Star Trek - the Motion Picture (1979)

Star Trek - the Motion Picture. Film review. The only Star Trek that i could easily remembered and identified was Jean Luc Piccard's Enterprise Star Trek. A little research on Wikipedia revealed to me (just recently, if i may add, i know, i've been lurking in a cave somewhere) that this particular Enterprise was set in a different generations than the original Star Trek which many geeks would eternalized with characters such as James T. Kirk, and undoubtedly, Mr.Spock and a phrase "Beam me up, Scotty" which probably had become the most quoted phrase in film.

In anticipation to Star Trek XI produced by J.J Abrams in 2009, i had decided to start my venture to the world of Star Trek recently.

This film (the first Motion Picture) was released in 1979. I would say that in a way, you could think of it just like the X-Files film where a prior knowledge to the television series were necessary to enjoy the film in its earnest.

Au contraire, prior to seeing the film, i don't know anything about Star Trek but i could very much enjoyed the film nonetheless. I don't even know which one is Mr.Spock. But, i immediately knew that it was him before someone in the film actually patted on his back and says, "Spock". He is after all, probably the most celebrated character in the franchise which should made him stand out in a crowd. And he does. Mr.Kirk is your usual captain, no surprises there, but i was missed a mark by a mile with Mr.Scott. He was far less geeky than i had thought he would be.

On to the film itself, the overall film was slow-paced, thought-provoking, almost-meditating and awe-inspiring visual endeavor. Although one must remember, that we're talking about a 1979 film here. Thus, a proper adjustment to the word 'awe-inspiring visual endeavor' would be necessary. This is especially true to the first part of the film where many shots shown the CGI accomplishments and the film's characters ooh-ing and aah-ing out through their winshield. It wasn't so bad actually, had i seen the film in 1979, i would walk out of the theater already humming the tunes, and would occassionally look at the sky for a glimpse of the "USS Enterprise". But this is almost thirty years later we're talking about here. In a particular scene, even, where Mr.Kirk and Mr.Scott take a proverbial elevator and we see the first glimpse of USS Enterprise, i was laughing at the scene since it was tediously long, and incredibly reeks a huge amount of lamenesses out of my laptop screen.

The second part of the film, however, where Enterprise made its destined contact with this mysterious alien vessel which we had seen from the very first minute of the film, albeit also incorporates slow and prolongued shots, was more engaging that i managed to get through it - even if i know how the film would wound up its conclusion - without a hint of boredom or even a yawn. I believe it has something to do with one of my buried dreams in the past for being an astronomer. Space travels always fascinated me. Heck, i've managed to sit through 2001: A Space Odyssey twice. And comparing to its pace, this film is a blazing fast. Nonetheless, i would still advised that non-fans or ones with quite a limited love to anything galactic or sci-fi should avoid this film. I could easily imagined you (non-fans) yawning and fell asleep in no time.

This episode remind me of my childhood where on one night where my parents were gone until midnight (i had a strict curfew as a kid), i saw Star Wars (what we would called Episode IV: A New Hope, now) for the first time and the next morning, i spent many paper-sheets drawing an X-Wings, imagining myself holding the light-saber imitating its whoooing and squishing sounds but quickly shelfed the memories away and only retrieve it until much later for i was apparently the only kid in the neighborhood who had seen the film at the time. My point being, where i grew up as a kid, the environment weren't that savvy enough for a kid to develop his geekness. But thanks to the internet, if one was destined to be a geek, even if his childhood was considerably lacked the ingredients for geekness, he would find a way to find his path to the geek land.

Next: Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan (1982).