We Are The Borg "Resistance is futile"

The Borg are a fictional pseudo-race of cybernetic organisms depicted in the Star Trek universe. Aside from being the main threat in Star Trek: First Contact, the Borg also play major roles in The Next Generation and Voyager television series, primarily as an invasion threat to the United Federation of Planets and the means of return to the Alpha Quadrant for isolated Federation starship Voyager, respectively. The Borg have become a symbol in popular culture for any juggernaut against which "resistance is futile".

The Borg manifest as  (more...)

Star Trek: The Original Series

Star Trek is a science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that aired from September 8, 1966 to September 2, 1969. Though the original series was titled simply Star Trek, it has acquired the retronym Star Trek: The Original Series (ST:TOS or TOS) to distinguish it from the spinoffs that followed, and from the Star Trek universe or franchise they comprise. Set in the 23rd century, the original Star Trek follows the adventures of the starship Enterprise and its crew, led by Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), his First Officer Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and his Chief Medical Officer Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley). William Shatner's voice-over introduction during each episode's opening credits stated the starship's purpose:

“

Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before.

”

When Star Trek premiered on NBC in 1966, it was not an immediate hit; ratings were low and advertising revenue was lackluster. Even prior to the end of the first season of Star Trek, there were already calls in the network for the cancellation of the series due to its low Nielsen ratings. Bay Area Creature Features host John Stanley in his memoir I Was a TV Horror Host relates how Desilu head Lucille Ball at that time "single-handedly kept Star Trek from being dumped from the NBC-TV lineup."

Towards the end of the second season the show was also in danger of cancellation. Its fans succeeded in gaining a third season; however, NBC subsequently moved the show to the Friday Night Death slot at 10 PM. Star Trek was finally cancelled at the end of the third season, producing 79 episodes in total. However, this was enough for the show to be stripped in syndication, allowing it to become extremely popular and gather a large cult following during the 1970s. The success of the program was followed by five additional television series and eleven theatrical films, including the most recent film Star Trek released in May 2009. Guinness World Records lists the original Star Trek as having the largest number of spin-offs among all television shows in history.

Star Trek: The Animated Series

Star Trek: The Animated Series (also known as The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek) is an animated science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe following the Star Trek: The Original Series of the 1960s. The animated series was aired under the name Star Trek, but it has become widely known under this longer name (or abbreviated as ST: TAS or TAS) to differentiate it from the original live action Star Trek. The success in syndication of the original live action series and fan pressure for a Star Trek revival led to The Animated Series from 1973-1974, as the source of new adventures of the Enterprise crew, the next being the live-action feature film 1979's Star Trek: The Motion Picture. TAS was the first Star Trek series to win an Emmy Award.
The series was produced by Filmation in association with Paramount Television and ran for two seasons from 1973 to 1974 on NBC, airing a total of twenty-two half-hour episodes. An early Filmation proposal for this series had children assigned to each of the senior officers as cadets, including a young Vulcan for Mr. Spock. According to interviews with Norm Prescott, Paramount offered Roddenberry a substantial sum of money to abandon creative control of the project and let Filmation proceed with their "kiddy space cadet" idea. Roddenberry refused. Filmation would later develop the idea into its own original live action program: Space Academy in 1977.
The writers of the animated series used, essentially, the same writers' guide that was used for the live-action Star Trek: The Original Series. (A copy of the "series bible", as revised for TAS, is held in the science fiction research collection at the Samuel Paley Library, Temple University, Philadelphia.)

While the freedom of animation afforded large alien landscapes and believable non-humanoid aliens, budget constraints were a major concern and the animation quality was generally only fair, with very liberal use of stock shots (as was often the case with many of Filmation's shows). There were also occasional mistakes, such as characters appearing on screen who were elsewhere, or a character supposed to appear on the bridge's main viewing screen, but then appeared in front, indicating bad ordering of animation plates. These were typically isolated errors however. Occasionally, though, parts of episodes would be animated at a near-theatrical quality level.

Main article: List of Star Trek: The Animated Series episodes

The characters of TAS.

