The Original Series movies expanded upon
the universe established in the "Star Trek" Television Series. We followed
the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise 1701 (refit) and 1701-A on their renewed
missions to the stars, saving the galaxy as they knew it. The TOS crew
flew in six onscreen missions, with Captain Kirk, Captain Scott, and Commander
Chekov making an appearance in the TNG motion picture premier.
STAR TREK: THE MOTION
PICTURE
(December 7, 1979)
This movie is set after the end of TOS as Kirk and
Co have had a few years away from the Enterprise. Kirk has been
promoted to Admiral and Spock, as it turns out, is basically on a mission
to find himself. We get to see a "refitted" Enterprise 1701 that
takes the ship in a whole new direction. Kirk and his crew are reunited
to save the Federation from V'ger, a massive (to say the least) entity
hell bent for leather on reaching Earth. As it turns out, V'ger is
actually our "Voyager 6" deep space probe returning to Earth to fulfil
its mission of returning its data to "The Creator", whom V'ger assumes
is a machine. The movie was very 70s in its feel, but still managed
to tell a timeless story about how we humans view the universe ("We all
make God in our own image.").
I really don't have a favorite line from this movie.
Box Office Earnings: $139 Million (US)
STAR TREK II: THE
WRATH OF KHAN
(June 4, 1982)
"The Wrath of Khan" is set some time after "The Motion
Picture", as evidenced by the radical change in the Starfleet uniforms
and design element changes on the Enterprise. We get to see a little
further into the lives and friendships of the Enterprise crew, as well
as their pesonalities (Saavik referring to Kirk <in Vulcan>: "He's
so...human."; Spock responds <in Vulcan>: "Nobody's perfect
Saavik."). We also learn that even in the 23rd Century, scientists
are still inventing "the ultimate weapon" (not on purpose, its intended
usage was different). We again meet Khan, a character from TOS that
was left on Seti Alpha V by Captain Kirk many years before. A catastrophic
change takes place in the planet's atmosphere, due to a shift in its orbit,
which causes the surface to become mostly lifeless, also causing the death
of Khan's wife. He blames Kirk for what has happened, and steals
the U.S.S. Reliant in an effort to exact his revenge and escape the hell
that Seti Alpha V had become. Through the wonderful cunning we have
come to expect from him, Kirk defeats Khan in a series of epic battle scenes,
but that's only after a serious blunder that leaves many of the cadets
onboard injured, dead, or dying. The very emotional scenes between
Kirk and Spock after the Enterprise narrowly escapes the "Genesis Wave"
("I have been, and always shall be, your friend") and the funeral scene
("Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most...human")
left no doubt as to how close these two characters were. The movie
is replete with action sequences and special effects still holding their
own to this day. This movie explored one of the best aspects of mankind
(friendship and family) and one of the worst aspects of mankind (blind
rage and vengence), and is widely considered one of the best of the movies.
Khan: "I
will leave you as you left me, marooned at the center of a dead moon. Buried
alive...buried alive..."
Kirk (in classic Shatner overacting): "KHAN...KHAN...!!!"
Box Office
Earnings: $79.9 Million (US)
STAR TREK III: THE
SEARCH FOR SPOCK
(June 1, 1984)
"The Search
for Spock" picks up at the end of "The Wrath of Khan", the opening scene
being the funeral for Spock, lending a sense of a coherent story arc
that becomes more epic as it spans more than just a two hour timeframe.
In this movie, we learn that all Vulcans have a soul, a "Katra",
that can live on eternally on Vulcan (in jars, no less) and can actually
be passed to another being through a mind meld. We find out that
the scene in the engine room of the Enterprise from the previous movie
("Remember..."), Spock passes his soul to Dr. McCoy, and the good doctor
spends much time trying to take the "Katra" back "home" ("Climb the steps
to Mt. Selea (sp?)"). The whole main cast of characters put their
careers on the line (well, into the toilet) by breaking McCoy out of prison,
stealing the Enterprise (which was due for decommissioning), sabotaging
the Excelsior, and heading to the forbidden Genesis Planet. They
end up fighting a Bird of Prey, finding Spock's regenerated body, self-destructing
the Enterprise, killing all but one of the Klingons that was the Bird of
Prey's crew (who can forget Christopher Lloyd as a Klingon), and stealing
the said Klingon ship, all to save Spock. In the end, at the behest
of Sarek (Spock's father), a Vulcan priestess rejoins Spock's soul and
body at great personal danger to herself, Dr. McCoy, and Spock.
(She comments that the "rejoining" ceremony had not been performed in
- over a hundred years wasn't it - and that it was illogical to
request it. Sarek responds "My logic is uncertain where my son is
involved.") It was a great story that cemented the friendship shared
by all of the original cast, and giving a little social commentary about
all of mankind in the process (what would you do to save your best friend).
