The legacy of Star Trek movies is as complicated as it is diverse, but even then, there seems to be an overwhelming lack of love for 1979’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Most fans would believe that this franchise's cinematic life begins with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, as that first film is one of the most heavily criticized entries in the full lineup. Maybe that’s because, in the opinion of co-writer Harold Livingston, Gene Roddenberry was “a bastard.”
Those aren’t my words, as that story comes from my interview with documentarian and Trek fan Brian Volk-Weiss. While promoting his series Icons Unearthed for its current season on the stories behind the James Bond movies, we fell into a bit of a rabbit hole involving Starfleet’s juiciest secrets. Yes, this was the same conversation where William Shatner’s supposed anti-Kirstie Alley antics were discussed as well.
When speaking with me on behalf of CinemaBlend, Volk-Weiss also shared a particularly interesting story involving the legacy of the series’ storied creator. If you aren’t a particularly huge fan of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, some light bulbs might start go off as you read the following:
[Harold] Livingston is the guy who wrote Star Trek: The Motion Picture with Gene Roddenberry. My whole life, I've known that. I've seen him do interviews, you know, at the end of the DVD and, you know, I've seen panels and everything. I've never seen him be all excited, and say lovely things about Gene Roddenberry, and maybe we just got him on a bad day, but my God, did this guy hate Gene Roddenberry. And not only did he hate him as a human being, he hated his writing talent. … You sit down sometimes thinking you're gonna have a perfunctory interview. Like, ‘What was it like working with Gene Roddenberry? Oh, I loved him. He was the greatest guy in the world.’ And [Ron Livingston] was like, ‘That guy's a bastard.’
For someone who’s a huge Star Trek fan, Brian Volk-Weiss found himself dishing the dirt on Starfleet's finest. It was all a result of putting together The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek for the History Channel, a project that, much like Icons Unearthed, saw the director/executive producer nabbing stories that are more likely to be told on the convention floor.
It’s just a shame that, as the Behind the Attraction mastermind told me during our chat, those same tales are very likely to land on the cutting room floor of any official documentaries. But what does this hatred of Gene “Bastard” Roddenberry have to do with how Star Trek: The Motion Picture turned out?
That question can be answered by Volk-Weiss as well, as his recollections of Harold Livingston’s blunt feelings also included the following:
Harold was very analytical about it. So he was like, ‘Let me give you some examples. You know, in the movie how this happens?’, and I'm like, ‘Yeah,’ and he'll be like, ‘Well, this is what Gene wanted.’ And some of it was like, all right … they're both cool, but some of them were pretty bad ideas. So that always made me laugh.
While not noting the ideas that Gene had to spoil the fun, that story tracks with just how precious Roddenberry could be with his legacy creation. That sort of control led Star Trek: The Motion Picture arguably being be a bit over-indulgent and reverential of its source, which more than likely led to fans checking out after the fourth or fifth beauty shot in a row of Kirk's USS Enterprise.
Even after all of the chaos and fire that people like writer Harold Livingston supposedly suffered during its production, the first Star Trek picture still has its supporters. Future cuts and revisitations to the material have inspired folks like producer David Fein to remark why The Motion Picture is still worth watching, which only keeps the project alive in the profile of Trek fans new and old.
That, and let’s face it, there are a handful of people that still aren’t over the important/horrific transporter scene from the Director’s Edition. So having a moment like that attached to your picture's legacy certainly doesn't hurt.
Does Star Trek: The Motion Picture truly not work, or is it another unfairly maligned movie that’s waiting for the “good, actually” treatment? Personally, I don’t think it works, but I’ll admit it’s been years since I’ve seen the “Special, Longer Version” on VHS. Maybe in digging through the re-edits that have arrived in the decades since its release, I’ll find some new thoughts.
Or, like Harold Livingston, I might just see through the seams and be able to point out where Gene Roddenberry’s alleged bastardry truly shines through. I'm open to taking that trip again, just as I'll always be excited to hear more stories on how Star Trek was less like its utopian future at the most important and catastrophic times.
Fans of Brian Volk-Weiss’ documentary work are certainly spoiled for what to watch. Not only does he have Icons Unearthed: James Bond running every Wednesday on Vice, but Season 2 of Disney+’s Beyond The Attraction is set to debut for Disney Parks fans on November 1st. However, if you’re hungry for more Star Trek dirt than you can shake a bat'leth at, The Center Seat is currently streaming for those with access to either a Peacock subscription, or Pluto TV.
