In 2019, StarTrek.com released a timeline video of events in the Star Trek universe, placing The Motion Picture in 2273. Nearly missing the premiere date due to the visual effects debacle still had consequences, as Wise elaborated upon in the Director's Edition DVD audio commentary track, where he stated that out of the forty films he directed, Star Trek was the only one that never got a sneak preview. Uhura reports that she's transmitting full friendship messages on all frequencies, but there is no response. Everyone who worked on the art direction provided too much input to be ignored, so we all got credit, and Hal Michelson, brought in as art director, ended up getting credit as production designer." As in, frightened out of, captain, sir! 202-203; Star Trek: Creating the Enterprise, 1st ed, p. 46; Return to Tomorrow, p. 42) In the end, they indeed proved unable to provide visual effects that met the producers' requirements. (Return to Tomorrow , pp. Ilia tells Kirk that her oath of celibacy is on record and asks permission to assume her duties. Gene Roddenberry Kirk wants another Vulcan if possible. Jenning's co-worker Mike Minor, was even more vehement in his appraisal, "It was one of the most soiled and shabby chapters of Hollywood history, in terms of how people were treated. While Roddenberry was effectively put out to pasture, Eisner went on to become the, up to that point in time, highest paid media executive in history, when he switched over to The Walt Disney Company in 1984, receiving over $40 million in 1988 alone. Take us out! This too has to be taken with a grain of salt, as that film made use of many visual, and special effects elements both commonly responsible for the largest part of a science fiction production budget, as it already had been for the Original Series previously produced for the Motion Picture, the studio models, props and sets in particular and even including the reuse of entire visual effects sequences, thereby realizing huge savings in effects costs not incurred, known in business economics as "opportunity costs". His then Executive Producer Sherry McKenna, who had flat-out stated, "Paramount didn't check us out", revealed that, presented with an early script draft, an internal analysis for the effects production already revealed that the production of these could not be accomplished for less than US$5.5-$6 million, but Abel, fearing that this amount was too high for Paramount (indicating his lack of experience with major feature productions), decided to take a gamble with his bid as not to lose the account. Corporate laws in those territories employing the free market economy system, universally have it that the subsidiary structure of a corporation, if utilized, may not lead to unfair competition advantages in regard to companies not encompassed within a group. As the three ships are attempting to escape the cloud, a "bolt" of plasma energy emerges and destroys each ship one by one. Another revenue guarantee the studio secured was the amount of US$35 million that theater owners committed to, provided the film was released on 7 December 1979 as announced, allowing them to plan for the Christmas season. Paramount Pictures could never enjoy these advantages, if only for the fact that they, as a venerable and well-established motion picture industry corporation, were subjected to more stifling Hollywood Union regulation. It was exactly this circumstance Magicam's Vice-President Carey Melcher referred to, when he made the statement on the occasion of his company being reinstated as the primary studio model vendor for the Motion Picture in January 1978, "Even though we were a Paramount company, we had to submit bids just like any outsiders. Damn him!". 24-49, "Star Trekking at Apogee with John Dykstra", Don Shay, pp. A common experience remembered around the world. Suddenly, the Enterprise enters a wormhole, which was created by an engine imbalance, and is about to collide with an asteroid that has been pulled inside. ", "Your child is having a tantrum, Mr. Horrified, he asks her what this means. Oh yes, it was the one with "V'ger"aka amazingly beautiful Persis Khambattawith her head shaved. As subsequent film production histories showed, none of the subsequent film directors and producers ever bothered to consult with Roddenberry in person or in writing again, his formal "Created by" and "Executive Consultant" credits for them notwithstanding. It had never been done before. Spock determines that the scans are coming from the center of the cloud. And the only person who seems to know how to do it right now, forgive me, is George Lucas, because I firmly believe Steven Spielberg hasn't the slightest idea what storytelling is all about. Why did V'Ger choose to take Ilia out of all the people on the Enterprise? (Return to Tomorrow, p. 156; Star Trek Phase II: The Lost Series, pp. Ultimately, Berman ended up in control rather than Maizlish [note: Roddenberry's lawyer, who tried to establish creative control of the new show for his client] because Berman played the politics of the studio more effectively. She is about to give him a necklace, when Spock reaches out and stops her, clearly disturbed by something out in space. "Ilia" stares at the viewscreen, and, in response, the aperture opens and drags the ship forward with a tractor beam into the next chamber. It is somewhat unclear as to what exact year the first Star Trek film took place. There was no product, because there was no movie to show anyone. ", "Admiral, we have just spent eighteen months redesigning and refitting the Enterprise. Kirk is anxious to intercept the cloud intruder at the earliest possible opportunity, and orders Hikaru Sulu to take the ship to warp speed. McCoy and