McCoy''s deliver y of "I'd give real money if he shut up!" never fails to make me laugh. A great film and one of my favourites. A great way and storyline to say goodbye to the original cast. Their signatures at the end was surprisingly touching too.
Bill Shatner acting ability was never in doubt. On the stage, on TV (most people forget that 1966-1969 TVs were 21 inches diagonally or smaller, the majority were B & W, the (1) speakerr was usually on average 5 inches and 5 W amplier in mono and resolution was 400 lines near the station or much less in the country, cable TV was only in areas were broadcast TV wasn't available, he had adapted his acting style to fit that medium. My best friend across the street had a Stereo TV Console, UHF, a record player, the only on the entire length of the street. So for TOS shown on a 4K with everything else (DVD, Blue Ray, Digital Streaming on a humongeous big screen) individuals mock the performances in imitation of comedians (from later and much larger TV' Screens, etc. Even so on Bill's performance for the Outer Limits, Twilight Zone, Man From Uncle as a "guest star" are entirely different as he didn't have to "carry the series' and under the pressure of a weekly series. The Star Trek Motion Pictures are entirely different medium, Big Screen, etc. Bill Shatner's performance changes. TAS, more than one of the voice actors said they acted dramatically, and somehow filmation toned audio down, after all it was for children....
I had just started college, living in another town when ST VI released. Hardly knowing anyone there yet, I went to see it multiple times...like seeking the comfort of an old friend. TNG was in full swing at the time, but TOS always had that special place in my heart. The finality of the film's story mirrored me saying goodbye to the world of being a kid.
I saw this film by myself opening weekend while at university and loved it! It is hard for me to decide whether I prefer this film to WOK but I think I like it just a bit more.
@@bjgandalf69 Wrath of Khan was an action/adventure while Undiscovered Country was more of a political thriller. That is why VI still stands on it's own. It wasn't trying to be TWoK over and over again like the last last four or five Star Trek movies have.
As much as I love Wrath Of Khan, this is my favourite Trek movie. I love that the supporting cast get more to do here than they often do, with the murder mustery plot on the Enterprise being really fun to watch as well as the A plot with Kirk and Bones' trial/imprisonment. A friend of mine recently started watching Star Trek TOS and I insisted, as he made his way through the movies, that we watch Undiscovered Country together and he was blown away by how good it was, which made me so happy! It's an absolute banger from start to finish and the fact the Bluray and 4k includes the theatrical and directors cut was a good call from Paramount!
The A-plot B-plot structure is also evocative of a lot of great Original Series TV episodes, where they would split Spock and Kirk up and have them having parallel adventures to each other. Galileo 7, Gamesters of Triskelion, That Which Survives, etc. Despite what everybody remembers, TOS didn't always pair Kirk and Spock, and didn't always focus exclusively on Kirk.
The most underrated Star Trek movie, and a perfect send off to the original series crew. That last scene really captures the heart, imagination, and adventure of Star Trek.
Sorry, but this was never underrated. It was beloved when it was released and still is to this day. ST3 on the other hand was indeed underrated for a long time.
This was a solid send off for the TOS crew. There is some cringe, but the rewatch score is right up there with TWOK. One beef.....that shot of Praxis......LOL.
Remember seeing this opening day. What a wonderful experience. watching this with a packed theater of Trek fans. I actually shed a tear with the credits. The signatures of each cast member.
The Enterprise set design was impeccable. The bridge was stunning; the tight corridors and dark walls gave the ship the look and feel of a submarine; the bunks (berths) for the enlisted personnel were a perfect finishign touch.
Such a great flick. I saw it in the theater and people were cheering, gasping and laughing out loud. It was a huge win for ST and a perfect way to wrap up the series.
Shatner tells a hilarious story about Takei calling him bragging “They’re going to give me my own ship!” and just laughing because he knew any movie would always be focussed on The Enterprise not some other ship Sulu was captaining.
I’d buy him breaking through an oak door. If memory serves me correctly James Doohan was a real life badass who fought on the beaches in Normandy during World War 2. If he can get through a wall of German gunfire, he can get through an oak door.
My 2 favourite Star Treks are II and VI. As well as being what you refer to yourself as a 'Star Trek' movie, which it was... it's also accessible for non-Star Trek fans because of the allegories in the plot. A great movie from start to finish, despite the behind-the-scenes issues. I've never heard of another Star Trek movie, having production issues, it was just this one. Heh hum.
Great satirical review which nonetheless clearly appreciates the film. I remember being at the cinema (my 1st Star Trek cinema experience) and being lulled by the melodic opening score, before getting startled from my seat by the opening scene. That trick only really works the one time, as do Whodunits, but this film is so rewatchable, even when you know the outcome. You're sitting there waiting for a classic line. RAND: Do we report this? SULU: Are you kidding? CLASSIC!
Great review! Saw this opening night, 7:00pm show, sold-out crowd. I was 14 and my dad had dropped me and 3 friends off near the theater 3 hours early so we could grab pizza and a place in line. I'll never forget the whole crowd cheering loudly when Chang's ship got what was coming to it. And of course the ominous opening musical notes channeling "Mars" from Holst's The Planets.
