yakkowarner's Full Review: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Out of the first six movies produced, my favorite is Star Trek II followed by this one. One of the reasons I like it is because they are directed by the same person, Nicholas Meyer. He didn't want anything to do with the resurrection of Spock so he declined to do III, but was asked back to write for some other films and (thankfully) to direct this film and it really does show. He brings with him a sense of militaristic essence to the film that is lacking in the others and the direction the characters take is more controlled. I think this adds a bit of depth, balance, and reality to the film, even though Gene was not thrilled with these changes. But changes there had to be to make Star Trek live as long as it has.
This is the final voyage of the Enterprise NCC-1701 A with its original crew (minus one). With the exception of Sulu, the main characters are talking about retirement and the next stage of their lives. They certainly are not ready to start a war and that is what just may happen unbeknowest to them. After a mining operation on a moon in the Klingon empire explodes, the Klingon empire comes to the realization that they can no longer afford to be adversaries against the Federation and must find a way to peace. The road the federation and the Klingon Empire must follow leads to "The Undiscovered Country", the road to peace.
The Enterprise and her crew must do one last task for the Federation, they must escort a Klingon ship to Earth to begin negotiations to peace. The problem is that not everyone wants to go on this road and are taking matters into their own hands. Kirk and Spock, not knowing of these plans, are unwitting pawns...pawns that have the power to fight back.
I know the director had a lot to do with this film. I loved what he did with the Star Trek mythology in the second movie and that has carried on through all of the shows and movies since. In my opinion, he is the single most reason why Star Trek still exists today. With his interaction with Star Trek II, he changed the look and feel of star fleet. It wasn't just a shirt with an iron-on emblem. It was an actual uniform that looked and felt like a military. Also the actions on board the star ship felt very nautical. This movie carries these ideas forward even more.
Another thing that Mr. Meyer added to the film was lots of Shakespearean quotes and other great writing throughout the movie. I love the line, you haven't heard Shakespeare until you have hear it in it's native Klingon (at least that's what I remember). So writing is an improvement over some of the other films because of Meyer's contributions.
The acting is not the reason you see Star Trek. So do not expect any great performances. I think the best performance goes to Kim Cattrall of Sex and the City Fame. She plays a great Vulcan and adds a little to the Vulcan psychological mythology with her actions and lines. Her actions (the subtle ones) is what I think she should be credited with the most. After you see this movie once, you have to see it again and watch her and what she does in the background, it just fascinates me and adds to the realism of the film.
Leonard Nemoy is a close second for this award. He knows Spock forwards and backwards. I think he pulled it off perfectly and was the pillar through many of the scenes which were made believable by his action.
One of the problems with Star Trek is William Shatner. If he is the main focus of the movie then you may wind up with problems. In this film he is not the center of this film, just the one that keeps getting into trouble. Ya he is referenced constantly and we follow his story, but he doesn't have all the lines. It is more like the audience is James Kirk and we, like him, are just on for the ride. Everything that happens, happens around him, but his mediocre acting skills are kept in check. What I am trying to say is that the exuberant Kirk we are used to in certain films is methodically controlled in this film. Shatner is not given the chance to act, rather the script controls him to a degree; which is a good thing in making the movie much more balanced and not Kirk centric.
The character building is minor and only done at a minimum. There really isn't much time to develop anyone to any degree. It is expected that you know these characters. With that said I don't think you need to know Star Trek to enjoy this film, but it helps a little.
The pacing was slow out of the gate. This is the way it had to be because they had to set the story for everyone in the theater. They did not assume the person knew anything about a Klingon before seeing this movie. But once the shooting began it kept a very nice pace that keeps the audience engaged throughout the rest of the film. This is why I feel it is the second best Star Trek movie out of the first 6. It keeps you engaged in the film all the way through after the first 20 minutes of the movie.
The story is great. I don't want to give it away but it is your common hero story where the hero experiences adversity and has to deal with it. But that isn't what I think is great, what I like is that it is 3 stories that are told equally well. You have the two individuals on their "mission", you have what is going on in the Enterprise as your second story, and you had the third story which is the story of the politics going on. Very rarely do you have three story lines work so well together, but here you do. And it may not be due him, but I give most of the credit to Meyers.
The special effects are sadly outdated, and it shows. Now it is not necessarily bad, it just isn't up to the standards I would set today. Heck, it isn't even up to the standards of it's day set by movies such as T2. That's ok because I'm sure they had a small budget to work with and I forgive them for it.
This is definitely not a children's movie but it is rated PG. So I am fine with suggesting that children can watch it. You do see Klingon blood, human blood, and some deaths; but nothing too graphic.
The key players Director: Nicholas Meyer Writers or story or screenplay:Leonard Nimoy, Lawrence Konner, Mark D. Rosenthal, Nicholas Meyer, Denny Martin Flinn, & Mark Rosenthal Music: Cliff Eidelman & Alexander Courage
Ratings Yahoo users: B- Yahoo critics: None listed Metacritics users: Not listed Metacritics critics: Not listed Rotten Tomato community:84% Rotten Tomato: 84% My score: 4.69
MPAA rating: PG
Running time: 110 minutes
My End Line. A great movie? No, just a good one and a good way to send the original cast off. What it lacks in pizazz it makes up in writing and good story telling. And I can't say enough praise for the director of this film, I feel he was invaluable in making this movie what it was. If you want to check out Star Trek then I recommend checking out in this order Star Trek II, Star Trek 8: First contact, and then this movie. Star Trek IV was a success because it was geared toward a more general audience, as well as having some themes you can find in the television series and worth checking out. But four disappointed me because I felt it was too pedestrian and the message wasn't as powerful as it could have been.
In STAR TREK VI - THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY the cold war between the Federation and the Klingons thaws out when the leader of the crumbling alien empir...More at Family Video
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