When i read your note, i was like "The hell are you talking about, Plummer is al..." And then i did a google search. How the heck did i miss this. RIP.
@@Xeno426 yes Mr Plumer revised the role to great success in te game i bought the game when it 1s released wit the book & the language pack/voice recognition software . played through the whole game about 5 times while reading the book & learning Klingon . i even got good enough to spot the mistakes in te films & next gen etc . but was a log time ago now & im out of practice but he was spectacular in both ... in fact in everything he was in . he will be missed R.I.P Mr Plumer .
As a kid when i watched it for the first time, i giggled like an idiot because i loved that bluntness and sheer disrespect for his crew and his ship ^_^
The crews that worked on dressing up the sets for the various installments of the franchise are nothing short of miracle workers. I never would've known they were reused so frequently absent these retrospectives.
If you watch the TNG episode “Starship alone”, there is a scene where Picard is tied up against a bulkhead in engineering. They zoom in on his hands as he uses a plasma torch to trigger the isolation door. You can see a million layers of paint.
Believe it or not, there is a pretty significant contingent of Star Trek fans who think Roddenberry was right, although your phrasing is obviously tendentious. It's not that Roddenberry didn't want "emotion" or "conflict." If you look at the Star Trek outings for which Roddenberry was the most directly responsible, there are plenty of each. Rather, it's that Roddenberry didn't want 23rd (and 24th) century humans to behave like denizens of the 20th century, with today's problems and prejudices. He painted humanity as being farther along in its social evolution, and cast the problems of today in allegorical form, embodied by guest stars portraying corrupt individuals and members of alien species. In so doing, he gave fans a future to aspire toward while still being able to offer meaningful social commentary on the real world (and, back in the '60s, evading the network censors!). The question of Roddenberry's opposition to Meyer's vision of Star Trek is ultimately a matter of opinion. It's not that one was wrong and the other was right. It's that these are two different Star Treks living under the same roof. You can prefer one without raining on the other's parade. I'm surprised to have to point this out to such a well-established TH-camr as you!
@@Josh_Fredman At the very least, I think this approach avoided that all the characters had petty conflicts with each other, which I find quite tiresome in some Shows. Although 2003 BSG made it work in the post-apocalyptic setting.
@@fgdj2000, yeah, lots of storytellers use tacked-on character conflict as a cheap source of plot, and it shows. Not really a problem with the six Kirk-era motion pictures, but it plagued Star Trek on both small and big screen throughout the Rick Berman era. Even BSG doesn't do a good job of this: While I enjoyed my original watch-through in the 2000s, they made it free to watch during the pandemic last year and I went back and went through the whole series again, and other than the first season it's actually pretty hard to watch. Very cheap, soap-opera-like character conflict. Every single episode, some character is crossing somebody else's red line and making a big point of it. Good acting, bad writing.
@@Josh_Fredman It's been a long time, but I remember the show got a bit soap-opery for me in its second half, with all the romance drama: Galen and Cally, but then Galen and Boomer, and we learn as a Cylon he used to be with that Indian woman, whose name I#ve forgotten and killed her for killing Cally... I think the biggest WTF was Tigh and Six! Plus the finale (where they find Earth) was total contrived BS, although everything before that was decent. Apollo also kept changing, from flight commander to Battlestar commander, to flight commander again to lawyer to politician; from being friends with Starbuck to being in love with Starbuck to being married to Whatshername to being back with Starbuck in a weird toxic relationship. To Jane Espensons proudly pointing to the male genitalia we see in "The Plan" in the audio commentary, with Olmos always repeating how great everyone was. Yeah, so, the show definitely had its flaws :) But at the very least, it was a fresh take on space opera at the time. And for every terrible idea the showrunners usually had a great one. Such as "Pegasus", still my favorite episode: from Euphoria to "something isn't quite right" to "oh shit" and full on war between the two ships.
More like, "Gene Roddenberry objected to any Star Trek wherein he would not receive screenplay residuals." That said, I do find Roddenberry's fall into self-deification to be endlessly fascinating. Here's this guy, a decent writer with a good idea for a show. Other people make it better, and then it gets cancelled, yet. somehow, against all odds and industry norms, gains a dedicated fanbase. A fanbase that, for a solid decade of speaking engagements and convention appearances, feeds him a narrative that casts him as a "visionary futurist," rather than a working writer who had an idea for an action-adventure show with an allegorical bent. Meanwhile, nothing else he pitches or creates lands with audiences. Why wouldn't he embrace the narrative he was fed by the people who loved that ONE thing that worked so very much? I think he did many crappy things, but I find him more sad than anything.
When I saw this in the movie theater, the whole audience cheered when Captain Sulu first appeared on screen. That was a great decision to give him that promotion. Trivia: The signatures at the end of the actor credits for Avengers Endgame were inspired by the signatures of the Star Trek actors in this film. As always your writing and presentation is top-notch. Thanks, Rowan.
@@csaber2007 Correction...Meyer, WHEN grounded by Harve Bennett, made ST II great! W/out HB for VI=What we got, A Meyer HOT-MESS!! W/out Gene's vision of Utopia(successful socialism & a pipe dream) ST would have never happened. Genes role was best as a producer & Meyer seemed against. He tried to push Gene out(& to an early grave) & then deliver VI as the acceptable finale cemented Meyer as the worst part of Treks existence...Harsh BUT true
@@gbudb9303 VI was a hot mess? Are you sure you’re not confused with V? That’s like not even remotely plausible to say it was bad. VI is easily in the top 3 movies if not the top one for the OG crew. Christopher Plummer was a great villain and the effects were literally light years better than V.
@@gbudb9303 HB was involved with 4...writing half the screenplay and Meyer was not the director, he was asked to write part of the movie. Are you talking about a whole other movie franchise?
I had no idea the budget was so limited. It had the best effects of the film series to date, several different film locations, and a top knotch story. The low budget was expertly hidden behind brilliance.
Great actor, but I think he was miscast here. The Shakespearean quotes just didn't fit, which Meyer himself was initially apprehensive about. Gimme Christopher Lloyd.
@@Nycholas17 absolutely not. Seeing doc brown trying to be villainous didn’t work at all. Plummer definitely the next best villain to montalban. They both had a certain gravitas and presence that was sadly missing in the rest
@@aquamonkee yeah I thought the new Enterprise was the same set as Discovery and was pleasantly surprised they’d built a whole new one. (Though that tipped me off that it was probably getting its own show too.)
I'd rather they got an original engineering set or the TMP one brought back. The bridge was decent, made better with the retrofitting, but did not know how badly damaged the TFF bridge set (wow)
My friends at our grad dinner were lost for a toast. They all HATE this movie. So I raised my glass and said " gentlemen. To the undiscovered country". They all glared at me. I continued "the future"! I was then pelted with bread roles.
One of the best delivered lines in the whole series is when Sulu is asked by Rand "Should we report this to Starfleet Command" and he turns round and replies "Are you kidding?". Takei's delivery cracks me up every time, even though it's a slightly silly exchange.
I’m so glad the original crew got to go out on such a high and this is a fantastic film. This retrospective review is wonderful and so well put together. Can’t wait for some TNG.
@@wildlifetails I do not dispute the importance of Gene's importance or his vision for the show itself. I am simply pointing out that the vast majority of productions that he did not or would not have agreed with, ended up being some of the franchises best work. Undiscovered Country and DS9 for example
Roddenberry was a conceptualist with great ideas, but they often don't have what's needed to keep those ideas afloat. They sow the seeds, but they don't know how to maintain the plant. Others took his foundation and made it better. Both are essential for the franchise's success.
@@nebularain3338 hence we have Discovery, Picard and so on. The base concept of Gene's is there. Although you can argue for or against the point "others took his foundation and made it better" when it comes to "Picard" or "Discovery" or even JJ-era Kelvin timeline films.
@@andrewmurray1550 Discovery, Picard, not to mention latest Dr who, etc are the fault of the current zeitgeist. Plus the legacy of Ronald Moore who gave us the brilliant BSG, but alas forever transformed SF resulting in eyeballs being removed on screen in Picard, etc.
I was a senior in high school when my friends and I went to see this in the movie theater. We all enjoyed the film. Especially, since it was to be the last with the original cast. The cast we all grew up with. And since we were on the verge of graduating high school, I think the film worked on a whole other level for us, too.
Thanks for this! This is probably the best send-off for an original cast of a series. I remember getting choked up when Kirk quoted Peter Pan and I swear his eyes were sparkling. And then the majestic orchestral music while the cast's signatures appear on screen with Shatner's coinciding with the original Star Trek theme. I remember each signature getting a round of applause in the theater on opening day. It was so effective, the Russo brothers used it for the final credits in Avengers: Endgame. Also: It's good Kirstie Alley wasn't cast because she was so much better as Rebecca on Cheers that I wouldn't be able to take her seriously as a Vulcan. I remember my Renaissance drama professor using this movie as an example of how Shakespeare is used to make a film feel classy (she wasn't a fan of Shakespeare and thought there were better playwrights from the period). I often think of her and how she'd lol when Picard uses Shakespeare to teach data about human nature 😛
All the Klingon's in VI were understated yet awkward & poorly directed, scene after scene...Yet ANOTHER hapless Meyer victim...The butcher of Star Trek!
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@@georgeplimpton9429 Klingon male pattern baldness.
I love this movie. Mirrors the collapse of the Soviets perfectly, the klingons were extremely well cast, plenty of Shakespeare, Sulu in the Captains Chair, all the crew are used well, with plenty of Spock-Kirk-Bones time. A great swansong for the series.
V is underrated. On a story-telling and production level, I think it's closer to II, III , and IV than VI ever will be, the latter being an overly posh swan song.
The Undiscovered Country's always been my favourite Star Trek film because (for me, anyway) it contains all the themes that make the series so special. Friendship, loyalty, trust, cooperation: you name it, it's here. Another excellent video, sir. Bravo!
Can you see me? Oh, now be honest, Captain, warrior to warrior. You do prefer it this way, don't you, as it was meant to be? No peace in our time. "Once more unto the breach, dear friends."
“I could never forgive them for the death of my boy”... The recording in the trial didn’t match what he said. In the trial it’s “I have never been able to forgive them...”
It should be noted, that Plummer enjoyed the role enough, he reprised it for the game Klingon Academy, which helped establish a lot of why the Empire sought peace
That's so cool for an actor of his generation to do work for a game, one that wasn't even going to be AAA at the time or anything. ST ganes have always been niche, but Klingon Academy was one of the greats.
Yes it's always better to have an established character be the mole, it causes an examination of that character. Also Saavik had good reason to hate the Klingons given the experience on Genesis, she was the one who had to inform Kirk that his son David was dead. And it was her who would have died if he didn't, so a degree of survivor guilt could be assumed. And it makes Spock's extremely troubling decision to forcibly mind meld her even more brutal as she was the one who got him through his first Pon Vaar. Mirroring the ruthless relationship Spock had with his first fiance in "Amok Time" and adding depth to Spock's Ace reputation of avoiding romantic relationships.
One of my personal favorite things about this film is the dynamic camera work, I really love the direction, and some of that same bridge scene camera movements is still present on new shows like Discovery.
Yeah this was achieved by the DoPs decision to shoot it on Super35. Back when i was watching the film for the first time the visual style and cinematography felt insanely dynamic and fast.
@@KRAFTWERK2K6 I really like it. It really makes you get into the same mood as the characters and it’s a great tool to show the tension of the situation and everyone’s feelings or the urgency of a situation. A great visual tool!
There’s different forms of colorblindness. You still might have it and no realize it. I can barely tell the difference between red, brown, yellow, and green depending on the shade, but I didn’t find out till I was 20. That being said, I’d like to say it’s pink, but I can never be 100% sure lol
While both films are great, _Wrath of Khan_ for sure has the better final battle. It has actual tactics and the threat of being destroyed by the Genesis Device caps off the "unwinnable scenario" throughline. In _Undiscovered Country_ though, it seems like they were just looking for something to have Spock & McCoy do.
Why doesn't this channel have more subscribers? We all need to do some liking and sharing guys, the effort that has gone into these videos is huge and I personally find them so entertaining. This channel should be much bigger than it is.
God I'm so tired of hearing this same comment on every channel, it's so META, so it must be a bot. I guess you had nothing to say since you couldn't post, "FIRST!"? Maybe you posted the word "Underrated" somewhere here too? Sick of all three.
Saw this in the theaters and it was truly epic. Everything was top notch - the casting, effects, music, script, acting - it was lightning captures in a bottle and an absolutely perfect way to say goodbye to our beloved characters.
Thank you so much for these great retrospectives! They are excellent. I have a particular fondness for this Star Trek film because I got to be on the set. During filming my film school class from Canada was on a private tour of Paramount. I knew they were shooting ST6 at this time and so asked our guide about it and she said, 'As a matter of fact this is one of the stages.' We were standing in front of Stage 32. Then she said, 'Let me go in and see if you can come in and have a look.' Well...I was a trekker since 66 but I thought my classmate Dan was going to faint. A pale and frail guy, an artist of enormous talent (his work featured on Amazing Stories covers amongst others) he literally looked like he would keel over. We were taken inside and there was the Excelsior bridge. Giddy does not begin to describe my feelings LOL. Or my classmates. We were told not to touch anything but there were eight Canadian fingerprints left on that bridge. Mine was on the navigation console, on the left side so as not to smudge the top surface LOL. We also saw Kang's bridge, it had big fans blowing in it drying the dingy paint. That was such a thrill. I loved Christopher Plummer's performance in this and I thought George Takei was great as Captain...wish there was more of Captain Sulu. "Only Nixon could go to China." LOL.
Strangely, 4 months before the film aired, an actual military coup was attempted in the Soviet Union, once again showing how Star Trek had a strangely accurate vision of the future.
To say it bluntly: the military coup was already feared to happen in 1989 or 1990. Gorbatchev was only able to ride out the storm until 1991, in 1989 he avoided that by calling the first (and only) presidential election of the soviet union and in 1990 the happenings around the fall of the wall, the reunification of Germany, the fall of the communist parties weakened the position of the KGB and the military immensely. Also they lost in 1990 a war in the baltics against Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In 1991 they saw the small chance of taking back power from Gorbatchev, but only failed because then Russia decided to leave the soviet union and so the SU broke apart and with it the power of the old guard.
Cry havoc... ...for those jaded by the cliche, "havoc" is the battle cry to take no prisoners. To wreak havoc is to kill everyone, even if they surrender. A call for havoc was a weighty thing, because any general who ordered could fully expect in the future that they themselves will be given no quarter from subsequent opponents.
I go back and forth between 2 and 6 myself. But 6 is probably my favorite. I love the allegory. The action. The f/x. The music. The mystery. Fantastic.
These movie retrospectives are fantastic! I have enjoyed all of them! I cannot wait to see you videos on the golden age Star Trek series! Please keep these coming.
Another poor attempt at a 'humorous climax' by Meyer's! Funny where funny did NOT belong...Humor, it is a difficult concept... Meyer's makes it so easy that I must...
Always thought, after seeing documentaries about this film, that Saavik character being in this film and part of the conspiracy would had been great. Saavik (a vulcan) conspiring against the Klingons, do to they murdering David, possible since she had feelings for him, and that being a powerful motive, would give such a good character portrait.
It's always better to have an established character be the mole, it causes an examination of that character. Saavik had good reason to hate the Klingons given the experience on Genesis, she was the one who had to inform Kirk that his son David was dead. And it was her who would have died if he didn't, so a degree of survivor guilt could be assumed. But also she was a Starfleet officer who did not attack the Klingon killing a civilian she should have protected, that is actually a breach of duty and would logically obligate her to redress the harm. And it makes Spock's extremely troubling decision to forcibly mind meld her even more brutal as she was the one who got him through his first Pon Vaar. Mirroring the ruthless relationship Spock had with his first fiance in "Amok Time" and adding depth to Spock's Ace reputation of avoiding romantic relationships.
I love this movie so much, I've been looking forward to your breakdown of it and wasn't at all disappointed. What an amazing send off, I also love the gesture of the end credits with everyone "signing off", and the translation scene where they have to talk to the Klingon listening post is another treasured moment.
Wonderful documentary style as always, Roman. Star Trek VI was a great swan song for the original cast and echoed the new hope for the future the world thought it would see after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
Probably the best Star Trek movie of the era, if not ever imho. Such talent and dedication at every level, it was obvious everybody had fun making it and the fun seeps through to the viewer 🥰 my heartfelt thanks go to all involved and to Rowan for your work x
These retros are some of the best Trek related stuff online. I especially like the insight into the practical VFX. There is something in the grounding of having to actually physically produce effects that makes it affect you in a visceral way in which CGI simply can't. I hope the art isn't lost forever,
This movie made my youth when it first came out, my father took me to see this when I was around 12 years old and it was amazing. I never really thought much about the politics of the movie when I was kid but upon many re-watches I began to see the underlaying message of the movie. Its still my favorite and its always sad to see the end scene because it really feels like a proper send off for people you have grown up watching.
You could also see a model of the original NCC-1701 Enterprise in Kirk's quarter, near his bed. It's subtle and you can miss it easily but it's there. Apparently one of these AMT Models that were sold back then. Also, Cliff Eidelman's Soundtrack really is basically perfect. Tone wise as well as having an absolutely beautiful heroic theme. And yes, when you hear Gustav Holst's "Mars - bringer of war" it is hard to not feel reminded of the opening theme of "Star Trek VI" and of course vice versa. The rhythmic marching staccato strings and brasses really carry this film into all new heights and already let you know that Star Trek has made the transition into the 90s. You feel a strong weight and overall much stronger seriousness and the universe of Star Trek suddenly felt a lot more dangerous again. One of my favorite "non-typical" Star Trek scores, together with Dennis McCarthy's Soundtrack for "Star Trek Generations".
Knowing how many constraits and hiccups these productions had makes me appreciate them all the more. Undiscovered Country is something of a miracle, giving these characters a proper send off while being a full fledged thriller in its own right. That final scene always wells up emotions in me, especially the sort of humbled posture Shatner takes with his final lines.
The Enterprise under Kirk in the movies is such a beautiful ship. Very sleek with fine details, amazing how they could get to this compared to the ship of the 60's series. Very nice improvements in design while still a homage to the past ship and evolution of its design.
YES! I have something in common with the great Christopher Plummer. I had a kidney stone a couple of years ago. And yes, they are extremely painful. A female doctor I saw commented that women had told her it was worse than labour pains.
A very well done retrospective on the orginal series crew and the first 25 years of trek! Going to all the Undiscovered Countries boldly going where no man...or no one...has gone before! See you in the 24th century. 🖖
Your work on this series is exemplary and has had me quite emotional. It's quite incredible how many people love Star Trek. Truly a magical phenomenon. And I feel very lucky to have grown up with these films.
For me Star trek 6th instalment is best Star Trek movie in whole franchise. It's such a breath of fresh air story wise, and end of Klingon and Federation resentment is embodiment of what Gene Roddenberry envisioned as Star Trek - Unity
A good, thorough retrospective! There's plenty in your review that I hold a different opinion on (I tend to side with Roddenberry over Meyer on the "Should Star Trek be more militaristic and tightly-paced?" question), but there's one statement that's just objectively wrong: "The movie easily has the best beauty shots of the refit Enterprise model..." Impossible! No film will ever beat The Motion Picture, or even come close, on that score. The Undiscovered Country only had a few Enterprise exterior visuals, most of them in the final battle sequence, and all of them brief and fairly simplistic in their lighting and cinematography. TMP, by contrast, films the Enterprise from almost every conceivable angle and distance, in a variety of lighting environments. And it includes the full pearlescent paint job that was disregarded in all future Trek films due to the difficulty of filming it. There are hints of blue, green, even red in the TMP Enterprise hull that really gives the ship a sense of size and beauty. And that's on the small screen! If you've ever seen TMP on the silver screen...well...let's just say you're in for a treat.
I would love to hear how Horner or Goldsmith would have scored this awesome movie. But I love Eidelman’s work on it. I think after WOK, Star Trek 6 is my favorite Trek score
Personally, I actually prefer 6 over 2 for the TOS crew movies, only slightly, but still. The look, the plot, the script, the acting and mostly, the score! It's easily my favourite score of the franchise, thank you for covering it in such detail. The idea of Shakespeare being originally Klingon was superb, I loved Plummer nonstop quoting it while he's chewing the scenery as the bad guy, in this case, I wouldn't "give real money if he'd shut up!" I remember being stunned as a kid when my mom told me General Chang was Captain Von Trapp
I generally rank this one as #2 behind Wrath of Khan. But it’s a damn near thing. I think Khan is a better crafted and tighter story, that everything on screen, every frame, is carefully in service too. But it is a small tight story. Probably best compared to the original series Balance of Terror episode. Undiscovered Country is a broader more ambitious story. And largely succeeds brilliantly with those ambitions. It is a much busier roller coaster of a movie with far more moving pieces. Like Khan it is amazing the little details and nuances you find in the scenes and performances in repeated viewings. Especially with Christopher’s Plummer’s Chang, and Shatner at his best as Kirk. And the simple brilliance of the closing credits bears mentioning. The simple mechanism of the original cast literally Signing Off. Their animated signatures overplayed with Eidelman’s stirring score is as perfect an ending as fans and audience could hope for. The perfect bow.
I remember while walking out of the theater on release night, my friends and I all said the same thing: "This is what Star Trek V should have been." Getting ILM and Meyer back, was the one-two punch the franchise needed badly. Add Plummer on top of that quoting Shakespeare while kicking the Enterprise's butt like a Montalban 2.0, and we got ourselves a film.
