The sixth (obviously) in the still continuing Star Trek movie franchise and the last of the original series movies. After the horror of Star Trek V there was some question of if they would try making another movie with the original actors. After the disappointment I didn't want to see this one, and it was not until a friend rented it that I finally did.

I personally enjoyed this one a lot. It is one of the better Trek movies. The good points include plenty of fights. Humor to lighten the mood and an actual plot! Themes explored include the subtext of racism present in the original series and other movies where the Klingons are brutish bad guys. Also there is quite a bit of intrigue around a proposal of peace between the Klingon Empire and the Federation. In addition the score was pretty good, not Mozart, but good.

There are a few bad points... I'm sure. But I cannot think of any right now. Even Shatner's acting was at least decent. Though this is not the kind of movie that you could just jump into without knowing anything about Star Trek unlike Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

The next movie was a bit of a disappointment though.

After The Wrath of Khan (ST:II), this would have to be my next favorite. It is the first time in the movies that the core concepts that began Star Trek in the '60's were really addressed. It covered current social issues like racism (as mentioned earlier), and, to a greater extent, world change. This movie was made at the end of the cold war. Obviously that event was the basis for this movie. While Khan is still the best of the movies, it never dealt with anything more than revenge. There were no social implications considered. As with the original series (and Next Generation), this film took the issue of cold war hatred head on, and showed the dangers that were involved. This was Star Trek as it was first meant to be, and it showed that once again, people of all racial and political backgrounds can come to an agreement. That is what stuck me about this movie, and is why it will always be one of my favorites.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991, 113 minutes, PG)

Writing Team
Gene Roddenberry, Leonard Nimoy, Lawrence Konner, Mark Rosenthal (Story)
Nicholas Meyer, Denny Martin Flinn (Screenplay)

Main Cast
William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy as Captain Spock
DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard McCoy
James Doohan as Captain Montgomery Scott
Walter Koenig as Commander Pavel Chekov
Nichelle Nichols as Commander Nyota Uhura
George Takei as Captain Hikaru Sulu
Kim Cattrall as Lieutenant Valeris
Mark Lenard as Ambassador Sarek
Grace Lee Whitney as Commander Janice Rand
Brock Peters as Admiral Cartwright
Leon Russom as William Smillie
Kurtwood Smith as the Federation President
Christopher Plummer as General Chang
and Rosanna DeSoto as Azetbur

Synopsis
An explosion on the Klingon moon Praxis has left the Klingon homeworld in dire straits. Due to high military spending, the Klingon government is unable to deal with the ecological disaster tha will wipe out all life on the planet in half a century. With no alternative in sight, the Klingons go to the Federation for help, ending decades of war. However, it seems that the Federation flagship attacked the Klingon Chancellor's ship, after which two Starfleet crewmembers assassinated the Chancellor. Kirk and McCoy are sent to a Klingon gulag, and the Enterprise crew must race the clock to clear their names by finding the real killers and securing peace between the Federation and the Empire.

Interesting bit
This movie contains cameos by actors from every Trek series except Enterprise (although the Klingon courtroom did make an appearance in an episode of the new series). Michael Dorn shows up as Colonel Worf (TNG), Rene Auberjonois shows up (uncredited) as Colonel West (DS9), and Kurtwood Smith shows up as the Federation President (VOY). Also of note is a cameo by Christian Slater as the communications officer on the USS Excelsior.