Star Trek: The Motion Picture Reviews

It finally happened. The characters loved by millions, preserved in reruns even though the TV series was canceled nearly 10 years previously, were born again. The plot of this $40-million film sometimes gets lost amid technical gadgetry, but the generation of young adults who grew up watching one of the most successful television programs ever, found it fascinating to see what has become of the crew of the starship Enterprise. Capt. James T. Kirk (William Shatner), now an admiral, is called upon one last time to take over the command of his old ship and halt a strange alien craft that is gobbling up everything in its path and is headed directly for Earth. To undertake this mission he calls upon the assistance of all the old crew members, and some new ones as well. Unfortunately, director Robert Wise has no feeling for Trek's pop insouciance, and the movie unfolds ponderously. The next in the long-running series, STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN, is much superior.