanishing before it could strike the Enterprise.
The energy probe that invades the bridge now approaches in a CGI exterior shot.
A new CGI shot shows the V'Ger vessel entering Earth orbit.
The scene in which Chekov burns his hand is much longer and shows Lt. Ilia healing him with her empathic powers instead of Nurse Chapel.
The long walk to V'Ger was totally redone. There is now a walkway that materializes out of thin air, compared to the endless field in the original version.
The Enterprise's voyage to the center of V'Ger is slightly extended. It has a scene of Spock sharing a tear "for V'Ger" and Scotty ordered to self-destruct the ship if the landing party is unsuccessful.
The small black "empty matte" in the window when Decker and Ilia confront each other in the recreation deck was replaced with a CGI shot of the V'Ger cloud interior.
The final explosion of V'Ger was slightly extended. The shot from the original version remained intact, but a new element of the vessel imploding its energy for the explosion was added.
New opening titles were commissioned for the film's opening. The opening titles now have a slight fading effect and are now seen over a background of stars. The text is colored a bright gold, compared to the original version's white.
The explosion in the wormhole was redone. There is now an exterior shot of the asteroid exploding and the wormhole disintegrating. Additionally, the viewfinder in the next shot is enhanced to show sparks and debris.
The final message to the audience, "The human adventure is just beginning", was altered. In the original version, the starfield cuts away to a blank title card showing the text. In the Director's Edition, the starfield was extended by a few seconds to allow the text, colored bright gold, to fade into the picture.
The ending credits were slightly altered. The text, as with the opening titles and the final "human adventure" text, was changed color, from white to a bright gold. Additionally, the music was slightly extended to add new Director's Edition credits.
An all-new sound mix was commissioned, keeping the music and dialog intact, and adding new effects for almost all scenes. For example, the Enterprise computer voice alarms are now replaced with klaxon sirens, the lightning effects have new echoes, and a blend of Enterprise bridge sound effects from the original Star Trek series, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country have been added into the background of scenes taking place on the bridge. The new mix is in Dolby 5.1 EX Surround.
The footage from 1979 was digitally restored and remastered, and combined with the new CGI elements.
The opening overture has been restored to its full length. It is also played over a CGI starfield, rather than the blank screen in the original version.
A slight dialog alteration was made: In the 1979 and 1983 versions, the V'Ger cloud is said to be "over 82 AUs in diameter" which equals 7.626 billion miles across - much too large for the Enterprise to realistically travel to the heart of the cloud at subwarp speeds within a reasonable length of time. For the Director's Edition, the Epsilon 9 commander's dialog was altered so that the cloud is now said to be a (somewhat) more reasonable "over 2 AUs", or 186 million miles.
The producers of the Director's Edition submitted the film for re-rating by the MPAA, hoping for a PG rating rather than the original G rating which they believed carried a negative association; the basis for the higher rating was the intensified soundtrack. Oddly, when the original theatrical version was released on DVD and Blu-ray in 2009, it carried no MPAA rating.
"Star Trek: The Motion Picture - The Director's Edition"
"Star Trek: The Motion Picture" is by far the most important of the series and in my opinion also the best. This Director's Cut has improved and tightened the 1979 theatrical release to create a truer version of the director's original vision. In most cases Director's Cuts ruin the original Motion Picture they set out to improve, yet this film is the exception. What Robert Wise did here was very necessary and it has been accomplished with great reverence for the original material. This is now the authoritative version of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" and justly so.
What I admire about this first incarnation to the big screen is the faith that Robert Wise obviously has for his audience. Scenes are purposely slow which allows the atmosphere of the film to wash over the viewer like a warm bath rather than being bombarded by action and explosions as in the second of the Motion Picture series.
There are obvious references to Stanley Kubrick's 2001:A Space Odyssey (1967), which I admire because to want to aspire to those heights and nearly succeed can only be regarded with respect.
I have to say that the production design by Harold Michelson has never been bettered. The scope of his sets gives real life and location to the interior of the Star Ship Enterprise. The gathering of the whole crew in the lounge for example or Kirk emotionally trapped in his quarters by the dark glass sliding doors. The bridge of the Enterprise has never looked, sounded or functioned better. (It would have been nice to hear the old sliding door sounds!)
A criticism would have to be levelled at the costume design, which I found uninspired, dreary and slightly camp. Decker's skin-tight body suit reveals more than modesty should allow! I suppose underwear is obsolete in the 23rd century? Kirk's sleeveless white shirt is quite off- putting, as I couldn't stop staring a William Shatner's extremely hairy arms. Yet these are my only criticisms. I really enjoy this film and have done so since its release. This version finally completes an unfinished work and improves upon it to such a degree that Trekkies will have to reevaluate yet again which is the best of the Motion Picture series. As for me apart from the original series this is Star Trek's finest hour!
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"Star Trek: The Motion Picture - The Director's Edition"
"Star Trek: The Motion Picture" is by far the most important of the series and in my opinion also the best. This Director's Cut has improved and tightened the 1979 theatrical release to create a truer version of the director's original vision. In most cases Director's Cuts ruin the original Motion Picture they set out to improve, yet this film is the exception. What Robert Wise did here was very necessary and it has been accomplished with great reverence for the original material. This is now the authoritative version of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" and justly so.
What I admire about this first incarnation to the big screen is the faith that Robert Wise obviously has for his audience. Scenes are purposely slow which allows the atmosphere of the film to wash over the viewer like a warm bath rather than being bombarded by action and explosions as in the second of the Motion Picture series.
There are obvious references to Stanley Kubrick's 2001:A Space Odyssey (1967), which I admire because to want to aspire to those heights and nearly succeed can only be regarded with respect.
I have to say that the production design by Harold Michelson has never been bettered. The scope of his sets gives real life and location to the interior of the Star Ship Enterprise. The gathering of the whole crew in the lounge for example or Kirk emotionally trapped in his quarters by the dark glass sliding doors. The bridge of the Enterprise has never looked, sounded or functioned better. (It would have been nice to hear the old sliding door sounds!)
A criticism would have to be levelled at the costume design, which I found uninspired, dreary and slightly camp. Decker's skin-tight body suit reveals more than modesty should allow! I suppose underwear is obsolete in the 23rd century? Kirk's sleeveless white shirt is quite off- putting, as I couldn't stop staring a William Shatner's extremely hairy arms. Yet these are my only criticisms. I really enjoy this film and have done so since its release. This version finally completes an unfinished work and improves upon it to such a degree that Trekkies will have to reevaluate yet again which is the best of the Motion Picture series. As for me apart from the original series this is Star Trek's finest hour!