So here we have it, the most flawed and ill-reputed-by-fans movie entry from the original cast of the Star Trek TV series. Which means, oddly enough, it isn't actually *as* bad as you might have heard. It depends on perspective; if you're willing to give in to the 4-score-cheesy humor, which includes Spock being instructed on how to sing campfire songs, James Doohan doing a stupid hit-of-the-head just walking down a hall, and some delicious overacting by many of the cast (including the 'evil' Vulcan Sykbok played by Lawrence Luckinbill), then it might be worth it for some of the oddly interesting ideas regarding belief and allegiance to someone promising a life without fear thanks to God. It might even dawn on someone, as thanks to a note of interest from my girlfriend, that it has more than some allusion to evangelical right wingers.
So, trying to put aside political notes, which could go on for so long here that it would be didactic of me, just to note the good news first: Shatner, for all of his moments of folly thanks to the crappy special effects (and it's not just the 'God' bits watch for that one little ship speeding by and wonder how far we've come in 20 years with CGI), he's usually a pretty sturdy director of scenes which don't require a lot of action. He keeps a good control over the enterprise crew, and there's even some moments of earned corny-hilarity thrown in here and there like with the rocket-booster shoes. And, yes, there's a not bad *central* plot involving Spock's half-brother, Skybok, who only wants to take people hostage and go to the center of the universe to attain something no one has seen before. I was even slightly moved by a scene where Skybok gives a moment of revelation for McCoy and his dead father.
But for all that Shatner might get right as a pure 'Trekkie' fan (and, thankfully, he doesn't make it too much of a vanity project, so no excess close-ups or the like), he also goes too far in other respects. One of the biggest goofs is in the logic that "hey, it's Star Trek, we'll need Klingons, just because" when they're totally ancillary figures, used only for an awkward, un-funny laugh towards the end where somehow Klingons and Enterprise crew come together following that whopper of a battle between Kirk and whatever-that-God-thing was. And as well, almost in spite of Shatner's skills as a director of certain scenes, there's a slightly dull quality to how some of the story progresses, of the ho-hum-ness of the ship's parts not working, including (GASP) captain's log. Shatner and the writers are obviously digging for something intellectually stimulating as well as going for some stirring drama, but too often they fall short of making it more than just an average episode of the series. Not even Star Trek's first movie in 1979, which had a bloated quality here and there, had the trouble of being just 'average'.
If you're into Trek, you'll check it out anyway, and opinions will vary though probably not by much from what I've read. And if you've very limited interest in Trek, it's not a good place to start and might be liable for helping sleepless nights. I liked certain things about it, a lot, and then other things just... stalled.
So, trying to put aside political notes, which could go on for so long here that it would be didactic of me, just to note the good news first: Shatner, for all of his moments of folly thanks to the crappy special effects (and it's not just the 'God' bits watch for that one little ship speeding by and wonder how far we've come in 20 years with CGI), he's usually a pretty sturdy director of scenes which don't require a lot of action. He keeps a good control over the enterprise crew, and there's even some moments of earned corny-hilarity thrown in here and there like with the rocket-booster shoes. And, yes, there's a not bad *central* plot involving Spock's half-brother, Skybok, who only wants to take people hostage and go to the center of the universe to attain something no one has seen before. I was even slightly moved by a scene where Skybok gives a moment of revelation for McCoy and his dead father.
But for all that Shatner might get right as a pure 'Trekkie' fan (and, thankfully, he doesn't make it too much of a vanity project, so no excess close-ups or the like), he also goes too far in other respects. One of the biggest goofs is in the logic that "hey, it's Star Trek, we'll need Klingons, just because" when they're totally ancillary figures, used only for an awkward, un-funny laugh towards the end where somehow Klingons and Enterprise crew come together following that whopper of a battle between Kirk and whatever-that-God-thing was. And as well, almost in spite of Shatner's skills as a director of certain scenes, there's a slightly dull quality to how some of the story progresses, of the ho-hum-ness of the ship's parts not working, including (GASP) captain's log. Shatner and the writers are obviously digging for something intellectually stimulating as well as going for some stirring drama, but too often they fall short of making it more than just an average episode of the series. Not even Star Trek's first movie in 1979, which had a bloated quality here and there, had the trouble of being just 'average'.
If you're into Trek, you'll check it out anyway, and opinions will vary though probably not by much from what I've read. And if you've very limited interest in Trek, it's not a good place to start and might be liable for helping sleepless nights. I liked certain things about it, a lot, and then other things just... stalled.