Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country: Special Edition

Paramount | minutes | | | Standard DVD reviewed by: Christopher Bligh

When we last left Captain Kirk and the crew of the starship Enterprise in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, there was a search for God that was as unfocused as Georgi LaForge without the eyepiece and contacts. Things were not looking good for progress amongst the Star Trek series with the original crew, so much so that Dennis Miller made it a quip of his comedy act calling the next installment "Star Trek VI: The Apology". Just when it looked like the series was down for the count, a rise in video sales came to the fifth installment to give the original crew one last chance to make something of themselves on the big screen. It came two years later in the winter of 1991. One ounce of hope was bringing a familiar director back into the Star Trek series (Nicholas Meyer), another was moving one of the original crew up in command to another ship (Sulu). This installment is not a voyage to The Final Frontier or to settle a score from the past, rather it's an adventure into The Undiscovered Country.

After a cosmic explosion off the Klingon planet of Praxis, the Federation feels that they should be of some assistance to the Klingon people in the progress of peace negotiations. The first they initate in their talks is Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner). He has his own reservations against moving things ahead, having a grave past with them. Nonetheless, he moves ahead inviting Chancellor Gorkon (David Warner) and his crew to dine with the Captain and his crew. After a long night of eating and chatting up Shakespeare, the meeting ends with no progress. Making matters worse is the mysterious firing upon Gorkon's ship which results in a loss of gravity and an assassination of Gorkon aboard his ship. The blame lands on Kirk and Dr. McCoy after their assistance in trying to save the chancellor and McCoy's limited knowledge of Klingon anatomy. While the two are away from the ship, the crew of the Enterprise along with Captain Sulu (George Takei) of the USS Excelsior examine the pieces of the scene of the crime to clear both their names along with seeing who was behind it, who else was involved and who has the power to cover it up.

In the able hands of Nicholas Meyer, the original crew of the Enterprise proved once again that they had another better than satisfactory movie in them. Many critics proclaim that all the even numbered Trek movies are the best ones, and the odd numbered ones are the weaker ones (totally disagree when #3, Search for Spock was one of the most touching, fun and riskiest of the series). This is certainly the case with the sixth film that mixes little bits of humor in with a breakneck pace that doesn't let up from the eerie but beatiful overture over the credits by Cliff Eidelman to the "time is running out" climax that sends the crew that the audience and Trek fans have grown to love through the years into one of the best concluding sequels in any film series. Although some of the plot is predictable, that only adds to part of the fun that made the majority of the Trek movies that much entertaining, that much visually striking and that much satisfying. The Undiscovered Country is one of the better sequels within the past fifteen years of film sequels and one country that is well worth discovering if you haven't discovered it by now.

After much argument about it's aspect ratio of being 2.35:1, the 2nd incarnation of Star Trek VI has been centered but still at the ratio of 2.00:1. This is a similar conception to moviegoers that experienced Apocalypse Now and came across with a different aspect ratio in any incarnation. It does not, however, deter from the viewing experience on this DVD. The transfer is a slight improvement from it's previous release on DVD and the picture is better centered than the first. The picture quality of the print however is pretty solid but still suffers in some special effects scenes with some hints of grain and speckles. This is not to say it's a bad transfer, it's more like little things that were apparent in the previous release haven't changed much in this release. The elements remain sharp and improve upon most of the look of the previous four films in the Star Trek series. A very good transfer.

This was the second Star Trek film to get some acknowlegment in the sound categories of the Oscars, and even though it didn't win, the Dolby Digital 5.1 track on the DVD is proof that the nomination was well deserved. From the opening explosion to it's various laser effects, the sound channels mixed very well all the way through. The dialogue along with Cliff Eidelman's score surround beautifully through all channels and the surround got a healthy dose during a lot of the shootouts between ships. An excellent track. This film also has an English Dolby Surround track, and a French Dolby Surround track along with English subtitles.