Loved this look back. Where did you find the footage of the after party? It shows Shatner and Nichols kissing! How fitting, given their historic on screen kiss over 2 decades earlier! You did a fantastic job on this. Thank you so much!
The cast signatures (whether real or ghostwritten) for the end credits is such a nice touch that I wish Marvel could've done something similar for Endgame!
It's a toss up between this and STII for my favourite Star Trek movie _story_ but as far as which one looks better? It has to be STVI. The cinematography is wonderful, the Enterprise has never looked so good on camera, and the set design - the bridge in particular - has to be my favourite out of any Star Trek ship.
The film also had other elements that were nods to classic stories, like the Nautilus from 20,000 LEAGUES (which was earlier mimicked in the TOS episode "Balance of Terror") and the Red October (from THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER) being the basis for Chang's ship that can fire when cloaked -- with the name of the Klingon penal colony (Rura Penthe) being taken from Jules Verne, if I'm not mistaken. And the whole plot revolving around Assassination and the threat to the President of the Federation was seemingly inspired by the Oliver Stone production of "JFK" that was released around the same time, and garnering all sorts of controversy due to leaked 1st Draft scripts, etc. By having Valeris et al. frame Kirk for the attack on the Klingon battlecruiser and the assassination of Gorkon, a direct parallel was being made to (the notion that) Lee Harvey Oswald murdered the President who was seeking peace with the Soviets and Cuba by the Military Industrial Complex so as to keep hostilities going -- as in Chang's line that "All wars are cold ones" etc. The conspirators were willing to treat true heroes -- Kirk and his crew, who had saved the Earth how many times? (at least twice in the films alone) -- as expendable pawns to further their warmongering mindset. Kirk was expected to die while in the custody of the Klingons at Rura Penthe -- just as Oswald was murdered while in the custody of the Dallas Police Department. This movie had more going on than many Trek fans seem to have noticed, and I'm surprised these other elements weren't mentioned in this otherwise fine retrospective.
Nobody could chew scenery like Christopher Plummer.
He is missed.
Chewing it for all the good reasons! Not since Khan and none since did we get a really good villain on screen.
When i read your note, i was like "The hell are you talking about, Plummer is al..." And then i did a google search. How the heck did i miss this.
RIP.
Watch the cutscenes from Klingon Academy. Even more of him as Chang.
@@Xeno426 yes Mr Plumer revised the role to great success in te game i bought the game when it 1s released wit the book & the language pack/voice recognition software . played through the whole game about 5 times while reading the book & learning Klingon . i even got good enough to spot the mistakes in te films & next gen etc . but was a log time ago now & im out of practice but he was spectacular in both ... in fact in everything he was in . he will be missed R.I.P Mr Plumer .
@@ShamrockParticle Kruge was great too
Sulu's admonishment "fly her apart then" has got to be one of the best lines in all of Star Trek.
As a kid when i watched it for the first time, i giggled like an idiot because i loved that bluntness and sheer disrespect for his crew and his ship ^_^
@@KRAFTWERK2K6 but respect for Kirk and the treaty development 😊
Once a member of the crew always a member
@@ShamrockParticle Priorities - gotta have them right ^_^
Sulu had zero craps to give about the limits of his own ship, he wanted to be there yesterday.
The crews that worked on dressing up the sets for the various installments of the franchise are nothing short of miracle workers. I never would've known they were reused so frequently absent these retrospectives.
Right? Re-dressing to save costs is an absolute under-appreciated work of art.
If you watch the TNG episode “Starship alone”, there is a scene where Picard is tied up against a bulkhead in engineering. They zoom in on his hands as he uses a plasma torch to trigger the isolation door. You can see a million layers of paint.
"Just as good as the Wrath of Khan". Amen, brother. Couldn't agree more. I watch this film at least once a year.
OMG not a chance for this hot Meyers mess...
Wrath of Khan was meh
"Gene Roddenberry was heavily opposed to the story including such things as 'emotion' and 'conflict'." - 80% of Star Trek productions.
Believe it or not, there is a pretty significant contingent of Star Trek fans who think Roddenberry was right, although your phrasing is obviously tendentious. It's not that Roddenberry didn't want "emotion" or "conflict." If you look at the Star Trek outings for which Roddenberry was the most directly responsible, there are plenty of each. Rather, it's that Roddenberry didn't want 23rd (and 24th) century humans to behave like denizens of the 20th century, with today's problems and prejudices. He painted humanity as being farther along in its social evolution, and cast the problems of today in allegorical form, embodied by guest stars portraying corrupt individuals and members of alien species. In so doing, he gave fans a future to aspire toward while still being able to offer meaningful social commentary on the real world (and, back in the '60s, evading the network censors!).
The question of Roddenberry's opposition to Meyer's vision of Star Trek is ultimately a matter of opinion. It's not that one was wrong and the other was right. It's that these are two different Star Treks living under the same roof. You can prefer one without raining on the other's parade. I'm surprised to have to point this out to such a well-established TH-camr as you!
@@Josh_Fredman At the very least, I think this approach avoided that all the characters had petty conflicts with each other, which I find quite tiresome in some Shows. Although 2003 BSG made it work in the post-apocalyptic setting.
@@fgdj2000, yeah, lots of storytellers use tacked-on character conflict as a cheap source of plot, and it shows. Not really a problem with the six Kirk-era motion pictures, but it plagued Star Trek on both small and big screen throughout the Rick Berman era. Even BSG doesn't do a good job of this: While I enjoyed my original watch-through in the 2000s, they made it free to watch during the pandemic last year and I went back and went through the whole series again, and other than the first season it's actually pretty hard to watch. Very cheap, soap-opera-like character conflict. Every single episode, some character is crossing somebody else's red line and making a big point of it. Good acting, bad writing.
@@Josh_Fredman It's been a long time, but I remember the show got a bit soap-opery for me in its second half, with all the romance drama: Galen and Cally, but then Galen and Boomer, and we learn as a Cylon he used to be with that Indian woman, whose name I#ve forgotten and killed her for killing Cally... I think the biggest WTF was Tigh and Six! Plus the finale (where they find Earth) was total contrived BS, although everything before that was decent. Apollo also kept changing, from flight commander to Battlestar commander, to flight commander again to lawyer to politician; from being friends with Starbuck to being in love with Starbuck to being married to Whatshername to being back with Starbuck in a weird toxic relationship. To Jane Espensons proudly pointing to the male genitalia we see in "The Plan" in the audio commentary, with Olmos always repeating how great everyone was. Yeah, so, the show definitely had its flaws :)
But at the very least, it was a fresh take on space opera at the time. And for every terrible idea the showrunners usually had a great one. Such as "Pegasus", still my favorite episode: from Euphoria to "something isn't quite right" to "oh shit" and full on war between the two ships.
More like, "Gene Roddenberry objected to any Star Trek wherein he would not receive screenplay residuals."
That said, I do find Roddenberry's fall into self-deification to be endlessly fascinating. Here's this guy, a decent writer with a good idea for a show. Other people make it better, and then it gets cancelled, yet. somehow, against all odds and industry norms, gains a dedicated fanbase. A fanbase that, for a solid decade of speaking engagements and convention appearances, feeds him a narrative that casts him as a "visionary futurist," rather than a working writer who had an idea for an action-adventure show with an allegorical bent.