Scotty:
"A few souvenirs from the Excelsior's engines, doctor. The
more complicated they make the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the
drain."
Box Office
Earnings: $87 Million (US)
STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE
HOME
(November 26, 1986)
Continuing the story arc from "The Wrath of Khan",
Star Trek IV showed us the (longer than expected) trip from Vulcan to Earth
for the crew of the late Enterprise. They had cleaned up (and refitted,
apparently) the Bird of Prey that was commandeered from the previous movie,
renaming it, appropriately enough, the H.M.S. Bounty. We see Spock,
recovering from his reunification, wrestling with the internal battle between
his logical Vulcan side and emotional Human side. We gain a little
more insight into the complexities that are Spock throughout the movie
as he comes to terms with who he is again. On their trip back home,
a mysterious and gigantic deep-space probe arrives at Earth, seemingly
trying to evaporate the oceans and instantly draining the power of Spacedock
and any starships that pass near to it, all the while emitting a strange
sound. Spock, with Uhura's help, determines that the song is of
the now extinct humpback whale and they must time travel back to the twentieth
century to pick up one or two. Once in the twentieth, there is no
end to the commentary going on about 80s American society, along with quite
a bit of humor ("Nuclear wessels."; "Computer...hello computer...Ah, a keyboard,
how quaint."; "...must've done a little too much LDS...") as the
crew tries to make sense of the world they find themselves in. They
locate two humpbacks, male and female (George and Gracie), and transport
them back to the 23rd Century just in the nick of time to save Earth (while
narrowly missing the Golden Gate Bridge). In the end, everyone but
Kirk are acquitted of all charges considering what they had done to save
the Federation...again. Only Kirk is convicted of disobeying the
orders of a superior officer, and summarily demoted to Captain. For
his part, Spock stands trial with the crew, even though he is charged
with no crime ("I stand with my friends"). We even get to see Spock
and Sarek exchange words at the end ("It is agreeable to see you again,
son"). The last scenes of the movie reveal that, despite
the doctor and Scotty's reservations ("We'll get a frieghter..."; <responding
to Sulu> "Excelsior! Why on God's green Earth would you want
THAT bucket of bolts?"), the crew is given the newly-commissioned Enterprise
1701-A, and the line will continue. This movie was replete with
examination of mankind and the exploration of friendships and the inner
psyche of Spock. This is also considered one of the best of the
Trek movies by most.
Spock:
"Perhaps it is time for a colorful metaphor?"
Box Office
Earnings: $109.7 Million (US)
STAR TREK V: THE
FINAL FRONTIER
(June 9, 1989)
What can I say, this movie was definately not the
best one made, but if nothing else it DID make us laugh. This story
centers around Spock's half-brother Sybok. Sybok rebels against the
traditional Vulcan logic in favor of his passions ("Our ancestors felt
with their hearts, made love with their hearts, and believed with their
hearts...") and plots to steal a starship in order to travel past the
"Great Barrier" at the center of the galaxy to find God. He says
that everybody hides a secret pain, and through the release of that pain
(with Sybok's help), the person becomes more than willing to go along with
Sybok's plan. We find that the "Great Barrier" is merely an illusion
("Ve have no instrument readings. Is it dere or isn't it...") and it
is possible to go past it. I believe that many people misunderstood
the meaning of "God" in this movie. The "God" on the planet was neither
(at least, IMHO) a God or demon, but a very powerful alien trapped there
("Why does God need a starship?"; "Sybok, this is not the God of Shakaree
(sp?), or any other God for that matter..."). Oh, and by the way, a
Klingon warship had been chasing the Enterprise throughout most of the movie.
The premise of the story was not bad, but the execution left much to
be desired. There were liberties taken with the story (just how many
decks did the Enterprise have anyway), but by and large the movie refined
the look of the 23rd Century a little more to bring it more in line with the
upcoming 24th Century than previous movies. Also, we DID get some good
belly laughs in ("Well, I'll be damned, a marshmellow..." "It's a SONG
you green-blooded...Vulcan!" "I know this ship like the back of me
hand." "Sulu look, the sun's come out, it's a miracle." ) and we did get
to see the "Planet of Universal Peace" with the triple-breasted cat woman!
Meow. All in all, this one was definately not for the masses and
was more for die-hard Trekkies that could get ALL of the jokes. It is
widely considered to be the worst of the movies.
Scotty:
"Could we wait until I'm a wee bit stronger? I don't think
I could take it in my condition....or yours."
