5 Facts about 1979 Robert Wise film Star Trek: The Motion Picture
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STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE (1979)
Directed by Robert Wise.
After an alien cloud is discovered to be on a crash course towards Earth, eliminating everything in it's path, Kirk, Spock and co are sent on a desperate mission to save the planet. Below you will find 5 interesting bits of trivia about the first ever Star Trek film. |
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Text Version:
5. SHATNER’S END Far into production the film had neither a completed script nor a definite budget. Actor William Shatner, concerned that the film had no ending written, came up with a conclusion and pitched the idea to the director, who approved of it. The idea was later rejected by Star Trek creator and producer Gene Roddenberry. The film eventually cost $35 million, the most expensive of its era save for Superman (1978).
4. 2-4-1 ON THEMES Jerry Goldsmith composed the music for Star Trek: The Motion Picture and would go on to score 5 more Trek films. The main theme of the film would go on to become the music for the title sequence of future TV spin-off Star Trek: The Next Generation.
3. PHASE II The film was originally intended to be a TV show called Star Trek: Phase II, but the success of Star Wars (1977) urged Paramount to develop a science fiction movie with ‘Star’ in the title. As a result, actor David Gautreaux lost his job, as he had been cast as one of its new leads, the Vulcan Xon, a replacement for Leonard Nimoy’s Spock. Although not interested in reprising his famous role in a TV series, Nimoy was convinced by producers to do so for the film, making Gautreaux’s part redundant. As compensation Gautreaux was given a minor role playing a human character at the beginning of the film.
2. LANGUAGE Klingon and Vulcan languages spoken in the film were invented by Scotty actor James Doohan. The Vulcan language was something developed late in production as all the scenes on Vulcan had already been filmed in English. Doohan developed a language that would match the actors’ lip movements and allow them to re-record the dialogue in post-production.
1. ORSON WELLES The teaser trailer was narrated by famous actor and film-maker Orson Welles. Apparently Welles had a deep-rooted loathing for the film’s director Robert Wise, and so the line ‘A Gene Roddenberry production, a Robert Wise film’ took him an hour to perfect as he kept mentioning the director’s name with utter contempt.
5. SHATNER’S END Far into production the film had neither a completed script nor a definite budget. Actor William Shatner, concerned that the film had no ending written, came up with a conclusion and pitched the idea to the director, who approved of it. The idea was later rejected by Star Trek creator and producer Gene Roddenberry. The film eventually cost $35 million, the most expensive of its era save for Superman (1978).
4. 2-4-1 ON THEMES Jerry Goldsmith composed the music for Star Trek: The Motion Picture and would go on to score 5 more Trek films. The main theme of the film would go on to become the music for the title sequence of future TV spin-off Star Trek: The Next Generation.
3. PHASE II The film was originally intended to be a TV show called Star Trek: Phase II, but the success of Star Wars (1977) urged Paramount to develop a science fiction movie with ‘Star’ in the title. As a result, actor David Gautreaux lost his job, as he had been cast as one of its new leads, the Vulcan Xon, a replacement for Leonard Nimoy’s Spock. Although not interested in reprising his famous role in a TV series, Nimoy was convinced by producers to do so for the film, making Gautreaux’s part redundant. As compensation Gautreaux was given a minor role playing a human character at the beginning of the film.
2. LANGUAGE Klingon and Vulcan languages spoken in the film were invented by Scotty actor James Doohan. The Vulcan language was something developed late in production as all the scenes on Vulcan had already been filmed in English. Doohan developed a language that would match the actors’ lip movements and allow them to re-record the dialogue in post-production.
1. ORSON WELLES The teaser trailer was narrated by famous actor and film-maker Orson Welles. Apparently Welles had a deep-rooted loathing for the film’s director Robert Wise, and so the line ‘A Gene Roddenberry production, a Robert Wise film’ took him an hour to perfect as he kept mentioning the director’s name with utter contempt.
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