An awesome recap. I remember seeing ST6 at the theater in '91and really feeling that the ST magic had returned after the lackluster part 5. The CG blood and other FX were amazingly solid and impressive to us. Great story and cast, and great finale for the OG crew. I did not know about the director's cut! Must find it.
I only watched the classic Star Trek movies last year for the first time and I really did like the undiscovered country a lot, aswell as most of the classic films.
I owe over a decade of life at university to this film. The entrance exam was to review "a cultural artifact", so I did a revlew if ST6. Examiner's comment: "You're right, Star Trek is definitely past its sell-by date."
I would like to say that - even as one of the older members of the cast - Deforest Kelley really steals a lot of scenes in this. But he was always quality on screen.
Here's a tidbit for you: the actor playing the Klingon judge that condemned Kirk and Bones to life on Ruha Penthe was Robert Easton, who voiced Phones Sheridan on the Gerry Anderson series Stingray. He later inadvertently scored a sci-fi fan culture hat trick when Mystery Science Theater 3000 riffed The Giant Spider Invasion. Of course, it goes without saying that in spite of its sci-fi trappings, I'd make the case of Star Trek VI being one of the finest Cold War movies ever made. And of course, it goes without saying that Chekov had the best lines.
To be honest, there were issues outside of William Shatner's control regarding Star Trek V. First, there was the Writers Guild Strike that impacted the script process. Paramount thought it was going to go overbudget, so they demanded cuts from the script which was delivered late. These cuts were from the film's ending, which were originally filled with angelic and demonic creatures, but were converted to the one clunky rock creature out of a planned six. ILM wasn't available for the special effects for the movie, as both Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Ghostbusters II taking up most of their experienced artists, so Shatner had to settle for Associates and Ferren, who only had three months to prepare, thanks to the strike. Ferren's "less is more" approach rejected bluescreen technology in favor of rear projection, which looked bad compared to earlier films. The rock creature's fire breathing device experienced a mechanical failure on the last day on location, scrapping the planned fight and leaving it as a background piece. Instead, Ferren tried a big blue blob that would chase the heroes, but it looked bad on film. Paramount refused to extend additional money to replace the big blue blob, which left Shatner stuck (it was eventually replaced by the false god's actor George Murdock's face). The Enterprise model was damaged while in the care of ILM during a tour, and needed to be completely repainted as the Aztec pattern had been spraypainted over with light grey paint, again delaying production. Finally, Paramount thought that Shatner's director's cut at just over two hours plus credits was too long and demanded that at least fifteen minutes of film be cut for a theatrical release so that it could be shown twice a night. Harve Bennett did the edit, but Shatner was never satisfied with it. Finally, test screenings were less than favorable, and another five minutes were cut and a hastily included scene with the Bird of Prey was added to make the rescue clearer. All in all, the story for Final Frontier was subpar, but to simply blame Shatner, who was an experienced director, for the mistakes made isn't right either.
The thing about TNG coming into their own by 1991 dovetails with an interesting observation I've made before. Star Trek 5 was in production just after TNG'S first season had debuted. It still exhibits a certain cockiness that they are 'the real Star Trek'. There's a feeling pervading that whole movie that they can kind of coast along on the goodwill that they aren't that young upstart version with Wesley Crusher. An over-confidence, if you will. Star Trek 6 has none of that. There's a kind of complicit acknowledgement that the torch has already been passed. Star Trek 6 is full of references to concepts introduced or hinted at in The Next Generation, which are entirely absent from any prior Original Series project. The cast seem to have come to a kind of acceptance of their fate, that Star Trek was well and truly flying away from them, and that this would be their last hurrah. These contrasting attitudes are interesting to consider while watching Star Trek's 5 and 6. It's also a reason why Star Trek 7 feels so unnecessary. Whichever studio executive made the call that there needed to be an official passing-of-the-torch movie, hadn't been paying attention. The Next Generation was the indisputed flagship of the franchise by 1994. The torch had metaphorically already been passed years before, so seeing Captain Shatner literally pass the movie baton to Captain Stewart feels really pointless and unnecessary. Indeed, the success of Star Trek 8 in 1996 shows the Next Generation cast could probably have landed in theaters fine without needing the Original Series crossover.
This classic crew went out with a bang . Solid script ,original crew and for the low budget it looked great and best of the film quality look fabulous for 25 years ago .
Great movie! The plot hole over the gaseous anomalies wasn’t too bad, but it always felt weird that Chekov didn’t know about the alarm for using a phaser.
Couple of nits I can't help picking. As you say, Chekov was in charge of the weapons systems, but appears to know little about them (he fires the photons in ST:TMP, but doesn't correct Kirk when he is ordered to target the asteroid using (inoperative) phasers). Valeris, instead of informing him about the alarm, chooses to ruin an entire morning's work and umpteen potatoes by randomly vapourising a large, expensive Starfleet owned cooking pot. Hopefully destruction of Starfleet property will be on her later list of charges. In addition she caused a hapless kitchen assistant to soil his uniform and leap backwards, a hazard in a kitchen. More prosaically, Uhura referred to a 'tailpipe' (exhaust pipe in English). By 2040, no child will know what a tailpipe is, as all cars will be electric by then. Uhura is speaking in the 23rd century! No vehicle has "gotta have a tailpipe", surely?