The 22 episodes of TAS were spread out over two brief seasons, with copious reruns of each episode. Most were directed by Hal Sutherland.
All the episodes of this series were novelized by Alan Dean Foster and released in ten volumes under the Star Trek Logs banner. Initially, Foster adapted three episodes per book, but later editions saw the half-hour scripts expanded into full novel-length stories.
Star Trek: The Animated Series was the only Star Trek series to not feature a cold open ("teaser") and started directly with the title sequence (although some overseas versions of the original live action series, such as that run by the BBC in the U.K. in the 1960s and 1970s, ran the teaser after the credits).
The writing in the series benefited from a Writers Guild of America, East strike in 1973, which did not apply to animation. A few episodes are especially notable due to contributions from well-known science fiction authors:

• "More Tribbles, More Troubles" was written by David Gerrold as a sequel to his famous episode "The Trouble with Tribbles" from the original series. Here Cyrano Jones is rescued from the Klingons, bringing with him a genetically-altered breed of tribbles which do not reproduce but do grow extremely large. (It is later discovered that these are really clusters of tribbles who function as a single tribble, and it is decided that the large numbers of smaller tribbles are preferable to the larger ones.) The Klingons, due to their hatred of tribbles, are eager to get Jones back because he stole a creature they created: a predator that feeds on tribbles. This episode was originally written with the intention of being an episode of the live-action original series, but this was vetoed by Fred Freiberger who wanted serious sci-fi episodes instead.^{[citation needed]}

• "Yesteryear" is a time-travel episode in which Mr. Spock uses "The Guardian of Forever", a time gateway from the original series episode "The City on the Edge of Forever", to travel to his own childhood past. This is the only animated Trek episode written by original series and later Next Generation writer D.C. Fontana. This was the first actual appearance of Spock's pet sehlat, first mentioned in "Journey to Babel" and finally named I-Chaya in this episode.

• Larry Niven's "The Slaver Weapon", adapted from his own short story "The Soft Weapon". It includes some elements from his Known Space mythos such as the Kzinti and the Slavers. This is the only Kirk-era TV or movie story in which Kirk didn't appear. This episode also has the distinction of being the only animated episode where anyone dies or is killed onscreen.

• "The Magicks of Megas-tu", by Larry Brody, sends the Enterprise to the center of the galaxy. Its crew find themselves befriended by a devil-like alien named Lucien, whom they must defend against accusations that he has brought evil to the world of Megas-tu.

The USS Enterprise in this series, while supposedly the same ship as from the original series, had a holodeck very similar to the one introduced on Star Trek: The Next Generation, which was set approximately eighty years later. It only appeared once, in Chuck Menville's "The Practical Joker" and was known as the "Rec Room". This feature was originally proposed for the original series (see, e.g., Gerrold, The World of Star Trek) but was never used.
Filmation later went on to produce the hit He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (1983-85), which occasionally used modified character and set designs from Star Trek: The Animated Series, mostly as background material. (He-Man and the Masters of the Universe also had several Trek-similar stories, most notably "The Arena", which is very similar to Star Trek: The Original Series's first season episode, "Arena"). Later series also shared many of the stock sound effects from both Star Trek: The Animated Series and Star Trek: The Original Series. Filmation also recycled some of the background music for Star Trek: The Animated Series in their later shows Shazam!, Tarzan and the Super 7 and Sport Billy. (Some of the music had already been reused from the previous season's Brady Kids and the Treasure Island feature, and were shared with that season's Lassie's Rescue Rangers).
In addition, a few facts introduced in the animated series have been referred to in the live-action productions:

• Kirk's middle name, Tiberius, was first introduced in "Bem", then subsequently referred to in several Star Trek novels (most notably the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture by Roddenberry). The name was conclusively established as part of the Trek canon in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
• Amanda's maiden name, Grayson.
• A second exit for the bridge, referred to in Franz Joseph's Star Fleet Technical Manual and seen in the refitted Enterprise and the NCC-1701-A from the first six Star Trek movies.
• The kahs-wan ritual Spock endures in "Yesteryear".
• Klingon commander Kor's command of the battlecruiser Klothos.
• Doctor Phlox uses Edosian slugs in his medical bay, and Chef once served up Edosian sucker fish, similar to Earth's catfish, as a meal, in the series Star Trek: Enterprise. They come from the same planet as Lieutenant Arex, as do Edosian orchids mentioned by Elim Garak in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
• The Vulcan city, ShiKahr, has been referred to in multiple series (sometimes misspelt "ShirKahr"), and can be seen in an episode of Enterprise. A Vulcan city which looks very similar to the ShiKahr of Star Trek: The Animated Series was shown in the new CGI establishing shots used in the special edition of "Amok Time".
• Some of the worlds and aliens in the series were included in the 1989 book called Star Trek: The Worlds of the Federation.
• Some of Sarek's dialog from "Yesteryear", and young Spock being bullied by Vulcan classmates, are given homage in the 2009 feature film, Star Trek.

Star Trek: Phase II...

Never completed, the pilot was rehashed as the film "Star Trek: The motion Picture" and several proposed episodes were used later as TNG episodes ("The Child", "Devil's Due")

Star Trek: Phase II was a planned television series based on the characters of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek, which had run from 1966 to 1969. It was set to air in early 1978 on a proposed Paramount Television Service (a precursor/forerunner to UPN). The series was to follow the adventures of the Enterprise crew on a second five-year mission, and be a continuation of the Star Trek franchise.

