This week on CineTV.blog, the contest is favorite movies from the ‘80s. My choice is one of my favorite films – Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (sometimes referred to as Star Trek: Save the Whales in fandom. If you didn’t know it, I am a long time Trek fan and have been active in Fandom since my high school days. for more info on this contest and cineTV - @cinetv/cinetv-contest-50-favorite-iconic-80s-movie
Star Trek IV: the voyage Home poster - IMDB
Most people know the film, and if you don’t you should find the time to watch it. Directed by Leonard Nimoy, and starring William Shatner, Nimoy and most of the original series regulars, it is a direct follow-up to the story in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. My Bonnie Bride and I sat down to watch it over the weekend.
When it was released in 1986 (Thanksgiving weekend, I think), I was still stationed in Spain had to wait for it to arrive at the base theater to see it. And wait. And wait. Then my orders came through to PCS (Permanent Change of Station) Stateside, and headed to Travis AFB in California, mid-March of ‘87. The film had not shown up on base, so I was hopeful it would still be in theaters when I got to California. It had finished its first run in the theaters by this time, and was, luckily, in the second run theaters, so I was able to catch it on an almost big screen.
The running theme of this film, and the basis for the story, is an alien probe has approached Earth, and is tearing it apart. Spock is able to determine that the probe is sending whale song, and expecting a response from the now extinct Humpback Whale. Kirk uses a slingshot tour around the Earth’s sun to go back in time, in a beautiful and powerful Klingon Bird of Prey (yes, I have a bias towards Klingons – been doing Klingon in Fandom since the late ‘70s) that Kirk and his pals stole from the Klingon Empire. They detect two Humpback Whales in the San Francisco area and decide that those two would make good choices to take Back to the Future and save the Earth.
Why this film works so well, and is one of my favorite trek films (I rank it second best, running close behind Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which I wrote about when Kirstie Alley passed away) is that the storytelling combines drama and humor in a masterful way. Credit not only goes to Nimoy’s directing (Nimoy also helped develop the story), but also to the creative team that wrote the screenplay, as well as performances by the cast, both mainline Enterprise crew, and many minor supporting actors.
Chekov (Walter Koenig) and Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) looking for directions -IMDB
One of the best, and funniest, scenes is where Uhura and Chekov are standing on a corner in San Francisco asking for directions to Alameda “where they keep the nuclear wessels.” To have a guy speaking with a Russian accent asking for directions to Alameda Naval Base and nuclear-powered warships, with a motorcycle cop staring intently at this dynamic duo is, well, priceless. “Nu-cle-ar Wessels”. After all, this is still before the fall of the Soviet Union and the Cold War is still very active.
Sotty (James Doohan) and Mccoy (DeForest Kelley )IMDB
Another great and memorable scene is when Scotty, with Dr. McCoy, while touring a polymer manufacturing facility, goes to use a computer to show the chief scientist of the facility the formula for Transparent Aluminum – holding the mouse and saying “Hello computer.” Too bloody funny.
During it original three seasons, Star Trek routinely incorporated bits of humor into some of the episodes, and STIV:The Voyage Home delivers on the humor throughout the film, making it one of the most entertaining Trek films.
Although I have focused on some of the humor in the film, the drama also delivers as Kirk, Spock and the rest of the crew develop the plans, and the means, to take George and Gracie to the 23 rd century in the aforementioned awesomely cool Klingon warship. Whether it was penetrating military defenses to syphon energy from the reactor so that it could be used to recharge the spent dilithium crystals.
Catherine Hicks, performing as Gillian, a whale biologist, provides a lot of the drama driving the story and some of the humor, though more as a proverbial straight man, or lady as the case may be, when she takes Kirk and Spock for a ride and learns a bit about what they are up to, and Kirk and Spock have a back and forth as to whether or not they like Italian food. She is a fine actress, and, although I have only seen her in a couple of other films (The Razor’s Edge with Bill Murray comes to mind), her performance here is top notch, including at least one ad-libbed bit that stayed in the movie.
Star Trek IV is a great film and shows Trek at its best, and holds up well, even after close to 40 years since its original release. Yes, I love Trek. Always have, and always will be an Original Trek fan.
Thanks for stopping by.
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