Aquel país desconocido

The Klingon empire is on the edge of destruction but not by the sword by but the destruction of a power planet and the pollution of the empire's atmosphere. The Klingons approach the Federation to talk peace and Kirk and the Enterprise are dispatched to rendezvous with their Chancellor to escort him and his entourage to the peace talks. After a night awkwardly "entertaining" the Klingon party, they return to their ship when, out of nowhere, it appears that the Enterprise fire on the Klingon ship before two crew members board to assassinate the Chancellor. However this leaves Kirk and McCoy the prisoners of the Klingons with the Federation unable to reach them for fear of derailing what little is left of the peace process. Meanwhile Spock tries to piece together what happened and rescue his friend.

After the rather flat part V, it was a positive sign to see writer of the superior parts II and IV and director of II returning to the film series. And indeed it proved to be as this was yet again fuel for the myth of the "odd number curse" of the Star Trek films as it turned out to be one of the stronger of the original films. The plot is a great bit of action with its basis in political conspiracy while Spock gets to play Sherlock back on the Enterprise. The parallels with real life peace movements and the difficulties of preparing for peace are interesting but not forced down your throat. Many viewers will get the references to Adlai Stevenson in the Cuba Missile Crisis ("don't wait for the translation"), the use of the famous Nixon proverb and generally the theme of Kirk struggling to come to terms with the idea of peace after so many years of war and loss to the Klingons; however if you don't get them it doesn't matter.

The action works well and is delivery with confidence by Meyer but it also helps that his script does make for a strong story (unlike the fifth film for example). The humour of the film is much better as well as it is an addition and doesn't feel out of place (again, like it did in the fifth film). There are some nice touches in here but my personal favourite is the reference to Shatner's ego in the "I can't believe I kissed you" line (again a welcome awareness within the series after Shatner ran amuck across the fifth film). Shatner is much better here than before. He is reigned in and is still hammy but he has material to work with and he does well. Nimoy has fun with his investigation while Kelley provides the usual stuff in a good way. Support from Doohan, Nichols and others is as good as always. Cattrall is OK while Warner has more to do than in the last film. Dorn makes the link to the next generation of films and, importantly, the film is given a good "baddie" in the shape of Chang. Picking up from Khan, Plummer delivers a deliciously hammy villain, complete with Shakespeare quotes, and provides a great adversary for Shatner's Kirk.

Overall then a fitting sign-off for the original crew and one of the stronger of the original films. The story is engaging with good subtexts, the action is exciting, the performances roundly good and, most importantly, it is fun.

The final Star Trek film to feature the original cast is an enormous improvement after the awful fifth film, and might just be the best in the series. Much of it is probably thanks to the return of director Nicholas Meyer, who is responsible also for the classic Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan (while film III through V were directed by cast members). Meyer's very professional directing shows in every scene on ST-VI, and the old cast - William Shatner (Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Spock), DeForest Kelly (McCoy), James Doohan (Scotty) and the rest - give here what is without doubt their finest performance. Mind - Shatner and Nimoy are by now 60 years old, while Kelly and Doohan are well into their 70s. But there isn't a trace of the pathetic silliness that characterized the fifth movie; Meyer knows what to do with these aging actors that wouldn't make them look like idiots. What we see in Star Trek VI is a much more mature approach, and the crew members have to face, more than an outside enemy, their own aging, and their fear of change. That fear is a key element here, and it's an issue that is well handled and is always relevant.

While the old cast members are doing splendidly here, the movie introduces some fantastic new characters. First and foremost, the experienced Shakespearean actor Christopher Plummer makes a fascinating villain in the conservative and suspicious Klingon General Chang, endlessly throwing out Shakespeare quotes on every turn. ('You haven't truly enjoyed Shakespeare until you've read it in the original Klingon') Also, Kim Cattrall, who achieved much success lately in the acclaimed 'Sex And The City'), plays the Vulcan Lt. Valeris and gives a great performance. Finally, David Warner gives a brief but memorable performance as the visionary Chancellor Gorkon. The real stars here, though, are Shatner and Kelly, whose attempt to save the Chancellor's life, as well as their trial for assassination before a Klingon court (CAMEO: Michael Dorn, who plays Worf in the Next Generation, plays Kirk and McCoy's attorney here - Colonel Worf. An ancestor, probably) make for some of the best scenes ever seen on Star Trek. The directing and camera work are splendid, and the script has just the right amount of self humor, which was dreadfully lacking from the fifth movie (e.g.: Spock: 'If I were human I believe my response would be "go to hell." ...If I were human.' All in all, a remarkable sign off for the original crew of the Enterprise and one of the best sci-fi movies of all time.

