Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

Kirk and McCoy are put on trial by the Klingon Empire!

THE PLOT

An explosion on the Klingon moon of Praxis leaves their Empire facing extinction. Spock projects that the Klingon homeworld will be uninhabitable within fifty years, leaving them no choice but to suspend military operations and sue for peace with the Federation. Starfleet has arranged for a ship to escort Gorkon (David Warner), the Klingon Chancellor, to Earth for a peace summit. The ship chosen for this task is... the Enterprise.

Kirk is not pleased, insisting that the Klingons are not to be trusted. He is all but openly hostile to Gorkon and his party, something which does not go unnoticed by the Chancellor's chief of staff, General Chang (Christopher Plummer). When Gorkon's ship is fired upon and the Chancellor killed by a pair of assassins in Federation uniforms, Kirk is placed under arrest. He and Dr. McCoy are made the subject of a Klingon trial and sentenced to work in the mines at the Klingon ice world of Rura Penthe - a slow death sentence.

But Spock notices discrepancies surrounding the incident. The Enterprise's records show they fired on the Klingon vessel, but all torpedoes are accounted for. The only explanation is an act of sabotage, meaning that a conspirator is still aboard the ship. With the peace conference still on schedule, the crew is left racing the clock to find out exactly what happened before any chance of peace is destroyed forever!

Capt. Sulu rides out a devastating explosion.

CHARACTERS

Capt. Kirk: "They're animals... Let them die!" In a film that more directly links the Klingon/Federation conflict to the Cold War than ever before, Kirk is the veteran Cold Warrior. He's spent his life in conflict with the Klingons. He lost his son to the Klingons - a moment which is treated with far more dramatic weight here than it was in the film where it actually happened! Every encounter he has had with them has taught him that they are not to be trusted, and the idea of making peace with them rankles as surely as it did when the Organians forced it on him in Errand of Mercy.

For all of his bitterness, however, Kirk is ultimately a man who recognizes the value of peace. When the incident occurs, he gives the order to surrender rather than start a war by firing on the Klingons. Nor does he shirk his responsibility at the Klingon trial. When asked if he bears responsibility for the actions of his crew, even actions he did not sanction, he acknowledges as much. William Shatner gives a fine performance throughout - restrained, but with the familiar vigor and emotion rising to the surface at all the right moments.

Capt. Spock: "An ancestor of mine maintained that if you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains – however improbable – must be the truth." Spock spends a great deal of this movie playing Sherlock Holmes, looking for evidence to explain exactly what happened in the moments leading up to the Chancellor's murder. He is meticulous, taking each speck of evidence and allowing it to lead him to a new theory until he realizes the truth - that there was a third, cloaked vessel that must have fired. Leonard Nimoy is excellent as always, and his usual reserve makes for a powerful moment when Spock has a sudden, angry reaction to a friend's betrayal.

Dr. McCoy: Desperately attempts to save the Chancellor, whom he calls "the last best hope in the universe for peace." Though Gorkon is still alive when McCoy reaches him, the doctor just isn't familiar enough with Klingon anatomy to save him. Already crushed by his failure, he is stung even further when Chang accuses him of being either deliberately incompetent, or too dulled by age and drink to do his job. DeForest Kelly's final screen performance as McCoy is a good one, making the most of the dramatic moments and lending some effective comedy during the middle of the film in his reactions to his and Kirk's dilemma.

Capt. Sulu: After being the worst-used of the regulars for five straight films, Sulu finally gets a good role. As captain of the Excelsior, he has a completely separate slice of the action. I'm sure there's a story behind George Takei having been carefully scripted to share no screen time with the other regulars (particularly Shatner), but it works tremendously well for the film. Instead of being a background extra, he witnesses the start of the story and helps to save the day at the end. We also see his dedication to his former captain and crew, being willing to disregard Starfleet orders to assist Kirk (something expanded on in the Voyager episode, Flashback).

