Star Trek: The Motion Picture turned 40 years old this year. Perhaps one of the least-loved, yet utterly successful films that spawned multiple sequels in the last few decades, The Motion Picture is a bit of conundrum. While it is rooted in the same universe as shows and movies that came before and after it, it has a markedly different look and feel than much of the rest of the Star Trek canon. This makes it something of an odd man out. At the same time, it’s a movie that tried to express a number of character and plot ideas that were used again with much more success in other adventures in the Star Trek universe.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the theatrical release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture, which saw the crew of TV’s Star Trek make the leap onto the big screen. Now, Fathom Events and Paramount Pictures is bringing the film back to theaters nationwide for 2 days only this September.

Theaters nationwide will be showing the film on Sunday, September 15 and Wednesday, September 18, 2019, and will include a screening of the behind-the-scenes documentary short “The Longest Trek: Writing the Motion Picture.”

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Director’s Cut
Available now on Blu-ray
Written by Jack B. Sowards (Uncredited: Nicholas Meyer)
Directed by Nicholas Meyer
Starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Bibi Besch, Paul Winfield, Kirstie Alley, Ricardo Montalbán
Paramount Pictures
Original release date: June 4, 1982
Fathom Events screenings: September 10 & 13, 2017

In honor of the 35th anniversary of the theatrical release of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Paramount Pictures and Fathom Events are bringing the Director’s Cut version of the film to theaters for two days only this month (9/10 & 9/13). I got the chance to see the film at my local theater at the Sunday afternoon screening, and even though I’ve seen this movie — which is one of my favorites of all time — countless times, getting to see it on the big screen again was elating.

The screenings all include a new interview with the film’s star William Shatner, who played the iconic role of James T. Kirk. In the interview, which begins about 15 minutes prior to the screening times (2pm and 7pm local time), the actor talked about making the sequel and how it reinvigorated the Star Trek franchise.

Travel to another dimension of sight and sound this fall with The Twilight Zone: The Complete Series. Featuring new packaging, this 24-disc Blu-ray set includes all 156 episodes from five seasons (over 74 hours of content), and arrives on December 13, just in time for the holidays.

Star Trek: The Animated Series
The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek
Blu-ray Edition
Created by Gene Roddenberry
Directed by Hal Sutherland, Bill Reed
Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, Majel Barrett
Paramount Home Entertainment
Release Date: November 15, 2016

When the original Star Trek was cancelled in 1969 after three seasons, it left a void with fans who wanted NBC to renew the television series about the starship Enterprise and its crew’s five-year mission to explore new worlds and new civilizations. Audiences grew to love William Shatner‘s Captain Kirk and his first officer, the half-human half-Vulcan Spock, played by Leonard Nimoy, but the ratings just weren’t high enough after the show was moved for the third season to a Friday night “death” slot. While Star Trek got to live on in syndication, it wasn’t until 1973 that new life was breathed into it with Star Trek: The Animated Series, produced by Filmation, the company behind Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids.