At its long-delayed release, this big-screen version of the cult TV series was dubbed "The Slow Motion Picture". True, it is rather talky and the Enterprise crew does stand around looking awestruck a lot, yet it hits epic heights that fans can't fail to be moved by. Robert Wise, director of the classic The Day the Earth Stood Still, purposely went for 2001 grandeur rather than Star Wars mock heroics in an effort to give the beloved characters an enduring film career beyond their TV repeats. And it worked, as time has shown, despite the plot merely combining The Changeling and The Doomsday Machine episodes in one glorious space glob.

When an unidentified alien destroys three powerful Klingon cruisers, Captain James T. Kirk returns to the newly transformed U.S.S. Enterprise to take command.