Star Trek: The Motion Picture (or the Slow Motion Picture as some critics dubbed it) is certainly not a film lacking ambition. Robert Wise (director of films as diverse as West Side Story and The Haunting) opted for 2001-style grandeur over Star Wars heroics. Visual effects are astonishing, and the music score (Jerry Goldsmith) is truly magnificent. The scene you mention with Kirk and Scotty docking features an astonishing adagio version of the main theme which is achingly beautiful.

But the film as a whole is overreaching. The plot is absurdly stretched over an inordinate running time. Incidentally there are three versions of this film - the original cinema release, a TV special which is about twenty minutes longer, and a directors cut with a running time somewhere between both versions (ie the version you watched here).

The Wrath of Khan - the best Star Trek film in my not remotely humble opinion - is miles better.