Adore this film. I also like the OST! Looking back, I would have liked more dialogue in the first half, espically during the dinner scene. There was a missed chance for an extended, 10-minute back and forth with all our people talking about their thoughts on the Klingons and the end of hostilities. Real chance for characters in TOS history.
Christian Slater is in the movie because he's a massive Star Trek fan, and he begged his mom to find a part for him, and it's rather hilarious what he wound up with Chekov as the comedy character kinda makes sense, he had some of that in the original series, and there is or at least was a great supercut video here of all of Chekov's claims of Russia writing or inventing things that's worth a look.
I really like this film. As well as the two different cuts on home video, there were also three different aspect ratios. There was the 4:3 open matte version, the 2.0:1 version and then the 2.39:1 scope version. Personally I prefer the framing on the 2.0:1 version.
I love this movie, it was the perfect send off, much in the way the last season of Picard was the perfect (belated) send off for TNG. The end credits, with Eidelmanns magnificent and underrated score and those signatures, oh man, the tears still flow. 'Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!', and Kirks best line ever responding to 'We need breeding space' 'Earth, Hitler, 1938!' ROFL!
Semi-known fact: William Shatner was Christopher Plummer's understudy at the Stratford Theatre ( a Shakespearean summer stock theatre in Stratford, Ontario) in the late 1950s.
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is my absolute favorite Star Trek film. It was a good homage to the end of the Cold War, had Captain Kirk confront his prejudices about the Klingons ("Who would I be without my enemy?"), finally see Sulu as a Captain of the USS Excelsior, and the core cast members each had moments to shine. Star Trek VI was so good it influenced Marvel Studios' Avengers: Endgame, and elements of the film, as well as from Star Trek II, were seen in Star Trek: Nemesis.
Like when Takei derided Shatner a "specimen" when Shatner went to space? Honestly, I wish none of them would get in these tussels. Social media is the opposite of its name.
Ha! Star Trek film that between the cracks, I had a bit part in this flick, and I was actually originally with two other day players in this scene - we all get cut, lol! Director Nicholas Meyer was way over budget... It was still a good flick though
I was glad to be introduced to Gorkon and his daughter. It was vital to the series that fans understand that there are Klingon aristocrats who are refined, educated and broad minded and that not all Klingons are warriors or crude political puppets. We were made to believe that for a Klingon to be able to socialise with Earth people, they would have to be raised by humans like Worf was. I was just sorry that the character had to be assassinated and I was disappointed in Kirk until I remembered HIS SON was murdered. I liked ST 5. It was interesting.
I think TNG flanderized the Klingons until "honor" was their only character trait and warrior the only acceptable occupation. To me, it made them boring.
It would have made sense if Scotty gets to become Head Of Starfleet Engineering back on Earth, McCoy becomes head of Starfleet Medical and get his own ship, Uhura gets reassigned to Starfleet Academy to become Head of Linguistics and a teacher, Chekov gets his own ship as does Spock. But I guess that would have too expensive and a logistical nightmare.
It may be startling, at first, to see how different the first film in the original crew series is to the last. But they both typify different aspects of TOS; which, itself, quickly outgrew the 'We're out here on our own and everything is strange' mentality in the earlier episodes and started getting into conflict and allegory. I think what I like best about TUD, though, is probably the humour. It accepts that these guys should be retired by now and brings us along for one last nostalgia trip.
Meyer did some callbacks to other genre films. The penal colony, Rura Penthe, reused the name of the slave colony where Captain Nemo was forced to mine nitrates (from bird guano) in Disney's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." And the entire climactic assassination sequence was lifted almost whole from John Frankenheimer's "Manchurian Candidate." Classy stuff.
@@thefonzkiss The Voices actors for TAS were live and the original characters. Roddenberry first used the Tiberius as the middle name of a USMC Marine character for Gary Lockwood's lead role in Gene's first TV series, The Lieutenant. The last episode which was never televised (or banned) starred Nichelle Nichols, it dealt with racism.
I still like it, but my appreciation of this one has dropped a bit over the years. Mostly because the script has more holes than swiss cheese, and the more of them I've noticed, the more they annoy me. It's a great idea in a so-so script filmed by a great director, so it still works out to be quite good overall. (Also I absolutely despise the 'Klingon translation' scene.)
It's my favourite original cast film, but a major plot howler is that it's the Excelsior that has the equipment for cataloguing gaseous anomalies, not the Enterprise, as Uhura says
Same here. This movie doesn't hold up after subsequent viewings. I wouldn't call Meyer a great director, he's basically a good journeyman for a franchise film.
After the suspenseful and engaging ship battles in "Wrath Of Khan," I find the climactic encounter with Chang's vessel kind of underwhelming when during the clobbering of the Enterprise Kirk's big move is just ordering "full reverse!"
