Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

The Klingon empire is on the edge of destruction but not by the sword by but the destruction of a power planet and the pollution of the empire's atmosphere. The Klingons approach the Federation to talk peace and Kirk and the Enterprise are dispatched to rendezvous with their Chancellor to escort him and his entourage to the peace talks. After a night awkwardly "entertaining" the Klingon party, they return to their ship when, out of nowhere, it appears that the Enterprise fire on the Klingon ship before two crew members board to assassinate the Chancellor. However this leaves Kirk and McCoy the prisoners of the Klingons with the Federation unable to reach them for fear of derailing what little is left of the peace process. Meanwhile Spock tries to piece together what happened and rescue his friend.

After the rather flat part V, it was a positive sign to see writer of the superior parts II and IV and director of II returning to the film series. And indeed it proved to be as this was yet again fuel for the myth of the "odd number curse" of the Star Trek films as it turned out to be one of the stronger of the original films. The plot is a great bit of action with its basis in political conspiracy while Spock gets to play Sherlock back on the Enterprise. The parallels with real life peace movements and the difficulties of preparing for peace are interesting but not forced down your throat. Many viewers will get the references to Adlai Stevenson in the Cuba Missile Crisis ("don't wait for the translation"), the use of the famous Nixon proverb and generally the theme of Kirk struggling to come to terms with the idea of peace after so many years of war and loss to the Klingons; however if you don't get them it doesn't matter.

The action works well and is delivery with confidence by Meyer but it also helps that his script does make for a strong story (unlike the fifth film for example). The humour of the film is much better as well as it is an addition and doesn't feel out of place (again, like it did in the fifth film). There are some nice touches in here but my personal favourite is the reference to Shatner's ego in the "I can't believe I kissed you" line (again a welcome awareness within the series after Shatner ran amuck across the fifth film). Shatner is much better here than before. He is reigned in and is still hammy but he has material to work with and he does well. Nimoy has fun with his investigation while Kelley provides the usual stuff in a good way. Support from Doohan, Nichols and others is as good as always. Cattrall is OK while Warner has more to do than in the last film. Dorn makes the link to the next generation of films and, importantly, the film is given a good "baddie" in the shape of Chang. Picking up from Khan, Plummer delivers a deliciously hammy villain, complete with Shakespeare quotes, and provides a great adversary for Shatner's Kirk.

Overall then a fitting sign-off for the original crew and one of the stronger of the original films. The story is engaging with good subtexts, the action is exciting, the performances roundly good and, most importantly, it is fun.

THE STORY: Peace negotiations between the Federation and Klingon Empire are interrupted by the assassination of a Klingon high official; Captain Kirk is blamed and thus he & McCoy get sentenced to an alien mining penal colony.

Like many of the original TV episodes which incorporated the important issues of the day into a futuristic space story, "Star Trek VI" (1991) is a morality play about the wall coming down in outer space, with the Klingons standing in for the Soviets. Nice moral about how radical change can be really scary -- there are some who are able to embrace it and others who have serious difficulty with it. In this case there are adverse reactions on both sides by those who believe they have too much invested in the present state of hostility.

HIGHLIGHTS: Watch out for the ravishing Kim Cattrall playing Vulcan Lieutenant Valeris. She adequately proves that sex appeal is not necessarily about nudity and flirtation, as Valeris is fully clothed and maintains a demeanor of sophistication the entire film. The formal dinner with the Klingons is also a highlight; it's reminiscent of Khan's powerful dinner scene from "Space Seed." When the dinner party ends and the Klingons beam away, each Enterprise crewmember shares a fitting exclamation of relief, including Scotty's "Thank God!" and McCoy's "I'm going to go find a pot of BLACK coffee." After everyone says their piece Spock merely looks around and characteristically raises an eyebrow. Kirk meanwhile returns to his cabin to "sleep it off" and voices his final log entry for the day: "Note to Galley: Romulan ale no longer to be served at diplomatic functions" (lol).

BEST HISTORICAL QUOTE: As General Chang prosecutes Kirk at the trial he screams out "DON'T WAIT FOR THE TRANSLATION -- ANSWER ME NOW!!" The writers ingeniously slipped this famous line in; it's a quote from U.N. Representative Adlai Stevenson during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 wherein he drilled Soviet Ambassador Zorin.

