DVD REVIEW
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Star Trek V: The Final Frontier - universally regarded as the bottom-of-the-barrel of Trek films - left the franchise in near-shambles in 1989. A weak director (Shatner, this time in the real captain´s chair) and an even weaker plot resulted in lackluster box office receipts for the first time in the series´ history. Admittedly, the film franchise had one more strike against it in 1989: the phenomenal success of Star Trek: The Next Generation on the small screen. Many fans have noted that with such a popular Trek incarnation available in their homes for free, the "event" quality of a new Trek film was cut sharply. To combat this new competition, the crew behind 1991´s Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country adopted an - if we can´t beat ´em, we´ll join ´em - attitude.
In Star Trek VI, Directed by Nicholas Meyer, the director of The Wrath of Khan (MY personal favorite Trek film), the Klingons have exhausted their natural resources and compromised the ecosystem of their homeworld. With the Klingon race on a fast spiral to environmental devastation, the Federation quickly acts by putting forth the hand of friendship - and making their long-time enemies, now that they are over a barrel, an offer they couldn´t possibly refuse. Now that the Klingons are in no position to make war, the Federation offers a chance for peace - with Captain Kirk, the Klingon races´ sworn enemy, to be their first ambassador of goodwill. As expected, a portion of the Federation and of the Klingons is both of a minority opinion: the Klingons don´t want to succumb to the Federation, and the Federation doesn´t want to admit members who would undoubtedly degenerate into - the alien trash of the galaxy. Subversive plots begin to evolve in both camps, resulting in the murder of the Klingon chancellor, a rogue Bird of Prey sent out to hunt down the Enterprise, and Kirk and McCoy being wrongfully imprisoned. It is up to the crew of the Enterprise to discover the true murderer of Chancellor Gorkon, identify and eliminate the rogue elements in both parties, rescue the captain and the good doctor, and make it to the peace talks in time to save the Federation president. Sure, all of the crew were really starting to show their age, and some of the dialogue was a little stilted and forced, but this is definitely one of the best Trek films, based purely on plot and a rather pivotal point in the mythos of the Trek universe.
In a stroke of synergistic genius, the plot of Star Trek VI was intertwined into the story of a Next Generation episode entitled "Unification." The two-part episode featured Spock in a guest-starring role, up to his "cowboy diplomacy" ways, this time with the Romulans. The episode aired a month before the premiere of Star Trek VI, leaving a month for die-hard Next Generation Trekkers to wait until they could find out just what DID happen at Camp Khittomer almost eighty years ago. Even non-Classic Trekkers were in line in December to see Kirk and Company thrash it out with the Klingons. Box offices across the country surged, the franchise was back on track, and the crew of the original Enterprise got to go out in style.
This DVD contains the expanded version of Star Trek VI, just like all previous VHS and LD versions of the film. Also like the previous laserdisc release, the film is shown in its incorrect aspect ratio of almost 1.85:1. Star Trek VI was filmed in Super 35, and cropped to a 2.35:1 aspect ratio during its theatrical release. When it was widescreened for video, whoever was in charge of transferring decided to open up the frame a bit. Also, mimicking the previous widescreen releases, the image is shifted upward on the screen slightly to accommodate the Klingon subtitles in the black area underneath. Though I was slightly disappointed that this oversight of aspect ratio was not corrected for the DVD, my misgivings were somewhat allayed by the admirable transfer Paramount did for the DVD. Compared side-by-side with the laserdisc, the DVD is warmer, far richer in color (the laserdisc almost looks faded by comparison), and considerably sharper. Admittedly, all those bright red uniforms start to tax the eyes after an hour, but other than that, no complaints at all about the picture quality. Though not quite up to the clarity and sharpness of some other DVD manufacturers, this DVD is still clearly ahead of its LD counterpart.
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