30 years ago, "Star Trek, The Motion Picture" left drydock

I remember the anticipation when "Star Trek, The Motion Picture" was released on December 7, 1979. Actually the buzz began for me when James Doohan ("Scotty") was doing a college tour earlier in the year to connect with Trek fans and rollout the first teaser trailer for the forthcoming movie. I saw him in Albany, N.Y. during this tour.

As the lights dimmed, the voice of Orson Welles announced the names of William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForrest Kelley, etc., as the first images of the new, refurbished Enterprise were revealed for the first time. Months later when the actual film was released, I eagerly went to the Center Theatre (at the back of Colonie Center in Albany) opening week to buy my ticket. And even though many people talk about how long the tour of the Enterprise is or how elongated the V'ger flyover became, I ate up every moment of each sequence. Ultimately, it was a proper, almost re-introduction into this new "Trek" universe that I think we needed before warping off to meet Khan in the second movie. And as always, I'll be screening the movie sometime this week in the 10th Box (explanation of this name in my next post).

The direction of the "Star Trek" feature films would change after "The Motion Picture", moving more towards action rather than cerebral. But the spirit of exploration and the human condition that creator Gene Roddenberry nurtured for so long remained.

So here is the original teaser trailer for the movie. The same one Jimmy Doohan unveiled to us more than 30 years ago.