Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country (1991) - Illustrated Reference

Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country was directed by Nicholas Meyer. It premiered on the 3rd December 1991 Starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Christopher Plummer, David Warner, Kim Cattrall and Mark Lenard. Screenplay by Nicholas Meyer, Denny Martin Flinn. Music by Cliff Eidelman. 110mins.

Peace talks with the Klingon Empire are jeopardised after the USS Enterprise seemingly fires at a ship carrying the Klingon Chancellor Gorkon. With the ship disabled assassins beam on board and kill the Chancellor. Kirk and McCoy are accused of murder and are sentenced to the remote prison planet of Rura Penthe.

Nicholas Meyer returned to direct the sixth and last Star Trek movie featuring all the original series cast. Leonard Nimoy suggested a story based on a future “Berlin Wall” coming down, substituting the Klingons for the Russians. The poor performance of Star Trek V meant more budget cuts than before and Star Trek VI cost less than the previous film.

General Chang: Oh, now be honest, Captain, warrior to warrior. You do prefer it this way, don't you, as it was meant to be? No peace in our time. "Once more unto the breach, dear friends."

Christopher Plummer (1929-) plays General Chang, working as Chancellor Gorkon’s chief of staff, Chang has a seething hatred for the United Federation of Planets and has planned with others to derail the peace process by having Gorkon and the Federation President killed.

One of the most respected actors working today, Christopher Plummer has appeared in films as diverse as The Fall of the Roman Empire (1964), The Sound of Music (1965), Battle of Britain (1969), Dreamscape (1984), Dragnet (1987), Twelve Monkeys (1995), The Insider (1999) Oscar nominated for Best Actor for The Last Station (2009) and winning a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Beginners (2011).

David Warner (1941-) plays Gorkon, Chancellor of the Klingon High Council. He believed in peace between the Klingons and the Federation and opened negotiations between the two sides. He was assassinated by people who did not want peace.

Among his many films David Warner has appeared as Jack the Ripper in director Nicholas Meyer’s Time After Time (1979), Evil Genius in Time Bandits (1981) and Sark in Tron (1982) . He had played St. John Talbot in Star Trek V and as a brutal Cardassian torturing Captain Picard in ST-TMP “Chains of Command p.1.p.2”

Kim Cattrall (1956-) is Valeris, a Vulcan mentored by Spock. Unfortunately she turns out to be one of the conspirators out to sabotage the peace talks. An angry Spock forcibly mind melds with her and finds out the Federation President is soon to be assassinated.

Originally it was meant to be Saavik that betrayed Spock and the Federation, but Cattrall didn’t want to be the third actress to play that role and the character of Valeris was introduced. Cattrall found fame on TV as Samantha Jones in the hit series Sex and the City (1998-2004).

Rosanna DeSoto (1950-) played Gorkon’s daughter Azetbur, she wants to continue the peace process after her father is assassinated and she becomes Chancellor. When Kirk saves the Federation President she tells him “You’ve restored my father’s faith”, he replies “you’ve restored my son’s”.

Iman (1955-) plays Martia, a shapeshifting alien at Rura Penthe who befriends Kirk but leads him into a trap. Iman was a supermodel married to singer David Bowie.

Kurtwood Smith (1943-) plays the Federation president. Kirk and co foil a plot to assassinate the president by Starfleet and Klingon conspirators at the Khitomer Conference. Smith played Red Forman in the popular TV series That 70’s Show (1998-2006) and is probably best known to movie fans as nasty villain Clarence Boddicker in Robocop (1987).

Rene Auberjonois (1940-) plays Colonel West, one of the conspirators out to sabotage peace talks. He is the sniper disguised as a Klingon attempting to assassinate the Federation President at the climax, but is shot and killed by Scotty.

Colonel West's scenes were all removed before the film was released in 1991 and they were added back in for the director's cut on DVD, this version is not yet available on blu-ray. Rene Auberjonois is best known to sci-fi fans as the shapeshifting alien Odo in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993-1999).

Michael Dorn (1952-) plays Colonel Worf, the Klingon legal representative to Kirk and McCoy when they are accused of killing Chancellor Gorkon. Colonel Worf is the grandfather of Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Worf, also played by Michael Dorn.

Kirk: They're animals.
Spock: Jim, there is an historic opportunity here.
Kirk: Don't believe them. Don't trust them.
Spock: They're dying.
Kirk: Let them die!

The film is dedicated to Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, the “Great Bird of the Galaxy” died of heart failure in October 1991 a few weeks before the film premiered, he was 70.

Rura Penthe was also a penal colony in the classic movie 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954). Captain Nemo mentions he was once one of the prisoners there.

The film features a prototype Klingon Bird of Prey commanded by Chang which can fire while cloaked. It was destroyed by the Enterprise and Excelsior.

General Chang’s eye patch is bolted straight into his skull, proving how much of a badass he is. It was Christopher Plummer’s idea to keep Chang bald.

To avoid an R rating the Klingons bled purple blood during the zero gravity assassination on Kronos One. On the various TV series Klingon blood is red.

General Chang: Cry havoc, and let slip the Dogs of War.

Star Trek VI quotes many lines from Shakespeare and the title The Undiscovered Country is taken from Hamlet Act 3 Scene 1, the famous soliloquy.

Christian Slater (1969-) has a cameo in the film as an officer on board the USS Excelsior. His mother Mary Jo Slater was casting director for the film.

Kim Cattrall posed nude on the Enterprise bridge for a magazine shoot. Leonard Nimoy found out and destroyed all the photos and negatives. Damn it Spock!

Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country opened with another record breaking weekend for the series, $18m in 3days, grossing $75m in the US and a total of $97m worldwide.

Much better received by fans and critics than its predecessor, with a stronger story and less humour than the previous two entries in the series. A Cold War allegory set in the 23rd Century, it was the last movie starring the popular cast of the original Star Trek series and an excellent send off.

Chekov: Course heading, Captain?
Kirk: Second star to the right and straight on 'til morning.

The space adventures continue in Star Trek Generations (1994)

The Critics Wrote -

"Star Trek VI directed by Nicholas Meyer, is as lively a tale as any Trekkie might want, even if it's not free-standing enough to bring in new recruits. There are no signs of waning energy here, not even in an Enterprise crew that looks ever more ready for intergalactic rocking chairs. The principals' enthusiasm for their material has never seemed to fade. If anything, that enthusiasm grows more appealingly nutty with time." (Janet Maslin, New York Times)

"Director/coscripter Nicholas Meyer, who helmed the popular second "Star Trek" movie, moves this vehicle efficiently. He employs some tremendous visuals. At one point, the gravity stabilizer goes off in the Klingon spaceship. Invaders come aboard and start firing laser-type weaponry. The Klingons' spilled blood floats in the air in eerily beautiful purplish globules; it's space-age Sam Peckinpah." (Washington Post)

"This sixth "Star Trek" film has so much more life and interest than the dreary "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" that perhaps it will tempt Paramount into still another story for Captain Kirk and his crew." (Roger Ebert)

“Hiro Narita's photography is breathtaking, and the script by the director and Denny Martin Flinn is filled with wit and polish.” (Scheuer)

“Weighed down by a midsection even flabbier than the long-in-the-tooth cast, director Nicholas Meyer still delivers enough of what Trek audiences hunger for to justify the trek to the local multiplex. Sappy ending provides a fitting send-off to the ground-breaking series and its rabid fans, reinforcing its humanistic messages.” (Variety)

"Best of all the Star Trek movies, and a fitting finale to the series. Even if you’re not normally a Star Trek fan, you’ll enjoy this one." (Chris Tookey)