“Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country” 4K UHD Review

On the eve of retirement, Kirk and McCoy are charged with assassinating the Klingon High Chancellor and imprisoned. The Enterprise crew must help them escape to thwart a conspiracy aimed at sabotaging the last best hope for peace. (from IMDb)

 

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country marks the final time the cast of the original Star Trek TV series appeared together on screen. As a send-off, the movie is an excellent way to say goodbye to one of the most iconic ensembles ever assembled for TV. After the disappointing fifth entry, The Final Frontier, just two years earlier, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country sets out to retire the USS Enterprise’s original crew with one last voyage.

Watching Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country in 2022 is eerily timely. The story revolves around the prejudices between the humans and the Klingons as peace talks are initiated between the two species. Although it’s been said that the movie was an allegory for our relationship with the Soviet Union in 1991, we’re still living in quite a divided society today, and the efforts to put aside our preconceived perceptions of race and culture is something many still struggle with. But after the impact of The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock, it’s no wonder that Captain Kirk would be hesitant to even try to trust the Klingons. And, of course, things don’t go smoothly as planned and The Undiscovered Country becomes a sort of “whodunnit?” mystery as to who would want to sabotage the peace talks.

While I tried to argue that Star Trek V: The Final Frontier wasn’t as bad as everyone makes it out to be, its follow-up, The Undiscovered Country is a great example of Trek done right. Nicholas Meyer, who directed fan favorite film The Wrath of Khan, returns to the franchise to wrap it all up, and does a fine job of directing the cast and giving each one some good airtime. I watched the “Director’s Cut” for this review, and I really enjoyed the additional scenes that were added into the film to flesh the story out a bit more. Scotty gets a little more screen time, and the finale ends up revealing that a character wasn’t what they seemed to be. Also, the cropping for a lot of scenes is wider, presenting more picture. Overall, while the changes might seem minimal, the “Director’s Cut” seems to be the ideal viewing option for the movie.

The content for Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is surprisingly violent at times. I remember being shocked as a kid when I first saw it, and the Director’s Cut even adds in a little more blood to what is already a pretty bloody film. There’s a scene where multiple Klingon’s are shot while in zero gravity, and we see blobs of purple blood floating out of each of their wounds. In one instance, we even see a Klingon’s arm get shot off, with purple blood floating around it. Later, when gravity is restored, purple blood splatters on the ground and is seen splattered on the walls and floors all around their ship. McCoy then fights to save a wounded Klingon, and we see the torn flesh of the wound with some purple blood bubbling from the wound. Later in the finale (in the Director’s Cut only), we see a character laying on the ground with a pool of red blood beneath their head. Someone touches the blood and rubs it between their fingertips to see that it’s red, too. Language is minor but still present from time to time (with some blasphemy and uses of “h*ll” and “d*mn”), and there isn’t really any sexual content.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is an excellent send-off for the beloved crew of the USS Enterprise. While a select few cast members appear in 1994’s Star Trek: Generations (and Nimoy’s Spock appears twice in the later reboot movies), this is the last official adventure for the Original Series team. As such, it’s a satisfying conclusion to their story and a memorable one at that.

– John DiBiase (reviewed: 9/2/22)

 

 

Along with the feature film on Blu-Ray and 4K UHD sets (which are two separate collection cases inside a cardboard slip case, for a total of 15 discs across the six movies (seven if you count the separate discs for the Director’s Edition of The Motion Picture), are the following box set extras:

• Star Trek: The Motion Picture – The Director’s Edition – Ultra HD & Blu-ray
  • Additional Blu-ray with bonus content
  • Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Theatrical Cut) – Ultra HD & Blu-ray
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan – Ultra HD & Blu-ray
  • Includes Director’s Cut
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock – Ultra HD & Blu-ray
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home – Ultra HD & Blu-ray
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country – Ultra HD & Blu-ray
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country – Ultra HD & Blu-ray
  • Includes Director’s Cut

– John DiBiase, (reviewed: 9/3/22)

 

 