Several attempts at a Star Trek motion picture were made in the 1970s, including Gene Roddenberry's 1975 treatment The God Thing, and a later attempt called Planet of the Titans, which proceeded to script stage to be abandoned in 1977. It was decided instead to create a new Star Trek television series, for a new national television network to be owned by Paramount. This was announced on June 17, 1977 with a projected start date of February 1978.

Pre-production work started, with sets built, several television grade models (including the Enterprise itself and many of the pilot episode's models) made, deals made to bring back most of the original series cast, and several actors cast. It was planned to use the original series uniforms. Principal photography had not started, but test footage had been shot. Story writing had proceeded to thirteen scripts, enough for a half-season.

Work on the series came to an end when the proposed Paramount Television Service folded. However, following the success of the science fiction movies Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the planned pilot episode entitled "In Thy Image" was adapted into a theatrical production, Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Several minutes of test footage, including a view of a redesigned Engineering Room, costume tests with crew, screen test footage of David Gautreaux as Xon and costume test footage of Persis Khambatta as Ilia, were included in a featurette on the DVD release of the Directors Edition of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: The Next Generation (often abbreviated to TNG) is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Created about 21 years after the original Star Trek, and set in the 24th century about 80 years after the orginal series, the program features a new crew and a new starship Enterprise. It premiered the week of September 28, 1987 to 27 million viewers with the two-hour pilot "Encounter at Farpoint". With 178 episodes spread over seven seasons, it ran longer than any other Star Trek series, ending with the finale "All Good Things..." the week of May 23, 1994.

The series was broadcast in first-run syndication, with dates and times varying among individual television stations. The show gained a considerable following during its run and, like its predecessor, remains popular in syndicated reruns. It was the first of several series (the others being Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise) that kept new Star Trek episodes airing until 2005. Star Trek: The Next Generation won 18 Emmy Awards and, in its seventh season, became the first syndicated television show to be nominated for the Emmy for Best Dramatic Series. It was nominated for three Hugo Awards and won two. The first-season episode "The Big Goodbye" also won the Peabody Award for excellence in television programming. The series formed the basis of the seventh through to the tenth Star Trek films.
After the box-office success of the Harve Bennett-produced Star Trek-based movies, Paramount decided to create a new Star Trek series in 1986. Roddenberry initially declined to be involved but came on board as creator after being unhappy with early conceptual work. The creation of Star Trek: The Next Generation was announced on October 10, 1986. The show was, unusually, broadcast in first-run syndication rather than running on a major network, with Paramount and the local stations splitting advertising time between them.
Roddenberry hired a number of Star Trek veterans, including Bob Justman, D. C. Fontana, Eddie Milkis, and David Gerrold. Paramount executive Rick Berman was assigned to the show at Roddenberry's request. 

The Next Generation was shot on 35 mm film^[4], and was one of the first television shows with sound recorded in Dolby Surround. The filming negatives were scanned in a straight-to-video device

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (sometimes abbreviated to ST:DS9 or DS9) is a science fiction television program that premiered in 1993 and ran for seven seasons, ending in 1999. Rooted in Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek universe, it was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, at the request of Brandon Tartikoff, and produced by Paramount Television. The main writers, in addition to Berman and Piller, included show runner Ira Steven Behr, Robert Hewitt Wolfe, Ronald D. Moore, Peter Allan Fields, Bradley Thompson, David Weddle, and René Echevarria.

A spin-off of Star Trek: The Next Generation, DS9 began while its parent series was still on the air, and there were several crossover episodes between the two shows. In addition, two Next Generation characters, Miles O'Brien and (eventually) Worf, became regular members of DS9.

Unlike the other Star Trek programs, DS9 took place on a space station instead of a starship, so as not to have two series with starships at the same time (The starship USS Defiant was introduced later in the series, but the station remained the primary setting for the show.) This made continuing story arcs and the appearance of recurring characters much more feasible. The show is noted for its well-developed characters and its original, complex plots. The series also depended on darker themes, less physical exploration of space, and an emphasis (in later seasons) on many aspects of war.

Although DS9's ratings were solid, it was never as successful as the syndicated Star Trek: The Next Generation, with approximately 6% versus 11% of U.S. households watching during sweeps months. However it performed better than its network sibling Star Trek: Voyager which averaged around 5% according to the Nielsen Ratings. Although DS9 had a very popular first season, it experienced a gradual loss of audience over time, ultimately dropping to a 4% household rating. One factor was the increasingly crowded syndicated marketplace which provided viewers with a number of alternative shows to follow (Babylon 5, Xena, Earth: Final Conflict). Another factor was the minimal promotion for DS9 as Paramount focused its efforts on its flagship network show Star Trek: Voyager. Finally, from 1995 onwards, most of the independent stations joined new networks (UPN and WB), and these primetime shows gradually pushed DS9 into weekend/late-night slots when few viewers were watching. The US television market expanded from four networks (1987 when TNG premiered) to six. The competition became so intense that eventually DS9's ratings dropped below fantasy fiction rivals Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess, and by the year 2001 nearly all original programming for syndication had disappeared.

