Marty Michaels

And so we come to the final film in the original series of Star Trek movie adventures – some people count Generations as the last one, but these people are idiots – and, boy, did they go out on a high note. After the Shatner-helmed TFF flopped hard the series looked like it had gone out with a damp squib, but with the sucess of TNG and the 25th anniversary of TOS rapidly approaching, the suits at Paramount decided to green light a brand new adventure of the Enterprise-A.

And who would be the man at the helm of this all new movie? Why, none other than the man who saved the Star Trek franchise nine years before, Nicholas Meyer. Mayer has said that if he could re-create Star Trek he would make the Enterprise less sterile and spotlessly clean and more like a Das Boot style submarine and he brought this claustrophobic feel to TUC, cranking up the dramatic tension as the crew of the Enterprise struggle to clear Kirk and McCoy’s names – but I’m getting ahead of myself.

When a Klingon ambassador is murdered and all the evidence points to Kirk and Bones, the captain and the good doctor are sent to the Klingon penal planet of Hoth Rura Penthe. Meanwhile Spock and the rest of the Enterprise crew including new Vulcan navigator Valeris (Kim Cattrall) work to clear Kirk and McCoy, who eventually escape from the prison planet. Spock determines that the killer is Valeris and, after forcefully mindmelding with her, discovers a plot to kill the Federation president. Along with captain Sulu and the USS Excelsior, Kirk best speeds the Enterprise to earth and resuces the president at the last possible second but learns that the Enterprise is to be decommisioned. Kirk takes the old girl out for one last spin around the galaxy, the curtain falls and there’s not a dry eye in the house.

Like all of the Star Trek movies, the plot’s not gonna blow anyone away, but despite what Rober Bloch says, the plot isn’t the thing when it comes to Star Trek, what is important is characterisation, and there are some great new characters in this movie. Best of all is the one-eyed Klingon General Chang, played by the always brilliant Christopher Plummer. Wether he’s Eidelweiss-ing his way across the alps, elementary my dear Watson-ing his way through London or taH pagh, taH be-ing his way across the final frontier, Plummer is one of my favorite actors, so I was always gonna be biased about his performance in TUC, but it is nothing short of remarkable. Playing a more human Klingon that we had seen since the days of John Colicos and Michael Ansara, Chang is somehow both subtle and theatrical at once. Brilliance.

Less sucessful was the charcter of Valeris, played by a then-still-hot Kim Cattrall. If the film had stuck to its guns, Saavik would’ve been the Vulcan traitor, making for a much more impactful plot twist, but Cattrall was unwilling to be the third actress to play her (never did Roger Moore any harm) and insisted the character be changed. A shame, because it’s pretty obvious that this new character that we’ve never seen before is the killer – after all it’s not likley to be Chekov or Uhura is it? There’s a rumor flying around (Wikipedia reports this story as fact, incidentally) that Cattrall posed for a series of photos on the bridge set wearing naught but her Vulcan ears, but Leonard Nimoy ordered the photos destroyed. The killjoy bastard.

The ending needs to be talked about, because it is genuinley moving. After saving the universe once again, Kirk, Spock, Bones and the rest are on the bridge of the Enterprise as Kirk makes his log entry saying that this is the last cruise of the USS Enterprise. Helm asks for a course heading and Kirk, leaning forward in his chair with a bittersweet smile on his lips says “second star to the right… and straight on ’till morning.” The Enterprise flies off into space and in place of traditional credits each cast member’s autograph appears on screen, providing a visual “sign off.” Perfect.

So there it is. My last Star Trek movie review – cause I sure as shit don’t intend to review any of the godawful Next Gen movies, and I’ll leave the reboot well alone for the timebeing. The Star Trek movies were my first exposure to the franchise and each of them has a special place in my heart. I still remember waching TMP with my cousin and wondering when the movie was gonna kick in and shift to high gear. I remember finding TWOK in an HMV bargain bin and spending all of a pound fifty on it. I still have the VHS tape today. I still remember crying when Spock died and being over the freakin’ moon when he came back to life. I remember roaring with laughter at the Itallian food argument in TVH and wondering why Spock didn’t shoot Sybok in TFF and worrying about Kirk and Bones during their trial in TUC. It might not be the coolest thing to admit, but I love these movies and I love Star Trek. The characters feel like people I know and their adventures remind me of adventures in my own life, playing in the woods with my cousin and wishing I could grow up to be just like Captain Kirk. I hope you’ve enjoyed this look back at the Trek movies and – although it’s the cheesiest and most predictable thing I could possibly say – live long and prosper.

Tags: random movie review, star trek, the undiscovered country