Star Trek (original film series)
STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE (PG)
D: Robert Wise
Paramount (Gene Roddenberry)
US 1979
132 mins
Science Fiction
W: Harold Livingstone & Alan Dean Fraser [based
on the television series created by Gene Roddenberry]
DP: Richard H. Kline
Ed: Todd Ramsay
Mus: Jerry Goldsmith
PD: Harold Michelson
William Shatner (James T. Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Spock),
DeForrest Kelley (Leonard McCoy), James Doohan (Montgomery Scott), Walter Koenig (Pavel Chekov), George Takei (Hikaru Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura)
10 years after its unceremonious cancellation from TV,
Star Trek makes its cinematic bow with its first feature-length film. Even with a huge fanbase behind it, it would seem that producers had to see the business Star Wars did to give them a
little more faith in the sci-fi genre and it generally shows here with the production design & visual effects.
Unfortunately, not much effort was put into the
screenplay, which is possibly worse than any of the standard Star Trek episodes (bar "Spock's Brain" maybe - Series 3, Episode 1).
The story sees an alien spacecraft heading towards Earth,
destroying everything in its path. Kirk, Spock and the rest of the crew take charge of the Enterprise to investigate. It actually sounds more fun than what it is, but falls into
pseudo-intellectual territory in the final act which simply fails to satisfy. Especially for those unfamiliar with the way Star Trek do things.
It's considered that Star Trek is classical music to Star
Wars' rock & roll and this is a perfect example of that parable.
For hardcore Trekkie fans, it may be enough just to see
their favourite characters back on screen once more, but those wanting to see what made the TV show such a worldwide phenomenon may feel very short-changed.
5/10
STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF
KHAN (PG)
D: Nicholas Meyer
Paramount (Harve Bennett)
US 1982
114 mins
Science Fiction
W: Jack B. Sowards [based on the television series
created by Gene Roddenberry]
DP: Gayne Rescher
Ed: William Dornisch
Mus: James Horner
PD: Joseph R. Jennings
Cos: Robert Fletcher
William Shatner (James T. Kirk), Leonard Nimoy
(Spock), Ricardo Montalban (Khan Noonian Singh), DeForrest Kelly (Dr. Leonard 'Bones' McCoy), James Doohan (Montgomery Scott), Walter Koenig (Chekov), George Takei (Sulu), Nichelle
Nichols (Uhura)
Arguably the best of the Star Trek films, to which you
don't even have to be a Trekkie to appreciate this, but it would be beneficial to have seen the original series since the plot works as a sequel to an episode from the first season of the
TV show ("Space Seed").
The first Star Trek movie didn't have an antagonistic
villain, so this film makes up for that in abundance with the character of Khan, a superior being who was outcast to a planet on the far reaches of the galaxy by Kirk, Spock & co
after he tried to assume control of the Starship Enterprise, and now he seeks revenge.
This movie has the perfect blend of drama, thrills
& action and isn't even afraid to kill off a major character (at least until the next film).
Star Trek: Into Darkness (qv) tried to emulate this
movie a little too much, and while it can be appreciated that it's for a new generation of fans and is perfectly enjoyable on it's own merits, Benedict Cumberbatch just cannot shape up to
Ricardo Montalban in the bad guy department.
8/10
STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR
SPOCK (PG)
D: Leonard Nimoy
Paramount/CGV (Harve Bennett)
US 1984
105 mins
Science Fiction
W: Harve Bennett [based on characters created by Gene
Roddenberry]
DP: Charles Correll
Ed: Robert F. Shugrue
Mus: James Horner
William Shatner (James T. Kirk), DeForrest Kelly
(Leonard 'Bones' McCoy), James Doohan (Montgomery Scott), Leonard Nimoy (Spock), Christopher Lloyd (Kruge)
***Spoiler Warning***
A very decent follow up to The Wrath of Khan (arguably
the best of all the Star Trek movies) and still streets ahead of the very first of the cinematic releases, which was hugely underwhelming.
Kirk and the rest of the enterprise crew find
themselves in a battle against a Klingon warship whilst on a mission to discover the whereabouts of Spock (version 2.0), reborn as a Vulcan child following his demise at the end of the
previous film.
