The negative reception of Star Trek V once again left the fate of Gene Roddenberry's long running franchise up in the air (or lost in space... sorry, bad pun). While the film did make some box office money, it was well below the expected take, plus the unfavorable feedback from critics and fans was no encouragement. Star Trek, however, was by no means dead, as the sequel TV series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, was enjoying a successful run on the small screen. After some consideration, it was decided that the cast and characters of the Original Series would be sent off with one more feature film, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. This would be the final film to feature the entire cast of the original crew, as the next four films to come would follow the cast of The Next Generation. It would also mark the return of Nicholas Meyer in the director's chair, who had been absent from the series since Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. So while the hype surrounding Star Trek VI wasn't as intense as previous entries, there was still some speculation and interest in seeing how the original crew would be sent off. How did it turn out? Let's take a look.
The film opens with the USS Excelsior, the Starfleet vessel helmed by Captain Hikaru Sulu (George Takei), former lieutenant of the USS Enterprise. The ship is called to investigate the explosion of Praxis, a Klingon moon who destruction not only claimed the lives of many Klingon, but also put a strain on their Empire. As they lost their key energy and layers of their ozone, the Klingon Empire reaches out to their former enemy, The United Federation of Planets, for a peace truce. To avoid further casualties, the Federation accepts their offer, and in the process sends the Enterprise to meet with Klingon Chancellor Gorkon (David Warner) to negotiate terms en route to Earth. Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) objects to proposed alliance, as he holds to a strong distrust of the Klingons after his son died at the hands of one. He reluctantly agrees to his orders, but things take a distressing turn when the Enterprise (without orders) seemingly fires at the Klingon ship and takes the life of Chancellor Gorkon. Despite the efforts of Kirk and Bones (DeForrest Kelley) to save the Chancellor's life, Gorkon dies and Klingons hold Kirk and Bones responsible. With his friends' lives on the line, Spock (Leonard Nimoy) attempts to solve the mystery to not only save Kirk and Bones, but also to avoid further conflict with the Klingons.
Star Trek VI may not be the most ambitious of the Trek films, but it incorporated a lot of elements from various genres into it's story. In addition to being a Sci-Fi film, it's also a cold war thriller and a whodunit mystery.
It has it's moments of comic relief, but it mostly does away with the comedic tone from the previous two films and instead takes a slightly darker direction. One thing I have to applaud the original six Trek films for doing is giving each movie it's own identity and style. Whether they're good or bad, each film tackled a different idea, had it's own unique style, and generally contributed to the overall mythos of Star Trek. I won't say that all of the concepts and ideas in The Undiscovered Country work perfectly, but the film overall amounts an entertaining experience and one of the better entries in the Star Trek film series. It's certainly no Wrath of Khan nor is it quite up to par with The Voyage Home, but it's miles better than The Motion Picture and The Final Frontier, so that has to count for something.
The script has it's ups and downs, but as I mentioned, it ultimately works. While the previous films analyzed topics ranging from science, discovery, environmentalism, communication, or religion... this one makes an effort to examine politics from a Sci-Fi perspective.
The cold war themes weren't uncommon on the original, especially when the Klingons were concerned, as the original ran in the midst of the increasing conflict. This film, was released right around the end of the cold war, so it only seems appropriate. The whole cold war allegory is... okay I guess. It doesn't really have a lot to say about the conflict other than that it happened and then ended. Whatever, I suppose it adds some decent conflict to the story that reasonably tied in with some important events happening at the time of it's release. The whodunit mystery isn't very interesting either, or at least it's resolution is kind of uninspired. When the mystery is set in motion, it keeps you engaged, but the resolution is about as predictable as you can get. These were all some interesting and worthy ideas to explore, and while I can't say they work as well as they should, I can't fault the film too much for them either.
Can't really complain too much about the rest, story wise at least. For starters, the pacing is great, with few dead moments or boring scenes. The dialogue is some of the series' best as well, especially when you consider that this is a franchise known for corny lines and odd techno-babble. The conflict, politics and mysteries aside, overall works too. It's not as suspenseful as some of the better Trek films, but seeing Kirk and Bones working together in order to escape from their current predicament keeps the movie going.
There are no huge surprise twists or reveals that I didn't already see coming, but the way everything develops and reveals itself is engaging and generally works. The visuals are better this time around, with a bigger budget at their disposal leading to some interesting effects, decent action, and neat space battles. That said, if you're only impressed by today's cg-heavy blockbusters, you probably won't be too impressed. Most of the primary characters get at least one big or memorable moment, the new characters generally work, and the script never let's is symbolism overshadow the main plot at hand or the enjoyability factor. It was also kind of interesting to see Kirk mention David Marcus, his decesased son, namely because the character was rarely mentioned in the films following The Search For Spock. I also have to say how cool was is to see Sulu become Captain of his own ship... too bad he never got a spin off or TV miniseries... that would have been awesome!
