Ep. 24 - Star Trek The Motion Picture with Kendrick Wright & Dante Oliviero and Burton Brown & Bob Gitzen

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This week on Fabulous Film and Friends we’re transporting you into our largest, swankiest and most epic discussion panel yet, taking two full shows to dig deep into 1979’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture, directed by Robert Wise, Produced by Gene Roddenberry, creator of the late 1960’s TV show from which The Motion Picture’s premise originated, and starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForrest Kelley, Stephen Collins, a strikingly bald Persis Khambatta as well as the rest of the TV crew in what was and still is one of the most unusual, hotly contested, debated and derided successful sci-fi film franchise launches ever to hit cinema houses. 

Making their Triple FFF debut on this embarrassment of cerebral riches are the co-hosts of the eponymously named Ken and Dante Show, my friends and former roommates, Kendrick Wright and Dante Oliviero.  It should be noted that their Youtube program was the one that inspired me to pick up a mic and start blathering my own opinions into the frontier we call cyberspace. 

Returning for his second appearance on the Triple FFF podcast after his dazzling 2001 breakdown and analysis, fellow East Bay denizen friend and mentor, Sound Mixer extraordinaire Bob Gitzen.

And rounding out the panel, back once again, a friend who beat me hollow in the world of Star Trek memorabilia collecting, fellow Trekkie Burton Brown.

Before we warp  to the edge of the mind, the synopsis!

Star Trek:The Motion Picture begins two and a half years since Admiral James T. Kirk has logged a single star hour as commanding officer of a starship, but when a mysterious and highly destructive energy cloud known as V’ger destroys a Klingon fleet on its way to Earth, Admiral Kirk gets his ship the U.S.S. Enterprise back, replacing a very testy and outspoken Captain Willard Decker, who objects to Admiral Kirk’s taking command when he has a distinct lack of knowledge about the newly refitted and highly advanced Starship Enterprise. Deckard stays aboard as Executive Officer and Kirk is joined by his old crew personnel, including the logical Vulcan Mr. Spock, Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy, Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott, Master Helmsman of the Universe Hikaru Sulu, Communications Officer Nyota Uhura, Weapons Officer 8 Pavel Chekov, Dr. Christine Chapel, Commander Janice Rand and a new Navigator, the Deltan Lt. Ilia who is completely bald and who once had a love affair with Will Deckard on her home planet.  

With his crew at his side, Kirk faces the V’ger threat head on and takes the Enterprise deep into the energy cloud. For its part, V’ger sends a probe that invades the ship and  randomly zaps Lt. Ilia, completely disintegrating her, only for her to return as a fully functioning advanced robot than can communicate directly with Kirk and his crew. 

Discovering that a machine planet found an old 20th Century NASA Voyager probe with a grease splotch covering the o-y-a, hence the name V’ger, whose programming was to learn all that was learnable, the machines built an enormous ship for V’ger to accomplish that aim. 

Achieving a higher consciousness and a need to evolve in the bargain, V’ger threatens to destroy Earth unless it can meld with a human in order to achieve its ultimate kernal of wisdom: carnal knowledge. And lo’ Will Deckard sacrifices his life to join with V’ger in its Ilia form and a new being is born. 

Having saved Earth from V’ger’s destructive force, Kirk, Spock, McCoy and crew warp off to new adventures. 

Was there a point to this film? And was it indeed BORING? 

Find out!