By Michael Lyons
Movies don't get more entertaining than Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. The film feels like a joyful reunion for its cast, but it's also a triumph for fans, or casual fans, and a delightful 122 minutes for audience members who are neither.
Looking back on the film as it celebrates its 35th anniversary this month, it's also interesting to see just how groundbreaking Star Trek IV was, in its use of humor, its relatable science fiction plot, and its eco-friendly theme.
Picking up where 1983's Star Trek III: The Search for Spock left off, Star Trek IV brings back the entire, beloved Enterprise crew: Admiral Kirk (William Shatner), Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Mr. Scott (James Doohan), Mr. Sulu (George Takei), Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) and Commander Chekov (Walter Koenig).
The crew is heading back home to Earth to face trial for their actions in the previous film, where they had rescued Mr. Spock (who is still not quite his usual Vulcan self, as he recovers from a resurrection).
As they head back to Earth, they pick up a distress call from Starfleet Command. It seems a strange signal from a large, cylindrical object hovering above Earth is wreaking havoc with its emitting signal.
Spock determines that the call is that of a humpback whale, and only the return of this call can stop the odd object from its destruction. The only problem is that, in 2286, humpback whales are extinct.
Kirk and the Enterprise team devise a plan: travel back in time to 1986, find a humpback whale and bring it to, well, "back to the future."
And so, as The Enterprise crew (on board a Klingon ship they've hijacked) arrives in the San Francisco of 1986. The fish-out-of-water fun begins as they try to blend in while searching for the massive mammal in our modern world.
This is where Star Trek IV overflows with more humor than any other entry in the Star Trek movie franchise, as the crew from the future tries to assimilate to our current (or at least '80s) world.
A majority of this comes from the interaction and banter between Shatner and Nimoy, as Kirk and Spock. They head to a local aquarium and befriend a marine biologist (Catherine Hicks) in their quest to find humpback whales.
Kirk and Spock bicker like an old married couple, and a scene in which Kirk tries to cover for Spock's inability to lie is filled with impeccable comic timing. There's another scene where Spock jumps into a tank, to "mind-meld" with one of the whales, that brims with brilliant physical comedy.
The rest of the cast has their moments, as well. Among the best (and funniest) is Kelley as Bones railing about how "medieval" our "modern medicine" is, and another, where Doohan as Mr. Scott attempts to operate a computer.
Leonard Nimoy directed Star Trek IV (his second time at the helm for series after Star Trek III), and he displays such a deft, cinematic flair, especially with the comedy scenes. It's no wonder he scored a hit the following year with Three Men and a Baby.
Star Trek IV debuted over Thanksgiving weekend, opening on November 26, 1986, to great acclaim, eventually grossing $133 million worldwide.
Thirty-five years later, what makes Star Trek IV stand out against the other films in its franchise is that it doesn't have a significant focus on starships and laser-infused dogfights, but instead a more human, down-to-earth story (literally).
With its whale-centric plot, the film also has a still-relevant message about the state of our world. "To hunt a species to extinction is not logical," observes Spock about the whales.
Film critic Roger Ebert summed up Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home perfectly in his 1986 review when he called it "...the most elegant and satisfying Star Trek film so far."
Sources:
IMDb
Rogerebert.com
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