The Fascinating Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture

The Fascinating Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture

[JimAllder]

Dykstra didn't actually work on the actual effects for Star Wars, he developed the camera equipment. When Lucas returned from location, he found Dykstra and his team sitting around in the middle of the afternoon smoking weed. They had not captured a single, usable shot, and argued that they needed George to guide them. George fired the lot of them and hired people like Dennis Murren to complete the actual effects. Dykstra has since publicly apologized and distinguished himself as one of the best in the business.

[Captain-Cosmo]

I'll look forward to seeing this. I worked at a theatre back in 79 when this picture opened. Back in those days, we normally drove to "film row" and picked up our prints ourselves a day before release. I recall it being a bit of nailer biter in this case, though. They were literally down to the last minute finishing this film and striking the prints, and our print was delivered by secure courier, arriving a few minutes after the first show was to begin. For that first show, it was the only time I can recall running a film with absolutely no trailers or bumpers. No one realized there was an opening musical prelude, so when the opening fanfare suddenly began, combined with the late start and no trailers, it greatly startled the audience, who burst into applause and took their seats. There was a lot of pent up demand for this film, especially after the success of Star Wars, and the opening weekend audience had a good experience, offering judicial applause when it was over. Subsequent audiences (and critics) were a bit less kind. I think where you lie with this film has a lot to do with how much you appreciate the effects, which were jawdropping for the time. I also appreciated Goldsmith's score, which is among his best work. He really did the impossible, instantly implanting an all-new musical theme upon a franchise that was already identified with a distinctive melody. When it became the theme of TNG, it would forever after overshadow Alexander Courage's original composition as the music most popularly identified with Star Trek. Thanks again for sharing. It's great stuff for those of us who actually grew up with these now half-century old films!

[seantlewis]

I was 13 when ST TMP came out. Being a Trekkie, I was super excited, and enjoyed it. I'm not sure how many times I saw it while it was still in theaters. I enjoyed it, but I always felt that it was about 20 minutes too long. Wrath of Khan was much tighter, and more exciting when it came out, and I loved it!

[JustWastedHoursHere]

I think the fact that Robert Wise was not a fan and had not done this type of movie before actually worked in their favor, lending it a sort of credibility. Reminds me of Irvin Kershner doing The Empire Strikes Back, having done mainly character driven movies. It worked out great for Empire, which is why most Star Wars fans consider that one the best of the whole lot.

I liked ST:TMP but felt it was, as the critics complained, very slow paced. But other than that I liked it well enough. But, as a ten year old kid at the time, it did not compare to Star Wars. As an adult I love and appreciate both. Anyway, I always felt that they missed a golden opportunity in ST:TNG to connect the Borg to V'Ger as an origin story. It would fit beautifully.

[jimjam]

"Wise wanted the uniforms to look more realistic...like realistic pajamas."

[chuckpoore]

While Wise was certainly known as the director of Sound of Music and West Side Story, most Trekkies knew him for his more relevant works, The Day the Earth Stood Still and The Andromeda Strain. While not SF, he also directed the horror films The Haunting and The Body Snatchers, and the WWII submarine thriller Run Silent Run Deep. So while he may not have been a ST fan per se, he was well versed in SF and genre films in general. He was a perfect choice for TMP and he really did save the movie, because he knew how to craft a story (also very significant is that he got his start as a film editor, and so he knew how important the right cut of a film was--which is why he was SO frustrated that Paramount never gave him the chance to properly edit the film until the Director's Edition came out.)

[JoeDuke-PhD]

I sold the holographic WARP effect for this.

[jorgezarco]

Kids in the 8th grade kicked my leg when I talked about Star Trek in 1993. They're miserable adults with high BAC levels.

[Monkofmagnesia]

Did you not know that Robert Wise is the director of the classic The Day The Earth Stood Still?

[JimAllder]

Also, Star Trek the Motion Picture was not the most expensive movie made up to that date. Superman: The Movie was. The Salkinds often divulged that 'Superman's' had cost $50M. But more recently Ilya Salkind has admitted that between the footage Donner shot for the 1st and 2nd pictures, the actual tally was $100M. At the time, this massive budget (the largest in history) was reported by a gossip columnist named Rona Barrett, but the Salkinds had denied it.

[dartistguy]

as a child, I couldnt stand the orginal Star Trek. I always found it BORING, and always wished something better was on, like either the Batman tv series or Lost in Space. I never understood the appeal of the original star trek, only until i saw some of the 1980s movies like star Trek the vovyage home did i come to like the original series, but im still no trekkie.

[whitleybayman]

One thing. Shatners career was in the toilet and he didnt have a TV Career of any note at that time. TJ Hooker was well after TMP. TMP is the best Trek pic in my opinion, especially the directors cut. The Shat was typecast as Kirk and living in a trailer with his dogs with no money before TMP Nimoy had the best TV Career at that time with Impossible Mission