From: v075q5fr@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Scott J Gorcey)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.misc
Subject: Incredibly Late Posting: Review of _Star Trek VI_
Date: 15 Apr 92 23:04:00 GMT
Organization: University at Buffalo
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41


     The following is a comparatively short review of _Star Trek VI:
     The Undiscovered Country_ that was published in December in 
     the Hicksville Illustrated News.  I just dug it out of my 
     hard-drive (where it's been lost since December) and thought
     somebody - somewhere - might find it interesting. 
     As I've been writing and selling more reviews lately than I
     had intended to, I'd appreciate some feedback if anyone's 
     moved to write.  
     Thanks.

              _Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country_
                       Review by Scott Gorcey

        Now that's more like it!  In their last outing, the aging crew
     of the Starship Enterprise, under the dubious direction of novice
     William Shatner, discovered Spock's improbable half-brother and
     went on a quest to find God.  Even more improbably, in that unin-
     tentional comedy of a movie, they found him - er, Him.  
        This time out things are in finer form.  Spectacular form,
     actually.  It's Star Trek's 25th Anniversary this year and to
     celebrate what Paramount swears to - whomever - is the final
     mission of Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the rest, they have recruited
     Nick Meyer, director and cowriter, respectively, of the series'
     most successful installments ("The Wrath of Khan" and "The Voyage
     Home") to write and direct.  They have also tapped Leonard Nimoy
     to do double-duty, acting and producing.
        The result, action packed, timely without being preachy,
     nostalgic and most importantly fun, is light-years ahead of
     anything you would expect from a movie with the roman numeral
     VI in its title.
        The action starts with a Chernobyl-like eruption of the primary
     Klingon energy facility, leaving the preenial baddies destitue.  So
     they sue for peace.  Spock arranges for Kirk and the crew, on the
     verge of retirement, to meet Klingon leader Gorkon (David Warner)
     and escort his ship to the peace conference on Earth.  This is not
     the final mission Kirk (whom keen viewers and Trekkies alike will
     remember lost his son to the Klingons in movie number III) had been
     hoping for.
        "The Undiscovered Country" heats up from there as Kirk and crew
     do the cold-war termination thing but not to worry: the parallel
     to US-USSR relations is mostly painless and cleverly disguised here
     with sly political allusions and witty dialogue.  (Spock's rationale
     for choosing Kirk to be "the first olive branch" to the Klingons:
     "There is an ancient Vulcan proverb: only Nixon could go to China.")
     Besides, there is treachery afoot.
        Someone assassinates Gorkon and a traitor in the crew frames
     Kirk and McCoy for it.  They are tried and sentenced to life
     imprisonment on a frozen penal asteroid leaving Spock to discover
     the traitor while trying to avert war and Kirk to discover a way
     off the asteroid while trying to forestall his own death at the
     hands of the inmates.  Things race to a climactic and thrilling
     battle in the skies over the renewed treaty negotiations where the
     assassins are set to make another attempt at ruining the peace 
     process.
        All the series' regulars (Shatner, Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Jimmy
     Doohan, Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig and George Takei now as
     Captain Sulu) are back and director Meyer has assembled a mostly
     formidable guest cast.  David Warner, who previously played Jack
     the Ripper in Meyer's cult classic "Time After Time," makes an
     impression as the wry Klingon leader Gorkon, who is fond of
     Shakespeare "in the original Klingon."  Model/Actress Iman ("Out
     of Africa") is slick and deadpan as Martia, a shape-shifting 
     inmate at Kirk's prison.  Kim Kattrall, as the new Vulcan Lieutenant
     Valeris, is unfortunately the film's weakest point; her portrayal
     is flat and pathetic.  But she is mostly drowned out by the film's
     strongest performance, that of Christopher Plummer of "The Sound
     of Music Fame."  Plummer mercifully does not sing here but is
     absolutely riveting as Klingon General Chang, who is not so much
     _fond_ of Shakespeare as he is fond of _quoting_ Shakespeare,
     which he does to great effect, both dramatic and comic.  (Prompting
     Bones McCoy, at one critical moment, to crack, "I'd give real money
     if he's shut up.")
        Director Meyer is obviously fond of Shakespeare.  Allusions to
     The Bard can be found in almost every quarter of the film, from
     plot to set design.  "The Undiscovered Country" itself is a line
     from Hamlet's famous "To be or not to be" soliloquoy.  In the
     play, Hamlet is clearly referring to death, or rather, his
     fear of death.  Meyer's script twists that around expertly to
     Kirk's fear of the unknown future.
        For Kirk and his crew, Paramount tells us, that future is
     in videotape and reruns, but definitely not in _Star Trek VII_.
     They've said that before.
        "To be or not to be?  That is the question."

     _____________________________________________________________________
     Starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley,
              James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig and
              George Takei.
              Also starring Christopher Plummer, David Warner, Kim
              Kattrall, Kurtwood Smith, Iman, Rossanna DeSoto
              Scr by Nick Meyer and Denny Martin Flynn
              Story by Meyer, Flynn and Leonard Nimoy
              Produced by Leonard Nimoy, Ralph Winter, Steven Charles-Jaffe
              Music Composed and Conducted by Cliff Eidleman
              Directed by Nick Meyer                    
     ________ From Paramount___Rated PG____________________________________  

        Thanks for the indulgence.  I look forward to hearing your
        criticisms.  (Remember, this was a review written for a
        mainstream newspaper audience, not a newsgroup of Trekfans...)

                ^She's My Cousin But Doesn't She^
                      ^Look Almost Exactly^
           ____________^Like Laura Palmer^____________
          ^Scott Gorcey, v075q5fr@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu^