Star Trek began as a 1960s science fiction television show, which was cancelled by network NBC in 1969 due to poor ratings. The success of the show, however, persuaded Paramount to develop a new television series featuring the original cast entitled Star Trek: Phase II, but these plans were scrapped and the pilot episode was adapted into the first Star Trek feature film, 1979's Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Five more films featuring the original cast followed.

The cast of the 1987-1993 spin-off series Star Trek: The Next Generation starred in a further four films. A reboot and prequel to the original television series, simply titled Star Trek, was released in May 2009, and a sequel has been announced as in development. The Star Trek films have received both positive and negative reviews – critically, a number have received Academy Award nominations, largely for sound, make up or music.

The latter was commonly for scores by Jerry Goldsmith, who orchestrated several themes before his death. The early Star Trek films were originally released on VHS; competitive pricing of The Wrath of Khan's videocassette helped bolster the adoption of VHS players in households. Later films were also released on LaserDisc as well.

For those films that did not receive an initial DVD release, Paramount released simple one-disc versions with no special features. Later, all ten films were released in two-disc collector's versions, with The Motion Picture and The Wrath of Khan branded as "director's cuts", followed by later box set releases. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry first suggested the idea of a Star Trek feature in 1969.

When the original television series was cancelled Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry lobbied to continue the franchise through a film. The success of the series in syndication convinced the studio to begin work on a feature film in 1975. A series of writers attempted to craft a suitably epic script, but the attempts did not satisfy Paramount, so the studio scrapped the project in 1977.

Paramount instead planned on returning the franchise to its roots with a new television series, Star Trek: Phase II. The box office success of Close Encounters of the Third Kind convinced Paramount that science fiction films other than Star Wars could do well at the box office, so the studio canceled production of Phase II and resumed its attempts at making a Star Trek film.

Similar to 0 things you like: