Headin' out to pasture...

On one hand, I'm glad to see Paramount's finally come `round, and is giving the Star Trek movie line the Special-Edition-DVD-with-all-sorts-of-extras treatment. On the other hand, I wished they'd done this the FIRST time they put the movies out on DVD! But hey, why release the best stuff at the outset when they can get the fanboys to purchase the stripped-down, movie-only DVD, then turn around and release the Special Edition version a couple years later, knowin' full well the UberTrekkies will be more'n willing to trade up? Once again the ol' Dreaded DVD Double-Dip Ploy (read about this annoying phenomenon at www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/guides/guide-display/-/3CVFIEG84F2PF) rears its ugly head...

But even though I was royally... ticked... by Paramount's nefarious double-dip, I must admit they actually improved on the old DVD's picture and sound quality, which was great to start with. Not only is the soundtrack crisper, I can also hear the more discreet background bits that I never picked up on before on VHS and heard reasonably well on the initial DVD release. The new DVD's picture quality and resolution is a notch above the previous digital disc release as well; the improvement was apparent when I noticed something I never noticed before: the slight smudges of soot on Sulu's face following the Excelsior-riding-the-Praxis-shockwave scene (where the #ell did that soot come from, anyway?)...

Anyhoo: If ever there was a perfect signoff for one of pop culture's greatest hits, `Star Trek VI' comes pretty close to the pinnacle. Although once again centered on the superstar trio of Kirk, Spock, & McCoy, the supporting crewmembers manage to grab a few shining moments of their own here. Heck, Sulu got an entire spaceship to command! And what's classic-crew Star Trek without a few scenes of slightly over-the-top & somewhat hammy acting? Christopher Plummer's Klingon General Chang steals the show in this department as he exchanges insincere niceties with our stalwart (if somewhat rotund) Captain Kirk. Of course, the fact that Shatner was Plummer's understudy during their days as Shakespearean actors (which is covered in "Together Again" featurette on Disc 2) might've helped their little battles of will, words, and photon torpedoes work as well as they did. Then again, maybe not. Who knows? Oh yeah, let's not forget Michael Dorn playing one of his ancestors (Kirk & McCoy's attorney at their trial) to provide yet another link between the first two series (along with guest shots by McCoy, Sarek, Spock, & Scotty on TNG).

Then there's the allegory angle, with the Klingon Empire's crisis paralleling the then-almost-concurrent collapse of the Soviet Union (Nick Meyer and Leonard Nimoy's initial concept for the movie was "The (Berlin) Wall falling in outer space"). Leave it up to Star Trek to take current events and remake `em into a pretty rousing bit of space opera! Throw in a smidgen of "whodunit" mystery as the Enterprise crew searches for the conspirators who are trying to destroy any chances of peace between the two galactic superpowers along with a wonderfully hammy "courtroom drama", and you've got... well... you'll just hafta see it for yourself. Fortunately it's an even-numbered sequel, so you know it's worth at least a rental!

Helping things out is composer/conductor Cliff Eidelman's score, which adds just the right touch to the movie's atmosphere and action. The music is very operatic, which turns out to be an apt style for the `space opera' subgenre of sci-fi that Star Trek has been placed in (and pioneered). Also helping things out is my search for flubs and continuity errors; if ya look hard enough, you'll find a good one during the "Excelsior caught in the Praxis explosion wave" scene.

In the commentary track, director Nicholas Meyer and screenwriter Denny Martin Flinn bring up the movie's parallels to the fall of the Soviet Union, both in the "big-picture" sense and minutiae-wise. Also brought up are moments in the movie that relate to other historic moments in the history of the battle against international communism, as well as the issue racism and prejudice. Also touched upon is Meyer's pride in the zero-g scenes, and his desire to put out a high-quality Star Trek bunk blanket.

The special features platter includes the usual array of cast & crew interviews, trailers, and behind-the-scenes/making-of featurettes (including the aforementioned "Together Again"). One of the most notable featurettes is a tribute/farewell to the late DeForest Kelley, whose pre-Trek acting career consisted mainly of supporting roles in westerns. Then there's probably the most relevant feature of the lot: an "Art Imitates Life" documentary "The Perils of Peacemaking", which covers various 20th-century world political leaders and their efforts to end war, violence and hatred, often at the cost of their own lives (e.g. Gandhi, Anwar Sadat). But my favorite mini-doc is "Federation Operatives", which shows several of `Star Trek VI's supporting/background actors, and the other roles each one has played on the NextGen, DS9, Voyager, and Enterprise shows. This show is a welcome addition to my mental library of the endless array of "recycled" Star Trek actors. A mental library I like to unleash upon not-as-knowledgeable Trekkies in order to impress them, by the way. Sad but true...

`Late

the best of the star trek films

thisa movie was the point where the series finally got dramatic tension injected right back in it, thats been missing since The Wrath of Kahn (although 4 was great it didnt have Trek signtaure tension). The movie is the probablly one the more engaging entries of the series. With a strong plot and series usual great charchters. This is still one of my favorite Star Trek films.

Klingons don't know Shakespeare

I enjoyed this movie very much, I liked the action, the space battles, the drama, and yes, Sulu should have gotten his own TV series as captain of the Excelsior as a spin off to this film. (Why that series never took off, and "Enterprise" did, will always remain a mystery to me) Two things bothered me about the film. First, there should have been more of a send-off for the original cast. There is a nod towards this at the very end of the movie but it was not enough. Secondly, I'm sorry...but there is no way that an alien race such as the Klingons would know Shakespeare. Yes, I know director Nick Meyer is a Shakespeare fan and was making a reference to WWII germany and that the film is basically a satire of the cold war...but Shakespearean Klingons make about as much sense as Vulcans speaking in Eminem lyrics. Just plain silly.