Boldly going where no man (or woman) has gone before, climb aboard the Enterprise and let it fly and soar, as old friends gather, reunite, off to battle and to fight, strange new worlds, civilisations to explore.

There's a cloud that's gathering in outer space, it's heading towards Earth at a great pace, starship Enterprise is sent, to discover its intent, gauge the power of the enemy that they face.

A reflective and contemplative piece reintroduces us to the crew of the starship Enterprise.

I recently watched this movie for the first time in ten or fifteen years. When I was younger I thought this one was even worse than Star Trek V, because as bad as "The Final Frontier" was, at least it had some action and colour.

The version I just saw wasn't the new Director's Edition, just the old video, but I was still completely surprised by just about everything -- partly because I hadn't seen it in so long, and partly because it's so totally different from all the following Trek movies. I even kinda liked the silly space pajamas everyone wears.

After this, the movie series turned to action-oriented stories, a more militaristic look and feel, and infinitely less challenging concepts. True, the pacing of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" drags in parts, and the behavior of its stars is a little cold and stiff. But instead of treating us with space battles and phaser shootouts, it gives us long, loving shots of the newly revamped starship Enterprise, and instead of rather tawdry plots grounded in mundane reality, it takes us on a metaphysical voyage into an unknown, bizarre, and palpably huge alien device. The relationship of the three main characters has changed a little after several years apart, and they're each getting used to things all over again: Kirk has to deal with the unfamiliar new ship; Spock, after trying to purge his emotions, must confront his human half; and McCoy is "shanghaied" out of retirement for the trip. Decker and Ilia, the new characters, provide enough interest that they were virtually resurrected as Riker and Troi in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

The sense of scale is important. The cloud surrounding V'Ger is gigantic, and the ship at the heart of the cloud is a whole world to itself. The Enterprise must fly into the cloud and communicate with the ship, and it's the only time in any of the ten movies that the heroes actually confront something new and unknown. This was a staple of the original show, and some of the best episodes of the spin-off series. The subsequent films were content with setting their battles and chases in space, but "Star Trek I" actually wants to explore that space. The question at the centre of the film, posed by Spock, is "Is this all we are? Is there nothing more?" Kirk, Spock, and V'Ger are all searching for an answer to that question.

However, the thing that definitely drags the film down is the sound. The red alert blares every other minute, and mechanical computer voice-overs announce just about everything they possibly can. In the process of updating the ship, they've emphasized the computers and mechanics of the vessel in a way they never had before or since, and the effect is jarring and interesting at the same time. The Enterprise is much more of a physical ship traveling in space, and less of a device to facilitate storytelling.

The visual effects are amazing enough to warrant some digital cleaning, and the movie should be seen in widescreen, preferably on a large television.

It's too bad that this movie wasn't more of a success, because I would like to see more Star Trek in this style. After many years and many TV shows, I admit I've gotten a little tired of space battles.

UPDATE: I recently watched the Director's Edition DVD. The sound effects are fixed, and the film has been re-edited to tighten the pace ever so slightly. The changes made are not on the level of the Star Wars special editions, but they do make the movie more watchable. It's a little more coherent now, and I like it even more.

Having been one of the shows that was part of my childhood and growing up, the original 'Star Trek' still holds up as great and ground-breaking, even if not perfect.

The first 'Star Trek' endeavour, 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture', was and still is heavily criticised by critics and the opinions on fans is a mixed bag of passionate defence and extreme hate. Personally belong in neither extreme. 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture' is not as bad as its reputation, but it is a deeply flawed (even for the first 'Star Trek' film and everything has to start somewhere) and paved the way for better 'Star Trek' films, apart from the critically derided 'The Final Frontier'.

Starting with 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture's' flaws, the pace definitely could have been tightened with the first half being particularly ponderous and aside from the visuals uneventful. This part could easily have been trimmed down and considerably shorter rather than being an effort to disguise that there was not enough story to justify the overlong length.

Casting is uneven, with subtlety once again eluding William Shatner and very little done with the Enterprise team. Stephen Collins seems out of his depth as Decker in a role that didn't seem that difficult, instead seeming underwritten. Persis Khambatta spends much of her screen time looking awestruck. Some of the script is too patchwork and talky.

However, 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture' looks amazing, a big improvement over the production values of the show. Whereas the production values were one of the original series' few faults, the production values are where this film most excels. It is beautifully and atmospherically photographed, with a '2001: A Space Odyssey' (which is quite a compliment) influence and awe-inspiring special effects. The music by Jerry Goldsmith adds hugely, it's rousing stuff and the main theme is iconic. The sound effects have a suitable eeriness.

Much of the script is intelligent and thought-provoking, while the more plot oriented and character-driven second half has the delightful interaction, conflicts and development that made me a fan of 'Star Trek' in the first place, this element was always one of the original series' biggest strengths. There is a thrown in and underwritten subplot, but there is an astonishingly clever and shocking subplot and a suspenseful climax There is a '2001' grandeur to Robert Wise's directing.

While the Enterprise crew disappoint and Shatner refuses to reign in, the rest of the original 'Star Trek' crew are on top form and their interaction a delight. Can never get enough of Leonard Nimoy or Spock.

In summary, could have been better and the criticisms are valid but there are a lot of things to admire that makes the film much better than its reputation. 6/10 Bethany Cox