Star Trek The Motion Picture: 10 Reasons It's Underrated
3. Character Development
Just about every single character was at a different place at the end of the movie than they were at the start, and I dont mean just physically. Spock had gone from embracing total logic to learning that perhaps he needed his human side, too. Decker and Ilia had gone off to do whatever they were going to be doing. VGer had found a way to evolve. Kirk had found his home again, on board the Enterprise. Even McCoy had come to accept his place back on the ship.
And this was character development that largely remained intact. Kirk and Spock both continued down these roads as the movie series went on, and while this led to some eye-rolling moments in The Final Frontier, this character development was, for the most part, very good, especially considering the lack of it in TOS.