25 replies to this topic

[dr. kwack]

Am I right in thinking that there was to be a game based on Star Trek The Motion Picture? For some reason I'm thinking Milton Bradley was going to do it.

[Rom Hunter]

Yep.

[Zwackery]

Wow, nice pic! Great for my files - thanks for sharing.

More Trek info: Coleco had an unreleased handheld called Star Trek: The Electronic Game (based on the 1979 film) back in 1980, but this may never have gotten out of the mock-up stage, and there was the officially titled release Star Trek: The Motion Picture for the Vectrex, which was very similar to Sega's Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator (which, I think, might be conceptually related to the old text and then ASCII Trek games on the mainframes), but ST:SOS was released closely after Wrath of Khan.

[Gabriel]

Zwackery, on Wed Jun 21, 2006 9:38 PM, said:

More Trek info: Coleco had an unreleased handheld called Star Trek: The Electronic Game (based on the 1979 film) back in 1980, but this may never have gotten out of the mock-up stage,

http://www.handheldm...co/StarTrek.htm

Considering that site can't find a working model, plus Trekkies tend to be obsessive about collectibles and haven't found a working model, I think it's safe to say it was never actually produced.

[Lemmi]

the only star trek game i want is the one for the 3DO that was started and stopped because the 3do tanked

ive seen screen shots and boxes for it in magazines, as comming soon

[Gabriel]

Lemmi, on Thu Jun 22, 2006 2:04 PM, said:

the only star trek game i want is the one for the 3DO that was started and stopped because the 3do tanked

ive seen screen shots and boxes for it in magazines, as comming soon

Oh? I never read anything about a Trek game for the 3DO. Tell me more.

[Lemmi]

Gabriel, on Thu Jun 22, 2006 3:40 PM, said:

Lemmi, on Thu Jun 22, 2006 2:04 PM, said:

the only star trek game i want is the one for the 3DO that was started and stopped because the 3do tanked

ive seen screen shots and boxes for it in magazines, as comming soon

Oh? I never read anything about a Trek game for the 3DO. Tell me more.

its Star Trek : The Next Generation, i dont have the mag with the box art, a guy i knew sent me a pic long ago, he was into the rarest items for the 3do
i scanned the mag from 1994 and in a later mag mid 95 they have it listed to buy but you have to call the place first

from 94 to 96 they couldnt get off their asses and make the damn game, i would like to know if any part of it was actually started

Attached Thumbnails

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[SteveW]

I wonder if the actors from the show recorded voices for it. Sometimes they list these types of things in their resumes. Someone needs to track those down. Not me, I thought The Next Generation was painfully dull, and couldn't muster up any interest in it.

[A.J. Franzman]

SteveW, on Thu Jun 22, 2006 8:18 PM, said:

I thought The Next Generation was painfully dull, and couldn't muster up any interest in it.

When did you give up on it?

Although I was a fan from the start, watching reruns now I find it hard to sit through many of the first and second season episodes (along with most of the other episodes with Wesley Crusher as lead character). It wasn't until the third season that the show really hit its stride.

For those who can't tell the seasons apart, in the first two seasons the main characters wore collarless 1-piece jumpsuit uniforms with colored piping in the black area across the shoulders. Starting in the third season, the piping was removed and stand-up collars were added, and the uniforms became conventional 2-piece tunic and trousers, BUT older-style uniforms were still often worn by background extras. The Enterprise sets were repainted and slightly redesigned, and lighting was brightened considerably. Also, the character of Tasha Yar was killed off late in the first season (but Denise Crosby later reappeared a few times as both Yar and her temporal-anomaly spawned offspring, half-Romulan Commander Sela), and Dr. Beverly Crusher was replaced by Dr. Kate Pulaski for the entire second season (actress Gates McFadden was on maternity leave - in late first season episodes she had a noticeable belly bulge and usually stood behind things). Spike is currently showing first season episodes.

Edited by A.J. Franzman, Thu Jun 22, 2006 11:01 PM.

[moycon]

I remember a good while back there was a dude who had his apartment listed on ebay for like million dollars. Here's the thing, he had converted the entire apartment into the U.S.S. Enterprise. Kitchen, Bathroom, he even had faux teleporters (or whatever those things that beam you were called) in the living room!! That was you wasn't it Franzman??

Milton Bradley was the company that released games with special controllers weren't they? I wonder if a funky Star Trek controller exists for this game?

At the bottom of that ad it says bring home the worlds best arcade games...what arcade games did MB release or work on??

[heberts811]

IIRC they also announced Scramble but never released it.
Anyone know any more about it?

Gary

Edited by heberts811, Sat Jun 24, 2006 1:32 PM.

