Star Trek  The Motion Picture (1979)

"V'Ger expects an answer..."

In deep space, a trio of Klingon warbirds encounters a vast cloud approaching their space. They move to attack the phenomenon but are all destroyed by high-energy beams discharged by the cloud. The encounter is monitored by Starfleet's Epsilon IX monitoring station and they are able to get a good look at the advancing cloud and are able to determine its course - it's heading straight for Earth.

Meanwhile, on Vulcan, Spock is preparing himself for the ceremony of Kolinahr, a ritual meant to purge Vulcans of any remaining traces of emotion. But his studies are interrupted when he detects a psychic call from somewhere in space. To the dismay of his high priestess and the Vulcan Masters, Spock decides to abandon Kolinahr - the priestess mind melds with Spock and tells him that the consciousness touching him from space has stirred his human blood and that the answers he seeks are not to be found on Vulcan.

In San Francisco, Admiral Kirk arrives at Starfleet headquarters and is greeted by Commander Sonak, the new Vulcan science officer aboard the Enterprise. The ship has undergone a major 18-month refit and is still being tested. Kirk announces his intentions to be aboard the Enterprise when it leaves spacedock. The Enterprise transporters are still playing up so Kirk has to travel to the ship aboard a travel pod with Scott, who complains about the amount of time he has to complete his work. Scott takes Kirk on a lengthy tour around the newly refitted Enterprise. Once aboard, Kirk heads for the bridge where chaos reigns - technicians are still trying to piece together the final repairs and upgrades. Kirk is greeted by Uhura, Sulu and Chekov and he tells them that the 'intruder' is being monitored by Epsilon IX. Sulu tells him that Captain Decker "doesn't know" and Kirk heads off to engineering to find him.

Decker has been in command of the Enterprise throughout its refit, on Kirk's recommendation, but now Kirk has to tell him that he is taking over command. He wants Decker to stay on as Executive Officer. Decker isn't happy, but has no choice but to accept the situation, though he remains suspicious about Kirk's motives, knowing that he was prepared to do anything to get his old command back.

A fault in engineering causes problems with the transporters and Kirk, Rand and Scott are unable to save two crewmen, one of whom is Sonak, who were trying to beam aboard. Starfleet reports that what they got back didn't live long. Kirk is visibly upset over the loss and, trying to find his way round the new Enterprise, gets lost. He encounters Decker and tells him that he will now have to double as science officer.

Kirk assembles the crew of the Enterprise and shows them the images recorded by the Epsilon IX station of the Klingon ships being destroyed by the cloud. The aliens are now only four days away from Earth and only the Enterprise stands in its way. They receive a priority call from the Epsilon IX station and the crew watches as the station is destroyed by whatever is inside the cloud after they try to scan it.

While making final preparations for the launch of the Enterprise, Lt Ilia, the new Deltan navigator, comes aboard. She knew Decker from when he was stationed on her home planet many years before. Cryptically, she tells Kirk that her oath of celibacy is on record. Another crewmember is due on board, but Starfleet reports that he is refusing to step into the transporter beam. He turns out to be a bearded Dr McCoy who is as distrustful of new technology as he ever was. McCoy is angry because he was 'drafted' and is amazed when he learns that Kirk was behind his call up. Still grumbling, he sets off for sickbay.

The Enterprise launches and, given the urgency of the situation, Kirk opts to go to warp speed while still in Solar System. Scott complains that the ship may not be able to take warps speeds at the moment and Decker suggests that they should run more tests. Kirk ignores them and the ship goes to warp one, whereupon it falls into a wormhole created by the improperly balanced warp-drive system. The ship is threatened with destruction by both the wormhole distortion and by an asteroid in front of them that they cannot avoid. Kirk orders phasers to fire, but Decker overrides him and instead orders photon torpedoes to be loaded. The asteroid is successfully destroyed and the Enterprise is able to escape from the wormhole.

Kirk is angry with Decker for countermanding his orders, but the captain explains that the new design of the Enterprise means that power for the phasers is channeled through the main engines - when the engines went into anti-matter imbalance, the phasers were automatically cut off. Kirk accepts the argument, but tells Decker to stop competing with him. Decker expresses his doubts about Kirk's ability to lead the mission, giving his lack of time on the new ship and Kirk asks him to "nurse maid" him through it. McCoy believes that Decker might have a point. On the way back to the bridge, Decker bumps into Ilia and they talk briefly about how their affair had failed. McCoy warns Kirk that he is becoming obsessed with keeping the Enterprise for himself but is interrupted by a message from Uhura that a long-range shuttle is requesting to come along side. Kirk tells her and Chekov to allow it to do so and then dismisses McCoy.

