Word: motionful
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Gene Roddenberry, who produced both the series and The Motion Picture, promised that the optical effects in the movie would not overwhelm the idealism that made Star Trek popular as a television show. Roddenberry apparently reneged on his promise. The special effects are not particularly wondrous, although publicity materials for the film claim that special effects wizards Douglas Trumbull (2001: A Space Odyssey and Close Encounters of the Third Kind and John Dykstra (Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica) created the effects with the most sophisticated equipment ever devised for such work...
Special effects seem to be what movie studios think science fiction is all about these days. No doubt, Star Wars impressed a good many people because it depicted outer space with realism and "flash." But since the "creators" of The Motion Picture wanted to get away from the rough 'em up cowboys and laser beams action of Star Wars, they decided to put their special effects money into non-military opticals of the Enterprise's travel through an alien "cloud." It is quite possible that Dykstra and Trumbull decided that since anyone can create the illusion of space travel--they...
This metallic quality is also evident in the actors' performances. Although Star Trek fans are already familiar with the characters, even they will wonder at the absence of definition in the roles played out in The Motion Picture. And, needless to say, those unfamiliar with Star Trek will be utterly lost...
...when movies seem to require some epic characteristics to make them memorable, it is a shame that there are no thematic elements which would make The Motion Picture more durable. The story focuses exclusively on one problem--stopping the intruder before it destroys all the "carbon based units" (i.e. life) on the Earth. The Enterprise and its crew, once it has assembled, proceeds to the alien with no delay, no tests or demonstrations of strength, courage, ingenuity, resourcefulness or extraordinary ability. And once one technological challenge has been overcome, the Enterprise and its crew arrive at their destination having...
...Motion Picture's message is typical Roddenberry--that we should not strike out at the unknown without first determining its true purpose and motivations. Unfortunately the moral is swallowed up and permanently obscured by the simplicity of the characters and the weakness in the plot. We do not perceive the Enterprise crew as thinkers but as doers, whose own motivations are as clouded as those of the enemy they are combating. We end up learning more about the enemy than the human beings. We can assume that Roddenberry meant us to view the alien as a projection of ourselves...