'we need breathing room' "Earth. Hitler. 1938..." classic line One interesting point that you miss: The Klingon blood was originally going to be green, but they realised that was the colour of Vulcan blood. and they couldn't simply use red, since that would have resulted in the film having an R rating. So purple it was. So we could assume that Klingon blood is a manganese complex, as apposed to iron (human) or copper (vulcan)
And the Star Trek franchise has gone back and forth on Klingon blood ever since, since it was already established as red on ST:TNG and they didn't particularly want to change.
Esta fue una sorpresa para mí, después de la V no le veía futuro a esta saga de películas, y esta me gustó mucho, la tengo entre las mejores de toda la serie.
To be fair to Shatner, the studio did cause some of the ST5 issues - ILM was busy with other films and not really available but Paramount didn't want to wait, they kind of rushed the film a bit when a little more time would have resulted in something better(not saying good but something better). 6 was a good way to end the original series - it wasn't perfect (the universal translator/klingon scene is beyond dumb) but it was fitting. And it really did show something that Brannon Braga mentioned - Star Trek isn't a subset of sci-fi, it really is a superset because as you mentioned this was more a political thriller while 1 was straight-up sci-fi, 2 was action 3 was more drama, 4 a comedy and 5 almost religious. You can do so many different styles in Trek and a good writer and director will make them work which isn't something you can say about a lot of other franchises both in and out of sci-fi.
TMP is the best representation of Star Trek on film but I don't think they have made the perfect Trek film yet. I think the best Trek film would be a combination of TMP and Khan.
As much as I love your love of genre films and your snarky quips in your voice overs, I have to point out an error in your narration. You said DeForest Kelley and Nichelle Nichols were the only 2 regular cast members never to appear again in official Star Trek. Maybe you meant after the release of this film in 1991, in which case I stand corrected. Otherwise, I have to mention DeForest played an older admiral version of Bones on the pilot for TNG.
I like this film, I just wish it didn't look so cheap. The reuse of TNG sets, without putting them back to Motion Picture style designs, is so obvious, no more so than in the engine room.
The odd-even thing doesn't work (at all) since III is so good and IV is, uhm, just OK. IV is better than I, but V and VI are all better than I. If I were to rank the ST movies from best to worst, I'd go II, III, VI, V, IV, I. (There were no movies after the first six. The rest was just fan fiction, most of it bad.)
McCoy''s deliver y of "I'd give real money if he shut up!" never fails to make me laugh. A great film and one of my favourites. A great way and storyline to say goodbye to the original cast. Their signatures at the end was surprisingly touching too.
I've quoted this line repeatedly ever since seeing the Movie. I don't know if it was scripted, or Dee suggested this, however in character.
The “ let them die” line and delivery is one of the best ever by Kirk .👏
Bill Shatner acting ability was never in doubt. On the stage, on TV (most people forget that 1966-1969 TVs were 21 inches diagonally or smaller, the majority were B & W, the (1) speakerr was usually on average 5 inches and 5 W amplier in mono and resolution was 400 lines near the station or much less in the country, cable TV was only in areas were broadcast TV wasn't available, he had adapted his acting style to fit that medium. My best friend across the street had a Stereo TV Console, UHF, a record player, the only on the entire length of the street. So for TOS shown on a 4K with everything else (DVD, Blue Ray, Digital Streaming on a humongeous big screen) individuals mock the performances in imitation of comedians (from later and much larger TV' Screens, etc. Even so on Bill's performance for the Outer Limits, Twilight Zone, Man From Uncle as a "guest star" are entirely different as he didn't have to "carry the series' and under the pressure of a weekly series.
The Star Trek Motion Pictures are entirely different medium, Big Screen, etc. Bill Shatner's performance changes. TAS, more than one of the voice actors said they acted dramatically, and somehow filmation toned audio down, after all it was for children....
I had just started college, living in another town when ST VI released.
Hardly knowing anyone there yet, I went to see it multiple times...like seeking the comfort of an old friend.
TNG was in full swing at the time, but TOS always had that special place in my heart.
The finality of the film's story mirrored me saying goodbye to the world of being a kid.
Sounds very healthy
That’s sort of sad and beautiful!
It's indeed a brillantly well made movie. Shakespearian and epic for Star Trek.
I saw this film by myself opening weekend while at university and loved it! It is hard for me to decide whether I prefer this film to WOK but I think I like it just a bit more.
@@bjgandalf69 Wrath of Khan was an action/adventure while Undiscovered Country was more of a political thriller.
That is why VI still stands on it's own. It wasn't trying to be TWoK over and over again like the last last four or five Star Trek movies have.
This is my favourite Star Trek movie, I remember watching it with my Father all those years ago. He loved it. RIP Dad.
As much as I love Wrath Of Khan, this is my favourite Trek movie. I love that the supporting cast get more to do here than they often do, with the murder mustery plot on the Enterprise being really fun to watch as well as the A plot with Kirk and Bones' trial/imprisonment. A friend of mine recently started watching Star Trek TOS and I insisted, as he made his way through the movies, that we watch Undiscovered Country together and he was blown away by how good it was, which made me so happy! It's an absolute banger from start to finish and the fact the Bluray and 4k includes the theatrical and directors cut was a good call from Paramount!
