Feature Films
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The first feature film made from the Star Trek television series was Star Trek--The Motion Picture in 1979, directed by Robert Wise, and this film followed the general pattern of the series and revived characters and situations dear to fans of the series. This was not the first time a feature film had been made from a television series, but in earlier instances, movies were made in conjunction with a series that was still on the air. The Star Trek franchise has become a major money-making enterprise for the studio and production company involved as well as for an array of related manufacturers, publishers, and others selling goods featuring pictures, logos, and other material derived in some way from the original series. Feature films had been made from radio series in the 1940s based on the same desire--to appeal to fans of the series and to cross-advertise the series and the movie so each benefited. Among the radio shows made into films while the radio version was still on the air were features using characters from Amos 'n Andy, Fibber McGee and Molly, The Great Gildersleeve, I Love a Mystery, The Fat Man, and others. Many of these became film series--there were four features made from the Gildersleeve radio series in 1943 and 1944, for instance, while others were on-shots. Television series used the same cross-advertising method, among them McHale's Navy (two films), The Munsters, and Ozzie and Harriet. Television series in general were regarded as having a certa
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movies, or beneficent, as in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) or Brother from Another Planet (1984). In either case, the societal role is all important as humanity either joins together in the face of an external threat or comes together in understanding as in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951).
The genre has changed over the years as well. At one time, it was most likely that any alien presence would be considered a threat, The Day the Earth Stood Still notwithstanding. This is no longer the case, and aliens may be either beneficent or murderous, depending. In films like Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), human fears of aliens are turned on their head as the aliens prove to be friendly. The genre vacillates more and more between the two types, sometimes with both in the same film, as may happen in the many Star Trek movies. In the series and the movies, though, the underlying social message is of tolerance for those different from ourselves.
This was evident in the original series, which was far ahead of its time in terms of mixing the races and sexes in a military work situation, something the franchise has continued to make its hallmark ever since. Several earth races and ethnic groups were represented
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Star Trek, Motion Picture, Cold War, STAR TREK, Singin' Rain, Jules Verne, Leonard Nimoy, Earth Stood, Wagon Train, Russian Chekhov, science fiction, star trek, television series, original series, series air, special effects, feature film, earth stood, day earth, day earth stood, star trek--the motion, motion pictures, trek--the motion picture, film science fiction, science fiction genre,
Approximate Word count = 2834
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page)
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