STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME

* * * ½

STARRING: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, George Takei, James Doohan, Catherine Hicks

1986, 119 Minutes, Directed by: Leonard Nimoy

Description: Star Trek IV returns to one of the favourite themes of the original TV series--time travel--to bring Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Sulu, Uhura, and Chekov from the 23rd century to present-day San Francisco. In their own time, the Starfleet heroes encounter an alien probe emitting a mysterious message--a message delivered in the song of the now-extinct Earth species of humpback whales. Failure to respond to the probe will result in Earth's destruction, so Kirk and company time-travel to 20th-century Earth--in their captured Klingon starship--to transport a humpback whale to the future in an effort to peacefully communicate with the alien probe. — Amazon.com

This one sees the old-familiar 23rd century Star Trek crew in 20th century San Francisco. Time travel plot devices usually works - especially for the Star Trek series. This film is no exception. Probably because the film does such a good job at focusing on the characters while pushing them through a strong story-line that involves them not only getting back to their own time-frame, but acquiring a whale in the process. (Go see the movie, it all makes sense actually. . . )

A quirky sense of humour, partly because we know the characters so well by now and because the film refuses to take itself too serious makes this film better than the previous two films in the series. Even non-trekkers (who have a really tough time distinguishing between the various films) would enjoy The Voyage Home.

Big screen sequels include: Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989), Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), all of which featured the old crew of Kirk, Spock, et al. The baton was passed to the Next Generation crew in Star Trek - Generations (1994), Star Trek - First Contact (1996), Star Trek - Insurrection (1998) and Star Trek - Nemesis (2002).
 

• Read an extended review of Star Trek IV - The Voyage Home.
• Read the script.
• Read about The Highs and Lows of Celluloid Star Trek.
• Download the trailer.

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