‘STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE’

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The Motionless Picture

“The Human Adventure is Just Beginning!”

‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’ (Why isn’t it called ‘Star Trek: The Movie’?!) was the first ‘Star Trek’ movie ever made for the cinema. It was also the first ‘Star Trek’ movie to feature the original cast from ‘The Original Series’. It was released in 1979, following the original TV series’ cancellation in 1969.

The movie was produced by Gene Roddenberry and directed by Robert Wise, who apparently directed ‘The Sound of Music’, one of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical films in 1965. This was where the original ‘Star Trek’ cast began their series of feature films to be shown on the big screen.

I purchased the Director’s Edition DVD of ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’ for my parents and me over the Christmas holidays in 2004. It was after seeing ‘The Original Series’ in its three seasons on DVD. The Director’s Edition DVD is a 2-disc set with the movie on Disc 1 and the special features on Disc 2.

Fortunately, my parents and I saw ‘Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan’ first before we saw the first movie of the ‘Star Trek’ film series. I decided we’d better go back to the beginning of the film series by purchasing the first movie on DVD before we watched the rest. It was a good decision on my part.

However, saying that, I find ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’ to be the weakest of the film series and out of the six movies featuring ‘The Original Series’ cast. I’m afraid ‘The Motion Picture’ was a let-down for me, despite the spectacular special effects sequences and the great operatic music featured in it.

This movie, for me, is rather dull and uninspired all the way through. It lacked the story, action and pace that it required in a ‘Star Trek’ movie. I don’t think director Robert Wise understood what ‘Star Trek’ was about when he directed this. Not really ‘The Motion Picture’, but ‘The Motionless Picture’.

The story involves an alien menace called V’Ger that is approaching the Earth. V’Ger is in the form of a gigantic alien machine that manages to destroy three Klingon ships on the way. Starfleet Command becomes aware of this alien threat approaching. Only one starship can deal with it – the Enterprise!

James T. Kirk, now promoted to Admiral, takes it upon himself to captain the newly-rebuilt Enterprise to tackle the alien menace approaching Earth. Very soon, Dr. McCoy comes aboard and so does Mr. Spock, bringing the old Enterprise crew back together again, as they voyage on to face V’Ger itself.

Now whilst I have no objection to the story’s premise and concepts going on throughout this movie, I’m afraid I found the whole plodding of this film unbearable. Don’t get wrong, there are some really amazing, spectacular space sequences, including the long build-up to reveal the new Enterprise.

But most of the time, I wanted the film to move faster so that we could actually get on with the story. There were times where there were too many space sequences and things weren’t moving fast enough as they should. This includes the Enterprise’s long ‘trek’ through the tunnels of V’Ger itself.

Also, I get the impression that director Robert Wise likes lots of reaction shots of the characters when they see what’s going on as they travel through space aboard the Enterprise. A lot of the time, we see characters looking awed and going “WOW!” when they look at the Enterprise viewscreen and this was tiring.

The design of the new Enterprise in the movie is very impressive, although it doesn’t have the same grandness and character that the Enterprise from the original TV series had. Certainly they have a bigger budget to work with on the movie, but I felt I couldn’t relax properly aboard the new starship.

With the new Starfleet uniforms…well, they’re adequate, but I’m afraid I found it difficult to see the distinction between the uniforms. It was difficult to find out what each uniform represented and they were quite drab. They don’t evoke the same coolness of the Starfleet uniforms in the TV series.

The major disappointment however is the lack of character development and story that’s featured in the movie. A lot was focused on the special effects rather than the actual ‘Star Trek’ characters that I grew to love. The actors do amazingly well with keeping dialogue scenes enjoyable.

William Shatner returns as Admiral James T. Kirk, who assumes temporary command as Captain of the Enterprise. I’m afraid I found Kirk’s appearance in this ‘Star Trek’ movie underwhelming and out-of-character at times. He seemed to be arrogant and ignorant sometimes compared to the TV series.

From the movie, it seemed like Kirk was doing everything he can to get what he wants and get his old command of the Enterprise back and not let anything stand in his way. At times, he tended to be mean to Decker and even ignored McCoy at times. This isn’t the best depiction of Kirk in the movie.