Acting wise, it's once again something of a mixed bag. The returning cast members know their characters so well, they probably don't have to put much effort into their roles. Kim Cattrall (as in Sex in the City Kim Cattrall) plays Lt. Valeris, a Vulcan protege of Spock serving aboard the Enterprise. Cattrall tries hard, I can tell, and while she's not awful, it's not a particularly memorable performance. Christpher Plummer, on the other hand, has some enjoyable moments as the Shakespeare-quoting Klingon Chang. You can't go wrong with Christopher Plummer, just saying. As for the rest... there's not too much to say. Some do well, some are a bit shaky, but the acting overall is decent enough. Nobody is great but nobody is terrible either, take that as you will. One more thing, be on the lookout for a completely random cameo from Christian Slater (his mother was the film's casting director). Slater doesn't really add much to the film as he's only on screen for a minute, it's just kind of neat.
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country isn't a perfect movie, but it's still a pretty damn good one and a great send-off for the original cast. Between a good story, some solid action, and some neat visuals, it's overall an enjoyable experience. Check it out if you haven't seen it.
My Score: 4 out of 5!
Star Trek VI may not be the most ambitious of the Trek films, but it incorporated a lot of elements from various genres into it's story. In addition to being a Sci-Fi film, it's also a cold war thriller and a whodunit mystery.
It has it's moments of comic relief, but it mostly does away with the comedic tone from the previous two films and instead takes a slightly darker direction. One thing I have to applaud the original six Trek films for doing is giving each movie it's own identity and style. Whether they're good or bad, each film tackled a different idea, had it's own unique style, and generally contributed to the overall mythos of Star Trek. I won't say that all of the concepts and ideas in The Undiscovered Country work perfectly, but the film overall amounts an entertaining experience and one of the better entries in the Star Trek film series. It's certainly no Wrath of Khan nor is it quite up to par with The Voyage Home, but it's miles better than The Motion Picture and The Final Frontier, so that has to count for something.The script has it's ups and downs, but as I mentioned, it ultimately works. While the previous films analyzed topics ranging from science, discovery, environmentalism, communication, or religion... this one makes an effort to examine politics from a Sci-Fi perspective.
The cold war themes weren't uncommon on the original, especially when the Klingons were concerned, as the original ran in the midst of the increasing conflict. This film, was released right around the end of the cold war, so it only seems appropriate. The whole cold war allegory is... okay I guess. It doesn't really have a lot to say about the conflict other than that it happened and then ended. Whatever, I suppose it adds some decent conflict to the story that reasonably tied in with some important events happening at the time of it's release. The whodunit mystery isn't very interesting either, or at least it's resolution is kind of uninspired. When the mystery is set in motion, it keeps you engaged, but the resolution is about as predictable as you can get. These were all some interesting and worthy ideas to explore, and while I can't say they work as well as they should, I can't fault the film too much for them either.Can't really complain too much about the rest, story wise at least. For starters, the pacing is great, with few dead moments or boring scenes. The dialogue is some of the series' best as well, especially when you consider that this is a franchise known for corny lines and odd techno-babble. The conflict, politics and mysteries aside, overall works too. It's not as suspenseful as some of the better Trek films, but seeing Kirk and Bones working together in order to escape from their current predicament keeps the movie going.
There are no huge surprise twists or reveals that I didn't already see coming, but the way everything develops and reveals itself is engaging and generally works. The visuals are better this time around, with a bigger budget at their disposal leading to some interesting effects, decent action, and neat space battles. That said, if you're only impressed by today's cg-heavy blockbusters, you probably won't be too impressed. Most of the primary characters get at least one big or memorable moment, the new characters generally work, and the script never let's is symbolism overshadow the main plot at hand or the enjoyability factor. It was also kind of interesting to see Kirk mention David Marcus, his decesased son, namely because the character was rarely mentioned in the films following The Search For Spock. I also have to say how cool was is to see Sulu become Captain of his own ship... too bad he never got a spin off or TV miniseries... that would have been awesome!Acting wise, it's once again something of a mixed bag. The returning cast members know their characters so well, they probably don't have to put much effort into their roles. Kim Cattrall (as in Sex in the City Kim Cattrall) plays Lt. Valeris, a Vulcan protege of Spock serving aboard the Enterprise. Cattrall tries hard, I can tell, and while she's not awful, it's not a particularly memorable performance. Christpher Plummer, on the other hand, has some enjoyable moments as the Shakespeare-quoting Klingon Chang. You can't go wrong with Christopher Plummer, just saying. As for the rest... there's not too much to say. Some do well, some are a bit shaky, but the acting overall is decent enough. Nobody is great but nobody is terrible either, take that as you will. One more thing, be on the lookout for a completely random cameo from Christian Slater (his mother was the film's casting director). Slater doesn't really add much to the film as he's only on screen for a minute, it's just kind of neat.
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country isn't a perfect movie, but it's still a pretty damn good one and a great send-off for the original cast. Between a good story, some solid action, and some neat visuals, it's overall an enjoyable experience. Check it out if you haven't seen it.
My Score: 4 out of 5!
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