I originally saw the version that aired on TV in the early/mid 1980s when I was about 10 years old. For the past couple of years I'd been watching reruns of the original series which aired every weeknight and I'd become a fan of the show. I'd never seen any of the Star Trek movies before, nor did I even know that they existed, so I was expecting it to just be a 2-hour episode of the TV series, with all the actors, sets, and props looking the same.
I was surprised by the new look of everything, and by how much the actors had aged, and by Scotty's mustache, and Uhura's afro, and the Canadian beaver pelt that Kirk was wearing on his head. I was initially disappointed that Spock didn't seem to be among the crew, but that was soon rectified.
As the story unfolded I was intrigued by the mystery of what "V'ger" was, and not once was I ever bored. I was amazed by the reveal that the heart of it was a Voyager probe, since I'd been learning about the real Voyager probes in school at the time. To this day it's my favorite Star Trek movie, or at least a tossup between it and part IV.
The next day our teacher initiated a class discussion about the movie. I don't think anything like that would ever happen today. Watching a movie at home these days isn't an "event," and with most people having hundreds of TV channels, plus internet streaming sites, what are the chances that a significant number of kids in a classroom watched the same movie the night before? Back then VCRs weren't commonplace yet, and most people only had three TV channels (not counting PBS). If a big Hollywood movie was airing on one of those three channels, a large percentage of the country watched it.
The Wrath of Khan aired on TV a year or two later, but I didn't like it anywhere near as much as TMP. I found it rather boring, and I still do.
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