I'm not familiar with the diameter of Pluto's orbit, but the line "over 82 A.U.'s in diameter" (astronomical units) is approximately 7 billion, 626 million miles. (12 billion, 273 million kilometers) It's a good thing the cloud "dissipated rapidly" as it approached. And when it did, it probably only dissipated X number of miles around the Earth, causing a "wormhole" (no pun intended) to be drilled in the cloud.

What would a "cloud" be composed of, and why would a vessel NEED one? Just so it could "consume" things like the Epsilon 9 Station as it traveled through space?

By Nick Angeloni (Nangeloni) on Sunday, May 20, 2001 - 11:24 pm:

I'm guessing BILC... :-)

If you want to see a really good page about the V'Ger cloud, check out http://www.ditl.org/ and click on "Other Ships"--there's a really great writeup on V'Ger and some of the webmaster's theories on it answered my questions.

By The Chronicler on Wednesday, June 13, 2001 - 09:31 pm:

Does anyone know specifically what scenes or shots have been added to the "special longer version" of ST:TMP? I haven't seen the shorter version, and I'd like to know what I'm not missing.

By Derf on Thursday, June 28, 2001 - 08:13 am:

If a Deltan is �sworn to celibacy�, (Ilia even told Kirk �My Oath of Celibacy is on record�) why would THAT make her �as safe as any human female�? Why would the fact that she has to post a �no-marriage� bond make her acceptable to humanoids?

As a point of reference - strictly speaking, the term �celibacy� means to refrain from marriage. This is the first meaning listed in the dictionary. The second meaning is listed as refraining from sex. But there�s a reason it�s second � because it�s NOT first. Since the Trek writers did not elucidate what they meant by this dialogue, I�ll assume the first meaning is the point of her oath.

By LUIGI NOVI on Thursday, June 28, 2001 - 02:09 pm:

With that bald head of hers, I think an oath of celibacy is a moot point.

Of couse, the late Persis Khambata WAS really nice-looking with hair. I'm sorry she died so young.

By Brian Fitzgerald on Thursday, June 28, 2001 - 02:56 pm:

With that body of hers her hair (or lack their of) could be a moot point because one has to take their eyes off of her body to look at her head.

By Grammar Police on Thursday, June 28, 2001 - 04:14 pm:

Derf-

By that logic, when I call my financial advisor to check the status of my stocks, then he should check on my supplies, my store's merchandise, and the cow in the backyard before he checks the Dow (since that is the 4th definition of the word).

No, in the context of the scene and situation, her meaning was abundantly clear: sexual abstinence. There's no "strictly speaking" about it. Either word is strictly correct depending on the context in which it is used.

By Adam Bomb on Thursday, June 28, 2001 - 05:23 pm:

According to other published sources (non-canon, according to the Chief, since it was never spoken of in the film) Deltan women emit high levels of pheromones, which bring the male libido to a very high point. Also, Deltans thought of sex as a routine activity. This is what necessitated her oath of celibacy. Any lines elaborating this plot point were probably cut from the script, even before shooting.

By Adam Bomb on Thursday, June 28, 2001 - 05:55 pm:

The "Special Longer Edition" of this film was originally prepared for airing on ABC in February, 1983, and was released on video right afterward. Differences:
1. Additional scene with Sulu, Uhura and Alien Boy after Kirk left the bridge. Billy Van Zandt's one major line as Alien Boy was never seen until then, in which he defends Decker.
2. Kirk leaves bridge to go to Transporter Room. Additional scene on bridge in which Ilia assures Sulu she is "Safe as any human female."
3. Scene in which McCoy beams up has additional dialog from Kirk to the yeoman and to Rand.
4. Scene after Kirk orders Decker to Kirk's quarters has additional dialog (Sulu and Ilia) and Ilia looking sad for Decker.
5. Scene in Kirk's quarters used a different take, as the inflection of McCoy's line is different. Kirk also tells McCoy to "Get out of here, Bones" before McCoy speaks.
6. Scene in observation lounge with our three heroes added the communication from Uhura to Kirk, and also added McCoy's line "How do we know about any of us?"
7. When Chekov is burned, Chapel comes to the bridge, and Ilia comes to his aid.
8. Scene in which we first see the exterior of V'Ger (after going through the cloud) has added dialog.
9. When Spock leaves the Enterprise, most of the music from that scene was deleted in the "Special Edition"
10. When Kirk leaves the ship after Spock, we see the studio rafters where a matte painting was supposed to be done. This scene is from the original V'Ger concept, and was scrapped in the pic's final cut. Why it is here, only Heaven knows.
11. Scene with Ilia-probe, Decker, Chapel, and McCoy was expanded and placed later in the film. In the original, it was right after Spock first leaves the ship. In the "S.E.", it is right after Kirk retreives Spock.
12. Kirk's confrontation with the Ilia-probe on the bridge was made longer. This is where the "crying Spock" was added back, adding purpose to Spock's being there. Also, the scene where Kirk orders Scotty to implement "Starfleet Order 2004", self-destruct, was restored.
The original version of this pic was shown by TNN last week (June 18-22, 2001) four times. Since TNN owns TV rights to the first five Trek pics, keep you eyes peeled for it.
If I have forgotten anything, please post.

