I’ve done a number of Star Trek film reviews since starting up this modest gig, and one of my goals in beginning that journey was to eventually do a review of all of them. And there’s no guarantee that I won’t repeat as the years go on to try and tackle the material from new and interesting angles. For now though, we’re just going to try and get through each one once. To that end, and because we’re in that season when we consider things that we’re grateful for, we’re going to take a look at Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. This is another one of those movies that my family had on VHS when I was in high school, and as such, it got a lot of play time at my house, especially when I was home by myself and bored. I’m sorry to say that I didn’t start to accumulate Star Trek movies until I was out of high school, and so my scope was pretty limited. However, if you’re going to be limited, you might as well have access to some of the best, right?
Undiscovered Country is considered by many to be one of the ‘good’ Star Trek movies. I’m inclined to agree for the most part so we won’t harp there. Some do see it as being slightly heavy-handed, and still others feel like the presentation of the subject matter is a bit dark for Star Trek. This has maybe evolved into somewhat of an irony by this point, but whatever. This is probably also showing how long it’s been since I’ve been able to have a discussion on the matter with anyone, but those two points are what I tended to hear over the years as being the most prevalent criticisms. With those few points in mind, let’s take a look at Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
The movie opens with Hikaru Sulu finally getting a first name, and a command of his own via the USS Excelsior from the third film. He and his ship are mapping things in the Beta Quadrant, and all seems well until a giant wave of energy begins to violently harass the ship. As the ship bucks, and rocks, the crew struggle until finally restoring control. It’s at that point that the science guy pinpoints the origin of the wave, and identifies it as one of the moons that orbits the Klingon homeworld, Qo’nos. The ship picks up a brief distress signal from the moon where it appears that hell itself has taken hold, and then as the message ends abruptly, a PR message is transmitted directly to Excelsior warning them to mind their own dang business. Of course, Sulu is going to report things, and follow the regs because he’s generally speaking, an awesome guy who has a deep appreciation for protocol.
We cut to Kirk and crew settling into a classified briefing that is, surprisingly, led by Spock. We get the recap of the fact that a moon orbiting Qo'nos exploded, and now the Klingons are in huge trouble and as a result want to pursue diplomatic negotiations towards a potential peace treaty. This is actually a great place for the cast of TOS to end up as the Klingons had been the villains throughout the run of their many adventures, and so I feel like it sets up a good bookend to Kirk’s character arc regarding his regard for the Klingons. Also, if it wasn’t blatantly obvious to the more seasoned viewer, the events in the film closely resemble the events surrounding the accident at Chernobyl, and I happen to have a huge, and morbid interest in all things Chernobyl so that’s totally okay by me! Anyway, Kirk and crew are asked to do one last job and escort the diplomatic group from Qo’nos to Earth for peace talks. This doesn’t make Kirk terribly happy, nor anyone else for that matter, but duties is duties and so they’re going to do this thing anyway.
There’s a bit of pomp and circumstance as the trusty, and admittedly old, Enterprise is launched from the mushroom station. We get to meet a new character, Valeris, who Spock represented at Starfleet Academy. She’s played by Kim Catrall and she wears a uniform that doesn’t match, but if you can get past that, she seems okay. They start on their way to meet up with the Klingons, and we get some insight as to Kirk’s real feelings on the matters at hand. He’s upset by the prospect as he’s never trusted the Klingons, but he’s warily optimistic at the prospect of peace between the two powers. Again, this pretty closely mirrors the real-world situation that the US found itself in after the collapse of the USSR. How do you learn to trust an organization that’s been your enemy for so long?
It’s at this jumping off point that Kirk and crew meet up with the Klingons. As any good captain would do, Kirk invites everyone to dinner for some pre-diplomatic shenanigans. The dinner is… awkward… I mean, how do you expect a social function between mortal enemies to go? There’s some fine small talk in the beginning, but then the Romulan Ale kicks in, and everything goes to pot. There’s posturing, and finger pointing, and decrees of doom, and it’s actually morbidly funny to behold, which expertly balances the serious real-world implications of the events being portrayed. Needless to say, the evening goes pretty badly, and Kirk can’t wait to get the Klingons off the ship so he can slink beneath a rock and wallow in his faux pas. And that’s exactly what happens. The Klingons leave, and the senior crew go off to deal with the consequences of extreme inebriation.
