The struggles of the special effects staff who created the movie “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” and what they left behind, Part 2

Publication and evaluation of completed works

Trumbull, Dijkstra and others completed the visual effects for Star Trek: The Motion Picture to the limit, and Paramount released it in December 1979, without even having time to preview the movie. After completing the work, Trumbull was hospitalized for one to two weeks with ulcers and a hiatal hernia. After being discharged from hospital, he closed down FGC as planned and replaced it with a subsidiary, EEG.

The box office result was $82.6 million, which is not bad, but considering the production cost of $35 million, it cannot be called a hit unless it exceeds $100 million. It was also not well received by critics, with many pointing out the poor tempo. In particular, the scene with Dry Dog floating in space is visually well done, but at five minutes it's clearly too long. Also, although there is a lot of time spent on the scenes in which the main cast members appear, it is difficult to understand the backgrounds of each character. This is a point where opinions are divided between fans of the TV series `` Space Mission '' (66-69) and those who have not seen it.

"Star Trek: The Motion Picture: Space Mission" preview

Furthermore, ``There are no heavy-duty action scenes, such as battle scenes,'' and ``Most of the movie has a laid-back atmosphere, as if we are endlessly touring inside Virjar, and there is no sense of tension that humanity may be wiped out.'' There were also criticisms such as ``It's lacking,'' and ``It's mainly visual effects and doesn't depict humans.''

What is the theme of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture"? *Note: Contains spoilers!