Leonard Nimoy returns as Mr. Spock, the Vulcan who boards the Enterprise after hearing the consciousness of V’Ger whilst he was on Vulcan itself. Mr. Spock’s journey in ‘The Motion Picture’ is an interesting one, especially when he arrives out of the blue aboard the Enterprise, assuming his duties.

DeForest Kelley returns as Dr. Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy. I’m afraid I found McCoy out-of-character in this movie too as well as Kirk. At times, Kirk and McCoy were at loggerheads with each other. This isn’t how the Kirk-Bones relationship should be, as they’re supposed to be good friends in the series.

I found the Kirk, Spock and McCoy set-up from the original TV series to be underwhelming in this movie. There doesn’t seem to be the same-old friendly banter between the ‘Trek’ trio in this film, as I expected there to be from the TV series. Not enough time was given to develop this trio’s friendship further.

James Doohan returns as Lt. Commander Montgomery Scott (‘Scotty’, as many know him well). I liked some of the friendly exchanges Scotty has with Kirk, as they make their way towards the Enterprise. But most of the time, Scotty fulfils the functional role of engineer aboard the Enterprise.

George Takei returns as Lt. Commander Sulu, Walter Keonig returns as Lt. Chekov and Nichelle Nichols returns as Lt. Commander Uhura. I’m afraid I found their appearance in this movie very limited, as they don’t have much to do, apart from their standard bridge roles. Majel Barrett also returns as Dr. Christine Chapel.

Surprisingly, Grace Lee Whitney returns as Janice Rand. I was pleased to see Janice Rand return to ‘Star Trek’, after she sadly left the show in Season 1 of the original TV series. She’s now a transporter operator compared to being Kirk’s yeoman. But I’m afraid her appearance is also limited in this film too.

Stephen Collins stars as Willard Decker in the movie. Decker was originally the commanding officer as Captain of the Enterprise. But he sadly gets demoted in the ranks by Kirk as temporary commander and executive officer. This upsets him when Kirk starts pushing around and taking over.

I felt sometimes that Decker got more treatment in terms of character development compared to the regular ‘Star Trek’ characters. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice that Decker has an interesting journey to go in this. But it isn’t the best way when you’re re-introducing ‘Star Trek’ in the movies.

Persis Khambatta stars as Lt. Ilia, an alien Deltan navigator aboard the Enterprise. Ilia is another interesting character that gets development in the movie. She’s someone who has a clean-shaven head and she once had a romantic affair with Decker a long time ago, until they sadly broke up.

Ilia, unfortunately, gets taken by the V’Ger alien presence. A probe sent by V’Ger in the form of Ilia soon visits the Enterprise. I sometimes got confused as to whether the real Ilia was trying to speak through the machine-like Ilia probe, especially when Decker was getting through to her emotionally.

V’Ger itself is an interesting alien menace that got unveiled. There’s a long-build up to it, but it turns out that V’Ger is actually Voyager 6 sent from Earth many years ago. Apparently, V’Ger is on a search to find ‘the Creator’ and is sending radio signals to receive an answer. No response is given.

I must mention about the Klingons that feature in this movie. The Klingons have their new make-up design on their foreheads for the first time in this movie. This new Klingon make-up design is what is seen in future ‘Star Trek’ movies and in future spin-off ‘Star Trek’ shows like ‘The Next Generation’.

I’m disappointed with the Klingons’ lack of appearance in this ‘Star Trek’ movie. They only appear briefly at the beginning, especially when they’re attacking the V’Ger cloud in space. The Klingon ships also don’t move fast enough, especially when they’re escaping from the cloud attacking them.

I love the new ‘Star Trek’ theme music composed by Jerry Goldsmith for this movie. This, for me, is the only best thing about this ‘Star Trek’ movie that I like. The ‘Star Trek’ theme music by Jerry Goldsmith would later go on to be the theme music for ‘The Next Generation’ series and rightly so.

