[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 6 :-) ). 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 Sarah M. Elkins
Copyright 1991 Sarah M. Elkins
STVI: science fiction adventure, building on previous Star Trek adventures.
Plot kickoff: The Federation and the Klingon Empire try to have a peace conference.
Characters/acting: Not much new here, except I really liked Kim Cattrall as the new Vulcan, Valeris (violates the naming convention, hmmm). Good Vulcan. I also liked McCoy better than in the last couple of movies. I would have liked to see more of Captain Sulu. The humor wasn't as stupid/out of character as in STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER. However, next to the Shakespeare-quoting Klingons; the humans seemed pathetically ignorant of Klingons and ethnocentric to boot. Look quick for Communications Officer Janice Rand.
Cinematography/FX: Good space battles (nothing new), other FX are better and newer, especially the null-G blood.
Score/Sound: rehash of other ST themes.
Violence/language: null-G blood, mostly Klingon. Some shootings, and a couple of handfights. Some curses, not all that much.
Skin/situations: a kiss.
Analysis: People who haven't watched much Star Trek in the past may not pick up on the flaws (see below), so they may like it better than many regular fans. Regular fans may like it because it's not as bad as STAR TREK V was. Overall mildly enjoyable, some pretty good moments, but annoying in other spots. My order of fanship of ST movies: 2, 4, 3, 1, 6, 5, ... on some days I might put 6 ahead of 1.
SPOILERS
Complaints: characters acting in ways they wouldn't have, saying things they wouldn't have, doing things they wouldn't have. Too numerous to list. Massive insubordination, some in front of junior officers, some for no reason other than personal whim. Court martial these sorry excuses for Starfleet officers. Why didn't they just beam the gravity boots into space? Yet another conspiracy. Getting old, especially to TNG watchers. Pretty predictable. Would Federation officers really be dopey enough to conspire with Klingons on assassination attempts? Non-working Universal Translator. Kitchen. Unrealistic last 10 minutes -- come on, would the conference delegates really have believed Kirk etc., busting in like that? All shiny happy people? I don't think so. And what did Kirk mean, "And you have restored my son's [faith]?" Howzzat? Lack of adherence to IDIC (speciesist/ethnocentric).
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