By Derf on Thursday, June 28, 2001 - 09:05 pm:

Okay, Mr. Grammar, point taken about "context" having to do with the meaning of the word usage. But even IF it was meant as "sexual abstinence", the question still remains ... why would that make her �as safe as any human female�? Taking an oath would not diminish her pheromone production (as Adam Bomb pointed out) in any way, so the perceived "danger" remains ... right?

What? ... it would go like this?:
Sulu: Uh ... er ... your pre-programming is already loaded. You'll have no problems. (accidentally hits a button that makes a buzzing noise) ... sorry.
Ilia: My Oath of Celibacy is on record ... but still, you intrigue me, Mr. Sulu.
Sulu: (as he passes out from heightened libido) I ... thought ... you ... were safe! ...

By Grammar Police on Thursday, June 28, 2001 - 09:46 pm:

The easy asnwer is that since the pheromone production theory is from a non-canon source, not the film's dialogue, then obviously the non-canon source was wrong.

By Brian Fitzgerald on Friday, June 29, 2001 - 12:06 am:

why would that make her �as safe as any human female�? Taking an oath would not diminish her pheromone production (as Adam Bomb pointed out) in any way, so the perceived "danger" remains ... right?

Because no matter how turned on the guy is by her pheromones, and no matter how much he comes onto her, she will shoot him down; which I do believe makes her safer than any human female since with them their is at least a chance of getting a yes.

By Adam Bomb on Friday, June 29, 2001 - 06:20 pm:

To "Grammar Police"- The non-canon source I dug up the pheromone angle from was Susan Sackett's 1980 book "Making Of Star Trek-TMP," among other sources close to the production. That is as close to canonical as you can get, so they were not wrong. However, the pheromone angle was considered non-canon, for the purposes of this board, as it was never discussed via the pic's dialog. I followed every minutae of this pic's production in 1978 and '79. Her oath of celibacy was intended to be an abstinence from sex.
I also forgot that prior to the famous "Kirk in the Rafters" shot, there was an additional scene with Kirk and McCoy as he is fitted with a spacesuit in the airlock. The spacesuit Kirk wears is different from the one he retrieves Spock with later.
To Slugbug: I will ask the moderator to delete that part of the post, as on second thought it was offensive and uncalled for. Ms. Khambatta died of a heart attack, I believe. I have not spoken about my wife on these boards in months, and have already apologized for it, so there was no need to bring that up again here. Do not comment, or call me a bigot, until you have walked in my shoes. If you want to flame me any more, e-mail me at [email protected]. Don't waste space on the boards.

By The Chronicler on Friday, June 29, 2001 - 11:56 pm:

BTW, thanks Adam for the rundown of added scenes.

By Adam Bomb on Saturday, June 30, 2001 - 03:52 pm:

You're welcome, Chronicler. BTW, I have an ancient video of the theatrical version (circa 1980, in linear track mono-no hi-fi) and I would never part with it. Got it first day of release, in October 1980. Can't wait for the "Director's Cut DVD" which will be out around about December 2001. More than any Trek film, this one is very special to me, as it was the first Trek after a long dry spell.

By Nick Angeloni (Nangeloni) on Monday, July 02, 2001 - 12:39 am:

Derf, while doing some minor cleanup, I inadvertently deleted one of your messages. Please understand that this was not intentional and that I'm really sorry! :-) If you remember what you wrote post it again and I can place the post back where it belongs.