Dr. Christine Chapel come to the bridge to greet Spock, but he only looks at them coldly and does not reply to them. Uhura has located the source of the radio signal and it is straight ahead. He discovers that it is headed on a precise course for Earth. Kirk goes to the transporter room to ensure that the person is beamed up. (The Making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, pp. What was I meant to be? (New York magazine, 6 September 1993, p. 40). Roddenberry was indeed largely responsible for the script problems, which did cause production delays and thus over-budget expenditures, but the visual effects debacle situation (see below) was somewhat more nuanced. Wise brings, March 1979: While devising the visual effects shots, Trumbull brings in Robert McCall, with whom he had already worked before on, Summer 1980: Work is started at the studio to transfer the theatrical master onto masters for commercial home media market releases as well as for television broadcasts. In simpler language, captain, they drafted me! The Enterprise has been undergoing a complete refitting for the past eighteen months and is now under final preparations to leave drydock, which would take at least twenty hours, but Kirk informs him that they only have twelve. The material added to the film consists of the following: Watched this one after few years, didn't remember what it was all about. They didn't exactly expect we'd be able to actually spend that much()" (Star Trek Movie Memories, 1995, p. 87) Essentially speaking for all production staffers, when he was informed of the upgrade decision on 21 November 1977, Phase II Art Director Joe Jennings recalled in 2009, somewhat mellowed, but still aghast, "We were within two weeks of starting the new series, and somebody said, "Wheeew, let's make a motion picture!" I think we all knew then that we were associated with a bomb. "Ilia" says that the Creator must join with V'ger, and turns toward Decker. The probe shows another moment of emotion, saying Dr. Chapel's name, and putting her hand on Decker's face, calling him Will. In a state of near panic, a frantic search for a replacement was started, as the studio now unexpectedly found itself extremely pressured for time since the December premiere date for the film was a given. Even more staggering was the cost of the drydock model whose final tally totaled up to US$200,000. Spock determines that the transmission is a radio signal. Kirk tells the probe that if V'ger destroys the Enterprise, then the information it needs will also be destroyed with it. "Well, so help me, I'm actually pleased to see you! Kirk tells Decker he will have to double his duties as science officer as well. However, it is customary for the person in command of a ship to be addressed as "Captain," regardless of his military rank. Captain James T. Kirk: [33:14] Well, for a man who swore he'd never return to the Starfleet Dr. McCoy: Just a moment, Captain, sir. As a consequence, Abel threatened to sue the studio over perceived injuries sustained by Robert Wise. 25-26, 390), Regardless of what the shortcomings of RA&A proper were, in one respect Gene Roddenberry did cause the effects budgets to balloon. Scott activates the travel pod's thrusters and they begin the journey over to the drydock in orbit that houses the Enterprise. "Ensign, the possibilities of our returning from this mission in one piece may have just doubled. 25-26; Starlog, issue 27, p. 26) As to more detailed specifics in regard to Abel's over-budget expenditures, please refer to the individual entries for: Wise's "being lied to" feeling was reported to be an understatement as the otherwise levelheaded Wise apparently lost it on that fateful day and erupted in a full-blown rage. Spock deduces that the alien is curious about them. If a film did not do well in the home market, it allowed them to curtail future legal, artistic and financial requirements of hitherto successful producers and/or directors for subsequent productions essentially preventing them becoming too expensive or too difficult to work with using bad home market performances as negotiation arguments. () So, to this day I'd love to know who has made the decision at Paramount to come to us, and say, "We want you to do the effects on this film." 46-47) Faced with the gargantuan task of recreating all the VFX from scratch for the film at the eleventh hour, Trumbull suggested his former proteg again so as to get a headstart on VFX production, as he scrambled to reassemble his own near-dismantled FGC. For Paramount proper it again resulted in very similar adverse circumstances for the profitability performances of their three, 2009-2016, alternate reality films. Uhura tells Kirk that V'ger is transmitting a signal. One RA&A visual effects sequence made it into the film though, that of the wormhole (an early and primitive CGI effect), whereas the V'ger probe on the bridge sequence was very much executed as designed and pre-produced by RA&A. "What was I meant to be?" ", "I'm replacing you as captain of the Enterprise. With Spock's assistance, the engines are now rebalanced for full warp capacity. While FGC operated an, at the time, small subsidiary model shop, Entertainment Effects Group (EEG), the sheer amount of models required, necessitated the subcontracting of additional model makers, which came in the form of Gregory Jein and his team. Wise also mentioned that he literally carried the first print of the film to the premiere and it was loaded into the projectors as they waited in the theater. (New West magazine, 26 March 1979, p. 60) The company was selected by Rabwin, taking along Mike Minor on the second meeting, on the strength of their groundbreaking contemporary commercials, unaware that the