STAR TREK VI - THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ THE FILM ญญญญญญญญญญ David Deakin ------------ I've only seen Star Trek 6 once but it's already given me alot to nit-pick about. I feel that it's a good film in the way that Star Trek 6 was; by trying to cater for a wider audience and in the process betraying the fans and Star Trek as a whole. Nicholas Meyer is rightly regarded as having saved the Star Trek film series when he directed The Wrath of Khan, he exercises complete control over the look of any film he directs and he established a style for the Enterprise and the Trek films in general that has carried on through all the films and even into The Next Generation. Now on returning to the film series he has tried again to create a definitive `look' and has gone too far. In darkening and scaling down the Enterprise and Excelsior sets he has destroyed the continuity that he developed in the first place. There is no good reason for the Federation ships to have new Bridge designs, narrower corridors or darker lighting for the film. Another niggle I have is with the very contrived plot points used in the film, to take them at random; 1: How come Sulu conveniently happened to know the location of the conference? 2: Don't Klingons inspect their prisoners for items that make them traceable, such as the big black patch on Kirk's back?! 3: Is it standard practice for Starfleet to retire an entire Bridge crew at the same time, regardless of the fact that they vary in age and rank? 4: And how can the sensors of the Enterprise manage to miss the fact that Photon torpedos had been fired from directly underneath it, even if the ship was clocked the torpedos weren't!!? These points were explained in the book but I think that was just more cover up. I was looking forward to reading the book as Trek novelisations usually give the story greater detail. What I found instead was that when all the saving graces of the film were removed (i.e. the actors performances and the special effects) what you were left with in the book was just the story, the biggest flaw that The Undiscovered Country has. It's also interesting to see that the October 5th video release will include some extra scenes that aren't in the novel, something very unusual that hints to me that it was written quickly after the film was finished. The "who-dunnit" nature of the story simply doesn't work because the book tells the story from too many perspectives, so that, in the early chapters, at least two characters are portrayed inaccurately. The first, General Chang, curses to himself when Kronos One is fired upon and vows revenge on Kirk when all the time it's his cloaked Bird Of Prey which fired the torpedos as part of his plan. The second mistake is a little more vague, but when we, the reader, are party to the thoughts of Valeris in the early part of the book she does not consider herself part of a conspiracy, she is simply thinking through the different sides of the argument, as a Vulcan would. I put this down to a rushed script being given to the author, J.M. Dillard, piece-meal. To finish; I think Kim Catrall was the wrong choice to play a Vulcan, she looked to smug and emotional, and by the way, where was her much publicised romance with Spock? I also didn't like the way an experienced Bridge officer like Chekov was made out to be a complete baffoon and the butt of most of the jokes. Uhura was likewise made fun of when it came down to her conversation with the Klingon Listening Post. What ever happened to the Universal Translator? Colin Gunn ---------- What can I say about this movie apart from the fact that it is utter rubbish and classics like the Incredible Melting Man should be bought back. HA! I bet that got your attention. This movie for me WAS Trek at its BEST. What a film. From the explosive beginning to the touching end as the Enterprise flies off into the sunset, I was hooked. Okay, the film has flaws, but name me one film that doesn't? I find that most of the things that people pick on are quite easily explained away, which I'll try to now. 1: Kirk's hatred towards the Klingons. Let's not forget the killing of his son in ST 3. This would stay with him for some time. But also we should take into account that 7 years have passed since the end of ST 5 to ST 6 and we don't know what happened in that period. So something could have happened in that period to instill this hatred in him. 2: The Kitchens. Okay, this did seem out of place on a starship like the Enterprise. The abundance of pots and pans was slightly overdone but bear in mind that the people that moan about this scene are people comparing the Next Gen with 6. What need would there be for the Enterprise to carry Klingon foods aboard in the time 6 is set? By the time of the Next Gen yes the replicators would be advanced enough to handle all foods. But in the world of classic Trek I feel there would be a need for the use of kitchens to handle the more alien and exotic meals. 3: The use of text books and not the Universal Translator. Okay, this one I can't believe people pull apart! Yeah it was comedic but would you want to trust a computer system (which the Translator is run through) which had been tampered with (remember the computer banks said they had fired the Photons!). Knowing that the peace talks were so important, and also suspecting that the systems had been tampered with, I think its a logical course not to use any thing run by the computer untill such time that it was deemed safe to do so. Even the search for the missing Gravity boots was done manually - a task I think you would suspect could be assisted by the computer. 4: Why didn't the Enterprise sensors show that the Klingon torpedos were fired from below and not from the Enterprise? Again this is easily answerable from the above. The computer was tampered with and showed that the Enterprise had fired them. 5: Why didn't the Klingons scan Kirk & McCoy for hidden devices when they were arrested. I believe this was due to the hastiness of there arrest and not a mistake by the writers. It was important that they were convicted quickly to get them out of the way for the second sabotage attempt, and it was Chang who appeared to be in charge of the arrest and imminent transfer to Rura Penthe. 