Timeline for Why is there a long star field sequence at the beginning of “Star Trek: The Motion Picture?”
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
16 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Aug 28, 2022 at 19:32 | comment | added | Mark Ransom | @ThePhoton you're right, I forgot about the uneven rollout of cable. I know our little suburb got it long before the big city we were next to, because of all the politics involved with granting a monopoly to such a large captive audience. | |
| Aug 28, 2022 at 18:04 | history | edited | Giacomo1968 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Clarifying the role of cable and video rentals in 1979 was like. It was simply not common back then.
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| Aug 28, 2022 at 17:56 | comment | added | The Photon | @MarkRansom, cable existed in 1979, but as far as I know it was only in select cities. The places I lived didn't get it until a few years (almost a decade for the most rural places) later. | |
| Aug 28, 2022 at 17:52 | comment | added | Mark Ransom | @JRE I'm with you. In 1979 our family had cable, and a movie channel was included in the basic package. Every month there would be a new selection of movies, repeated multiple times so you'd always get a chance to see everything. And we weren't rich. | |
| Aug 27, 2022 at 16:01 | comment | added | SusanW | Rewatching it now, I'd agree with ponderous. But I remember seeing it in the cinema when I was a teenager, and the sheer scale of the Enterprise during the "Kirk Arrives" scene, and then later the vast size of the V'Ger ship against the minuscule Enterprise was breathtaking. I went home and told my long-suffering mother all about it in breathless detail. I was pretty surprised when I later heard that it had received negative criticism. Watching now, it's obvious why: very indulgent, yes, quite weak. But back then, I'd never seen anything like it. | |
| Aug 27, 2022 at 13:18 | comment | added | nasch | I think the tangent is actually the most important part. This was a TV episode script made into a movie; they had to find ways to pad the length. | |
| Aug 26, 2022 at 21:25 | comment | added | SpaceWolf1701 | @Yorik And I was referring to pictures in the 1950s and '60s, when the Epic Film with the overture, the Intermission, and Exit Music were in their heyday. One or two trailers MAYBE, depending, and then the film. Plus you had roadshow versions where you'd have an intermission inserted into a film that might not have it to begin with (like they do with the Lord of the Rings extended editions or the director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven, which is explicitly referred to as a roadshow version in my answer's link). Those were intended from the get-go to seem more upscale, like an opera or a ballet. | |
| Aug 26, 2022 at 18:53 | comment | added | Yorik | In 1979, excepting a few trailers, there were no ads | |
| Aug 26, 2022 at 17:57 | history | edited | Giacomo1968 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Clarifying the TV part. Yeeesh!
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| Aug 26, 2022 at 17:42 | comment | added | user | I think they were going for a "2001" style with the long slow special effects shots. By the time it was released moviegoers had moved beyond that spectacle and preferred faster action shots. | |
| Aug 26, 2022 at 16:51 | comment | added | JRE | The intro to a movie wasn't there for people to get into the theater and find a seat. By the time the intro started, everybody was already there and had already sat through the advertisements. The intro was when you settled down and started paying attention - the advertisements were done and the movie was starting. | |
| Aug 26, 2022 at 16:47 | comment | added | JRE | There were movies on TV "back in the olden days" of the 1970s. It's not like there was nothing to watch. When I was a kid in the 1970s, Friday night was movie and popcorn night at home in front of the TV. | |
| Aug 26, 2022 at 16:13 | history | edited | Giacomo1968 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Minimizing stuff to separate it from the core answer.
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| Aug 26, 2022 at 16:06 | comment | added | jeffronicus | The editorializing doesn't help the answer and is somewhat contradicted by the demand for the Director's Cut, the remaster, and a theatrical rerelease earlier this year. | |
| Aug 26, 2022 at 15:54 | history | edited | Giacomo1968 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Adding more details.
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| Aug 26, 2022 at 15:14 | history | answered | Giacomo1968 | CC BY-SA 4.0 |