Conceived in 1991, shortly before Gene Roddenberry’s death, DS9 centers on the formerly Cardassian space station, Terok Nor. After the Bajorans liberated themselves from the long and brutal Cardassian Occupation, the United Federation of Planets is invited by the Bajoran Provisional Government to take joint control of the station, which (originally) orbits Bajor. The station is renamed Deep Space Nine.
According to co-creator Berman, he and Piller had considered setting the new series on a colony planet, but they felt a space station would both appeal more to viewers and save money that would be required for on-location shooting for a "land-based" show. However, they were certain they did not want the show to be set aboard a starship because Star Trek: The Next Generation was still in production at the time and, in Berman’s words, it "just seemed ridiculous to have two shows—two casts of characters—that were off going where no man has gone before."^[2]
In the pilot, the station is moved near the just-discovered Bajoran wormhole, allowing access to the distant, unexplored Gamma Quadrant. It quickly becomes a center for exploration, interstellar trade, political maneuvering, and eventually open conflict.

DS9 contains more story arcs that span several episodes and even seasons than preceding Star Trek series. Its predecessors tend to restore the status quo ante at the end of an episode, so that many episodes could be seen out-of-order without compromising their plots. On DS9 however, not only are events in one episode often referenced and built upon in later ones, but sometimes several episodes in a row are cliffhangers. Michael Piller, who spoke very highly of Behr's contributions, believed this to be one of the series' best qualities, that the repercussions of past episodes remained with the show and characters were forced to "learn that actions have consequences". This trend was especially strong near the end of the series’ run, by which point the show was intentionally very much a serial
Contrary to Star Trek: The Next Generation, interpersonal conflicts were featured prominently in DS9. This was at the suggestion of Star Trek: The Next Generation’s writers (many of whom also wrote for DS9) because they felt that the prohibition limited their ability to develop interesting stories. In Piller's words, "people who come from different places — honorable, noble people — will naturally have conflicts"

Star Trek: Voyager

Star Trek: Voyager (sometimes abbreviated as simply Voyager) is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. The show was created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller, and Jeri Taylor and is the fourth incarnation of Star Trek, which began with the 1960s series Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry. It was produced for seven seasons, from 1995 to 2001, and is the only Star Trek series to feature a female captain, Kathryn Janeway, as a lead character. It ran on UPN, making it the first Star Trek series to air on a major network since the original series which aired on NBC. It was the only TV show on UPN to have seven seasons, making it the network's longest running show, and the only show left over from its first year.

Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS Voyager, which becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant 70,000 light-years from Earth while pursuing a renegade Maquis ship. Both ships' crews merge aboard Voyager to make the estimated 75-year journey home.

Voyager was produced to launch UPN, a television network planned by Paramount. (Paramount considered launching a network on its own in 1977, which would have been anchored by the TV series Star Trek: Phase II.) Planning started in 1993, and seeds for the show's backstory, including the development of the Maquis, were placed in several Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes. Voyager was shot on the same stages The Next Generation had used. The pilot, "Caretaker," was shot in October 1994. Around that time, Paramount was sold to Viacom - in fact, Voyager was the first Star Trek TV series to premiere after the sale had concluded.
Voyager was the first aired UPN program at 8:00 p.m. on January 16, 1995. Voyager was also the first Star Trek TV show to use Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) exclusively, and eliminate the use of models for exterior space shots. Other television shows such as seaQuest and Babylon 5 had exclusively used CGI to avoid the huge expense of models, but the Star Trek television department continued using models, because they felt models provided better realism. Amblin Imaging won an Emmy for the opening title visuals, but the weekly episode exteriors were still captured using hand-built miniatures of the Voyager, shuttlecraft, and other ships, the same method used for The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine.
That changed when Star Trek: Voyager became Paramount's first television property to go fully CGI in mid-season 3 (late 1996). Paramount obtained an exclusive contract with Foundation Imaging which had done the effects for Babylon 5's first three seasons. Season 3's "The Swarm" was the first episode to use Foundation's effects exclusively. Deep Space Nine started using Foundation Imaging in conjunction with Digital Muse one year later (season 6), after Voyager had successfully proven that CGI could look as realistic as models. In its later seasons, "Voyager" featured visual effects from Foundation and Digital Muse (later to become Eden FX).
In the pilot episode, "Caretaker," Voyager is on a mission to locate a missing ship piloted by Maquis fighters. Janeway brings Tom Paris, a former Starfleet officer and Maquis, out of prison to help find the ship. Maneuvering through the dangerous Badlands, an ancient alien known as the Caretaker transports Voyager to the Delta Quadrant, 70,000 light years on the other side of the galaxy, where the Maquis ship was also sent. In the process, several members of Voyager's crew are killed, including the first officer, helmsman, chief engineer, and all medical personnel.

