1991
- Star Trek VI Cover.jpg (90.52 KiB) Viewed 222 times
Starring:
William Shatner
DeForest Kelley
Jimmy Doohan
Michael Dorn
Christopher Plummer
and more....
Space....The Final Frontier....and the end of an era
After 30+ years, the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise is scheduled for retirement. However, events in a far-flung corner of the galaxy force them into one last mission. The starship Excelsior, commanded by Captain Hikaru Sulu, monitors an explosion on the Klingon moon of Praxis, which causes the deadly pollution of the Klingon homeworld's ozone layer. Within 50 years, the Klingons will die. Gorkon, the Chancellor of the Klingon High Council, makes a bold proposal to Captain Spock - commence negotiations for the immediate dismantling of all space stations and starbases along the Neutral Zone, ending 70 years of "unremitting hostility, which the Klingons can no longer afford," according to Captain Spock.
Starfleet Command, specifically Admiral Cartwright, is nervous, but willing to explore the peace overture, and dispatches Captain Kirk and the Enterprise to receive the ship carrying Chancellor Gorkon to Earth. After rendezvousing with Kronos One, Kirk invites Gorkon and his party to a state dinner aboard the Enteprise, which Gorkon graciously accepts.
During dinner, it becomes apparent that, in the words of Chancellor Gorkon, "we have a long way to go." Kirk, especially, seems hostile towards the Klingons, possibly due to their murder of his son, David (as seen in Star Trek III The Search For Spock), along with the destruction of the original Enterprise. Finally, Gorkon and his party return to their ship, and the Enterprise crew begin nursing their hangovers from the Romulan ale served during dinner.
Shortly afterwards, Spock summons Kirk to the bridge, citing an enormous neutron radiation surge, which cannot be tracked or explained. Suddenly, a series of photon torpedoes strikes Kronos One, disabling her and causing her to spin out of control. Unbeknownst to Kirk and company, a pair of Starfleet personnel beam aboard Kronos One, and assassinate Chancellor Gorkon in cold blood. General Chang, a member of Gorkon's party, threatens to destroy the Enterprise, until Kirk surrenders, telling Chang that he and Dr. McCoy are coming aboard to attempt to save the Chancellor's life.
McCoy valiantly attempts to resuscitate Gorkon, but to no avail, and he dies after telling Capt. Kirk, "Don't let it end this way!" Chang immediately arrests Kirk and McCoy, charging them with Gorkon's murder. Spock, meanwhile, begins an investigation, knowing that his friend and former commander could not have committed such an horrific act.
Kirk and Spock are taken to the Klingon homeworld and placed on trial. Col. Worf, the grandfather of Lt. Worf from Star Trek the Next Generation, is pressed into defending the two Starfleet heroes, but Chang's evidence is insurmountable, and Kirk and McCoy are convicted. They are sentenced to life on the Klingon prison planet of Rura Penthe, and taken there shortly thereafter. Meanwhile, Gorkon's daughter Azetbur is named Chancellor of the High Council, and offers to continue negotiations at a neutral site, on the condition that Starfleet not attempt to rescue Kirk and Spock. Such an attempt would be considered an act of war. Reluctantly, the President of the Federation agrees, and orders Enterprise to return to Spacedock. Comdr. Uhura convinces Starfleet that the Enterprise is experiencing technical difficulties, knowing that returning to Spacedock would spell death for the Captain and Dr. McCoy.
On Rura Penthe, meanwhile, Kirk and McCoy have their own problems, with many of the prisoners there expressing hostility to the new arrivals. A strange shape-shifter named Martia befriends them, and eventually offers to assist Kirk and McCoy in escaping, saying she knows that someone wants them out of the way.
