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Chekov's Enterprise: A Personal Journal of the Making of Star Trek, the Motion Picture
The actor who portrays Lieutenant Pavel Chekov of the Starship Enterprise describes his experiences and provides portraits of fellow actors during the filming of the Star trek movie based on the popular television series
222 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
About the author
Walter Koenig
26 books22 followersWalter Marvin Koenig (/ˈkeɪnɪɡ/; born September 14, 1936) was an American actor and screenwriter. He began acting professionally in the mid-1960s and quickly rose to prominence for his supporting role as Ensign Pavel Chekov in Star Trek (1967–1969). He went on to reprise this role in all six original-cast Star Trek films, and later voiced President Anton Chekov in Star Trek: Picard (2023). He had also acted in several other series and films including Goodbye, Raggedy Ann (1971), The Questor Tapes (1974), and Babylon 5 (1993). In addition to his acting career, Koenig had made a career in writing as well and was known for working on Land of the Lost (1974), Family (1976), What Really Happened to the Class of '65? (1977) and The Powers of Matthew Star (1982). - Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 13, 2011
Walter Koenig does an excellent job of catching the feeling of returning to the Star Trek universe during the filming of the first motion picture. He both has fun and worries incessantly and seems like a great guy.
I jumped onboard the Star Trek bus with the second movie so I wasn't around to appreciate the reunion aspects of the first one. This book actually makes the first movie more interesting to me (and the scene that grabbed me in Wrath of Khan was actually Chekov being implanted with ear eels which made me keep watching so thank you to Walter Koenig for grimacing so well!)
I jumped onboard the Star Trek bus with the second movie so I wasn't around to appreciate the reunion aspects of the first one. This book actually makes the first movie more interesting to me (and the scene that grabbed me in Wrath of Khan was actually Chekov being implanted with ear eels which made me keep watching so thank you to Walter Koenig for grimacing so well!)
January 16, 2022
A humourous look at the making of Star Trek The Motion Picture. A lot of fun for Star Trek fans.
February 17, 2023
A journal by Walter Koenig during the filming of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Very insightful into the making of the movie. I am surprised that it is out of print. I mean I know people did not like the movie but it still made money and justified several sequels. It was great to see a bottom up view of the film.
February 29, 2016
An entertaining first person account of the making of Star Trek The Motion Picture
August 15, 2026
"I certainly don't feel comfortable in [Director Robert Wise's] presence. On the other hand, I don't feel too comfortable in the presence of the guy who brings the morning coffee, either."
- Walter Koenig
Walter Koenig, best known to Trekkies as the Russian Starfleet officer Pavel Chekov (and best known to Babylon 5 fans as Alfred Bester), took down his thought in between takes while filming "Star Trek: The Motion Picture".
As he is not one of the central characters he had a lot of downtime and a more balanced take on the whole thing than say William Shatner or Leonard Nimoy.
I like that he is constantly wrestling with his fame, with being somewhere between the stars of the movie and the bit players with one or two lines.
He's very funny and insightful, and comes across as a pretty well balanced person, and always seems careful not to paint his fellow actors in a bad light.
It's an interesting account of the filming of the movie, but as almost all of his scenes take place on the bridge it does get a bit repetitive (as he himself points out).
I enjoyed it, but it does end quite abruptly, it would have been nice to have some kind of afterword where he reflects on the experience once the film has finally come out, but overall it's worth checking out for any Trekkies out there.
- Walter Koenig
Walter Koenig, best known to Trekkies as the Russian Starfleet officer Pavel Chekov (and best known to Babylon 5 fans as Alfred Bester), took down his thought in between takes while filming "Star Trek: The Motion Picture".
As he is not one of the central characters he had a lot of downtime and a more balanced take on the whole thing than say William Shatner or Leonard Nimoy.
I like that he is constantly wrestling with his fame, with being somewhere between the stars of the movie and the bit players with one or two lines.
He's very funny and insightful, and comes across as a pretty well balanced person, and always seems careful not to paint his fellow actors in a bad light.
It's an interesting account of the filming of the movie, but as almost all of his scenes take place on the bridge it does get a bit repetitive (as he himself points out).
I enjoyed it, but it does end quite abruptly, it would have been nice to have some kind of afterword where he reflects on the experience once the film has finally come out, but overall it's worth checking out for any Trekkies out there.
June 11, 2021
What a great narrative voice. He sounds like a really nice guy. I enjoyed reading this and it did make me laugh quite a few times however my favorite star trek biography is still I am spock.
April 25, 2023
Surprisingly shocked by how much I loved this. Bittersweet finishing it, felt like standing up after a long meal with an old friend & saying goodbye.