Meanwhile, nothing else he pitches or creates lands with audiences. Why wouldn't he embrace the narrative he was fed by the people who loved that ONE thing that worked so very much?
I think he did many crappy things, but I find him more sad than anything.
13:26 Using Star Trek action figures as extras on set is so funny and wholesome and meta. I love it so much.
When I saw this in the movie theater, the whole audience cheered when Captain Sulu first appeared on screen. That was a great decision to give him that promotion.
Trivia: The signatures at the end of the actor credits for Avengers Endgame were inspired by the signatures of the Star Trek actors in this film.
As always your writing and presentation is top-notch. Thanks, Rowan.
Yeah it's also why Takei didn't wanna appear in "Generations" and take orders from Captain Kirk again. :/
I always suspected as much about Endgame. I mean, the similarity is clear to see. But have we had an interview confirming the intent?
Uuugh not really. How &/or why would a GREEN fresh promoted Captain get the Excelsior? Uuum cuz they wouldn't! 'You having hearing problems Mr?'
“He kept his Starfleet uniform afterwards.”
So would we all.
Also, the score was fantastic. It’s crazy to me that Eidelman never hit it big.
nepotism tho
It also has one of the best Shatner moments with his clenched fist “Fire!”...
Yikes...Labored & Geezer...I see why Gene loathed Meyers..
@@gbudb9303 Yeah, despite being a pompous guy, Meyer made two of the best OG Trek crew movies..Roddenberry gave everyone The Motion Picture..
@@csaber2007 Correction...Meyer, WHEN grounded by Harve Bennett, made ST II great! W/out HB for VI=What we got, A Meyer HOT-MESS!!
W/out Gene's vision of Utopia(successful socialism & a pipe dream) ST would have never happened. Genes role was best as a producer & Meyer seemed against. He tried to push Gene out(& to an early grave) & then deliver VI as the acceptable finale cemented Meyer as the worst part of Treks existence...Harsh BUT true
@@gbudb9303 VI was a hot mess? Are you sure you’re not confused with V? That’s like not even remotely plausible to say it was bad. VI is easily in the top 3 movies if not the top one for the OG crew. Christopher Plummer was a great villain and the effects were literally light years better than V.
@@gbudb9303 HB was involved with 4...writing half the screenplay and Meyer was not the director, he was asked to write part of the movie.
Are you talking about a whole other movie franchise?
I was always impressed by the eyepatch that looked like it was nailed into the general's skull.
Hard to see in video, but each screw in the patch had the Klingon Tri- Horn on it.
I had no idea the budget was so limited. It had the best effects of the film series to date, several different film locations, and a top knotch story. The low budget was expertly hidden behind brilliance.
Christopher Plummer should have received an Oscar nomination for his performance in this movie.
👍
Great actor, but I think he was miscast here. The Shakespearean quotes just didn't fit, which Meyer himself was initially apprehensive about. Gimme Christopher Lloyd.
Absolutely
@@Nycholas17 absolutely not. Seeing doc brown trying to be villainous didn’t work at all. Plummer definitely the next best villain to montalban. They both had a certain gravitas and presence that was sadly missing in the rest
@@Nycholas17 I detested Lloyd as a Klingon. Truly cringe worthy. His acting would have been much more appropriate in a SNL spoof of Star Trek.
I can't believe they wouldn't let Meyer get a new bridge set built. A bridge is kinda important in a Star Trek film.
Guess we can just be thankful studio executives aren't complete morons any longer..........................
@@aquamonkee um.....
It really shows how boneheaded that particular executive was.
@@aquamonkee yeah I thought the new Enterprise was the same set as Discovery and was pleasantly surprised they’d built a whole new one. (Though that tipped me off that it was probably getting its own show too.)
I'd rather they got an original engineering set or the TMP one brought back. The bridge was decent, made better with the retrofitting, but did not know how badly damaged the TFF bridge set (wow)
My friends at our grad dinner were lost for a toast. They all HATE this movie. So I raised my glass and said " gentlemen. To the undiscovered country".
They all glared at me.
I continued "the future"!
I was then pelted with bread roles.
Your friends have little to no taste if they hated this movie.
Hope you were not injured in any shape, manner, or form 📽😄
You need some new friends, I think.
@@bonghunezhou5051 no but I was a little crusty. Lol.
Lmao♥️♥️👍👍👍👍
i shall be so sad when you reach the end of this series, but for now, let's hope it lives long and prospers!
There will be similar videos on Babylon 5, Farscape, Red Dwarf and Stargate as well.
@@RowanJColeman infinite diversity in infinite combinations!
@@RowanJColeman Ooo, looking forward to the _Farscape_ one.
@@RowanJColeman Babylon 5 - yes yes yes. This is great news!
BABYLON 5😍
One of the best delivered lines in the whole series is when Sulu is asked by Rand "Should we report this to Starfleet Command" and he turns round and replies "Are you kidding?". Takei's delivery cracks me up every time, even though it's a slightly silly exchange.
I’m so glad the original crew got to go out on such a high and this is a fantastic film. This retrospective review is wonderful and so well put together. Can’t wait for some TNG.
I'm sorry but this was such a shit poor exit....Thank you Mr 'Lets do the finale w/out Rodenberry' Meyer!!
@@gbudb9303 pretty harsh, fellow
"Gene Roddenberry hated the final script" That means there's a good chance it was probably pretty good
@@wildlifetails I do not dispute the importance of Gene's importance or his vision for the show itself. I am simply pointing out that the vast majority of productions that he did not or would not have agreed with, ended up being some of the franchises best work. Undiscovered Country and DS9 for example
Roddenberry was a conceptualist with great ideas, but they often don't have what's needed to keep those ideas afloat. They sow the seeds, but they don't know how to maintain the plant. Others took his foundation and made it better. Both are essential for the franchise's success.
@@nebularain3338 hence we have Discovery, Picard and so on. The base concept of Gene's is there. Although you can argue for or against the point "others took his foundation and made it better" when it comes to "Picard" or "Discovery" or even JJ-era Kelvin timeline films.
@@andrewmurray1550 Discovery, Picard, not to mention latest Dr who, etc are the fault of the current zeitgeist. Plus the legacy of Ronald Moore who gave us the brilliant BSG, but alas forever transformed SF resulting in eyeballs being removed on screen in Picard, etc.
The script sucked even worse than the direction...
"DON'T WAIT FOR THE TRANSLATION! ANSWER ME NOW!!" God I loved this film, you did it justice. Well done! 👍🏾👏🏾
Well done - indeed!!!👍👍👍👍♥️
th-cam.com/video/MSV9_J8Csts/w-d-xo.html
I was a senior in high school when my friends and I went to see this in the movie theater. We all enjoyed the film. Especially, since it was to be the last with the original cast. The cast we all grew up with. And since we were on the verge of graduating high school, I think the film worked on a whole other level for us, too.
This was true for me as well. I was pleased they went out on this note- and not with the bad smell of the movie before.
Thanks for this! This is probably the best send-off for an original cast of a series. I remember getting choked up when Kirk quoted Peter Pan and I swear his eyes were sparkling. And then the majestic orchestral music while the cast's signatures appear on screen with Shatner's coinciding with the original Star Trek theme. I remember each signature getting a round of applause in the theater on opening day. It was so effective, the Russo brothers used it for the final credits in Avengers: Endgame.
