I recently bought the TOS film collection on Blu-Ray, and watched the first four in order last night. In my opinion, "The Motion Picture" still sucks. Its way too slow, and barely anything happens in the whole thing until Decker merges with the V'Ger satellite. I thought they'd improve some of the FX work for the HD release, but the early shots still look terrible. The live-action stuff looks awesome, but the story just feels pointless. I haven't seen "Final Frontier" in a long time, but I'm off to it now; will post afterward.

So, let's hear your thoughts, and why. Sound off...

5 was bad...but ONE was a complete mess.

Haven't seen either in years, but I remember I as being slow and boring and V as not all that bad. I kind of liked it when I saw it in theaters, and didn't anticipate the reputation it would subsequently receive.

V is a terrible, terrible movie outside of the opening. Everything completely falls apart and is laughably bad.

I can understand disliking ST:TMP, but I give it credit for trying to say something and taking itself seriously. Whether it accomplishes this is up to debate, and it's incongruous with the entries that followed. But it's hard for me to call it a bad movie.

What a great poll. I was just thinking about this yesterday as I bought VI as I already have the Spock and TNG sets. I saw 1 about 20 years ago and I remember it as being like shocking slow. You get done with it and it's like how did they stretch that into holy crap it was 132 minutes. It like the took a random episode and saw how long they could stretch it without adding anything to the plot. Were it an episode it would rank in the middle of the pack. Now 5, that was a mess. I tried watching that about 5 years and 10 minutes in I just announce the This is the worst directed movie I've ever seen. It's like are you kidding me Shatner? What are you trying to say with that meshuga camera angle and reveal? Now I don't try to watch bad movies, but Star Trek V, Elektra, and some foreign musical comedy about a hostage situation at a grocery store an ex made me watch are the 3 worse movies I remember seeing.

Interesting question. I chose TMP as is is one of the most interminably slow moving and boring movies I've ever seen. V is awful but at least moves. On the other hand TMP has a very distinct and interesting visual design which is somewhat of a mitigating factor while V is really dull looking.

Which one is V? Is that after the whale one?

It's the "What does God need with a starship?" one (or something like that).

Star Trek I is much different than the following films. Could its pace have been tightened up in places? Yes. (And it was with the Director's Cut from 2001). But, there are a lot of redeeming qualities to it. It takes advantage of The Motion Picture *being* a motion picture and soaks in the vastness of space and the grandeur of the remodeled Enterprise. There's mystery and allure here. There's time for these beloved characters to reunited after 10 year off screen. Compare this to Star Trek: Insurrection, which is really just a two hour TNG episode that happens to be shot in 2.35:1. TMP is not everyone's cup of tea, the way 2001: A Space Odyssey isn't for everyone. I didn't like it when I was 13, but as I grew up, it's grown on me.

Star Trek V? I'll say this: Kevin Smith could have done a better directing job.

I wanna know more about that movie.

1 tmp and it's not even close. I would watch 5 every time if forced to watch one. It has humor and shows off the relationships of the main characters. Only way I would watch TMP is if I had insomnia.

Also the only similarity between 1 and 5 beyond their lack of popularity is that they are both very similar to two Original Series episodes. The Motion Picture has a lot in common with season 2's "The Changeling" and The Final Frontier has mucho in common with season 3's "The Way to Eden".

Yeah, that's sort of how I feel. V was just a lazy mess. ST:TMP tried to say some important, thoughtful things and tried to bring the series to the world of post-Star Wars features. It's not a very good film, doesn't make a wnole lot fo sense and is not really interesting, but at least they were trying.

I don't think either one is that bad, but TMP is pretty boring.

Nemesis.

I voted V.

I remember back when it was released theatrically it was just cool seeing Star Trek on the big screen. The effects were cool (for their time) and the sound sure beat a tv. Sure, it's shortcomings are valid, but I still enjoy it more than V.

I love TMP. It's the most ambitious and cinematic of all the Trek films. Flawed, yes, at times perhaps a noble failure, but it attempted something grand and if it fell short, it still remains an epic adventure true to the spirit of Star Trek and Roddenberry's vision.

Trek V is teh poo

#1 was a deeply flawed attempt to do something ambitious.

#5 was a deeply, deeply flawed to do something brainless and juvenile.

TMP may be my favorite ST film, precisely for having goals *opposite* to those of a summer action blockbuster. It's not at all slow--for a Robert Wise roadhouse scenery epic. I lump it in with Sound of Music & Sand Pebbles more than with the Star Trek films to follow. I only wish it had an intermission as well as the overture.

Maybe because it came out in the *opposite* of Summer?

Release date December 7, 1979.

I would say that many parts of part 5 do come off as juvenile and brainless, yet the basic story Shatner started with SHOULD have made the best Star Trek movie.

The concept of 'finding god at the center of the universe" should have been Star Trek gold if it was handled correctly.

As I said in another thread The Motion Picture just pushed scope/sound at the expense of the characters/story.

It's a good question because both films are bad for such totally different reasons. One is lavish while the other is cheap, one is filled with ponderous pretense while the other has the depth of a bad tv episode.

The Motion Picture is a fantastic looking movie with poor characterzations. Shatner's Final Frontier gets the characters right, but the movie is a visual mess (primarily due to the special effects, but there are other issues too).

But for entertainment value, Star Trek V is the better movie...just because it has some better ideas (granted, they failed to develop them, but there's still some stuff to like). It also features DeForest Kelley's best scene in any of his six Star Trek films (and, no, NOT the one where he sings!).

Well, I just finished watching "Final Frontier", and its not near as bad as I remember. The story is somewhat misguided (especially the "God's in here" line from Kirk), but its way ahead of the painfully slow "Motionless Picture". Sybok was a seeker of truth, but failed to face his own fears, and the evil alien exploited them. The film never details it, but there was probably a good reason why that being was imprisoned in the first place. I'd compare it more to Satan than God, since it was consumed by selfishness.