Nearing the verge of most of their retirements, Kirk and company are handpicked to deliver Klingon Ambassador Gorkon and his staff to Earth to begin the process of creating peace between their two cultures. After being sworn enemies for decades, both sides find it next to impossible to lower their guard and extend open arms. But after the Klingons ship is mysteriously attacked and Gorkon assassinated by what seemed to be Starfleet officers, Kirk and McCoy are sentenced to life on a Klingon prison gulag. Meanwhile Spock and the rest of the senior staff try to unravel the mystery and expose a conspiracy that wants to destroy the peace process before it has even begun
For the Collectors DVD Paramount has done an extremely impressive job of creating a new master of the movie. Presented in anamorphic widescreen and in Dolby Digital sound, the movie looks extremely bright and crisp; even though the film is now 13 years old, this version of the movie would look simply amazing on a high-end television such as a plasma screen. The colors are vivid, the shadows are rich and lush and there was no compression or stuttering of the disc on my player. This is easily the best-looking TREK movie of the new Collectors Edition discs.
A commentary track by director Meyer and screenwriter Denny Martin Flinn is included. Unfortunately the conversation between the two never seems to rise to the occasion and there are pauses in the discussion that stretch on for minutes. By the time the third act began I felt that I was listening to something more like a talk given in a school classroom than from the films director. Flinn, for his part, seems to try and inject some life into matters now and then but Meyer comes across like a stick in the mud. Strange.
As was the case with all the previous Collectors discs, Michael and Denise Okuda provide a solid text commentary track, filling you in on some of the tricks of the trade and TREK lore as the movie advances. My advise is to play the audio commentary with the text one; more often than not it wont be too much information to handle at once.
For those that care, the version of the movie here is the extended cut released on video in 1992. The new footage is short and doesnt truly change that much; scenes showing a proposed rescue plan to retrieve Kirk and McCoy, the revealing of one of the members of the conspiracy and a couple of other smaller moments are what makes up the difference. These additions are pointed out when they appear when you view the Okuda commentary.
Disc two contains the bonus material. First off there are six shorts in the "Stories from STAR TREK VI" section talking about the production and filming of the show. Included are some looks at the TREK movie that could have been including the aborted version that would have seen the academy days of Kirk and Spock (with the roles recast to fit younger players.) "The Star Trek Universe" section contains five featurettes ranging from a new interview with Meyer to a dossier-like examination of the Federation players in the movie. "Pennys Toy Box" gets you behind closed doors to look at some of the props that were made and used in the film.
"Art Imitates Life" spends its time focusing on the fall of Communism and how it served as the springboard for the movies plot. Its funny to think of now but when STAR TREK VI came out, it had scarcely been two years since the dismantling of the Berlin Wall and the true end of the Soviet Union. For a science fiction film to come along and so ably use such real-life events to create a compelling story is noteworthy; the fact that Meyer and Flinn were able to tie the end of the Cold War with the (then) 25 year voyage of STAR TREK and to draw the strings together bridging the era of classic TREK to that of the now popular NEXT GENERATION television series deserves special commendation. Even now with more than a decade separated between events of the late 80s and today, and the shifting of the world paradigm in a post-9/11 landscape, STAR TREK VIs story remains solid and engrossing to watch unfold.
(And it should also be pointed out that Meyer had a greatly reduced budget for TUC compared to the earlier films, forcing him to redress the standing sets of NEXT GENERATION and be smarter with how he spent his money. In the hands of a lesser filmmaker, this would have been grounds for failure. With a master storyteller such as Meyer calling the shots, we were given one of the better TREK movies ever made. It just goes to show you that it all comes down to the story, and if youve got the right one to tell, the rest will fall into place. Too bad Meyers presence couldnt stick around for the TREK movies to comebut well save that for a later date.)
The second disc also contains a tribute to DeForest Kelley, who is sadly no longer with us. The original cast interviews done for the press kit at that time are also included for your perusal along with the films trailers and a special reel with Meyer showing off some footage shown to a Star Trek convention crowd back in 1991. Storyboards are also included on the disc, including a look at the aborted opening sequence that would have shown how Starfleet found the crew of the Enterprise and got them back together. As Meyer mentions at one point in the audio commentary, this sequence would have added another few million onto the films budget and thus was discarded for the opening we see now (and in my opinion, which works better anyway.)
One of the better voyages of Kirks Enterprise, the Collectors Edition DVD of STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY delivers an exceptional visual presentation of the film. With the exception of the audio commentary, the bonus features are enjoyable for the general fan or movie buff. Those that may have hoped for in-depth examination on the special effects or production process may be disappointed with the general presentation, but not with the stellar quality of the transfer or delivery of the audio and sound effects. And a terrific performance by Christopher Plummer as the film's bad guy, General Chang, should definitely be noted.
Aw heck, its an even numbered STAR TREK movie thats all you need to know ! Just get it, dim the lights, crank the volume and youll enjoy this final classic TREK over and over again.
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