Bob’s (Continuing) Guide to Star Trek Films
Principal Cast: First Generation + Catherine Hicks and Mark Leonard
Basic Plot: The crew of the Enterprise have been on Vulcan for five months refitting the commandeered Bird of Prey for their voyage back to Earth. With Spock back at his post, they return to the federation to face judgment for their violations of Starfleet regulations.
As they make their way back, a probe of unknown origin makes its way to Earth sending out a signal that knocks out the power of everything around it and causes severe atmospheric uproar on the planet below. In analyzing the probe’s transmission, the homeward bound Trek crew discovers that the probe is "speaking" the language of the humpback whale, which on Earth is now extinct.
To save Earth, the crew must travel back in time to locate some humpback whales and bring them back to communicate with the probe.
And, as my brother says, the tomfoolery ensues.
My Take: This film is a fan favorite of Trekkies. The mood of the film is much lighter and there is much more humor and fun to be found in this title, than in the previous trek films. This is also the third of an “unintended trilogy” of Trek films beginning with “The Wrath of Khan.”
*Spoiler Alert* The idea of time travel was nothing new to Star Trek at the time of this movie’s release. Several episodes of the original series saw the crew travel back into history, including one of the show’s most popular episodes, “City on the Edge of Forever” written by Harlan Ellison. The film does a good job of paying enough attention to the fact that Kirk and company are out of their natural time frame without getting away from the thick of the plot. The humor of the film is also well balanced out and doesn’t take away from the movement of the piece. In other words, the writers didn’t go out of their way to be funny.
The cast gives a good performance, as usual, with the humor again being the added note. The comedic pacing and delivery is surprising from a cast that is usually called upon to deliver dramatic performance with only the occasional comic relief.
Aside from the humor, the story seems to get back to basics. Earth is threatened, the crew works to save the world, and deals with problems as they come up. The subject of driving a species to extinction and the possible consequences of this action are brought up but not dwelled upon too heavily.
Like I said, this is a fan favorite. It does get a little goofy at times, but that’s not always a bad thing. Who didn’t love it when Spock neck pinches the punk rocker?
Interesting note: As stated earlier, Catherine Hicks would gfo on to star in 7th Heaven with Stephen Collins who played Captain Decker in the first film. So, both the Camdens have had screen time with Shatner. How about them apples?
Principal Cast: First Generation + Catherine Hicks and Mark Leonard
Basic Plot: The crew of the Enterprise have been on Vulcan for five months refitting the commandeered Bird of Prey for their voyage back to Earth. With Spock back at his post, they return to the federation to face judgment for their violations of Starfleet regulations.
As they make their way back, a probe of unknown origin makes its way to Earth sending out a signal that knocks out the power of everything around it and causes severe atmospheric uproar on the planet below. In analyzing the probe’s transmission, the homeward bound Trek crew discovers that the probe is "speaking" the language of the humpback whale, which on Earth is now extinct.
To save Earth, the crew must travel back in time to locate some humpback whales and bring them back to communicate with the probe.
And, as my brother says, the tomfoolery ensues.
My Take: This film is a fan favorite of Trekkies. The mood of the film is much lighter and there is much more humor and fun to be found in this title, than in the previous trek films. This is also the third of an “unintended trilogy” of Trek films beginning with “The Wrath of Khan.”
*Spoiler Alert* The idea of time travel was nothing new to Star Trek at the time of this movie’s release. Several episodes of the original series saw the crew travel back into history, including one of the show’s most popular episodes, “City on the Edge of Forever” written by Harlan Ellison. The film does a good job of paying enough attention to the fact that Kirk and company are out of their natural time frame without getting away from the thick of the plot. The humor of the film is also well balanced out and doesn’t take away from the movement of the piece. In other words, the writers didn’t go out of their way to be funny.
The cast gives a good performance, as usual, with the humor again being the added note. The comedic pacing and delivery is surprising from a cast that is usually called upon to deliver dramatic performance with only the occasional comic relief.
Aside from the humor, the story seems to get back to basics. Earth is threatened, the crew works to save the world, and deals with problems as they come up. The subject of driving a species to extinction and the possible consequences of this action are brought up but not dwelled upon too heavily.
Like I said, this is a fan favorite. It does get a little goofy at times, but that’s not always a bad thing. Who didn’t love it when Spock neck pinches the punk rocker?
Interesting note: As stated earlier, Catherine Hicks would gfo on to star in 7th Heaven with Stephen Collins who played Captain Decker in the first film. So, both the Camdens have had screen time with Shatner. How about them apples?
No comments:
Post a Comment