[Gabriel]

moycon, on Fri Jun 23, 2006 12:21 AM, said:

At the bottom of that ad it says bring home the worlds best arcade games...what arcade games did MB release or work on??

This is all just speaking hypothetically and madly guessing.

The Star Trek II movie was ostensibly developed as a made-for-TV movie so the studio could dump it if it didn't seem promising enough. It did make it to theaters (and faced off against Rocky III at the box office) in 1982.

Milton Bradley was also responsible for the Star Trek Vectrex game, which was a 1982 game. Oddly, that game features "The Motion Picture" as it's movie tie in.

Maybe Milton Bradley went with the "sure bet" of tying the game to a 3 year old Star Trek movie which semi-flopped rather than tying it to a movie which might not have made it to theaters. According to what I've read in the past, there was a very real chance that Paramount could have just shelved Star Trek II and forgotten about it.

As for the arcade game thing, perhaps the Sega game was being designed in parallel, and was also intended to be a tie in with "The Motion Picture." It's interesting that it uses Nomad for it's "boss" levels, because many Trek fans have noted that Nomad and V'Ger are very similar conceptually.

[jbanes]

Gabriel, on Mon Jun 26, 2006 9:50 AM, said:

The Star Trek II movie was ostensibly developed as a made-for-TV movie so the studio could dump it if it didn't seem promising enough. It did make it to theaters (and faced off against Rocky III at the box office) in 1982.

I think you're confusing the first and second movies. The first movie was actually a spin-off of an attempt to revive the Star Trek TV Series. It was going to be the crown jewel of the new Paramount Television Network. The backup plan was to ramp up the costly production into a feature movie. When the Television Network idea died, Paramount expected that the Star Trek Motion Picture would help them recover costs so that they wouldn't lose quite so much money. There was not going to be another movie.

Instead, they made oodles of money on the Motion Picture, and immediately began plans to launch another movie. For the second movie, everything was begun as a movie rather than a television show. Industrial Light and Magic was hired for the effects, the uniforms were redesigned for the big screen rather than reusing the Motion Picture uniforms that had actually been intended for television use (and reuse. ), and the story was written as a feature film rather than the extended episode format that had been used in the first movie.

In case this all sound familiar to anyone, it should. While Paramount cancelled their plans for a television network, they would later revive the plan as the United Paramount Network in the 1990's. Star Trek Voyager ended up being the "crown jewel" as opposed to the original Star Trek: Phase II series that had been planned.

As for the Motion Picture itself, many of the elements and story lines were later reused for Star Trek TNG:

• The Will Decker character became Will Riker
  
• Lieutenant Ilia became Deanna Troi
  
• the "unnamed Vulcan Xon" (who died in the transporter accident in the movie, once Nimoy learned that the plans for a series were cancelled and decided to sign on) became Data
  
• The "virgin birth" episode was reused in the TNG second season, VERBATIM. All that changed was the names of the characters.
  
• The title music by Jerry Goldsmith was reused as the TNG title music

In case you're interested in futher reading on the subject, there's an excellent book called Star Trek Phase II: The Making of the Lost Series. It covers everything from the timeline to the production, and even includes many of the lost scripts. A fascinating book for trekkies.

[Gabriel]

jbanes, on Mon Jun 26, 2006 10:28 AM, said:

Gabriel, on Mon Jun 26, 2006 9:50 AM, said:

The Star Trek II movie was ostensibly developed as a made-for-TV movie so the studio could dump it if it didn't seem promising enough. It did make it to theaters (and faced off against Rocky III at the box office) in 1982.

I think you're confusing the first and second movies. The first movie was actually a spin-off of an attempt to revive the Star Trek TV Series. It was going to be the crown jewel of the new Paramount Television Network. The backup plan was to ramp up the costly production into a feature movie. When the Television Network idea died, Paramount expected that the Star Trek Motion Picture would help them recover costs so that they wouldn't lose quite so much money. There was not going to be another movie.

Instead, they made oodles of money on the Motion Picture, and immediately began plans to launch another movie. For the second movie, everything was begun as a movie rather than a television show. Industrial Light and Magic was hired for the effects, the uniforms were redesigned for the big screen rather than reusing the Motion Picture uniforms that had actually been intended for television use (and reuse. ), and the story was written as a feature film rather than the extended episode format that had been used in the first movie.

In case this all sound familiar to anyone, it should. While Paramount cancelled their plans for a television network, they would later revive the plan as the United Paramount Network in the 1990's. Star Trek Voyager ended up being the "crown jewel" as opposed to the original Star Trek: Phase II series that had been planned.

