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Andrew Furlong (14 KP) rated Star Trek VI - The Undiscovered Country (1991) in Movies
Sep 27, 2017
Interesting parallels to the Cold War (3 more)
Compelling mystery
A satisfying send-off for the TOS Crew
Ends the Federation conflict with the Klingons with peace rather than war
Ends the TOS movies on a high note.
Nicholas Meyer is brought back for the final film with Kirk and co. and like with "Khan" he brings the best out of the franchise.
Andrew Furlong (14 KP) rated Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) in Movies
Sep 27, 2017
Airtight plotting and brilliant direction by Nicholas Meyer (5 more)
Excellent character moments and growth
Ricardo Montalban as the film franchise's best villain
A climax which can still bring me to tears
James Horner's score
Thematiacally compelling
Considered the best for a reason
Dumps the cerebral 2001 tone of the previous film and is instead a smaller, more character focused film. Not only one of the best Trek films but one of the Sci-Fi greats imo
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Star Trek III - The Search for Spock (1984) in Movies
Sep 28, 2021
Why mess with a winning formula? Most of the original cast return for this next outing – with Robin Curtis stepping in for Kirstie Alley who “didn’t want to get typecast”. And the story continues from where we left off. But it all feels more forced this time. There are various absurdities in the story that make things very convenient! There are also things that make you say “hang on a minute” from Star Trek II. (For example, McCoy just stands there without objection in the funeral scene! Wouldn’t a “wait a minute” at that point have saved an AWFUL lot of grief??!).
Christopher Lloyd is wonderfully over the top as the Klingon commander, making a very believable baddie. And he really is a villain, allowing Shatner the opportunity to test his acting range (unfortunately, he singularly fails): “You Klingon bastard, you killed my son…. You Klingon bastard, you killed my son”.
Overall, it’s not a total disaster, but it all feels lacklustre and lazy after the glory of the Wrath of Khan. It makes you wonder what might have been if Nicholas Meyer had stayed at the helm to direct it instead of Nimoy.
Christopher Lloyd is wonderfully over the top as the Klingon commander, making a very believable baddie. And he really is a villain, allowing Shatner the opportunity to test his acting range (unfortunately, he singularly fails): “You Klingon bastard, you killed my son…. You Klingon bastard, you killed my son”.
Overall, it’s not a total disaster, but it all feels lacklustre and lazy after the glory of the Wrath of Khan. It makes you wonder what might have been if Nicholas Meyer had stayed at the helm to direct it instead of Nimoy.
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Star Trek V - The Final Frontier (1989) in Movies
Sep 28, 2021
What do you get if you put a famously egocentric star at the helm of a major motion picture? Star Trek V is the answer.
My least favourite movie of the entire franchise. There is just so much that is lame about this flick:
the 57 year-old Nichelle Nichols doing a naked veil dance on top of a sand dune (I suppose they at least got her to do something other than repeating the computer, to quote a “Galaxy Quest” gag);
Scotty knocking himself out on his own ship;
the line “What does God need with a starship?”;
“Row, row, row the boat”;
“marshmelons” (uncorrected, and unexplained in the script);
…. (I could go on).
Even the fight sequences seem lifeless and lacklustre.
Perhaps the lamest element of all is the final defeat of God (not God?). Chekov says that ‘He’ has “the largest energy source he’s ever seen”: and yet ‘He’ is dispatched via a simple laser blast!! #anticlimax.
The cast seem to be going through the motions as well on this one. That sense of “fun” was missing from the performances for me. Bizarrely the class act that is David Warner gets a “starring” role but is woefully underused, getting about 5 lines in total. He is totally superfluous to the plot.
The whole thing smells of utter desperation. If only we could get Nicholas Meyer back to direct another one: perhaps we could regenerate some of the “Khan” magic?
My least favourite movie of the entire franchise. There is just so much that is lame about this flick:
the 57 year-old Nichelle Nichols doing a naked veil dance on top of a sand dune (I suppose they at least got her to do something other than repeating the computer, to quote a “Galaxy Quest” gag);
Scotty knocking himself out on his own ship;
the line “What does God need with a starship?”;
“Row, row, row the boat”;
“marshmelons” (uncorrected, and unexplained in the script);
…. (I could go on).
Even the fight sequences seem lifeless and lacklustre.
Perhaps the lamest element of all is the final defeat of God (not God?). Chekov says that ‘He’ has “the largest energy source he’s ever seen”: and yet ‘He’ is dispatched via a simple laser blast!! #anticlimax.
The cast seem to be going through the motions as well on this one. That sense of “fun” was missing from the performances for me. Bizarrely the class act that is David Warner gets a “starring” role but is woefully underused, getting about 5 lines in total. He is totally superfluous to the plot.
The whole thing smells of utter desperation. If only we could get Nicholas Meyer back to direct another one: perhaps we could regenerate some of the “Khan” magic?
Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) in Movies
Sep 28, 2021
Wowee! From the ridiculous to the sublime. This is how to make a Star Trek movie! If you were trying to bring back the action and fun of the original TV series, then what better than to bring back one of the original villains in a sequel to that story? And being able to cast the original actor (Ricardo Montalban) is just perfect.
Nicholas Meyer also clearly had the same frustrations about that first movie. The film barely pauses for breath. Interestingly, it clearly reuses footage from the original movie in travelling to the Enterprise in space dock, but cuts that 6 minute special-effects-porn-fest to about 20 seconds! It’s a striking comparison!
The movie “introduces” Kirstie (“Cheers”) Alley as Vulcan officer Saavik (although she was in a student-made feature the year before). She makes quite an impression. Also new to the series is Merritt Buttrick, playing Kirk’s son David. Sadly, like Khambatta from the last film, his Trek-voyage was to be short lived. Although he appeared in Star Trek III, he died of Aids just three years later.
The movie is also notable for launching the late James Horner onto the world stage as a leading film composer. Horner cleverly associates the “ship” in starship with a roistering seafaring motif that would be equally at home in a Hornblower movie as it is here. I remember leaving the cinema when this was released and heading STRAIGHT into HMV to buy the vinyl soundtrack!
There are very few things I can find to critique in this movie. It all holds up pretty well, even after nearly 40 years (MAN, I FEEL OLD NOW!) The only scene that perhaps grates with modern sensitivities is in the (supposedly comic) “lady driver” reactions from Kirk.
Nicholas Meyer also clearly had the same frustrations about that first movie. The film barely pauses for breath. Interestingly, it clearly reuses footage from the original movie in travelling to the Enterprise in space dock, but cuts that 6 minute special-effects-porn-fest to about 20 seconds! It’s a striking comparison!
The movie “introduces” Kirstie (“Cheers”) Alley as Vulcan officer Saavik (although she was in a student-made feature the year before). She makes quite an impression. Also new to the series is Merritt Buttrick, playing Kirk’s son David. Sadly, like Khambatta from the last film, his Trek-voyage was to be short lived. Although he appeared in Star Trek III, he died of Aids just three years later.
The movie is also notable for launching the late James Horner onto the world stage as a leading film composer. Horner cleverly associates the “ship” in starship with a roistering seafaring motif that would be equally at home in a Hornblower movie as it is here. I remember leaving the cinema when this was released and heading STRAIGHT into HMV to buy the vinyl soundtrack!
There are very few things I can find to critique in this movie. It all holds up pretty well, even after nearly 40 years (MAN, I FEEL OLD NOW!) The only scene that perhaps grates with modern sensitivities is in the (supposedly comic) “lady driver” reactions from Kirk.