Corrected entry: How do they have an external view of the three Klingon ships that were vaporized? Even if the ships had the ability to transmit external visuals, after the last ship was destroyed, how are they able to see images of empty space where the ships had been? The same thing happens when the Epsilon station is destroyed. Where is the external camera?
wizard_of_gore
23rd Jun 2018
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
23rd Jun 2018
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
Corrected entry: When the Enterprise first encounters V'ger, Spock determines that they cannot communicate because V'ger is transmitting at a frequency and speed that is too advanced for Enterprise to interpret. At the end of the movie, when they finally encounter V'ger itself, they determine that it cannot communicate with Earth because it is using 300 year old technology and no one on Earth can receive the signal. Which is it?
Correction: Both. V'ger has been upgraded and has evolved. When they first encounter it, it's communicating with its advanced technology. At the end, it's trying to communicate with "the creator" and so is using its original language.
It still doesn't make sense. V'Ger does not know who the creator is, so why would it attempt to communicate with the creator using only it's original signal type?
V'Ger's original programming was quite specific: collect all data possible and return that information to its creator. Neither V'Ger nor the living machines knew who the creator WAS, and didn't know where the creator would be in the galaxy, but did know what the creator's planet would look like, thanks to the plaque with V'Ger's true name on it. That plaque had the continents of Earth visible, so it wouldn't be a stretch to have the added hardware from the living machines scan for that particular configuration of continents to aid V'Ger in finding the creator's home planet. The signal the Enterprise received from V'Ger earlier in the film is because V'Ger did not know who its creator was and thought the Enterprise was a living being, just like it. The radio signal V'Ger transmitted once it entered Earth orbit is because of V'Ger's 20th Century programming compelling it to do so. Remember, the living machines did not alter V'Ger's programming. They simply made it possible for V'Ger to complete its mission. V'Ger achieving sentience was an unintended side effect.
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
Correction: While not mentioned in this film, as it predates TNG by a decade, the major powers of the galaxy all use subspace relays to enhance their communications networks. These relays would logically have sensors installed that allow the relay to monitor both its status as well as its surroundings and transmit that information continuously. One of those sensors for monitoring the relay's surroundings is a camera. Epsilon IX intercepted the transmissions from a Klingon relay, which is how it not only picked up the Klingon status report but also saw V'Ger following the destruction of the Klingons. The Enterprise switched to a relay near Epsilon IX to view the space station's destruction as well as seeing V'Ger afterward.