Movie Musings: The Strange Journey of the Star Trek Films - Part 1

Part One - The Original Series Cast

"So a Klingon, a Romulan and a Vulcan walk into
a bar..."

It is hard to argue Star Trek's legacy within pop culture. It’s characters and universe have endured almost as long as James Bond.  Every time I think we can count the franchise as down and out, along comes a new incarnation to bring it back to whole new group of fans yearning to explore strange new worlds.

One of the interesting things about the franchise is that its longevity is due in large part to the success of the feature films that were released starting in 1979 with StarTrek: The Motion Picture. While the television series is where the franchise started, if the films were not as successful as they were, Star Trek would be a fondly remembered relic of the 1960s.  In addition, we can see how Paramount, the studio that owns Star Trek, feels about the series depending on how they approach the films.

I think Decker wants his chair back.

In this two part blog, I’ll take a look at the ways the films were impacted by and impacted the franchise, and why they are important to its legacy. I won’t be going into too much detail on my thoughts on the films, but I will discuss critical reception (and perception of that reception) and how that affected the films.

The original series ended in 1969 after three seasons. While it was popular among science fiction fans, it never really exploded in popularity during its run. Instead Star Trek got syndicated and that is where the fanbase really started to grow. During the 1970s it was hard to avoid a rerun of Star Trek and even growing up in the 1980s, it felt like the series was always around.

Wait! There was a cat girl in Star Trek the Animated
Series! Sign me up!

An animated series followed in 1973 and 1974 that expanded the voyages a little bit, and allowed the writers to take the series in directions that would have been impossible with live action.  All this exposure of Star Trek in the 70s inspired Paramount to look into creating a new series of adventures with the same crew for Phase II. Production started and then a little movie called Star Wars erupted onto the screens, and suddenly Paramount shifted gears to turn Star Trek into a film franchise.

The increased the budget to a whopping 35 million dollars (of 1970s money). They pulled in acclaimed director Robert Wise and got their marketing into high gear. This was the turning point. If Star Trek: The Motion Picture was a failure, than the franchise was dead.

The moons of Vulcan are affecting her mind!

Critical and general response was average. But the combined fanbase of the 60s and 70s had been thirsting for new Star Trek adventures, and they went back to the theaters over and over again to see the film. For all it’s faults The Motion Picture has a huge visual scope, impressive visual effects and a wonderful soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith. Seeing it in the theater is a real experience (one I actually had the pleasure of revisiting in 2012). There was also a frenzy of interest in space adventures because of Star Wars, so I bet a lot of little kids dragged their parents to see the film. In the end, the Motion Picture was a financial success.

Paramount felt confident in continuing the series as a film franchise, and moved forward producing Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. But they reduced the budget to a little over 11 million, and asked director Nicholas Meyer to make sure there was more action in the film (a criticsm of the previous film they wanted to avoid). Meyere delivered a film that is more visceral, goes back to the roots of the original series, and cranks up the action with some excellent visual effects and high stakes. The Wrath of Khan was an immediate hit, with excellent critical response and fan approval. It also did very well on VHS, a new medium that studios were just beginning to explore in 1982.

"Is that a giant worm in your hand, or are you just
happy to see me?"

So Paramount kept the same focus when it came to The Search for Spock in 1984. Once again the budget was increased to 17 million. But the focus on characters and the quest to bring Spock back to life helped pull viewers in the theaters to find out how it was all going to shake out. Director Leonard Nimoy obviously knew the series inside and out, and crafted a solid follow up to the previous movie. The film got average critical response and most people enjoyed it well enough. But the film had a dark undertone that surprised many viewers.

Do you think he's using colorful metaphors here?

Gears were shifted in the storytelling for the next film, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Nimoy was back at the helm and the budget was given a bit of a boost (to 25 million) for some really impressive visual effects by Industrial Light and Magic. But the script involving time travel, saving the whales, and the crew interacting with the denizens of San Francisco circa 1986 was a blast. It was a fun movie with plenty of laughs and adventure all mixed together. Critical response was full of praise. But it was the success of the film with a wider audience that gave Paramount a view of what a successful Star Trek franchise could be. This was the most financial successful Star Trek film until the reboot in 2009.

