STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY

(December 1991, U.S.)

You see what I did here? I completely skipped over STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER. If you've actually seen the movie, then you understand why. You may also agree that William Shatner should never again sit in the director's chair. All I can say, is thank goodness for STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY because I'd hate to think that the 1989 stinker might have been the original film saga's final swan song. Part VI serves as a necessary and most intriguing redemption. Even the teaser trailer promised a great improvement because it reminded us all of the history of STAR TREK and how its crew have served as our friends, our guides and protectors in the galaxy. Now it was time for one final adventure with our beloved heroes.

If you ever followed STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION on TV, then you know that humans and Klingons lived in peace in the 24th Century. But how did it all come to pass? THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY may easily be called the prequel to the newfound understanding between two races that were hellbent on destroying each other during a long cold war. The act of change and acceptance is the film's central theme, as James Tiberius Kirk and other members of the United Federation of Planets, as well as many Klingons, must learn to put aside and bury their prejudices. For Kirk, however, it's especially difficult to trust Klingons because he still hasn't gotten over the death of his son David at their hands (he died in STAR TREK III). Of course, it's the rationale and logic of our dear Mr. Spock who initiates the opening dialogue between the Federation and the Klingon Chancellor, Gorkon (played by David Warner) after their moon, Praxis, explodes without warning and their ultimate destruction shall come within fifty years due to eventual ozone depletion. Gorkon's chief of staff, General Chang (played very Skakespearean-like by Christopher Plummer) is a cold-hearted warrior who's just as skeptical against the idea of peace as Kirk is. The dinner that takes place between the Enterprise crew and the Klingons may be considered funny if it didn't serve as such a tense prerequisite to what we know will eventually turn into crisis.

That crisis begins when the Enterprise appears to fire twice on the Klingon ship. What follows is madness, mayhem and the assassination of Gorkon. Kirk and McCoy are arrested for the crime. We know of their innocence, but they've just become sacrificial puppets for the Klingons to see that peace is never achieved in the galaxy. While the two of them are rotting in the underground prison world of the frozen asteroid Rura Penthe, the remaining crew aboard the Enterprise have turned the entire situation into an Agatha Christie mystery whoduit in space. Among them is our newest female Vulcan, Valeris (played by Kim Cattrall), who it turns out, defies all logic by revealing her own hardcore prejudices against the idea of peace with the untrustworthy Klingons. She plays well against her Vulcan mentor, and it's quite a moment when she experiences the hard pain of a severe mind meld at the hands of Spock's will. Forced to name names, we learn who has betrayed who and who is responsible for a second assassination against our own Federation president. Of course, Kirk and company can always be counted on to escape their underground hell, beam back aboard their beloved ship, destroy the enemy and save the day. We can also trust them to send us a message of hope and understanding toward the pursuit of peace for this generation and the next to come. Whether we've listened or not, who knows?

THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY, with Nicholas Meyer returning as director (STAR TREK II), is the best film in the series since STAR TREK III, in my opinion. Though my opinion against many others who take STAR TREK a whole lot more seriously than I ever will may be a debatable point. It's not only a very literary way to say goodbye to those we've loved for decades, but also opens up what will be a proud introduction to a new generation of heroes we've already gotten to know since it went on the air in 1987. We're likely asked to explore our own feelings of change, what it means to be frightened of change and the best ways to overcome it. We also have to recognize that as spectators, we too, have gotten old with Kirk, Spock and the entire STAR TREK universe. Like those two lifelong friends, it's up to us to decide just how inflexible or useless we may feel now with age. On the other hand, we may also choose to embrace Kirk's more positive outlook on life and "feel young". It's up to you.

I must give the proper credit to the way this last film in the original series concludes. Not so much the Enterprise heading into the distant stars, but the original concept of screen signatures by the players we've come to embrace since the TV series debut in 1966. Like the trailer stipulates, they've been our friends, our guides and our protectors, and we'll never forget them.

Favorite line or dialogue:

Uhura: "Captain, I have orders from Starfleet Command. We're to put back into spacedock immediately...to be decommissioned."
Spock: "If I were human, I believe my response would be "go to hell"...if I were human."
Pavel Chekov: "Course heading, Captain?"
James Kirk: "Second star to the right...and straight on 'till morning."