Also:
It's good Kirstie Alley wasn't cast because she was so much better as Rebecca on Cheers that I wouldn't be able to take her seriously as a Vulcan.
I remember my Renaissance drama professor using this movie as an example of how Shakespeare is used to make a film feel classy (she wasn't a fan of Shakespeare and thought there were better playwrights from the period). I often think of her and how she'd lol when Picard uses Shakespeare to teach data about human nature 😛
I love the fan theory that Plummer's performance and minimalist makeup suggested that he was more like a TOS Klingon than a movie/TNG Klingon.
Maybe he was the child of a victim of the Augment Virus?
I always took his lack of hair as just being normal for a Klingon who had gotten older.
All the Klingon's in VI were understated yet awkward & poorly directed, scene after scene...Yet ANOTHER hapless Meyer victim...The butcher of Star Trek!
@@georgeplimpton9429 Klingon male pattern baldness.
I love this movie. Mirrors the collapse of the Soviets perfectly, the klingons were extremely well cast, plenty of Shakespeare, Sulu in the Captains Chair, all the crew are used well, with plenty of Spock-Kirk-Bones time. A great swansong for the series.
2, 3 ,4 & 6 - Star Trek Perfection, with the only flaw that Kirstie Allie did not appear in all of them. Best Saavik.
Yea but with her turning rogue...I'm glad they made a new character.
V is underrated. On a story-telling and production level, I think it's closer to II, III , and IV than VI ever will be, the latter being an overly posh swan song.
Sucked
& Kirsti Alley is the only Saavik..
@@919ENTERTAINMENTLLC me too although it was more for the afterthought as neither character was never seen again.
The Undiscovered Country's always been my favourite Star Trek film because (for me, anyway) it contains all the themes that make the series so special. Friendship, loyalty, trust, cooperation: you name it, it's here. Another excellent video, sir. Bravo!
"I Can't believe I kissed YOU!"
"Must have been your Lifelong Ambition..."
Your friends are late.
They'll be along.
I love how (almost) every line in that scene could fit coming from Kirk or Martia.
"Isn't it about time you became something else? "
"I like it here."
Which was actually dubbed as "i like your hull / shell" in the german dub.
After said kiss:
Kirk "Still think we're doomed?
McCoy "More than ever"
"Kill him! He's the one!"
"Not me, you idiot, HIM!"
I've never trusted Klingons & I never will, I'll never forgive them for the death of my boy.
Can you see me? Oh, now be honest, Captain, warrior to warrior. You do prefer it this way, don't you, as it was meant to be? No peace in our time. "Once more unto the breach, dear friends."
Those Kilngon bastards did kill your son
“I could never forgive them for the death of my boy”... The recording in the trial didn’t match what he said. In the trial it’s “I have never been able to forgive them...”
@@leipzigGamer Chang..
Were these your words, James TIBERIUS..... Kirk?
Sulu: "Target that explosion and fire!" I still get goosebumps at that scene.
It should be noted, that Plummer enjoyed the role enough, he reprised it for the game Klingon Academy, which helped establish a lot of why the Empire sought peace
He looked like he enjoyed the role onscreen too
Haha Plummer is a great actor. Chang however was a terrible general. He dies after a 4 minute fight.
That's so cool for an actor of his generation to do work for a game, one that wasn't even going to be AAA at the time or anything. ST ganes have always been niche, but Klingon Academy was one of the greats.
@@Vespyr_ Plummer seemed like a very chill guy who wasn’t too picky about the roles he chose
Klingon Academy is a beautiful game and such a brilliant prequel to The Undiscovered Country.
❤
It's a real shame Saavik couldn't be brought back.
I'm not colorblind, but I also thought the Klingon blood was pink!
Same here!
Pinkish purple. More of a fuschia.
Yes it's always better to have an established character be the mole, it causes an examination of that character.
Also Saavik had good reason to hate the Klingons given the experience on Genesis, she was the one who had to inform Kirk that his son David was dead. And it was her who would have died if he didn't, so a degree of survivor guilt could be assumed.
And it makes Spock's extremely troubling decision to forcibly mind meld her even more brutal as she was the one who got him through his first Pon Vaar. Mirroring the ruthless relationship Spock had with his first fiance in "Amok Time" and adding depth to Spock's Ace reputation of avoiding romantic relationships.
One of my personal favorite things about this film is the dynamic camera work, I really love the direction, and some of that same bridge scene camera movements is still present on new shows like Discovery.
Yeah this was achieved by the DoPs decision to shoot it on Super35. Back when i was watching the film for the first time the visual style and cinematography felt insanely dynamic and fast.
@@KRAFTWERK2K6 I really like it. It really makes you get into the same mood as the characters and it’s a great tool to show the tension of the situation and everyone’s feelings or the urgency of a situation. A great visual tool!
Interesting. I'm not color blind, but I've always seen the blood as pink as well.
Especially on the slide Chekov makes for the lab.
Same
Because it is pink - its pepto bismol
same
There’s different forms of colorblindness. You still might have it and no realize it. I can barely tell the difference between red, brown, yellow, and green depending on the shade, but I didn’t find out till I was 20. That being said, I’d like to say it’s pink, but I can never be 100% sure lol
The hand-held camera work on the bridge was pure genius.
The final battle in this still gives me chills. I take this movie over Wrath as my #1
Same. I love WoK, but this will always be my favorite.
Agreed!
While both films are great, _Wrath of Khan_ for sure has the better final battle. It has actual tactics and the threat of being destroyed by the Genesis Device caps off the "unwinnable scenario" throughline. In _Undiscovered Country_ though, it seems like they were just looking for something to have Spock & McCoy do.
Can't decide between the two, so they both occupy numero uno.
Its a tie for me
Why doesn't this channel have more subscribers? We all need to do some liking and sharing guys, the effort that has gone into these videos is huge and I personally find them so entertaining. This channel should be much bigger than it is.
God I'm so tired of hearing this same comment on every channel, it's so META, so it must be a bot.
I guess you had nothing to say since you couldn't post, "FIRST!"?
Maybe you posted the word "Underrated" somewhere here too?
Sick of all three.
I've seen this movie so many. And every time feels just as fresh as my second viewing. RIP Mr.Plummer!
Saw this in the theaters and it was truly epic. Everything was top notch - the casting, effects, music, script, acting - it was lightning captures in a bottle and an absolutely perfect way to say goodbye to our beloved characters.
When VI came out it was clearly a "cold war end" thing. It was perfect.
This story (also about overcoming prejudices) has a lot of relevancy in today’s time, with all our culture wars raging on.
Thank you so much for these great retrospectives! They are excellent.
I have a particular fondness for this Star Trek film because I got to be on the set. During filming my film school class from Canada was on a private tour of Paramount. I knew they were shooting ST6 at this time and so asked our guide about it and she said, 'As a matter of fact this is one of the stages.' We were standing in front of Stage 32.
Then she said, 'Let me go in and see if you can come in and have a look.' Well...I was a trekker since 66 but I thought my classmate Dan was going to faint. A pale and frail guy, an artist of enormous talent (his work featured on Amazing Stories covers amongst others) he literally looked like he would keel over.
We were taken inside and there was the Excelsior bridge. Giddy does not begin to describe my feelings LOL. Or my classmates.
