Star Trek game?

[pocketmego]

This all makes a lot of sense. because even though Sega's Star trek Arcade features way more ACTION than TMP did, it still feels more like TMP then it does Wrath of Kahn. I think the sound effects are what causes that feeling.

 

-Ray

 

 

 

 

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.