10 Reasons You Need To Revisit Star Trek: The Motion Picture
1. You'll Never See Another Star Trek Movie Like It
With its increasingly diminished returns, the JJ Abrams reboot series has proven that Star Trek is always a hard sell on the silver screen, even when presented as blockbuster action schlock. Recent series like Discovery and Picard have also taken Star Trek in a darker, more violent turn. Pitching a Star Trek film like The Motion Picture today is likely to get one tossed out of every major Hollywood studio. Although these new shows and movies try to reinforce Star Trek's core message, it's usually presented within the context of stopping another villain of the week.
Whether you find it pretentious or brilliant, The Motion Picture deserves to be celebrated. It's a gorgeous, optimistic film that depicts the kind of rose-coloured future the world desperately needs right now. There's plenty to criticize. The pace is slow. The visual effects feel almost decadent. Yet some of us wouldn't want it any other way. There's an entire universe to get lost in here. Bless this mess.
And after an additional 12 Star Trek films and countless hours of television, there's still no comparison. Vive la différence!