Would we have seen a Star Trek film in 1979 without Star Wars in '77?
 

As many of you might be aware, after the smash hit success of Star Wars, science fiction films, thought to be a mostly dead genre, suddenly started popping up all over the place. One such film was Star Trek I: The Motion Picture.

What impact did Star Wars have on 80's science fiction in general and the resurrection of Star Trek as a similar franchise?

Or is this a mere coincidence?

Consider that the Star Trek franchise used Industrial Light and Magic for special effects in every film, a studio created by George Lucas.

Use the force.

we probably wouldn't have had the last starfighter

lol, no, in all seriousness, Star Wars opened up the modern Space Fantasy/ Sci Fi Genre.

From what i recall star trek was written before star wars but then when star wars broke loose that broadcast company that had the rights to the "Star trek" dug it out of the cellar because they were looking for a (Space movie)

The only real pertinent question here is:

Who gives a rat's ass?

SoCalBronco.

Star Trek TV came before Star Wars the movie. So don't go there as far as ripping off.

Dude, lighten up. It's the off seasson.

I didn't say anyone ripped anyone off. All I said was the sci-fi well was dry in hollywood and no one was doing shit until star wars came along. Then everyone decided to ride on the coattails of Lucas to make some money. Including Star Trek.

I'm just busting his chops.

It appears that milkman is becoming the new Skip as of late. :p

Oh, man, I haven't thought about that movie in 20 years.... and for good reason I guess.

I think you quoted the wrong post.

Actually both answers are correct. Star Wars certainly fueled the overall interest in science fiction, but Star Trek was popular and already had a core of rabid fans. Fan interest had already led to the creation of an animated series in the early 70's, and would directly lead to the first Star Trek movie (originally, a second TV series with the original cast was envisioned). Even without Star Wars, Star Trek would have come back, in one form or another.

And personally, I was a big fan of Star Trek long before there was a Star Wars.