And for future reference, if anyone has a problem with something posted on any board, please contact the moderator and the person who posted the message if possible rather than saying something on the board itself. Thanks!

By Derf on Monday, July 02, 2001 - 05:03 am:

Nick,
Nothing appears "out-of-place" ... I say, if no one misses it, phooey on it. But thanks for the attention and offer.

By Nick Angeloni (Nangeloni) on Monday, July 02, 2001 - 11:15 pm:

Really... could've sworn I deleted something... Well, the offer still stands!

By Adam Bomb on Tuesday, July 03, 2001 - 04:55 pm:

I forgot one other expanded scene. (I knew I would forget something.) The scene where the Enterprise first encounters V'Ger and is fired upon is longer in the TV version, with information about the ship's attitude (yaw and pitch) added. A different take and inflection was used for Spock's significant line in that scene.

By Adam Bomb on Friday, July 06, 2001 - 05:18 pm:

There was a superb David Kimble cutaway drawing of the Enterprise from this film that was published in 1980. It shows the location of all the sets from the film in their location on the ship. I think mine is at my parents' house; I hope my mother didn't throw it away. David Kimble is known for his automotive cutaway drawings, including (I think) the C-5 Corvette.

By Derf on Monday, July 09, 2001 - 12:10 pm:

In the scene where McCoy says "How do we know about any of us?" (Kirk's Quarters), Uhura pages Kirk. Kirk taps a "wristband communicator" to speak with her in this scene. Is this the only instance of such a Starfleet communicator ever filmed? This is as close as 23rd century technology got humanoids to the point of using a "Dick Tracy" communicator. (albeit Tracey's had a viewscreen also)

By Merat on Monday, July 09, 2001 - 07:31 pm:

Well, the wristband communicator was used by everyone in Starfleet that we saw in this movie, and the crew of the Reliant had them in Star Trek II: TWOK.

By Adam Bomb on Monday, July 09, 2001 - 08:46 pm:

The only one. Don't forget, Kirk talked to the Enterprise via this device at the end of the film, too. The theory that the producers of the pic had was that miniaturization would advance so much, communicators would have no need to be bigger than a wristwatch (or even smaller. They toyed with the idea of the communicator imbedded in the skin.) This does not explain why a old style communicator was used in "Trek II," or why current cell phones are smaller than all of the Trek communicators.

By Anonymous on Tuesday, July 10, 2001 - 07:46 am:

Cell phones aren't smaller than TNG's communication devices (yet)

By Brian Fitzgerald on Tuesday, July 10, 2001 - 02:05 pm:

Also current cell phones can reach a cell tower a few miles away and loose most of their range when inside. Trek communicators can reach a ship in high orbit while in a building or even underground.

By Adam Bomb on Tuesday, July 10, 2001 - 05:03 pm:

I have seen some cell phones (a few) that are a bit smaller than TOS communicators, on an AT&T stand in the World Trade Center. We assume that the range problem will be solved by the 23rd Century. Let's see how "Enterprise" handles this one, gang.

By Lolar Windrunner on Tuesday, July 10, 2001 - 08:27 pm:

Actually I used to work for Sprint and am now with Cingular. Sprint's Samsung 6100 is only a couple of inches across and about an inch wide. The new Sanyo is about the Same size maybe a little bigger but half as thick. Problem with them both is that first they are sprint, second they are digital only so they don't have good range. Cingular has the Nokia 8160 (which I Carry) which is about the size of a candy bar. Only about an inch across, 1 3/4 long and 1/4 inch thick. darn good signal too. Of course the Euro and Japanese phones out perform ours and they are smaller yet.

By Mikey on Wednesday, July 11, 2001 - 12:58 pm:

Interestingly enough, many cell phone are misleading in their size. Many cell phones have no electronic components in the mouthpiece. The mic is actually in the hand-held part. The mouthpiece is just an asthetic thing.

By Derf on Wednesday, July 11, 2001 - 05:34 pm:

Alright'en ... when will we see the "viewscreen" part of the "Dick Tracy" communicator in Trek manifestations? The breast "tap" communicator left out the visual part of communicating and left THAT to when the person was in front of a large viewscreen. Is it due to perhaps unexpected excessive eye-strain NOT drawn by the "Tracy" bunch, or just plain "non-designable" by any extrapolated thought process of current engineers?

