Star Trek IV : Retour sur Terre

'Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home' is the most popular of the Trek films and quite right too. Not only does it appeal to both fans and non-fans of the show but it revels in the spirit of what Trek has always been about: how perfect and Utopian the citizens of the twenty-third century are compared to their Neanderthal ancestors of the late twentieth century!

The film sees Kirk and his crew, in disgrace after disobeying Starfleet orders to save Spock following the events of 'Star Trek III: The Search for Spock', travel to 1986 San Francisco to retrieve a pair of hump-back whales, a species extinct by Kirk's era. The whales are the key to communicating with an alien probe that is in the process of destroying Earth. As well as the non-too-subtle eco-message ('don't allow any animal be hunted to extinction as they may save us all in the future!'), there is much fun to be had as Kirk, McCoy, Uhura, Sulu, Scotty and the ever-logical Spock struggle to integrate themselves into most alien situation they have ever been in. They are clueless about exact-change buses, pizzas and why 1986 doctors think it's a good idea to drill into someone's head.

It is very light-hearted at times but I imagine this is the film Gene Roddenberry is most proud of given the way it portrays the best of all our favourite characters and reaches the heart of the ethos of 'Star Trek'. When I first watched this as a child, I wished Kirk would come and let me join him in the twenty-third century. In fact, the only thing that could improve this film would be if the probe had aimed its venegeance entirely at Japan and Norway in retaliation for the sins of these countries' backward twenty-first century 'ancestors'. After all, it's these two countries who will surely bring about the extinction of whales.

While this doesn't delve too much into the mythology and background of Trek, it is a great film and deserves to be counted as the best of the ten films. It is also an excellent option for Trek fans trying to convert friends and family to 'seeing the light' and loving Trek!

The Voyage Home is the Star Trek film that had the highest box office gross. It captured the imagination of the public who were eager to see Kirk and the crew in present day (1986) San Francisco. Luckily, the film was solid in all aspects and was enjoyed by long-time fans of the series as well. Although the outcome of the film is never in doubt, it never loses the attention of the viewer and entertains throughout. It actually felt fresh and original despite the fact that time travel had been done before (in the TV series) and it was the fourth film in the franchise. Recommended, 8/10.

This one is great-I remember laughing my butt off the first time I saw it, and it still works now. Very well done, the time travel angle was better handled here then it has been in other Trek films, shows, etc.-and one thing that makes this work is that they didn't take themselves too seriously. What a romp! The crew come back to save the whales so they can save themselves in the future-and make some commentary on 1986, too.

Personally I donno if this is the best of the run-Undiscovered Country and Khan are its main competition-but I applaud them for doing this; and hope they can lighten up the newer generation too now. It is needed.

*** outta ****, good stuff.

This is not my favorite of the series, but it is in my top 3. The cast, after acting together for more than two decades is just plain good together. The humor in this film was great as well. Spock is almost back to his former self, and all seems right in the world. Like many things Trek, this does have a lot to do with what was happening in the time that this movie was filmed. This one tackles the human capacity to destroy other species. As Spock so eloquently states, "To hunt a species to extinction is not logical". A great movie with a great message.

"The Voyage Home" (a.k.a Star Trek 4) ranks as my most loved "Original Series" based film. The other Kirk and Co adventures were good but just not as good as this. The comic value of this film is just great and I think that this was what made the film so loved by some and hated by others. For me however, the crazy adventures of the ever aging cast placed a smile on my face and a laugh in my mouth. This deserves at least 7 out of 10.