With the Earth being menaced by an approaching all-enveloping alien cloud, the USS Enterprise, having been refitted in astral dry dock, is put back into commission under the command of Admiral James T.Kirk, reuniting him with his original crew including Mr. Spock and Dr. McCoy, although also on the ship are Commander William Decker, touted to be a future starship Captain, and Lieutenant Ilia, a new science officer. The cloud manages to breech the security of the ship and kidnap Lieutenant Ilia, returning her as a conduit with which to communicate with the crew of the Enterprise. The alien force, through Ilia, identifies itself as V'ger, an entity destined to wipe out the Earth. Kirk and his crew have only hours to discover the mystery of V'ger's origins and save the world. Robert Wise was a strange choice of director for the first Star Trek film, having never worked on the series and being best known for The Sound of Music, but he seems dedicated to giving Trekkies what they want - and in quantity too, with the film running a surprising two and a quarter hours. The film's big budget is evident on screen, ranging from new costumes to a new internal look for the Enterprise as well as spectacular special effects, but the film's pace derails it in scenes such as Kirk inspecting the renovated ship by shuttle craft, and seemingly wanting to see each and every inch of it. The actual plot and identity of V'Ger is clever, but it could all have been done in a standard length episode of the TV series.