Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

Very disappointed :(

Sadly Over-hyped

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Blistering performances.

This is better then the first 5 movies of Star Trek. This movie has great acting. It also has great acting. It also has great special effects. It also has a great story line. This is a great movie. See it. Star Trek generations is better. But still this is a great movie.

In short, this film gets everything right. Music, acting, effects and pacing/editing.It is well written and has the usual cheesy moments we would hope for from the originals series but also serious moments and even exciting action moments.The ending sequence literally had me at the edge of my chair which is quite impressive for a 1991 film being watched in 2017. It is hard for me to pick the best original series film but this will definitely be among the list. Along with Wrath of Khan and Search for Spock. But each are great in their own way.It kind of brought tears to my eyes in the end because you can tell the staff were very emotional about this being their last time to be in Star Trek and that emotion definitely came through on screen.Also I have to mention, a big shout out to Christopher Plummer for his stellar performance in this film. It just would not have been the same without him!

When it comes to Star Trek my opinions on the matters are mixed. Sometimes it can get really really good, other times it's cringe-inducing and boring. From what I've seen it's nowhere near as variant as Doctor Who or something like that but it does have it's own place. I found this at a Blockbuster that was only recently closing down (Yeah, I'm surprised too) and watching it, to me personally - this is what Star Trek should be.The plot is that disaster strikes the Klingon Empire that leads them to be on their knees politically. Considering they're history with the Federation they decide while there are people on both sides that hate the other that the best course of action would be to discuss things politically and eventually join. It's up to Captain Kirk to bring the Chancellor to the discussion despite his feelings towards the Klingon's killing his son in an earlier movie. Tensions that are already high finally break when the Chancellor is assassinated and Kirk is accused. There is a huge conspiracy going on that will do anything and everything to stop change from happening on both sides. It's up to Kirk and his crew to find out who and stop them and... I think you'd know the rest from here.This is good, it did legitimately suck me into the storyline. It's a perfect swan song for the original cast. I've heard Gene Roddenberry when creating the idea for Star Trek was a utopian future and in here and First Contact I feel that while that goal is somewhat achieved the characters still feel and can sometimes make mistakes and all that. Maybe Wrath Of Khan was better at storytelling but this one did make me feel like this was closer to the mark.Okay what else? The cinematography, the art design, the sets - everything is all competently done. I do quite like the make-up as well. From a technical level I don't think there is anything bad in this entire movie except maybe the Klingon Blood CGI Zero Gravity bit. That does need mentioning but I'll also say it's not too bad for 2 reasons: 1. CGI was experimented with at the time and while Terminator 2 has CG effects that still hold up it was still in it's infancy and 2. It's alien blood in Zero Gravity so in the realms of the story there is a reason of how that can be excused.I'm going to say my one major complaint with the movie is that sometimes it can get a little slow. Either way when this gets going it is pretty good. I would recommend it if anyone wants an answer to the question "Say, what if The Phantom Menace's emphasis on the politics of the world CAN make a good movie?".

The final film with the original crew delivers exactly what we hope for from Star Trek. It challenges and forces us to consider our own way of thinking in a way that is so incredibly rare in an action film, which is another element of The Undiscovered Country that is well presented. The Enterprise crew is tasked with brokering peace talks with a proud and fading Klingon Empire. As many members of the crew, especially Capt. Kirk, are forced to examine their own feelings of prejudice and hate, the audience is forced to do the same with their own world view. This theme feels just as, if not more, poignant in a 2016 world.Considering that the theme is the first element of the film begging discussion, not the effects, acting, or plot, proves how refreshing Star Trek VI is. It also then makes perfect sense that the director is Nicholas Meyer, taking the reins of Trek for the first time since Wrath of Khan. Meyer seems to have a great understanding of how to present the franchise at its best. In this film, racism is questioned, the cost of peace examined, fear of an unknown future presented, a murder mystery conducted, and Kirk gets his last naval battle on the Enterprise. One can see Meyer's fingerprints on this film. Works of classic literature are quoted from both heroes and villains alike. Most of the action is methodical rather than gratuitous. There is also a fantastic element of tongue-in-cheek humor used fittingly to say goodbye to the crew. Spock quotes an old Vulcan proverb that "only Nixon could go to China" and Kirk points out to "himself" that it's been a long ambition to kiss Kirk. At one point, a female alien explains to Kirk that not all species have genitalia in the same place, an idea that certainly came up in our minds while watching Kirk's libido in the Original Series. Meyer even pokes fun at himself when Spock tells the constantly Shakespeare-quoting villain, General Chang, to shut the hell up. Each crew member gets to have moments like these in the film in which we can appreciate the unique personality that he or she brought to the series for decades.It's difficult to criticize much about Star Trek VI, which is remarkable after many likely found themselves thinking the franchise was dead after the last film. The scenes where Kirk and Bones are imprisoned in a Klingon gulag are hokey, but they also felt like a tribute to the Original Series. It was heartwarming to see these two friends confront their age and complete a great escape one more time. My biggest complaint about the film is the costume design, which is very weak and may turn off casual viewers. On the other hand, the effects are some of the best presented in the entire franchise up to this point.So, as the film ends, the viewer is given one last chance to say goodbye to the original crew. Instead of seeing each character go off into retirement, Meyer sends them off in the Enterprise, continuing their search to go where… well, you know.Some final thoughts: It looks the filmmakers learned something from The Next Generation series of how to make Star Trek successful without unnecessary of action. How is possible that Uhura has spent so much time as a Starfleet linguistics officer without learning Klingon? Wait, did Mr. Robot get his start on the Excelsior, working for Capt. Sulu? On that note, it's good to see Sulu got that mole removed, it was starting to look a little worrisome. Outstanding tribute in the film to, not only Gene Roddenberry, but also Merritt Butrick who played Kirk's deceased son David but who also had recently passed away from AIDS-related complications.*My film rating follows the soccer player rating measure of 6 as a baseline: you did what was expected of you. This film is a 8 because it holds true to Star Trek's title as the Thinking Man's Science Fiction and gives us all the perfect opportunity to say goodbye to the original crew.