In 1987, Star Trek: The Next Generation arrived on television screens. It was a new cast, new starship, hell it was a new century! Paramount understood that in order for the franchise to continue it would need to evolve. To do this, they needed to inject it with new blood creatively. Obviously the film franchise was still profitable, but a new television series could create new fans and lead to a new series of films.

It is like that Depeche Mode song, reach out and touch
face.

1989 brought the first good season of The Next Generation after its rocky start over the first two seasons. Meanwhile Paramount attempted to strike gold in the theaters again with William Shatner directing Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Unfortunately the film was plagued with production issues, and arguments over the direction and tone of the script. Shatner wanted to go darker and more intense. Paramount wanted to keep it light and fun. The end result was a film that was critical and financial failure. Fans disliked the film for a whole host of reasons and rumor is that even Gene Roddenberry felt the film was not part of the official cannon. The movie also had the unfortunate release during one of the most crowded years in movie history. Batman, Ghostbusters 2, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Back to the Future Part 2 were all battling for seats in the multiplexes. Someone had to lose and Star Trek “won” that honor. While it did eventually recoup it's 28 million dollar budget, no one was really pleased with the final film.

"No, it's not Tribbles. The joke only works if
the Klingon asks the bartender first."

This did set off alarms at Paramount. They wondered if the aging cast was losing their audience appeal. But they also learned some lessons. Budget cutting your special effects heavy films is not a good option. So they turned back to Nicholas Meyer who did so well with The Wrath of Khan to helm Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. In a cunning bit of synergy, the plot for the film directly impacted events in The Next Generation episodes Unification with Nimoy making a special appareance as Spock in the two-part adventure. Meyer brought back high stakes, tension and excitement to the series. The plot was inspired by world events, and with the increased budget (to 30 million) the movie looked great. Meyer’s script balances humor and tension better than the previous film did. Even with all that, the movie was also declared the final voyage of the full cast from The Original Series. All those elements stirred together made The Undiscovered Country a critical and financial success in 1991.  It was a win for Paramount and the franchise. But everyone knew it was time to switch gears.

In part two of this post, I take a look at the trails and Tribble-ations of the films featuring the case of The Next Generation and Beyond...

"Just imagine it. We are all animated, and there's
a cat girl in a red uniform! That is my vision."

Chopping Mall (1986)

Introduction:

Ok, it is called Chopping Mall, it was made in the 80s and the VHS box cover art had a severed head in a shopping bag. How the heck was I supposed to resist that? Well, I never did get around to watching it back in the day. But when I saw it available for streaming I knew my quest for a cheesy movie to watch that weekend was at an end. But was I going to regret this little trip to the mall?

Summary:

Mall security could use an upgrade and why not look to some A.I. to help out. Sounds good until a freak storm causes the programming for the three robotic mall cops to go on a killing spree. These guys are bullet proof, have the ability to electrocute victims and shoot sleeping darts. Oh, and since this is the 80s they can also shoot multi-colored energy beams from their eyes. If you happen to be a topless teen this will make your head explode. No, I’m not kidding.

Speaking of teens, some employees at a furniture store decide to stay after hours and have a sex party. There are the goody goody ones that don’t even kiss, so you know they will live. But the rest are all fodder for the rampaging robots. Keep your eyes open for scream queen Barbara Crampton and everyman Dick Miller as they try to survive a night in the Chopping Mall.

Good Points:

• Packed the brim with 80s clothing, lingo, hair and robots – 80s ROBOTS!
• Starts with an interesting premise and some hints at amusing parody
• Some of the kills are pretty graphic and entertaining

Bad Points:

• Never commits to scares or laughs and ends up doing neither
• Runs out of steam about halfway through due to the uninteresting characters
• Didn’t use the mall to the full advantage (probably for budget reasons)

Overall:

This could have been better all the way around. It isn’t scary. It isn’t all that funny. But it hints at trying to do both. The characters are paper-thin and do some really stupid things (par the course for this type of movie). And while it was neat to see the same mall from Commando again, they just didn’t do too much with it, probably for fear of property damage. That said the 80s robots are fun in a retro way, and some of the kills and strategies to stop the robots are clever. Fans of cheesy films will get a kick out of the all out 80s onslaught. But this is more of a rental than a hidden gem.

