Star Trek Primer Vol. 2

In 1973, Star Trek had a comeback, of sorts, with the cartoon company Filmation. The original cast returned, minus Walter Koenig, to reprise their roles. Even Gene Roddenberry returned to write the bulk of the episodes. Despite this, they are not considered part of the official continuity... if there ever is such a thing.

Although the animation style is very primitive and most of the actors are phoning it in, the show is interesting in that it shows much stranger aliens and alien landscapes since animation allows you to do these effects much easier.

But in 1979, Star Trek fans were treated to the ultimate reward for any fanboy: a high-budget, feature length film.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

After the success of Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, science fiction was seen by Hollywood as the new blockbuster formula so, like superheroes today, the studios dusted off an old sci-fi show with a large fan following for the big screen treatment.

Unfortunately, for inspiration, this film reached to 2001: A Space Odyssey which made the film drag on through an uninspired plot about a giant energy cloud called V'ger traveling toward Earth. The movie is mostly memorable for hot bald chick Ilia, the first appearance of a mustachioed Scotty, and (my personal favorite) Dr. McCoy with a big, old seventies beard.

All in all, it's a boring film, as most fans will attest to. The only reason to watch it is just to say you did. As a sidenote, in a very brief scene at the beginning, we see the first appearance of a Klingon with a prosthetic head speaking in subtitled Klingon. These nonsense phrases were eventually made into actual Klingon language by a talented linguist hired to translate dialog in the third film.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

The second Star Trek movie was far more successful and the reason is director Nicholas Meyer. I have a great deal of respect for Mr. Meyer, mainly because he had respect and insight into the source material without being beholden to aspects that didn't work. Meyer saw the influence of colonial sailing novels (particularly Horatio Hornblower) on the original series and set about reflecting more contemporary naval elements of tradition, made most evident by the new red uniforms. He also supplied the theme for both this and future films by emphasizing the fact that Kirk was now a middle-aged admiral training cadets.

But as the title indicates, this film features the return of Ricardo Montelban as Khan. For years, fans believed that Montelban wore a strange prosthetic chest for the role, but those massive pectorals actually belonged to the man himself. This film also included the introduction of Kirk's illegitimate son, David.

Now, if you don't like spoilers, you may as well skip to the fifth movie because you can't talk about the next two films without spoiling the end of this one.


One thing that all of these movies have in common is that, for various reasons, every one of them was produced with the idea that this might be the last film. Sometimes it was low box office receipts, other times the actors were just looking a bit too old. The nice part about this is that it gave them freedom to do what they want and not worry about the franchise. For this reason, Star Trek II ends with the death of Spock who sacrifices himself to save the ship and crew. The final moments of the episode feature Spock's burial in space over the birth of a new planet.

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)

After the original movies had been released, Star Trek fans developed a rule that said, "All the even numbered movies are good and all the odd ones are bad," but to me, I always felt this one broke that rule.

The essential plot is that the Enterprise returns from the battle with Khan horribly damaged and ready to be decommissioned. The crew is being broken up (even as they are reeling from the death of Spock) and McCoy seems to be going mad. They soon discover that Spock used a Vulcan mind meld to transfer his essence into Dr. McCoy causing him to behave like a schizophrenic. In order to give both Spock and McCoy peace, Kirk must travel to the experimental, artificial planet Genesis where Spock's body was laid to rest, but Starfleet refuses to give him a ship to travel into a restricted area on the basis of Vulcan mysticism.

Meanwhile, the Klingon Commander Kurge (Christopher Lloyd) has discovered about the existence of Genesis, a probe that when hitting a planet's surface, spreads across the planet creating new life. Kurge sees it as the ultimate weapon, not only capable of destroying a planet, but also terraforming it for colonization.

Interestingly, this is the first film to be directed by a cast member, Leonard Nimoy, who went on to direct the next film as well. While the producers were very wary of having comedian Christopher Lloyd playing the role of a serious villain, to which Nimoy responded, "I'm the last person to talk to about typecasting."

Personally, I think Lloyd does an excellent job in role that really set the standard for Klingons in the new Star Trek, but the best thing about this film is the way it adds depth to the supporting cast. Everyone gets at least one moment to showcase their personality and skill as they steal the Enterprise and head illegally for Planet Genesis. Personally, I've always felt that this was Nimoy's contribution as he wanted to give each of his long-term coworkers something substantial to do.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

This is my second favorite of the Star Trek films for its very Star Trekian premise. The plot centers around the crew's return to Earth to answer for charges of treason. On the way, they find Earth on the brink of annhilation due to the effects of an alien probe sent hundreds of years ago. After analyzing the transmissions, Spock determines it to be a response to the humpback whale, long since extinct. Like several episodes of the original series, Kirk's solution is to travel backward in time to the mid-1980s to recover a pair of humpback whales to respond to the probe and repopulate the species.

As a result, we get to see the crew fumble through the 20th century as they try to figure out money, swearing, and modern technology. Like the previous film, this one really gives opportunities to the other actors to define their characters and make them much more three-dimensional that they were in the series.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

After The Voyage Home, things returned to status quo. The old crew returned to the Enterprise with Kirk as captain leaving the plot wide open for the next creative team. For this journey into the unknown, Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner, took the helm as director driving this film straight into the ground. By the time Uhura gets to her naked fan dance, you'll be thinking "It can't get any worse than this." You'll be right, but it doesn't get any better either.

This is often referred to by fans as "Star Trek V: The Search for God." The plot involves Spock's previously unmentioned half brother hijacking the Enterprise in a search for God... literally. It is remembered for Kirk pointing at the giant plot hole and saying, "Why does God need a starship?"

This is one of only two Star Trek movies I will not buy. When I realized that the only reason to buy it is to own a complete set, I realized that there are limits to my geekishness... and it felt good.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

This is my favorite Star Trek movie of all. Nicholas Meyer returned and worked on the script with Leonard Nimoy. It is the final voyage of the USS Enterprise with its senior staff scheduled to retire... all except for Captain Spock and Captain Sulu. The Enterprise is sent to meet the Klingon high chancellor to open peace negotiations with the Klingon Empire, but when the chancellor is assassinated, Kirk and McCoy are charged with the crime. Spock takes command of the ship leading both the investigation and a rescue mission.

Keep an eye out for the completely gratuitous cameo appearance by Christian Slater.

Christopher Plummer gives a great performance as the vaguely Asian Klingon warlord Chang and the great David Warner delivers a wonderful performance as Klingon High Chancellor Gorkon (his name a combination between Gorbachev and Lincoln, the first to identify him with an alien enemy and the second to connect him with an assassinated hero from our own culture).

It is a complex story rich with action, intelligence, humanism, and political intrigue. What more could you want?


Next

By this time, Star Trek's torch had already been passed to a new generation. The new television series was setting records for science fiction on television, and there I was, not even aware that any of this stuff came before, watching it with my dad as millions of kids my age did the exact same thing.