If you didn't see the prologue, then check it out here, otherwise this'll just seem like it's out of the blue.

STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE
aka 'Which One Was That?'
aka 'The One with the Blue Space Anus and the Bald Chick'
aka 'Oh, that one.'

It's the late 1970's, and you're a higher-up at Paramount studios. Rival corporation 20th Century Fox has made a killing at the box office with their sci-fi adventure flick 'Star Wars'. In turn, your company owns the rights to another iconic sci-fi action series- Star Trek, which has garnered a strong fanbase since it was first shown just over 10 years ago. With science fiction suddenly lighting up the public's hearts again, what do you do?

(a) Make a Star Trek movie with the old cast.
(b) Make a new Star Trek TV series with a new cast.
(c) Both.

If you guessed any of the answers, then you're right. Long story short, the plan was to make a movie first, but the difficulty of figuring out a film script turned executives towards the alternate idea of making 'Star Trek: Phase 2'- following the adventure of Captain Decker and crewmate Ilia. A TV director was brought in, but then Paramount decided to change the TV series back into a potential movie, and the TV director was replaced with Robert Wise- the man behind the original version of 'The Day The Earth Stood Still', 'The Desert Rats' and some studio-sanctioned inserts in Orson Welles' 'The Magnificent Ambersons'. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and sci-fi writer Alan Dean Foster worked on a story, but the final screenplay was written out by Harold Livingston, who on the DVD making-of said he came into conflict with Roddenberry over how to write up the screenplay.

Needless to say, it shows. The plot boils down to a basic premise- a mysterious and enigmatic alien intelligence known as V'Ger in the form of a cloud, threatens Earth and everything within the immediate vicinity. Starfleet brings Admiral Kirk (The Shat, of course) out and back into the Enterprise to go and check it out. He brings in his old buddy Bones (Deforest Kelly), Spock (Leonard Nimoy) brings himself in because...well...he feels he has to, with the usurped Captain Decker (Stephen Collins- looking rather like Ewan McGregor to me) standing in as 1st officer, and Ilia (Persis Khambatta) as Decker's old flame. It has some interesting ideas, with an ending that's akin to some then-future cyberpunk flicks like 'Ghost In The Shell', but it doesn't so much build up to that climax as drift towards it. The dialogue and storyline doesn't particularly engage you, and doesn't really make you feel like you're watching a movie. It's more like you're watching a feature-length edition of the show, and one that doesn't include Kirk fighting rubber monsters unfortunately.

What doesn't help this fact are the scenes devoted to the special effects. Douglas Trumbull, who helped with the effects on '2001' does a great job with the effects. He certainly had his work cut out for him, as there are a lot of scenes devoted to flashing the audience with its pizzazz. From the long scene where Kirk observed the new and improved-for-the-big-screen Enterprise, to the very 2001-esque slow-motion-and-flashy-lights tunnel-like scenes (see Spock's leap into the V'Ger), it must've wowed young Trekkies for a brief period...before sending them to sleep. By the end, all you'll really remember from this film is Persis Khambatta's thankless role as Ilia, or 'the bald chick' as she's since been known, maybe the then-quirky ending with the V'Ger, and this piece of dialogue that pretty much encapsulates the movie, and perhaps all sci-fi in general;

Kirk: Bones, there's a... thing... out there.
McCoy: Why is any object we don't understand always called "a thing"?

That, and the freaky but out-of-nowhere scene with the teleporter failure, but otherwise, it's an inoffensive, but fairly dull sci-fi flick. Not the strongest start for cinematic Star Trek.

Star Rating- 5/10.

What hopes were there for a sequel? Don't they tend to be poorer than their forebears?

STAR TREK 2: THE WRATH OF KHAN
aka The One with KHAAAAANNNN!!!
aka 'KHAAAAANNN!! (echo)

For the sequel, some changes were made. Roddenberry was reduced to a role as a creative consultant, as Paramount blamed him for the problems on Star Trek 1. However, Roddenberry had enough luck in that the new director, Nicholas Meyer, clicked with Roddenberry's perception that Star Trek was 'Horatio Hornblower in space'. While 'Star Wars' was the sci-fi equivalent of the air force- fast paced shooting, sudden turns, swoops, dips and dives, 'Star Trek' was the sci-fi equivalent of the Navy- a slower, more tactical pace, with discovery and very nautical-sounding space whistles.

This film tends to be seen as the series' best film. The script is top-notch and helps you engage with the characters, via Kirk's midlife crisis (not to mention his personal crisis), Khan's (Ricardo Montalban) yearning for revenge, and new character Saavik's (Kirstie Alley) earnest young-rookie act. It starts off fairly slow, but that aids the viewer in giving them time to connect with the characters, rather than the quick leap-into-the-fray in the previous film (after a long ogle at the Enterprise, that is), as well as explain who Khan is, how significant he is and what his motives are to viewers who may not have seen that one Star Trek episode he appeared in without the use of unnatural sounding exposition. There are no flashbacks- just a somewhat subtle recap of events in Khan's dialogue with Chekhov (Walter Koenig) and Kirk. From then on, it becomes an engaging battle of wits, some surprising twists (I'm sure you know the one now), and a happy and satisfying climax.

That said, it's not a perfect film, and constant references over the years have made some scenes seem more like parody nowadays (the infamous 'KHAAANN!!' moment, or Khan's Moby Dick quotes). The acting is fair, for Star Trek. Even ol' Shat- infamous for his awkward pauses, and they are present here- isn't quite as bad here as he would be in later films. Walter Koenig pretty much lives up the Futurama gag that he became an actor after Star Trek finished, and Merritt Butrick as Dr David Marcus is pretty bland, but stable in comparison to Koenig and some of Khan's lackeys (portrayed by Chippendales dancers surprisingly enough).

But these bad moments don't muddy up the overall film. Nicholas Meyer does wonders with the direction and works the best out of the script and the actors. So while 'Star Trek 1' came first (what a shocker), the series as a big screen endeavour didn't come into its own until this film.

Star Rating- 9/10

With Nick Meyer doing well with 'Wrath of Khan', you'd think Paramount would stick with him for the rest of the series...but fate had other plans.

Next Up: The Search for Spock, then a Voyage Home.

FEATURED!
September 17th-
Via a contact at ModelMayhem.com, Dewald Brand at Dewald Brand Photography asked if he could feature a few of my pieces in the studio section of his website, Behemoth Of Moscow- a neat website offering fashion, photos, a regular blog, and the said studio section offering works by a variety of artists...which now includes a few pieces by me So check it out and enjoy!

Site: [link]
Dewald Brand Photography's Model Mayhem profile: [link]
My own artist's profile at Model Mayhem: [link]

August 30th-
has featured some of my work in a few of his latest pieces you can check them out here;

[link]
[link]
[link]

Needless to say, I'm flattered. Be sure to check out the rest of his gallery too. His 3D pieces, while being neat, are also really well detailed and pretty realistic. I'm sure you'll like it

HUMBLE PLEA UPDATE:
Check out this link: [link]

Well, though I found this out a little too late, it seems Rachael, the girl previously mentioned in my Humble Plea, is now being assessed for a lung transplant to help her condition. So with any luck she'll pull through with it and be okay Thanks to anyone who donated previously from when I put up this link. If you want to find out more about lung conditions, or how Rachael is getting on from her experiences, check out the above link and check out what they have to offer.


REQUEST LIST:
Closed...for now