Voyager and the Maquis ship are attacked by Kazon raiders intent on capturing the Caretaker's Array, which was used to transport the ships. The Maquis ship collides with a Kazon ship, destroying both, after the Maquis crew transports to Voyager. Believing the Kazon will use the Array to harm the Ocampa, Janeway decides to destroy it rather than use it to return home.
The Starfleet and Maquis crews integrate and work together as they begin the 70,000-light-year journey home, predicted to take 75 years. Chakotay, leader of the Maquis group, becomes first officer. B'Elanna Torres, a half-human/half-Klingon Maquis becomes chief engineer. Tuvok is revealed to be a Starfleet spy on the Maquis ship and resumes his duties as chief security officer. The ship's operations officer is Harry Kim. Paris becomes the helmsman, and the Emergency Medical Hologram, designed for only short-term use, becomes the chief medical officer. At first the EMH is confined to sickbay and holodecks, but during the course of the series gains his freedom by way of a mobile holo-emitter, as well as expanding his program and personality on his own initiative. While in the Delta Quadrant, the crew gains the Talaxian Neelix as a local guide and chef, along with his Ocampan girlfriend, Kes. Both Paris and Kes become qualified assistants to the Doctor, expanding the ship's medical capability. In the show's fourth season, the crew grows to include Seven of Nine, a Borg drone liberated from the collective who, like the Doctor, expands (or rather, regains) her humanity throughout the series.
The Delta Quadrant is mostly unexplored by the Federation, of which Starfleet is the military/exploration/peacekeeping arm. On the way home, the crew contends with hostile forces that include organ-harvesting Vidiians, belligerent Kazon, nomadic Hirogen hunters, Species 8472 from fluidic space and most notably the Borg in the later seasons when Voyager has to move through large areas of Borg space. They also encounter hazardous natural phenomena such as a Nebulous area called the Nekkrit Expanse, a large area of empty space called the Void, wormholes and other anomalies. Voyager is the third Star Trek series to feature Q. Meanwhile, Starfleet Command learns of Voyager's survival and situation and eventually develops a means to establish regular audiovisual and data contact with the ship thanks to the efforts of Reginald Barclay who was featured more prominently on The Next Generation.

Star Trek: Enterprise

Enterprise (retitled Star Trek: Enterprise at the start of its third season) is a science fiction television program created by Brannon Braga and Rick Berman and set in the fictional Star Trek universe created by Gene Roddenberry in the 1960s. The series follows the adventures of humanity's first Warp 5 starship, the Enterprise, ten years before the United Federation of Planets shown in previous Star Trek series was formed.

Enterprise premiered on September 26, 2001. The pilot episode, "Broken Bow", takes place in the year 2151, halfway between the 21st-century events shown in the movie Star Trek: First Contact and the original Star Trek television series. Low ratings prompted UPN to cancel Star Trek: Enterprise on February 2, 2005, but the network allowed the series to complete its fourth season. The final episode aired on May 13, 2005. After a run of four seasons and 98 episodes, it was the first Star Trek series since the original Star Trek to have been cancelled by its network rather than finished by its producers. It is also the last series in an 18-year run of back-to-back new Star Trek shows beginning with Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987.

In May 2000, Rick Berman, executive producer of Star Trek: Voyager, revealed that a new series would premiere following the final season of Voyager. Little news was forthcoming for months as Berman and Brannon Braga developed the untitled series, known only as Series V, until February 2001, when Paramount signed Herman Zimmerman and John Eaves to production design Series V. Within a month, scenic designer Michael Okuda, another long-time Trek veteran, was also signed Michael Westmore, make-up designer for Trek since Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG), was announced as working on Series V by the end of April. Returning as director of photography would be Marvin V. Rush, who had been working on various Treks since the third season of TNG. For visual effects, Ronald B. Moore, who had previously worked on TNG and Voyager, was brought in.
However, the biggest news would wait until May 11, 2001. The title of Series V was revealed to be Enterprise, with Scott Bakula, of Quantum Leap fame, playing Captain Jeffery Archer, a name that was quickly changed to Jonathan Archer due to fan feedback. Four days later, the rest of the main cast was announced, though the character names would not be announced until the next day.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a 1979 science fiction film released by Paramount Pictures. It is the first film based on the Star Trek television series. When a mysterious and immensely powerful alien cloud called V'ger approaches Earth, destroying everything in its path, Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) assumes command of his old starship—the USS Enterprise—to lead it on a mission to save the planet and determine V'ger's origins.