By Merat on Wednesday, July 11, 2001 - 08:08 pm:

Sub-cutaneous visual communicators would be interesting.....

"Mr. Sulu! Why is the landscape all red and squishy?!"

By MarkN on Thursday, August 02, 2001 - 04:12 am:

Gee, I'm a bit slow to learn about the new Director's Cut of this film. I just now found out about it here.

Adam, when I saw the story I linked above, and then what you listed as added or changed, I was hoping that CGI would be used to cover up the rafters when Kirk leaves the ship to go after Spock, but you're saying that that was left in? That was one of the (if not the) worst parts of the film, which of course makes it one of the funniest.

By MarkN on Thursday, August 02, 2001 - 04:38 am:

Here's more on the new DVD version, whose November release will be announced tomorrow.

By Adam Bomb on Sunday, August 05, 2001 - 09:50 am:

Mark-CGI was in its infancy in 1982, when this film was being prepared for TV. The "Genesis Proposal" scene in Trek II-TWOK was the first use of CGI in a film. The original intention was to have a matte painting replace the rafters. To this day, I don't know why it was not done, probably for money reasons. Although ABC paid $15 million for two runs of this pic, how much could a matte painting have cost? When I saw the rafters shot on TV for the first time, it was unbelievable. It stopped the picture cold.

By John A. Lang on Wednesday, September 12, 2001 - 09:25 pm:

When the shuttle approaches, Chekov doesn't know where it's from or who's in it or why.

First of all, why didn't the vessel identify itself?

Second, From the AMT model...it was called "SURAK"...hmmm....Surak? That name sounds familiar...say...wasn't he the founder of all logic on the planet VULCAN?

Finally, Chekov ends with "Non-belligerency confirmed"...Yeah, right...sure...like you're going to let a vessel that won't identify itself or its passengers approach the flagship of the Federation on the simple "fact" that "non-belligerency is confirmed" ? No wonder the Enterprise gets blasted in STII

By Richard on Friday, September 21, 2001 - 10:09 am:

What did Gene Roddenberry think of Star Wars , what did Lucas think of Star Trek?

By Yotsuyasan on Saturday, November 10, 2001 - 11:20 pm:

I'm surprised no one had said anything about the "Director's Edition" since it has come out...

Ah, well... Shall I start?

For the most part, I was impressed. I was a bit worried, since I absolutely hated with a passion the Star Wars Special Editions... but with this movie, I think they were doing something different.

It wasn't a case of, "It wasn't technologically possible to do it back then, so let's do it now." It was more a case of, "We didn't have the time to do it then, so let's do it now." In fact, Robert Wise said that Star Trek: The Motion Picture was the only movie he ever made that didn't get a test screening. (The first time it was watched in it's entirety was at the premier, and Mr. Wise had to take the film fresh from being processed and carry it on the airplane with him!) But if you think of it, TMP could now be seen as having had the longest test screening in history! Over twenty years!

All of what was added into the film was apparently planned back then, but they just ran out of time. And all of what they added looked quite like it would have been possible to produce back then by the same artists, and fit really well into the film. (Well... the new "wing walk" sequence may have been a bit tough to pull off back then... but I'll forgive this one, since it is a nicely done sequence, doesn't stick out too much, it was how they originally planned the sequence, and it is nice to see the Enterprise actually looking like itself!)

They actually fixed a few nits... most notably, the cloud is now 2 AU's in diameter rather then the outrageous 82 AU's. This kind of change is okay; making Greedo shoot first was just foolish. (2 of 'em are still quite big, but that's at least in the realm of believability.) Alas, the oddest nit is still left... Just who is broadcasting those images of the aftermath of the attack on Epsilon 9?

Like I said, overall I quite liked this new version. The film finely seems finished, rather then seeming rushed. It is odd, however, that two of the things I always found most annoying are now two of the things I miss the most. I kind of miss the bland, monotone computer voice. (Especially where it used to say, "Pod secure. Pressure equalized.") Also, we don't have that darn annoying klaxon going off every 2.42 seconds anymore! Ah, well... can't have everything! ^_^

By Benn on Saturday, November 10, 2001 - 11:55 pm:

Yotsuyasan, the reason there hasn't been a discussion here of the Director's Cut is because there's a separate board for it. Drop by sometime.