Kirk lays down in bed to make a captain’s log, and then he’s called up to the bridge by Spock, who infuriatingly, is not intoxicated, and Spock points out a radiation surge. It’s so big that it could only be caused by another ship, but there are none within scanner range. It’s about at that moment that the unmistakable crimson flares of a photon torpedo streak through space and impact the Klingon ship. Mere moments later, a second torpedo also strikes the ship. Kirk is on the horn with Scotty, who is confused as they still register fully loaded, but Kirk has to do something. We cut to the Klingon ship where two people wearing Starfleet gear beam aboard and start shooting the place up. This is a pretty violent sequence as the phasers are cutting off limbs, and Klingon Pepto-Bismol blood is floating freely through the corridors. It’s violent, but visually stunning. The whole fiasco ends with Kirk and McCoy beaming over to the Klingon ship to help, but then getting arrested.
The movie breaks to some diplomatic political stuff, and you’d think that this would just be boring and that it would slow everything down, but it’s so sparse and focused that the contextual commentary that it lends is quite interesting and helpful. Depending on the version you’re watching, the Klingon ambassador gives an impassioned speech about how Kirk must be guilty, and that he will stand trial for his crimes. After he leaves, Sarek agrees with the ambassador’s position purely from a procedural standpoint. In the director’s edition, after we hear from Sarek, the Marines come in a brief the president on a rescue ploy that they’ve concocted, creatively named ‘Operation Retrieve’. This whirlwind of political activity keeps things fresh while providing that multi-faceted narrative that makes this such an interesting film.
There’s then a ‘trial’, but that’s mostly for show as the Klingon judge rules guilty, and sentences Kirk and McCoy to serve a life sentence mining minerals on an ice planet. After that, there’s some more diplomatic talk about renewing peace talks only this time we get to see it from the Klingon’s perspective, and they’re totally considering just blitzing the Federation in order to procure new sources of fuel, and new places to colonize. However, the chancellor’s daughter wants to stay the course. Oh, but she totally wants to revenge kill Kirk; don’t be fooled, she’s still a Klingon. Anyway, Kirk and McCoy get the pep talk on the ice planet that there’s not way to beam off, but if they misbehave, they’ll be thrown out on the surface where they’ll freeze to death pretty quickly. As they’re settling in, they’re harassed by an alien that wants Kirk’s coat. A fight ensues, which Kirk wins by the skin of his teeth, and then they officially meet Martia, who is totally going to help them escape.
It’s throughout this second act that the plot gets pretty crunchy. You’ve got Kirk and McCoy dealing with being ‘criminals’, you’ve got the Pres trying to salvage peace talks, but then you have the Enterprise crew trying to figure out who really dunnit, and how they dunnit. In this process, Spock really shows some great blending of human and Vulcan traits. I really feel, again, like this is a fitting end to Spock’s arc as a character. All of the characters get their own time in the spotlight with the exception of Sulu, who is relegated to some short bits aboard Excelsior. I suppose that’s just one of the cons of command… At any rate, Spock and crew eventually figure everything must hinge on a Bird of Prey that can fire while it’s cloaking device is engaged. This is a huge and singular thing for the Trek universe because being able to be invisible and shoot things is God level technology that would break the universe straight in half, and I think that Nic Meyer handled things with the sort of restraint that the situation required.
Having figured everything out, and being the cunning Vulcan we came to love, Spock hauls tail to the Klingon ice ball. As it turns out, he had put a discrete tracking patch on Kirk’s uniform before Kirk and McCoy went to the Klingon’s ship. I’ve watched numerous times trying to see if they had set that part of the story up without any flubs, and they are super tight in making sure that that patch is where it is supposed to be when it’s supposed to be there. So Spock hauls tail to the Klingon ice ball to rescue Kirk and McCoy, who in the meantime, have managed to break out of the prison, but Kirk, being the cunning captain that we’ve all come to love, has figured out that their help was actually just luring them into a trap! This leads to some pretty entertaining shenanigans wherein Kirk fights himself, and McCoy finds himself caught helplessly in the middle of the scuffle. The help is killed by the Klingon who was supposed to be in charge of things, and just as he’s about to spill the beans on everything, Spock beams the two of them back up to the ship! Whew! That was a close one!
