I think the Peter Pan quote was a great way to end the run. It's the perfect lead-in to that shot of the Enterprise "riding off into the sunset" while calling back to a story about eternal youth. Kirk struggled with middle age and desk duty in the Wrath of Khan. Now he's allowed to end his adventure on his own terms, with a blend of acceptance and nostalgia. There is no fan service to beat us over the head with call backs and references. Merely a subtle hint of the youthful, adventurous spirit that still resides within him as he flies of into retirement is enough for the audience to understand his emotional state.
Colonel Worf was the right way to do fanservice. He made sense, and you didn't actually need to know anything to see what was going on. On top of that, he was his own character, not simply, "hey, look, it's Worf's grandfather." The new creative team needs to take notes.
Oh please, if the Picard writers "took note" of what the fans wanted there would have been dozens more pointless cameos and memberberries, no matter how nonsensical it would be for them to show up. For the rest of new trek, at least the callbacks and cameos are either unobtrusive (like Worfs grandad) or they do something substantial with them.
The revelation that the talks would be held on Khitomer is another graceful TNG tie-in. Although I was expecting an actual depiction of the Khitomer Massacre referenced so often in early TNG seasons.
@@thork6974the problem with doing the massacre was that it happened roughly 20 some years before tng, where the movie took place between 30 an 50 years after the movie.
@@alejandronopasanada5302 The deluge of garbage writing and higher-ups forcing their ideas/ideals into the mix in recent years has certainly been rampant, but it's not like there _isn't_ anything good being written or released by major studios. However, it does seem as though television has overall been getting the better scripts and creative minds who are willing to take risks. Fargo on FX, which was created and is primarily written by Noah Hawley (who was given the job to write and direct the next Trek film before the pandemic hit -- his script involved a brand new crew on a new ship encountering a virus in space, so it was scrapped), has been consistently great (if at times wildly ambitious, i.e. season four) since its premiere in 2014 and its upcoming fifth season looks like it'll be quite good as well. He also created a show called Legion in 2017 that ran for three seasons and is quite possibly the most unique and "out there" series to have aired since the premiere of Twin Peaks. Due to his work on both, I'm very excited for his upcoming Alien series; I genuinely feel that if there's anyone who can "right the ship" in regards to that franchise, it's him. I would've loved to see his take on Star Trek, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. Perhaps someday he can develop a Trek series instead. Better Call Saul is another example of incredible and consistently excellent writing, as well as how to do "fan service" without cheapening or undermining the story it's trying to tell, even though it ended last year.
Undiscovered Country has long been my favourite Star Trek movie. Also, pretty sure Kirk is a veteran of the Klingon war, which would've happened when he was a much younger officer. Plus all the times they tangled throughout the original series. David's death either pushed him over the edge or is just a convenient excuse for already lingering hatreds.
People want to crow so much about "Wrath of Khan," and I always want to tell them, "WoK is a great film, no doubt about it, but it's not the best Star Trek film. It's not even the best TOS film." For my money, "First Contact" and "Undiscovered Country" are tied at the top, with "Wrath of Khan" and "Voyage Home" tied for a very close second. Then "Beyond" is right there in the hunt, but everything else is a notch or two (or more) below.
The finale of Voyager has one redeeming moment for me after Kim proposes his insane plan to Paris: Kim “Where’s your sense of adventure?” Paris “I left it in that nebula and I’m NOT going back for it!” Gives me a good laugh every time.
I was 12 when Star Trek VI came out. I had just started attending a new school, and was in this period where I didn't have many friends. I had never been a popular kid at my old school, and that trend continued at my new school. I remember waiting in line for the premier of STVI with my parents at the local shopping center. I saw a couple of other kids from my school there, and I worked up the nerve to go say hi. That was how I found my people in my new school. One of them became my best friend, and still is today. We even had a Star Trek podcast once upon a time. I loved STVI, and still do. Next to TWoK it's my favourite Trek movie, and the two often trade spots depending on my mood any given day.
Here's the thing about Uhura's insight though. The ship outfitted with special equipment for studying gaseous anomalies was Excelsior, not Enterprise. As I understand, it was a last-minute production change to give the inciting Praxis encounter to Sulu.
Let's not forget the really iconic credits with the main cast signatures... It really was a perfect send off despite the Scooby Doo ending. Nothing wrong with a little camp in a trek movie.
i mean scooby doo is a classic for a reason. Also its theatralic enough to fit. plus it makes sense, they had to expose the conspirasy somehow and theatralic, why not.
I rewatched TOS, TAS and the TOS movies earlier this year, and I teared up a bit during Kirks final log entry at the end of Star Trek VI. It was an amazing capstone, and I loved it.
It always bugged me that this movie was the one and only instance where Klingons had Pepto Bismol flowing through their veins. I wish Star Trek kept that canon. Aside from helping the film avoid an “R" rating, it was an important tidbit for the deleted “Scooby Doo" twist at the end.
@@richardvinsen2385 I think TPJ was referring to the small energy cannon that was used to shoot the Klingons and chemically altered their blood to the color of Pepto Bismol. 😏
The Klingon FMV game (titled simply 'Star Trek: Klingon') also had purple-ish blood. As far as I know, it's also canon. It certainly felt like a full-budget production for its time.
Klingons as a race have really bad acid reflux. The crew got wicked bad heartburn from the human food at the banquet. They had chugged pepto by the gallon when the two attackers beamed in.
Plus, we got our first introduction to Ensign Tuvok, who would have guessed the stoic black vulcan background character (the first in franchise history) would become a main character in a future series.
I wish that someone could have made a series about Captain Sulu and his crew. That would have been amazing. He was already such a great "round" character; seeing him grow and learn ... ah well...
I saw ST VI with my father on New Year’s Eve 1991 when I was 13. It was a pivotal moment of my youth which opened up a love of the “future promise” of Trek. I remember returning to middle school from Winter break and being told, “The maps will look different now.” For those who didn’t live through the fall of the USSR, you can’t imagine how important December 1991 was in the history of the world.
I know people get weird about Spock quoting Sherlock Holmes as "an ancestor of mine," but the actual person who wrote that was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who very well could be an ancestor of Amanda Grayson. Or maybe Sherlock Holmes is a real person in Trek and Data is playing fan fiction with the life of an actual dude. Or maybe "is Sherlock Holmes a real person?" is a weird question to ask when the guy that says it is half-alien.
It’s a joke. At this point Spock is joking. He’s reconciled his humanity and understands humor. It’s not to be taken literally. See also “old Vulcan proverb, only Nixon could go to China.”
there is also a lot of evidence to support the theory that Sir Author Conan Doyle may have been none other than Jolly Jack...widely known as Jack the Ripper...After all Jack the Ripper did write that one day men will look back and say I gave birth to the 20th century and Holmes certainly did just that...inspired the creation Spock and Data as well perhaps one could be bold to say that Ripper gave birth not to just the 20th century but to the 23rd century as well as the 24rth and the early 25th century as well
Way back in my college science-fiction films class, I did a paper comparing and contrasting Meyer's ST II and VI. There are a lot of thematic similarities (insert "It's like poetry; it rhymes" joke here). Both deal with the crew coping with growing older in a changing galaxy, and coming out the other side with a renewed sense of youth. (In II, Kirk explicitly states, "I feel young," and in VI, he quotes Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up.) One thing that fits with some of what you talked about - and maybe I've been reading too much into this for the 30 years since I wrote that paper - is that if you add an "E" to the end of the primary antagonist's name, the crew spends the movie learning how to overcome the fear and obstacles that are put in their way by change. I don't know if that was intentional in the writing of the movie or just a happy accident, but it struck me all those years ago and has stayed with me.
The main reason I find VI to be a better Star Trek film that II is that its bigger theme of moving past one's prejudices for the betterment of all is a core concept that, in my mind, makes Trek Trek. Whereas I find one of II's bigger themes to be about living one's life so one's past doesn't come back to haunt you, which is one that doesn't *need* to be told in the Star Trek universe.
Its also having all that charactr moments and humor, but still nails the theme with good character arcs. plus kirk the klingon hatr being the ambasator of peace, goated on by spock, is so good. And even uhara gets done justice. And that tey ar a product of thir time but even klingon hater kirk can become the ambassor of unity and peace. Honstly di think archr, i cant ddeside if kirk or archer has the better arc there.
ST VI not only brought closure to TOS for me, but it also brought closure to the Cold War in a way. I was born the year TOS was canceled so my first memories were of it in syndication while at the same time the Cold War hung over our way of life. I came to see that the Klingons were the interpretation of the Soviets and it was nice to see a futuristic society that still clung to hope. When I graduated high school I joined the Navy and was immersed in that Cold War mindset for a time, until one day the Berlin wall fell and while on deployment to the Mediterranean our president met with Soviet Premier Gorbachev and glasnost came to be. I recall there being a sense of accomplishment and when I went home ST VI came out soon afterward. As a child I was always made aware of how TOS was topical for the 1960s and much like that, ST VI brought the TOS era to a close in a similarly topical way.
You brought back some good memories here! I played hooky the day Star Trek VI premiered. It was my freshman year of high school. My older brother took me to the theater for the first showing of the day. And the line around the building was truly a sight to see! This was an event film in the best way. And, when I got back to school the next day, I was berated by my math teacher for taking a sick day … just to see Star Trek VI. But it was worth it. ;-)
The Undiscovered Country was the first Star Trek film I saw in the cinema. I was recovering from surgery, running a fever, and supposed to be in bed taking it easy, but no way was I going to miss this movie I'd been waiting for. It's hard to convey to younger people just what it felt like for the Cold War to finally be ending and to have that mirrored up on the big screen.
The thing that I like most about Undiscovered Country is that it explains how the peace is achieved which was alluded to all the way back in the original series episode that established the Klingon neutral zone(because of the Organians) and the pilot of next-gen which had debuted four years earlier( with a junior officer on the bridge who was a Klingon). So it would not only connects first series to the new series but it also was eluded to years before
The Undiscovered Country was the last bow on stage for most of the old original crew in the world of Star Trek. One last adventure with the old generation with a bittersweet taste, since all good things do come to an end. For several movies and episodes the crew of the classic Enterprise have stood with us. The ending of this movie was a good farewell to the old crew.
So important to let the original cast set up Klingons-as-allies on screen! This was the first Trek movie I saw in the theaters, a friend's birthday. I must have been 9 or 10. I don't think I was sophisticated enough to even follow the plot very well, but it was still a satisfying watch, all us little nerds were buzzing about Chang's final moment walking out of the theater. My favorite Trek film, for sure.
I go back and forth on if I like The Undiscovered Country or The Wrath of Khan is my favorite. Honestly, 2-4 and 6 forms a tight unit if you watch them without stopping for 5. TMP doesn't really fit in with that story arc but is good in its own right. (The Directors Cut is good anyway)
@@ATADSP Wrath of Khan is great, Star Trek 4 Voyage Home was a fun action adventure, Star Trek 6 Undiscovered Country was topical and deep, and Star Trek 8 First Contact had everything we loved about TNG era without being too draggy.
I'm a TOS fan from the get-go. I watched the first run series when it premiered (yes I'm THAT old) and haven't missed an episode since-- including all spin-offs and associated movies. The Undiscovered Country is all you say and properly a fitting send-off of the TOS cast. Just a couple personal reflections from seeing this movie its debut week in theaters. Firstly one of my favorite lines is Sulu commanding "Fly her apart then!" and secondly that gorgeous score which at the end of the film-- coupled with the signatures of each of the original cast scrolling across the screen pushed my emotions over the edge. I don't know if any other movie before has used the signatures of the cast over the final moments before the credits roll or not, but it was a perfect and dignified nod to each of these actors who has brought their characters to life over the course of time.
I think The Undiscovered Country was my first experience with Star Trek, besides the 2009 JJ Abrams movie (and a few assorted TNG episodes I would watch at my Grandmother's house when we'd go up for Christmas) so it holds a pretty special place in my heart. A little later on, my dad and I wpuld always sit down every Friday or Saturday night to watch some Star Trek TOS on MeTV. I love your breakdown of these ST episodes They're funny, well put together, and just generally fun to watch.
@@seantlewis376Not really I was pretty darn young at the time, and both my dad and mom always made reference to tge Klingons or Borg as the enemies of the Federation. I ended up getting more into ST as I got older, but for the most part just didn't really question things.
This was my first Star Trek film I saw in the cinema at 9 years old. My Grandma took me to see it . It was amazing! I don't remember even blinking much .
Undiscovered Country is my low key favorite film in the series. Wrath of Khan is certainly a favorite and objectively amazing, but the dark tone and music of Undiscovered Country made it amazing. I always felt like this was the most adult Star Trek film, then and now. Ah! And I'm so glad you mentioned the score. The overture during the credits for this film is *incredible* and one of my favorite pieces of film music. It's so different from previous scores, and yet fits the film perfectly. Again, similar to James Horner creating an entirely original theme and score for WoK. Excellent stuff.
All of the Best ST films (II, IV, VI) fixed disappointing stories of the prior very odd film (I, III, V). The ONLY "Good Line" of V, for Me was the vinegar in Kirk's koolaid: "Wait. What does God need a ship for? My Ship?!!!"
I find deep irony that the man who "reevaluates" his cold war rhetoric in the movie is the dude who basically pretended he didn't know who Walter Koenig was for almost 20 years. Dude was straight up disrespectful.
My personal headcanon is that Romulan Ambassador Nanclus and, more broadly, the Romulan Empire (Tal Shiar) were the originators/instigators of the conspiracy to prevent peace talks in the first place. Nanclus has almost nothing to do in the film except delivering a cryptic line and getting arrested at the end, but his inclusion is a perfect nod toward the type of Romulan behavior depicted in TNG (the Redemption two-parter came out the same year as ST VI) and later in Enterprise's fourth season. I mean, Romulans do seem to default to "let's execute a secret plot to divide our enemies and keep them from uniting against us" (only to have said plot fail spectacularly), and through that lens Star Trek VI could easily be viewed as just another attempt. What are your thoughts?
Absolutely. And totally in character for the Romulans. The Romulans have ALWAYS been trying to set the Federation and Klingons against each other. The Romulans didn't necessarily have to start the conspiracy, but they certainly would've done their best to further it if they discovered it.
Make sense, but the Romulans met their match in the 24th century with adversaries like the Dominion and Federation's own secret intelligence agency, Section 31. Of course, I think out of all the scheming powers, the one that probably had the most lasting impression on the Romulans is the Cardassians via Garak's ploy that caused them to enter the Dominion War, thus destabilizing their political, military, and social institutions to the point where they couldn't evacuate their own citizens off Romulus, their government was infiltrated by Federation agents, and ultimately collapsed their nation state. While the Romulans like to use the ploy of "Divide and Conquer", I prefer the Cardassian adjustment to their own gambit.
I believe most of the politicians were originally supposed to have a bigger role in this, but they were all cut back for time and to favour the crew's story.
Klingon law apparently doesn't have a problem with conflict of interest...If the guy prosecuting you also arrested you for the crime, there's probably a liiiiittle bias there.
The way this movie honours the TOS cast and what Star Trek stands for better, in my mind, makes it the best Trek film. As it's smartly written enough to give enough context to the characters' motivation within it (like reminding us of David's death) I also, oddly enough, use it often as the on-ramp to get friends into Star Trek. Thank you for your solid, well thought-out and passionate essay.
Undiscovered Country is a masterpiece. I don’t mind Easter eggs, but I feel like they should be a reward for the long term watchers, fleeting references that a new viewer wouldn’t feel disconnected from.
I loved VI as a kid because General Chang was an excellent villain, Sulu was awesome as Captain, and the final battle is so fun to watch. The political scenes were there and I understood they were important (mainly setting up where characters would be in the plot later), but the action stuff was fun! As an adult, I watch it more FOR those scenes that I skimmed over so much as a wee lad because, like II, it shows the age of our heroes and showcases how imperfect they all are BUT that they work to overcome those imperfections, those little flaws that grow to destroy who we are if we don’t nip them in the bud, to uphold not only the tenants of the Federation that they serve but to be BETTER people than the caricatures they would become in these difficult times. I grew up with the Klingons as the enemy. I then saw how people can choose to change and grow and try to make the “Undiscovered Country” of the future better for those that come after. It really showed me the optimism of Star Trek - no, the world is not perfect. We aren’t perfect. But we can TRY to be better. We can work together to BE better. No matter how many General Changs or Admiral Cartwrights there may be to hold us back, we have the ability, nay the responsibility, to overcome those biases and help those who need it, to look past borders and cultures to see those who aren’t “us” as people that deserve the same respect and care we do. Nicholas Meyer and Leonard Nimoy truly crafted not only a classic piece of cinema worthy of saving, but absolutely the best send off and finale to a crew we could’ve asked for
@OpinionsNoOneCaresAbout , ... I love your screen name, it's the only thing you're self-aware about. Otherwise *you don't know what the hell you're talking about* , McCoy said ""I'd pay real money IF HE would shut up"". *Get your hearing checked already*
This movie had 2 things keeping it from being perfect: 1. They defeated Chang by a random idea from Spock. It would've more thematically salient if they would've defeated him by working with a Klingon character. 2. They invented a ship that can fire while cloaked and then all future writers ignored it.
Steve, I would have been content with you just giving us the movie's plot and paralleling it to the Cold War. It's all stuff known (and comfortable) to those of us who have been watching Trek since TOS aired on NBC. But then, in the second half, when you relate to us that *this* is how you close a series, by abjuring fan service and instead providing us a truly new story that makes great use of beloved characters, well, this was something I had never really thought about (even though your opinion of fan service is hardly something unfamiliar to viewers of your videos). I have loved ST:6 since it came out, and now I have an intellectual framework to explain to people who Klingon to one lesser movie or another as their favorite, that even if they can't agree that this is the best ST movie, it is the best finale in the franchise. Great video, sir.
I remember watching this for the first time in a movie theater. I was 24 years old and had watched TOS and the previous movies. It felt like a farewell to the original characters. And it was bittersweet.
Your are right on when you say Star Trek 6 is a great wrap up a long running franchise. Writers need keep the flavor of a show and present us with new material as they explores the characters and the world in further complexity instead of rehashing the past. Let Captain Kirk grow as a character with the realization of his mistakes so we see deeper into him. Let the Federation and Klingons discover a new relationship and a road to enhance both cultures with mutual respect, a theme Gene Rodenberry instilled in the series from the beginning. That’s what Star Trek 6 did. Thank you for pointing this out.
Thinking about what a pivotal role he played, I now kind of want to know how Gorkon is viewed by TNG-era Klingons, like how he's taught in their schools.
probably as a great klingon. reformer and one that saved the empire. because without gorkon opening up peace with the feds... well the klingons would've been dead by 2343. (50 years of air mentioned in the starfleet briefing scene)
One other aspect of Star Trek VI is the completion of Kirk's character arc. It started in Star Trek II when Kirk's son is introduced and is killed at the hands of Klingons in Star Trek III and Kirk is hunted in Star Trek V. And it is brought to a close when Kirk recognizes his prejudice, comes to terms with it. For me the themes of reconciliation, personal development, the idea that people can come to terms with their weaknesses and shortcomings and change for the better are what Star Trek is all about.
(I'm Kris Bluth; posting under my wife's account). I'd personally put VI just under IV as my favorite Trek film ever. I remember seeing it with a girl I was dating and I don't know if we had stumbled onto a screening booked by hardcore Trekkies or what, but I've probably never been in an audience that had been so into a film as this one. They laughed, they cried, they applauded uproariously more than once, and they just made what would have been a great time ever better. Nostalgia aside, though, the movie just works. It's a clever premise that really moves all of Trek forward, the mystery is intriguing, the character moments are earned and feel natural, the humor feels organic and isn't at the expense of anybody, the thrilling parts are actually thrilling, and yeah, if they wanted the TOS crew to go out on a high, they couldn't have done better.
I know I watched Star Trek 6 as a kid because I have vage memories of it. But I haven't seen it for a long time. Star Trek 4 was my favorite of the older movies. You have inspired me to go back and re-watch all of the TOS movies. Thanks for the shout-out!!!
This movie is just a huge moment of growth for Kirk. It shows that he wasn't just "Torn shirt macho" Kirk, but someone who can actually realize that a long held belief is wrong, and he can at least start to move in a healthier direction.
Great post! Totally agree. All things said, the TOS characters are still the ones that give me that warm tingly feeling . . . Honestly, there is a part of me that would really like to see the DS9 crew get another chance at bat . . . BUT my reason immediately kicks in and foot stomps that sentimentality. Some things are best left alone.
well said, and this is not debatable. The TOS movies never tried to rehash their greatest hits, instead they told new stories about this crew and developed the characters in interesting ways.
Fondness for this movie grew over time. I remember seeing this with my buddies in the theater when it premiered. They were so fat at this point we dubbed this movie, "The Undiscovered Country Chicken".
Steve, while I am grateful you graciously allowed those of us who loved Picard S3 to have our opinion, I strongly disagree with you - not on your assessments of STVI - but on your dismissal of Picard S3. But just as you did, I shall permit you to have your opinion! Thanks for the video. I’m a loyal viewer of your reviews with your friend and even when I disagree with you (which is often) I enjoy your videos. Keep doing them. Who knows? Maybe someday you’ll like something without any quibbles. Unlikely tho, right?
Star Trek VI is the best Star Trek movie of TOS era. Great film, great story, great music (theme is absolutely stunning during the opening). Thank you for this video
It's my favourite Star Trek movie and the first one I saw in a cinema. The music is awesome and never overused and the dialogue is so sharp and rewards rewatching. The last scene where all the cast get a final line and directed so it starts with casual conversation about the what they've just been through before the bombshell is dropped. And McCoy's blink and you'll miss it final quip at Spock, "Well they don't arrest people for having feelings".
When Star Trek 6 came out i was 13 and on a ship from Calais to Dover. Back in the day those rides took longer that today, the ship had a cinema on board and my friend and I were excited to see, that they showed Star Trek 6. So I have this very special and dear memory of my young days, watching Star Trek on a real ship.
Once again reminded that seeing the floating pepto bismol blobules in the theater was one of my earliest memories, and maybe the first film I remember seeing that my toddler brain recognized as a film and not a dream. That means I also remember naked man thrown into the snow.
I do think The Undiscovered Country had one huge advantage that no other finale has ever had: Its legacy was already airing and standing on its own feet. Sure DS9 was already airing when All Good Things aired, but didn't feel like a continuation of the same story like TNG felt to TOS, it felt parallel and like a different story in the same universe. STVI was the send off, the final hurrah, the rode-off-into-the-sunset, the "These were the voyages" finale that enshrined the legend in a universe we already saw develop. It was the ultimate prequel finale.
Your breakdowns on these more than once have touched nerve enough for me to get misty-eyed. Thanks for the always interesting & entertaining essays on Trek and life.
Even to this day, this film was/is my favorite Star Trek movie and was indeed the best ending for the original cast. It has a lot of heart, drama, mystery, humor, action, and conflict. Also, really enjoyed seeing the growth in Kirk’s character arc.
Your message in this video is immensely essential and relevant in today’s world. I can’t believe it took me this long to get to this video and I’m so glad I did. This last movie with the original cast is a hopefully a reality slap to all of us that if we (the ones with intelligence and common sense) don’t pull together…. We are headed into a very dark place. I just hope it’s not too late 🖖
I never considered Undiscovered Country (my favorite Trek movie) to be a finale to the original series, but it makes perfect sense. Wonderful video, as always!
Christopher Plummer was AWESOME in this. Also the "deleted scene" with Colonel West/Odo/ReneO was a bad choice, it should have been left in, like the removed scene where Peter Preston in TWOK was Scottys nephew... these were sad omissions, they both added alot of meaning and depth with these deleted items included. Frankly, same with the TWOK deleted dialogue scene in the shuttle with the crew going to the Enterprise that Sulu is revealed by Kirk as being impending-captain-promoted by Kirk's recomendation...knowing that Sulu still went through all he did in Search for Spock and Voyage Home, such loyalty and selflessness.
You nailed it in this breakdown. My favorite as well. Christopher Plummer as Chang is still my favorite 2nd favorite villain in all of Trek for his phenomenal portrayal.
I remember seeing ST:VI in the theaters (I saw all but ST2 in the theater) and thought it was more like a big budget episode than a movie but it was the perfect ending for the Original Crew. Later I watched it again and realized this movie was shot during the time DS9 was in full swing, the Next Gen was still shooting the end of the series and beginning the production of Generations, effectively putting to bed the old crew while sending the Next Gen crew into the movie realm.A very interesting time in Trek history
It’s interesting to me how the final TOS movie covering the creation of peace with the Klingons was super timely with 91, but also something set up already by the existence of said peace on TNG. So it created a bridge between the eras narratively, and was already an event established to have occurred in some form.
Fantastic review of Star Trek VI and I completely agree with everything you said . In an age of endless nostalgia and reboots , it shines as a magnificent gem from a bygone era . A fitting conclusion to TOS and the best final chapter of any Trek thus far. I own one small piece of it ; one of the Klingon mining rifles , possibly held by Kirk and McCoy while they are imprisoned on rura penthe . It came from the collection of Greg Jein ; who made props for the film. It’s a good example of how well this film was made ; it appears on screen for less than a minute, yet it’s immaculate in its design, absolutely believable to be a relic from a Klingon prison. This entire film was crafted in such a fashion , from everyone involved . That is why it has and always will stand the test of time as a historic piece of cinema.
Christopher Plummer as General Chang and Kim Katrall as Valeris were amazing. Also agree about the score and the plot. Was a treat then and still stands up today. One of the few Star Trek films I've watched multiple times.
Christopher Plummer's performance is absolutely superb. IMHO his subtle and sarcastic performance, along with the complex yet followable plots of the film, made the movie as great as it was.
The end of ST:2, WOK was very instructive here. Spock's death was portrayed through the unspoken subtext of their entire relationship, emoted and acted with few, incredibly evoactive words. Mirrored on many, many levels in their conversation about how they have outlived their usefulness.
God I love this movie. I genuinely think it ties with Voyage Home for best Trek film. Voyage Home is funny. Undiscovered Country is BRILLIANT. It's intelligent, insightful, relies heavily on character relationships without being fanservicey, gives us an ending for the Original Series that feels fulfilling. It's everything a Trek movie should be.
ST:VI has always been my #1, and that's knowing the minuses - the scene with Uhura and the translations - I was so disappointed by that -and I think Ms Nicols said herself that she was very disappointed with it as well. I was very pleased to see that they 'rectified' that in the JJ Trek where Uhura - even as a cadet - knew 'all' the various Klingon dialects... Also, Chekov being the Keystone Cops in some scenes. But even with these 'character deficiencies', this was such a lovely movie that implied without - as you said - directly referencing - all good things about the 'mythos' of Star Trek: TOS
I typically agree 💯 with you on how I feel about Star Trek in its entirety. I now share you’re feelings on voyager, I really got into enterprise after the emasculation of Florida finale, deep space 9 is also my favorite series (used to be neck and neck w TNG, but as I get older the gap widens in favor of DS9, agreed on lower decks, and I too like discovery, and finally I love strange new worlds (crazy about it). Picard is a strange one for me. At times in season 1&2 he seems like a completely different character which is fine if they showed how that happened, I love Patrick Stuart and I do think he’s great in the show, but I rarely was fired to watch the new episode of Picard. I get what you’re saying about season 3, all those things you vented about, IE the type of fan service and self serving lack of creativity the show presents? Or was some of that hyperbole? I agree with the overloaded fan service and THE strange way the characters act as if they had seen all tng episodes. But I found myself loving that season. I loved Amanda Plummer, I loved worf and especially the powerhouse crusher Picard one on scenes. I admit it just plays like a clip show of all my favorite tng tentpoles but man did I buy it. I typically don’t buy into that kind of “storytelling,” I can’t do most of the current star wars stuff, I didn’t watch a single minute of the acolyte show, but for some reason I truly loved season 3 of Picard. To see Geordi being this incredible father with very different but equally amazing daughters to seeing the 1701 D in 4K. I do see your point, but brought me so much joy, joy I needed at the time, reminded me of lonely nights as a kid watching tng at 9 on channel before the news came on and I had to go to bed. I’m sorry that one didn’t bring you that same joy. I love your channel HARRIS/WALZ ‘24 🎉
It WAS a great movie. RIP David Warner. A top notch actor. The soundtrack is one of my favorite movie soundtracks (along side "Last Temptation of Christ). It was a superb production of music. Dark, somber, epic. Somewhat Wagnerian; yet soaring and optimistic at the end. Great writing, and acting! I saw this and had lunch out two Sundays straight. Two of my best Sundays ever..🤣👏Great vid, as always Steve. Whatever support your members offer you, its so well deserved. I regret i can't at the moment. For folks supporting Steve, thanks! 👍
This is probably my favourite Star Trek movie. One of my favourite bits in it is a subtle piece of acting by Nichele. She has a look of disgust on her face after ending the call to the Klingon border patrol. On its own it's a fine in character bit, but knowing the background of the production adds another layer in that she HATED the scene. She thought it was out of character for her, the COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, to not already be fluent in Klingon, and that look is her showing her real feelings about the scene.
Great episode, so many things explained that I never would have thought of or read into. I loved all the shows no matter how they are liked or disliked.
I feel that if you just take the Enterprise B opening as a separate movie, it is an excellent way to kill off Kirk... I also think the part all the way up to the D crash, as a separate movie, was pretty good... Its all the Nexus stuff that just totally sours the whole thing for me...
@@jacobdrj101 (Kris Bluth) I actually enjoy Generations more than a lot of fans, but I agree that the Nexus is plot-convenience gobbledy-gook. It's nothing but a device to get Picard and Kirk together and is a total mess when it's not doing that.
Such a fantastic movie. I mean, it really is. Also, showing the Khitomer Accords showing the alignment of the Klingons and the Federation. The antagonists of the movie working together PROVING that what they didn't want to happen, would be easily accomplished. The movie's ending setting up the Romulans as the puppetmasters they are during TNG. I don't think many people remember that initially in TOS the Romulans were considered somewhat inferior, and that the Romulan Birds of Prey of the TOS era were barely capable of Warp 1 after their societal collapse after the Vulcan imperial era of which they are a remnant. It's so wonderful. Also, General Chang is such a worthy final adversary for Kirk. He's not a nemesis, I would always argue that Kahn is Kirk's nemesis since they are so very alike in many ways, but he's a perfect final adversary. He's calculating, a warrior-poet in the classic / Joint Chiefs sense of the term, and a tactical genius.
I’ve never bought that the Romulan Empire couldn’t go better than warp 1. That’d mean they took at least a year to get to the outposts, if not longer. They don’t seem to have enough room for provisions to last that long. And how were they maintaining a large empire if it took decades for every journey? Consequently, my interpretation was that the _Bird of Prey_ couldn’t go particularly fast, and they must’ve been rendezvousing with a larger (carrier) ship to actually get home in a reasonable time.
@@kaitlyn__L I think that Spock inferred in that famous episode (where the same actor that plays Saarek was the commander of the Romulan Bird of Prey they are tailing) that after the Vulcan imperial period their civilization had encountered a social, governmental and technological collapse similar to what the Earth had prior to the discovery of Warp Drive. Also, in a TNG episode, and I forget which one, one of the characters discusses how "giving the Romulans Warp Drive" had "turned them into the bullies of the Alpha Quadrant", which makes me think that this was done by the Federation PRIOR to the events at the Khitomer Accords, when the Romulan ambassador (and let's not kid ourselves--the Romulan Senate and Proconsuls ordered him to do so) was in the conspiracy. So my thinking was always that the Romulan Star Empire initially was very small and remote, sending Birds of Prey on long rediscovery missions, until they reached out to the Federation and convinced them to reelevate them to a Warp Drive culture. We know Starfleet never really focused on actually following the Prime Directive, and maybe this is one of those instances that show why Picard at least pays it a ton of lip service.
It still frustrates me every time when Uhura points out the equipment they have for charting gaseous anomalies. The opening of the movie is on the Excelsior, where _they_ are on a mission specifically to chart gaseous anomalies. The Enterprise wasn't on any mission before this current one, and has no reason to have that equipment on board. I've never seen it verified, but my gut says that in a previous draft, Excelsior found the cloaked ship, and together they defeated it with the Enterprise, but Shatner just couldn't handle not being the one who delivered the revealing blow, and so it was re-written to what we see on screen, despite it making no sense.
Close. Shatner insisted that the Enterprise not be "rescued" by the Excelsior. There's an argument to be made that it wouldn't have been as interesting to see two previously unknown engineers on the Excelsior fit the torpedo with the new sensor suite, as opposed to *Spock and Bones* doing surgery on a live torpedo on the loading track.
Yeah, but Meyer's other entry was Star Trek II, and I've never been a big fan of that one. (I'll never miss an opportunity to push that one particular terrible opinion on other people.)
I'm in the same boat... Not a TWoK fan... Not a hater either... But 6... 6 is a masterpiece... And one that took me until adulthood to really fully appreciate...
I grew up in the TNG era and my parents were never much into Trek, so I never was exposed to TOS much. I have a hard time getting into it, even today, and generally just appreciate it from afar. But I will say that out of all the TOS movies, ST6 is definitely my favorite of them all and one I'll rewatch again and again.
I remember seeing this at the cinema as a 6 year old. But I remember coming away thinking "if only the tension had been repeatedly cut by someone making a dead-pan sarcastic comment or a teenager exclaiming 'OMG it can fire while cloaks, f**king awesome'". Ahem ^^
"If there is to be a Brave New World, our generation is going to have the hardest time living in it." was incredibly prescient. The problem is a lot of the people who were just coming into positions of power when that brave new world arrived are still clinging to power, refusing to learn and adapt, and trying to bring back the "good old days". The "good old days" were never as good as advertised and only seen as good when viewed through rose-tinted glasses. And the same is true of fandom, not just this fandom but any fandom. Quite a lot of fans are the same as those clinging to power hoping to bring back the good old days. They want more of the familiar, the comfortable. They cheer when a work goes all-in on nostalgia pandering, delivering them - as Fry would put it - the same thing they've seen a thousand times before. Not only did ST:PIC S3 pull everyone out of retirement so that they could go do the same things they were doing 30 years ago, it cribbed the finale from both the rebooted Battlestar Galactica and from Return of the Jedi. I wonder how many of those cheering the RotJ style dive into the Death Star-sized Borg Cube were sneering at The Force Awakens for having yet another Death Star Trench Run.
"I can't believe I kissed you!" "Must have been your lifelong ambition!"
I mean...
I think the Peter Pan quote was a great way to end the run. It's the perfect lead-in to that shot of the Enterprise "riding off into the sunset" while calling back to a story about eternal youth. Kirk struggled with middle age and desk duty in the Wrath of Khan. Now he's allowed to end his adventure on his own terms, with a blend of acceptance and nostalgia. There is no fan service to beat us over the head with call backs and references. Merely a subtle hint of the youthful, adventurous spirit that still resides within him as he flies of into retirement is enough for the audience to understand his emotional state.
What a great comment ! Spot on!
Colonel Worf was the right way to do fanservice. He made sense, and you didn't actually need to know anything to see what was going on. On top of that, he was his own character, not simply, "hey, look, it's Worf's grandfather." The new creative team needs to take notes.
Oh please, if the Picard writers "took note" of what the fans wanted there would have been dozens more pointless cameos and memberberries, no matter how nonsensical it would be for them to show up.
For the rest of new trek, at least the callbacks and cameos are either unobtrusive (like Worfs grandad) or they do something substantial with them.
The revelation that the talks would be held on Khitomer is another graceful TNG tie-in. Although I was expecting an actual depiction of the Khitomer Massacre referenced so often in early TNG seasons.
@@thork6974the problem with doing the massacre was that it happened roughly 20 some years before tng, where the movie took place between 30 an 50 years after the movie.
@@alejandronopasanada5302 The deluge of garbage writing and higher-ups forcing their ideas/ideals into the mix in recent years has certainly been rampant, but it's not like there _isn't_ anything good being written or released by major studios. However, it does seem as though television has overall been getting the better scripts and creative minds who are willing to take risks. Fargo on FX, which was created and is primarily written by Noah Hawley (who was given the job to write and direct the next Trek film before the pandemic hit -- his script involved a brand new crew on a new ship encountering a virus in space, so it was scrapped), has been consistently great (if at times wildly ambitious, i.e. season four) since its premiere in 2014 and its upcoming fifth season looks like it'll be quite good as well. He also created a show called Legion in 2017 that ran for three seasons and is quite possibly the most unique and "out there" series to have aired since the premiere of Twin Peaks. Due to his work on both, I'm very excited for his upcoming Alien series; I genuinely feel that if there's anyone who can "right the ship" in regards to that franchise, it's him. I would've loved to see his take on Star Trek, but alas, it wasn't meant to be. Perhaps someday he can develop a Trek series instead.
Better Call Saul is another example of incredible and consistently excellent writing, as well as how to do "fan service" without cheapening or undermining the story it's trying to tell, even though it ended last year.
It also kind of low key explains why words father was claimed as a traitor. After all, he defended the *enemy*
Undiscovered Country has long been my favourite Star Trek movie.
Also, pretty sure Kirk is a veteran of the Klingon war, which would've happened when he was a much younger officer. Plus all the times they tangled throughout the original series. David's death either pushed him over the edge or is just a convenient excuse for already lingering hatreds.
