We've Got Them Just Where They Want Us

As far back as I can remember, I have loved Star Trek. In combined celebration and trepidation for the new Star Trek movie due out this May (and a fortuitous and joy-bringing birthday present from my husband), I have decided to re-watch and re-evaluate all of the previous Star Trek films. I expect that there may be intermittent reviews of other kinds of films mixed in, but I will see and review all of them, in order, before seeing the new Star Trek film in May.

And, so, without further ado:

Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

ST:TMP (if you'll allow it) and the following Star Trek films boast ensemble casts, so I hope you will forgive the vast lists of stars that are about to ensue. The film stars the regular crew from the original series: William Shatner (James T. Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Spock), DeForest Kelley (Leonard "Bones" McCoy), George Takei (Hikaru Sulu), James Doohan (Mongomery "Scotty" Scott), Walter Koenig (Pavel Chekov), Nichelle Nichols (Nyota Uhura), and Majel Barrett (Christine Chapel). A couple of additional and new crew members join them: Stephen Collins (Willard Decker) and Persis Khambatta (Ilia). The film was directed by Robert Wise (who I was surprised to discover directed West Side Story and The Sound of Music, among others - some credentials!), and was released in 1979.

The movie takes place a few years after the end of the series. The crew has separated - Kirk has been promoted to Admiral, and is now Chief of Starfleet Operations, Spock has gone home to Vulcan to pursue spiritual and logical enlightenment, and Bones has retired (and, if the costume/beard are any indication, has become an old hippie). Discontented with his desk job, Kirk reclaims command of the Enterprise from Captain Decker (Collins), much to Decker's chagrin, and effectively brings the rest of the crew out of retirement. Ilia joins the crew, and a spark passes between her and Decker; they have not only met before, but were in love.

The Enterprise is commissioned to investigate a destructive and unresponsive entity that is on a direct course to Earth. When the Enterprise encounters the object, Spock figures out that the object is communicating at a much faster rate than they could pick up regularly, and sends a friendship message at that speed. The entity responds with its own probe, which promptly abducts Ilia, and then returns her bereft of her humanity (for lack of a better term, given that she is an alien), and her personality stored as mere data. Ilia-as-probe searches the ship, seeking to investigate these "inferior carbon-based life forms." The crew discovers from Ilia that the being is called V'ger, and is seeking its Creator. It seeks to destroy the carbon-based life forms on Earth when its Creator doesn't respond, but Kirk convinces V'ger that he knows why the Creator hasn't responded, completely bluffing. V'ger calls off the attack, and has Ilia bring in Kirk, Spock, Decker, and McCoy to see V'ger in person, per Kirk's demand.

Once they are inside the much larger vessel, Kirk et al realize that V'ger is, in fact, Voyager 6 - a fictional satellite based on the Voyager 1 and 2 models that launched in the 1970s to take pictures and gather data. They realize that V'ger is seeking its Creator in order to not only report back, but also to evolve - to join with the Creator. V'ger had encountered a machine planet in its travels that built the exterior structure for it, and encouraged its sentience by giving it more knowledge. Decker more than happily complies with V'ger's request, taking the role of the Creator. Consequently, he finally gets to consummate his affection with Ilia. V'ger evolves into bright lights (and, seemingly, into a higher plane of existence), and Kirk and crew depart to continue their exploration "Out there...thataway."

Given the simplistic plot, this film is far too long. Clocking in at 132 minutes (yes, that's two hours and 12 minutes), this movie is (with respect and credit due to my dad, who explained it perfectly) a one-hour episode stretched out far too long. Given the recent (at the time) release of Star Wars, I can understand that they wanted to flaunt their newly acquired special effects and makeup budgets and capabilities. Thus we have Klingons that never appear again, encountering V'ger at the beginning of the film. ("Hey, Roy, we got some more money in the makeup budget! Let's throw some Klingons in there just for laughs!") In addition, many 10-15 minute long sequences of the ship flying through space could have easily been cut.

But I discovered something when I was watching the behind-the-scenes documentaries. It turns out that Dad's assertion was spot on: the film was not intended to be a film at all. The story was supposed to be the pilot episode for Star Trek: Phase 2 - a television series that never came to pass. Did you get that? This two-hour-and-twelve-minute long movie was supposed to be and was written as a one-hour television show! Ridiculous.

Perhaps I am being a bit harsh. This movie was also a love note to the fans - Star Trek back with new content after going off the air for 10 years. It was going to be a box-office hit no matter the plot - just like the Star Wars prequels were (terrible movies, but people paid through the nose to see them) and like the new Star Trek movie will be. I have my doubts about the quality of the film (albeit unfounded - I've only seen one trailer, and it looked awesome), but I still intend to see it in theaters. There is a loyalty in Star Trek fans that not even a travesty like Star Trek: Enterprise can shatter. This movie must have been highly anticipated and quite beloved.