The DVD special features on the Director’s Edition 2-disc set are as follows. On Disc 1, there’s a group audio commentary with director Robert Wise, special photographic effects director Douglas Trumbull, special photographic effects supervisor John Dykstra, music composer Jerry Goldsmith and actor Stephen Collins. There’s also a text commentary by Michael Okuda, the co-author of ‘The Star Trek Encyclopedia’, to enjoy.

On Disc 2, there’s a ‘Documentaries’ section containing three new retrospective making-of documentaries and featuring behind-the-scenes cast and crew interviews. The three documentaries are as follows – ‘Phase II: The Lost Enterprise’, ‘A Bold New Enterprise’ and ‘Redirecting the Future’. There’s an ‘Advertising’ section that includes trailers and TV spots. There’s a teaser trailer and a theatrical trailer for the movie and a Director’s Edition trailer for the DVD. There’s also an ‘Enterprise Promo’ spot that promoted the new ‘Star Trek’ spin-off series ‘Enterprise’ in 2001 and eight TV spots for the movie. There’s an ‘Additional and Deleted Scenes’ section that contains scenes edited out from the movie both in the 1979 theatrical version and the 1983 TV version. There are 5 additional scenes from the 1979 theatrical version with trims and outtakes and 11 deleted scenes from the 1983 TV version. There’s an ‘Archives’ section that contains storyboard archives on many sequences featured in the film. There are storyboard archives on Vulcan, on the Enterprise departure and on V’Ger revealed.

The special features on the 2010 DVD of ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’ are as follows. There’s an audio commentary with Michael and Denise Okuda, Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens and Daren Dochterman. There’s also ‘The Longest Trek: Writing the Motion Picture’, a ‘Special Star Trek Reunion’ and ‘Starfleet Academy: Mystery Behind V’Ger’.

So, ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’ isn’t the best ‘Star Trek’ movie I’ve seen. It’s certainly the weakest out of the whole film series. It’s not the greatest start to the ‘Star Trek’ film series, despite the amazing space sequences and the visual effects produced to make the film spectacular on screen.

More was dealt with visual effects than on character development. The story and the film also tended to be slow. Thankfully, this was the beginning of the ‘Star Trek’ film series, as things would get better later. I’m sure the producers realised their mistake when they voyaged forth in ‘The Wrath of Khan’!

‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’ rating – 5/10

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‘STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE’ (NOVELIZATION)

Please feel free to comment on my review.

The Human Adventure Returns

The 40th anniversary edition of this movie novelization was released in 2019! 🙂

And it’s taken me seven years to finally check it out in book and audio form! 😀 In 2016, I celebrated ‘Star Trek’s 50th anniversary by doing reviews on the 10 films from ‘The Motion Picture’ to ‘Nemesis’. So, we’ve come full circle with this book for the 60th anniversary! 🙂

I’ve wanted to check out the movie novelization of ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’ for some time. I purchased the 40th anniversary edition of the book at Waterstones in Bath in October 2019. But like the first ‘Back to the Future’ film novelization, I didn’t instantly read it.

I was hoping to check it out sometime in 2020, but like life in general, other things got in the way. Mostly to do with other projects and reviews related to my blog, but also because the Covid-19 pandemic hampered things and distracted initial plans I had for that year. 😐

Thankfully, as 2026 is the year to celebrate ‘Star Trek’s 60th anniversary, I saw the opportunity to finally check out this book along with the unabridged audiobook read by Robert Petkoff. 🙂 I purchased the audiobook via AudiobookStore.com. Not via Audible. 😐

I was hoping to listen to the audiobook via Audible, as it was available via that platform for a time. Sadly, the audiobook is currently unavailable in the UK, which I don’t know why that is. I decided to set up an account with AudiobookStore.com and purchase it there. 🙂

I always like to check out a movie novelization with an audiobook to listen to in the background. As ‘The Motion Picture’ seems to be the only ‘Star Trek’ movie novelization with an unabridged audiobook so far, why waste the chance and not check it out at all? 🙂

I’m glad I did, as it was fascinating to check out a USA-produced unabridged audiobook for a ‘Star Trek’ movie novelization and it was the first time I’ve come across Robert Petkoff. He reads well and captures the voices of Captain Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Scotty spot on.