When the original television series was cancelled in 1969, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry lobbied Paramount to continue the franchise through a film. The success of the series in syndication convinced the studio to begin work on a feature film in 1975. A series of writers attempted to craft a suitably epic script, but the attempts did not satisfy Paramount, so the studio scrapped the project in 1977. Paramount instead planned on returning the franchise to its roots with a new television series, Star Trek: Phase II. The box office 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 Phase II and resumed its attempts at making a Star Trek film. In 1978, Paramount assembled the largest press conference held at the studio since the 1950s to announce that Academy Award–winning director Robert Wise would helm a $15 million film adaptation of the television series.

With the cancellation of the new television series, the writers rushed to adapt the planned pilot episode of Phase II, "In Thy Image," into a film script. Constant revisions to the story meant that new versions of the shooting script were distributed hourly. The Enterprise was completely redesigned inside and out; costume designer Robert Fletcher provided new uniforms and production designer Harold Michelson fabricated new sets. Jerry Goldsmith composed the score, beginning an association with Star Trek that would continue until 2002. When the original contractors for the optical effects proved unable to complete their tasks in time, effects supervisor Douglas Trumbull was given carte blanche to meet the December 1979 release date. The film came together only days before the premiere; Wise took the just-completed film to its Washington, D.C., opening, but always felt that the theatrical version was a rough cut of the film he wanted to make.

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 final production cost ballooned to approximately $46 million. The film earned $139 million worldwide, falling short of studio expectations but enough for Paramount to propose a cheaper sequel. Roddenberry was forced out of creative control for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. In 2001, Wise created a director's cut for a special DVD release of the film; a team remastered the audio, tightened and added scenes, and used new computer-generated effects to complete his vision.
A Starfleet monitoring station detects an alien force hidden in a massive cloud of energy moving through space towards Earth. The cloud destroys three Klingon warships and the monitoring station en route. On Earth, the starship Enterprise is undergoing a major refit; its former commander, James T. Kirk, has been promoted to Admiral and works in San Francisco as Chief of Starfleet Operations. Starfleet dispatches the Enterprise to investigate the cloud entity as the ship is the only one in intercept range, requiring its new systems to be tested in transit.
Kirk takes command of the ship citing his experience, angering Captain Willard Decker, who had been overseeing the refit as its new commanding officer. Testing of Enterprise's new systems goes poorly; two officers, including the science officer, are killed by a malfunctioning transporter, and improperly calibrated engines almost destroy the ship. The tension between Kirk and Decker increases when the admiral demonstrates his unfamiliarity with Enterprise. Spock arrives as replacement science officer, explaining that while on his home world undergoing a ritual to purge all emotion, he felt a consciousness that he believes emanates from the cloud.
The Enterprise intercepts the energy cloud and is heavily damaged by an alien vessel. A probe appears on the bridge, attacks Spock and abducts the navigator, Ilia. She is replaced by a robotic doppelgänger, a probe sent by "V'ger" to study the crew. Decker is distraught over the loss of Ilia, with whom he had a romantic history. He becomes troubled as he attempts to extract information from the doppelgänger, which has Ilia's memories and feelings buried within. Spock takes a spacewalk to the alien vessel's surface and attempts a telepathic mind meld with it. In doing so, he learns that the vessel is V'ger itself, a living machine.
At the heart of the massive ship, V'ger is revealed to be Voyager 6, a 20th-century Earth space probe believed lost. The damaged probe was found by an alien race of living machines that interpreted its programming as instructions to learn all that can be learned, and return that information to its creator. The machines upgraded the probe to fulfill its mission, and on its journey the probe gathered so much knowledge that it achieved consciousness. Spock realizes that V'ger lacks the ability to give itself a focus other than its original mission; having learned what it could on its journey home, it finds its existence empty and without purpose. Before transmitting all its information, V'ger insists that the Creator come in person to finish the sequence. Realizing that the machine wants to merge with its creator, Decker offers himself to V'ger; he merges with the Ilia probe and V'ger, creating a new form of life that disappears into another dimension. With Earth saved, Kirk directs the Enterprise out to space for future missions.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is a 1982 motion picture released by Paramount Pictures. The film is the second feature based on the Star Trek science fiction franchise. The plot features James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and the crew of the starship USS Enterprise facing off against the genetically-engineered tyrant Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalbán), a character who first appeared in the 1967 Star Trek television series episode "Space Seed". When Khan escapes from a 15-year exile to exact revenge on Kirk, the crew of the Enterprise must stop him from acquiring a powerful terraforming device named Genesis. The film concludes with the death of Enterprise crewmember Spock (Leonard Nimoy), beginning a story arc that continues through 1986's Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