The shuttle docks and its passenger boards the Enterprise - Spock, who then makes his way to the bridge. Kirk is delighted to see him and Spock asks if he can take over the science officer's post. He offers to join the crew to help with the engine design problems. Even McCoy is actually pleased to see Spock, though the Vulcan, as expected, shows no trace of emotion. Spock heads off to discuss the engine problems with Scott.

Stardate 7413.4: Spock rebalances the engines to full warp capacity, allowing the ship to intercept the intruder more than a day away from Earth. They put the ship through its paces, reaching warp 6 with no further problems. Spock explains to Kirk and McCoy that he has been picking up telepathic signals from whatever is inside the cloud and that he believes that the answers he has been seeking in life may be found there. McCoy is suspicious, wondering if Spock might put his own needs before those of the crew, but Kirk finds this hard to believe.

The Enterprise finally encounters the cloud and begins broadcasting linguacode massages. Whatever is inside the cloud starts to scan the Enterprise, but Kirk cautions against the Enterprise scanning the cloud. He also refuses to raise shields in case it's misinterpreted, much to Decker's dismay. Spock suggests that there may be an object at the very centre of the cloud. The Enterprise prepares to enter the cloud.

Spock senses disappointment from the cloud - they have been contacted but have failed to respond. Before they can take this on board, the cloud fires at the ship, launching a huge energy bolt. They try to outrun the bolt, but to no avail. Chekov is injured during the attack, but the shields hold and the Enterprise is safe for now. But deflector power is down 70% and they couldn't take another direct hit. Ilia uses her mental powers to diminish Chekov's pain as Dr Chapel ministers to his wounds.

Spock tells Kirk that the intruder has been trying to communicate but has been doing so at a frequency and rate of speed that made it undetectable to the Enterprises monitors. Spock begins trying to reprogram the transmitters to send linguacode information at the same frequency and speed, just as a second energy bolt bursts from the cloud. At the last second, the bolt is dissipated as Spock sends the messages.

Spock recommends pressing on into the cloud, though Decker again is unsure of the wisdom of doing so. Spock believes that they intruder has no emotion, just pure logic, and that it finds it difficult to understand who or what the crew of Enterprise are. Decker argues that for that very reason they should exercise caution. Kirk sides with Spock and orders the Enterprise into the cloud. The Enterprise travels through the cloud, eventually encountering a gigantic object at its heart, emitting more radiation that the Sun. Kirk orders the ship to take up a course parallel to the object and it flies along the entire length of the vast ship. Suddenly the computer warns of an intruder alert and a blinding column of light appears on the bridge. It begins to explore the bridge and appears to be reading information from the computer which it takes control of. Spock tries to severe the link by smashing the console, but is thrown back by the energy beam which then attacks Ilia. As quickly as it came, the energy beam vanishes, taking Ilia with it.

Before they can get their breath back, the ship is caught in a tractor beam and is dragged down towards the alien ship. Realising that they can't possible escape the tractor beam, Kirk orders all the engines to be shut down. Decker wonders why they aliens are bringing them inside when they could easily have destroyed them outside. Spock suggests that the alien's are possessed of an insatiable curiosity. The ship is eventually released from the tractor beam but is now trapped inside the alien ship.

The sensors cannot read anything about the ship as all scans are being reflected back. Spock believes that the aperture they see before them is the entrance to another chamber. Suddenly they have another intruder alert and Kirk and Spock rush to deck 5 where they find what seems to be Ilia waiting for them. She greets Kirk as the Kirk-unit and explains that she has been sent by V'Ger to examine the carbon units 'infesting' the Enterprise. McCoy arrives and scans Ilia with his tricorder, revealing that Ilia is actually a robot or probe. The device tells Kirk that Ilia is now dead and that V'Ger has modelled the probe on her form. When questioned about V'Ger, Ilia replies that it is seeking 'the creator' which it believes to be on Earth.

McCoy performs a medical examination on the probe and is impressed by its complexity. Decker arrives and the probe seems to recognise him. Spock explains that the probe may be the key to the aliens - he suggests that Ilia's memories and feelings may still be there as the probe has been created as an exact copy of Ilia. The probe suddenly punches its way through a bulkhead and demands to see more of the ship.

Stardate 7414.1: the cloud is now just four hours from Earth. Decker is trying to reactivate Ilia's memories in the probe by showing her around the ship, but has little success. The probe demands to know why the Enterprise needs the carbon units, revealing that V'Ger believes the carbon units to be an inferior species. After she has finished her examination of the ship, V'Ger is planning to have the 'carbon units' turned into data patterns for storage. Decker suggests that by activating Ilia's memories, the probe might better understand humans. The probe agrees that such a course of action would be logical.