BEST HOMAGE: It was twelve years before that Shatner uttered his ridiculously criticized "Oh my God" line in "The Motion Picture." Well, guess how he reacts when he meets an intimidating 7-foot pig-skinned alien in the mines? You guessed it.

I could go on with the highlights; this is just a taste of the many great scenes/bits.

FINAL ANALYSIS: This is the last film in which the entire original cast appear together, and it's a more-than-solid outing verging on greatness; a good chronicling of the events leading up to the Klingon-Federation alliance portrayed in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Although the film lacks the profundities of "The Motion Picture," "The Final Frontier" and "Generations," it's a more than satisfying romp -- very involving and fun, highlighted by a nice whodunit scenario. What more could a Trek fan ask for? Needless to say, a fine way to end The Original Series.

CRY HAVOK AND LET SLIP THE DOGS OF WAR!!

The Klingon home world Kronos is in trouble after its moon Praxis explodes. It's estimated that Kronos has 50 years of life left. The Klingon Chancellor Gorkon and Ambassador Sarek want a permanent peace. Spock volunteers Kirk and the Enterprise to escort the Chancellor to Earth for peace talks. Kirk is not happy. He hates them for the murder of his son David, and he doesn't trust them. The thing is he's not the only one. A conspiracy is afoot to derail the peace process for good.

This is obviously alluding to the end of the Cold War in our time. The parallels to the old Soviet Union is unmistakable. Christopher Plummer is wonderful strutting around spouting Shakespeare. This is a fitting end to the original 6 and arguably the best of them. The special effects and production value is superior to ST5. And it has seismic implication for the Star Trek universe. It is a great movie with a thrilling political mystery to boot.

The final Star Trek film to feature the original cast is an enormous improvement after the awful fifth film, and might just be the best in the series. Much of it is probably thanks to the return of director Nicholas Meyer, who is responsible also for the classic Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan (while film III through V were directed by cast members). Meyer's very professional directing shows in every scene on ST-VI, and the old cast - William Shatner (Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Spock), DeForest Kelly (McCoy), James Doohan (Scotty) and the rest - give here what is without doubt their finest performance. Mind - Shatner and Nimoy are by now 60 years old, while Kelly and Doohan are well into their 70s. But there isn't a trace of the pathetic silliness that characterized the fifth movie; Meyer knows what to do with these aging actors that wouldn't make them look like idiots. What we see in Star Trek VI is a much more mature approach, and the crew members have to face, more than an outside enemy, their own aging, and their fear of change. That fear is a key element here, and it's an issue that is well handled and is always relevant.

While the old cast members are doing splendidly here, the movie introduces some fantastic new characters. First and foremost, the experienced Shakespearean actor Christopher Plummer makes a fascinating villain in the conservative and suspicious Klingon General Chang, endlessly throwing out Shakespeare quotes on every turn. ('You haven't truly enjoyed Shakespeare until you've read it in the original Klingon') Also, Kim Cattrall, who achieved much success lately in the acclaimed 'Sex And The City'), plays the Vulcan Lt. Valeris and gives a great performance. Finally, David Warner gives a brief but memorable performance as the visionary Chancellor Gorkon. The real stars here, though, are Shatner and Kelly, whose attempt to save the Chancellor's life, as well as their trial for assassination before a Klingon court (CAMEO: Michael Dorn, who plays Worf in the Next Generation, plays Kirk and McCoy's attorney here - Colonel Worf. An ancestor, probably) make for some of the best scenes ever seen on Star Trek. The directing and camera work are splendid, and the script has just the right amount of self humor, which was dreadfully lacking from the fifth movie (e.g.: Spock: 'If I were human I believe my response would be "go to hell." ...If I were human.' All in all, a remarkable sign off for the original crew of the Enterprise and one of the best sci-fi movies of all time.

Boldly going where no man (or woman) has gone before, climb aboard the Enterprise and let it fly and soar, as old friends gather, reunite, off to battle and to fight, strange new worlds, civilisations to explore.

They've got themselves into a pickle, a metaphorical hammer and sickle, Klingon labour camp, shackled and clamped, sentenced by a biased judicial.

Sabre rattling Klingon renegades attempt to destabilise the peace after a devastating moon fall.