 Sex/Nudity: We briefly see a stylized, unrealistic painting that shows a topless woman; Kirk kicks an alien that is attacking him in its knees and the alien reacts in pain. (It looks like broken, exposed bones possibly) Another alien tells Kirk that those were its genitals; An alien woman passionately kisses Kirk; When Kirk and McCoy learn that the alien woman is a shapeshifter, McCoy comments to Kirk that Kirk had kissed it the night before, to which Kirk replies, “Don’t remind me!”
 Vulgarity/Language: 1 “Sweet J-sus,” 4 “My G-d,” 1 “For G-d’s sakes,” 7 “d*mn,” 1 “b*tch” (Director’s Cut only); ” 1 “Oh my G-d,” 1 “h*llhole,” 2 “h*ll”
 Alcohol/Drugs: The Enterprise crew and Klingons drink Romulan Ale and several people complain of headaches later.
 Blood/Gore: The Klingon ship is boarded by two intruders and the gravity is turned off. A Klingon is shot and blobs of purple blood flow from the wound. Two more Klingons are shot with purple blood floating out. A Klingon’s arm is shot off as we see it floating with blobs of blood floating out and around it. Two more Klingons are shot with purple blood floating out. We see the air filled with floating blobs of purple blood. Once gravity is restored, we see some bodies fall, glasses break, and some purple blood splatters as it falls; We see a purple-bloodied body lying on the ground; We see more Klingon bodies and purple blood splattered on the walls inside their ship; We see lots of purple blood all over the floor and on a table; We see a fleshy wound with purple blood on a Klingon’s chest. As McCoy frantically tries to help the victim, we see the wound many times and it oozes purple blood; A Klingon has a scarred face over one eye; A prisoner wearing only a loin cloth is thrown out into the snow. We then see him frozen to death with one eye frozen open and ice hanging off of him; Kirk is hit and falls back. We see blood running from his nose; Chekhov finds a blob of Klingon blood; Kirk punches an alien. She has green blood on her chin; An alien is shot and vaporized; Two dead bodies are found aboard the Enterprise. We see they have burns on their foreheads, and one of them is briefly focused on; In the Director’s Cut we see the dead assassin with red blood under the Klingon’s head. We also notice a shard of glass in his neck, which someone quickly removes. A mask is then peeled off the dead man’s face.
 Violence: We see a large explosion in space; The USS Excelsior is rocked by the explosion wave, tossing the crew around on the bridge; A message shows a Klingon with fire engulfing the screen in front of him; The Klingon ship is hit with a photon torpedo. It’s hit again and we see them being tossed about inside the ship; The Klingon ship is boarded by two intruders and the gravity is turned off. A Klingon is shot and blobs of purple blood flow from the wound. Two more Klingons are shot with purple blood floating out. A Klingon’s arm is shot off as we see it floating with blobs of blood floating out and around it. Two more Klingons are shot with purple blood floating out. We see the air filled with floating blobs of purple blood. Once gravity is restored, we see some bodies fall, glasses break, and some purple blood splatters as it falls; We see a purple-bloodied body lying on the ground; We see more Klingon bodies and purple blood splattered on the walls inside their ship; We see lots of purple blood all over the floor and on a table; We see a fleshy wound with purple blood on a Klingon’s chest. As McCoy frantically tries to help the victim, we see the wound many times and it oozes purple blood. McCoy pounds on the victim’s chest several times to try to restart their heart; A Klingon has a scarred face over one eye; A prisoner wearing only a loin cloth is thrown out into the snow. We then see him frozen to death with one eye frozen open and ice hanging off of him; A large alien lifts Kirk up, threatening him; Valeris shoots a cooking pot vaporizing it as an example of how an alarm goes off when a phaser is fired on board the ship; Kirk is hit and falls back. We see blood running from his nose. He’s chased by a big alien who corners him. The alien hits Kirk repeatedly and knocks him down. Kirk then kicks it in the knees and the alien reacts in pain. (It looks like broken, exposed bones possibly) Another alien tells Kirk that those were its genitals; We see another frozen dead alien in the snow with ice coming off of it; Kirk punches an alien. She has green blood on her chin; A shapeshifting alien appears as Kirk who hits McCoy, knocking him out. The two Kirks punch each other and roll around fighting; An alien is shot and vaporized; Two dead bodies are found aboard the Enterprise. We see they have burns on their foreheads, and one of them is briefly focused on; Spock smacks a phaser from a person’s hand; The Klingon ship fires on the Enterprise; It strikes the Enterprise again; The Enterprise is hit yet again. Sparks and explosions on the bridge are seen as people are thrown about. The Enterprise is hit again and then hit again as people are thrown around inside; The Excelsior is hit with people thrown around inside; A torpedo goes right through the Enterprise dish and we see explosions and destruction inside; A ship fires on a Klingon ship. We see it explode; Kirk tackles a man to save him as a phaser blast hits the ground near them; Scotty shoots an assassin who falls out a window to his death; In the Director’s Cut we see the dead assassin with red blood under the Klingon’s head. We also notice a shard of glass in his neck, which someone quickly removes. A mask is then peeled off the dead man’s face.