Scores (out of 5)

Visuals: 4

Sound: 3

Acting: 3

Script: 2

Music: 3

Direction: 2

Entertainment: 3

Total:  3

Curious about a full review, sent me an email and I’ll make additional thoughts to this review.

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Favorite Scenes - Castle in the Sky - Postcredit Sequence

The film opens with a pre credit sequence with Sheeta in an airship, obviously being escorted against her will by the urbane Muska. The airship comes under attack by Dola and her pirates. Musk and his men attempt to defend their position, but will the battle rages Sheeta escapes by climbing out the window of the airship. Muska's men try to stop her but instead she panics and falls plummeting into the clouds below and fainting along the way. Then the credits begin...

The credits end showing Sheeta in her homeland before she is abducted by Muska (although we don't know that yet). What is great about the rest of this sequence is that it gives us a little taste of everything Castle in the Sky is about in the first few minutes.

We get this gorgeous shot of the night clouds and something falling between them bathed in moonlight.

Sheets falls unconscious and helpless.

Then her amulet explodes with a brilliant and mysterious light, brighter and more powerful than the moonlight.

The mysterious power slows her decent and causes her to float slowly in a prone position.

We see her small form contrasted to the huge clouds.

The angle switches again and we see her floating toward lights on the ground, a village of some kind.

The sequence then moves to introduce our other protagonist. We get a better view of Pazu's village.

We see that even at night the village is bustling with activity. It also enforces the setting beyond the airships we saw in the pre credit sequence. This time feels 1800s.

Suddenly we are inside one of the shops and bathed in warm light and warm colors (in sharp contrast to the cool blues and greys we saw as Sheeta fell).  Sheets was isolated and alone, but Pazu is part of a community.

Pazu is heading to work when he sees the glimmer of a falling star, but no, it is too bright to be a shooting star and it is floating so slowly.

Pazu realizes he can maybe catch the falling object if he runs, so he chases after this falling star. Notice how Pazu has left the warmth of his community and entered the cool darkness to meet Sheeta.

As he gets closer he realizes that this is not a star, but a person. He hurries even faster over the ruined landscape.

Sheeta is falling into an enormous crevasse. Pazu races around the edge of this dark pit. At first you wonder if he is on some kind of battle field. The ruins and pits seem to indicate that.

But the camera switches and we see that this is a huge mine! More of the industrial technology is visible and adds another layer to the setting. But the ruins we saw a few seconds ago hint at some kind of war or battle, and we learn later in the film that Goliath and the military rule this land with an iron grip.

Pazu is able to reach Sheeta as she floats down near a plank extending from a giant gear.

Pazu catches her floating form and seems a bit uncertain about what to do with this sleeping cute girl that just fell from the sky.

We see Sheeta as he does. Is she some kind of angel and why is her amulet glowing? She's so light!

And then the amulet stops glowing and Sheeta's full weight is revealed. We get this humorous moment where Pazu struggles to keep from tumbling into the mine. A bit of cartoon physics is employed to keep our heroes from plummeting.

Pazu manages to retain his balance and place Sheeta in a safer platform. He even puts his vest over her inert form to keep her warm.

He then rushes off into the mine to help his boss work the steam powered elevator.

This scene is a great examination in how to tell a little about your characters, introduce more of the world they inhabit and getting the mystery and adventure all started. The amazing thing is that there is very little speaking in this scene. Pazu wonders a few things to himself (and in the English dub he monologues quite a bit), but the mystery and wonder of this scene are really carried by Joe Hisaishi's score (I shared the music for this scene in my Anime Juke Box for Castle in the Sky. 

A scene like this seems so simple and easy, but we don't see too many movies (live action or animated) rely on such clear and yet descriptive visual storytelling. Miyazaki really knows how to get a movie started.

