STAR TREK 6 - THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY

This film, my personal favourite featuring the cast from the original STAR TREK series, is a joy from start to finish!

Set some three years after THE FINAL FRONTIER, the film begins with the virtual destruction of the moon Praxis, the key energy supplier for the powerful Klingon Empire, which ensures diplomatic channels are opened between the Klingons and Federation with a view to finally ending decades of destructive warfare.

Both sides must make concessions for peace, including the dismantling of Starfleet bases along the Neutral Zone, if the bloodshed is to finally end.

While many welcome the coming peace, such as Commander Spock and Klingon Chancellor Gorkon others, including James Kirk, find their loyalties severely tested.

Before long the USS Enterprise is ordered to rendezvous with Gorkon's ship in order to escort him to a peace summit. Yet after a successful assassination on the Chancellor's life and… more »

STAR TREK 6 - THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY

This film, my personal favourite featuring the cast from the original STAR TREK series, is a joy from start to finish!

Set some three years after THE FINAL FRONTIER, the film begins with the virtual destruction of the moon Praxis, the key energy supplier for the powerful Klingon Empire, which ensures diplomatic channels are opened between the Klingons and Federation with a view to finally ending decades of destructive warfare.

Both sides must make concessions for peace, including the dismantling of Starfleet bases along the Neutral Zone, if the bloodshed is to finally end.

While many welcome the coming peace, such as Commander Spock and Klingon Chancellor Gorkon others, including James Kirk, find their loyalties severely tested.

Before long the USS Enterprise is ordered to rendezvous with Gorkon's ship in order to escort him to a peace summit. Yet after a successful assassination on the Chancellor's life and the Enterprise allegedly firing on the Klingon vessel, Kirk and Doctor McCoy are captured by the Klingons and tried for his murder...

What makes the sixth STAR TREK film so entertaining is the script, which often refuses to take itself too seriously. There are jibes about the cast's increasing age, plus subtle nods to historical events and other films - watch for a great BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI reworking. One humour-laden set-piece involves the Starfleet officers and Klingons attempting to dine together for a celebratory dinner!

All the cast seem to be enjoying themselves immensely, as if they know this is to be their final outing in the franchise, with Christopher Plummer especially good as the Klingon, General Chang, a Shakespeare-quoting warrior who causes his fair share of problems - and who could just be in command of a fearsome prototype Bird Of Prey vessel! SEX AND THE CITY star Kim Cattrall also gives a memorable performance as the headstrong Starfleet officer, Vulcan Lieutenant Valeris, while veteran actor David Warner does well as the dignified Gorkon despite his limited screen time.

We see Hikaru Sulu, promoted to captain, in command of the powerful USS Excelsior (the class of starship later seen in the STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION television series) and Kirk fights a duplicate of himself while lounging with McCoy in a penal colony!

The final space battle, in which both Kirk and Sulu take on Chang, is a long time coming but very exciting and well worth the wait.

Just before the credits roll there is a touching dedication to creator Gene Roddenberry, as well as signatures from all the main cast, which ends the film nicely.

STAR TREK fans will find this film a must, since it is surely one of the very best outings in the entire franchise, and a cracking great yarn in its own right!