AHC: Make "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" even crummier!

Make the first Star Trek movie even duller, drier, more top-heavy, even fewer scenes which pique one's interest!

Bonus Points if Bill Shatner appears on talk shows somewhat successfully defending the movie.
 
Didn’t Roddenberry have an idea for them to go back to Dallas 1963 and Spock shot JFK from the Grassy Knoll?
That was a rumor that was floating around after the First movie but before Wrath of Khan.
I can't find any evidence that it was seriously considered but serval time travels stories were considered for the First movie.
 
Find a way to get the movie even more hopelessly over budget.
And maybe there's some Paramount executive, who's erratic behavior is perhaps influenced by alcohol or cocaine, who in classic asshole fashion abruptly and unpredictably puts his foot down and says no more. And the finished product shows!
 
And maybe there's some Paramount executive, who's erratic behavior is perhaps influenced by alcohol or cocaine, who in classic asshole fashion abruptly and unpredictably puts his foot down and says no more. And the finished product shows!

Jeffrey Katzenberg was in charge of shepparding Star Trek. If you want a cokehead Don Simpson is your man.
 
Jeffrey Katzenberg was in charge of shepparding Star Trek. If you want a cokehead Don Simpson is your man.
I hate to wish the film poorly, but . . .

It would be wild to have an executive who one day is saying, whatever it takes, just make it good. And then seemingly the very next day he’s saying, no, that’s it, cut it off, no more money! :p
 
That's because it was a one hour episode. I mean that literally, it was just the episode The Changeling with a dumber twist and more dead air.

The script started as a proposed script for a one hour Genesis Two episode called "Robot Return".
When that show was not picked up and the choice came up to do "Star Trek Phase 2" , Rodenberry decided that "Robot Return" would be a good basis for the Pilot. So for a while it was a 90 minute TV pilot script called "Voyager Returns", than it was converted to a Movie Script that became the Motion Picture.
 
And the usual debate on Shatner:

“Bill Shatner does as much acting as any other three actors put together!”

“I agree COMPLETELY!”

=============

And yet in this movie he seemed curiously subdued.
 
Should be noted, Shatner's acting is heavily impacted by the material. Yes he is the man who screams "Khan" into the communicator, but he can also do subdued and quiet drama when the situation calls for it.

That was the second movie. He's quite director dependent IMO.

Let's see - a theater major and I went the opening weekend, then (since I had a land yacht - 1970 Buick LeSabre) he and I (I made him go) went back. We tried holding our breath during the "look at the Enterprise scene" - and failed. (and then had the giggles for half the movie.)

They could have dwelt more on the Deltans as a 'distractions as a species' - even a long, drawn out explanation from McCoy (or a Q&A) on how Starfleet Medical finally figured out what to do in addition to the required Vow of Celibacy........
 
In the mid 70's I was watching Tomorrow with Tom Snyder. He had two members of the cast of Star Trek as guests. One of them was DeForest Kelley (forgot who the other one except it wasn't Shatner or Nimoy) Kelley was in full on Gush mode. When Snyder asked what was his favorite episode he did the "they were all so great" routine. Anyway he let loose at one point that preliminary work on a motion picture was under way. He told Snyder that he had seen some script outlines and they were all Great (but of course) Cigarette in hand Snyder pressed him for details and finally dFK said that one of the scripts was about

<drum roll>

The Enterprise meets God

Hmm what does that sound like???
 
Paramount had sold the film to theaters with a hard set release date that put far too much pressure on the film. They were literally finishing the special effects and cutting the film together right up to the day of the premier. So that could easily go very badly.
 
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