Indeed, only Nixon could go to China.
Yeah, Kirk wasn't too fond of the Klingons, to be sure.
It's my favorite of the original series cast films.
People want to crow so much about "Wrath of Khan," and I always want to tell them, "WoK is a great film, no doubt about it, but it's not the best Star Trek film. It's not even the best TOS film." For my money, "First Contact" and "Undiscovered Country" are tied at the top, with "Wrath of Khan" and "Voyage Home" tied for a very close second.
Then "Beyond" is right there in the hunt, but everything else is a notch or two (or more) below.
@@paulnicholson5997 He was popular enough with them, they consistently sought out battle with him....
The finale of Voyager has one redeeming moment for me after Kim proposes his insane plan to Paris:
Kim “Where’s your sense of adventure?”
Paris “I left it in that nebula and I’m NOT going back for it!”
Gives me a good laugh every time.
I was 12 when Star Trek VI came out. I had just started attending a new school, and was in this period where I didn't have many friends. I had never been a popular kid at my old school, and that trend continued at my new school. I remember waiting in line for the premier of STVI with my parents at the local shopping center. I saw a couple of other kids from my school there, and I worked up the nerve to go say hi. That was how I found my people in my new school. One of them became my best friend, and still is today. We even had a Star Trek podcast once upon a time. I loved STVI, and still do. Next to TWoK it's my favourite Trek movie, and the two often trade spots depending on my mood any given day.
Damn straight Uhura's saved the day. And the galaxy. And the future of the Federation.
RIP Nichelle.
Yep, good iots shown sh is tha important and way better than any translator.
Here's the thing about Uhura's insight though. The ship outfitted with special equipment for studying gaseous anomalies was Excelsior, not Enterprise. As I understand, it was a last-minute production change to give the inciting Praxis encounter to Sulu.
@@MathToolboxChrisI'm reminded of the Chewin' The Fat episode with the Star Trek audition: "I've got the Borg on the phone for ye" 😂
ST Cannon now has a ship NCC Uhura, but I missed the call number. Pretty sure it was referenced in Disco
That's why Spock is the best first officer of all tibecause.He's always prepared like a boy scout with a pocket full of things like veridian patches
Let's not forget the really iconic credits with the main cast signatures... It really was a perfect send off despite the Scooby Doo ending. Nothing wrong with a little camp in a trek movie.
i mean scooby doo is a classic for a reason. Also its theatralic enough to fit. plus it makes sense, they had to expose the conspirasy somehow and theatralic, why not.
Those credits literally make my heart physically ache every time I watch them. It hits so hard.
And the theme music of the end credits. So good.
Signatures
To be fair, the Scooby Doo ending is only in the directors cut. Back in 1991 we only had the far superior theatrical edit.
I rewatched TOS, TAS and the TOS movies earlier this year, and I teared up a bit during Kirks final log entry at the end of Star Trek VI. It was an amazing capstone, and I loved it.
It always bugged me that this movie was the one and only instance where Klingons had Pepto Bismol flowing through their veins. I wish Star Trek kept that canon.
Aside from helping the film avoid an “R" rating, it was an important tidbit for the deleted “Scooby Doo" twist at the end.
@@richardvinsen2385 I think TPJ was referring to the small energy cannon that was used to shoot the Klingons and chemically altered their blood to the color of Pepto Bismol.
😏
Lower Decks honoured it in wejduj ;) “Klingon blood runs reddish-pink!” I believe was the line.
The Klingon FMV game (titled simply 'Star Trek: Klingon') also had purple-ish blood. As far as I know, it's also canon. It certainly felt like a full-budget production for its time.
Klingons as a race have really bad acid reflux. The crew got wicked bad heartburn from the human food at the banquet. They had chugged pepto by the gallon when the two attackers beamed in.
"Hey, you can laser someone's arm off, no bother, and do a shitload of murder. But no red blood, that's bad"
This movie is, in fact, really good overall! Sulu is more badass in this one movie than most Captains manage in an entire season!
at least Sulu didnt have to wait until Tuesday
"Come on! Come on!" "She'll fly apart!" Then fly her apart then!!" I always loved that exchange and delivery.
Plus, we got our first introduction to Ensign Tuvok, who would have guessed the stoic black vulcan background character (the first in franchise history) would become a main character in a future series.
I wish that someone could have made a series about Captain Sulu and his crew. That would have been amazing. He was already such a great "round" character; seeing him grow and learn ... ah well...
This was always my favorite Trek movie. It has everything in it that made Star Trek great. I think it holds up as well today as it did then.
I saw ST VI with my father on New Year’s Eve 1991 when I was 13. It was a pivotal moment of my youth which opened up a love of the “future promise” of Trek. I remember returning to middle school from Winter break and being told, “The maps will look different now.” For those who didn’t live through the fall of the USSR, you can’t imagine how important December 1991 was in the history of the world.
Kirk:
I can't believe I kissed you!
Martia (still looking like Kirk):
Must have been your lifelong ambition!
I know people get weird about Spock quoting Sherlock Holmes as "an ancestor of mine," but the actual person who wrote that was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who very well could be an ancestor of Amanda Grayson.
Or maybe Sherlock Holmes is a real person in Trek and Data is playing fan fiction with the life of an actual dude.
Or maybe "is Sherlock Holmes a real person?" is a weird question to ask when the guy that says it is half-alien.
Very nice observation, Amanda. (You could actually have stopped at the word "Grayson".)
I often wonder if Robin is an ancestor of Amanda.
It’s a joke. At this point Spock is joking. He’s reconciled his humanity and understands humor. It’s not to be taken literally. See also “old Vulcan proverb, only Nixon could go to China.”
@@Trevin_Taylor Vulcan humor. Gotta love it!
there is also a lot of evidence to support the theory that Sir Author Conan Doyle may have been none other than Jolly Jack...widely known as Jack the Ripper...After all Jack the Ripper did write that one day men will look back and say I gave birth to the 20th century and Holmes certainly did just that...inspired the creation Spock and Data as well perhaps one could be bold to say that Ripper gave birth not to just the 20th century but to the 23rd century as well as the 24rth and the early 25th century as well
Way back in my college science-fiction films class, I did a paper comparing and contrasting Meyer's ST II and VI. There are a lot of thematic similarities (insert "It's like poetry; it rhymes" joke here). Both deal with the crew coping with growing older in a changing galaxy, and coming out the other side with a renewed sense of youth. (In II, Kirk explicitly states, "I feel young," and in VI, he quotes Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up.)
One thing that fits with some of what you talked about - and maybe I've been reading too much into this for the 30 years since I wrote that paper - is that if you add an "E" to the end of the primary antagonist's name, the crew spends the movie learning how to overcome the fear and obstacles that are put in their way by change. I don't know if that was intentional in the writing of the movie or just a happy accident, but it struck me all those years ago and has stayed with me.
The main reason I find VI to be a better Star Trek film that II is that its bigger theme of moving past one's prejudices for the betterment of all is a core concept that, in my mind, makes Trek Trek. Whereas I find one of II's bigger themes to be about living one's life so one's past doesn't come back to haunt you, which is one that doesn't *need* to be told in the Star Trek universe.
Its also having all that charactr moments and humor, but still nails the theme with good character arcs. plus kirk the klingon hatr being the ambasator of peace, goated on by spock, is so good. And even uhara gets done justice.
And that tey ar a product of thir time but even klingon hater kirk can become the ambassor of unity and peace.
Honstly di think archr, i cant ddeside if kirk or archer has the better arc there.
ST VI not only brought closure to TOS for me, but it also brought closure to the Cold War in a way. I was born the year TOS was canceled so my first memories were of it in syndication while at the same time the Cold War hung over our way of life. I came to see that the Klingons were the interpretation of the Soviets and it was nice to see a futuristic society that still clung to hope. When I graduated high school I joined the Navy and was immersed in that Cold War mindset for a time, until one day the Berlin wall fell and while on deployment to the Mediterranean our president met with Soviet Premier Gorbachev and glasnost came to be. I recall there being a sense of accomplishment and when I went home ST VI came out soon afterward.
As a child I was always made aware of how TOS was topical for the 1960s and much like that, ST VI brought the TOS era to a close in a similarly topical way.
Spot on! 🎉
And, Thank you for your Service too. 🖖💖
You brought back some good memories here!
I played hooky the day Star Trek VI premiered. It was my freshman year of high school. My older brother took me to the theater for the first showing of the day. And the line around the building was truly a sight to see! This was an event film in the best way.
And, when I got back to school the next day, I was berated by my math teacher for taking a sick day … just to see Star Trek VI.
But it was worth it. ;-)
The Undiscovered Country was the first Star Trek film I saw in the cinema. I was recovering from surgery, running a fever, and supposed to be in bed taking it easy, but no way was I going to miss this movie I'd been waiting for. It's hard to convey to younger people just what it felt like for the Cold War to finally be ending and to have that mirrored up on the big screen.
McCoy's line
"What is it with you!"
Will always be my absolute favorite
The thing that I like most about Undiscovered Country is that it explains how the peace is achieved which was alluded to all the way back in the original series episode that established the Klingon neutral zone(because of the Organians) and the pilot of next-gen which had debuted four years earlier( with a junior officer on the bridge who was a Klingon). So it would not only connects first series to the new series but it also was eluded to years before
The Undiscovered Country was the last bow on stage for most of the old original crew in the world of Star Trek. One last adventure with the old generation with a bittersweet taste, since all good things do come to an end. For several movies and episodes the crew of the classic Enterprise have stood with us. The ending of this movie was a good farewell to the old crew.