After the lackluster critical and commercial response to Star Trek: The Motion Picture, series creator Gene Roddenberry was forced out of the sequel's production. Executive producer Harve Bennett wrote the film's original outline, which Jack B. Sowards developed into a full script. Director Nicholas Meyer completed the final script in 12 days, without accepting a writing credit. Meyer's approach evoked the swashbuckling atmosphere of the original series, and the theme was reinforced by James Horner's musical score. Leonard Nimoy only reprised his role as Spock because the character's death was intended to be irrevocable. Negative test audience reaction to Spock's death led to significant revisions of the ending without Meyer's consent. The production used various cost-cutting techniques to keep within budget, including utilizing miniatures from past projects and re-using effects footage from the previous movie. Among the film's technical achievements is the first complete feature film sequence created entirely with computer-generated graphics.

The Wrath of Khan was released in North America on June 4, 1982. It was a box office success, earning US$97 million worldwide and setting a world record for first-day box office gross. Critical reaction to the film was positive; reviewers highlighted Khan, the film's pacing and the character interactions as strong elements. Negative reaction focused on weak special effects and some of the acting. The Wrath of Khan is generally considered one of the best films of the Star Trek series and is credited with creating renewed interest in the franchise.

The film opens with the Vulcan Lieutenant Saavik in command of the starship USS Enterprise. The vessel is on a rescue mission to save the crew of a damaged ship in the Neutral Zone along the border with Klingon space when it is attacked by Klingon cruisers and critically damaged. The "attack" is revealed to be a training exercise known as the "Kobayashi Maru"; a no-win situation designed to test the character of Starfleet officers. Admiral James T. Kirk oversees the simulator session of Captain Spock's trainees.^[1]
The USS Reliant is on a mission to search for a lifeless planet for testing of the Genesis Device, a torpedo that reorganizes matter to create hospitable worlds for colonization. Reliant officers Commander Pavel Chekov and Captain Clark Terrell beam down to the surface of a possible candidate planet, Ceti Alpha VI, where they are captured by Khan Noonien Singh. Khan and his fellow genetically-advanced supermen were once rulers of late 20th century Earth, but after their defeat they escaped into space in a sleeper ship. The Enterprise discovered Khan's ship adrift in space fifteen years previously; Kirk exiled Khan and his followers to Ceti Alpha V after the supermen nearly captured his ship. Khan reveals that after they were marooned, Ceti Alpha VI exploded, destroying Ceti Alpha V's ecosystem and shifting its orbit. Khan blames Kirk for the death of his wife and plans to avenge her. He implants Chekov and Terrell with indigenous, mind-controlling eels that enter the ears of their victims and uses the officers to gain control of the Reliant. Learning of the existence of Genesis, Khan attacks Space Station Regula I where the device is being developed by Kirk's former lover, Dr. Carol Marcus, and their son, David.^[2]
The Enterprise embarks on a training voyage under the command of Spock. Kirk takes command of the Enterprise after the ship receives a distress call from Regula I. En route, the Enterprise is ambushed by the Reliant. The attack cripples the Enterprise and many of its trainees are killed. A transmission between the two ships reveals Khan knows of the Genesis Device and wants all materials related to the project sent to him. Kirk stalls for time and disables the Reliant's defenses by transmitting a prefix code, allowing the Enterprise to counter-attack. Khan is forced to retreat and effect repairs, while the Enterprise limps to Regula I. Kirk, McCoy and Saavik beam to the station, where they find Terrell and Chekov, along with slaughtered members of the Genesis Project. The team finds the remaining scientists, including Carol and David, hidden deep inside the planetoid of Regula. Using Terrell and Chekov as spies, Khan steals the Genesis Device and orders them to kill Kirk; Terrell resists the eel's influence and kills himself while Chekov faints. Though Khan believes his foe stranded on Regula I, Kirk and Spock use a coded message to arrange a rendezvous and pilot the Enterprise into the nearby Mutara Nebula; static discharges from the nebula render both ships' defensive shields useless and compromise targeting systems, making the Enterprise and Reliant evenly matched. Kirk uses Khan's inexperience in three-dimensional combat to critically disable the Reliant.
Mortally wounded, Khan activates the Genesis Device, which will reorganize all matter in the nebula—including the Enterprise. Though Kirk's crew detects the activation of the Genesis Device and the Enterprise attempts to move out of range using impulse engines, with the warp drive damaged they will not be able to escape the nebula in time. Spock leaves the bridge and goes to the engine room to restore the warp drive. When McCoy tries to prevent Spock's exposure to high levels of radiation, he disables the doctor and performs a mind meld, telling him to "Remember". Spock restores power to the warp drive and the Enterprise escapes the explosion. Kirk arrives in the engine room, where Spock dies of radiation poisoning. The explosion of the Genesis Device causes a planet to coalesce out of the nebula. A space burial is held in the Enterprise's torpedo room and Spock's coffin is shot into orbit around the newly formed planet. The crew leaves the planet to pick up the Reliant's marooned crew from Ceti Alpha V. In the final scene Spock's coffin is seen to have soft-landed on the planet. Spock narrates Star Trek's "Where no man has gone before" monologue as the view moves forward into a field of stars.^[3]