company was at the time not ready to handle a project of this magnitude, while correctly assessing that Paramount's other subsidiary effects house, Magicam, who were to do the effects for the television predecessor, was not either. Several more bolts are released, and they all split apart to form smaller ones and they assume equidistant positions around the planet. From the mid-1990's onward, the traditional stance of Hollywood studios has since then become untenable due to the ballooning production costs of major motion picture productions. V'ger evolves into a higher form of existence after merging with Decker. Contemporary, non-review, magazine articles. He tells Sonak to report to him on the Enterprise in one hour he has a short meeting with Admiral Nogura and is intent on being on the Enterprise at that time. For a more detailed breakdown of the individual performances in the film franchise, please see Star Trek films. Alan Dean Foster Kirk sarcastically trusts that Decker will "nursemaid me through these difficulties," and Decker tells the captain that he will gladly help him understand the new design. This proved incorrect however, as Superman: The Movie had an even higher budget at US$54 million, though the producers didn't give the exact figure for some years afterward. Decker wonders why they were brought inside they could have been easily destroyed outside. ", "Well, Bones, do the new medical facilities meet with your approval?" As stated above, the studio actually did charge in full all costs made for every single prior revitalization attempt to the Motion Picture, further hinting at information manipulation, an industry phenomenon known as "Hollywood accounting". The situation truly came to a head on 20 February 1979, when studio executives and producers came again sizing up the visual effects status at RA&A. It seems to think of the scans as hostile and attacks them. (Starlog, issue 27, p. 26) Kelly's breakdown indicated that eleven of Paramount's thirty-two sound stages were in use for the single Star Trek production during 1978-1979, more than for any other production in Paramount's history up to that point in time. Spock grasps Kirk's hand and tells him, "This simple feeling is beyond V'ger's comprehension. The television run of the film marks one of the first times that scenes not incorporated into a theatrical cut were reintegrated for the television airing, making the television cut longer than the theatrical cut. Kirk takes a turbolift up to the bridge, and upon arrival, is informed by Lieutenant Commander Uhura that Starfleet has just transferred command from Captain Decker over to him, and she, along with several other crewmembers including Sulu and Chekov, step forward excitedly to greet Kirk, who appreciates the welcome but wishes it were under more pleasant circumstances. Kirk asks the crew where Decker is. On November 6, 2001, the Director's Edition supervised by Robert Wise was released on DVD and widescreen VHS, running 136 minutes. and Star Wars (1977), which was approximately $10 million each (Close Encounters of the Third Kind had not yet premiered by the time of the upgrade decision). In Rabwin's defense, many studios were at the time interested in doing science fiction, and he had a hard time finding an available effects studio at all. Dr. McCoy performs scans and determines that Spock endured massive neurological trauma from the mind meld. McCoy tells Kirk that Ilia is a mechanism and Spock confirms she is a probe that assumed Ilia's physical form. It started out to be a horse, but a committee got hold of it. Spock comments that each one of us, at some point in our lives asks, "Why am I here?" The footage from 1979 was digitally restored and remastered, and combined with the new CGI elements. Kirk orders the Enterprise's phasers to be fired on it, but Decker tells Chekov to fire photon torpedoes instead. The withholding itself of course was not the actual case, as the movie was not completed until the very last moment. Uhura chimes in and tells Kirk that they are getting a faint signal from Starfleet. But, for Costner and his film, the damage was already done. Barry Diller, then studio head and chief financial overseer of the production, recalled, "Once the theater owners realized that we pulled this scam off on them, none of them liked it. The scene in which Chekov burns his hand is much longer and shows Lt. Ilia healing him with her empathic powers instead of Nurse Chapel.**. The highly anticipated movie received copious contemporary coverage, both prior as well as after its premiere, in period magazines, most notably in movie and genre periodicals, How eagerly awaited the movie was before its premiere was witnessed by Decker performer Stephen Collins when he visited a movie theater before its release, ", When Paramount CEO Barry Diller saw a complete first version of the movie for the first time at the studio screening of 1 December 1979, he was horrified. The shuttle approaches the Enterprise from behind, and the top portion of it detaches and docks at an airlock just behind the bridge. Toward the end of the film, Commander Decker tells Captain Kirk, "NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Decker tells Kirk that he wants this as much as Kirk wanted the Enterprise. The cost-inefficient situation of having "too many helmsmen at the wheel" was not restricted to the highest management echelons alone. 