The journey that began on the small screen in 1967 comes to its end on the big screen in 1991, after three TV seasons, six films, and the creation of a cultural phenomenon unrivaled in the history of television. The crew of the original series had met with mixed results on the big screen, producing the excellent The Wrath of Khan, but also the inexcusably bad The Final Frontier; the other four ranged from passable to good. After the financial failure of Star Trek V, Paramount brought back Star Trek II director Nicholas Meyer, and commissioned from him the final voyage of the original cast. As Star Trek so often does, the events depicted mirror the glasnost of the late 1980s, as the collapse of the Soviet Union eased global tensions and heralded the beginning of a new era. In the Trek universe, the possibility of rapproachment between the Federation and the Klingon Empire raises the hackles of hardliners on both sides, and Kirk and co. must prevent the weak peace from being destroyed. The original cast is in fine form, all of them giving their all to make the (potentially) final appearances of their characters memorable. Despite William Shatner's reputation as a ham actor, he delivers a great performance here; his final log entry is one of Trek's finest moments. As the villain of the piece, we get General Chang (Christopher Plummer), a Klingon out to insure "no peace in our time". Plummer is superb, chewing scenery and spewing Shakespeare with a wonderfully loathsome presence. I would rank Chang below Khan and the Borg Queen, but far above all the other Trek villains. There are some tacky anachronisms typical of Meyer's style, and the usual amount of discontinuities and canon issues; but that's inevitable, and I can accept it if it leads to a good story. Trek VI is a good story. 9/10.

The final Trek for the original crew of the Enterprise restores the talent behind the camera including Star Trek II's Nicholas Meyer as director and thus intelligence and high production values are back on screen after the stagnant Star Trek V. The Undiscovered Country is a generous cut of the franchise's sweet meat though it doesn't hold the same place in my affections as Trek's II, III and IV. The story is the series at it's best - a deft allegory of the fall of Soviet Communism with the old cast having to question their old assumptions about those 'Klingon bastards' who are now suing for peace with their Federation foes. The ensuing political double crosses, assassinations and space battles are far meatier and more interesting than anything in the previous film and this is all counterbalanced by something approaching poignancy given that the movie represents a final fling for our quasi-geriatric heroes. The direction and visual effects are top notch with Meyer getting the best out of the classic cast including a surprisingly descent turn from Shatner who rediscovers a bit of the old magic as a Kirk trying to reconcile his hatred of the enemy and his personal resentment against the practicalities of the peace initiative. Its really his movie, though Spock and McCoy have some good moments and Christopher Plummer's General Chang provides prime cut villainy with just a glint in his eye (literally just the one eye) and a stroke of his Klingon moustache. His propensity to quote Shakespeare is a bit of a hoary old cliché for your would-be enemy but it works nicely as a hallmark of a man who has invested in the culture of his adversaries in an attempt to best them intellectually. As a military man with an less than honourable agenda he's a far more convincing villain than any megalomaniac hell bent on world domination, partially because writers Meyer, Nimoy and Flinn understand that the real world grounding of the story invests it with a edge and a credibility that might otherwise be wanting. There are a few false notes - The Enterprise rescue of Kirk and McCoy has always felt a bit too clean and easy for my liking and the purple Klingon blood is just inaccurate for continuity purposes but I'll put my hands up to pedantry on that one. The major faux pas though is the final 'sign off' from the crew in which their signatures are 'written' across the screen. Its not the idea that's wrong its the fact we're looking at the actor's signatures and not those of the characters. It feels like a bit of mis-step because it betrays a misunderstanding of the fact that it's the characters that made the series fly not an interest in William Shatner, Deforrest Kelly and so on. From the moment I first saw it it never felt right to me but still, there you go. Gene Rodenberry just got to see this before he died and a good job too because I think he'd have been satisfied that his original crew had gone out on a something of a high note. He'd also never see the 4 movies that followed with the Next Generation cast and for that alone he may have got out at just the right time.

Boldly going where no man (or woman) has gone before, climb aboard the Enterprise and let it fly and soar, as old friends gather, reunite, off to battle and to fight, strange new worlds, civilisations to explore.

They've got themselves into a pickle, a metaphorical hammer and sickle, Klingon labour camp, shackled and clamped, sentenced by a biased judicial.

Sabre rattling Klingon renegades attempt to destabilise the peace after a devastating moon fall.