Beyond ‘The Motion Picture’, Robert Petkoff has read audiobooks for various ‘Star Trek’ incarnations, such as ‘The Original Series’, ‘The Next Generation’, ‘Deep Space Nine’, ‘Discovery’, ‘Picard’ and ‘Strange New Worlds’. Hopefully, I will get to hear them someday.

‘The Motion Picture’ is a film I’ve grown to appreciate more as the years have gone by since I did my review on it back in 2016. Don’t get me wrong. I still don’t consider it a great film and it’s arguably the weakest instalment out of the entire ‘Star Trek’ film series so far.

But having revisited the film recently, especially through its movie novelization and unabridged audiobook, there’s more to appreciate in terms of what Gene Roddenbery and the production term were trying to go for when revitalising ‘Star Trek’ for the cinemas.

One of the advantages of a movie novelization is how it explores more of what was being told in the story and how its characters are developed rather than what the film delivers. There aren’t many things in a movie novelization that can distract you compared to a film.

There aren’t any long outer-space sequences – spectacular though they are in the film – to slow the story down. You’re not put-off by how many reaction shots there are by characters to V’Ger’s interior when you’re reading the book and hearing the audiobook. 🙂

At least, not all the time. 🙂 ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’ the novelization allows to enjoy the story and its characters as they are. Not as a spectacular spectacle that would often label the story as ‘The Motionless Picture’, which is how fans, including me, claim it to be.

Another advantage of ‘The Motion Picture’ novelization is that it’s by ‘Star Trek’s creator – Gene Roddenberry, based on the screenplay by Harold Livingston and the story by Alan Dean Foster. I don’t believe I’ve ever come across a novel by Gene Roddenbery before. 🙂

Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure he wrote books before he novelized ‘The Motion Picture’, but it’s fascinating to find him doing this novelization, which was originally published in 1979. He, of course, would have deeper insight into the ‘Star Trek’ characters than anyone else.

The book itself has been a fascinating insight to get into what the characters’ motivations are in the story compared to how they’re shown on film. This is particularly with James T. Kirk, who I felt was out-of-character compared to how he is in the TV series and later films.

In the book at least, you get to understand more of why he’s determined to take on command of the starship Enterprise again, especially considering he’s a Starfleet admiral and not a captain. He misses the chance to be a starship captain whilst being an admiral.

This does set up things for what happens in later movies, particularly in the trilogy from ‘The Wrath of Khan’ to ‘The Voyage Home’ where he does get to be a starship captain once he’s demoted. But it’s interesting how the book sets that up when reading new scenes. 🙂

Yeah, there are some scenes featured in early chapters of the book that weren’t in the film. This is particularly in his contact with Admiral Nogura, who is depicted in the ‘Star Trek Continues’ two-part series finale – ‘To Boldly Go’ and with Vice Admiral Lori Ciana. 🙂

There’s a sense of Kirk being manipulated by Starfleet when he’s an admiral, which he doesn’t take to and he decides to venture out to take command of the Enterprise when advised on the Intruder (V’Ger) approaching, using his years’ experience to win his way. 🙂

That’s something I find fascinating when checking out the movie novelization and I wonder why it wasn’t in the final film. Perhaps it was in the original screenplay, but it was decided not to film those scenes due to timing. I’m not entirely sure on this, to be honest.

Incidentally, Vice Admiral Lori Ciana is one of the two people alongside Vulcan science officer Sonak who got killed in the transporter accident that Janice Rand witnessed. At least there’s emotional context to why Kirk is sad by the transporter accident’s victims. 😐

Talking about the book’s structure, the story is divided into 28 chapters. There’s also Admiral Kirk’s Preface at the beginning as well as an Author’s Preface. Throughout the book, there are editor’s notes that provide context to certain aspects of the story itself. 🙂

This includes notes on Admiral Kirk’s comments about being used by Admiral Nogura and Vice Admiral Ciana as well as certain things about Vulcans, which casual viewers might not know of. 🙂 This includes ‘the sense of oneness with the All’ – the Vulcan’s sixth sense.