The ads aren't as visually impressive as this film, but click one any way.

Castle in the Sky (1986)

Introduction:

Two years after his massive post-apocalyptic science fiction adventure Nausicaaof the Valley of the Wind , director Hayao Miyazaki brought a different kind of adventure to the big screen. This turned out to be a unique film in many ways. It looks into Miyazaki’s past work and also gives us a glimpse of the future. In so many ways Castle in the Sky plays like a greatest hits of Miyazaki’s work, before he had even completed enough work to create a greatest hits. But a greatest hits film from one of the masters of animation means we have a pretty good movie to look at.

Summary:

In a world very similar to ours during the industrial revolution a young man named Pazu (James Van Der Beek) is toiling away as an engineer’s apprentice. His job is to keep the mining machines in good order.  But his ordinary day is interrupted so he can catch a glowing girl who falls from the sky! Her name is Sheeta (Anna Paquin). She tells Pazu that she is being pursued by dangerous sky pirates lead by the notorious Dola (Cloris Leachman) and a sinister government agent Muska (Mark Hamill).

Pazu decides to help Sheeta evade both parties, and the two find themselves falling in an out of peril. They’ll delve into the depths of the mysterious mines, fly in soaring airships, do battle with pirates and even encounter a bizarre robot. This mechanical being is supposedly from the famed floating city of Laputa. And Sheeta may be the only person alive who is able to unlock the mystery of this legendary land. But is the secret of The Castle in the Sky a blessing or a curse?

Good Points:

• An amazing world visualized in both production design and sweeping action
• A powerful symphonic score by Joe Hisaishi
• Maintains a fun action packed adventure feel through the whole film

Bad Points:

• Can go from dramatic to incredibly goofy at the drop of a hat
• The original score may contain too many 80s synths for some viewers
• Tries to do too many things and ends up losing some of its impact

Overall:

After the dark mythic saga of Nausicaa, Miyazaki went for something more fun and light. He creates a memorable steampunk world before steampunk was even a thing. Pazu and Sheeta are delightful characters you immediately care about. Their adventures and perils are entertaining and well realized. But the movie seems to shift from pure adventure to slapstick comedy a few too many times. There are so many elements in play that no one part ends up really sticking. As a result, I always enjoy watching the film, but it is one that I tend to forget about when I want to revisit a Miyazaki film.

Scores (out of 5)

Visuals: 5

Sound: 4

Acting: 4

Script: 4

Music: 4

Direction: 4

Entertainment: 4

Total:  4

In Depth Review

Gulliver never had an adventure like this.

This is a strange movie for me. I know it has a lot of fans and some folks consider it one of the best in Studio Ghibli and Miyazaki’s filmography (something that can be said of nearly every movie in that filmography). Castle in the Sky is a movie that is filled with great ideas and is a lot of fun to watch, but lacks sticking power. As you can see from my ratings there is nothing particularly wrong with it. If this movie was presented by another studio it may be considered a classic. But when placed in the same group as Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and My Neighbor Totoro it ends up falling into the shadows.

I think I know why that might be, but before I delve into that, let’s take a look at the film in all its parts.

The little red engine that could.

Like Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind before it, Castle in the Sky is a marvel of design and visual splendor. Miyazaki takes us to a world in the middle of their industrial revolution and pushes the concepts to some interesting places. The mining town Pazu lives in is inspired by coalmines in Wales. In fact much of costume design and settings in this film are based on a very European look. Miyazaki started this with Castle of Cagliostro and could continue using this visual approach up to Howl’s Moving Castle. The mining town is built in and around deep crags in the earth. There are plenty of steam-powered machines around, including a plucky little train that is used in one of the many chase scenes of the film.

The first portion of the film keeps us on the ground and then deep inside of the earth as Pazu and Sheeta escape into an abandoned mine. This underworld scene is filled unique visuals, including glowing rocks and enormous caverns. It reminds me of the world under the toxic forest in Nausicaa.

Dola's pirate ship has a beak!

