Warning: contains spoilers for Star Trek #24!
Star Trek: The Motion Picture’s tagline just got an awesome new in-universe meaning. Released in 1979, Star Trek: The Motion Picture marked the beloved franchise’s return to greatness. While fan and critical opinion of the film is divided, it helped ensure Star Trek’s survival, ultimately leading to what fans know and love today. Now, in Star Trek #24, the film’s epic tagline takes on an amazing new meaning.
Star Trek #24 is written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly and drawn by Megan Levens. Captain Sisko and the crew of the USS Theseus are fleeing the destruction of the Pleroma. T’Lir helps save the ship from destruction, but seemingly loses their god-like powers in the process. A text piece in the issue, made to resemble their diary before becoming corporeal, expresses their excitement over the prospect of being mortal. They conclude the journal entry by declaring the death of their old self, stating: “the human adventure is just beginning.”
Star Trek: The Motion Picture Was A Huge Milestone for the Franchise
Star Trek: The Motion PIcture Is a Gorgeous Mess of a Movie
Star Trek: The Motion Picture director Robert Wise's other films include, among others: The Haunting and The Day the Earth Stood Still.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture saved the franchise when it premiered in theaters in December 1979. The classic Star Trek television program ended in 1969 and efforts to revive it in some form began soon after. An animated series aired for two seasons mid-decade, but every other attempt to revive Star Trek seemed to meet with failure. Finally, a new television show, to be called Star Trek Phase II, was announced. Production was underway on Phase II when Star Wars arrived in theaters, changing the pop culture landscape. Paramount then decided to make a movie instead.
The film was a box-office success if not a critical one. Star Trek: The Motion Picture is incredibly slow-paced, and even a definitive Director’s Cut does little to speed matters up. Despite its flaws and shortcomings, Star Trek: The Motion Picture contains some of the franchise’s biggest and best ideas, as well as boundary-pushing special effects. Composer Jerry Goldsmith’s epic score adds a bombastic touch to the film as well. Star Trek: The Motion Picture also had a massive advertising and publicity campaign, with the tagline: “the human adventure is just beginning.”
Star Trek: The Motion Picture's Tagline Fulfills Gene Roddenberry's Vision
T'Lir's Adventure Is Just Beginning
In context, Star Trek: The Motion Picture’s tagline fits nicely in with the franchise’s humanist themes. Gene Roddenberry, when creating Star Trek, envisioned a world where humanity evolved beyond greed, racism and war. Star Trek’s Earth is a virtual Utopia, free from disease and crime. Roddenberry also believed that humanity’s long-standing problems would need to be addressed before they reach out into space. Humanity had transcended their basest desires, and were ready to take their place in the galaxy. In short, the human adventure was truly just beginning.
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Now, T’Lir has given Star Trek: The Motion Picture’s tagline an awesome new meaning. T’Lir’s journals in previous issues revealed a disillusionment with being a god, and a yearning for more. T’Lir, knowing what needed to be done to save their species, sacrificed much to live as a mortal. Far from viewing it as a setback, T’Lir saw it as a chance to truly experience what it meant to be alive. Much like humanity, T’Lir had entered a new phase of their existence, one full of promise and one where “the human adventure was just beginning.”
Star Trek #24 is on sale now from IDW Publishing.