By Yotsuyasan on Sunday, November 11, 2001 - 11:13 am:

Oh, is there? I looked, but didn't see one... I'll have another look, I suppose... (Silly me!)

By Benn on Sunday, November 11, 2001 - 02:20 pm:

It's in the Sink. Look for "ST-TMP Robert Wise's Director's Cut with Revamped Effects."

By Derf on Saturday, January 26, 2002 - 11:49 am:

There is an (probably discussed before) odd scene when the "long-range" shuttle approaches the Enterprise from behind. The top portion separates from the long-range engine portion, THEN does a half gainer. (or is it a full gainer? - can't remember - anyway, it flips over and rotates 180 degrees) This means that the passengers inside the shuttle were upside-down and backwards to the Enterprise as the shuttle approached. In any case, couldn't Starfleet build a long-range shuttle that doesn't require the "half gainer" maneuver?

By Derf on Saturday, January 26, 2002 - 11:55 am:

Spock could have made good use of those "inner eyelids" during the part of the "passing thru the cloud" where the bright flashes of light are happening. But, I detected a slight wince from Spock at one point. Perhaps he was timing his inner blinks and missed one.

By Adam Bomb on Wednesday, January 30, 2002 - 12:04 pm:

BUT-The shot of the shuttle doing the 180 looked very cool, plus the music was great.

By Adam Bomb on Wednesday, February 27, 2002 - 07:39 am:

"Star Trek-The Motion Picture" apparently has a pay-cable window for February and March, 2002. Cinemax played it once in February, and HBO will run it about six or seven times in March. I think that this is the original theatrical version, not the new "Director's Cut" version, as TV Guide lists the pic with a "G" rating, not the "PG" that the "Director's Cut" has.

By Cingular Guy on Thursday, February 28, 2002 - 04:23 pm:

To pick up on the cell phone discussion from earlier Sprint is claiming they will be adding two way video in about 2 to 3 years (according to industry reports) when they have their network upgraded. No word allowed to go out on when we will get around to it.

By Lolar Windrunner on Friday, March 22, 2002 - 04:17 pm:

Hello, I just threw this in the player and noticed something today. When Kirk first comes aboard the Enterprise and enters the turbolift there is a display over his left shoulder showing the internal turbolift shafts. There is a white block about halfway back from the sensor dish in the engineering hull that starts moving forward when Kirk says bridge. NANJAO.

By mf on Friday, March 22, 2002 - 06:04 pm:

Kinda helpful that Mike Okuda points this out in his DE commentary, huh.

By Lolar Windrunner on Friday, March 22, 2002 - 07:23 pm:

Uh no I am watching the VHS version that came in the boxed set. I do not have the DVD yet. Right now I am watching The Phantom Tollbooth which I will go over to the appropriate section and talk about.

By Adam Bomb on Saturday, March 23, 2002 - 12:53 am:

I was watching the original version of this movie today, it has been on HBO frequently this month. I an so used to the DVD version, which I had on this morning, that the original version now seems quaint.
The purpose of the lights on the diagram in the turbo-lift was to point out just where you are on the ship at any given moment. Theoretically, they should move along with the turbo lift. Like the belt buckles, they went largely unexplained.

By Mike M on Sunday, April 07, 2002 - 08:22 pm:

I'm surprised no one noticed this before.

The Enterprise is the only ship that can intercept V'Ger.
At the start of the movie we saw V'Ger going throught Klingon Space.
This means the Federation has a direct path from the Klingon Empire to Earth. That is just nuts. There should be ships on border patrol.

By Derf on Monday, April 08, 2002 - 06:05 am:

Here's a burr under my saddle about V'ger's adopted "home" planet that always makes me wonder just how fab can the planet be ...

(in Sickbay)
Spock: I saw V�ger�s planet. A planet populated by living machines. Unbelievable technology. V�ger has knowledge that spans this universe. And yet, with all it�s pure logic, V�ger is barren, cold. No mystery, no beauty. I should�ve ... known ...
(on the V'ger Structure)
Kirk: V � G � E � R ... V�ger. (Kirk rubs scoring off of the nameplate) V-O-Y-A-G-E-R ... Voyager! ... Voyager 6.

Spock should've added, "And yet, with all it's pure logic, V'ger's planet is too dumb to rub off some carbon scoring."