Hot Vulcan Space Babe of the Week: Kim Cattrall is Lt. Valeris, who is quite literally a stand-in for the earlier films' Lt. Saavik. The role was originally written as Saavik, but Kirstie Alley declined to appear and director Nicholas Meyer did not want to recast again (and, though it's unspoken on the dvd commentary, he apparently did not want to reuse Robin Curtis. For which I don't blame him). It is a pity Alley turned it down, as both role and film would be that extra bit stronger if the character were someone we knew. Still, Cattrall does very well and maintains good screen rapport with Leonard Nimoy. Both character and actress work, even if it's impossible for me to watch Valeris and not think "Saavik 3.0."

Gen. Chang: "Be honest, Captain, warrior to warrior. You do prefer it this way, don't you? As it was meant to be: No peace in our time. 'Once more unto the breach!' " The always-excellent Christopher Plummer seems to be having a great time hamming it up as our scenery-chomping, Shakespeare-quoting Villain of the Week. Chang is very much Kirk's opposite number, a man who has lived for war and cannot picture a future for himself without it. His respect for Kirk seems genuine at every turn, and he's the rare villain who doesn't underestimate Kirk even when the captain seems beaten. When he recognizes his own defeat, letting slip one last Shakespeare quote as the inevitable approaches, he all but salutes the victor.

General Chang, determined to prove a villain.

THOUGHTS

Writer/director Nicholas Meyer was brought back to the Trek fold for the TOS crew's final bigscreen outing, in large part to repair the damage done by Star Trek V. He was a natural choice for the job. The Wrath of Khan had provided the film series with its template, launching a trilogy of Trek films that defined the original cast's bigscreen adventures. He also co-wrote Star Trek IV, the most financially successful entry and the film that brought the trilogy to its close. I don't think anyone, Gene Roddenberry included, was better-suited to closing out the adventures of the original Trek crew.

The script draws heavily on the then-topical subject of the end of the Cold War. The parallels between the decline of the Klingon Empire and that of the Soviet Union would be clear enough, even without references to "conservative elements" within the Empire who will want a military solution, let alone Spock invoking the quote that "only Nixon could go to China." We observe deep resentment at the idea of peace from both sides, with Kirk and Gen. Chang representing mirror images of the same basic attitude... though Kirk being a hero, he ultimately does all he can to preserve the peace he doesn't want, while Chang pursues the war he desperately craves.

Nicholas Meyer crafted some memorable set pieces for The Wrath of Khan, and he does it again here. The zero-gravity assassination is a wonderful scene, both graceful and suspenseful as the fully conscious victims are suspended in air, helpless to do anything as the slow-moving assasins clomp their way through the ship toward them. There are operatic visual flourishes: McCoy and Kirk, tried in a Klingon court, standing within a brightly lit pillar surrounded by darkness as the Klingons look down on them in judgment; the sweeping approach to the ice world of Rura Penthe; a trip through the mines seen as if from inside a mining cart. There's even a scene with Kirk facing off against a duplicate of himself!

This theatrical visual style is well-suited to a script that emphasizes the "opera" in "space opera." The Shakespeare references invoke the theater, as does the entire presentation. It opens with a storm in space, one which rocks the audience out of the credits. The themes are large and theatrical: family, betrayal, assassination, war and peace. In the midst of all this, the regulars maintain the human scale, as in the scene in which Kirk and Spock reflect on their respective losses and failures, musing about their own obsolescence.

The starships Enterprise and Excelsior.

OVERALL

As with Star Trek II, there are two versions of the film: The theatrical cut and a slightly extended director's edition.  Though there are several small differences, the most visible addition is a small but important supporting character played by Deep Space 9's Rene Auberjonois, whose Col. West helps to make the ending feel a bit more complete.  The overall review applies equally to both versions, however, and the film is equally satisfying in either cut.

Star Trek VI is great entertainment. The script, by Nicholas Meyer and Danny Martin Flinn, is thoughtful enough to have weight without ever forgetting to include the fun. It's not quite as good as The Wrath of Khan; the pace lags a bit in the middle of the film, and the situation never feels quite as desperate to the viewer as the script demands it be.

I'd still rate this as the second-best Star Trek film with the original cast, though. The story is relevant (the Cold War parallels could apply equally well to more modern conflicts), and the script makes excellent use of the characters' histories and gives at least one good moment to every character.

The result is a movie that's already very good on its own merits. As a final bow for Capt. Kirk and the TOS Trek crew, it's very nearly ideal.


Overall Rating: 9/10.

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