Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

Directed by: Nicholas Meyer | 113 minutes | action, science fiction | Actors: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, Kim Cattrall, Mark Lenard, Grace Lee Whitney, Brock Peters, Leon Russom, Kurtwood Smith, Christopher Plummer, Rosanna DeSoto, David Warner , John Schuck, Michael Dorn, Paul Rossilli

After the hangover from ‘Star Trek 5’, few people looked forward to the next Star Trek movie. Director Nicholas Meyer, responsible for ‘Star Trek 2’ and co-responsible for ‘Star Trek 4’, once again took on the task of clearing Star Trek’s name. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is a milestone in Star Trek history. While the original series was mainly about the war between the Klingons and the Federation, the Klingons now want to make peace with the Federation because of the untenable situation on their homeworld. The interesting thing about this film is that the story sets itself apart from the standard science fiction by mixing a good dose of mystery into the film. It comes as no surprise that the director is known for his good Sherlock Holmes novels. We also know from ‘Star Trek 4’ Leonard Nimoy that he has mastered writing scripts well.

In addition, the roles are very well written. Where the previous ‘Star Trek’ film had virtually ignored the previous developments; this movie connects seamlessly with ‘Star Trek 4’ and that is evident in the character interaction. The tension between the Klingons and the crew of the ‘Enterprise’ is palpable and the suspicion between the two groups is very convincing. This suspicion is also a source of fantastic dialogue. Kirk (William Shatner) in particular is more than a wooden puppet with his understandable hatred for Klingons, who killed his son in ‘Star Trek 3’. The roles are generally well played; even though the story again centers around Kirk, Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and McCoy (DeForest Kelley). Fortunately, the character interaction is much better than in the previous film. The acting is clearly fun and the rest of the crew doesn’t just function as a filler as happened in the previous part.

‘The Undiscovered Country’ also manages to be very exciting thanks to the use of a number of special effects techniques. One of the highlights of the film is certainly the scene where a Klingon ship is committed a number of murders with gravity turned off. For this scene alone, ‘Star Trek 6’ is worth watching. The only downside is that they had to use purple blood for the Klingons, but also understandable because otherwise the film would certainly have been rated 16 and older.

This time the music was done by Cliff Eidelman. Jerry Goldsmith refused to cooperate after the ‘Star Trek 5’ embarrassment. Frankly, this has not been a bad choice; while Jerry Goldsmith is certainly not bad, Cliff Eidelman manages to do just that little bit better than his predecessor on all counts. In short, ‘Star Trek 6’ easily beats its predecessor on all counts. Very exciting and fast. One of the better, if not the best in the Star Trek series of movies.