Star Trek: The Motion Picture
December 7, 1979 in theaters
An immense alien cloud of unknown origin is destroying everything in its path toward Earth, and Admiral Kirk takes command of the newly refitted Enterprise to intercept it. The 1979 film brought the original crew back to the screen after a decade away and launched the Star Trek feature film franchise.
Cast
Director
TRAILER
QUOTE
"V'ger has much to learn."
-- Spock
DID YOU KNOW?
Director Robert Wise had previously won Oscars for West Side Story and The Sound of Music.
THE VERDICT
Synthesized from published reviews
Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a slow, deliberate science fiction film that treated its television source material as something worth taking seriously on a cinematic scale — a choice that divided audiences expecting adventure and rewarded those willing to accept meditation. The film's central mystery is more 2001 than swashbuckle, and Robert Wise's direction gives the Enterprise's refurbishment sequence a reverence that the franchise has never quite replicated. Kirk's relationship with the newly refit ship and his need to reclaim command remain the most emotionally honest material in the film. Flawed and uneven, but a legitimate foundation for everything the Trek film series became.
PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE
Where this fits in the larger story
Star Trek: The Motion Picture sits in the Original Series film era, following the classic Enterprise crew after their television missions. It connects the 23rd-century Starfleet frontier with more personal tests for Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and their crew. Its placement helps viewers see how the original characters mature beyond exploration into legacy, sacrifice, friendship, and Federation responsibility.
Cinematic Lore
All LoreThe symbols, artifacts, and philosophies connected to this title.