We were told not to touch anything but there were eight Canadian fingerprints left on that bridge. Mine was on the navigation console, on the left side so as not to smudge the top surface LOL. We also saw Kang's bridge, it had big fans blowing in it drying the dingy paint.
That was such a thrill. I loved Christopher Plummer's performance in this and I thought George Takei was great as Captain...wish there was more of Captain Sulu.
"Only Nixon could go to China." LOL.
The MOST shakespearean of all Star Treks. And yes, you really can only enjoy Shakespeare in its klingon original.
taH pagh taHbe'!
This film feels massive but somehow intimate at the same time.
Great vid Rowan. Couldn't agree more. This movie is a Trek classic, I tear up at the end when they all sign off every time.
Strangely, 4 months before the film aired, an actual military coup was attempted in the Soviet Union, once again showing how Star Trek had a strangely accurate vision of the future.
they were well aware of what was going on when they were writing it.
To say it bluntly: the military coup was already feared to happen in 1989 or 1990. Gorbatchev was only able to ride out the storm until 1991, in 1989 he avoided that by calling the first (and only) presidential election of the soviet union and in 1990 the happenings around the fall of the wall, the reunification of Germany, the fall of the communist parties weakened the position of the KGB and the military immensely. Also they lost in 1990 a war in the baltics against Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. In 1991 they saw the small chance of taking back power from Gorbatchev, but only failed because then Russia decided to leave the soviet union and so the SU broke apart and with it the power of the old guard.
@@acmenipponair what "war in the Baltics"?
@@acmenipponairthe old guard maintained power and became the spearbearers for capitalist reformation of russia
This and Wrath of Khan are my two favorite Star Trek movies. Hard to pick one over the other.
A great film. "LET LOOSE THE DOGS OF WAR!!!!!" Definitely on par with the Wrath of Khan as one of the original series best films.
...let SLIP the dogs of war...
Cry havoc...
...for those jaded by the cliche, "havoc" is the battle cry to take no prisoners. To wreak havoc is to kill everyone, even if they surrender.
A call for havoc was a weighty thing, because any general who ordered could fully expect in the future that they themselves will be given no quarter from subsequent opponents.
@@BogeyTheBear I did not know that, thanks for the info fill, very interesting. 👍🙏
Rowan you are such a great documentary style video creator. Hats off to you. Keep it up.
I agree. Well done!
I go back and forth between 2 and 6 myself. But 6 is probably my favorite. I love the allegory. The action. The f/x. The music. The mystery. Fantastic.
These movie retrospectives are fantastic! I have enjoyed all of them! I cannot wait to see you videos on the golden age Star Trek series! Please keep these coming.
Next Gen Retrospective hype!
So far I've thoroughly enjoyed these behind the scenes looks and can't wait for more!
"I'd give real money, if he'd shut up"
Classic.
Bones trumped any of Plummer's lines in the whole flick with that one line!
Another poor attempt at a 'humorous climax' by Meyer's! Funny where funny did NOT belong...Humor, it is a difficult concept...
Meyer's makes it so easy that I must...
Once again, well done! Finding and adding the interview with Christopher Plummer was perfect.
Always thought, after seeing documentaries about this film, that Saavik character being in this film and part of the conspiracy would had been great. Saavik (a vulcan) conspiring against the Klingons, do to they murdering David, possible since she had feelings for him, and that being a powerful motive, would give such a good character portrait.
Eh, it doesn't make sense that she would have feelings for David, unless you mean friendship feelings.
@@NerdilyDone Feelings, the rest is open to interpretation.
It makes perfect sense
In Star Trek 2 she clearly had emotions, suppressed somewhat but she clearly had them so it would make sense
It's always better to have an established character be the mole, it causes an examination of that character.
Saavik had good reason to hate the Klingons given the experience on Genesis, she was the one who had to inform Kirk that his son David was dead. And it was her who would have died if he didn't, so a degree of survivor guilt could be assumed.
But also she was a Starfleet officer who did not attack the Klingon killing a civilian she should have protected, that is actually a breach of duty and would logically obligate her to redress the harm.
And it makes Spock's extremely troubling decision to forcibly mind meld her even more brutal as she was the one who got him through his first Pon Vaar. Mirroring the ruthless relationship Spock had with his first fiance in "Amok Time" and adding depth to Spock's Ace reputation of avoiding romantic relationships.
I love this movie so much, I've been looking forward to your breakdown of it and wasn't at all disappointed. What an amazing send off, I also love the gesture of the end credits with everyone "signing off", and the translation scene where they have to talk to the Klingon listening post is another treasured moment.
I'm from Alaska and was in the 7th grade when filming on Matanuska Glacier happened. It made front page of the Anchorage Daily News.
Breaking: Bunch of Idiots freeze their balls off while filming on one of the most dangerous places in the area.
Can't thank you enough for doing these. I've always been a big Star Trek fan and have thoroughly enjoyed all of these!
Wonderful documentary style as always, Roman. Star Trek VI was a great swan song for the original cast and echoed the new hope for the future the world thought it would see after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
Let's go bowling
"Second star to the right, and straight on 'til morning"
The interview clip with Christopher Plummer is absolute gold
Such a fantastic film. One of my childhood favourites.
Probably the best Star Trek movie of the era, if not ever imho. Such talent and dedication at every level, it was obvious everybody had fun making it and the fun seeps through to the viewer 🥰 my heartfelt thanks go to all involved and to Rowan for your work x
I love this series of videos, about a series of videos that I truly love. Star Trek is a wonderful thing.
This was the movie that started my lifelong love of Star Trek
Christopher Plummer, I'm gonna steal every scene in this movie, and you are gonna love it.
Thank you so much for putting such an incredible amount of work into these videos.
Christian Slater not only kept his uniform but he even framed his Paycheck he got for his work on the film. :) And to be honest.... i would have too.
"...framing his paycheck..." Perhaps it never occurred to Christian to take a photograph of the check and frame that!
These retros are some of the best Trek related stuff online. I especially like the insight into the practical VFX. There is something in the grounding of having to actually physically produce effects that makes it affect you in a visceral way in which CGI simply can't. I hope the art isn't lost forever,
I have no specific critique or comment. I just wanted to say this was a thoroughly enjoyable vid. 👍👍
Tbh this is my favorite Star Trek movie! I just adore it!
last real voyage of the Enterprise 1701-A - glorious days that are sadly no more -🛸👽💚
This movie made my youth when it first came out, my father took me to see this when I was around 12 years old and it was amazing. I never really thought much about the politics of the movie when I was kid but upon many re-watches I began to see the underlaying message of the movie. Its still my favorite and its always sad to see the end scene because it really feels like a proper send off for people you have grown up watching.
I love these Retrospective, It must take an insane amount of work.
Wait until the two hour long TNG video haha
You could also see a model of the original NCC-1701 Enterprise in Kirk's quarter, near his bed. It's subtle and you can miss it easily but it's there. Apparently one of these AMT Models that were sold back then. Also, Cliff Eidelman's Soundtrack really is basically perfect. Tone wise as well as having an absolutely beautiful heroic theme. And yes, when you hear Gustav Holst's "Mars - bringer of war" it is hard to not feel reminded of the opening theme of "Star Trek VI" and of course vice versa. The rhythmic marching staccato strings and brasses really carry this film into all new heights and already let you know that Star Trek has made the transition into the 90s. You feel a strong weight and overall much stronger seriousness and the universe of Star Trek suddenly felt a lot more dangerous again. One of my favorite "non-typical" Star Trek scores, together with Dennis McCarthy's Soundtrack for "Star Trek Generations".