As for the Motion Picture itself, many of the elements and story lines were later reused for Star Trek TNG:

• The Will Decker character became Will Riker
  
• Lieutenant Ilia became Deanna Troi
  
• the "unnamed Vulcan Xon" (who died in the transporter accident in the movie, once Nimoy learned that the plans for a series were cancelled and decided to sign on) became Data
  
• The "virgin birth" episode was reused in the TNG second season, VERBATIM. All that changed was the names of the characters.
  
• The title music by Jerry Goldsmith was reused as the TNG title music

In case you're interested in futher reading on the subject, there's an excellent book called Star Trek Phase II: The Making of the Lost Series. It covers everything from the timeline to the production, and even includes many of the lost scripts. A fascinating book for trekkies.

Although most of what you said is correct, there are some little bits and pieces which I don't think are.

Of course Star Trek:TMP was a follow up to the original TV show. It also had the albatross around it's neck that it had been birthed as the Star Trek Phase II series for the failed first Paramount network. However, when TMP actually started its formal development, it was known that it was going to be a theatrical motion picture, and a date was set around Christmas of 1979. (A date which eventually meant the film had no pre-screenings and was shipped "wet" and without a proper sound mix.)

TMP was a critical failure. And, since it had to carry the financial weight of the failed TV series and network, it was said to be a financial failure as well. But, by most other measures of the time, it was a blockbuster. It basically had to be a wild moneymaker in order to break even due to all the baggage attached to it.

When Star Trek II was planned, several things changed. Gene Roddenberry was stripped of his producer role, and the movie was conceived as a made for TV movie with the option for theatrical release if deemed "good enough". This was a way for Paramount to pull the plug easily should the production start generating the kind of problems the first feature film did.

Milton Bradley may not have even had a license for Star Trek II. It doesn't seem that anyone really jumped on it as a licensing bet. Even the arcade game only ties itself to the second movie by way of the cabinet art, but not the name.

As far as I know, there's almost no licensed material directly tied to the second movie. The USS Enterprise model by AMT/ERTL didn't have a Star Trek II version. There were no action figures at the time of the film. DC started a comic some time after the film, but never did a comic adaptation of Trek II despite numerous fan requests.

So, back to the video game, it was probably all some goofy licensing mess.

[jbanes]

Gabriel, on Mon Jun 26, 2006 11:10 AM, said:

Of course Star Trek:TMP was a follow up to the original TV show. It also had the albatross around it's neck that it had been birthed as the Star Trek Phase II series for the failed first Paramount network. However, when TMP actually started its formal development, it was known that it was going to be a theatrical motion picture, and a date was set around Christmas of 1979. (A date which eventually meant the film had no pre-screenings and was shipped "wet" and without a proper sound mix.)

I see that you were fooled by the plan within the plan that was actually a backup plan!

I'd have to pull out my copy of ST:Phase II to give you exact dates, but the second series had started as an aborted attempt to produce a movie. Roddenberry was convinced, however, that a Star Trek movie was not feasible. When Paramount picked up on the TV Network idea, they used the previous plans for a movie as cover. Because of the need for secrecy, Paramount was willing to absorb the cost of developing the show as if it were a movie. (Most of the crew hadn't been informed.) As pre-production progressed, Paramount sprung the truth on the crew. As a result, a lot of work had to be redone to make it suitable for television. All the while Paramount was telling the press that they were going to make a movie. (There's still several test footage reels circulating from this period.)

Two weeks before Phase II production was supposed to begin, Paramount changed their minds on the television network. They announced to the crew that it was going to be a movie after all, and that they'd need to redo even more work. This was particularly annoying for the modellers who now needed to rebuild the Enterprise model so that it would have enough detail for the big screen. (Talk about wasted expenditures!)

Quote

TMP was a critical failure. And, since it had to carry the financial weight of the failed TV series and network, it was said to be a financial failure as well. But, by most other measures of the time, it was a blockbuster. It basically had to be a wild moneymaker in order to break even due to all the baggage attached to it.

I have no idea where you get the idea that it was a "critical failure". Its box office numbers speak for themselves. Despite being an attempt to recover their losses, Paramount made a pile of cash on the movie. George Takei was quoted in the 25th Anniversary Special that there was only going to be one movie, but then the studio made so much money that they ended up deciding to do another.

Quote

When Star Trek II was planned, several things changed. Gene Roddenberry was stripped of his producer role

Correct. The studio felt that his meddling with the Phase II/TMP projects had heavily contributed to the cost overruns.

Quote

the movie was conceived as a made for TV movie with the option for theatrical release if deemed "good enough". This was a way for Paramount to pull the plug easily should the production start generating the kind of problems the first feature film did.

