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The first Star Trek movie was pretty crappy. A mediocre screenplay, static direction and slow pacing make it a tough watch for many. Despite that, I have a soft spot for the film. Unlike most of my generation, I have no memory of seeing "Star Wars" in the theatre. I'm pretty sure I did see it when released, but the first movie I can remember seeing in the theatre might have been "Superman: The Movie", "The Muppet Movie" or "Star Trek: TMP". I was 7 in 1979, and that's the closest I've narrowed it down. My parents were fans of the original Trek series - so - while I had an original "Star Wars" poster up in my room, it was James T. Kirk who oversaw my bed in a suave, protective gaze. They brought me to the G Rated film - and I remember really enjoying the beginning (Enterprise in Dry Dock) and the end (oddly attractive bald woman and V'ger) - and falling asleep in the middle. After the film, my family went to McDonalds and got burgers and Star Trek Iron-Ons (pre-Happy Meal) that were soon (and uncomfortably) affixed to my underwear. The film is a guilty pleasure I'll revisit once every 10 years.

Plot Summary: A mysterious Electrical Cloud is on a direct course towards earth, vaporizing and absorbing all in its path. The only Starship close enough both to Earth and the danger is the Enterprise, newly re-designed and being rushed out to meet the threat. Captain Kirk joins his original crew for the first time in 2 1/2 years, forcing his way into the post (and the younger, smarter Captain Decker out of it) in a reaction to his mid-life crisis. Mr. Spock joins the crew halfway through the voyage with his own agenda: he's on a path to logical neo-Buddhist enlightenment, and feels like whatever consciousness is controlling the cloud will help him greater understand his road to peace and enlightenment. In the end, Kirk gets his ship, Spock gets his peace, the crew of the Enterprise save the day, and the ousted Decker explodes and becomes a god. Kinda.

Paramount Studios recently released a final, spiffed up "Director's Cut" DVD of this movie. The result is a stronger movie with new digital effects (better integrated with the old footage than the Lucasfilm "SW" Special Editions, I might add) and a tighter narrative structure. Unfortunately, that doesn't make it a good movie. By way of the documentaries included in the DVD set, the bumpy story of how Star Trek made it's way from small screen to big is told; and the footage almost serves as apology for the resulting film. "But, you don't understand - we did the BEST we could, considering. . ." It is apparent that the history of this project had great bearing on the final product: Originally concieved as the 2-hour pilot for a new Star Trek TV series ("Phase Two") which was cancelled 2 weeks before filming was to begin, Paramount gave the film the green light in an effort to cut their losses and capitalize on the space opera craze "Star Wars" began 2 years earlier.

And so, we are presented with the first problem: the script was written for low-budget TV. And it shows. Elevated to a big-budget film, and rushed through production by an anxious studio, the script was re-worked and filming began before the third act was re-written. Move on to problem #2: Given only 11 months from principal filming to premiere, most of the effects were concieved in post-production. 3 separate Visual Effects companies were contracted to develop effects - with different approaches and production designers. They had Douglas Trumbull ("2001: A Space Odyssey", "Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind") and John Dykstra ("Star Wars") - ostensibly the best talent in town - supervising the effects, but the work was rushed and the result was fragmented. Problem #3: Due to the accelerated production schedule, the film was released with many scenes incomplete. Some of the special effects were left out and the director and editor never had opportunity to see the final print before the premiere. There was no preview pre-screening to catch last-minute mistakes. Final problem: the film's direction. Given the problems presented, it's hard to fault Director Robert Wise ("The Day the Earth Stood Still", "The Sound of Music") for the failures of the film. However, one look at his track record - his previous modern sci-fi film was the cerebral and snail-paced "The Andromeda Strain" - and it's hard not to chalk up some of the weaknesses to his directing style. Solid, but not very dynamic. The resulting film is stuctured by long periods of visually dazzling effects intercut with dull reaction shots; wrapped up in fragmented plot and character development. The stiff and hammy acting didn't help. It's like the cast never left the television set 10 years earlier.

"Star Trek: TMP" was the little film that almost-could-if-it-was-just-given-4-more-months. This was one reason that the movie wasn't better, and some of these problems are aleviated by this new Cut. Director Wise was given opportunity to go back to original storyboards and production designs and re-create landscapes and special effects - and these scenes look great. The new digital effects have been properly "dirtied up" to match the original footage, and at times, I found myself wondering where the new effects had been inserted. Being a review of a DVD Remaster - Video and Sound Quality should be mentioned. The Sound is great. Apparently, they never had opportunity for a proper mix-down when the film was released (or for subsequent releases), so the sound is a completely new Digital Mix, featuring the debut of the modern Trek theme; the basis for the Next Generation theme. Video quality is spotty. I'm not being picky here - in some places it looks as bad as your average episode of "Battlestar Galactica". Blue Screen use is minimal and unobtrusive, but black matting "blobs" that appear around superimposed model and live-action footage with painted and digital backgrounds are obvious. And that's too bad, because it's clear that a lot of work went into the restoration for this DVD, and they either didn't have the money to clean it up properly, or the quality of the source elements made it impossible to fix them up.

The extra features on the 2-DVD set are many, but of debatable interest. The Audio Commentary is an infomative, if technical series of footnotes from Wise, Dykstra, Trumbull, composer Jerry Goldsmith, and actor Stephen Collins ("Captain Decker", television's "Tales of the Gold Monkey" & "Seventh Heaven"). The documentaries are informative, but are more like promotion than expose'. The trailers are cool to watch once or twice, especially for Orson Welles' voice-overs (note: Robert Wise was the editor of "Citizen Kane"). The DVDs includes a wealth of deleted footage - cuts from the original theatrical release and from the 1983 TV version (the first "directors cut"). Most of it is pretty useless -except to underscore the differences in the new Cut. Best cut scene: a bit from the TV version with Kirk exiting the ship through an airlock. The scene has no special effects or matting - he doesn't exit into space, but into a sound stage: planking, scaffolding. . . I had to watch it twice to be sure I wasn't seeing things.

In 1979, the best thing that could have been said about this snail-paced and cerebral special-effects epic was that it was as far from "Star Wars" as a late 70's space adventure could be. Which says a lot, considering how many knock-offs of that film that were released in the era. "Star Trek: TMP" worked hard to distinguish itself as an extension of the original TV series; a philosophical, sociological science fiction Soap Opera. Unfortunately, it fails as often as it succeeds. Today, the best thing that can be said is that the success of the film lead to the always entertaining "ST II: The Wrath of Khan". Other than that, it's debatable whether the continuation of the franchise has been a good thing or not. One thing is clear - if you didn't like this movie the first time around, you're unlikely to change your mind now. It's better, but not great. However, I am looking forward the the upcoming "Wrath of Khan" Special Edition. . .which would you rather hear, Shatner yelling "Spock!" - or Ricardo Montalban growling "Khirrrk."? Montalban es mas macho.

- Ian, March 2002