10 Reasons You Need To Revisit Star Trek: The Motion Picture

3. It Embraces The Best Of Star Trek

Voyager 6 V'ger Star Trek—The Motion Picture
Paramount Pictures

Instead of the Enterprise crew battling a maladjusted villain in a mindless fight to the death, The Motion Picture sees them embark on an epic adventure about the meaning of existence and our place in the universe. It's the kind of story the Star Trek television shows told so well. The movies? Not so much. That's part of what makes The Motion Picture so refreshing. We're here to seek out new life and new civilizations, not light up their world like the Fourth of July.

The Motion Picture embraces Star Trek's spirit of discovery and exploration in a way no movie in the series has since, with the possible exception of The Voyage Home. It's about using our knowledge and talents to solve a problem, not photon torpedoes. Well, maybe one photon torpedo when an asteroid gets in our way. That thing had it coming, though.

Contributor

Private investigator and writer based in Vancouver, Canada. Fond of history, professional wrestling, and rock hubris. Once co-directed a Star Trek fan film with a budget of less than $200.