There's only a handful of action scenes, but they're
grippingly directed and edited with some good special effects and makeup considering the age of the film. Personally, it's my second favourite of the entire series, brilliantly helmed by
Leonard Nimoy, sitting in the director's chair as his famous character is relegated to a cameo role.
7/10
STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME (PG)
D: Leonard Nimoy
Paramount (Harve Bennett)
US 1986
119 mins
Science Fiction
W: Harve Bennett, Steve Meerson & Peter Krikes [based
on characters created by Gene Roddenberry]
DP: Don Peterman
Ed: Peter Berger
Mus: Leonard Rosenman
PD: Jack T. Collis
William Shatner (Adm. James T. Kirk), Leonard Nimoy
(Spock), DeForrest Kelly (Leonard 'Bones' McCoy), James Doohan (Montgomery Scott), Catherine Hicks (Dr. Gillian Taylor)
Though Kirk, Spock and the rest of the crew are all back
again for this fourth feature-length adventure, it's not quite the same without the Starship Enterprise.
While they face mutiny for their exploits in the previous
film, an alien force threatens the very existence of Earth. The only chance to communicate with the threat is a species of whale that has become extinct in the 23rd century. Stealing a
Klingon warship capable of time-travel, the crew travel back to the world of the 1980's to transport two whales into the future and save their own timeline.
This is probably far more in line with the TV series than
the other films, especially in the respect that it plays into using present-day America as its setting.
Even for non-Trekkie fans, this should prove an exciting
adventure film with a strong ecological message, and though it's light on action set pieces, it still has enough about it to entertain.
6/10
STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER (PG)
D: William Shatner
Paramount (Harve Bennett)
US 1989
107 mins
Science Fiction
W: Harve Bennett, William Shatner & Dave Loughery
[based on characters created by Gene Roddenberry]
DP: Andrew Laszlo
Ed: Peter Berger
Mus: Jerry Goldsmith
PD: Herman Zimmerman
William Shatner (James T. Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Spock),
DeForrest Kelly (Leonard McCoy), James Doohan (Montgomery Scott), Walter Koenig (Pavel Chekov), George Takei (Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), Laurence Luckinbill (Sybok)
Easily the weakest of the Star Trek movies which is best
avoided unless you're a huge fan of the franchise.
From the opening scene, where a bare-chestered James T.
Kirk stunt double climbs a mountain without the aid of rope, you can simply tell that this is a William Shatner ego-trip, especially considering he chipped in with co-writing and directing
this excerpt.
When the story does finally get some wheels in motion
(which takes a while), the crew of the re-commissioned enterprise journey to visit a mysterious planet said to be inhabited by God.
The story is enough to test the patience of even the most
ardent Trekkie, with nothing much happening and with very little pace. It's not quite as ridiculous as the infamously bad "Spock's Brain" episode from the TV series, but at least that had in
its favour that it was under 60 minutes long. This is nearly 107 minutes of boredom.
4/10
STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED
COUNTRY (PG)
D: Nicholas Meyer
Paramount (Ralph Winter & Steven-Charles
Jaffe)
US 1991
110 mins
Science Fiction
W: Nicholas Meyer & Denny Martin Flynn [based on
characters created by Gene Roddenberry]
DP: Hiro Narita
Ed: Ronald Roose & William Hoy
Mus: Cliff Eidelman
PD: Herman Zimmerman
William Shatner (James T. Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Spock),
DeForrest Kelly (Leonard McCoy), James Doohan (Montgomery Scott), Walter Koenig (Pavel Chekov), George Takei (Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), Christopher Plummer (Chang), Kim Cattrall
(Valeris)
Following 1989's incredibly disappointing Star Trek V,
this is a huge improvement for the original cast to make their final big screen bow.
When a Klingon leader is assassinated during a diplomatic
mission, Kirk and Bones are convicted of the crime, whilst Spock investigates who is the real guilty party. The plot is rather predictable, but this is much more in the vein of what made the
TV series so great.
Star Trek: Generations followed on three years later, with
the cast of The Next Generation taking over from the old guard.
6/10