In fact, even as I watch this with a 30-year shield and 9 other (better, with the possible exception of Star Trek V) Star Trek movies and four more serieses under my belt, I feel a certain tug at my heartstrings. This is Star Trek, after all. It isn't a good plot, the costumes and sets are bland in color and style, and the characters are incredibly hokey, but it still has a few saving graces besides its good name and inexplicable pull.

(1) The music. The main theme of the film, written by Jerry Goldsmith, is perfect. It was re-used and slightly adjusted for Star Trek: The Next Generation, so has nostalgic value for me. It is also a wonderful theme in and of itself - majestic, triumphant, joyful, and just the tiniest bit sad.

(2) Occasional perfect bits of dialogue. There are a few pieces of dialogue that speak completely to the characters. For example, when the non-Ilia probe (a beam of rather menacing-looking light) is searching the bridge, Kirk says, "Don't interfere with it," Checkov replies, "AbsoLUTely I will not interfere with it!!" Another good piece of dialogue is when Decker exclaims with naivety while being drawn inside V'ger, "Forward motion, sir!" Spock dismissively deadpans, "Tractor beam." (Brilliant!) Finally, when Bones and Spock meet again, Spock makes some caustic remark, and Bones says, "Spock, you haven't changed a bit. You're just as warm and sociable as ever."

(3) The fact that they let women be promoted into traditionally male roles. Christine Chapel (Barrett), who was a nurse in the series, has become a doctor in the years since their last mission.

In effect, unless you are a Star Trek fan and are watching it for its history and nostalgia, I would suggest to skipping to one hour and forty-five minutes into the movie. As long as you have a brief summary of what comes before, you're set. The last half-hour of this film is the best and fastest-moving part of it.

Tune in soon for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan!!

I Pronounce You Man and Wife. Proceed With the Execution.

My next film is one that I had seen as a child, and decided to give another change: The African Queen.  This movie was made in 1951, and stars Katharine Hepburn (need I say more?) and Humphrey Bogart (probably best known for his role in Casablanca.  The film was directed by John Huston (who also directed Annie and The Maltese Falcon).

The African Queen takes place in 1914, in German East Africa.  A missionary, Samuel Sayer (Robert Morely), and his sister, Rose (Hepburn), live with and preach to a small village of Africans.  Once World War I begins, German soldiers come to the village, set fire to the huts, and round up the Africans, taking them away to be soldiers.  Samuel and Rose are not hurt at all, and their house is not disturbed, but the church is burned to the ground.  Samuel goes mad because of the chaos, and dies quickly.  Rose is alone in the village.

Charlie Allnut (Bogart), a riverboat captain and supplies dealer, comes by the village to check on them the day Samuel dies.  Finding Rose alone, he takes her with him to his riverboat - the African Queen.  Rose suggests that they go down the river to the lake, in order to get out of the area.   Charlie informs her that the lake is held by a German warship called the Louisa.  Rose figures out a way to torpedo the Louisa, using the African Queen, and convinces Charlie to go with the plan.  They travel down the river, encounter great hardships, and fall in love.  At the end, they are captured by the Germans before they can blow up the Louisa, but ask the ship captain to marry them before they are hung.  He does, and just before they are killed, the formerly submerged African Queen surfaces and blows up the Louisa.  Charlie and Rose dive off the ship, and presumably swim to safety.

There were many things about The African Queen that frustrated me.  The opening credits of this movie are awful - two minutes of floating under branches, looking up at the sky, and hearing monkeys.  It almost made me want to turn off the movie in disgust.  The next three minutes are also purely painful - out of tune, no word singing of a hymn.  In fact, almost the entire movie seems campy, predictable, and unrealistic.

For some reason, I have never been fond of Humphrey Bogart.  I suppose I don't see him as the best of leading men.  He is neither handsome, nor charismatic - he doesn't even have a sexy voice, or even an accent!  In this, I am no more impressed.  Hepburn, however, disappointed me in this movie.  For the first half of the film, her character is bland and stark.  Her attire - though appropriate for the time period they are depicting - is high collared and must have been stifling to her.  Her fire and pizzaz don't really shine through until two different scenes.  One is when she pours all of Charlie's gin overboard after an argument (sort of reminded me of Elizabeth Swann burning all of Jack Sparrow's rum in Pirates of the Caribbean).  The other is the scene after they have successfully traversed the rapids.  She says, "I never dreamed that any mere physical experience could be so stimulating!"