By Adam Bomb on Monday, April 08, 2002 - 09:12 am:

The original plans were for there to be a hole that blasted out the letters o,y and a. Why they changed that, I don't know. A possible reason is that the producers did not want to deface the Voyager replica used (my theory alone.)
According to the DVD, the producers were offered a real Voyager from NASA, but declined.

By Brian Fitzgerald on Monday, April 08, 2002 - 11:06 am:

Also they wanted Kirk to wipe off the carbon scoring so that he could see that it said Voyager, kind of hard to wipe off a hole.

By Will on Monday, April 08, 2002 - 11:11 am:

Only if he wiped off the whole thing. :-)

By Adam Bomb on Monday, April 08, 2002 - 01:26 pm:

He would have drawn the O,Y and A over the hole with his index finger.

By Derf on Tuesday, May 07, 2002 - 01:02 am:

Here's the scene ...
Cleary: Transporter Room, come in, urgent! Red line on the transporter, Mr. Scott!!
Scotty: Transporter, do NOT engage!
Cleary: It�s too late, they�re beaming now! (Scotty and Kirk race to the Transporter Room.)
Rand: Do you read me, Starfleet? Override! Pull them back!!
Starfleet: Unable to retrieve their pattern, Enterprise!
Kirk: Give it to me. Starfleet, boost your matter gain. We need more signal! More signal!!
Scotty: We�re losing their pattern!
Rand: Oh, no! They�re forming! (The two persons caught in the beam flicker and disappear.)
Kirk: Starfleet, do you have them?!
Starfleet: Enterprise ... what we got back didn�t live long ... fortunately.
Kirk: Starfleet, Kirk. Please express my condolences to their families. Commander Sonak�s can be reached through the Vulcan Embassy. (to Rand) There�s nothing you could have done, Rand. It wasn�t your fault. (Kirk leaves Transporter Room)

The nit here is ...
WHY would Kirk exonerate Rand?? SHE pressed the "transport now" button when she MUST have known that the transporter was offline!
OR ... SCOTTY was to blame in the stead of Rand ... He didn't tell her that the transporter was offline!! (not likely)

By Lolar Windrunner on Tuesday, May 07, 2002 - 10:47 am:

It seemed to me that the act of engageing the transporter is what caused the red line surge sorta like blowing out a light bulb when you turn the lamp on. It does look like the red line hit before the transport but it was an awfully close thing as we don't know what exactly happened in the transporter room.

By Derf on Tuesday, May 07, 2002 - 02:27 pm:

Yeah, but that's exonerating Rand just because no-one said out-loud she "couldn't" transport ... that line of arguement just doesn't hold up. If Kirk had to transport to the "dry-dock" pads ... WHY-oh-WHY would Sonak/who-ever be killed because Cleary "jus-now" found a bad some-kinda-circuit-unit wrong with the transporter?

By Lolar Windrunner on Tuesday, May 07, 2002 - 10:32 pm:

They might have thought they had fixed it and then when they threw the power into the transport circuits boom. I know from having worked on computers that a circuit can sometimes test as ok and when you hit the power zap it frotzs. So the line of reasoning goes:
1: Kirk beams to spacedock because the transporters are out.
2: Transporter circuits are decalred repaired and set for beaming.
3: Kirk is in engineering when the next beam up occurs.
4: Zap.
Result two very inside out officers and a remorseful Rand. No-ones fault but some very bad timing/luck.

By Derf on Wednesday, May 08, 2002 - 02:09 pm:

Okay-den ... jus' wanted to stir up the dregs a little. I don't blame Rand either, but it's nice to have the captain/admiral/boyfriend let her off, too.

By Derf on Wednesday, May 08, 2002 - 02:12 pm:

I just noticed ... Starfleet DID say "unable to retrieve their pattern, Enterprise" ... so I guess it really WASN'T Rand's fault.

By Richard Davies on Saturday, May 25, 2002 - 03:01 pm:

I did read somewhere that the end titles for this film cost more than all the productions costs for Airplane! Is this true?

By Adam Bomb on Sunday, May 26, 2002 - 12:23 pm:

Unknown, Richard. "Airplane" cost about $3 million in 1980. I find it hard to believe that a relatively simple title display cost that much.