But Castle in the Sky really takes off when we hit the skies. Muska and his government forces use enormous war dirigibles that wouldn’t be out of place in Nausicaa either. The sky pirates, commanded by the grouchy Dola, have unique insect and bird inspired vehicles they operate. Then you have the enormous and visually stunning flying island of Laputa itself.

While the name of the flying island comes from Jonathon Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, the design doesn’t look like it came from the age of reason. The technology we see at work in Laputa contrasts to the steam and gear powered machines used in the rest of the film. Laputa is a world powered by nature and by some kind of unique energy source found in the mysterious stones that Sheeta can activate. Is this some kind of biological connection to the earth that the people of Laputa were able to wield? It is never explained. Visually it makes for such a difference: clean and vibrant compared to the coal and smoke we see earlier.

The airship Goliath searches for trouble.

Once again Miyazaki’s fascination with flight is on full display. He uses many of the visual styles and techniques for the thrilling dogfights in Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind and expands on them. Castle in the Sky is filled to bursting with intense aerial action. All of it looks great and is so impressive for hand drawn animation from 1986.

Equally impressive are the chase scenes in the first portion of the film. Many of these remind me strongly of his fun car chase scene that opens Castleof Cagliostro. There is a mix of intense speed, cartoon physics and surprising maneuvers that keep everything light and frothy, but also keep the momentum moving.

Sheets and Pazu take a quick break from the various
perils.

That is one of the keys to Castle in the Sky. The movie moves at a brisk pace, jumping from one adventure and set piece to the next. There are few moments where things slow down, such as when Sheeta is captured by Muska, or when Pazu and Sheeta explore Laputa for the first time. Miyazaki is known for a leisurely pace in most of his films. With this movie falling into the action adventure category he makes sure something exciting is always happening or about to happen.

When it comes to sound effects, this film does a solid job. Most of what you hear is real world sound. It helps ground the viewer and gives weight to the film. In fact many of the machines in the movie feel more realistic because of the sound design for them. The only place where we get unusual sound is for Laputa and its unique technology.

The wonders of the underground cavern are revealed.

In 1986 Studio Ghibil wasn’t yet the powerhouse of animation that it would become after the release of My Neighbor Totoro. As such they didn’t have the budget for a full symphonic score. Miyazaki turned to his collaborator for Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind, Joe Hisaishi to bring Castle in the Sky to life. But with a tight budget he had to rely heavily on synths. In most cases this wouldn’t be a problem, but with a film so rooted visually in late 1800s it feels natural to have something a bit more orchestral.

Is the robot an enemy or a protector?

In a way it doesn’t really matter. Hisaishi crafted some wonderful music for Castle in the Sky. His main theme for the film is one of his most beautiful pieces, and he uses it throughout the film, adding a feeling of wonder to many key scenes. The postcredit scene would not be as impactful without this theme and this performance. When Disney obtained the rights to release Castle in the Sky with a new dub, they brought in Hisaishi to rework the score with a full orchestra and add an additional 50 minutes of music. They wanted to give this film a theatrical release after they released Princess Mononke in theaters in 1997. They felt a symphonic score would add to the grandeur of the film.  I have to say in many ways they were right. For the most part the new score backs the action really well. There are a few moments where the score seems to be a bit too much. But Hisashi is a lot like James Horner, he always goes for the emotion, and he usually goes big. On DVD you can hear the original synth score if you watch with the Japanese dub, and hear the symphonic if you watch the English Dub.

Muska's greed endangers everyone on Laputa.

Speaking of the dub, well it is a bit controversial. As I mentioned the movie moves pretty quickly and you may find it difficult to keep up with the subtitles. But if you pick the English dub you’ll notice right away that Pazu and Sheeta sound a bit older than the characters look. Disney opted to have them dubbed as pre-teens, and in Japanese they are obviously children. In addition, the English dub has a lot of the background characters providing a lot of additional chatter (especially during the sky pirate scenes). Some of it is pretty amusing, but the result is a noisy dub (something that Kiki’s Delivery Service also suffers from). Disney eventually stopped trying to overcook the English dubs. Honestly I’m not sure this a deal breaker to anyone but anime fans. It is a solid dub, and Mark Hamill provides an excellent performance as the dastardly Muska. Plus you get the gorgeous symphonic score with the English dub.