The A-plot B-plot structure is also evocative of a lot of great Original Series TV episodes, where they would split Spock and Kirk up and have them having parallel adventures to each other. Galileo 7, Gamesters of Triskelion, That Which Survives, etc. Despite what everybody remembers, TOS didn't always pair Kirk and Spock, and didn't always focus exclusively on Kirk.
The most underrated Star Trek movie, and a perfect send off to the original series crew. That last scene really captures the heart, imagination, and adventure of Star Trek.
It’s only underrated in that it’s not Wrarh of Khan or the whale movie. ST3 is the most underrated I think.
How was it underrated? It got good reviews at time of release
How is it underrated?
Sorry, but this was never underrated. It was beloved when it was released and still is to this day. ST3 on the other hand was indeed underrated for a long time.
This was a solid send off for the TOS crew. There is some cringe, but the rewatch score is right up there with TWOK.
One beef.....that shot of Praxis......LOL.
Remember seeing this opening day. What a wonderful experience. watching this with a packed theater of Trek fans. I actually shed a tear with the credits. The signatures of each cast member.
The Enterprise set design was impeccable. The bridge was stunning; the tight corridors and dark walls gave the ship the look and feel of a submarine; the bunks (berths) for the enlisted personnel were a perfect finishign touch.
You can not hope for a better "baddie" than Christopher Plummer.
No coincidence that Amanda Plummer did the chair spin in ST: Picard...."...Hey Chris, can i try that in Picard, huh?"
@@phillytvdirector Its more of "Hey Dad, when it is my turn to have a spinning chair."
Christopher Plummer was also Virtuoso Pianist.
@@Renshen1957There are pianos on the Klingon home world? 😉
They are made out of knives and are intentionally out-of-tune.
Such a great flick. I saw it in the theater and people were cheering, gasping and laughing out loud. It was a huge win for ST and a perfect way to wrap up the series.
Shatner tells a hilarious story about Takei calling him bragging “They’re going to give me my own ship!” and just laughing because he knew any movie would always be focussed on The Enterprise not some other ship Sulu was captaining.
Barring old Scotty breaking through an oak door near the end, the movie was one of the most well-crafted Star Trek movies. Just a wonderful adventure.
I’d buy him breaking through an oak door. If memory serves me correctly James Doohan was a real life badass who fought on the beaches in Normandy during World War 2. If he can get through a wall of German gunfire, he can get through an oak door.
My 2 favourite Star Treks are II and VI. As well as being what you refer to yourself as a 'Star Trek' movie, which it was... it's also accessible for non-Star Trek fans because of the allegories in the plot. A great movie from start to finish, despite the behind-the-scenes issues. I've never heard of another Star Trek movie, having production issues, it was just this one. Heh hum.
Due to Nicholas Meyer (Director)
Great satirical review which nonetheless clearly appreciates the film. I remember being at the cinema (my 1st Star Trek cinema experience) and being lulled by the melodic opening score, before getting startled from my seat by the opening scene. That trick only really works the one time, as do Whodunits, but this film is so rewatchable, even when you know the outcome. You're sitting there waiting for a classic line.
RAND: Do we report this?
SULU: Are you kidding?
CLASSIC!
The way the score slowly builds up to a fever pitch an instant before Praxis explodes is brilliant.
Certainly made me jump out of my seat. I swear the auditorium shook
Great review! Saw this opening night, 7:00pm show, sold-out crowd. I was 14 and my dad had dropped me and 3 friends off near the theater 3 hours early so we could grab pizza and a place in line. I'll never forget the whole crowd cheering loudly when Chang's ship got what was coming to it. And of course the ominous opening musical notes channeling "Mars" from Holst's The Planets.
Deforest Kelley appeared as Bones in the first episode of TNG, my man!! Love your reviews, Stan 💯🥳
That was before this film.
An awesome recap. I remember seeing ST6 at the theater in '91and really feeling that the ST magic had returned after the lackluster part 5. The CG blood and other FX were amazingly solid and impressive to us. Great story and cast, and great finale for the OG crew. I did not know about the director's cut! Must find it.
I always find it funny that in order to not work together and remain enemies, Cartwright, Chang and Nanclus all team up and work together…
I only watched the classic Star Trek movies last year for the first time and I really did like the undiscovered country a lot, aswell as most of the classic films.
I owe over a decade of life at university to this film.
The entrance exam was to review "a cultural artifact", so I did a revlew if ST6. Examiner's comment: "You're right, Star Trek is definitely past its sell-by date."
One of my favorite Star Trek films 🎥 😊
A great send off. Wonderful finale of the great TOS crew.
I would like to say that - even as one of the older members of the cast - Deforest Kelley really steals a lot of scenes in this. But he was always quality on screen.
Here's a tidbit for you: the actor playing the Klingon judge that condemned Kirk and Bones to life on Ruha Penthe was Robert Easton, who voiced Phones Sheridan on the Gerry Anderson series Stingray. He later inadvertently scored a sci-fi fan culture hat trick when Mystery Science Theater 3000 riffed The Giant Spider Invasion.
Of course, it goes without saying that in spite of its sci-fi trappings, I'd make the case of Star Trek VI being one of the finest Cold War movies ever made. And of course, it goes without saying that Chekov had the best lines.
