Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (Special Collector's Edition) Review

Out of the Ashes: Star Trek gets a Silver Anniversary reprieve

Although 1989's Star Trek V: The Final Frontier was not a total box office failure for Paramount by any means, the movie was still considered to be below par in many ways. It had a few classy moments and even some funny bits, but its "search for God" storyline and its low-rent look didn't really enthuse fans of the franchise.  It opened strongly on the first weekend but failed to reach the same levels of financial and critical success as Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

Indeed, there was talk among fans (and non-fans) that StarTrek V had, for all intents and purposes, killed off the franchise based on Gene Roddenberry's 1960s TV series based on the premise of "Wagon Train to the Stars."

Nevertheless, Paramount Pictures, which owns the rights to all things Star Trek, wanted to observe the series' 25th Anniversary with one last movie starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and the rest of the original cast before going boldly to make films based on the then-current syndicated spin-off Star Trek: The Next Generation.

 One notion the studio dismissed was Harve Bennett's Starfleet Academy concept, which would be a prequel to the whole series - including the TV shows - and foreshadowed both the short-lived Enterprise and J.J. Abrams' upcoming Star Trek feature film.  Paramount didn't want to take any chances with their Silver Anniversary project and preferred a final mission for the Original Series' entire cast, so it was "Sayonara, Harve Bennett."

Then the executives turned to Leonard Nimoy, who had successfully helmed two Star Trek features, and Star Trek II director Nicholas Meyer; Nimoy came up with a story idea which was a 23rd Century version of the "end of the Cold War" scenario in which the Star Trek equivalent of the Berlin Wall coming down and the Federation and the Klingon Empire begin the process of ending a long-running geopolitical enmity that has nearly led to all-out war between the two superpowers.

Meyer was hired to direct the film, which he co-wrote with novelist-screenwriter Denny Martin Flynn, and Nimoy replaced Bennett as the film's executive producer.  Together, the trio came up with an exciting and thought-provoking film that would comment on then-current events while also providing some closure for Capt. Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise-A.

"You, Captain Kirk, are to be our olive branch...."

The Undiscovered Country (the title is a Shakespearean reference to death and was Meyer's first choice for the title of Star Trek II) capitalizes on the similarities of the U.S.-Soviet standoff to the long-standing not-quite-war between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. Fittingly, the film begins with a bang when, in a Chernobyl-like accident, the Klingon's main energy production source on the moon of Praxis explodes.

The explosion sends both literal and political shock waves across the galaxy. The physical subspace wave buffets the USS Excelsior, now commanded by former Enterprise helmsman Hikaru Sulu (George Takei). Capt. Sulu, in the tradition of good Starfleet captains, offers assistance but is rebuffed by the Klingon High Command.

Nevertheless, three months later, Sulu's former shipmates, including Capt. Kirk (William Shatner), Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (the late DeForest Kelley), Capt. Montgomery Scott (the late James Doohan) and Cmdrs. Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) and Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig) are summoned to a top secret level meeting. "The Klingon Empire," they are told by Starfleet's commanding admiral, "has less than 50 years to live."

You see, Praxis' explosion has depleted the ozone layer of the Klingons' homeworld and polluted the atmosphere. Heavy expenditures on weapons and bases has weakened the Klingon economy and the cleanup is beyond their means. A special envoy has been appointed by the Federation to begin negotiations with Chancellor Gorkon (David Warner), leader of the Klingon High Council. To the shock of Kirk and his officers, that envoy is Enterprise first officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy).

And when Kirk is assigned to escort Gorkon's ship into Federation space for a summit on Earth with the Federation president (That 70's Show's Kurtwood Smith), he's shocked and angry. Not only are the senior officers due to retire in a few months, but Kirk is still bitter about his son's death at the hands of the Klingons several years before. But the good captain has been issued his orders, and like it or not, he will do his duty.

(This bit of the story, by the way, didn't make either William Shatner or Gene Roddenberry very happy.  Meyer, as the director's commentary shows, wasn't sure that Roddenberry's utopian vision of a society with no bigotry or dark impulses, i.e., the Federation, was intrinsically dramatic, so he showed Kirk and other Starfleet officers as somewhat racist and suspicious about the Klingons.  Roddenberry - who watched Star Trek VI at a closed-to-the-public screening on the Paramount lot a few weeks before his death - objected, and Shatner attempted to water down his Kirk-as-bigot scene, but Meyer stuck to his idea, but handling it in such a way that the movie works well.) 

Little does Capt. Kirk know that a massive conspiracy to undermine the peace negotiations is underway, planned by those individuals who have a lot to lose if peace breaks out. And soon, Kirk and the Enterprise crew are caught in a web of deceit and intrigue that will place their lives in jeopardy....and shatter the last best hope for galactic peace.

The film features a fine performance by Sex in the City's sultry Kim Catrall as Lt. Valeris, Spock's full-Vulcan protege with a hidden agenda of her own, as well as a wonderfully over-the-top appearance by Christopher Plummer as a dastardly, Shakespeare-quoting Klingon general.

Star Trek VI:The Undiscovered Country also acknowledges the legitimacy of Star Trek: The Next Generation with an appearance by actor Michael Dorn as Col. Worf (the grandfather, one surmises, of the Enterprise-D's Lt. Worf, Dorn's "regular" role), the two generations are bridged on the silver screen. (In addition, the TV show's episodes "Unification, Parts I and II," guest starring Leonard Nimoy, had aired a few weeks before the film's premiere and included a few subtle references to Star Trek VI's storyline.)

There are at least two versions of the movie on DVD; one is the no-frills Home Video edition with a few scenes not seen in the theatrical release, and this Special Collector's Edition, which has a few subtle differences in its content, as well as commentary by Meyer and Denny Martin Flynn, text commentary by Star Trek Encyclopedia authors Mike and Denise Okuda, and a second disc chock-full of extras, including a "Making of..." documentary, trailers, and other featurettes and promotional materials.