“Second star to the right, and straight on till morning” was the perfect last line.
So important to let the original cast set up Klingons-as-allies on screen! This was the first Trek movie I saw in the theaters, a friend's birthday. I must have been 9 or 10. I don't think I was sophisticated enough to even follow the plot very well, but it was still a satisfying watch, all us little nerds were buzzing about Chang's final moment walking out of the theater. My favorite Trek film, for sure.
I have three films tied for best Trek movie, and this is one of them. It's superb.
And the third one is Beyond?
WoKhan, this, and First Contact?
I go back and forth on if I like The Undiscovered Country or The Wrath of Khan is my favorite. Honestly, 2-4 and 6 forms a tight unit if you watch them without stopping for 5. TMP doesn't really fit in with that story arc but is good in its own right. (The Directors Cut is good anyway)
@@ATADSP Wrath of Khan is great, Star Trek 4 Voyage Home was a fun action adventure, Star Trek 6 Undiscovered Country was topical and deep, and Star Trek 8 First Contact had everything we loved about TNG era without being too draggy.
@@BS-vx8dg Those are my three.
I'm a TOS fan from the get-go. I watched the first run series when it premiered (yes I'm THAT old) and haven't missed an episode since-- including all spin-offs and associated movies. The Undiscovered Country is all you say and properly a fitting send-off of the TOS cast. Just a couple personal reflections from seeing this movie its debut week in theaters. Firstly one of my favorite lines is Sulu commanding "Fly her apart then!" and secondly that gorgeous score which at the end of the film-- coupled with the signatures of each of the original cast scrolling across the screen pushed my emotions over the edge. I don't know if any other movie before has used the signatures of the cast over the final moments before the credits roll or not, but it was a perfect and dignified nod to each of these actors who has brought their characters to life over the course of time.
I think The Undiscovered Country was my first experience with Star Trek, besides the 2009 JJ Abrams movie (and a few assorted TNG episodes I would watch at my Grandmother's house when we'd go up for Christmas) so it holds a pretty special place in my heart.
A little later on, my dad and I wpuld always sit down every Friday or Saturday night to watch some Star Trek TOS on MeTV.
I love your breakdown of these ST episodes
They're funny, well put together, and just generally fun to watch.
If The Undiscovered Country was your first Star Trek experience, did you have any trouble understanding the background that set us up for this?
@@seantlewis376Not really
I was pretty darn young at the time, and both my dad and mom always made reference to tge Klingons or Borg as the enemies of the Federation.
I ended up getting more into ST as I got older, but for the most part just didn't really question things.
This was my first Star Trek film I saw in the cinema at 9 years old. My Grandma took me to see it .
It was amazing! I don't remember even blinking much .
Undiscovered Country is my low key favorite film in the series. Wrath of Khan is certainly a favorite and objectively amazing, but the dark tone and music of Undiscovered Country made it amazing. I always felt like this was the most adult Star Trek film, then and now.
Ah! And I'm so glad you mentioned the score. The overture during the credits for this film is *incredible* and one of my favorite pieces of film music. It's so different from previous scores, and yet fits the film perfectly. Again, similar to James Horner creating an entirely original theme and score for WoK. Excellent stuff.
All of the Best ST films (II, IV, VI) fixed disappointing stories of the prior very odd film (I, III, V).
The ONLY "Good Line" of V, for Me was the vinegar in Kirk's koolaid: "Wait. What does God need a ship for? My Ship?!!!"
I find deep irony that the man who "reevaluates" his cold war rhetoric in the movie is the dude who basically pretended he didn't know who Walter Koenig was for almost 20 years. Dude was straight up disrespectful.
I cannot think of a better finale than the undiscovered country.
My personal headcanon is that Romulan Ambassador Nanclus and, more broadly, the Romulan Empire (Tal Shiar) were the originators/instigators of the conspiracy to prevent peace talks in the first place. Nanclus has almost nothing to do in the film except delivering a cryptic line and getting arrested at the end, but his inclusion is a perfect nod toward the type of Romulan behavior depicted in TNG (the Redemption two-parter came out the same year as ST VI) and later in Enterprise's fourth season. I mean, Romulans do seem to default to "let's execute a secret plot to divide our enemies and keep them from uniting against us" (only to have said plot fail spectacularly), and through that lens Star Trek VI could easily be viewed as just another attempt. What are your thoughts?
It works, but it relies on the modern interpretation of the Romulans. (Given that the Romulans and Klingons kinda swapped MO's between TOS and TNG)
Absolutely. And totally in character for the Romulans. The Romulans have ALWAYS been trying to set the Federation and Klingons against each other. The Romulans didn't necessarily have to start the conspiracy, but they certainly would've done their best to further it if they discovered it.
Make sense, but the Romulans met their match in the 24th century with adversaries like the Dominion and Federation's own secret intelligence agency, Section 31. Of course, I think out of all the scheming powers, the one that probably had the most lasting impression on the Romulans is the Cardassians via Garak's ploy that caused them to enter the Dominion War, thus destabilizing their political, military, and social institutions to the point where they couldn't evacuate their own citizens off Romulus, their government was infiltrated by Federation agents, and ultimately collapsed their nation state. While the Romulans like to use the ploy of "Divide and Conquer", I prefer the Cardassian adjustment to their own gambit.
I believe most of the politicians were originally supposed to have a bigger role in this, but they were all cut back for time and to favour the crew's story.
Finally an episode of Trek Actually I can watch without spoilers 😊
Klingon law apparently doesn't have a problem with conflict of interest...If the guy prosecuting you also arrested you for the crime, there's probably a liiiiittle bias there.
The credits with the casts signatures are also just beautiful.
The way this movie honours the TOS cast and what Star Trek stands for better, in my mind, makes it the best Trek film. As it's smartly written enough to give enough context to the characters' motivation within it (like reminding us of David's death) I also, oddly enough, use it often as the on-ramp to get friends into Star Trek. Thank you for your solid, well thought-out and passionate essay.
Hey, the Starfleet laundry division cameos in this one.... LoL
Undiscovered Country is a masterpiece.
I don’t mind Easter eggs, but I feel like they should be a reward for the long term watchers, fleeting references that a new viewer wouldn’t feel disconnected from.
I loved VI as a kid because General Chang was an excellent villain, Sulu was awesome as Captain, and the final battle is so fun to watch. The political scenes were there and I understood they were important (mainly setting up where characters would be in the plot later), but the action stuff was fun!
As an adult, I watch it more FOR those scenes that I skimmed over so much as a wee lad because, like II, it shows the age of our heroes and showcases how imperfect they all are BUT that they work to overcome those imperfections, those little flaws that grow to destroy who we are if we don’t nip them in the bud, to uphold not only the tenants of the Federation that they serve but to be BETTER people than the caricatures they would become in these difficult times.
I grew up with the Klingons as the enemy. I then saw how people can choose to change and grow and try to make the “Undiscovered Country” of the future better for those that come after. It really showed me the optimism of Star Trek - no, the world is not perfect. We aren’t perfect. But we can TRY to be better. We can work together to BE better. No matter how many General Changs or Admiral Cartwrights there may be to hold us back, we have the ability, nay the responsibility, to overcome those biases and help those who need it, to look past borders and cultures to see those who aren’t “us” as people that deserve the same respect and care we do.
Nicholas Meyer and Leonard Nimoy truly crafted not only a classic piece of cinema worthy of saving, but absolutely the best send off and finale to a crew we could’ve asked for
I still maintain to this day, that after Chang said "I AM AS CONSTANT AS THE NORTH STAR!" McCoy replied with "I'd give real money if SHE'D shut up."
😂
I just rewatched it and yes, McCoy does say she. Subtitles say he though.
Sure does. McCoy was tired of hearing "Shakespeare", in the original Klingon, of course. 😅
Isn't McCoy referring to the ship's computer's incessant warnings? There's no rational reason he'd be able to hear Chang's monologuing.
@OpinionsNoOneCaresAbout ,
... I love your screen name, it's the only thing you're self-aware about. Otherwise *you don't know what the hell you're talking about* , McCoy said ""I'd pay real money IF HE would shut up"". *Get your hearing checked already*
It was a great end. I remember when TOS moved to a new time slot and canned. Never to be seen until reruns .
A sad day.
I don't have to watch this video to *know* that the premise is true.
But of course, that makes me want to watch it all the more.
This movie had 2 things keeping it from being perfect:
1. They defeated Chang by a random idea from Spock. It would've more thematically salient if they would've defeated him by working with a Klingon character.
2. They invented a ship that can fire while cloaked and then all future writers ignored it.
prototype weapon whom i guess had files that were sealed away never to be found again
Steve, I would have been content with you just giving us the movie's plot and paralleling it to the Cold War. It's all stuff known (and comfortable) to those of us who have been watching Trek since TOS aired on NBC. But then, in the second half, when you relate to us that *this* is how you close a series, by abjuring fan service and instead providing us a truly new story that makes great use of beloved characters, well, this was something I had never really thought about (even though your opinion of fan service is hardly something unfamiliar to viewers of your videos). I have loved ST:6 since it came out, and now I have an intellectual framework to explain to people who Klingon to one lesser movie or another as their favorite, that even if they can't agree that this is the best ST movie, it is the best finale in the franchise. Great video, sir.
I remember watching this for the first time in a movie theater. I was 24 years old and had watched TOS and the previous movies. It felt like a farewell to the original characters. And it was bittersweet.
