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Once again the
Star Trek movie odd/even number curse rings
true with “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered
Country.” What do you mean you’re
not aware of the curse? I’m not even
a big Star Trek fan, and I’ve heard
of it? Basically it goes like this…
all of the odd-numbered films are considered
bad by Trekkie (Trekker?) standards. Only
the even numbered ones worth seeing. (Personally,
I like them all okay but do notice that
II, IV and VI all seem to be better overall
films).
“Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country”
marked the return of director Nicholas Meyer
to the Trek fold, and with him comes the
2nd best of the ‘Original Crew’
features. Meyer originally directed “Star
Trek II: The Wrath of Khan”, which
holds the distinction of actually being
the best of the series. “STVI”
also turned out to be the swan song of the
entire original crew, as only Kirk, Scotty
and Chekov would return in the next feature,
“Generations”, which was meant
to hand the big screen reigns over to the
crew of “The Next Generation.”
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“Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country”
had everything that made the series so great.
All of the characters were back to acting in a
manner that was a little less goofy than the previous
film. Kirk charmed yet another woman (sort of…),
and the storyline was more along the lines of
where the new series was heading by giving us
some major background on the events that led to
a peace treaty between the Federation and the
Klingon Empire. Based somewhat on the real life
events surrounding the nuclear reactor meltdown
at Chernobyl, this film starts off with a similar
event on Kronos, one of the moons orbiting the
Klingon home world. And as Soviet leader Gorbachev
asked for help from the United States, the Klingon
Empire does so of the Federation.
Kirk and company are ‘asked’ to escort
the Klingon delegates to the peace talks, which
sets up an extremely uncomfortable situation for
everyone. The crew has its own ill-feelings about
the Klingons from their many experiences. And
it is even worse for Kirk as he still blames the
Klingons for the death of his son. Along the way,
the Klingon leader, Chancellor Gorkon is murdered
and the blame gets placed squarely on Kirk. From
here, the events only get worse. Kangaroo courts,
banishment and daring escapes lead our crew right
smack dab into the middle of a frame up and conspiracy.
One of the things I personally enjoy about the
“Star Trek” films, aside from the
great personalities of the characters, are all
the literature references. There are lines spoken
or eluded to that come from some of the greatest
books ever written. From Dickens to Shakespeare,
you can find them sprinkled throughout most of
the feature films and later series. (Even “Star
Trek IV” refers to Harold Robbins and Danielle
Steele as ‘giants’. *wink*). This
was an integral ingredient of some of the most
memorable lines of dialogue in this film. Thanks
to the casting of Christopher Plummer as Klingon
General Chang, the wit and wisdom of Shakespeare
is delivered with a theatrical relish. ("Cry
havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!") I
never thought I’d see someone of Plummer’s
stature as a Klingon, and he was outstanding.
With the release of the 2-disc special edition
of “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country”,
I can finally give away my VHS special edition
set of the original cast ‘Trek’ films.
You know the ones that when put together on the
shelf all of the spines form a picture of the
Enterprise? Yeah, those. They always looked kinda
cool, but I have to make way for the future.
So far, all of these Special Edition DVD sets
of the first Trek films have been great. The movies
themselves have never looked or sounded better,
and each set has come complete with tons of extra
features. With this last set, Paramount seems
to have pulled out all the stops. The extra features
here shoot past the five hour mark and offer the
most complete look behind the scenes of any of
the previous sets. The first disc offers up a
feature commentary by Meyer and screenwriter Denny
Martin Flynn. This track is very well produced
and you can tell that Meyer not only knows his
Trek, but more importantly what makes a film work.
There is also a text trivia track by the authors
of the “Star Trek Encyclopedia”, Michael
and Denise Okuda.
The 2nd disc is where you really get your money’s
worth. There is a great documentary that focuses
on the aforementioned parallels between the story
in the film and real life historical events. It
is full of interviews with Meyer and Leonard Nimoy
as well as history experts. It really made me
appreciate the complexities of the story even
more. This is followed up by yet another longer
documentary all about the making of the film.
It is broken up into six segments, but you can
choose to watch them all together. Every aspect
of the production is touched upon, including the
Shakespearean aspects that I enjoy so much. It
also includes a mixture of old and new interviews
with almost all of the cast and crew.
From there you can watch five more featurettes
that make up “The Star Trek Universe.”
These featurettes expand beyond Star Trek VI:
The Undiscovered Country”, by taking a look
at the franchise itself. We hear more from Meyer,
take a look at the Klingons, get to see some props
and listen to William Shatner and Christopher
Plummer talk about having worked together before.
Those who especially liked DeForrest Kelley’s
cantankerous Dr. McCoy will enjoy the heartfelt
tribute to the late actor that is also included
on this set.
If you’re into promotional materials, galleries
and storyboards, you’ll find all of these
rounding out the set. One feature under the promotional
material heading I found especially interesting
was a video made by director Meyer back in 1991
that was shown at conventions.
“Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country”
allowed the original crew their one big, final
voyage together and this 2-disc DVD release makes
for worthwhile addition to your Star Trek collection.
Directed by: Nicholas Meyer
Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest
Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, Nichelle
Nichols, George Takei
Extras: Commentary by Director Nicholas Meyer
and Screenwriter Denny Martin Flynn, Text Commentary
by Michael & Denise Okuda – Co-Authors
of The Star Trek Encyclopedia, Movie-Making –
Stories from Star Trek VI, 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 –
A Tribute to Deforrest Kelley, Original Cast &
Crew Interviews, Theatrical Trailers, 1991 Convention
Presentation by Nicholas Meyer, Production Gallery,
Storyboards
Specifications: Widescreen - Enhanced for 16X9
Televisions, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound,
Dolby Surround
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: 1/27/2004
Region 1
MPAA Rating: PG
Website
We'll give Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
an A.
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