Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

I am a geek – thus when I first watched the Star Trek series as a teenager, I was filled at awe at the possibilities that space travel entailed and pledged to be a scientist and to fly into space one day. Now until they need spreadsheet wielding accountants in space, my dream of space travel are still a little way off! However, I still get to dream a little when I watch the Star Trek movies and series.

There are many that will argue that the original series of Star Trek was the best; I’m not one of those, I feel all of the Star Trek series have their own merits and each is different and unique in many ways, thus adding to the universe that Rodenberry created.

Of the first six movies that were immersed totally in the original series (TOS), the Undiscovered Country, for me, was the only one that captured the full range of qualities of TOS. You had some good old fisticuffs, a lot of humor and yet there is an underlying moralistic story that underlines some of the principles of the series. TOS always challenged the thinking of the day from the very first episode – with a black woman in a position of authority, a Russian, and Asian, they immediately tore apart many of societies misconceptions. This doesn’t change in this movie as they challenge a different type of prejudice – hatred.

As the last movie to be fully set in the TOS world, it marks the end of an era. The next movie, Generations, features some of the TOS cast, but really is a transitional movie. For many this is a sad ending for the classic series, signifying perhaps the start of the end for the franchise as a whole. I note that as I write this there is a new movie in production – but whether this will save the franchise or simply bury it further is unknown.

As the movie beings and we see an older crew inhabits the world, one which is perhaps nobler and less innocent than the heady beginnings they came from; we still see and feel the camaraderie between the major characters. It’s this camaraderie that makes the series work so well and makes the movies so enjoyable.

The plot for once is quite a good one, and goes a long way in answering some of the unanswered questions from TOS. As one of the moons around the Kilingon’s home world explodes due to an accident, the turbulent and dangerous enemy of the Federation seeks peace as they realize that the Klingon society will not survive without help as their home world will become uninhabitable.

As the Federation and Klingon nations are enemies and have generally battled each other throughout the ages, there is little trust and any negotiations are entered into with caution and distrust. The proud Klingons are already in trouble, with the Federation slowly gaining dominance in the war, and this act of seeking peace not only is surprising to the Federation, but is also seen by many Klingon’s as a sign of weakness and a foolish act.

A Klingon Chancellor who advocates this peace is sent to discuss terms of a cease-fire with the Federation. The Entreprise is sent, thanks to intervention with Spock who seeks peace throughout the galaxy, much to the anger of Kirk who’s own demons of his past will not let him get past the anger and hatred he feels towards the Klingon nation; most of this hatred is personal as his son was killed by Klingons. (See Search for Spock).

However, before the negotiations are completed, the chancellor is murdered. Due to Kirk’s obvious hatred, he is accused of the murder – McCoy, his trusty doctor is accused along with him. Worf’s grandfather (Worf is a Klingon from the Next Generation) defends the two, and despite his knowledge of Klingon Law and his status in Klingon society, he fails to absolve them of the crime and the two are sentenced to life imprisonment on a remote and dangerous asteroid – generally the hardest criminals are sent to this prison.

Spock, who perhaps blames himself for Kirk’s situation leads the search for evidence that will prove Kirk and McCoy to be innocent – he is in a pretty untenable position as he also has to try and hold together the peace negotiations that are unraveling due to the actions of Kirk, all trust evaporating with the death of the Chancellor.

Kirk finds life on the asteroid to be tough but tries to form alliances to try and escape the asteroid….

I have watched all of the Star Trek movies and the majority of the Star Trek ‘episodes’ spanning the decades. As a sci-fi fan I like them, but have always felt that there is perhaps a little soul missing from them. Series like Babylon 5, and now Battlestar Gallactica are more convincing to me, with more underlying stories and a more cohesive set of characters.

Star Trek was almost like a comic book, especially the original series – it portrayed all the characters as heroes, each with their own idiosyncrasies and skill sets. This was interesting, but meant that the series and most of the movies lacked a little substance.

The Undiscovered Country was therefore a pleasant surprise. It was more complex than previous movies on many levels; while staying true to much of what made Star Trek so good, with a lot of humor, much action and much moral commentary, it seems more cohesive in this movie. Perhaps because it is the end of an era, or perhaps because the actors and characters are a lot older – whatever it was, the movie seemed more satisfying and believable than those that have gone before. Now doesn’t that sentence sound like something Rodenberry could have written

The plot was very well written and intriguing – it is a fairly obvious plot, but there are a couple of interesting twists and turns that do enough to keep you interested. You know that Kirk is going to win in the end, he always does, but for once it isn’t really so clear how he will achieve his freedom and save the universe.

I was particularly impressed with the special effects – previous movies had been OK, but really hadn’t been up to modern standards – this movie improved and had some very interesting fx, ranging from a shape shifting alien, to some floating blood. Everything was more realistic, and flowed well with the live action making the whole ‘package’ much more believable and real.

All the elements of a classic action movie were there. Change the setting a little bit, remove the phasers and replace them with whips, and you almost have the feel of an Indiana Jones movie – this is evident in some of the humor that is very tongue in cheek and could fit well into Indiana Jones’s world. The suspense level was done well, and the movie slowly bought all the parts together in a timely fashion to build up to a very good ending – the pace was perfect, and gave you enough time to digest all the relevant information without getting bored.

The settings were good, but not particularly special – how can you really make the inside of a spaceship special? The prison was suitably barren and tough, although it really didn’t look any different from any other ‘barren and tough’ movie prison – aside from the aliens that inhabited it. The variety of aliens was very good – I always find that movies like Star Wars overdo the variety of aliens, this movie was just about right – not too many, not too few..Goldi Locks would be very happy.

Overall I felt this was the best of the ‘TOS’ movies – it was complete, and was very well rounded. The balance between action and intrigue was very good and while there were not many stand out performance, the assurance of the cast and the knowledge of their characters was excellent (well they have been playing them for 20 years or so). I do admit that it is sad that this is the last of the TOS series – I guess everything gets old, but I got comfortable with the cast and will be sad to see them go.....


I will miss the banter between the Doctor, Kirk and Spock – I will miss Scotty saying that something is impossible and then doing it within an hour….I will miss…well everything…farewell TOS!

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