Your are right on when you say Star Trek 6 is a great wrap up a long running franchise. Writers need keep the flavor of a show and present us with new material as they explores the characters and the world in further complexity instead of rehashing the past. Let Captain Kirk grow as a character with the realization of his mistakes so we see deeper into him. Let the Federation and Klingons discover a new relationship and a road to enhance both cultures with mutual respect, a theme Gene Rodenberry instilled in the series from the beginning. That’s what Star Trek 6 did. Thank you for pointing this out.
Thinking about what a pivotal role he played, I now kind of want to know how Gorkon is viewed by TNG-era Klingons, like how he's taught in their schools.
probably as a great klingon. reformer and one that saved the empire. because without gorkon opening up peace with the feds... well the klingons would've been dead by 2343. (50 years of air mentioned in the starfleet briefing scene)
One other aspect of Star Trek VI is the completion of Kirk's character arc. It started in Star Trek II when Kirk's son is introduced and is killed at the hands of Klingons in Star Trek III and Kirk is hunted in Star Trek V. And it is brought to a close when Kirk recognizes his prejudice, comes to terms with it. For me the themes of reconciliation, personal development, the idea that people can come to terms with their weaknesses and shortcomings and change for the better are what Star Trek is all about.
(I'm Kris Bluth; posting under my wife's account). I'd personally put VI just under IV as my favorite Trek film ever. I remember seeing it with a girl I was dating and I don't know if we had stumbled onto a screening booked by hardcore Trekkies or what, but I've probably never been in an audience that had been so into a film as this one. They laughed, they cried, they applauded uproariously more than once, and they just made what would have been a great time ever better.
Nostalgia aside, though, the movie just works. It's a clever premise that really moves all of Trek forward, the mystery is intriguing, the character moments are earned and feel natural, the humor feels organic and isn't at the expense of anybody, the thrilling parts are actually thrilling, and yeah, if they wanted the TOS crew to go out on a high, they couldn't have done better.
I know I watched Star Trek 6 as a kid because I have vage memories of it. But I haven't seen it for a long time. Star Trek 4 was my favorite of the older movies. You have inspired me to go back and re-watch all of the TOS movies. Thanks for the shout-out!!!
Beautifully said, had a tear in my eye towards the end
This movie is just a huge moment of growth for Kirk. It shows that he wasn't just "Torn shirt macho" Kirk, but someone who can actually realize that a long held belief is wrong, and he can at least start to move in a healthier direction.
Great post! Totally agree. All things said, the TOS characters are still the ones that give me that warm tingly feeling . . . Honestly, there is a part of me that would really like to see the DS9 crew get another chance at bat . . . BUT my reason immediately kicks in and foot stomps that sentimentality. Some things are best left alone.
well said, and this is not debatable. The TOS movies never tried to rehash their greatest hits, instead they told new stories about this crew and developed the characters in interesting ways.
Fondness for this movie grew over time. I remember seeing this with my buddies in the theater when it premiered. They were so fat at this point we dubbed this movie, "The Undiscovered Country Chicken".
Steve, while I am grateful you graciously allowed those of us who loved Picard S3 to have our opinion, I strongly disagree with you - not on your assessments of STVI - but on your dismissal of Picard S3. But just as you did, I shall permit you to have your opinion! Thanks for the video. I’m a loyal viewer of your reviews with your friend and even when I disagree with you (which is often) I enjoy your videos. Keep doing them. Who knows? Maybe someday you’ll like something without any quibbles. Unlikely tho, right?
I was 6 in 91. Even kids could feel the shifts in the air.
Without a doubt, my favorite Star Trek movie… Such a great script and story, and with the best crew, best Enterprise, just the best….
Instant thumbs up for talking about my favorite Star Trek movie. Wrath of Khan is great, don't crucify me.. I just like this better.
Star Trek VI is the best Star Trek movie of TOS era. Great film, great story, great music (theme is absolutely stunning during the opening). Thank you for this video
It's my favourite Star Trek movie and the first one I saw in a cinema.
The music is awesome and never overused and the dialogue is so sharp and rewards rewatching.
The last scene where all the cast get a final line and directed so it starts with casual conversation about the what they've just been through before the bombshell is dropped.
And McCoy's blink and you'll miss it final quip at Spock, "Well they don't arrest people for having feelings".
When Star Trek 6 came out i was 13 and on a ship from Calais to Dover. Back in the day those rides took longer that today, the ship had a cinema on board and my friend and I were excited to see, that they showed Star Trek 6. So I have this very special and dear memory of my young days, watching Star Trek on a real ship.
Once again reminded that seeing the floating pepto bismol blobules in the theater was one of my earliest memories, and maybe the first film I remember seeing that my toddler brain recognized as a film and not a dream. That means I also remember naked man thrown into the snow.
I do think The Undiscovered Country had one huge advantage that no other finale has ever had: Its legacy was already airing and standing on its own feet.
Sure DS9 was already airing when All Good Things aired, but didn't feel like a continuation of the same story like TNG felt to TOS, it felt parallel and like a different story in the same universe. STVI was the send off, the final hurrah, the rode-off-into-the-sunset, the "These were the voyages" finale that enshrined the legend in a universe we already saw develop. It was the ultimate prequel finale.
Your breakdowns on these more than once have touched nerve enough for me to get misty-eyed. Thanks for the always interesting & entertaining essays on Trek and life.
Even to this day, this film was/is my favorite Star Trek movie and was indeed the best ending for the original cast. It has a lot of heart, drama, mystery, humor, action, and conflict. Also, really enjoyed seeing the growth in Kirk’s character arc.
Your message in this video is immensely essential and relevant in today’s world. I can’t believe it took me this long to get to this video and I’m so glad I did. This last movie with the original cast is a hopefully a reality slap to all of us that if we (the ones with intelligence and common sense) don’t pull together…. We are headed into a very dark place. I just hope it’s not too late 🖖
I never considered Undiscovered Country (my favorite Trek movie) to be a finale to the original series, but it makes perfect sense. Wonderful video, as always!
i love the line spock makes about "having faith" to valeris, that not everything can be logically reasoned to a machiavellian end
The Undiscovered County was the first Trek movie that I saw in theaters. Because of that it's my favorite Star Trek movie. I still quote it regularly.
Christopher Plummer was AWESOME in this. Also the "deleted scene" with Colonel West/Odo/ReneO was a bad choice, it should have been left in, like the removed scene where Peter Preston in TWOK was Scottys nephew... these were sad omissions, they both added alot of meaning and depth with these deleted items included. Frankly, same with the TWOK deleted dialogue scene in the shuttle with the crew going to the Enterprise that Sulu is revealed by Kirk as being impending-captain-promoted by Kirk's recomendation...knowing that Sulu still went through all he did in Search for Spock and Voyage Home, such loyalty and selflessness.
You nailed it in this breakdown. My favorite as well. Christopher Plummer as Chang is still my favorite 2nd favorite villain in all of Trek for his phenomenal portrayal.
As someone who grew up watching reruns of the originals on tv and the movies in the theaters, I really, really miss them in a visceral way.
I remember seeing ST:VI in the theaters (I saw all but ST2 in the theater) and thought it was more like a big budget episode than a movie but it was the perfect ending for the Original Crew. Later I watched it again and realized this movie was shot during the time DS9 was in full swing, the Next Gen was still shooting the end of the series and beginning the production of Generations, effectively putting to bed the old crew while sending the Next Gen crew into the movie realm.A very interesting time in Trek history
No not really, this was released in 1991, a couple of years before DS9 started and 3 years before Generations.
It’s interesting to me how the final TOS movie covering the creation of peace with the Klingons was super timely with 91, but also something set up already by the existence of said peace on TNG. So it created a bridge between the eras narratively, and was already an event established to have occurred in some form.
Fantastic review of Star Trek VI and I completely agree with everything you said . In an age of endless nostalgia and reboots , it shines as a magnificent gem from a bygone era . A fitting conclusion to TOS and the best final chapter of any Trek thus far. I own one small piece of it ; one of the Klingon mining rifles , possibly held by Kirk and McCoy while they are imprisoned on rura penthe . It came from the collection of Greg Jein ; who made props for the film. It’s a good example of how well this film was made ; it appears on screen for less than a minute, yet it’s immaculate in its design, absolutely believable to be a relic from a Klingon prison. This entire film was crafted in such a fashion , from everyone involved . That is why it has and always will stand the test of time as a historic piece of cinema.
Christopher Plummer as General Chang and Kim Katrall as Valeris were amazing. Also agree about the score and the plot. Was a treat then and still stands up today. One of the few Star Trek films I've watched multiple times.
Christopher Plummer's performance is absolutely superb. IMHO his subtle and sarcastic performance, along with the complex yet followable plots of the film, made the movie as great as it was.
This is why I still love yah Steve. You keep doing you. Wish others would be the same.
The end of ST:2, WOK was very instructive here. Spock's death was portrayed through the unspoken subtext of their entire relationship, emoted and acted with few, incredibly evoactive words. Mirrored on many, many levels in their conversation about how they have outlived their usefulness.
I'm so glad to finally hear you gush about my favorite Star Trek film.
God I love this movie. I genuinely think it ties with Voyage Home for best Trek film. Voyage Home is funny. Undiscovered Country is BRILLIANT. It's intelligent, insightful, relies heavily on character relationships without being fanservicey, gives us an ending for the Original Series that feels fulfilling. It's everything a Trek movie should be.
