The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, February 04, 1980, Page Page 11, Image 11
I Star
By Davkl Baker
G?m?cock FHm Critic
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presented on screen.
Whereas in many previous space
epics, starships were destroyed by
mere explosions, Trumbull and
Dykstra have conceived of an
enormous alien spacecraft that
uses a moving blue-green light
field to envelop enemy ships and,
with lightning-like bolts of energy,
destroy them. For the first time in
my life, I felt like I had actually
seen a spaceship disintegrate
somewhere in the outer cosmos.
Equally impressive to look at are
the scenes wherein the U.S.S.
Enterprise shifts into warp-speed
and leaves the screen with a
deafening bang. In fact, the only
effects in Star Trek that aren't
really so special are those dealing
with Mr. Spock on his home planet,
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Spock's journey through space
from the Enterprise to the hold of
the alien ship.
The Vulcan scenes, with their
hulking orange rock formations,
are much too reminiscent of the
Krypton segment of Superman to
be appropriately awe-inspiring,
and the journey through space is
ruined by the use of red lighting on
Spock's body against the
predominately blue lighting used
in the back-projected film which
shows the Enterprise fading into
the distance.
If only the flaws in the picture's
script were as minor as those in the
special effects, Star Trek would
have to be the must-see film of this
decade. But for a picture lasting
132 minutes, there is remarkably
little dialogue, and almost no
suspense is ever created, in spite of
the fact that the aforementioned
alien spaceship is headed for
Earth.
Many scenes seem to exist only
as excuses to let us watch the
actors watch the special effects (a
trick which was used briefly to
good results in both Close Encounters
and 2001: A Space
Odyssey, but which grows
tiresome very quickly), and much
of the dialogue is philosophical to
the point of being silly. In the face
of annihilation, do you know
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his few remaining hours wrapped
up in a discussion abut how far
man's intelligence has taken him?
Also, the film's climax is stolen
right out of Demon Seed, an inept
thriller about the mating of man
and machine that bombed when it
was released in 1977.
AMAZINGLY enough, the
original Star Trek cast, which has
been reunited for the film,
manages to downplay some of the
script's silliness by treating
Earth's iminent destruction on a
matter-of-fact basis.
William Shatner as Captain Kirk
(since promoted to Admiral),
Leonard Nimoy as Spock,
DeForest Kelley as Dr. "Bones"
McCoy, James Doohan as Chief
Engineer Scott, George Takei as
Sulu, Majel Barrett as Dr.
Christine Chapel, Walter Koenig as
Navigator Chekov, and Nichelle
Nichols as Communications Of
ficer Uhura all do an admirable job
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Robert Wise's Star Trek ? The
Motion Picture cost somewhere
between $40 million and $55
million. Variety, the show business
trade paper, estimates the film's
cost to be $42 million, plus another
$10-12 million for advertising and
publicity.
But no matter who is correct
about the film's price tag, Star
Trek is unquestionably the most
IcAjjcuaivt; muuuii picture ever
made in the United States and,
more importantly, it looks like the
most expensive.
Special effects wizards Douglas
Trumbull (Close Encounters of the
Third Kind) and John Dykstra
(Star Wars) have joined together
to create what can only be called
state-of-the-art movie magic.
Almost every scene on which
they've worked is more dazzling
Trek's
of picking up their respective rolei
more than 10 years after they first
filled them on television. Nimoy's
Spock character actually develops
somewhat as the film goes along.
Joining the originals for whal
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cuuiu ue me JtL.nierprise s last
voyage are Stephen Collins as
Decker, the ship's new com
mander, who is determined not tc
take a back seat in the vessel's
operations, even though Kirk has
returned to the helm, and Persis
Khambatta as Ilia, a beautiful,
bald-headed navigator from the
planet Delta Four.
I've been predicting stardom for
Collins since I first saw him work
in an early episode of television's
Barnaby Jones, but good film roles
hUve avoided him until now. If Star
Trek is the hit early boxoffice
results indicate it will be (the film
grossed $11.8 million in its first
three days), Collins may very well
become the next Robert Redford.
LIKEWISE, Khambatta's
career will probably skyrocket,
provided the memory of her shorn
locks does not interfere with the
abilities of Hollywood's casting
directors to envision her in other
roles.
That Collins and Khambatta are
the only crew members who don't
return from the mission serves a
double purpose: it frees them from
roles that could easily lead to
typecasting and it returns the
Enterprise crew to its original
complement.
Thus, a sequel, or even a series
of films, can start production just
as soon as this one's boxoffice
power begins to wane. The thought
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Feb. 8th and 9th
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Upper Plaza
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of such an event occurring will no I
Hmiht thrill Trnl/Ui?r fI
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coast, and if Trumbull and Dykstra
can be contracted to create the
special photographic effects for
any future "Treks," it will thrill
me as well.
i From its opening musical
prelude (similar to the one employed
by William Friedkin for
Sorcerer, two years ago), to the
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ends the film, Star Trek is a
; beautifully realized motion pict
ture.
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