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Star Trek VI - The Undiscovered Country (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition) by Nicholas Meyer
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DVD detailsActor: DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Leonard Nimoy, Walter Koenig, William Shatner Director: Nicholas Meyer Brand: Paramount Writer: Leonard Nimoy Writer: Nicholas Meyer Producer: Brooke Breton Writer: Denny Martin Flinn Writer: Gene Roddenberry Writer: Lawrence Konner Writer: Mark Rosenthal DVD: Region Code 1 Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled) Format: Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen Picture Format: 1.85:1 Running Time: 113 minutes DVD Release Date: 2004-01-27 Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) Studio: Paramount
DVD Reviews of Star Trek VI - The Undiscovered Country (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)DVD Review: Decent Ending Summary: 4 StarsAs I mentioned earlier, the "Golden Years" of Star Trek were from 1979-1986. The Undiscovered Country is by far the best Trek movie released after 1986. However, the movie does have some faults. Many flaws are exposed when you watch the movie a second. By this I mean that some things simply do not hold up under closer scrutiny. All in all, TUC was a decent way to end the original TOS films.
DVD Review: Star Trek VI: Chernobyl in Space Summary: 5 StarsThis one literally starts off with a bang. The story then hits the pavement with the tires at full speed. Echoing the tense relationship between the US and the USSR towards the end of the Cold War, this one has a lot of very personal resonance for anyone who remembers those times. Klingon High Chancellor Gorkon was even named by combining the names of Gorbachev and Lincoln.
The metaphor here presented shows the dangers of prejudice even with the threat of peace. Note the incredibly charged statements by even the Federation "good guy" characters as they have a hard time accepting that this long-standing conflict may be coming to a kind of end. In fact, the statements that are made by Admiral Cartwright took Brock Peters several takes to get through because they were so offensive to him. He understood the need to get them out, though, because the movie only really works when you are forced to re-evaluate your assumptions: that we are the good guys and "they" are the bad guys.
There are some great action sequences and some wonderful (for the time) special effects. But it is the story that is just superb and that does not age the same way all other aspects of the movie do. It is still as poignant today as it was when it came out.
Marvelous movie. Get the DVD.
DVD Review: Best Trek Film! Summary: 5 StarsI'll keep it simple. The quality is as good as it should be, the second disc has plenty of extras, including Gene Roddenberry's opinion on the film (he died shortly before it was released in theaters). For the price here at Amazon, it's a must have for any Trek fan!
DVD Review: To Be...Or Not...To Be! Summary: 5 StarsThe Good Things
*Excellent action and special effects (especially the opening, which was probably the first really cool use of the shockwave effect that we now see everywhere else).
*Filming style is good.
*Storyline is smashing. Much darker, more dramatic than before. Lots of interesting political intruigue and mystery.
*Reveals a lot in the "Star Trek" universe. You finally get to see more of Klingon culture, and you get to see that they have pink blood, and so on.
*Characters are great; acting is good.
*Writing is good. A few memorable lines, and a few bits of dry humor that doesn't take away too much from the serious storyline.
*Strong themes about the uncertainty of the future (hence the Shakespearean motif).
*Excellent music; a different theme, but very dramatic.
The Bad Things
*Bloody violence and the dark atmosphere may be too inappropriate for young kids.
For the longest time, this was my favorite "Star Trek" film (until I decided that the "Wrath of Kahn" was better). This still ranks highly with me, for it is very dark, dramatic, mysterious, and intense. At the same time, it does have a happy ending, and the film overall serves as a great final homage to the original "Star Trek" cast.
The one-disc version had okay video and sound quality. The two-disc version has good quality and a number of featurettes and trailers.
DVD Review: Great Ending for the Best Enterprise Crew Summary: 5 StarsFollowing on the heals of the train wreck that was `The Final Frontier', `The Undiscovered Country' was the last chance for the original Star Trek cast to go out on a high note. Undiscovered is probably the most underrated of all the Star Trek movies in fact I would probably rate it just below `The Wrath of Khan' in terms of quality. It's also probably the truest representation of Gene Rodenberry's vision of overcoming prejudice and bigotry.
The movie is written as an allegory for the breakup of the Soviet Union that was occurring at the time and the disaster at Chernobyl. The message of the film is important and remains relevant even decades later. It is the ongoing debate between those who saw a single superpower world as an opportunity for the U.S. to cast aside restraints and take a more active, aggressive role in world affairs. On the other side are those who saw a tremendous opportunity for peace and a draw down of forces. At the time the world was just starting a dramatic rearrangement of power while today the reverberations include ideas like the Bush doctrine of pre-emptive strikes, the flaunting of international laws by the United States and the burgeoning budget of the U.S. armed forces. The hawks are definitely in charge.
There is also a subtext of racism with a subtle implication that Klingon's are sort of the American blacks of alien cultures. Note the `Guess who's coming to dinner' comment by Chekov. This is the most controversial part of the movie since the Klingon's have always been portrayed as crude and warlike. However, in keeping with the spirit of Rodenberry there is, of course, mutual understanding between humans and Klingon's before the final credits roll.
One of the great things about this movie is the decision to have Kirk initially side with the war hawks calling for putting the boots to the Klingons. He utters a classic line when discussing the future of the Klingon race saying, `Let them die'. Captain Kirk is generally portrayed as the squeaky clean hero so it was a bold stroke to write him with such bitterness and vengeance but perfectly understandable given the events of the previous movies. In fact the entire crew of the Enterprise comes off as rather snobbish and condescending towards their Klingon guests but that was the point of the movie. It's about growth and acceptance.
Christopher Plummer is fantastic as the Shakespeare quoting General Chang. His is one of the most indelible characters ever in Star Trek and battle between The Enterprise and Chang's cloaked Bird of Prey was an absolute classic with a satisfying finale. I have to admit the movies ending was a bit hokey but `The Undiscovered Country' is a fine send off for the original cast and a great movie.
Description of Star Trek VI - The Undiscovered Country (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)The crews of the enterprise and the excelsior must stop a plot to prevent a peace treaty between the klingon empire and the federation. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 05/01/2007 Starring: William Shatner Mark Lenard Run time: 113 minutes Rating: Pg Director: Nicholas Meyer Star Trek V left us nowhere to go but up, and with the return of Star Trek II director Nicholas Meyer, Star Trek VI restored the movie series to its classic blend of space opera, intelligent plotting, and engaging interaction of stalwart heroes and menacing villains. Borrowing its subtitle (and several lines of dialogue) from Shakespeare, the movie finds Admiral Kirk (William Shatner) and his fellow Enterprise crew members on a diplomatic mission to negotiate peace with the revered Klingon Chancellor Gorkon (David Warner). When the high-ranking Klingon and several officers are ruthlessly murdered, blame is placed on Kirk, whose subsequent investigation uncovers an assassination plot masterminded by the nefarious Klingon General Chang (Christopher Plummer) in an effort to disrupt a historic peace summit. As this political plot unfolds, Star Trek VI takes on a sharp-edged tone, with Kirk and Spock confronting their opposing views of diplomacy, and testing their bonds of loyalty when a Vulcan officer is revealed to be a traitor. With a dramatic depth befitting what was to be the final movie mission of the original Star Trek crew, this film took the veteran cast out in respectably high style. With the torch being passed to the crew of Star Trek: The Next Generation, only Kirk, Scotty, and Chekov would return, however briefly, in Star Trek: Generations. --Jeff Shannon
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