July 1, 2024
Great on-set diary that doesn't go beyond the shooting of the film, gives a great, detailed day-by-day telling of Mr. Koenig's adventures as Chekov as Star Trek takes flight on the big screen.
October 14, 2024
George wrote a good book.
October 13, 2012
Careful reading this one, you'll find yourself wishing to see the movie Walter Koenig saw and experienced while working on Star Trek: The Motion Picture, because it sure isn't the movie I saw.
The movie Koenig worked on was full of life, interesting things, fun, drama and danger. The movie I saw was deathly boring, and on reading this book a second time I've found a new reason not to like the film. The central story isn't about any of the main cast, or even the supporting cast. It's about characters invented for this one movie. Since so much of the movie consists of flying around space in the most leisurely manner possible, devoting a significant amount of non-durdling screen time to one movie characters seems like a terrible mistake. But I digress.
I picked this book up because I was on a journey to try and discover the hidden mysteries of why Star Trek is, what it is, and how it came to be. I honestly still don't know what makes the franchise what it is, but I have come to appreciate it in unexpected ways by going on this journey of discovery. There's something truly mystical about Star Trek, something wondrous and different, yet familiar and comfortable all the same. From the perspective of but one actor, one man among many, a portion of it has been captured here (though it is still unclear what, exactly, it is)
Next to Spock, Chekov became my favorite character almost from the first time he seen on screen. Whatever surface Chekov is, the actor playing him is exactly as I'd always imagined without having read anything about him. He's interesting, funny, and not afraid to make a joke of himself. He obviously has tremendous admiration for the people he works with, but can't help but feel a little jealousy since his own part is so small (for what it's worth, I always felt an injustice was done to Chekov; it always seemed like he appeared in an episode only when it called for someone to be wounded or lose their marbles who wasn't an expendable crewman).
There's no real depth here, so far as film secrets are concerned. But Koenig clearly experienced a different cast and crew than that which you usually read about, and I came away with a greater positive feeling towards not only this film, but the character of Kirk (whom I had never liked) and William Shatner (who I am generally indifferent too). He painted all three in a light so very different from what I had used to view them (maybe it was all the shadows on the bridge).
It also grants a brief, narrow window into mindset and reality of the time into which this movie was born; not the least of which is Koenig's assurance that there will always be a sequel, despite the fact that he could not have known the Star Trek which was to come, thanks to the efforts of everyone involved (not the least of which is Koenig himself). Perhaps he thought that, if he was wrong, he could claim it was a joke for the end of his book. But I choose to think that, like James Blish (who converted the scripts for the episodes into novel format), he had some inkling that neither this time, nor a hundred times like it, was the end for Star Trek.
Certainly, if nothing else, this book stands as part of the magic and majesty that is Star Trek, while at the same time not taking itself too seriously and being able to be lighthearted and fun (also like Star Trek without losing the grandeur of what it is to be a part of this extraordinary franchise.
The biggest pity of this book is that he didn't write one for each of the movies he worked on,
The movie Koenig worked on was full of life, interesting things, fun, drama and danger. The movie I saw was deathly boring, and on reading this book a second time I've found a new reason not to like the film. The central story isn't about any of the main cast, or even the supporting cast. It's about characters invented for this one movie. Since so much of the movie consists of flying around space in the most leisurely manner possible, devoting a significant amount of non-durdling screen time to one movie characters seems like a terrible mistake. But I digress.
I picked this book up because I was on a journey to try and discover the hidden mysteries of why Star Trek is, what it is, and how it came to be. I honestly still don't know what makes the franchise what it is, but I have come to appreciate it in unexpected ways by going on this journey of discovery. There's something truly mystical about Star Trek, something wondrous and different, yet familiar and comfortable all the same. From the perspective of but one actor, one man among many, a portion of it has been captured here (though it is still unclear what, exactly, it is)
Next to Spock, Chekov became my favorite character almost from the first time he seen on screen. Whatever surface Chekov is, the actor playing him is exactly as I'd always imagined without having read anything about him. He's interesting, funny, and not afraid to make a joke of himself. He obviously has tremendous admiration for the people he works with, but can't help but feel a little jealousy since his own part is so small (for what it's worth, I always felt an injustice was done to Chekov; it always seemed like he appeared in an episode only when it called for someone to be wounded or lose their marbles who wasn't an expendable crewman).
