Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

On the eve of retirement, Kirk and McCoy are charged with assassinating the Klingon High Chancellor and imprisoned. The Enterprise crew must help them escape to thwart a conspiracy aimed at sabotaging the last best hope for peace.

Director:

Nicholas Meyer

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (television series "Star Trek"), Leonard Nimoy (story)

Stars:

William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
William Shatner	...	Kirk
Leonard Nimoy	...	Spock
DeForest Kelley	...	McCoy
James Doohan	...	Scotty
Walter Koenig	...	Chekov
Nichelle Nichols	...	Uhura
George Takei	...	Sulu
Kim Cattrall	...	Lt. Valeris
Mark Lenard	...	Sarek
Grace Lee Whitney	...	Excelsior Communications Officer
Brock Peters	...	Admiral Cartwright
Leon Russom	...	Chief in Command
Kurtwood Smith	...	Federation President
Christopher Plummer	...	Chang
Rosanna DeSoto	...	Azetbur (as Rosana DeSoto)

Storyline

After an explosion on their moon, the Klingons have an estimated 50 years before their ozone layer is completely depleted, and they all die. They have only one choice - to make peace with the Federation, which will mean an end to 70 years of conflict. Captain James T. Kirk and crew are called upon to help in the negotiations because of their experience with the Klingons. Peace talks don't quite proceed, and Kirk and McCoy are convicted of assassinating the Klingon High Chancellor, and imprisoned on Rura Penthe, a snowy hard-labor prison camp. Will they manage to escape? And will there ever be peace with the Klingons?

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Plot Keywords:

male alien | type 2 phaser | ship's surgeon | pavel chekov character | spock character | 

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Taglines:

The battle for peace has begun

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Startrek.com startrek.com

Country:

USA

Language:

English Klingon

Release Date:

6 December 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country

Filming Locations:

Alaska, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$74,888,996

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$96,888,996

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby Digital (some test prints) Dolby Stereo (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The final film appearance for DeForest Kelley (Star Trek (1966) regular "Bones") and Mark Lenard (beloved guest star Sarek) although Lenard's final television appearance Star Trek: The Next Generation: Unification I (1991) was filmed at approximately the same time. A photograph of Star Trek movies guest star Merritt Butrick, who died in 1989, appears as David Marcus in a photograph on Captain Kirk's desk.

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Goofs

As Kirk and McCoy are descending the stairs into the prison on Rura Penthe, there is a trio of aliens watching them come down. Watch the green, lizard-like alien in the middle. If you look at the base of his skull on the back of his head, you'll see a triangular opening just above the collar of his coat. This is obviously the opening that would allow the actor to take his alien mask off.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Captain Hikaru Sulu: Stardate 9521.6. Captain's Log, USS Excelsior. Hikaru Sulu commanding. After three years, I have concluded my first assignment as master of this vessel, cataloguing gaseous planetary anomalies in Beta Quadrant. We're heading home under full impulse power. I'm pleased to report that ship and crew have functioned well.

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Crazy Credits

The film opens with a dedication to the memory of Gene Roddenberry.

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Alternate Versions

The DVD Special Edition includes all the new scenes from the home video releases, and a few new minor changes to certain scenes and effects exclusive to this DVD.

• There is a new wide shot of Scotty reading the blueprints of the Enterprise in the dining hall.
• Valeris's interrogation scene has been entirely reedited. There are now close up shots of Kirk and McCoy when they speak their lines instead of being in wide shots. When Spock and Valeris name a particular conspirator, the face of that person briefly appears in a flashback like style.

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Connections

Featured in Collecting Star Trek's Movie Relics (2009)

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Soundtracks

Theme From Star Trek TV Series
Music by Alexander Courage

User Reviews

The best of the bunch with the original cast. A great send-off!

You don't have to be Einstein to figure out the Klingon Empire represented the Soviet Union in the original series and films so it's fitting Kirk's old foes should re-appear and give the crew it's final adventure at a time when similar questions raised in the film faced the old Soviet Empire.

This is the best of the film series for several reasons. The timeliness of the film's release with real-world events. (Funny how Col. West had a contingency plan for terrorism along the Federation's border. Made me wish we had one prior to 9-11) The issue of how people can be frightened of drastic change (what a very Clinton-esque message) mirroring Kirk and crew's emotional baggage helps propel the plot forward and makes it believable.

A great tense score and tight editing (sorry, no overlong speeches and theorizing) combined with terrific performances from Christopher Plummer and the best yet from the original ensemble kept me glued to my seat the whole time. Additional characters are actually relevant, unlike Saavik, the Marcuses, et al., and although I should have seen it coming I was surprised how far-reaching the conspiracy to kill Gorkon actually was, even including a Vulcan! Fun cameos from Michael Dorn, Christian Slater and Iman lighten the mood. Her presence finally makes McCoy quip to Kirk "What is it with you, anyway?" which is something that should have been said years ago. Must be the girdle. The Klingon attack scene at the end is great unrelenting action and was better than Khan's attack on the Enterprise in Part II (see my comments on that film to get an idea).

"The Undiscovered Country" is essentially a mystery in space with political overtones and it's great fun watching Spock and Valeris unravel the mystery piece by piece. Valeris (Kim Cattrall)is given more to do than Saavik ever was. The only nit-picking comments I have is just why couldn't the assassins just throw the boots out the window? If an explosion in space wasn't monitored until the shockwave hit the Excelsior, how would the Enterprise find the boots? Would the NCC-1701 just shift gears into reverse?

A lot has been made about the clock errors. To me, it's not terribly important since it's just background and your attention should not be there anyway. It was a bad idea to include such a prop though.

The only wasted role belongs to Scotty but he had his moment of greatness in "The Voyage Home" during the transparent aluminum scenes. He also delivers the corniest line of the film during dinner with the Klingons: "Maybe we are looking at something of that future here!" Well, duh!

Everything that made Star Trek great is in this film: action, great one-liners from McCoy and Chekhov, the peace message, the Klingons, Spock's logic skills, literary quotes and celebrity cameos makes "The Undiscovered Country" a worthy send-off to perhaps the most celebrated ensemble cast in entertainment history. Even if you're not a Trek-fan, you would enjoy this picture and is well worth the rental/purchase.