Meanwhile, Captain Sulu has received inquiries about the whereabouts of Enterprise, which he denies any knowledge of. Back on the Enterprise, a working theory has developed that there was another ship, cloaked, that fired the torpedoes which struck Kronos One, but more evidence is needed before going to Starfleet. A shipwide search for the bloodied uniforms is inititated. Lt. Valeris, the Vulcan replacement for Mr. Sulu at the helm, leads the search, and thinks she has found the killer in a crewman named Dax. However, Dax's feet would not fit the magnetic boots that the killers wore, due to the gravity being disabled aboard Kronos One, so Dax is cleared, leaving the crew back at square one. Spock, meanwhile, having placed a tracking patch on Kirk's back before he left the ship, takes the Enterprise into Klingon space, across the Neutral Zone, to attempt a rescue mission, and the ship is nearly stopped at a Klingon listening post, but makes it to Rura Penthe, where Kirk and McCoy have escaped the prison camp and are outside the beaming shield, thanks to Martia. However, Kirk realizes that the clothes she offered for them, and the flare she carries are too convenient, and realizes that she is part of the conspiracy. Martia morphs into a duplicate of Kirk, and they fight each other until the prison commandant arrives with a search party, and Martia is murdered.
Kirk begins to interrogate the garrison commander, asking who wanted them killed. The commandant begins to reply, when suddenly, a transporter beam brings Kirk and McCoy back aboard the Enterprise. Kirk reveals his theories about the assassination, and Scotty retrieves the missing uniforms, with the Klingon blood on them, from an air duct in the dining area. The uniforms' owners, Burke and Samno, are found murdered, from close-range phaser shots.
Kirk proposes a plan - pretend that Burke and Samno are in sickbay, and statements are needed. This, he theorizes, will draw out the murderer. Someone does enter sickbay - Lt. Valeris, who is quickly subdued by Kirk, McCoy, and Spock. Valeris, however, will not reveal her comrades in the conspiracy, forcing Spock to utilize the Vulcan mind-meld to extract the information and a confession. The co-conspirators are: General Chang, Romulan Ambassador Nanclus, and, most shockingly of all, Admiral Cartwright from Starfleet. Valeris also confirms that it was a cloaked Bird of Prey that fired the torpedoes at Kronos One, however, she does not know the location of the peace conference. Mr. Sulu, however, does, and volunteers the information for Kirk. He also gets the Excelsior underway, as the cloaked Bird of Prey presents a major problem.
Enterprise arrives at Camp Khitomer, site of the peace conference, and is attacked by the cloaked Bird of Prey, commanded by General Chang. The Enterprise takes a severe beating, and is unable to retaliate, even after the Excelsior arrives to assist. Finally, during a lull in the assault, Uhura mentions the equipment they are carrying to catalog gaseous anomalies, saying "The thing's gotta have a tailpipe!" Spock enlists McCoy's help to convert a photon torpedo into a kind of heat-seeking missile, which tracks the Bird of Prey via her exhaust emissions, and detonates, allowing the Enterprise and Excelsior to make short work of her.
A Klingon warrior has slipped onto an upstairs balcony at the conference hall, and is unloading a phaser rifle to assassinate the Federation President, when Kirk and the Enterprise crew beam down, and Scotty is sent to look for the assassin. Kirk pulls the Federation President out of the way just as the assassin fires, saving the President, and Scotty soon kills the "Klingon" assassin, who is revealed to be Col. West of Starfleet Command. Ambassador Nanclus and Admiral Cartwright are also quickly apprehended, thanks to Capt. Sulu and a team from Excelsior. All charges against Kirk and McCoy are dropped, and Enterprise is ordered back to Spacedock immediately, for decommissioning. Spock, in one of his rare moments of humanity, responds, "If I were human, I believe my response would be.....GO TO HELL!! IF I were human!!"
And so, the original crew's voyage concludes. Kirk, Scotty and Chekov would make a final appearance in Star Trek: Generations, however. Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country delves its plot right from current events of the early 1990's - the Klingon Empire is crumbling, much like the former Soviet Union, and peace negotiations are commenced with former rivals. The crew delivers one of their finest performances of the series, albeit with Scotty showing a few extra pounds, and Spock's ears not being as "perky" as they once were. Still, as a send-off to the crew of the Enterprise-A, Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country rates as one of the best movies in the original cast's tenure, second only to Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan. I give this movie 10/10 - it was a great way to send the original cast into the sunset.