By Keith Alan Morgan (Kmorgan) on Saturday, August 31, 2002 - 04:48 am:

Been years since I've seen this last & have been kind of not looking forward to rewatching it because I remembered it as being slow, but it wasn't as bad as I was fearing.
(Although I was nitpicking it this time and those long effects shots did give me time to write down stuff without rushing. ;-)
Also the story worked better than I remembered.
Although I didn't care for that synthesizer-type instrument they used occasionally in the soundtrack.

Anyone else think that the new look of the Klingons was inspired by the Ogrons of Doctor Who? I think the main differences are that Ogrons are blue & they don't have brow ridges.

Why did the Vulcan elder drop the necklace & leave it?

Why was Scotty manning the transporter at the station? Shouldn't he be fixing the ship?

One of the panels on the space dock is labeled E 74th. A reverse 47!

It seems like the shuttle is beside the main body of the ship, going forward, but then they show Kirk looking over and then the shot cuts to the camera pasing the end of the ship.

There is a shot of some kind of vehicle (cargo carrier?) and the head looks kind of like the head of an Eagle from Space: 1999.

So why was Dekker captain instead of another crewman like say, Sulu?

Kirk orders the whole crew to meet on the Recreation deck for the briefing. Was it really necesary to have the whole crew stop what they were doing, like fixing the ship, just to schlep on down to the rec deck? Couldn't this information be broadcast on monitors around the ship?

Earlier Dekker said that there were no Vulcans available for science officer. However one shot of the crew on the rec deck has what appears to be a Vulcan standing there.
(Possible dialogue:
Kirk: Well, there's a Vulcan. Make him Science Officer.
Dekker: But then we'll have no one to clean the toilets, sir.)

Is this the first (& maybe only) time we hear of warp fractions below 1? I don't remember hearing it in any other movie or episode. I just thought they went from Impulse to Warp 1.

The wormhole is created by the imbalance in the ship's engines, then it's reported that an asteroid has been pulled inside. However the asteroid comes in front of the Enterprise. Shouldn't it come from behind the ship since that, presumably, would be the closest opening?

In the Classic Guide Phil wonders how Chekov got to the bridge since the last he saw Chekov had been down greeting Spock & he didn't see him leave the turbolift with Spock.
However the camera angle on the turbolift when Spock leaves it doesn't show the whole interior and the doors stay open until the camera cuts to another angle. So it's possible that Chekov could have been in the turbolift, his presence hidden by the angle, and just waited a bit to exit it, which he could have done off-camera.

Spock describes V'Ger as pure logic. However the Vulcan Elder said that the entity was calling out to Spock's human blood.

Why did the Intruder Alert sound before the probe came aboard?

Spock interlocks his fingers and smashes the console. Isn't that a good way to break your fingers?

Sonar readings? Why would a spaceship use sonar?

Given that Earth rotates around the sun, how does Kirk know that V'Ger is heading exactly for the third planet from the sun? Yes, earlier the Epsilon station reported it was headed to Earth, but that could just be a simple way of saying Earth system (& given V'Ger's size even a miss could affect Earth.) Up to this point how do they know that Earth was definitely V'Ger's goal? It could have been simply heading in the general direction of Earth, but had another goal in mind?

The Ilia-probe says that recreation has no meaning for V'Ger. Given the similarity of recreation to re-creation I found that interesting. Especially as V'Ger had been re-created & it definitely re-created Ilia.

So was the memory of the planet of living machines just information or did V'Ger absorb it as well?

Spock says that whole galaxies have been stored there. Really? Later Kirk theorizes that Voyager 6 had been sent to the far side of the galaxy, not to another galaxy. Also if it is absorbing other galaxies why did it stop before it got to the Milky Way?

Apparently Spock is not transmitting his findings to the ship. (There is no dialogue to this effect.) So for the ship to learn what he learned he has to go back somehow, but he dumped his thruster which would seem to make getting back difficult.

Why doesn't V'Ger understand the link between the 'carbon-units' & the Enterprise? Didn't it absorb Starfleet personnel already? Couldn't it have studied their thoughts and/or computer records to find out 'carbon-units' build ships? Doesn't V'Ger actually study the information it absorbs?
Also considering how many 'carbon-units' it must have encountered in spaceships, why couldn't it have figured this out?

Scotty thinks a matter/anti-matter explosion will destroy V'Ger. However since V'Ger generates more power than a hundred starships would one ship exploding even be noticed?

Spock says, "I wept for V'Ger as I wept for a brother." He wept for Sybok?

