On the eve of retirement, Kirk and McCoy are charged with assassinating the Klingon High Chancellor and imprisoned. The Enterprise crew must help them escape to thwart a conspiracy aimed at ... Read allOn the eve of retirement, Kirk and McCoy are charged with assassinating the Klingon High Chancellor and imprisoned. The Enterprise crew must help them escape to thwart a conspiracy aimed at sabotaging the last best hope for peace.On the eve of retirement, Kirk and McCoy are charged with assassinating the Klingon High Chancellor and imprisoned. The Enterprise crew must help them escape to thwart a conspiracy aimed at sabotaging the last best hope for peace.
- Nominated for 2 Oscars
- 2 wins & 9 nominations total
- Azetbur
- (as Rosana DeSoto)
Featured reviews
They've got themselves into a pickle, a metaphorical hammer and sickle, Klingon labour camp, shackled and clamped, sentenced by a biased judicial.
Sabre rattling Klingon renegades attempt to destabilise the peace after a devastating moon fall.
After the rather flat part V, it was a positive sign to see writer of the superior parts II and IV and director of II returning to the film series. And indeed it proved to be as this was yet again fuel for the myth of the "odd number curse" of the Star Trek films as it turned out to be one of the stronger of the original films. The plot is a great bit of action with its basis in political conspiracy while Spock gets to play Sherlock back on the Enterprise. The parallels with real life peace movements and the difficulties of preparing for peace are interesting but not forced down your throat. Many viewers will get the references to Adlai Stevenson in the Cuba Missile Crisis ("don't wait for the translation"), the use of the famous Nixon proverb and generally the theme of Kirk struggling to come to terms with the idea of peace after so many years of war and loss to the Klingons; however if you don't get them it doesn't matter.
The action works well and is delivery with confidence by Meyer but it also helps that his script does make for a strong story (unlike the fifth film for example). The humour of the film is much better as well as it is an addition and doesn't feel out of place (again, like it did in the fifth film). There are some nice touches in here but my personal favourite is the reference to Shatner's ego in the "I can't believe I kissed you" line (again a welcome awareness within the series after Shatner ran amuck across the fifth film). Shatner is much better here than before. He is reigned in and is still hammy but he has material to work with and he does well. Nimoy has fun with his investigation while Kelley provides the usual stuff in a good way. Support from Doohan, Nichols and others is as good as always. Cattrall is OK while Warner has more to do than in the last film. Dorn makes the link to the next generation of films and, importantly, the film is given a good "baddie" in the shape of Chang. Picking up from Khan, Plummer delivers a deliciously hammy villain, complete with Shakespeare quotes, and provides a great adversary for Shatner's Kirk.
Overall then a fitting sign-off for the original crew and one of the stronger of the original films. The story is engaging with good subtexts, the action is exciting, the performances roundly good and, most importantly, it is fun.
On the technical side the directing is beautifully and masterfully done by Nicholas Meyer. Well edited movie. The director took careful consideration to keep you in suspense, for example, hiding the villain in the background of the light, things like that. The special effects, though not remarkable, as in The Wrath of Khan's in-your-face effects, the effects in this movie generally are good, the battle sequences in this movie are just as good as The Wrath of Khan one.
Again a nice motif is the scripts placement of Shakespeare quotes into the villain, just like Khan in Star Trek II. Speaking of the villain, Chang, here you see excellent acting thanks to the actor Christopher Plummer.
There are a lot of in-line jokes, which adds to that atmosphere of closeness between the characters. Sulu's transfer to a new ship, the Excelsior is sought here. The set construction and pieces are great. The new enterprise bridge looks more military like. The presidential office (may note it is a redone Ten Forward from St, the next generation), the peace talk location, etc.
The end of the movie has a sad feeling towards it, a teary farewell to the crew of the Enterprise, and a clear passing of the torch to the new crew.
A great movie that you must see,
Rating: 9/10
While the old cast members are doing splendidly here, the movie introduces some fantastic new characters. First and foremost, the experienced Shakespearean actor Christopher Plummer makes a fascinating villain in the conservative and suspicious Klingon General Chang, endlessly throwing out Shakespeare quotes on every turn. ('You haven't truly enjoyed Shakespeare until you've read it in the original Klingon') Also, Kim Cattrall, who achieved much success lately in the acclaimed 'Sex And The City'), plays the Vulcan Lt. Valeris and gives a great performance. Finally, David Warner gives a brief but memorable performance as the visionary Chancellor Gorkon. The real stars here, though, are Shatner and Kelly, whose attempt to save the Chancellor's life, as well as their trial for assassination before a Klingon court (CAMEO: Michael Dorn, who plays Worf in the Next Generation, plays Kirk and McCoy's attorney here - Colonel Worf. An ancestor, probably) make for some of the best scenes ever seen on Star Trek. The directing and camera work are splendid, and the script has just the right amount of self humor, which was dreadfully lacking from the fifth movie (e.g.: Spock: 'If I were human I believe my response would be "go to hell." ...If I were human.' All in all, a remarkable sign off for the original crew of the Enterprise and one of the best sci-fi movies of all time.
This is obviously alluding to the end of the Cold War in our time. The parallels to the old Soviet Union is unmistakable. Christopher Plummer is wonderful strutting around spouting Shakespeare. This is a fitting end to the original 6 and arguably the best of them. The special effects and production value is superior to ST5. And it has seismic implication for the Star Trek universe. It is a great movie with a thrilling political mystery to boot.
Did you know
- TriviaMichael Dorn plays Colonel Worf, the grandfather of his regular character Lieutenant Worf on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987).
- GoofsWhen the shock wave from the Praxis explosion is first detected by one of the Excelsior's bridge officers, he informs Captain Sulu that the wave is approaching on the port side. At this point we see an exterior view of the Excelsior as the shock wave hits the ship from the starboard side.
- Quotes
[last lines]
[Kirk's final Captain's Log]
Captain James T. Kirk: Captain's Log, stardate 9529.1. This is the final cruise of the Starship Enterprise under my command. This ship and her history will shortly become the care of another crew. To them and their posterity will we commit our future. They will continue the voyages we have begun, and journey to all the undiscovered countries, boldly going where no man... where no *one* has gone before.
- Crazy creditsAt the beginning of the end credits, the signature of each of the principal cast members is written one by one as a final send-off for their characters.
- Alternate versionsThe Blu-ray release from 2009 is the first home media release to include the 110 minute theatrical version instead of the 113 minute special edition seen on all previous DVD, laserdisc, and VHS releases. The Blu-ray is also the first release to present the movie in its proper 2.40:1 aspect ratio instead of the opened up 2.00:1 ratio seen on previous releases.
- ConnectionsEdited into Star Trek: Generations (1994)
- SoundtracksTheme From Star Trek TV Series
Music by Alexander Courage
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Viaje a las estrellas VI: La tierra desconocida
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $30,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $74,888,996
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $18,162,837
- Dec 8, 1991
- Gross worldwide
- $96,888,996
- Runtime1 hour 50 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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