I read and listened to the audiobook from September to October 2026. Whilst I was away for my weekend in Wigan for the ‘Wigan Comic Con Summer 2026’, I read and heard the novelization/audiobook whilst on the train as well as in my hotel room, which I enjoyed. 🙂

As well as Kirk, it was good to explore more of Spock’s journey in ‘The Motion Picture’ story, particularly when he distanced himself from those who were eager to reunite with him once he boarded the Enterprise. 🙂 This especially connects with his Kolinahr journey.

His exploration of V’Ger when trying to mind-meld with the machine-like creature matches to how things turn out in the film. We also get to experience things from V’Ger’s point of view when the mind-meld is made, including it asserting control of the Ilia-probe.

An intriguing aspect of the movie novelization is that V’Ger is spelt ‘Vejur’ when reading it in print. I’m not sure if that how Gene Roddenberry wanted the machine-like creature to be spelt compared to how it’s spelt in movie promotional material when released in 1979.

This is because I’ve not across a spelling like that anywhere concerning ‘The Motion Picture’. Mind you, I don’t really watch ‘The Motion Picture’ that often, so it’s down to how you look at it and how you prefer it to be spelt. 😐 Gene Roddenberry clearly prefers ‘Vejur’.

Incidentally, on checking the English subtitles for the film on Disc 1 of the Director’s Edition DVD, apparently, it is spelt ‘V’Ger’ and not ‘Vejur’. It’s a matter of opinion on whether you prefer ‘V’Ger’ over ‘Vejur’ or not, and I personally prefer the former, frankly. 🙂

It was good to find more exploration of Will Decker’s journey in ‘The Motion Picture’ novelization compared to the film. This is especially in how he was recommended by Kirk as captain of the Enterprise as well as what his romantic relationship with Ilia was like. 🙂

Granted, there are touches of it featured in the film itself, but with a novelization, you get the chance to go deeper into the character’s thoughts and feelings. There’s more exploration of what Decker is feeling when his command of the Enterprise is taken by Kirk.

Incidentally, Will Decker is revealed to be the son of Commodore Matt Decker, who appeared in ‘The Original Series’ episode ‘The Doomsday Machine’. This is something I wouldn’t have picked up from watching the film and frankly, it isn’t officially established.

At least, not in the film. I’m glad it provides more context in terms of Will Decker’s relationship with Kirk. But I think more references to the events of ‘The Doomsday Machine’ would have helped to establish who Will Decker’s father is from that episode. 😐

More is established concerning Ilia as a character as well as her species as a Deltan. Something regarding the Deltans is in the book more so than in the film, and it’s something I wouldn’t have picked up on in viewing the film itself. And it’s quite revealing.

Apparently, Deltans emit powerful, subconscious aphrodisiac pheromones combined with telepathic elements that heavily attract and influence other humanoid species. Essentially, Deltans provide a very strong sexual attraction for members of other species.

Again, this is something I wouldn’t have picked up on from watching the film on its own, especially when there aren’t any sex scenes to be found. We also don’t see enough romantic and sexual interaction between Will and Ilia to establish they had a relationship.

I mean, it’s clear they had a romantic relationship once, but the plot regarding V’Ger and the Enterprise getting to V’Ger to prevent it causing trouble once it envelops Earth is in the way of the fact that Deltans are sexually attractive to non-Deltans. It’s not clear in the film.

Though it does explain why Ilia said:

Ilia: My oath of celibacy is on record, Captain.

It’s to establish that any Deltans who work aboard a Federation starship are meant to reframe from making any sexual contact with non-members of their species whilst they’re on the job. A shame we don’t see enough examples of that when viewing the film.

There is a deleted scene, which is included on Disc 2 of the Director’s Edition DVD, where Sulu is clearly attracted to Ilia whilst showing her how to use her navigational desk on the Enterprise bridge. 🙂 The scene is included in the movie novelization when I read and heard it.