Box Office
Earnings: $52.2 Million (US)
STAR TREK VI: THE
UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY
(December 6, 1991)
This movie was the last with the entire TOS cast,
and my personal favorite, so you may see a little bias here (and my comments
are probably a little longer than they should be). In this movie,
Praxis, the Klingon homeworld's key energy-production facility, explodes
polluting the Klingon atomosphere. As a result, the Klingons decide
to negociate peace as they can no longer afford the hosilities between
the Federation and the Empire. The whole story is a delicious who-dunnit,
which I couldn't figure out until near the end (and I'm usually pretty good
at those things). The Enterprise is framed for firing on the Chancellor's
ship (Kirk: "Torpedo Room, did we fire?" Scotty, after running
faster than I've EVER seen: "Negative Captain, according to inventory
we're still fully loaded."), and sending a boarding party to kill him (Uhura:
"Qu'onos One, this is Enterprise, respond...There's no answer, but
I do hear weapons fire, and a lot of shouting.") Kirk surrenders
the Enterprise to the Klingons to avoid an all-out war (Chang: "We
come in peace, and you BLATENTLY defy that peace...and for that, I shall
blow you out of the stars!"), but in the end can not save the Chancellor,
causing Kirk and McCoy to be arrested for murder. They're put on
trial for their crimes, an obvious show where they're guaranteed conviction,
and sentenced to life on the penal asteroid of Rura Penthe (actually, the
normal sentence would be death, but was commuted in the interest of peace).
Spock and crew figure out how they were framed, but had no evidence
and wasn't sure who had done it. They end up rescuing McCoy and Kirk,
making it to Camp Khitomer in time to destroy the Bird of Prey that could
fire while cloaked (the only one that anyone was aware of), with the help
of Captain Sulu and the Excelsior, and save the Federation President from
asassination. The story is brought to a bitter-sweet end when the Chancellor's
daughter (who had taken her father's place) and Kirk reconcile ("You've
restored my father's faith." "And you've restored my son's."). We
see the Enterprise fly off "into the sunset" for the last time (I have
to admit that I did cry at that one).
Yes, this one gets two paragraphs (told ya it was biased). The
story was not all intrigue and 'splosions, though. It was a very
well thought out and executed story line, with plenty of action and suspense,
but also humor and personal interaction, though not so much humor that
the movie became silly. We have the dinner between the Klingons
and the Enterprise crew, along with the aftermath:
"You cannot
truely appreciate Shakespeare until you've heard it in the original Klingon."
"I thought
Romulan Ale was illegal Captain." "One of the benefits of being
hundreds of light years from headquarters."
"So, General,
are you fond of Shakes......peare......."
"To be or not to be, this is the question which preoccupies my
people, Captain. We need breathing room!" "Earth, Hitler,
1938."
(the entire senior staff breathes a sigh of relief) "Did you see
the way they ate?" "Tarrible table manners..." "I'm going
to find a pot of black coffee to swim in..."
"Note to the galley...NOTE TO THE GALLEY...Romulan Ale no longer
to be served at diplomatic functions."
And the
interaction with the crew after McCoy and Kirk are arrested:
"...Starfleet
is ordering us back to Spacedock." "In Holland, on Earth...workers
threw their wooden shoes, called 'sabo' into the machines to break them..."
(Chekov and Uhura look a little confused) "...hence the word,
'sabotage'." "Subspace radio's out, all backup systems malfunctioning."
"Excellent....I-I-I mean, too bad."
"Ah, Mr. Scott, I understand you're having problems with the engines,
how long do you need to repair them?" "Well, there's nothing wrong
with the bloody thing..." "Mr. Scott, need I remind you that if
we return to Spacedock we lose all hope of rescuing Captain Kirk and Doctor
McCoy." "Ah, could take weeks, sir."
"Perhaps you remember Russian epic of Cinderella....if shoe fits,
wear it..." (the assembled officers clear their throats and point at the
crewman's feet, which are WAY too big to fit into the boot)
<in Klingon> "What is your cargo and destination?" Uhura,
after pouring through books, responds in broken Klingon "We am thy cargo
vessel <can't remember the name>...en route to Rura Penthe....We
am carrying food, things, and supplies..." <in Klingon> "Don't
pick up any bugs along the way...."
Not all
fun and games, though. If anything, Chang made a wonderful nemesis
to Kirk:
"Let us
not mince words, Captain. In space, all warriors are cold ones."
"Can you see me, Kirk? I can see you..."
"Ah, the games afoot, eh?"
"Cry havoc! And let slip the dogs of war!"
"Let us be honest Captain. Warrior to warrior..."
"I am as constant as the Northern Star.....!"
(the famous going out of the world line) "To be...or not........to
be......"
All in all,
I'd say that Star Trek VI represented everything that was ever right
about Trek, and I watch is as many times as I can. It
was a compelling story that had just the right mix of humor, intrigue,
mystery, and drama to keep the movie rolling right up until the end.
"Second
star to the right....and straight on til morning...."
Box Office Earnings: $74.9 Million (US)
|