Spock, meanwhile, has rendered another crewman unconscious and has made off with a thruster suit and is heading out into the alien ship to try to communicate with the aliens. Kirk hears that the suit is missing and immediately realises that it is Spock's work. He has Chekov get a fix on his position and prepares to set off after him in another thruster suit, against McCoy's advice. Spock fires booster rockets on his suit and rushes towards the aperture to the next chamber, squeezing through it just as it closes again. Inside he sees many strange things as a dimensional image, including entire galaxies held in a giant chamber. He believes that he is seeing a representation of V'Ger's journey to Earth. He also now believes that they are inside a living machine and sees a giant image of Ilia. He tries to mind meld with the machine but is knocked unconscious and expelled from the chamber where he is rescued by Kirk.

Back on the ship, Decker and McCoy are still trying to activate Ilia's memories within the probe. They finally get it to remember Ilia and Decker's relationship of Delta and Decker asks her to help them make direct contact with V'Ger but she refuses. She also reveals that V'Ger doesn't actually know what the creator is that it seeking, only that it is on Earth. Suddenly she demands to know why two 'carbon units' have entered V'Ger. It is explained to her that they are only trying to survive and she reveal that V'Ger too only wants to survive, and to do this it must find and combine with its creator.

Spock has been brought to sick bay for examination. He comes round and tells Kirk and McCoy that V'Ger is a living, conscious machine that has explored all the far reaches of the universe and is driven by pure logic. He tells Kirk that there are no answers to V'Ger's question - is this all that I am? Uhura picks up a weak signal from Starfleet which reveals that the cloud is dissipating and the ship is now taking up orbit around the Earth. It has begun emitting a signal, searching for its creator using an old radio signal. When it gets no reply, V'Ger launches a series of devices which circle the Earth and knock out all planetary defences. Ilia tells Kirk that the 'carbon units' infesting the planet are to be destroyed as they are not "true life forms." Decker and McCoy realise that V'Ger believes its creator to be another machine, that "we all create God in our own likeness." Spock announces that V'Ger is a child and should be treated as such.

Kirk calls V'Ger's bluff and tells Ilia that he knows why the creator has not answered. He refuses to say why until the devices are removed. V'Ger cuts off communication with Starfleet and attacks the ship. But Kirk remains resolute and refuses to explain why the creator hasn't answered, daring V'Ger to destroy the ship at the risk of never knowing why the creator won't answer. But V'Ger itself calls Kirk's bluff and offers to remove the devices only when it gets the information it needs. Kirk then tells Ilia that he can only disclose the information directly to V'Ger and not to its probe. Ilia contacts V'Ger and the ship is dragged forward by a tractor beam. Kirk orders Scott o ready for self destruct, hoping that at as a last resort he can destroy the alien ship in the matter / anti-matter explosion.

On the bridge, Spock suddenly starts to cry, shedding tears for V'Ger. He recognises in V'Ger something in himself - like Spock was when he rejoined the ship, Vger has realised that knowledge and logic is simply not enough, that a purpose in life is also important. V'Ger needs to touch its creator to find out its purpose.

The Enterprise is taken to a plateau over seventeen kilometres inside the ship where an oxygen gravity envelope forms. Ilia tells them that they have arrived at V'Ger. Kirk, McCoy, Spock and Decker all join Ilia in leaving the ship and walking across the plateau to a central structure where they come face to face with V'Ger - an old NASA Voyager probe, its identifying plaque partly obscured by carbon scoring so that only the letters V-G-E-R are left visible. The Voyagers (of which this is number 6) were designed to roam the universe seeking out information which they would then beam back to Earth. Voyager 6 had fallen into a black hole and had probably fallen into the orbit of the machine planet. Interpreting Voyager's mission statement literally ("learn all there is to know"), they built the giant ship to allow Voyager to roam the universe for over 300 years. Now it has learnt everything, it has returned to Earth and is trying to send its databanks to NASA, its creator.

Kirk has Uhura dig out the old NASA response codes and transmit them to the landing party. But V'Ger deliberately severs the link that will allow the code to be received, insisting that the creator must join with V'Ger. Decker offers to become the human link in the chain, fusing with the Ilia probe in order to make the final contact with V'Ger. He connects himself to Voyagers access panel against Kirk's wishes, but he tells the admiral that he wants this as much as Kirk wanted the Enterprise. Decker is enveloped in a halo of light into which steps the Ilia probe. They are swallowed up by a whirlpool of light that expands to fill the entire ship. When it dies down, the Enterprise is floating in orbit around the Earth - the ship and V'Ger have gone.

Kirk returns to the bridge where Spock tells them that they have just witnessed the birth of a new life form, possibly the next step in human evolution. Kirk orders that Ilia and Decker be listed as missing rather than dead, then resumes his place in the captain's chair and orders the Enterprise to set off in a random direction.
KEVIN LYONS

Last Updated: 17 January, 2010