Had that scene been included in the movie, it would’ve established more on what Ilia and her Deltan species is like, rather than just stating “My oath of celibacy is on record, Captain.” It doesn’t establish what the Deltans are like if you don’t show it in the movie. 😐

I’m disappointed the scene between Will Decker and Ilia where they say…

Decker: I’m sorry.
Ilia: That you left Delta IV, or that you didn’t say goodbye.

…isn’t as in-depth or detailed as I would’ve liked it to have been. I would’ve expected more insight into that interaction between them, especially in terms of exploring the thoughts of feelings of Decker and Ilia as characters. It did seem to swiftly pass by for me.

Although, in saying that, it was fascinating how the Ilia-probe grew more of an emotional connection to Decker when interacting with him. There are also moments, especially towards the story’s end where Ilia’s herself and not V’Ger talking through her as the probe.

Whilst ‘The Motion Picture’ novelization is an enjoyable read along with the audiobook in the background, I did feel that we were rushing to the end, particularly in the climax, as Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Decker dealt with V’Ger with the Ilia-probe accompanying them.

This of course meant a couple of my favourite lines were omitted in the book from the movie. Not that they were necessary lines in the film to have omitted in the book, but considering ‘The Motion Picture’s reputation, they are memorable as part of one’s salvage.

This includes Dr. McCoy’s line when Spock suggests as they should treat V’Ger like a child.

McCoy: Spock! This child is about to wipe out every living thing on Earth! Now what do you suggest we do? Spank it?

A shame that’s not included in the novelization, I was expecting it to be there. Another particular thing that’s omitted in the novelization is the moment where Spock has tears for V’Ger. Again, it’s not a necessary thing to have in the film when omitted in the book. 😐

I mean I’m not a fan of it and I’m not sure why Spock had tears for V’Ger when it happened in the movie. But it’s interesting Gene Roddenberry decided not to include it in the book when he novelized ‘The Motion Picture’. 😐 Still, it does illustrate how rushed the ending is.

I’m glad that ‘The Motion Picture’ concludes on the note where Decker and Ilia merge to form ‘a new lifeform’ when V’Ger wants to merge with its Creator. And I’m glad the story finishes in the same way the film does with Kirk, Spock and Bones back on the Enterprise.

But still, it felt like more was dealt with the first half of ‘The Motion Picture’ rather than the second half. This is especially when getting to from Chapters 20 to 28 with the Ilia-probe established and Spock making the mind-meld with V’Ger before it finally gets unveiled. 😐

This is particularly with V’Ger turning out to be the Voyager 6 probe sent from Earth many years ago. Also, the line where Kirk says “V’Ger…we are the Creator” but the Ilia-probe dismisses the claim isn’t included in the book. 😐 Am I wrong thinking this is a bit rushed?

Despite that, I’m glad I’ve checked out the ‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’ novelization by Gene Roddenberry at last. It was great to check it out in its 40th anniversary edition, which was released in 2019, and it was nice to read it with the audiobook read by Robert Petkoff.

Is the novelization an improvement over the actual ‘Motion Picture’? In many ways, yes, because you don’t have the distractions of so many long outer-space shots that made the film more akin to ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ instead of it being a proper ‘Star Trek’ movie. 🙂

With that said, I wouldn’t immediately go, “Wow! ‘The Motion Picture’ is the best thing ever and the novelization changed my mind on that!” Despite the novelization providing a better insight into the story and its characters, I wouldn’t regard ‘The Motion Picture’ highly.

I’m still glad I checked it out and it was nice to have the audiobook to read it with. I’m disappointed Jerry Goldsmith’s ‘Star Trek’ theme music isn’t included in the audiobook, and I consider that to be the best part of ‘The Motion Picture’ compared to everything else.

Hopefully, as times goes on, I’ll get to check out more movie novelizations of ‘Star Trek’ films. I’m hoping to make a start soon sometime in 2027 with checking out the movie novelization of ‘The Wrath of Khan’. Will that novelization be exciting as much as the film is?

I hope we’ll find out soon! 😀 Until then, ‘the human adventure is just beginning…’

‘Star Trek: The Motion Picture’ (Novelization) rating – 7.5/10

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