The Scooby-Doo ending always makes me chuckle, unfortunately
To be honest, there were issues outside of William Shatner's control regarding Star Trek V. First, there was the Writers Guild Strike that impacted the script process. Paramount thought it was going to go overbudget, so they demanded cuts from the script which was delivered late. These cuts were from the film's ending, which were originally filled with angelic and demonic creatures, but were converted to the one clunky rock creature out of a planned six. ILM wasn't available for the special effects for the movie, as both Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Ghostbusters II taking up most of their experienced artists, so Shatner had to settle for Associates and Ferren, who only had three months to prepare, thanks to the strike. Ferren's "less is more" approach rejected bluescreen technology in favor of rear projection, which looked bad compared to earlier films. The rock creature's fire breathing device experienced a mechanical failure on the last day on location, scrapping the planned fight and leaving it as a background piece. Instead, Ferren tried a big blue blob that would chase the heroes, but it looked bad on film. Paramount refused to extend additional money to replace the big blue blob, which left Shatner stuck (it was eventually replaced by the false god's actor George Murdock's face). The Enterprise model was damaged while in the care of ILM during a tour, and needed to be completely repainted as the Aztec pattern had been spraypainted over with light grey paint, again delaying production. Finally, Paramount thought that Shatner's director's cut at just over two hours plus credits was too long and demanded that at least fifteen minutes of film be cut for a theatrical release so that it could be shown twice a night. Harve Bennett did the edit, but Shatner was never satisfied with it. Finally, test screenings were less than favorable, and another five minutes were cut and a hastily included scene with the Bird of Prey was added to make the rescue clearer.
All in all, the story for Final Frontier was subpar, but to simply blame Shatner, who was an experienced director, for the mistakes made isn't right either.
Shatner deserves some of the blame when it comes to the story. Everything else was out of his hands.
The thing about TNG coming into their own by 1991 dovetails with an interesting observation I've made before. Star Trek 5 was in production just after TNG'S first season had debuted. It still exhibits a certain cockiness that they are 'the real Star Trek'. There's a feeling pervading that whole movie that they can kind of coast along on the goodwill that they aren't that young upstart version with Wesley Crusher. An over-confidence, if you will. Star Trek 6 has none of that. There's a kind of complicit acknowledgement that the torch has already been passed. Star Trek 6 is full of references to concepts introduced or hinted at in The Next Generation, which are entirely absent from any prior Original Series project. The cast seem to have come to a kind of acceptance of their fate, that Star Trek was well and truly flying away from them, and that this would be their last hurrah. These contrasting attitudes are interesting to consider while watching Star Trek's 5 and 6.
It's also a reason why Star Trek 7 feels so unnecessary. Whichever studio executive made the call that there needed to be an official passing-of-the-torch movie, hadn't been paying attention. The Next Generation was the indisputed flagship of the franchise by 1994. The torch had metaphorically already been passed years before, so seeing Captain Shatner literally pass the movie baton to Captain Stewart feels really pointless and unnecessary. Indeed, the success of Star Trek 8 in 1996 shows the Next Generation cast could probably have landed in theaters fine without needing the Original Series crossover.
This classic crew went out with a bang . Solid script ,original crew and for the low budget it looked great and best of the film quality look fabulous for 25 years ago .
I'm confused as to why Rene Auberjonois is not given an acting credit for this movie?
Great movie! The plot hole over the gaseous anomalies wasn’t too bad, but it always felt weird that Chekov didn’t know about the alarm for using a phaser.
Couple of nits I can't help picking. As you say, Chekov was in charge of the weapons systems, but appears to know little about them (he fires the photons in ST:TMP, but doesn't correct Kirk when he is ordered to target the asteroid using (inoperative) phasers).
Valeris, instead of informing him about the alarm, chooses to ruin an entire morning's work and umpteen potatoes by randomly vapourising a large, expensive Starfleet owned cooking pot. Hopefully destruction of Starfleet property will be on her later list of charges. In addition she caused a hapless kitchen assistant to soil his uniform and leap backwards, a hazard in a kitchen.
More prosaically, Uhura referred to a 'tailpipe' (exhaust pipe in English). By 2040, no child will know what a tailpipe is, as all cars will be electric by then.
Uhura is speaking in the 23rd century! No vehicle has "gotta have a tailpipe", surely?
Adore this film. I also like the OST!
Looking back, I would have liked more dialogue in the first half, espically during the dinner scene. There was a missed chance for an extended, 10-minute back and forth with all our people talking about their thoughts on the Klingons and the end of hostilities. Real chance for characters in TOS history.
Christian Slater is in the movie because he's a massive Star Trek fan, and he begged his mom to find a part for him, and it's rather hilarious what he wound up with
Chekov as the comedy character kinda makes sense, he had some of that in the original series, and there is or at least was a great supercut video here of all of Chekov's claims of Russia writing or inventing things that's worth a look.
My personal favorite of the series.
I really like this film. As well as the two different cuts on home video, there were also three different aspect ratios. There was the 4:3 open matte version, the 2.0:1 version and then the 2.39:1 scope version. Personally I prefer the framing on the 2.0:1 version.
Oh yes I remember on my VHS set it had a different aspect ratio to all the other classic crew films.
