Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country has a special place in my heart. It was the first Star Trek movie I saw in the theatre with my Dad and I can still remember certain scenes from the film vividly from that first time seeing it. This would become a tradition for us for the next two Star Trek films that were released after this one. That's right folks, it's all my Dad's fault that I'm such a gigantic nerd. Not that it's a bad thing...

When a Klingon Moon, Praxis, explodes without warning and severely damages their planet's ozone layer, the Klingon Empire reaches out to the Federation for help, which the Federation accepts. The Federation decides to spend Kirk (played by William Shatner) to meet the Klingon Chancellor Gorkon (played by David Warner) and escort him to the peace talks. Kirk resents the assignment as the Klingons have brought him nothing but pain and misery, namely killing his son, David. Spock is able to convince him to go through with it with the old Vulcan proverb, "Only Nixon could go to China" (Old VULCAN proverb?!). Kirk meets Gorkon's ship and the he holds a dinner with Gorkon and some other assorted Klingons, such as Commander Chang (played by Christopher Plummer). Gorkon speak eloquently about wanting peace between the Klingons and the Federation. Later that night, after the Klingons have returned to their ship, it appears that two torpedoes are fired at the ship from the Enterprise causing damage and for the ship to lose it's artificial gravity. In the ensuing confusion, two individuals in Starfleet spacesuits and helmets board the ship in magnetic boots and attempt to assassinate Gorkon. They manage to severely wound him, as well as kill several others before fleeing. Kirk and McCoy beam over to the ship and McCoy attempts to save Gorkon, but the wounds are too severe and Gorkon passes away. Kirk and McCoy are taken into custody to be put on trial for the Chancellor's assassination. The trial goes badly and Kirk and McCoy are sentenced to life imprisonment on the frozen asteroid Rena Penthe. Meanwhile, Spock has taken command of the Enterprise and figured out that not only did the torpedoes not originate from the Enterprise, but that the two assassins are still on board. He teams up with Vulcan helmsman Valeris (played by Kim Cattrall) to find out the identity of the assassins and who is trying to set up Kirk and McCoy.

There is a lot to like about Star Trek VI as it delves into the issues of prejudice and the fact that despite all the advancements the human race has made at that point, that is one they have not yet conquered. Kirk in particular has an important arc in the film as he is faced with his own prejudice against the Klingons, even suggesting the Federation should "Let them die" when initially told if they don't conduct the peace talks that is what will happen to them. Over the course of the film, his attitude slowly changes starting with the words of Chancellor Gorkon as he converses with Kirk on the Enterprise as well as the unfolding events of the film as he sees the lengths the conspirators will go to sabotage any chance for peace. Likewise, as a mystery fan, I really enjoyed the scenes on the Enterprise with Spock playing detective trying to sort out what happened and catch the conspirators, which plays out like a sort of intergalactic Agatha Christie.  

The film was directed by Nicholas Meyer, who previously made Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and like that film, this one was a welcome breath of fresh air from the disappointing previous film.  Meyer also wrote the script with Danny Martin Flinn from a story he developed with Leonard Nimoy. The fall of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War was the main inspiration for the story and it's easy to see the parallels. The assassination plotline was added by Meyer for additional dramatic thrust to the story and works well. I also appreciated how the film faced it's themes of overcoming prejudice head on and is something that would remain relevant today. The film also has some nifty effects, especially the Klingon blood floating in zero gravity being one of those images that has stayed with me for the past 25 years (colored purple no less because red would have warranted an R-rating. Go figure).  

Star Trek VI has the added poignancy as being the last film with the original cast all together and the final scene makes a nice capping off to the series as a whole. It's a fitting final chapter as it gives its characters one last great adventure, whether it's Spock trying to hunt down the conspirators or Kirk and McCoy trying to escape their frozen rock of a prison to get back to the Enterprise. In the overall ranking of the series, this one would probably be close to the top. I appreciated the political intrigue and mystery elements as well as the deeper thematic message of the film. This was the perfect Star Trek film for the original cast to go out on.