6: The forced Mind Meld? What is wrong with this? In the classic series Spock has used the Meld to bring about people doing things against their will. Releasing them from a prison, Getting information etc. I also think that the way the character has evolved from TV to films has shown a more human Spock and he released the seriousness of getting the information. So I find it would be in his character to do the Meld. I know that doesn't cover all the moans and groans that the so called die- hard Trek fans winge about, but they all seem to miss the point. This movie WAS pure Trek, and pure entertainment. All the characters were given something to do and they all did it well. For me this was an excellent addition to the Star Trek mythos and a worthy 25th Anniversary story. On a final note. Before we sit down and condemn something lets look at it for what it is, and this was Star Trek. Roll on Star Trek 7, it can only get better. Simon Plumbe ------------ Heralded as the final voyage of the USS Enterprise under the command of Captain James T. Kirk, this was probably the most long-awaited of all the Trek movies to date with everyone hoping that the crew were going to end on a high note. There wasn't any need to doubt it as they have managed to create, what is probably the best film in the Star Trek series to-date. There's no need to waste space here describing the plot, but it's a well thought-out storyline and, as is a frequent occurance in Star Trek, mirrors one of the current topical events in the world, this time focussing on the break-up of the USSR. One of the great things with STAR TREK VI was attention to detail and small background details and in-jokes in the film, such as the cups on the Excelsior with the ship's name and registration number. After the filming was completed, it is beleived that there were a large number of arguments behind the scenes as to who was going to get them! Also the scene where Scotty finds the blood stained uniforms when he is examining a diagram of the Constitution Class Starship, USS Enterprise (a nice subtle dig at FASA and Pocket Books in "Mr Scott's Guide To The Enterprise" for claiming that the film Enterprise was an Enterprise Class ship!). The special effects were absolutely incredible and are definately the best special effects to be seen in ANY film, even beating those of Terminator 2. I found the transformation sequences (the "morphing") to be far more "realistic" (or at least as realistic as you can get when a 7-foot alien transforms into a young girl!) and were more fluid than those in T2. As well as that, all the similar effects in T2 had a transitional stage of seeing the T-1000 in a metallic form before taking on his new shape. With Trek VI, the sequence was far more impressive as it was just a straight change. It's not a new technique in films, and it's even been used in a growing number of TV adverts, but I haven't seen a better example of morphing anywhere. As with all other films ILM have worked on, the exterior space scenes were also very impressive and I can remember the first time I saw the film and saw the Excelsior being hit by the shockwaves from Praxis you could "feel" the force of the impact. It might sound ridiculous, but touches like that made the film more believable and more enjoyable. The first time I saw the film, all those many exploding moons ago, you should have heard the gasps from the audience as the Excelsior was hit! Finally, the music. Cliff Eidelman has done such a wonderful job on this film, the music is sooooo atmospheric I can't even begin to describe the feelings and emotions that wash over you when you watch the movie. The music fits so much better than any of the previous films, and I have personally never been much of an admirer of James Horner's work. I find that all of his work sounds the same. If you watch Star Trek II, and then watch Aliens you'll see my point - the same pieces appear in both films! It's amazing to think that the composer is only 26 and, if there is a seventh movie, has almost guaranteed that he will be the first choice to score that picture as well. It seems as if Paramount were pleased with his work as well, as Cliff Eidelman was subsequently re-hired to produce the 25th Anniversary compilation album, Star Trek: The Astral Symphony. The pace of the film never seems to let up and you really need to see it a few times before you spot everything. However, the more times you watch the film, the more of the, unfortunately, many mistakes are apparent. This is the only thing that really lets the film down. There are minor dialogue flaws and continuity errors and they DO spoil the film slightly. Ultimately, the film IS flawed, but it's the best outing yet on the big screen for Kirk, Spock and McCoy. It is easily my favourite of the bunch and, at the time of writing this (25th May 1992), I have seen it on the big screen 13 times! With adventures like this, I hope that the saga of the NCC 1701-A never comes to an end. Edwin Yau --------- Well, what can I say? It was nothing short of brilliant and has to be as good as Star Trek II, my favourite no.1 Trek movie! I won't tell you all about it as some of you may not have seen it yet! There are many nice touches in Star Trek VI which answer many questions. For instance, we now know that the Enterprise is a Constitution class starship, not Enterprise class. There were wonderful lines such as "Only the size of my head" (Chekov to Kirk about a neutron surge) and Chang's - "We need breathing room" to which Kirk replied "Earth, Hitler, 1938"! The score by Cliff Eidelman easily takes the no.1 spot out of all 6 movies. It had so much atmosphere and feeling in it, and complemented the movie perfectly. Star Trek VI has to be seen in 70mm film, THX sound to be believed. The best scene had to be when the assassins beamed on board the Klingon cruiser, I was gripped to the seat in the movie theatre! Close runner-up has to be the final battle - top-notch stuff! When the photon torpedo went through the hull of the Enterprise I was gob-smacked. The special FX are up to standard as usual - well done ILM. My ONLY complaint is that when the first photon torpedo hit the Enterprise, it should not have damaged the hull of the Enterprise at all. Shaken it, yes, but not damaged it. What happened to the shields? It was very nice to see Captain Sulu in charge of the U.S.S. Excelsior. I didn't like the back of her too much at first in Star Trek III, but I have grown to like her a lot. A beautiful ship, one worthy of the name "Enterprise-B" unlike a certain Galaxy class starship I could mention! I await a Excelsior/Captain Sulu movie - come on Paramount! In all, it has to be said that the original crew still live on! Though TNG is ok, only a couple of episodes stand out in my mind as really excellent. The rest aren't too good at all in my humble opinion. With the original crew, there was, and still is, the passion and drama, nicely interlaced with 20th century human morals. May the voyages of Kirk and co. boldly go on forever - "2nd star on the right and straight on 'till morning."