Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

By: Erik Swift

DVD Features Video: 1.85:1 Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround,  French Dolby Digital 2.0 Disc 1: Audio Commentary by Star Trek VI Director Nicholas Meyer and Screenwriter Denny Martin Flinn Text Commentary by Michael & Denise Okuda, Co-Authors of The Star Trek Encyclopedia Motion Menus Scene Selection Disc 2: Movie Making:  Six Stories from Star Trek VI (Six Featurettes) The Star Trek Universe:  Conversations with Nicholas Meyer  Klingons: Conjuring the Legend  Federation Operatives  Penny’s Toy Box  Together Again Art Imitates Life:  The Perils of Peacemaking A Farewell:  DeForest Kelley: A Tribute  Original Cast & Crew Interviews Promotional Material:  Theatrical Trailers  1991 Convention Presentation by Nicholas Meyer Archives:  Production Gallery  Storyboards Theatrical release: 12/6/1991 DVD released on 1/27/2004 by Paramount   Running time of 113 minutes Starring:  DeForest Kelley, Leonard Nimoy, William Shatner, Kim Cattrall, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, Christopher Plummer, George Takei, David Warner Director: Nicholas Meyer Plot: After an explosion on their moon, the Klingons have an estimated 50 years before their ozone layer is completely depleted, and they all die. They have only 1 choice – to join the Federation, which will mean an end to 70 years of wars. Admiral James T. Kirk and crew are called upon to help in the negotiations because of their "experience" of the Klingon race. Peace talks don’t quite go to plan, and eventually Kirk and McCoy are tried and convicted of assassination, and sent to Rura Penthe, a snowy hard-labour prison camp. Will they manage to escape ? And will there ever be peace with the Klingons ?

I am not a Trekkie. Just want to get that out of the way.

No bong hits while watching the original 69 episodes or going to the local java joint to talk mystical about the Next Generation’s ties to the new world order as Katrina the lip-ringed server fetches a latte. Sorry, I do have a life…but I happen to like Star Trek. I am not a babbling fanatic that attends conventions while planning my weekend around Deep Space Nine and Voyager reruns, but I can appreciate the original series. Like the greatest science fiction, it escaped the boundaries of the small screen enough to strike a chord with the public. After two cancellations, it spawned hit films and multiple spin-offs. Star Trek remains an incredible phenomenon almost four decades after it began.

1991’s “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country” sold out my college theater on opening weekend, and was intended to be the original cast’s swan song. After not seeing the film since then, I first watched the trailers included on the bonus features disc in the two-disc special collector’s edition of the Paramount Pictures film. Believe it or not, I got excited about watching five hours of material before me. Paramount has outdone their selves – this is a handsome DVD package for the novice and the fan.

The film’s theme of finality is apparent in the opening minutes. New roles for old players like Spock and Sulu are present, and “VI” perfectly sets up the changing of the guard between the William Shatner-led crew and the coming Patrick Stewart-helmed “Next Generation” films. Partly accomplished by assimilating the headlines of the times (Chernobyl, Glasnost, etc documented in the bonus disc), a nuclear accident nearly wipes out the Klingon Empire. Forcing the franchise’s most notorious villains to their knees, they ask for assistance in their time of need. A humbling gesture for a most proud race, the highest Klingon diplomat, Chancellor Gorkon (David Warner), is coming to Earth for a Federation peace conference – and Shatner’s Captain James Tiberius Kirk’s USS Enterprise is to escort them there.

Kirk wants no part of the mission, as the Klingons killed his son. A tense dinner scene is stuffed with the inherent racism between the humans and aliens. Both sides have difficulty relating and, similar to late twentieth-century Americans and Soviets, face obstacles that must be overcome to obtain galactic peace. Any chance of that shatters when assassins board the Klingon ship and kill Gorkon. Kirk and Bones (DeForest Kelley) are framed for the murder, and Nicholas Meyer’s film becomes a race against time to not only prove their innocence but to prevent the killing of another Federation politician.

“VI” has too much subject matter to deal with, which hinders its flow. Jumping from science fiction fantasy to legal thriller to whodunit to space battles inside of two hours doesn’t make for a smooth ride, plus Christian Slater’s cameo stops the movie cold. Like Ted Danson’s bizarre appearance in “Saving Private Ryan,” this is literally a “what the f%# is he doing there” moment. However, the cinematography is arguably the series’ best – the sweeping Alaskan glaciers that double for Kirk and Bones’ frozen prison are spectacular. It’s heavier on character development than most; there are some great scenery chewers here, most notably Christopher Plummer’s Shakespeare-spewing Chang.

Thorough extras abound, but some are quite shoddy. Birds and planes become more than background noise in DeForest Kelley’s interview – at times it nearly drowns him out. The better segments document the hell that fighting in fake snow can be or the hours it takes to apply Klingon makeup. The final gatherings of the original cast are truly sentimental to view and hear about from footage and interviews made during production.

“Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country” is one of the better films of the series, as the even-numbered entries tend to be. The beginner shouldn’t start here, but discovering “The Undiscovered Country” is not a waste of time.

Reviewer’s Opinion: RENT IT!!