Director: Nicholas Meyer
Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Christopher Plummer
Year: 1991
And now the last installment of the original six Star Trek films, ending an entertaining run of missions for Captain Kirk and his crew. The films have been a roller coaster for sure, with #1, #3, and #5 being big dubs, and with number #2, #4, and now #6 being excellent pieces of the greater puzzle. Consistency was perhaps too much to hope for, but at least the classic series goes out with a bang, and says farewell in the best way it knew how.
The universe is changing, and the Klingons want peace with the Federation, marking an end to war and division within the galaxy. Kirk has his doubts, the only good Klingon is a dead Klingon and so forth, but he goes along on the peace mission to meet with the Ambassador, a final flight before he retires and lets a new era be ushered in. But an assassination ruins the peace plans, and Kirk is blamed, forcing his friends to come to his rescue once again.
This is a nice ending, one more adventure for the crew we’ve come to love so much. It’s a better quality than most of the others, and says goodbye so sweetly, but still with enough action to capture audiences the way the show has always been able to do. The addition of Christopher Plummer as a villain was perhaps the smartest move they made; he elevates everyone around him. And Star Trek could rest easy knowing that Jean Luc Picard was set to take over, that another generation was about to man the helm. Live long and prosper, Enterprise.
My rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