Can't get enough of movies and TV shows that scare up a good fright? Check out Scary Good, IMDb's Horror Entertainment Guide.
Title: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
| 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) | |
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? Written by Colin Tinto <cst@imdb.com>
Explore popular action and adventure titles available to stream with Prime Video.
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.