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Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
Director: Leonard Nimoy
Writers: Leonard Nimoy (story)
Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, Catherine Hicks
Genre: Sci Fi
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
Director: Leonard Nimoy
Writers: Leonard Nimoy (story)
Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, Catherine Hicks
Genre: Sci Fi
"To save Earth from an alien probe, Admiral James T. Kirk and his fugitive crew go back in time to San Francisco in 1986 to retrieve the only beings who can communicate with it: humpback whales."
Leonard Nimoy turns up the heat in his second outing as director on the Star Trek movie franchise and scores a hit with 1986's Star Trek The Voyage Home...The fourth film in the Star Trek movie series.
What colored me impressed is the levity and chemistry between the cast members. That chemistry was paramount to making the original TV series a cultural phenomenon and at times was lacking in the other Star Trek movies. Is The Voyage Home silly at times? You bet it is! And thank goodness it's whimsical at times as that 'fun factor' allows the film to have a high rewatchability. At the same time it scores high on the goose bump rating, especially the scenes about the whales and how they were being hunted to extinction. Those sentimental moments brought a near tear to this reviewer's eye. I read that this movie was responsible for bringing a new awareness into the plight of these intelligent beings that we call whales. And for that the movie gets my highest praise, and that message made this one of the best of the ST films.
Another thing that I loved was for once the other ST crew members got some real air time. Especially Walter Koenig as Chekov. Chekov gets his own story arc and we get to see him do some real acting, as opposed to just delivering static exposition about navigation or shields. In the DVD extras Koenig was interviewed and he was quite happy that he had a chance to shine for a change. I liked that there were multiple story arcs based on the exploits of the ST crew as they went about trying to bring a pair of humpback whales into the 23rd century. So often the ST films only revolve around Kirk and Spock. So it was nice to see the 'little people' get their 15 minutes of fame for once!
I really like the setting of the film on contemporary Earth, that's 1986 and the past to us but present time when the film came out. That setting allowed for the film to contrast how things were, compared to how we hope they well be in the 23rd century and allowed for some humor too. I liked the casting of Catherine Hicks as the biologist and love interest of Captain Kirk. She was our proxy into the film and so was easy to relate too.
Sure it's another one of those pesky alien probes (shades of ST The Motion Picture) that threaten to destroy Earth unless Captain Kirk and his crew can find a way to communicate with it. But this time the probe is mostly the catalyst for the events of the movie and not the main feature.
What colored me impressed is the levity and chemistry between the cast members. That chemistry was paramount to making the original TV series a cultural phenomenon and at times was lacking in the other Star Trek movies. Is The Voyage Home silly at times? You bet it is! And thank goodness it's whimsical at times as that 'fun factor' allows the film to have a high rewatchability. At the same time it scores high on the goose bump rating, especially the scenes about the whales and how they were being hunted to extinction. Those sentimental moments brought a near tear to this reviewer's eye. I read that this movie was responsible for bringing a new awareness into the plight of these intelligent beings that we call whales. And for that the movie gets my highest praise, and that message made this one of the best of the ST films.
Another thing that I loved was for once the other ST crew members got some real air time. Especially Walter Koenig as Chekov. Chekov gets his own story arc and we get to see him do some real acting, as opposed to just delivering static exposition about navigation or shields. In the DVD extras Koenig was interviewed and he was quite happy that he had a chance to shine for a change. I liked that there were multiple story arcs based on the exploits of the ST crew as they went about trying to bring a pair of humpback whales into the 23rd century. So often the ST films only revolve around Kirk and Spock. So it was nice to see the 'little people' get their 15 minutes of fame for once!
I really like the setting of the film on contemporary Earth, that's 1986 and the past to us but present time when the film came out. That setting allowed for the film to contrast how things were, compared to how we hope they well be in the 23rd century and allowed for some humor too. I liked the casting of Catherine Hicks as the biologist and love interest of Captain Kirk. She was our proxy into the film and so was easy to relate too.
Sure it's another one of those pesky alien probes (shades of ST The Motion Picture) that threaten to destroy Earth unless Captain Kirk and his crew can find a way to communicate with it. But this time the probe is mostly the catalyst for the events of the movie and not the main feature.