Like the past 5 entries on DVD, the 6th entry gets the 2 Disc Special Collector's Edition treatment and only the third to display an "alternate cut" (The Motion Picture and The Wrath of Khan were the others). Much to the chagrin of many Trekkies, it is the home with two scenes done from an alternate angle and an added effect to the mindmeld scene between Spock and Valeris. The difference went unnoticed pleasantly , like the remastered ET cut, and not too obvious. The mindmeld scene added a bit of coolness with it's addition on this DVD but the rest of the home video version, like a modern day director's cut of a film, is a good experience but doesn't improve upon the original experience. It makes one wonder whether we will ever see the original theatrical cut on DVD. One only hopes that a wide version becomes available on cable, the only place that the theatrical version has been seen in it's original unaltered form.

The other extras on the first disc are the audio commentary by director Nicholas Meyer and writer Dewey Martin Flinn, and the text commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda. Both are equally very good and very informative with the audio track with Meyer and Flinn going over some original draft ideas that didn't make it along with some fun stories about working on the film without feeling too self-congratulatory along with the text commentary adding info that wasn't included in the commentary and making for 2 very good commentaries. This adds to another very good commentary for Nicholas Meyer who is, like Ridley Scott and Steven Soderbergh and others, a consistantly interesting commentator to DVD.

On Disc Two, we have a disc filled with extras only and they are an improvement over the extras on the second disc of the fifth film.

First there is "The Perils of Peacemaking" a twenty-six minute featurette paralleling Star Trek VI with the communication with the Russians and the Americans from a historic point of view. It's a very interesting piece between historians and the filmmaking participants.

Next we have The Stories of Star Trek VI, a six part documentary about the evolution of Star Trek VI and the results with interviews from the majority of the players as well as some of the production people starting with a story, then discussing prejudice and director Nick Meyer with the connection of Shakespeare and General Chang before bringing it to life for a Farewell and Goodbye . There is a "Play All" function on this section of the DVD and I strongly recommend it as this section is best played in it's full fifty-seven minute form.

After, we have another assortment called The Star Trek Universe which, unlike it's previous section, does not have a "Play All" function but is fine even without it's inclusion. It's divided into five parts. "Conversations with Nicholas Meyer" is a piece where he discusses his process and his feelings toward the work he's about to embark on. He's not only a good presence on the commentaries but also on the featurettes as well. The second part "Klingons: Conjuring the Legend" goes through twenty minutes from the birth of the race on the original TV show to it's expansion on the big screen with no clips from the fifth movie in sight and beyond with the recent television shows. It's another intriguing piece in this section. The third part "Federation Operatives" is a cute piece into the actors that participated in this film along with other Trek projects they have been a part of in the past and beyond this film. Next is "Penny's Toy Box" which delves into an intriguing tour into the vaults of where certain props from the film as well as others are stored. A close friend, who himself is a semi-Trekkie like yours truly, acknowledged this section as the job he would most love to have being the keeper of the keys to the toy box. Finally, we have "Together Again" a wonderfully reflective piece discussing the collaborative history between William Shatner and Christopher Plummer. The Universe is quite an intriguing one on this DVD.

DeForest Kelley: A Farewell is a touchingly entertaining thirteen minute piece combining great clips from two of the television shows as well as the majority of the films and reflections from cast and crew. It's still hard for me to believe Dr. McCoy is no longer with us and the sendoff for him, like the sixth film, is very fitting.

In the Original Interviews section, the Original crew, along with Iman, is interviewed at the time of the movies release and during the making of the film. The questions are posted and some intriguing answers come from most of the crew making for an interesting piece representing 1991 that's not in the same category as the regular press kit fluff that's included on other DVDs with this feature.

Finally, there are production and storyboard galleries in the Archives section along with the Promotional Materials including both the teaser trailer (one of the best for any film series) and the theatrical trailer for the film. Along with those is a five minute teaser piece by Nicholas Meyer around the time the movie was being made including brief clips from the movie. It's a good piece but not great.

Overall, the final voyage of the original crew into the Undiscovered Country is a great final chapter and a wonderful two disc addition to the Special Collectors series of the Star Trek films on DVD.