To celebrate the release of Star Trek Into Darkness, the Flickering Myth writing team look back at the classic sci-fi franchise. Next up for Star Trek Month is David Bishop reviewing Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country….
The last of the original crew’s outings onto the big screen is a triumphant swansong. Funny, exciting, fast-paced and ever so slightly touching; this is easily one of the best in the series.
Opening with the destruction of a Klingon moon, which causes some sort of catastrophe meaning the Klingon’s will die out in 50 years (ignore the science, the writers probably did), Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country wastes no time in getting to the action.
Back on Earth, the Federation hold an emergency meeting to decide what they need to do. Do they let the Klingon’s die out, or help them in their time of need? Seeing as the Federation has been at war with the bumpy-headed ones for as long as they can remember, this proves a tricky debate. Kirk, having lost his son at the hands of the warrior race, boldly exclaims they should “Let them die”, in one of the more iconic scenes.
However, after much debate, it’s decided that peace talks must take place, in an attempt to end this interstellar conflict once and for all. Kirk and his crew must therefore meet with the Klingon ambassador and build bridges between the two. The resulting dinner scene is another stand out moment, as the crew of the Enterprise crew and the Klingons try, and fail, to remain civil.
While the dinner is without incident, it’s not long before things go terribly wrong and Kirk is accused of attacking the Klingons. Subsequently, he is put on trial (along with Bones) and found guilty. The crew of the Enterprise then set out to retrieve their missing comrades, in direct contravene to their orders.
After the atrocious fifth entry in the series, the woefully misguided Star Trek V: Final Frontier, the series is back on top form. Bringing back the director of Wrath of Khan (considered by many to be the best in the series); this was obviously a deliberate attempt to get the series back in a safe pair of hands. It’s interesting that the recent Star Trek films are directed by a self-confessed non-fan of the series, because Nicholas Meyer was also a ‘non-fan’, and between them, they made four of the best films in the franchise.
Wrath of Khan is certainly not in the ‘traditional’ Star Trek mould and, in all honesty, it was all the better for it. The Undiscovered Country follows a similar pattern, ditching the space exploration aspect, adding political intrigue and recreating The Manchurian Candidate in space.
Scenes such as the aforementioned Federation meeting, and the infamous dinner scene, have a real edge to them, creating a lot of meaty drama to sink your teeth into. Unlike Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, the space politics are actually exciting (drying races rather than tax issues), and never get in the way of the action. The court room scene is especially compelling; “Don’t wait for the translation, answer me now.”
The cast are also on fine form, clearing relishing the opportunity for one last outing. Leonard Nimoy gets to portray genuine anger and defiance in Spock, and it works beautifully as he tries to save his best friend. Shatner has more to do than portray the action hero who gets to bed the alien (although this is given a neat twist) and delivers one of his more convincing performances. Bones is also central to the action and given plenty of moments to shine.
As with Wrath of Khan, Meyer’s direction is assured, confident and totally at ease with the story being told. There’s never a sense of trying to please both the hard-core fans and a new audience, this just happens to be a film which will appeal to both. In a way, J. J. Abrams is a natural successor to Meyer, bringing an outside perspective and, with it, a new lease of life into the series.
Originally published May 6, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
