Star Trek VI - The Undiscovered Country (Special Edition)

Rating:
Summary: Star Trek VI: The Return of Nick Meyer
Review: This is personally my favorite Star Trek film; it possesses an original story based on [at the time] current events, and for a trek film it is both intriguing and a bit spooky. The film follows the (now functioning, post ST: V) Enterprise-A as they are sent to escort the Klingon Chancellor Gorkon to Earth, under the command of reluctant James T. Kirk, who detests the Klingon race for the cold murder of his son (as seen in ST: III). En route to Earth, an incident occurs in which the Chancellor's ship is seemingly attacked by the Enterprise and the Chancellor is assassinated by disguised Starfleet crewmen. Kirk and Dr. McCoy attempt to aid the dying Klingons, but they are arrested as assassins by Gorkon's chief-of-staff, General Chang.

Kirk and McCoy are sentenced to the prison planet of Rura Penthe where they have several assassination attempts pitted against them. Spock, meanwhile determines that several Federation, Romulan, and even Klingon members conspired together to murder the chancellor so that there would be no peace in the galaxy and each government could profit off war. Kirk even realizes that he had held a grudge against peace due to the murder of his son. The movie shows a great deal of conflict that has a great feeling of political pressure, analogous to the Cold War tensions.

The Ups: The space battles are awesome; it's nice to see Sulu as captain of the Excelsior, considering he fell in love with that ship in ST: III; Christopher Plummer's portrayal of Chang is great; and the "crew's" acting, including Shatner's Kirk are all wonderful; Nick Meyer's direction is of course magnificent, as he had previously demonstrated his ability with ST: II; and Cliff Eidelman's score is incredible and it's eerieness completely compliments the mood of the film itself.

The Downs: The Enterprise-A gets decommissioned, though it was just commissioned at the epilogue of ST: IV; I feel that there should have been more of a presence of the Romulans in the picture, and Chang's quoting of Shakespeare, at times, comes across as too much of a carbon copy of Khan quoting Melville in ST: II.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Finale For The Franchise
Review: A good rule to remember with the Star Trek motion pictures is to watch only the even numbered ones (2, 4, and 6) and avoid the odd numbered ones (1, 3, and 5.) In this final motion picture installment of the franchise, director Nicholas Meyer (director of Wrath of Kahn) brings us a dramatic adventure filled with mystery, suspense, and a lot of action.

Parallelling the political mood of 1992 when the US was rapproaching with Russia and Yeltsin, the story starts with the Klingons being on the verge of economic and political capitulation: the film plot is actually similar to the spy thriller 'The Package' starring Gene Hackman. Kirk and his crew have been selected for a diplomatic mission in which they must settle a future peace with the Klingon empire but not every human or Klingon wants peace. When the Klingon diplomat Chancellor Gorkon (David Warner) falls victim to a plot, accusations fly on both sides and Kirk is literally trapped in the middle. Kirk and his crew must soon work against the machinations of the war-hungry Klingon General Chang (Christopher Plummer) to save the peace.

A great finish for the Star Trek films with a lot of suspense and action. The script is probably the best along with Wrath of Kahn; using a lot of lines from Shakespeare's plays. A great film to own or rent.

Rating:
Summary: A fitting conclusion
Review: From comments I originally published on: http://www.dvdbits.com

Star Trek VI proved not to be the last Trek film (or the last with Shatner), but it was the last with the complete original crew. As such, it is a fitting end to the legacy of Gene Roddenberry's original vision (he died during production).

I am an unashamed Trekkie, so a recommendation from me is probably not that convincing. However, I can safely say that this is not only one of the best Trek films to date, but one of the best sci-fi action films with a brain. Despite the daunting "VI" in the title, even if you know nothing of Trek, this film has something for everybody.

Now, some comments here have stated the print looks a little dirty. However, while there is some grain and a few artefacts here and there, I have to disagree. The film has an intentionally "dirty" look - both director Nicholas Meyer and production designers agreed on a much dirtier and more military/industrial look for this film, even with the more familiar sets on the Enterprise. For some, this may come as a stark contrast to other Trek films, and the pristine look of the ships in the newer TV series. Further, with supplements as good as this, that cover everything from modern philosophy to peacekeeping in a modern world, Paramount have given us one of the best Trek DVDs to date.

Highly recommended.