Principal Cast: First Generation + Christopher Plummer, Kim Cattrall, Iman, Kurtwood Smith, and David Warner.
The Basics
The Klingon homeworld has suffered catastrophic damage to their atmosphere caused by the explosion of its moon, Praxis, which was also the Klingon’s key energy facility. This leaves the Klingons with about 50 years of breathable air left on their world.
In the wake of this disaster, the Klingons begin discussing a possible peace treaty with the Federation, which does not sit well with many of its members. Nevertheless, Kirk and his crew are assigned, as their final voyage, to escort the Klingon chancellor and his company to Earth to discus peace.
While en route, the Klingon ship is fired upon, and the chancellor is murdered by two assassins in Federation pressure suits. Kirk and McCoy are arrested, tried, and convicted for the crime.
It is up to the Enterprise crew to find the true murderer and prevent them from striking again when the new chancellor continues the talks of peace.
My Take
This is another film I highly regard, not just as a great Trek film, but a great work of science fiction altogether. A lot of what makes this film great can be seen as a “right place, right time” scenario.
*Spoiler alert* The obvious allegory of this film is the fall of the Soviet Union, due in part by the meltdown of the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl, which is represented by the explosion of Praxis. Both were “key sources of energy,” and “:insufficient safety measures,” led to catastrophe in both cases.
And like the hostilities between the US and the USSR, the conflict between the Federation and the Klingon empire had been a long one, and the thought of the peace was something that Kirk and company thought they would never see in their lifetimes. This led very naturally to the conspiracy to murder Gorkon, which would have started a full scale war for no other reason that to keep the status quo. In my humble opinion, the film does a very good job in presenting the allegory.
In the Trek universe, the Klingons started out as little more than a race of antagonists to be brought in when action was needed. They, as a whole, began to gain depth of character throughout the series Star Trek: The Next Generation, and that progression continues and grows through this film. We learn a little about their culture, their core values, and that their blood is purple. But more importantly, there is a civilization behind their actions, which gives them motivation beyond the scope of plot development. This is a good thing.
The cast performance in this movie stands out from the series in my opinion. The tension runs high in many parts and the cast does a very good job portraying these emotions. For example, when Spock realizes that the Federation has been betrayed by his protégé, Nimoy does a great job showing Spock filling with anger that his logical upbringing tells him he must suppress.
The film also features one of the finest supporting casts in the franchise. Christopher Plummer stands out amongst them as General Chang, who represents the old world Klingon school of thought that war is a way of life, and peace is another word for surrender. David Warner had played a bit of a static part in Trek five, but shows his character acting ability in the role of Gorkon making him stand out, even though he is in less that five minutes of the film. Kim Cattrall does a good job playing the Vulcan Valeris, who is somewhat flawed in her sense of logic and brash a certain points, but Cattrall does a good job making this character believable. Kurtwood Smith also appears as the Federation president, and shows that he can play a more reasonable character than he’s known for (watch Robocop, Dead Poets Society, and that 70’s Show.) Iman rounds out the cast as a shape shifting alien who helps Kirk and McCoy escape their prison and lead them into a trap. She does a good job of portraying a character of strength and a less that trustworthy demeanor.
I’m not one to praise special effects for the most part, but they were done very well in this movie. But then again, this was still an era where filmmakers knew what effects shots to use to enhance the story, rather than wow the audience away from a bad story.
Originally, Trek 5 was meant to be the last film to feature the original cast, and this film was to be a prequel showing Kirk and Spock at Starfleet Academy. But, due to the poor reaction to the film by critics and fans, it was decided to reassemble the cast for one more adventure. Like I said, “right place, right time.” The world was changing, and the world of Star Trek changed with it. Like Wrath of Khan, this should be in your collection.
Interesting Notes: Originally, Kim Cattrall’s character was to be Lieutenant Saavik, frst portrayed by Kirsty Alley. But Cattrall objected to this because she did not want to be the third actor to play this role, and she also thought it would be a betrayal of the original character to have her betray Spock the way she did. So the character was changed.
Also, Michael Dorn, who is best know for playing Lieutenant Worf on TNG, has a small part in this film as General Worf, Kirk and McCoy’s defense council for their trial. It has been implied by the writers that this is Worf’s grandfather. General Worf is present at the peace talks at Camp Kitomer. In the TNG storyline, Worf’s parents are killed in an attack on the Klingon outpost on Kitomer, which makes this a very significant locale in Klingon history.
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