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock is a 1984 motion picture released by Paramount Pictures. The film is the third feature based on the Star Trek science fiction franchise. After the death of Spock (Leonard Nimoy) during the events of The Wrath of Khan, the crew of the USS Enterprise returns to Earth. When James T. Kirk (William Shatner) learns that Spock's essence or katra is held in the mind of Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Kirk and company steal the Enterprise in order to return Spock's body to his home planet; the crew must contend with hostile Klingons bent on stealing the secrets of a powerful terraforming device.

After positive critical and commercial reaction to The Wrath of Khan, Paramount commissioned a new film. Nimoy took over directing duties, the first Star Trek cast member to do so. Producer Harve Bennett wrote the script starting from the end and working back, and intended the destruction of the Enterprise to be a shocking development. Bennett and Nimoy collaborated with effects house Industrial Light & Magic to develop storyboards and new ship designs; ILM also handled the film's many special effects sequences. James Horner, The Wrath of Khan's composer, returned to expand his themes from the previous film.

The Search for Spock opened June 1, 1984. In its first week the film broke Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom's gross records, making $16 million in almost 2000 theaters across the United States. The film went on to make $76 million in the domestic box office and a total of $87 million worldwide. Critical reaction to The Search for Spock was mixed; critics called the film a compromise between the first and second films. The Search for Spock was released on multiple home video formats, including VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray high definition discs. Nimoy would go on to direct The Search for Spock's sequel, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

The starship Enterprise limps back to Earth following a battle with the superman Khan Noonien Singh, who had tried to destroy the Enterprise by detonating an experimental terraforming device known as Genesis. The casualties of the fight include Admiral James T. Kirk's Vulcan friend, Spock, whose casket was launched into orbit around the newly-formed planet created by the Genesis Device. On arriving at Earth Spacedock Doctor Leonard McCoy begins to act to strangely. Starfleet Admiral Morrow visits the Enterprise and informs the crew the ship is due to be decommissioned; a return visit to the Genesis planet is forbidden due to political fallout over the Device.

David Marcus—Kirk's son, a key scientist in Genesis' development—and the Vulcan Saavik return to the Genesis planet aboard the science vessel Grissom and, to their surprise, discover a life form on the surface. Marcus and Saavik transport to the planet and find that Spock has been resurrected by the Genesis Device's effects, although his mind is not present. Marcus, pressed by Saavik, admits that he used unstable "protomatter" in the construction of the Genesis device, with the result that Spock is rapidly aging and the planet will be destroyed in mere hours. Meanwhile, a Klingon commander named Kruge intercepts information about Genesis. Believing the Genesis Device a potent weapon, he takes his cloaked ship to Genesis, destroys the Grissom, and captures Marcus, Saavik, and Spock.
Spock's father Sarek confronts Kirk about his son's death. The pair learns that before he died, Spock transferred his "katra" or living spirit to McCoy. Both Spock's katra and body are needed to lay him to rest on his homeworld, Vulcan, and without help McCoy will die from carrying the katra. Disobeying orders, Kirk and his officers spring McCoy from detention, disable the USS Excelsior, and steal the Enterprise from Spacedock to return to Genesis. In orbit on arrival at the Genesis planet the Enterprise is attacked and disabled by Kruge. In the standoff that follows Kruge orders one of the hostages on the surface be executed and in a brief struggle David is killed defending Saavik. Kirk and company feign surrender, and activate the Enterprise's self-destruct sequence, killing the Klingon boarding party while transporting to the surface. Promising the secret of Genesis, Kirk lures Kruge to the planet and has him beam his crew to the Klingon vessel. As the Genesis planet disintegrates, Kirk and Kruge engage in hand-to-hand combat; Kirk emerges victorious after kicking the Klingon off a cliff. Overwhelming the last member of the Klingon crew, Kirk and his officers set a course for Vulcan. Spock's katra is reunited with his body in a dangerous procedure called fal tor pan. The ceremony is successful and Spock is resurrected alive and well, though his memories are extremely fragmented. At Kirk's prompting, Spock remembers his name and recognizes the crew.