Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is the final voyage of the original crew of the Starship Enterprise. That isn’t to say that the characters didn’t reappear again in other films or episodes of Trek. But this was the last time they were on a mission together. As such, the movie holds a great deal of nostalgia – for fans and actors alike. And in many respects, it is a worthy, proper sendoff for such an iconic cast, crew, and series. After three seasons of television and six films, this is quite literally the end. And the movie is quite self-aware of this fact, making the theme of the future, the “Undiscovered Country” central to the story, the characters, and the audience. Put simply, everyone is aware that they are passing on the torch and they strive to do so with dignity, grace, and a lot of adventure. That the movie isn’t especially very good hardly matters in light of how important it is in the vast canon of Star Trek.

Coming off of an abysmal effort in the last film, The Final Frontier, The Undiscovered Country would have been deemed a success, simply if it hadn’t included a reprise of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” And it is certainly a competently made film. But as an example of movie-making, it hardly rises above its own subject matter – offering a story that is interesting, but not compellingly presented. This movie is more about its destination – its final ponderings about the past and the future – than it is about getting from the opening scene to the final one. That isn’t to say that the film is bad. Rather, the craft of the movie is merely average, with only a couple of moments which lend themselves to affecting an impact with the audience.

The main premise of the film is an impending peace conference between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. Quite naturally, such prospects scare the hell out of a lot of people who have gotten used to the hatred between the two factions – including Captain Kirk himself. But whereas Kirk bemoans the possibilities and vents into his personal log, there are those for whom the prospects of peace are so odious, that they must take action. To that end, the Klingon chancellor is killed in a surprise attack, and both Kirk and the Enterprise are framed for murder. The result is to destabilize the peace process, send Kirk and McCoy off to a penal colony, and launch a full-scale investigation on board the Enterprise.

The whole murder-mystery angle of the story is the most intriguing element to the movie. It’s certainly a departure from the typical Star Trek fare. And on that note, it’s a credit to the film. But it isn’t handled with any particular craft or skill. The movie certainly goes through the paces of searching for clues and using deductive reasoning (leading to one of the best lines in which Spock echoes Sherlock Holmes’ contention that if you eliminate all other possibilities, whatever you are left with, no matter how improbable, must be true). But aside from Spock’s homage, there really is almost nothing special about any of it. In the end, it is reasoned by Spock, that there must have been a second ship – one that was somehow able to fire while invisible. And there must have been someone on board the Enterprise to facilitate the whole thing (a Vulcan officer named Valeris, played by Kim Cattrall).

The story becomes a race against time to first save the captain from his prison (before he gets killed) and then to save the peace conference before another murder can be affected. It all boils down to the episode’s best sequence: a space battle between a prototype Klingon Bird of Prey which can fire while cloaked, and the starships Enterprise and Excelsior — captained by Sulu. The space battle is fairly well-done, looking both epic and powerful (though it doesn’t quite reach the same levels as the Enterprise – Reliant battles in the Wrath of Khan). And yet the whole sequence is threatened by Chang’s ridiculous flood of Shakespearean quotes.

Unfortunately, the rescue inside the peace conference wraps itself up much too quickly and neatly, becoming more perfunctory than profound. Especially when Kirk and the Klingon chancellor’s daughter have their cheesy exchanges of peace. But from here, the movie quickly pivots to its most indelible moments as we see the cast and crew together for their final scenes. It’s a bittersweet ending, drawing heavily on the theme from the story: the fear of an uncertain future, and the apprehension many fans may have felt at having to finally say goodbye to the crew they knew so well. And Kirk’s final little speech, about entrusting the future of the Enterprise to other crews is fitting, considering the movie was released in the midst of TNG’s television run.

The Undiscovered Country is, perhaps, an average movie. But its place in Star Trek lore makes it much more significant than just another Trek sequel movie. And, too, it manages to find a message to convey, even within its own self-absorbed “goodbye” to the fans. Put simply, the film is usually rated fairly high by fans, purely because of the nostalgia factor. But in this case, the nostalgia becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, slightly elevating the film itself, simply because it is so important to so many.

Filed under: Feature Films, Original Series