Wikipedia:Today's featured article/February 14, 2011

Star Trek: The Motion Picture is an American science fiction film released by Paramount Pictures. It is the first film based on Star Trek, a television series created by Gene Roddenberry (pictured left, with the show's cast). The series was cancelled in 1969. The success of Close Encounters of the Third Kind convinced Paramount that science fiction films other than Star Wars could do well at the box office, so the studio canceled production of the planned television series Star Trek: Phase II and turned Phase II's pilot episode into a film script. In the film, a mysterious and immensely powerful alien cloud called V'Ger approaches Earth, destroying everything in its path, and Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) assumes command of his old starship—the USS Enterprise—to save the planet and determine V'Ger's origins. Delays on set and in developing the film's optical effects caused the production cost to soar. Released in North America on December 7, 1979, Star Trek: The Motion Picture received mixed reviews from critics, many of whom criticized the film for its lack of action and over-reliance on special effects. The film earned $139 million worldwide, falling short of studio expectations but convincing Paramount to back a less expensive sequel. (more...)

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