10 Times Star Trek Stole From Itself

10. Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a masterpiece. Director Robert Wise married his vision with Gene Roddenberry's, delivering the most beautiful of any of the Trek movies. The story idea is, however, borrowed from an earlier episode of The Original Series.

The Changeling featured the probe Nomad being encountered by the Enterprise. It was sent out from Earth, before it encountered and fused with the probe Tan-Ru. By the time it is found by the Starfleet ship, it is on its way back to Earth to deliver its findings. However, it has become so powerful and so advance that, left unchecked, it threatens all of humanity.

V'ger is an evolved form of the Voyager 6 probe that was launched from Earth in the 1990's. It disappeared through a black hole, emerging on the other side of the galaxy. There, it encountered a machine race who upgraded it and sent it back toward Earth, gaining sentience. It needed to deliver its findings to the creator, threatening all of humanity along the way.

The Motion Picture is, in essence, a big budget remake of the earlier episode. The plot is thin enough that it could have suited a shorter story, though for Jerry Goldsmith's score and that shot of the Enterprise in drydock alone, it was worth the effort!