That said, a well informed reader, Jon, informed me that Disney made some changes to later releases of Castle in the Sky on DVD. The first DVD release (from 2004) contains both the original Japanese and English dub as it was first released (with the symphonic score). The 2010 Region 1 release drops the symphonic score and cuts a lot of the added chatter to bring the dub script closer to the Japanese. But other regions retain the symphonic score but contain the de-chattered dub. The Disney Blu-ray is also missing the symphonic score. So if you want to see the film with that version of the score, you might want to seek out the 2004 DVD release.

Sheets and Pazu discover another puzzle on the
castle in the sky.

Castle in the Sky was the first official film from Studio Ghibli. As such Miyazaki needed this to be a success so he could continue his path to creating a major animation studio. His approach was to craft an adventure film the whole family could enjoy. Nausicaa was a visually impressive film with overtones of darkness and a heavy mythological and ecological message. Miyazaki wanted to keep things more fun and light, but still include an ecological theme to the movie (something that appears in nearly all of his movies in some form). In addition, he also wanted to comment on human desire to advance technology no matter the cost.

The final result is a script that has a great adventure at its heart, and one that carries the film forward with great skill. But it has too many underlying themes that end up fighting for attention and a place in the final product. This makes the movie vary in tone. One minute we are goofing around with sky pirates and cracking silly jokes. The next we are talking about civilization destroying weapons and subjugating nature.

The power Sheeta channels is what Muska wants
most!

Muska is a real nasty character, one that will threaten innocent people and children to get what he wants. Castle of Cagliostro had a similar issue, but I think it worked better because the main characters were all rogues and most of them were adults. The danger and the cartoon humor was odd, but it didn’t’ seem wrong. But when you put children in real danger all the cartoon slapstick feels out of place to me. This kind of wild tone shift would be toned down in future films. But I think that Castle in the Sky could have used a tighter script. As amazing as the visuals are, they end up being the part of the film I always remember most, and story just kind of slips away.

Is destruction the only solution to the power within
Laputa?

What struck me during this viewing was how much of this film would create seeds that would spring up into full bloom in later Miyazaki films. The theme of humankind’s use and abuse of nature would be a key focus of Princess Mononoke. The amazing airship battles and rollicking fisticuffs would return in Porco Russo. Sheeta looks like a prototype for Kiki of Kiki’s Deliver Service. Elements of Laputa and the airships would appear in Howl’s Moving Castle. The giant tree in Laputa could be related to the giant tree in My Neighbor Totoro. Dola looks like she could related to Yubaba from Spirited Away. The crazy train chase could be a prototype for the crazy drive up the island in Ponyo. I already pointed out how many elements of the film seem to drift over from Castle of Cagliostro and Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. In a lot of ways, this is the ultimate grab bag of Miyazaki visual style.

Sheets and Pazu escape by skydiving! Is Coleman
Francis directing this scene?

Maybe it is because he put so many interesting ideas into one movie that Castle in the Sky feels fun but never really gels together. Going forward I feel Miyazaki would channel his creativity into a much narrower focus. He’d craft a solid story, with only a couple of underlining themes. He’d ensure that the visuals support the story instead of crafting set pieces to build a story around (which is what this feels like sometimes). The result of this focus would come in his next film, the one that turned Studio Ghibli into one of the most popular animation studios in Japan and the one that really made Miyazaki a household name in Japan: My Neighbor Totoro.

Pazu may just be a kid, but he is a hell of a
mechanic.

Pazu offers his help to young Kiki... I mean Sheeta.

Dola and her goofy pirates prepare for revenge!

Muska tries to use gifts and courteous words to get
Sheets to help him find and claim Laputa.

But his intentions are far from pure. He is after power
and this robot hints at plenty.

Sheets is always ready to roll up her sleeves and get
to work.

Sheets and Pazu discuss the possibilities that
Laputa offers.

There is a very good reason this doorway looks like
a coffin.

Pazu and Sheeta fly off into a new adventure!

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