"...Christian Slater...He had to appear in the film otherwise he'd have to go to bed without dinner." - Stam Fine @ his Finest
It was bold to end the original film series with a dark tone.
I love this movie, it was the perfect send off, much in the way the last season of Picard was the perfect (belated) send off for TNG. The end credits, with Eidelmanns magnificent and underrated score and those signatures, oh man, the tears still flow. 'Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!', and Kirks best line ever responding to 'We need breeding space' 'Earth, Hitler, 1938!' ROFL!
Semi-known fact: William Shatner was Christopher Plummer's understudy at the Stratford Theatre ( a Shakespearean summer stock theatre in Stratford, Ontario) in the late 1950s.
The undiscovered country was probably the best of all the star trek movies
well, after V it was time - they had to uphold the "even number rule" 🖖
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is my absolute favorite Star Trek film.
It was a good homage to the end of the Cold War, had Captain Kirk confront his prejudices about the Klingons ("Who would I be without my enemy?"), finally see Sulu as a Captain of the USS Excelsior, and the core cast members each had moments to shine.
Star Trek VI was so good it influenced Marvel Studios' Avengers: Endgame, and elements of the film, as well as from Star Trek II, were seen in Star Trek: Nemesis.
Love that Shatner was Plummers understudy - Years earlier- shakespeare as well-lol- Great Job again!, looking forward to blake 7
DeForest Kelley was in TNG'S Encounter at Farpoint.
DeForest Kelly does make a cameo in the Star Trek: The Next Generation pilot as a really old Admiral McCoy.
That was before this film.
Can't stop laughing at Miss Bell's Piss Smells. You just found my level of humour. Have a thumbs up 🤣
The last time you can use "pop a Spock on it" in a Trek movie until Nu-Trek! Are you sad or relieved, Stam?
nature finds a way
You’re hilarious! Why don’t you have more subs?
Brilliant review.. loved this movie..
I wish Shatner had never posted that disgraceful missive on medium. I never wanted confirmation that George Takei was right all along.
Like when Takei derided Shatner a "specimen" when Shatner went to space?
Honestly, I wish none of them would get in these tussels. Social media is the opposite of its name.
These are great fun to watch. Hope you do Picard series next
I believe it's pronounced "tlhiQ tlhoQ" on Kronos. :)
Star Trek V is still 10 times better than most of the stuff Hollywood produces today.
I wouldn't go that far but it was really the last pure Trek film.
Ha! Star Trek film that between the cracks, I had a bit part in this flick, and I was actually originally with two other day players in this scene - we all get cut, lol! Director Nicholas Meyer was way over budget...
It was still a good flick though
I was glad to be introduced to Gorkon and his daughter. It was vital to the series that fans understand that there are Klingon aristocrats who are refined, educated and broad minded and that not all Klingons are warriors or crude political puppets. We were made to believe that for a Klingon to be able to socialise with Earth people, they would have to be raised by humans like Worf was. I was just sorry that the character had to be assassinated and I was disappointed in Kirk until I remembered HIS SON was murdered.
I liked ST 5. It was interesting.
I think TNG flanderized the Klingons until "honor" was their only character trait and warrior the only acceptable occupation. To me, it made them boring.
I haven’t seen that one in years. Time for a rewatch
It would have made sense if Scotty gets to become Head Of Starfleet Engineering back on Earth, McCoy becomes head of Starfleet Medical and get his own ship, Uhura gets reassigned to Starfleet Academy to become Head of Linguistics and a teacher, Chekov gets his own ship as does Spock. But I guess that would have too expensive and a logistical nightmare.
It may be startling, at first, to see how different the first film in the original crew series is to the last. But they both typify different aspects of TOS; which, itself, quickly outgrew the 'We're out here on our own and everything is strange' mentality in the earlier episodes and started getting into conflict and allegory. I think what I like best about TUD, though, is probably the humour. It accepts that these guys should be retired by now and brings us along for one last nostalgia trip.
Nicely done.
Meyer did some callbacks to other genre films. The penal colony, Rura Penthe, reused the name of the slave colony where Captain Nemo was forced to mine nitrates (from bird guano) in Disney's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." And the entire climactic assassination sequence was lifted almost whole from John Frankenheimer's "Manchurian Candidate."
Classy stuff.
I was confused watching star trek 6. Thankyou for mentioning the different versions 🖖🙂
Masterful, as usual. Cheers.
Klik Klok, too funny.
Stam.....love that reference to AOL CD....pre broadband.
Love your takes on all these :) Keep popping a Spock on it!
The first use of Tiberius for Kirk’s middle name occurred in Star Trek the Animated Series.
He said live action.
@@thefonzkiss The Voices actors for TAS were live and the original characters. Roddenberry first used the Tiberius as the middle name of a USMC Marine character for Gary Lockwood's lead role in Gene's first TV series, The Lieutenant. The last episode which was never televised (or banned) starred Nichelle Nichols, it dealt with racism.
This movie has my favorite line in any Star Trek movie and it comes from sulu.
