Star Trek's First Movie Is Really All About Spock

Leonard Nimoy's Spock is the true hero of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, in more ways than one. With its premiere in 1979, Star Trek: The Motion Picture brought Star Trek to the big screen for the first time. Despite a solid performance at the box office, the film received mixed reviews and underperformed for Paramount Studios creative to its exorbitant budget. Set years after the events of Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Motion Picture sees Starfleet facing a massive threat from an alien entity known as V'ger.

After Starfleet assigns Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) to oversee the mission to intercept V'ger, he takes over command of the newly retrofitted USS Enterprise. Captain Will Decker (Stephen Collins), who had been chosen as the new Enterprise Captain, remains on board as the First Officer. The Enterprise takes on a new navigator, Lieutenant Ilia (Persis Khambatta), who has a romantic history with Decker. Kirk also recruits his former Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley), pulling him out of retirement. But missing from the Enterprise's launch is Spock, who is the key to Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Spock's Connection To V'Ger Is The Key to Saving Earth

Spock Stops V'Ger From Destroying Earth Just In Time

At the start of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Spock is on Vulcan undergoing the emotion-purging ritual known as kolinahr. When he begins receiving telepathic signals from V'ger, Spock leaves Vulcan and catches up to Admiral Kirk and the USS Enterprise. Soon after his arrival, Spock helps repair the ship's engines after an incident with a wormhole, allowing the Enterprise to travel at warp speed. Spock then speaks with Kirk and Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) about the powerful and logical consciousness he sensed from V'ger. Spock continues receiving signals from V'ger and eventually discovers that the entity has been trying to contact Enterprise.

Spock is able to decode this message and respond to V'ger seconds before the entity destroys the ship, and with it, any chance of saving Earth. Later, Spock goes rogue and travels to the heart of the cloud surrounding V'ger in order to mind-meld with the entity. Spock learns that V'ger is a sentient being from a planet of machines and that it has no concept of emotion. Throughout Star Trek: The Motion Picture, almost every important revelation about V'ger comes from Spock. Spock's connection with V'ger ultimately saves Earth, highlighting his importance to the Star Trek timeline.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture Gave Spock Back His Humanity

Spock Has A Beautiful Emotional Arc In The Motion Picture

Throughout Star Trek: The Original Series, Spock struggled to reconcile his human emotions with Vulcan logic. By the time of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, he has decided to purge his emotions entirely and fully embrace logic. V'ger has other plans, however. When Spock hears V'ger calling out to him, he thinks it may hold the answers he seeks. Upon arriving on the Enterprise, Spock responds with cold indifference when his friends greet him. They are pleasantly surprised that Spock has returned to the Enterprise, but he barely even acknowledges them in return.

In V'ger's lack of emotion, Spock finds the truth he had been searching for.

Spock warms up as the film progresses, but his true transformation comes after he mind melds with V'ger. V'ger's massive consciousness renders Spock unconscious, but when he revives on the Enterprise, he cannot help but smile. In melding with V'ger, Spock found a being that is pure logic. In effect, V'ger has achieved what Spock has spent his life striving for. And yet, V'ger, too, is seeking answers about its purpose. Spock recalls that "V'ger is barren, cold, no mystery, no beauty," with "no meaning" or "hope," and "no answers." In V'ger's lack of emotion, Spock finds the truth he had been searching for.

 

How The Star Trek: The Motion Picture's Director's Edition Makes Spock's Storyline Stronger

The Director's Edition Also Makes The Film Feel Less Meandering

Released on VHS and DVD in 2001, Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Director’s Edition allowed the original director, Robert Wise, to rework the film into something closer to his original vision. Not only does the Director's Edition of Star Trek: The Motion Picture look amazing, but it also incorporates several extended scenes, including a particularly important one involving Spock. As the Enterprise approaches the center of the cloud surrounding V'ger, Spock weeps for V'ger, noting that: "As I was when I came aboard, so is V'Ger now, empty, incomplete, searching. Logic and knowledge are not enough."

This scene encapsulates Spock's Star Trek journey (and would have been a perfect ending for the character if the films had not continued). After decades of searching, Spock finally realizes that rejecting all emotion is not the answer. This scene also underscores V'ger's "mission" and raises the question of how Kirk and his crew will answer the entity's philosophical questions. In the end, V'ger merges with Ilia and Decker (combining its logic with their emotion) and becomes a new life form. By the end of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Spock acknowledges that his "task on Vulcan is completed" and he remains with his friends on the Enterprise.