Star Trek Movie Retrospective: Part One
Over the past year I've been making my way through all the Star Trek films. I'd seen most of them before, but I'd missed out several of them after they started being about the "Next Generation" crew. I'm actually almost entirely ignorant of the content of the tv series. (Of what I've seen of the tv stuff, my fondest memories are of Deep Space Nine.)
In many ways Star Trek is a lot like Doctor Who. Naturally there are some big differences, but there's a few things that need to be understood when anyone gives their opinions on something to do with Doctor Who or Star Trek.
Star Trek and Doctor Who both represent old classic cheesy sci-fi. The writers, producers, etc. for both franchises are often trying to do something new and different but without the resources to make it work well.
However, as a result of this any failings in production values and sometimes also actors' performances are often made up for by sheer charm.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
Often disapproved of by Trek fans, this movie had a big name director (Robert Wise) and many of the effects were strongly inspired by "2001: A Space Odyssey". It is a source of complete bemusement to me that this wonderful beautiful and deeply atmospheric film is often shunned, while the long pretentious and meandering Kubrick film is revered as a cinematic classic.
The biggest problem with the film is the opening section where it takes forever to reunite the old cast. It's kind of like the end of the "Lord Of The Rings" trilogy. Fans had been on such a long journey with these characters that it seemed to undermine that familiarity to just dismiss them (or in this case, welcome them) too quickly. Now admittedly I personally think that "Return Of The King" could happily have most of its ending lopped off and I also think the opening here could be a great deal tighter, I still really like how we aren't rushed into the action here too. There's a real sense of the history these characters have been through even if you haven't seen many Original Series Star Trek episodes.
That being said, perhaps I'd have more problems if I WERE a little more familiar with the original series, since apparently the plot is copied from a tv episode. Still, I found the storyline here absolutely brilliant. Also, while I understand that the effects have dated greatly, I still get a thrill out of that first appearance of the Klingon warships. It's excellent model-work. It's wonderful how, while effects may have moved on, the abstractness of a lot of the visuals here makes them often quite timeless.
A-
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
After "Star Trek: TMP" was deemed a failure, the budget went WAY down and BOY can you tell. I don't know that the pacing is vastly improved here and perhaps I'd care about this film rather more if I were familiar with the appearance(s) of Khan in the original series.
It must be noted that this is the last of the first 6 movies that I saw. "The Wrath of Khan" was the only Star Trek movie with a "15" rather than a "PG" rating and, as you might imagine, I was into Star Trek movies long before I was 15.
There's a short recap at the beginning of the next movie, so unfortunately the potential Spock death was completely unsurprising. (Though then again, just the title "The Search For Spock" was always going to be a bit of a give away.)
While the film is very cheesy and Khan is a little ludicrous as a character, the revenge story is highly effective dramatically in spite of clear budget limitations.
B-
Star Trek III: The Search For Spock (1984)
The cheapness of "Wrath of Khan" continues here, but without the compelling plot or villain. As cool as it might seem to have Christopher Lloyd ('Doc' from "Back To The Future") playing the main Klingon baddie, he's rather lacking in nuance. Though that's partly how the character has been written.
The scientists discovering a reanimated Spock (of sorts) have to do a fair bit of sciency explanation without really having terribly compelling characters to make their parts interesting.
But still, the main crew themselves are as engaging as ever. In fact the absence of two major crew members (either missing or not in their right mind) seems to have led the scriptwriters to give more attention to other important crew members than they've received in the previous movies.
In the end, this movie is mainly an explanation of why Spock is back. Certainly the way Spock returns is not forgotten and it becomes very important in the next movie, but the storyline of the Klingons here is not particularly compelling. That the main klingon villain is dispatched with the words "I have had enough of you!" speaks volumes as to how much less intense this conflict was than the conflict with Khan in the previous film.
Admittedly there is a plot element here involving Kirk's son that becomes important in the sixth movie. However, watching movies two and three makes clear that Kirk barely knows his son and that the family bond between them is pretty feeble, which rather undermines the importance of his son later on.
