From the way fans describe this movie, you could almost swear the director was a Wal*Mart greeter. Fans of Star Trek love to rant about which movies they hate, and this is usually near the top of the list. I don't know: from what I remember of The Journey Home, I actually prefer this. It has its charm, and something to fall in love with, although it's definitely not one of the best ones out there.
It's primary fault is that it feels more like an extended episode with a high budget. Chief among these problems is that the majority of the film is spend inside the bridge of the Enterprise, which means that the movie doesnt' have as much flexibility and sense of journey as it ought to have. Of course, not every camera angle is frmo within the main set. There are plenty of scenes that remind me of 2001: A Space Odyssey as it takes forever for Kirk and Scotty to dock the Enterprise, among other drawn-out moments. The movie actually has great special effects for the day, and clearly a higher budget than its legendary sequel. V-GER's design was spectacular and had a distinct, wondrous feel that reminded me of science fiction movies when I was just a kid, something modern films can't really recapture. It just might make people nostalgic.
Of course, once you find out what V-GER is, it isn't too hard to find out newcomer Captain Decker's plot purpose is. He's a red shirt, just without the red shirt. So was Ilea. They weren't any different than the typical guest character for an episode. The ending likewise felt like a normal episode once their personal journeys were complete. Kirk, Spock, and Bones remain unchanged, frustrating fans who might have wanted to see just a little more from them.
Overall, however, between the spectacular attempt to clean and polish up the world of Star Trek, thus keeping up with its optimistic philosophy, through new costumes, sets, special effects, and - most importantly - music, and that this still would have made a brilliant final episode for the series, I think it adequately bridges the television show with the solemn movies that came afterword, and it was a worthy experience. While it didn't achieve greatness, it was good first movie for this franchise.
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