After beaming up, Kirk and Spock confront Valeris, who as it turns out, was in on the whole thing the whole time, and Spock brain rapes her to get the remainder the puzzle pieces that have been missing. It’s at this point that we learn that there’s only one Bird of Prey, but that the Klingon chancellor’s trusted general was in on things, the Romulan ambassador was in on it, and one of the top ranked admirals in Starfleet was in on it. The layers of complexity behind this conspiracy are staggering, and it’s ironic to see individuals from opposing organizations cooperating in order to perpetuate war. Unfortunately, for as well connected as Valeris apparently was, she doesn’t know the new location of the peace meetings. But you know who conveniently does don’t you? If you guessed Sulu, you’d be absolutely correct! It’s a wee bit of plot convenience being as Sulu was too far away to be of any use and so probably has no reason to know such things, but they gotta drive this thing home somehow, and of all the possibilities, this one works pretty well. Plus it’s nice to see Sulu saving Kirk’s bacon one last time.
Armed with the location of the peace meetings, Kirk and crew gallop off to save the day in true TOS form! They arrive and a harrowing battle ensues between the Enterprise and the Bird of Prey. The Enterprise is getting its butt kicked in the most elaborately painful ways. I mean, the set dressers must have had a field day destroying all of the those sets. Just when all seems lost, Sulu and Excelsior swoop in to save the day too! It’s all very tense and exciting. The added distraction gives Spock and McCoy an opportunity to rig up a one-off torpedo that can track the plasma discharges of a ship’s impulse drive. This seems like another deus ex machina as if I had access to that kind of brilliance, I’d be totally redesigning the way that Starfleet built torpedoes and cloaking devices would become more or less obsolete because I’d just be launching those bad boys off with reckless abandon. But what do I know..
Driving us the rest of the way home, Kirk and company, having blasted that blasted Bird of Prey out of the stars, beam down to the peace meeting, and Kirk immediately takes to saving the Pres. Scotty kills the imposter Klingon assassin, who was the Marine guy that presented the rescue mission earlier. Worf, but not Worf points out the obvious differences between human blood and Klingon blood. There’s some philosophical introspection, and some fanfare, and then Kirk and the gang get back on the ship. They find out that they’re headed home to get mothballed, but not before they take one last galavant around the cosmos. On the director’s edition, after all of the weepy stuff, there’s a great fanfare sequence where all main cast members sign their autographs, and it’s just amazing, and I cry every time because it feels so final. And I suppose that’s kind of the point. This was the last outing for the TOS cast in its entirety. Sure, a few show up to pass the torch to the TNG cast, but this was the last time that all of them were together on the same project.
Okay so what is there to say about this little gem. I think this is really Star Trek at some of its best. There’s a compelling, topically relevant story being presented in an allegorical fashion where players represent real-world counterparts, as well as abstractly representing groups’ perspective on a particular current issue. The acting is top notch. Every actor in this film appears to give 110% to the production. The story and directing are really tight. Meyer doesn’t let a lot by. He keeps everything simple and tight. The practical effects are amazing! I love the way the starship models look in this film! They’re just so alive, and extremely well lit, and you really notice. The music is phenomenal! I heard somewhere that Cliff Eidelman sent a synth demo reel to Nic Meyer, and that Meyer was so blown away that Eidelman was basically hired on the spot, but I also heard that Eidelman’s inspiration for the score was the Planets suite by Gustav Holst. Talk about some great inspiration! And speaking of, there are a lot of elements drawn from the drama of Shakespeare rolled into this movie. The movie doesn’t make much effort to hide that fact, it just rolls it in in creative ways that are played for both drama and comedy. There really are very few things that I don’t like about Undiscovered Country. It sets a pretty high bar in the Star Trek canon, and I really feel like this film represents some quintessential Trek. It’s about the journey of the characters coming to a natural close after 25 years of adventure, and it’s about examining the human condition in a way that instills hope, and a zeal for the future. There has been very little Trek since that has done this so effectively, and it’s really too bad because it shows that when Trek is firing on all thrusters, it can be awesome! I’m grateful that the TOS crew got such an appropriate, and thrilling send off, and I’m glad that we can all experience that over and over again. Anyway, give it a watch because it’s just a pleasure to watch and I guarantee that you won’t be disappointed! Stay tuned as we Trek through the season and look at some things that I’m grateful for as a film buff!
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