The dinner scene between the enterprise crew and the Klingons is one of my favorites in any Trek movie. Top three for sure.
Dialogs with depth and meaning you would NEVER find on this NuTrek travestie....
Guess who's coming for dinner!
Knowing how many constraits and hiccups these productions had makes me appreciate them all the more. Undiscovered Country is something of a miracle, giving these characters a proper send off while being a full fledged thriller in its own right. That final scene always wells up emotions in me, especially the sort of humbled posture Shatner takes with his final lines.
The Enterprise under Kirk in the movies is such a beautiful ship. Very sleek with fine details, amazing how they could get to this compared to the ship of the 60's series. Very nice improvements in design while still a homage to the past ship and evolution of its design.
YES! I have something in common with the great Christopher Plummer. I had a kidney stone a couple of years ago. And yes, they are extremely painful. A female doctor I saw commented that women had told her it was worse than labour pains.
A very well done retrospective on the orginal series crew and the first 25 years of trek! Going to all the Undiscovered Countries boldly going where no man...or no one...has gone before! See you in the 24th century. 🖖
Your work on this series is exemplary and has had me quite emotional. It's quite incredible how many people love Star Trek. Truly a magical phenomenon. And I feel very lucky to have grown up with these films.
For me Star trek 6th instalment is best Star Trek movie in whole franchise. It's such a breath of fresh air story wise, and end of Klingon and Federation resentment is embodiment of what Gene Roddenberry envisioned as Star Trek - Unity
Thanks! Loved the retrospective on the original crew. Brought back good memories of watching with my Father. ❤
A good, thorough retrospective!
There's plenty in your review that I hold a different opinion on (I tend to side with Roddenberry over Meyer on the "Should Star Trek be more militaristic and tightly-paced?" question), but there's one statement that's just objectively wrong: "The movie easily has the best beauty shots of the refit Enterprise model..." Impossible! No film will ever beat The Motion Picture, or even come close, on that score. The Undiscovered Country only had a few Enterprise exterior visuals, most of them in the final battle sequence, and all of them brief and fairly simplistic in their lighting and cinematography. TMP, by contrast, films the Enterprise from almost every conceivable angle and distance, in a variety of lighting environments. And it includes the full pearlescent paint job that was disregarded in all future Trek films due to the difficulty of filming it. There are hints of blue, green, even red in the TMP Enterprise hull that really gives the ship a sense of size and beauty. And that's on the small screen! If you've ever seen TMP on the silver screen...well...let's just say you're in for a treat.
Murder she wrote in space, I love it!
This series Retrospective/Review is so well made. Big thank's for that!
The music at the end when the cast are signing off is one of my favorites.
I would love to hear how Horner or Goldsmith would have scored this awesome movie. But I love Eidelman’s work on it. I think after WOK, Star Trek 6 is my favorite Trek score
Personally, I actually prefer 6 over 2 for the TOS crew movies, only slightly, but still. The look, the plot, the script, the acting and mostly, the score! It's easily my favourite score of the franchise, thank you for covering it in such detail.
The idea of Shakespeare being originally Klingon was superb, I loved Plummer nonstop quoting it while he's chewing the scenery as the bad guy, in this case, I wouldn't "give real money if he'd shut up!"
I remember being stunned as a kid when my mom told me General Chang was Captain Von Trapp
Excellent Rowan, well done, been looking forward to this one for a wee while.
If you add a comma to one of your lines it it makes you sound really sarcastic, “Kirstie Alley was unavailable due to shooting, cheers.” 😉
Kirstie was also "unavailable" for an episode of TNG - namely the one with Kelsey Grammar guesting.
The lighting in this movie is awesome and really makes it feel real.
I generally rank this one as #2 behind Wrath of Khan. But it’s a damn near thing. I think Khan is a better crafted and tighter story, that everything on screen, every frame, is carefully in service too. But it is a small tight story. Probably best compared to the original series Balance of Terror episode. Undiscovered Country is a broader more ambitious story. And largely succeeds brilliantly with those ambitions. It is a much busier roller coaster of a movie with far more moving pieces. Like Khan it is amazing the little details and nuances you find in the scenes and performances in repeated viewings. Especially with Christopher’s Plummer’s Chang, and Shatner at his best as Kirk. And the simple brilliance of the closing credits bears mentioning. The simple mechanism of the original cast literally Signing Off. Their animated signatures overplayed with Eidelman’s stirring score is as perfect an ending as fans and audience could hope for. The perfect bow.
I remember while walking out of the theater on release night, my friends and I all said the same thing: "This is what Star Trek V should have been." Getting ILM and Meyer back, was the one-two punch the franchise needed badly. Add Plummer on top of that quoting Shakespeare while kicking the Enterprise's butt like a Montalban 2.0, and we got ourselves a film.
I love the way that Christopher Plummer's eyepatch is riveted to his face!
The cast's signatures at the end credits always bring tears to my eyes, as if it marked the end of my childhood.
I'm excited for the TNG series. It's my personal favorite.
Agreed, definitely made its mark on the franchise!
The energy between Chang and Kirk is electric in this film. Underneath the bravado there's a respect, even a kinship between the two.
Loved this look back. Where did you find the footage of the after party? It shows Shatner and Nichols kissing! How fitting, given their historic on screen kiss over 2 decades earlier! You did a fantastic job on this. Thank you so much!
The cast signatures (whether real or ghostwritten) for the end credits is such a nice touch that I wish Marvel could've done something similar for Endgame!
It's a toss up between this and STII for my favourite Star Trek movie _story_ but as far as which one looks better? It has to be STVI. The cinematography is wonderful, the Enterprise has never looked so good on camera, and the set design - the bridge in particular - has to be my favourite out of any Star Trek ship.
The film also had other elements that were nods to classic stories, like the Nautilus from 20,000 LEAGUES (which was earlier mimicked in the TOS episode "Balance of Terror") and the Red October (from THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER) being the basis for Chang's ship that can fire when cloaked -- with the name of the Klingon penal colony (Rura Penthe) being taken from Jules Verne, if I'm not mistaken.
And the whole plot revolving around Assassination and the threat to the President of the Federation was seemingly inspired by the Oliver Stone production of "JFK" that was released around the same time, and garnering all sorts of controversy due to leaked 1st Draft scripts, etc. By having Valeris et al. frame Kirk for the attack on the Klingon battlecruiser and the assassination of Gorkon, a direct parallel was being made to (the notion that) Lee Harvey Oswald murdered the President who was seeking peace with the Soviets and Cuba by the Military Industrial Complex so as to keep hostilities going -- as in Chang's line that "All wars are cold ones" etc. The conspirators were willing to treat true heroes -- Kirk and his crew, who had saved the Earth how many times? (at least twice in the films alone) -- as expendable pawns to further their warmongering mindset. Kirk was expected to die while in the custody of the Klingons at Rura Penthe -- just as Oswald was murdered while in the custody of the Dallas Police Department.
This movie had more going on than many Trek fans seem to have noticed, and I'm surprised these other elements weren't mentioned in this otherwise fine retrospective.