Nice review. I’m sure those mag boots that were stolen were then subject to a bullshit restocking fee…? 😂
I still like it, but my appreciation of this one has dropped a bit over the years. Mostly because the script has more holes than swiss cheese, and the more of them I've noticed, the more they annoy me. It's a great idea in a so-so script filmed by a great director, so it still works out to be quite good overall.
(Also I absolutely despise the 'Klingon translation' scene.)
It's my favourite original cast film, but a major plot howler is that it's the Excelsior that has the equipment for cataloguing gaseous anomalies, not the Enterprise, as Uhura says
Same here. This movie doesn't hold up after subsequent viewings. I wouldn't call Meyer a great director, he's basically a good journeyman for a franchise film.
After the suspenseful and engaging ship battles in "Wrath Of Khan," I find the climactic encounter with Chang's vessel kind of underwhelming when during the clobbering of the Enterprise Kirk's big move is just ordering "full reverse!"
'we need breathing room'
"Earth. Hitler. 1938..."
classic line
One interesting point that you miss: The Klingon blood was originally going to be green, but they realised that was the colour of Vulcan blood. and they couldn't simply use red, since that would have resulted in the film having an R rating. So purple it was. So we could assume that Klingon blood is a manganese complex, as apposed to iron (human) or copper (vulcan)
And the Star Trek franchise has gone back and forth on Klingon blood ever since, since it was already established as red on ST:TNG and they didn't particularly want to change.
This and TWOK top my list always for movies. TOS for series. Lovin' lots of the new, though. Keep Trekkin!
Best trek film ever.
Kind of makes you wonder if Change was from the house of Duras?
Kim Cattral was brilliant. I was already a fan of hers thanks to Big Trouble in Little China.
This has always been my favorite, despite the fact that people prefer Khan.
Forget the Odd Number/Even Number cliche; Nicholas Meyer means Good Trek Film, no Nicholas Meyer means otherwise.
6:51 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 I love your sense of humour 😎
Esta fue una sorpresa para mí, después de la V no le veía futuro a esta saga de películas, y esta me gustó mucho, la tengo entre las mejores de toda la serie.
that second grade teacher bit got me good
Wonderful send off.
You don't have to put your soda down to count to six if you come from some areas of Birmingham, UK
Klik Klok would be full of gagh recipes, pain stick tutorials, and Klingon opera remixes
To be fair to Shatner, the studio did cause some of the ST5 issues - ILM was busy with other films and not really available but Paramount didn't want to wait, they kind of rushed the film a bit when a little more time would have resulted in something better(not saying good but something better).
6 was a good way to end the original series - it wasn't perfect (the universal translator/klingon scene is beyond dumb) but it was fitting. And it really did show something that Brannon Braga mentioned - Star Trek isn't a subset of sci-fi, it really is a superset because as you mentioned this was more a political thriller while 1 was straight-up sci-fi, 2 was action 3 was more drama, 4 a comedy and 5 almost religious. You can do so many different styles in Trek and a good writer and director will make them work which isn't something you can say about a lot of other franchises both in and out of sci-fi.
TMP is the best representation of Star Trek on film but I don't think they have made the perfect Trek film yet. I think the best Trek film would be a combination of TMP and Khan.
@@ricardocantoral7672 totally agree. While not the most popular, TMP and Insurrection are the definition of what Star Trek is about.
The leading players all looked like pensioners on an outing somewhere.
As much as I love your love of genre films and your snarky quips in your voice overs, I have to point out an error in your narration. You said DeForest Kelley and Nichelle Nichols were the only 2 regular cast members never to appear again in official Star Trek. Maybe you meant after the release of this film in 1991, in which case I stand corrected. Otherwise, I have to mention DeForest played an older admiral version of Bones on the pilot for TNG.
Klik Klok 🤣🤣 You should launch that 😂
It is the best version of Guess Who's Coming To Dinner.
Very good as ever. Surprised no mention of it being an allegory on Glasnost, though
He mentioned that Gorkon was basically Gorbachev.
This was a great movie
Will you do updated versions of the Next Gen and Abrams movies?
Why though? Have they gotten any better through age? ;)
Next Gen yes, definitely. JJ verse, maybe.
I like this film, I just wish it didn't look so cheap. The reuse of TNG sets, without putting them back to Motion Picture style designs, is so obvious, no more so than in the engine room.
VALERIS
knew the 2 crewman
were dead
but she still fell for
the deception
"Klik Klok" I lost it there Brilliant!! 🤣
Captain Kirk you son of a bitch, I'm in !
Next week Kirk sees an embarrassing situation and tumbles out of a hole..
Star Trek 12: So very tired!
See the original cast in their latest greatest adventure!
Well narrated........thx
This is honestly my favorite star trek movie.
Yeah wrath of Khan is a much better film, I just like 6 more . Such a fun movie.
Christopher Plummer was the best part of this film.
I enjoy this video.
The odd-even thing doesn't work (at all) since III is so good and IV is, uhm, just OK. IV is better than I, but V and VI are all better than I. If I were to rank the ST movies from best to worst, I'd go II, III, VI, V, IV, I. (There were no movies after the first six. The rest was just fan fiction, most of it bad.)
I'd rather watch II and III together and skip IV. I found the "humor" in IV to be cringe-worthy.
Why did they cut those scenes