"The Search For Spock" is a sweet little Star Trek film, but it's lacking in plot development, development of new characters and there's no shortage of cheese here either. But the typical Star Trek charm is as present as ever.
C+
In many ways Star Trek is a lot like Doctor Who. Naturally there are some big differences, but there's a few things that need to be understood when anyone gives their opinions on something to do with Doctor Who or Star Trek.
Star Trek and Doctor Who both represent old classic cheesy sci-fi. The writers, producers, etc. for both franchises are often trying to do something new and different but without the resources to make it work well.
However, as a result of this any failings in production values and sometimes also actors' performances are often made up for by sheer charm.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
Often disapproved of by Trek fans, this movie had a big name director (Robert Wise) and many of the effects were strongly inspired by "2001: A Space Odyssey". It is a source of complete bemusement to me that this wonderful beautiful and deeply atmospheric film is often shunned, while the long pretentious and meandering Kubrick film is revered as a cinematic classic.
The biggest problem with the film is the opening section where it takes forever to reunite the old cast. It's kind of like the end of the "Lord Of The Rings" trilogy. Fans had been on such a long journey with these characters that it seemed to undermine that familiarity to just dismiss them (or in this case, welcome them) too quickly. Now admittedly I personally think that "Return Of The King" could happily have most of its ending lopped off and I also think the opening here could be a great deal tighter, I still really like how we aren't rushed into the action here too. There's a real sense of the history these characters have been through even if you haven't seen many Original Series Star Trek episodes.
That being said, perhaps I'd have more problems if I WERE a little more familiar with the original series, since apparently the plot is copied from a tv episode. Still, I found the storyline here absolutely brilliant. Also, while I understand that the effects have dated greatly, I still get a thrill out of that first appearance of the Klingon warships. It's excellent model-work. It's wonderful how, while effects may have moved on, the abstractness of a lot of the visuals here makes them often quite timeless.
A-
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
After "Star Trek: TMP" was deemed a failure, the budget went WAY down and BOY can you tell. I don't know that the pacing is vastly improved here and perhaps I'd care about this film rather more if I were familiar with the appearance(s) of Khan in the original series.
It must be noted that this is the last of the first 6 movies that I saw. "The Wrath of Khan" was the only Star Trek movie with a "15" rather than a "PG" rating and, as you might imagine, I was into Star Trek movies long before I was 15.
There's a short recap at the beginning of the next movie, so unfortunately the potential Spock death was completely unsurprising. (Though then again, just the title "The Search For Spock" was always going to be a bit of a give away.)
While the film is very cheesy and Khan is a little ludicrous as a character, the revenge story is highly effective dramatically in spite of clear budget limitations.
B-
Star Trek III: The Search For Spock (1984)
The cheapness of "Wrath of Khan" continues here, but without the compelling plot or villain. As cool as it might seem to have Christopher Lloyd ('Doc' from "Back To The Future") playing the main Klingon baddie, he's rather lacking in nuance. Though that's partly how the character has been written.
The scientists discovering a reanimated Spock (of sorts) have to do a fair bit of sciency explanation without really having terribly compelling characters to make their parts interesting.
But still, the main crew themselves are as engaging as ever. In fact the absence of two major crew members (either missing or not in their right mind) seems to have led the scriptwriters to give more attention to other important crew members than they've received in the previous movies.
In the end, this movie is mainly an explanation of why Spock is back. Certainly the way Spock returns is not forgotten and it becomes very important in the next movie, but the storyline of the Klingons here is not particularly compelling. That the main klingon villain is dispatched with the words "I have had enough of you!" speaks volumes as to how much less intense this conflict was than the conflict with Khan in the previous film.
Admittedly there is a plot element here involving Kirk's son that becomes important in the sixth movie. However, watching movies two and three makes clear that Kirk barely knows his son and that the family bond between them is pretty feeble, which rather undermines the importance of his son later on.
"The Search For Spock" is a sweet little Star Trek film, but it's lacking in plot development, development of new characters and there's no shortage of cheese here either. But the typical Star Trek charm is as present as ever.
C+