60, 62), This situation translated itself in a continuous stream of budget increase requests from RA&A, something that, while no longer his purview, came to the attention of an alarmed Gene Roddenberry and it was he who alerted Michael Eisner to the fact that the visual effects situation was rapidly spinning out of control in a memo dated 24 July 1978, informing him that the visual effects budget had already hit the $5 million dollar mark. ", William Shatner, who saw the completed movie for the first time on the world premiere, was struck by the overall sluggishness of the movie, and was convinced that the, Another sobriquet given to the movie was "Where Nomad Has Gone Before", which reflected the criticism that the story was too reminiscent of several, Of such negative opinions were professional critics at the time, that they started to accuse the studio of purposely withholding the movie for press pre-screening as, according to them, the studio was well aware that the movie was a dud. A new CGI shot was inserted which shows V'Ger's second energy torpedo vanishing before it could strike the Enterprise. "Why? As Enterprise moves in front of the alien vessel and holds position, an alarm sounds, and yet another energy bolt approaches the ship. The only starship in interception range is the Enterprise. Starfleet tells them that they have died. Often incorrectly credited as McDonalds's very first outing in their "Happy Meal" concept, The Motion Picture was nevertheless their first themed one, coming from December 1979 onward in five boxes with items included such as bracelets, puzzles and the like. "How do you define unwarranted?" ", indicating that the studio was grooming Berman and had never considered Roddenberry to continue in the first place. (Return to Tomorrow - The Filming of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, p. 165). 42, 46-47, 353). 50-72. ", "Capture God? (Star Trek Phase II: The Lost Series, pp. Not having been able to take a single day off for four months, Trumbull suffered from nervous exhaustion upon the completion of the work and had to be hospitalized for ten days afterwards, his personal price he had to pay for his part in the failure to communicate with the studio two years earlier. The guy [remark: Frank Yablans] that I did the deal with was ousted, and Michael Eisner and Barry Diller came in and they couldn't see what I was trying to do and wanted to get rid of it. Sonak explains that Captain Decker, the new captain of the USS Enterprise, wanted him to complete his science briefing at Starfleet Headquarters before departing. Now Paramount Pictures brings the memory to life.". As he steps out, he sees Commander Sonak, a Vulcan science officer who is joining the Enterprise crew and was recommended for the position by Kirk himself. He begins recording a log entry for Kirk detailing his attempt to contact the alien. This indicates a minimum of two-and-a-half years between the time the Enterprise returned to dry dock and the beginning of the first film. Kirk and McCoy are observing them covertly on a monitor from his quarters. The producers of the Director's Edition submitted the film for re-rating by the MPAA, hoping for a PG rating rather than the original G rating which they believed carried a negative association; the basis for the higher rating was the intensified soundtrack. In the officers lounge, Spock meets with Kirk and McCoy. (Star Trek Movie Memories, 1995, pp. "Well, so help me, I'm actually pleased to see you!". 1983: US Betamax (special longer version). Once in Kirk's quarters, Kirk demands an explanation from Decker on why his phaser order was countermanded. McCoy says that it's been a while since he "delivered" a baby and hopes that they got this one off to a good start. Suddenly, a bright light forms around Decker's body. The probe slowly moves around the room and stops in front of the science station. She drops the necklace and states, "You have not yet achieved kohlinahr. Ahead of them is a structure with a bright light. The cat came out of the bag in February 1979 when it became known that Robert Abel was actually aware that he could not do the effects for his initial bid. (Star Trek: 45 Years of Designing the Future) Both remarks implied that the upgrade was a "spur-of-the-moment" decision, whereas the somewhat flippant "top-notch picture" annotation by Eisner, additionally indicated that the consequences of their upgrade decision was neither thought through, nor fully understood by the studio. As an industry professional, Michael Eisner was aware of what the production budgets had been for the two most visually influential science fiction films in the previous ten years, he had in mind for his "top-notch picture", 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, and as indicated at the time by Production Illustrator Andrew Probert, who had stated, "Originally, when Bob Abel was on the project, everybody was extremely hopeful that this would surpass the classic 2001.") Decker wonders what V'ger would need to fulfill itself. Someone is trying to beam over to the ship, but the transporter is malfunctioning. Since it sold to Gulf&Western, Paramount is no exception. It took nearly seven years to painfully restructure the company and reverse its fortunes, and it was only by the mid-1970s that the studio became profitable again, albeit still somewhat tentatively. They always come back." "It was the most unbelievable party Paramount ever had. Scott says that the refit, a process that took eighteen months, can't be finished in twelve hours and tries to convince him that the ship needs more work done as well as a proper shakedown. In fact, I think Hartmut is, in voiceover, one of the Vulcans. Joe Jennings and Matt Jefferies attended a briefing in JPL last night in the Voyager and Joe Jennings will return there next week with Bud Arbuckle to get measurements so that we can incorporate this large full-scale mock-up into our plans for the set." It is actually slightly longer than the original version.
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