This was my favorite Star Trek movie. I liked the signatures at the end before the closing credits. Thanks for the video.
ST:VI has always been my #1, and that's knowing the minuses - the scene with Uhura and the translations - I was so disappointed by that -and I think Ms Nicols said herself that she was very disappointed with it as well. I was very pleased to see that they 'rectified' that in the JJ Trek where Uhura - even as a cadet - knew 'all' the various Klingon dialects... Also, Chekov being the Keystone Cops in some scenes. But even with these 'character deficiencies', this was such a lovely movie that implied without - as you said - directly referencing - all good things about the 'mythos' of Star Trek: TOS
I typically agree 💯 with you on how I feel about Star Trek in its entirety. I now share you’re feelings on voyager, I really got into enterprise after the emasculation of Florida finale, deep space 9 is also my favorite series (used to be neck and neck w TNG, but as I get older the gap widens in favor of DS9, agreed on lower decks, and I too like discovery, and finally I love strange new worlds (crazy about it). Picard is a strange one for me. At times in season 1&2 he seems like a completely different character which is fine if they showed how that happened, I love Patrick Stuart and I do think he’s great in the show, but I rarely was fired to watch the new episode of Picard. I get what you’re saying about season 3, all those things you vented about, IE the type of fan service and self serving lack of creativity the show presents? Or was some of that hyperbole? I agree with the overloaded fan service and THE strange way the characters act as if they had seen all tng episodes. But I found myself loving that season. I loved Amanda Plummer, I loved worf and especially the powerhouse crusher Picard one on scenes. I admit it just plays like a clip show of all my favorite tng tentpoles but man did I buy it. I typically don’t buy into that kind of “storytelling,” I can’t do most of the current star wars stuff, I didn’t watch a single minute of the acolyte show, but for some reason I truly loved season 3 of Picard. To see Geordi being this incredible father with very different but equally amazing daughters to seeing the 1701 D in 4K. I do see your point, but brought me so much joy, joy I needed at the time, reminded me of lonely nights as a kid watching tng at 9 on channel before the news came on and I had to go to bed. I’m sorry that one didn’t bring you that same joy. I love your channel
HARRIS/WALZ ‘24 🎉
It WAS a great movie. RIP David Warner. A top notch actor. The soundtrack is one of my favorite movie soundtracks (along side "Last Temptation of Christ). It was a superb production of music. Dark, somber, epic. Somewhat Wagnerian; yet soaring and optimistic at the end. Great writing, and acting! I saw this and had lunch out two Sundays straight. Two of my best Sundays ever..🤣👏Great vid, as always Steve. Whatever support your members offer you, its so well deserved. I regret i can't at the moment. For folks supporting Steve, thanks! 👍
This is probably my favourite Star Trek movie. One of my favourite bits in it is a subtle piece of acting by Nichele. She has a look of disgust on her face after ending the call to the Klingon border patrol. On its own it's a fine in character bit, but knowing the background of the production adds another layer in that she HATED the scene. She thought it was out of character for her, the COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER, to not already be fluent in Klingon, and that look is her showing her real feelings about the scene.
Great episode, so many things explained that I never would have thought of or read into. I loved all the shows no matter how they are liked or disliked.
I remember my mom taking me to the theater to see this. Core memory.
Star Trek Generations pulled double duty, ruining the endings for TOS and TNG.
Exactly!
I feel that if you just take the Enterprise B opening as a separate movie, it is an excellent way to kill off Kirk...
I also think the part all the way up to the D crash, as a separate movie, was pretty good...
Its all the Nexus stuff that just totally sours the whole thing for me...
It was a failure that spanned GENERATIONS!
I know, right?
@@jacobdrj101 (Kris Bluth) I actually enjoy Generations more than a lot of fans, but I agree that the Nexus is plot-convenience gobbledy-gook. It's nothing but a device to get Picard and Kirk together and is a total mess when it's not doing that.
Such a fantastic movie. I mean, it really is. Also, showing the Khitomer Accords showing the alignment of the Klingons and the Federation. The antagonists of the movie working together PROVING that what they didn't want to happen, would be easily accomplished. The movie's ending setting up the Romulans as the puppetmasters they are during TNG. I don't think many people remember that initially in TOS the Romulans were considered somewhat inferior, and that the Romulan Birds of Prey of the TOS era were barely capable of Warp 1 after their societal collapse after the Vulcan imperial era of which they are a remnant.
It's so wonderful. Also, General Chang is such a worthy final adversary for Kirk. He's not a nemesis, I would always argue that Kahn is Kirk's nemesis since they are so very alike in many ways, but he's a perfect final adversary. He's calculating, a warrior-poet in the classic / Joint Chiefs sense of the term, and a tactical genius.
I’ve never bought that the Romulan Empire couldn’t go better than warp 1. That’d mean they took at least a year to get to the outposts, if not longer. They don’t seem to have enough room for provisions to last that long. And how were they maintaining a large empire if it took decades for every journey?
Consequently, my interpretation was that the _Bird of Prey_ couldn’t go particularly fast, and they must’ve been rendezvousing with a larger (carrier) ship to actually get home in a reasonable time.
@@kaitlyn__L I think that Spock inferred in that famous episode (where the same actor that plays Saarek was the commander of the Romulan Bird of Prey they are tailing) that after the Vulcan imperial period their civilization had encountered a social, governmental and technological collapse similar to what the Earth had prior to the discovery of Warp Drive. Also, in a TNG episode, and I forget which one, one of the characters discusses how "giving the Romulans Warp Drive" had "turned them into the bullies of the Alpha Quadrant", which makes me think that this was done by the Federation PRIOR to the events at the Khitomer Accords, when the Romulan ambassador (and let's not kid ourselves--the Romulan Senate and Proconsuls ordered him to do so) was in the conspiracy.
So my thinking was always that the Romulan Star Empire initially was very small and remote, sending Birds of Prey on long rediscovery missions, until they reached out to the Federation and convinced them to reelevate them to a Warp Drive culture. We know Starfleet never really focused on actually following the Prime Directive, and maybe this is one of those instances that show why Picard at least pays it a ton of lip service.
Nice job Steve. This movie did what I thought was impossible to suplant Wrath of Khan as my new ST movie favorite. Well done.
It still frustrates me every time when Uhura points out the equipment they have for charting gaseous anomalies. The opening of the movie is on the Excelsior, where _they_ are on a mission specifically to chart gaseous anomalies. The Enterprise wasn't on any mission before this current one, and has no reason to have that equipment on board.
I've never seen it verified, but my gut says that in a previous draft, Excelsior found the cloaked ship, and together they defeated it with the Enterprise, but Shatner just couldn't handle not being the one who delivered the revealing blow, and so it was re-written to what we see on screen, despite it making no sense.
Close. Shatner insisted that the Enterprise not be "rescued" by the Excelsior.
There's an argument to be made that it wouldn't have been as interesting to see two previously unknown engineers on the Excelsior fit the torpedo with the new sensor suite, as opposed to *Spock and Bones* doing surgery on a live torpedo on the loading track.
I mean Star Trek VI was directed by Nick Meyer, so you knew right away that it was gonna be good!
Yeah, but Meyer's other entry was Star Trek II, and I've never been a big fan of that one.
(I'll never miss an opportunity to push that one particular terrible opinion on other people.)
@@AndrewD8Red For Roddenberristic reasons, Andrew?
@@BS-vx8dg
No, I'm afraid not. It just... never really did it for me.
I think it's good, but it's low down my list, personally.
@@AndrewD8Redsee I'm a polar opposite. I LOVED ST2!
I'm in the same boat... Not a TWoK fan... Not a hater either...
But 6... 6 is a masterpiece...
And one that took me until adulthood to really fully appreciate...
I was 11 years old when i saw this in Theaters. What great me memories. That final battle was amazing
I grew up in the TNG era and my parents were never much into Trek, so I never was exposed to TOS much. I have a hard time getting into it, even today, and generally just appreciate it from afar.
But I will say that out of all the TOS movies, ST6 is definitely my favorite of them all and one I'll rewatch again and again.
I remember seeing this at the cinema as a 6 year old. But I remember coming away thinking "if only the tension had been repeatedly cut by someone making a dead-pan sarcastic comment or a teenager exclaiming 'OMG it can fire while cloaks, f**king awesome'". Ahem ^^
Steve, have you considered pitching a Star Trek curriculum to UMD?
Do this! Start wearing Tweed jackets with elbow patches and tonguing an unlit pipe!
"If there is to be a Brave New World, our generation is going to have the hardest time living in it." was incredibly prescient. The problem is a lot of the people who were just coming into positions of power when that brave new world arrived are still clinging to power, refusing to learn and adapt, and trying to bring back the "good old days". The "good old days" were never as good as advertised and only seen as good when viewed through rose-tinted glasses.
And the same is true of fandom, not just this fandom but any fandom. Quite a lot of fans are the same as those clinging to power hoping to bring back the good old days. They want more of the familiar, the comfortable. They cheer when a work goes all-in on nostalgia pandering, delivering them - as Fry would put it - the same thing they've seen a thousand times before. Not only did ST:PIC S3 pull everyone out of retirement so that they could go do the same things they were doing 30 years ago, it cribbed the finale from both the rebooted Battlestar Galactica and from Return of the Jedi. I wonder how many of those cheering the RotJ style dive into the Death Star-sized Borg Cube were sneering at The Force Awakens for having yet another Death Star Trench Run.
Always been my favorite Trek film. So many good points to it, such fond memories.