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So let's get going on Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. It was released in 1991, and I actually saw it in theaters when it was released and had seen no other Star Trek movie besides Star Trek IV. I was quite confused. For the last time as a complete ensemble, it starred the same cast, with Kim Cattrall and the masterful addition of Christopher Plummer.
The story opens with an explosion, as most interesting action movies do. A very important Klingon moon with their most important energy production facility is destroyed due to factors unknown, and the previously reclusive and violent people reach out to the Federation for assistance. The Enterprise crew - three months from retirement - is given the simple-on-the-surface task of escorting the Klingon chancellor (played by David Warner) and his party to the peace conference. Kirk expresses great dismay, anger, and prejudice at this - he has still not forgiven them for the death of his son (in Star Trek III). He has no choice in the matter, however, and so carries on with the mission. On this, their potentially last mission, Spock brings his protege - Lt. Valeris (Cattral).
During the trip, after a spectacularly failed diplomatic dinner between the Klingon and Federation officers, strange things happen. Without the knowledge of the crew, the Enterprise shoots two photon torpedoes at the Klingon Bird of Prey, crippling it, and disabling the artificial gravity on board. Then, two people in Federation space suits with magnetic boots beam over to the Klingon ship, and massacre much of the helpless crew, including the visionary chancellor.
Wracked with guilt for hating the Klingons so and with fear about what this would do to the peace talks, Kirk and McCoy beam over after gravity is restored to see if they can give medical assistance. The chancellor dies, despite McCoy's efforts, because of a lack of knowledge of Klingon anatomy. The chancellor's right-hand man, General Chang (Plummer) arrests Kirk and McCoy for the murder of the chancellor and the others, given that the Enterprise disabled the Klingon ship. They are taken away to stand trial in a Klingon court.
Meanwhile, Spock, as acting captain, order an investigation. Star Fleet command orders them back home, but they have "malfunctions" that stop them from following that particular order. After an exhausting search, Chekov and Valeris turn up the environmental suits that went to the Klingon ship, but are unable to determine who wore them. Scotty personally counts all of the torpedoes in the bay, and discovers that all of them are present, despite that the computer log has been altered to show that two are missing. Spock deduces that the saboteur is on board, but that there might have been a cloaked ship beneath them that could shoot while cloaked - a previously unheard of concept. Spock observes, "When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
After a clearly fixed trial, Kirk and Spock are declared guilty and sentenced to prison for life on the very harsh prison and mining colony on Rura Penthe. There, they meet a shapeshifter (Iman) who helps them get to the surface of the planet and outside the magnetic filed that prevents transport only to turn them in to the Klingon guards. She would get a full pardon for helping to kill them. Once Kirk realizes this, he gets into a scuffle with her, and she morphs to look like him, to confuse McCoy and keep him from interfering. When the guards arrive, they, too, get confused and shoot the shapeshifter, vaporizing her instead of Kirk. Immediately before they shoot Kirk and McCoy, Spock locks onto the signal he had placed on Kirk and transports them back to the ship.
After determining which crew members own the two space suits that had gone onto the Klingon ships, Chekov finds those crewmen dead. Spock puts out the information that the crewmen are, indeed, alive and recovering in sickbay, hoping to lure the true saboteur. Sure enough, the culprit springs their trap: Valeris enters sickbay with a phaser only to discover Kirk and Spock waiting for her. After a brutal interrogation/mind-meld, Spock determines that she had worked with General Chang and various members of Star Fleet to destroy both the chancellor and the infant peace between the two governing bodies. He also learned that the torpedoes had indeed come from a cloaked Bird of Prey beneath them, as he had surmised.
After getting the coordinates of the peace conference from Captain Sulu of the Excelsior, the two ships rush to the scene, have a fire fight with the prototype Bird of Prey, and stop an assassin from killing the Federation president. The Klingons and Federation vow anew to work for peace. Basing in the success of one final glorious mission, the Enterprise crew takes a turn around the galaxy. Indeed, our heroes fly off into the sunset.
This plot is very involving, probably because of its strong ties to real life. Although I was quite unaware at the time of the political climate, I have since discovered (because of the behind the scenes) that this was a direct commentary on what was going on between Russia and the US at the time - the end of the Cold War, and rebuilding of Russia.
The racism (species-ism?) in the movie also gives it a very "real" feeling. Gene Roddenberry - who this film was dedicated to, it was released shortly after he died - had a real problem with the script. He took issue with that Kirk and other members of the Federation would be saying such racist things against the Klingons. He had hoped we would have been past all that by now. I think, however, that he had forgotten some of his own work in terms of racism in the original series (the white/black and black/white race or the Vulcans and Romulans and the crewman's bigotry towards Spock upon seeing the Romulans, for example). It is my sad thought that racism will never be destroyed on an individual level. Instead, I see us taking away the power of prejudice - not allowing it to help us make decisions or run governments. Prejudice, I hope, will become an individual failing, and not that by which we exist as a society. I think this film speaks highly to that - that peace triumphs over prejudice. Even Brock Peters, a fantastic African-American actor who played Admiral Cartwright - a man who could not stand the alliance with the Klingons - had difficulty speaking the lines that he did. It seemed so vile to him, such a parallel to the racism that he had personally encountered in his life, that he had to do the speech in several takes - never all in one go. But he thought that that perspective was important to have in the film. And I do, too.
Notably, Gene Roddenberry saw a screening of Star Trek VI three days before he died and enjoyed it.
An interesting note - the penal colony feels very much like Star Wars. It could be the more creative alien makeup, the dirt, or the fact that the Universal Translator is broken.
The mind meld between Spock and Valeris feels like a massive invasion - something wildly out of character for Spock. It is so uncomfortable, it almost feels like watching a rape of the mind. I am clearly not alone on this, as everyone in the crew, even Spock, seemed very disturbed by what was happening on that bridge.
Overall, this is an excellent ending for the original series. It ends up very warm and hopeful. In the behind-the-scenes, all of the crew were interviewed and said that the series had "ended" so many times that they didn't actually believe it. As Nimoy said, "And I'll say goodbye again, and then we'll see if the phone rings," and then laughed in his big, booming laugh. And, indeed, the phone did ring for him one more time in Star Trek - almost 20 years later. I am pleased to say goodbye again to Star Trek's original cast in Star Trek VI - a totally worth-while movie.
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