Star Trek: The Motion Pictures Collection (Motion Picture/ Wrath of Khan/ Search for Spock/ Voyage Home/ Final Frontier/ Undiscovered Country/ Generations/ First Contact/ Insurrection/ Nemesis)
by William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Jonathan Frakes, David Carson, Nicholas Meyer
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: DeForest Kelley, Jonathan Frakes, Leonard Nimoy, Patrick Stewart, William ShatnerDirector: David Carson, Jonathan Frakes, Leonard Nimoy, Nicholas Meyer, William Shatner
Writer: Alan Dean Foster
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language)
Format: NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 1141 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-10-04
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Paramount
Movie Reviews of Star Trek: The Motion Pictures Collection (Motion Picture/ Wrath of Khan/ Search for Spock/ Voyage Home/ Final Frontier/ Undiscovered Country/ Generations/ First Contact/ Insurrection/ Nemesis)
Movie Review: Star Trek The Motions Pictures - The Big Screen Voyages
Summary: 5 Stars
Ten years after the final episode, including a resurgence that was bigger than it's low Neilson dictated,the first motion picture based on the original Star Trek series arrived in theaters.It would also spawn a successful film series that would go on through nine more movies and 23 years with a varying degree of success.
For 1979's Star Trek The Motion Picture,the filmmakers wanted to compete with Star Wars in terms of special effects & budget.And like all effects laden films, the script gets diluted.The whole V'ger revalation may've looked good on paper,but we have to go through a long drawn out build up that makes you feel it should've been a 90 minute movie,let alone a TV episode.Star Trek has always been about the story and characters.The chemestry between the crew, a little rusty since its been a decade since they've acted together,is always a saving grace.
Star Trek from the get-go has always worked on a low budget from the Classic series on down. TMP should've been an example to the Berman-era TNG movies,big budget never equals better movies.
Coming after the successful yet overbloated TMP,ST II(1982) The Wrath Of Khan was a leaner and no less meaner film that really kick started the Trek we know and love today.No other villian(aside from DS9's Gul Dukat)commands your attention like Khan(first seen in the original series episode Space Seed).Where he was set on conquering in Space Seed,he's hellbent on revenge which makes him an even effective villian.Kirsty Alley's Saavik injects a dose of new blood into the veteren crew, and the battle scenes(a far cry from the cheap opticals and camera shaking of the original series)are very effective and even the newer offspring(TNG DS9,VOY,ENT)have taken their cue from this film for space battles.Regarded as the best Trek film,Wrath of Khan has yet to be toppled,though it has come close(The Voyage Home,The Undiscovered Country, First Contact).
Star Trek III The Search For Spock (1984) establishes the"odd numbered film curse",which odd numbered Trek film are regarded as disappointing (finally broken with Star Trek X Nemesis).
Of the odd numbered Star Trek films,TSFS is the best.Not as great as the even numbered,but holds up better than Generations(VII) and V The Final Frontier.
Leonard Nimoy's direction is surprisingly well done,despite the hokey outcome of Spock's resurrection.The destruction of the Enterprise was both effective as well as heart-wrenching.even the supporting crew members(Scotty,Sulu,Uhura and Chekov),always ignored in the past,also have great moments.
As a bridge between II and IV,it seems like a holding pattern that is best watched as the middle of a trilogy in one sitting.
Like The Trouble With Tribbles,ST IV The Voyage Home (1986) may not be the best(II tops them all),but it's certainly many fans favorite.
What makes this film work is its humor as well as its warmth and heart.The cast look like they're having so much fun filming it, that it rubs off on the audience.Equally funny is seeing our beloved crew of the USS Enterprise,looking awkward and out of place in the 20th century.
The movie is also fast paced and tightly edited as many obsticles(the Klingon Crystal depletion,the search for the whales in the ocean as well as the hospital scenes)pile up upon one another yet successfully resolving themselves.Subsequent film that try to replicate IV's formula end up looking clumsy(V and Insurrection)because they miss the point that behind great comedy is heart.
As a continuing chapter in the Star Trek films,ST V The Final Frontier(1989) bites the dust.The plot was ridiculous as the Enterprise is hijacked by an outcasted Vulcan zealot,who turns out to be Spock's half brother in his search for God.The Nimbus III planet setting reminded me of those bad post-apocolyptic straight-to-video flicks,& poor De Kelley looked like he could've had a heart attack (though his presence is always a godsent in TREK).
But if was intended or not,it has an Ed Wood-esque appeal,being humorous without even trying.The scene where Spock & Bones expierience their past pain is effective in bringing some sense of drama in this farce.
In a world where one of the most popular Trek episodes is one of the worst (SPOCK'S BRAIN),V is mostly seen as one of the many bad chapters in a great tapestry of stories.
ST VI The Undiscovered Country (1991)is a fitting swan song to the original series crew which bridges many event that shows up on subsequent series(The Khitomer Accords,Klingon Honor,etc).The film gives our aged but beloved heroes a send-off that couldn't even be cheapened by the next film,Generations token TOS apperance.
Its mix of action,suspense,and even mystery making this a very entertaining film.The return to the directors chair of II's Nick Meyers is a godsend(attn Rick Berman,Should've hired Mr Meyers for Star Trek X).As Capt. Sulu of the Excelsior fittenly puts it,"Nice to see you in action,one more time."
ST Generations (1994)passed the torch between the classic crew and the Next Generation.The historical meeting of Captains Kirk & Picard is what Trekkers longed for.Unfortunately,the result is a convuluted extended TV episode,a very irksome Data,an impressive yet unnessesary destruction of Enterprise D ,and a very shoddy death of our beloved Capt Kirk.Impressive at first ,but repeated veiwings makes it's flaws all the more obvious.
This special edition DVD gets points for featuring scenes cut from the original film(Kirk's orbital skydive), as well as tons of extras not featured on the first edition. The commentary is interesting as Brannon Braga and Ron D. Moore, the film's writers confess that they tried too hard too please and now can't help but cringe at certain scenes.
The TNG era films has yet to capture the big screen experience like the classic Trek films.Of the four films,ST:First Contact(1996) is the best ,even ranking with The Wrath Of Khan,The Voyage Home,and The Undiscovered Country.Unlike the other TNG films,this is the closest to a real movie as it is fast paced,action packed and has agree of warmth and humor.
Patrick Stewart is always a commanding presence as Capt.Picard(Kirk may be the best Captain,but Stewart is the best actor to sit in the chair),and his quest for vengence against the Borg (stemming from being assimilated by the collective in TNG's Best Of Both Worlds episodes) is captivating as well as terrifying.And the rest of his crew(with the exception of Brent Spiner's Data)is not overlooked as they were in Generations.
A great battle scene with the Borg(which includes DS9's Defiant)is followed by scenes alternating between 2063 earth(which show's the first earth warp flight with Zephram Cocherane,later followed up in ST Enterprise) and a war zone with the Borg on the new Enterprise-E.Sometimes the audience feels like they're watching two different movies,and the last scene with the Borg Queen seems like an all too convienient TV ending.
Aside from these minor flaws ST:FC is a movie to be enjoyed by fans and non-fans alike.
After successful movies(which are usually even numbered)there is usually the problem of the filmakers second guessing fan expectation, injecting a bigger budget into the following movie and hoping to capture the previous film's magic.For ST Insurrection (1998), the budget was more than the average box office take of the other films.A better movie than most of the Oddies(except III),it had some very funny moments,and Patrick Stewart seems to be having fun as Picard as he turns his back on Starfleet to protect a paradise planet that the Federation wants to harvest for it's resources.The story would've been better suited for TV,and considering the great quality of episodes on the spin off series Star Trek Deep Space Nine (The Dominion War),you also feel the writers should've strived for more on the big screen.
Unfortunately the Box office tally was lower than expected,despite being a very entertaining film.But it wouldn't be a box office disaster like the next movie. ST Nemesis (2002) (Which bears the burden of a knuckle-headed decision being released between a Harry Potter movie and LOTR The Two Towers)is both the most praised and harshly criticized of the ten films. The biggest problem(aside from the whole Trek franchise being at an all time low)was the story using ST II The Wrath of Khan as a template.The Next Gereration's final mission as they are led into a trap by the new leader of Romulus who has a deep connection with Capt Jean Luc Picard.The sub plot of finding yet another Soong android didn't make things any better, as well as a cheat on the fate of Data.
The belief that Romulus would be controlled by not only their sub race,The Remans,but also make the Praetor,a human clone of Capt. Picard,as well as having an agenda to destroy the Federation(A repetitive,yet empty plot device).Nemesis has many great moments as well as the most exciting ship battle scenes ever seen in a ST movie.But as much as the TNG movies try,they are still big screen TV episodes.
Despite the many gapping plot holes as well as hearing fans rip this movie to shreds(It ranks above Search for Spock and Generations),Nemesis is still an entertaining movie(How could you top the collision scene!!!).
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