[I am posting five reviews of STAR TREK VI. I could easily swamp the group with reviews of this movie, so I will probably not post any more unless they say something very different than those posted here (e.g., a review of the fashions in STAR TREK VI :-) ). Followups are directed to rec.arts.startrek to keep the discussion in the appropriate group. -Moderator]
STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY
A film review by Roger Snappy Rubio
Copyright 1991 Roger Snappy Rubio
Starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig, and George Takei Also Starring Kim Catrall, Christopher Plummer, Michael Dorn, and David Warner Directed by Nicholas Meyer
I'm glad I waited. STAR TREK VI does not disappoint its fans. This supposedly last installment of the STAR TREK movies is a worthy ending to the saga that is STAR TREK. And although it is not better than STAR TREK II (my personal favorite), among all six I would rate it as the second best in the series.
STVI (or, as I like to call it, the apology for STAR TREK V) is a effective blending of elements of episodes from the old STAR TREK and elements which have made the movie series so successful: adventure, sensationalism, humor, a good plot, and an overall good time. It is also a huge metaphor for what is going on the world today. Anyone who goes to see this movie can quite easily recognize which character represents who in today's world. Captain Kirk and General Chang (played by Christopher Plummer) can be construed as the hard-liners, while Captain Spock and Chancellor Gorkon (played by David Warner) could be seen as Reagan and Gorbachev. There are a lot of parallels in this movie towards the Soviets, and it makes me think that they couldn't think of a good plotline, so they used what's happening in the world today. But don't let that phase you--it's still a good movie. In this movie as in today's world, there are those who would lose by peace, and would do almost anything to protect the prospect of imminent war. But despite the hidden message and likeness to today's goings-on, this movie is still a romp through space, where we meet and see all kinds of races and places.
But back to the "blending" part. I won't tell you exactly what goes on, but I can tell you there are elements in this film from old STAR TREK episodes like "Whom the Gods Destroy" and "Court-Martial," and things from the previous movies, like Meyer as a director (he directed STII, for those of you who don't know); ILM doing the special effects (not those cut-and-paste effects of STV), which where damn good, as always; Leonard Nimoy as a writer; and other than the technical aspects, the basic (and not fabricated and abused) spirit of the STAR TREK series.
The only thing I was apprehensive about was the addition of Kim Catrall as Lt. Valeris. But she does a pretty good job, and was, in my opinion, fairly convincing. Christopher Plummer and David Warner have established themselves too solidly as human actors instead of alien actors, so I didn't really see them as Klingons, but they still manage to do a good job acting like them. There's even a surprise cameo, but I won't tell you who it is of course. As for the rest of the crew, they all did a fine job (now that they had a solid script).
All in all, if you like STAR TREK, go see this movie. You'll have a good time, and most of all, you won't be disappointed.
THE SNAPMAN
rsnappy@hydra.unm.edu
(Roger Rubio)
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