I did like a couple of details about the film.  I happened to notice that the missionary church was a Methodist one, which explained in and of itself Rose's obvious distaste for alcohol.  I thought that was quite true to form, and enjoyed that little tidbit.  In addition, I liked the comment after the ship captain married them - see the quote in the title for that.

I do not recommend this film.  It is such an average plot, and the actors do not rise above the story to make it more intriguing.  The film seemed endless and quite dull for the most part.  Pick a different Hepburn movie!  Then again, maybe I should give "Bogey" another chance someday...

They Know When They Are Loved For Themselves

Please excuse my extended absence from writing my blog.  The holidays got WAY more crazy than I expected, but I'm ready to jump back in!

And I do with both feet, watching Anastasia - a film made in 1956, starring Ingrid Bergman (of The Inn of the Sixth Happiness and The Bells of Saint Mary, among others) and Yul Brynner (best known to me for his amazing role in The King and I), and Helen Hayes.  Anastasia was directed by Anatole Litvak.

To fully understand this film, one must first know the historical background of this story.  The Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna was the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.  Tsar Nicholas II was the last Russian czar, and was overthrown in revolt in 1918.  At that time, the Tsar and his entire immediate family were taken prisoner and eventually shot by a firing squad.  Although it was reported that every member of the family was dead, rumors persisted for decades that Anastasia had somehow survived this great horror.  Several impostors came forward, trying to claim that they were the lost princess.  The most famous of these was Anna Anderson.  While it was eventually decided that she was not Anastasia after all, her claim persisted the longest.

This film plays on Anna Anderson's claim.  Although the circumstances of the film are quite different from that of real life, the basic idea is the same.  General Bounine (Brynner) - a formerly high-ranking general for the Russian Empire - and his associates had spent several years seeking out women with a reasonable resemblance to Anastasia, with the hopes of having her officially recognized by her grandmother, the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna (Hayes).  Once recognized, she would gain her impressively large inheritance, and presumably share it with Bounine and his associates.  Having heard a rumor that a woman recently released from an asylum had claimed that she was Anastasia, Bounine pursues the woman, and quickly persuades her that she would be able to confirm her identity if she works with them.  Anna (Bergman) is not interested in money or fame, but only wants to figure out which of her very disjointed memories is reality.

After a great deal of training and time, Anna and Bounine make their way to Copenhagen, where the Empress currently resides.  The two attempt several times to see the Empress, but, overwhelmed with heartache and false promises, the Empress refuses to see anyone claiming to be one of the dead Romanovs.  They are able to meet with the greedy Prince Paul von Haraldburg - Anastasia's cousin and formerly betrothed - who is interested in also gaining a piece of the inheritance.  Anna responds warmly to the false show of affection that Paul shows her, having lived so long with so little love.

After a great deal of time, the Empress realizes that she may be too stubborn, and goes to see Anna, who, by this time, has begun to believe that she is really and truly Anastasia.  The Empress flutters between being hurt and sympathetic in their meeting, and finally decides that she is Anastasia when the Empress hears Anna cough because she is frightened - as Anastasia always used to do when she was a child.  

When they are ready to declare her as the Duchess, Bounine balks at being part of the ceremony.  Refusing to say it aloud, he still goes to the Empress and suggests that he is no longer interested in any reward.  The Empress realizes that Bounine is in love with Anastasia, and uncomfortable with the impending engagement between Paul and Anastasia.  The Empress then speaks to Anastasia, and discovers she does not love Paul, but rather Bounine.  Placing them surreptitiously in the same room right before the ceremony, the Empress realizes that her newly-found granddaughter is lost to her again.  Indeed, when the servants go in to find Anastasia, they return with the news that she is gone, and so is Bounine.  When asked what she will tell the assembled guests, the Empress replies, "I will tell them that the play is over, now go home."

This movie gives you everything you want.  As a viewer, I really wanted Bounine and Anastasia to get together at the end, so I could not be more pleased.  In addition, I appreciated that they left the question open - was she Anastasia?  Was she not?  You are left not knowing, and I appreciate that tactfulness toward the actual story.

The costumes are both functional and lovely - when they should be simple - such as Anna wandering the streets - they are.  When they are for the ball at the end of the movie, the costumes are luxurious and fine-looking.  

An important note: Ingrid Bergman won the Oscar for Best Actress for this role - and she fully deserved it.

All-in-all, wonderful film.  It's a rags-to-riches story with the twist of leaving the lavish for the loving.  Highly recommended.  Also on the DVD copy I rented, there is a wonderful Biography program on Anastasia in the special features section that is not to be missed.