Do you have any sources that back this up? I do know that the second movie was given a much smaller budget. They were forced to reuse the sets and props from the first movie, and the production schedule was done out of the Television arm of Paramount. However, I've never seen any sources suggest that the movie was intended for anything other than the big screen.

Again, I think you may be confusing the TMP production with The Wrath of Khan. Before Phase II was greenlighted, the many attempts at a movie were referred to as "Star Trek II" prior to the renaming of "Star Trek: Phase II". There was some talk of making it into a TV movie, but that was all intertwined with the Phase II/TMP nonsense.

Quote

As far as I know, there's almost no licensed material directly tied to the second movie. The USS Enterprise model by AMT/ERTL didn't have a Star Trek II version. There were no action figures at the time of the film. DC started a comic some time after the film, but never did a comic adaptation of Trek II despite numerous fan requests.

My gut feeling on the licensing mess is that it was partly caused by Meyer's heavy cap on the movie's storyline. He didn't want it known that Spock was going to die, and even threw in the Kobayashi Maru scene to throw off fans who had been leaked info about the death scene.

[A.J. Franzman]

jbanes, on Mon Jun 26, 2006 10:32 AM, said:

I have no idea where you get the idea that it was a "critical failure".

This somewhat confusing phrase merely means that most of the well-known movie critics didn't like it. It has nothing to do with box office performance, audience reaction, or the movie's effect on Paramount.

[NovaXpress]

ST:TMP was indeed a critical disaster AND a financial disaster.

On the surface, we see that it made $82M on a production budget of $35M. Sounds like a profit? Now throw in the other expenses. Add several million for film processing, duplication and distribution. Now add an estimated $50M and up for publicity. Paramount lost millions on ST:TMP

The obvious solution was to make another Star Trek movie on a drastically reduced budget. ST2 was made for independent money, even reusing the same sets for every spaceship interior. Wrath of Khan was made and promoted at less than half the cost of the first movie yet still made a sweet $78M. And that is why the series continued.

The most successful film in the series: The Voyage Home
The least successful: Nemesis

[NovaXpress]

And it was the first movie that came from the abandoned TV series. The second movie was never meant to be anything else.

[Rybags]

ST1 was just a drawn out bore of a movie. It had about 2 minutes footage of the launch of the Enterprise when 30 seconds would have been more than enough.

Even though ST4 was the most successful, I rate it among lowly compared to others like First Contact and ST2 and ST6. But overall, the odds bad/evens good theory is pretty accurate.

I suppose we have to thank George Lucas for the Star Trek revival. It was the success of Star Wars that convinced him that a Star Trek movie could also be a success.

[A.J. Franzman]

Rybags, on Thu Jun 29, 2006 11:17 AM, said:

I suppose we have to thank George Lucas for the Star Trek revival. It was the success of Star Wars that convinced him that a Star Trek movie could also be a success.

Care to explain that comment in more detail? As in, what did Lucas have to do with deciding whether any of the Star Trek films could be successful, and then just how does his belief in their likely success relate to Paramount in any way?

[NovaXpress]

The Star Wars box office take certainly convinced Paramount to spend the money.

[A.J. Franzman]

Rybags, on Thu Jun 29, 2006 11:17 AM, said:

I suppose we have to thank George Lucas for the Star Trek revival. It was the success of Star Wars that convinced him that a Star Trek movie could also be a success.

(emphasis added)

NovaXpress, on Thu Jun 29, 2006 7:38 PM, said:

The Star Wars box office take certainly convinced Paramount to spend the money.

But what, exactly was the effect of Lucas being convinced that a Star Trek movie could be a success? He didn't have anything to do with that franchise!

Edited by A.J. Franzman, Fri Jun 30, 2006 4:45 PM.

[NovaXpress]

I know, I know. I assume he meant Gene Roddenberry was convinced, though the key was really Paramount being convinced.

[Rybags]

Re earlier post - I meant that the success of Star Wars convinced Roddenberry and Paramount that a Trek revival could be a success.

John Dykstra was credited for much visual effects work for Star Wars IV as well as Battlestar Galactica and ST1: TMP.

Lucas had a lot of involvement in Trek - look at the credits in som of the movies and episodes of TNG - Industrial Light and Magic did a lot of their visual effefts.

[NovaXpress]

Rybags, on Sat Jul 1, 2006 5:11 AM, said:

Lucas had a lot of involvement in Trek - look at the credits in som of the movies and episodes of TNG - Industrial Light and Magic did a lot of their visual effefts.

That's like saying that Bill Gates had a lot of involvement in The Matrix just because the Wachowski's secretary typed up her memos on a Windows machine.