Kirk asks information on Voyager 6 from the ship's computer banks. Why would the ship's computer have this information? It would be better to contact Earth for this info.
However, Uhura later says that they have just recieved the information, which sounds to me like it was transmitted to them rather than calling it up from the ship's memory.

Amazingly, Dekker seems to know what sequence to key in although it didn't look like he had been monitoring anything to see what the sequence should be.

So did V'Ger transmit all that it had learned to Earth?

By ScottN on Saturday, August 31, 2002 - 10:59 am:

Is this the first (& maybe only) time we hear of warp fractions below 1? I don't remember hearing it in any other movie or episode.

I don't know if it was in the aired ep, but I seem to recall reading a command for fractional warp in the Blish version of Elaan of Troyius.

By Merat on Saturday, August 31, 2002 - 12:33 pm:

Why is Decker the captain and not Sulu? Because Decker IS a captain and Sulu is not. He took a temporary reduction in rank to Commander when Kirk took over.

By Josh M on Saturday, August 31, 2002 - 03:03 pm:

KAM: Why did the Vulcan elder drop the necklace & leave it?
It's probably part of the ritual. Spock didn't achieve Kolhinar (or however you spell it) so he doesn't get the necklace. She drops it so he can reflect on the fact that he did not reach it. Maybe. I don't know, I'm not an expert on Vulcan rituals. Are you KAM?

KAM: Earlier Dekker said that there were no Vulcans available for science officer. However one shot of the crew on the rec deck has what appears to be a Vulcan standing there.
I doubt that all Vulcans are science officers.

KAM: Spock says, "I wept for V'Ger as I wept for a brother." He wept for Sybok?
Doesn't he say that he weeps for V'Ger like he weeps for a brother?

KAM: Kirk asks information on Voyager 6 from the ship's computer banks. Why would the ship's computer have this information? It would be better to contact Earth for this info.
However, Uhura later says that they have just recieved the information, which sounds to me like it was transmitted to them rather than calling it up from the ship's memory.
Why wouldn't the ship's computer have this information. I'm guessing that those computers can store a lot. We have encyclopedias and information on our computers that would store information like Voyager 6 (if it existed)

By KAM on Sunday, September 01, 2002 - 03:53 am:

Doesn't he say that he weeps for V'Ger like he weeps for a brother?
Possibly. My handwriting was a little sloppy & I didn't feel like fast-forwarding the tape to double-check.

We have encyclopedias and information on our computers
On the hard disk itself or on a CD-ROM that can be installed when needed?
It just seemed to me to be an unnecesary bit of info to have on a starship.

I'm not an expert on Vulcan rituals. Are you KAM?
*Gives Josh M a Vulcan nerve pinch for being impudent.* ;-)

By Sophie on Sunday, September 01, 2002 - 05:37 am:

On the hard disk itself or on a CD-ROM that can be installed when needed?
It just seemed to me to be an unnecesary bit of info to have on a starship.

I assume that the ship would have complete libraries of information on hand, if not in main storage then in some future equivalent of a CD autochanger.

Storage is cheap. It would be a monumental task to work out what information was needed and what was not. I doubt anyone decided to put that information in the library; they just gave the ship everything they had.

And remember, "the best way to find whether you need something is to throw it away".

By KAM on Tuesday, September 03, 2002 - 07:18 am:

Storage is cheap.
You should read an old humorous SF story called MS FND IN A LBRY by Hal Draper which deals with the problems of storage.

By James T Burk on Sunday, September 15, 2002 - 09:44 am:

I like the film, but hate the uniforms. I get the feeling Decker is proud of his. Check out the scene where Kirk bumps into him in the corridor, just after he askes the Yeoman the way to the turboshaft. Heh heh heh..its just the way..heh heh heh..he might as well be a wearing tights...heh heh. I'm glad they got rid of those jumpsuits.

By ChrisJ on Sunday, September 15, 2002 - 10:01 am:

Additional: Maybe that's why Ilea's presence is rocking the boat. It should have been titled 'Star Trek: The Motion Trousers'!!!

By Anonymous on Monday, September 16, 2002 - 07:46 am:

Those uniforms were apparently really uncomfortable to wear. But your're right. With Ilea walking around with her skimpy robe it would cause all manner of problems!
I don't like this movie as much as the others. It's too slow paced, but i like the scene in the drydock. Enterprise has never looked so impressive.