Movie · 1979 · Science Fiction, Adventure, Mystery · 2h 11m · G · English
Curator score: 2.4/10 (176.9K ratings)
The human adventure is just beginning.
Overview
When an unidentified alien destroys three powerful Klingon cruisers, Captain James T. Kirk returns to the newly transformed U.S.S. Enterprise to take command.
Ratings
Curator score: 2.4/10
IMDb: 6.4/10
Letterboxd: 3.20/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 51%
Metacritic: 50
TMDB: 6.5/10
Director
Robert Wise
Production
Paramount Pictures, Century Associates, Robert Wise Productions
Cast
William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, Stephen Collins, Persis Khambatta, Majel Barrett, Grace Lee Whitney, Mark Lenard, Billy Van Zandt, Roger Aaron Brown, Gary Faga, Franklyn Seales, Joel Kramer, David Gautreaux, John Gowans, Howard Itzkowitz
Where to watch
fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential
Curator Review
Verdict
A slow, solemn, and unusually contemplative sci-fi voyage that values awe, scale, and atmosphere over propulsion. If you want a cerebral, effects-driven space film with a classical sense of wonder, it’s rewarding; if you want crisp adventure pacing or character banter, it can feel like a long drift through beige corridors and cosmic fog.
Best for
patients of slow-burn science fiction
viewers who like big-idea, philosophical space stories
fans of meticulous model work and practical effects
people curious about the bridge between 1970s art sci-fi and blockbuster franchise filmmaking
Skip if
you need constant action or clear momentum
you prefer snappy, character-forward ensemble adventure
you’re allergic to procedural dialogue and long stretches of observation
you want the franchise at its most energetic or emotionally immediate
Overview
Star Trek: The Motion Picture is less a rousing adventure than a grand, slightly austere act of reintroduction. It treats the Enterprise like a cathedral and the unknown like a sacred problem, which gives the film a strange, stately power even when the pacing turns glacial. The special effects and Jerry Goldsmith’s score do a lot of the heavy lifting, creating a sense of scale that still feels impressive.
Worth noting
What makes it interesting is also what makes it divisive: it’s almost defiantly uninterested in easy thrills. The movie leans into silence, procedure, and philosophical awe, asking you to sit with the mystery rather than race through it. That can feel hypnotic if you’re in the right mood, but punishing if you aren’t.
Bottom line
As a piece of franchise cinema, it’s a fascinating outlier: expensive, serious, and a little weirdly spiritual. As a movie-night pick, it’s best approached as a mood piece with iconic design and a handful of unforgettable images, not as a conventional crowd-pleaser.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Branson Reese · 1751 likes
Avoided this for years because people said it was boring. And, like, sure. It's less exciting than a DS9 two parter. But most likely so are you. And I seriously doubt you ever gave the world a freaky proto-Borg villain who speaks like her voice is coming out of a wii-mote or DeForest Kelley dressed like the inventor of cocaine. So maybe shut the fuck up and have some respect.
Will Sloan · 907 likes
Never saw more than a few minutes of this because of its reputation for being boring, but having now finally watched the whole thing... I'm sorry, we're all thinking of the same "Star Trek," right? Is this not basically an episode of the show you all like, but with cool 2001: A Space Odyssey-style special effects? Yeah, it's talky and maybe a little slow. Of course it is. You can't take a Star Trek that's talky and a little slow? The theatre marked "Star Wars" is just down the hall, you animals, you savages. Go have fun with that, you absolute children.
matt lynch (3.5★) · 773 likes
When you get down to brass tacks, this still has about 40 minutes smack in the middle that are just a bunch of people in awful, awful beige jumpsuits watching a big television. Even in 1979 you'd have to wonder who thought this would make for an exciting adventure, but certainly by today's standards it's so anomalously slow and pensive and thoughtful (not to mention the incredible miniature effects), and I just can't help but kind of love it. The… more When you get down to brass tacks, this still has about 40 minutes smack in the middle that are just a bunch of people in awful, awful beige jumpsuits watching a big television. Even in 1979 you'd have to wonder who thought this would make for an exciting adventure, but certainly by today's standards it's so anomalously slow and pensive and thoughtful (not to mention the incredible miniature effects), and I just can't help but kind of love it. The… more
SilentDawn (4.5★) · 626 likes
84/100
Methodically pure sci-fi; a world with icons instead of characters and vast emptiness in place of pop western operatics. "The Motion Picture" takes inspiration from classical cinema - an overture greeted me when I clicked 'play' and I was sold from then on - and the inherent fascination of movement; people, places, technology, and all the imprints they leave. Robert Wise, a master filmmaker who utilized dance (West Side Story), physical fright (A frantic, insane Eleanor in The Haunting),… more
David Sims (4.5★) · 563 likes
the biggest blank check in Trek movie history and that is why I love it so