There's no real depth here, so far as film secrets are concerned. But Koenig clearly experienced a different cast and crew than that which you usually read about, and I came away with a greater positive feeling towards not only this film, but the character of Kirk (whom I had never liked) and William Shatner (who I am generally indifferent too). He painted all three in a light so very different from what I had used to view them (maybe it was all the shadows on the bridge).
It also grants a brief, narrow window into mindset and reality of the time into which this movie was born; not the least of which is Koenig's assurance that there will always be a sequel, despite the fact that he could not have known the Star Trek which was to come, thanks to the efforts of everyone involved (not the least of which is Koenig himself). Perhaps he thought that, if he was wrong, he could claim it was a joke for the end of his book. But I choose to think that, like James Blish (who converted the scripts for the episodes into novel format), he had some inkling that neither this time, nor a hundred times like it, was the end for Star Trek.
Certainly, if nothing else, this book stands as part of the magic and majesty that is Star Trek, while at the same time not taking itself too seriously and being able to be lighthearted and fun (also like Star Trek without losing the grandeur of what it is to be a part of this extraordinary franchise.
The biggest pity of this book is that he didn't write one for each of the movies he worked on,
November 26, 2014
3,5 Sterne
Ich fand die work-in-progress "Protokolle" Walter Köenigs durchaus interessant. Er berichtet über Vorbereitungen in Maske u. Kostüm, alltäglichen Abläufen am, dem Zusammenarbeiten der Crew (und macht sich dabei auch Gedanken über die inoffiiellen Unterschiede bei der Behandlung bzw. der Kommuniaktion von Mitarbeitern, Statisten u. Stars etc.), den vielen Wartezeiten, der Arbeitsart des Regisseurs und Kollegen und und und. Seine Beobachtungen und Schlussfolgerungen sind von Humor und auch Ironie gezeichnet, weshalb ich geduldiger mit manchen für mich langweiligeren Passagen (Softball) war.
Ich fand die work-in-progress "Protokolle" Walter Köenigs durchaus interessant. Er berichtet über Vorbereitungen in Maske u. Kostüm, alltäglichen Abläufen am, dem Zusammenarbeiten der Crew (und macht sich dabei auch Gedanken über die inoffiiellen Unterschiede bei der Behandlung bzw. der Kommuniaktion von Mitarbeitern, Statisten u. Stars etc.), den vielen Wartezeiten, der Arbeitsart des Regisseurs und Kollegen und und und. Seine Beobachtungen und Schlussfolgerungen sind von Humor und auch Ironie gezeichnet, weshalb ich geduldiger mit manchen für mich langweiligeren Passagen (Softball) war.
April 26, 2014
Entertainment is Koenig's profession, and it does it well in this book. If we are to believe the accuracy of the timeline, he must of set out to record the making of The Motion Picture when they began filming it. Koenig is a good writer, and while there are no big secrets revealed in the book, it is entertaining to read. The "behind the scenes" glimpses he provides makes the book feel quite personal. I really enjoyed it, although I didn't use any of the material in writing my book, which was why I read it (as research.)
July 30, 2010
Excellent diary of the time Koenig spent making the first Star Trek movie. It is interesting how such time is spent and what goes on behind the scenes. Plus, Koenig is very very funny! There are no spoilers nor big personality conflicts revealed, nothing juicy is shared, but all in all I really enjoyed this book!
Way to go, George! Er, Walter ;-)
Way to go, George! Er, Walter ;-)
December 7, 2014
This highly enjoyable volume is presented as a series of journal entries written by Koenig over the four months he worked on filming Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Koenig is a strong writer. The entries are witty and entertaining. This book gives us a great look at the process of filmmaking from an actor's point of view.
December 5, 2016
A public diary of one successful actor/writer/nutty sci-fi collector's transition from the boob-tube to Hollywood. In part because of his neurotic self-effacing style, this tale is both witty and touching in nearly equal portions. Fans of the process of movie making (or Trekkies) will enjoy this book. The introduction by Ellison is best read aloud in an enclosed space, like an elevator.
May 31, 2013
An interesting behind the scenes look at the making of the film with several glimpses into Mr. Koenig's thoughts on his part in the film as well as his own career. I wish he'd dug up and included more of the behind the scenes activities but it was still an enjoyable read.
October 8, 2013
This was an enjoyable and insightful look into the production of the first Trek movie from Koenig's unique point of view. The day to day journal entries are written to light and often funny in their descriptions of the goings on of Soundstage 9.
February 16, 2009
An interesting read on the happenings on the set of the original series.
March 23, 2023
Very funny and touching account of the filming of Star Trek: The Motion Picture from Koenig's POV.
May 17, 2014
A fun look into what happened behind the camera in the making of Star Trek!
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews