Movie Night: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

Review #492: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

Cast

William Shatner (James T. Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Spock), DeForest Kelley (Leonard McCoy), Catherine Hicks (Gillian), George Takei (Hikaru Sulu), Walter Koenig (Pavel Chekov), James Doohan (Montgomery Scott), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), Jane Wyatt (Amanda Grayson), Mark Lenard (Sarek), and Robin Curtis (Lt. Saavik) Directed by Leonard Nimoy (#337 - Star Trek III: The Search for Spock)

Review

The fourth film closes out the arc left from the last two films, and it does a rather successful job of that, as Nimoy directs once again. For once, there is no clear cut villain, and it's a welcome approach, and it leaves a lot of room for the crew to have their own scenes, and it certainly works, because the film has a good deal of hilarity. Granted the story is...odd, but it certainly is unique, and it digs a way to be enjoyable. The acting is good, especially from Nimoy, who has his own chance to shine, but my favorite scene is when he's on the bus with Kirk and this punk rocker plays his loud music until Spock gives him a nerve pinch. The animatronics by ILM on the whales look really good, and the directing by Nimoy is excellent, and this is probably the best Star Trek film since the second one. It's a shame the fifth one (#225, directed by William Shatner) was so awful, but oh well, at least this one is a treat to watch. Countdown to 500 Reviews: 10, 9, 8...

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.

Review #337: Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.

Cast
William Shatner (James T. Kirk), DeForest Kelley (Leonard McCoy), James Doohan (Montgomery Scott), George Takei (Hikaru Sulu), Christopher Lloyd (Kruge), Walter Koenig (Pavel Chekov), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), Judith Anderson (T'Lar), Robin Curtis (Saavik), Merritt Butrick (David Marcus), Mark Lenard (Sarek), John Larroquette (Maltz), Carl Stevens, Vadia Potenza, Stephen Manley, Joe W. Davis, and Leonard Nimoy (Spock) Directed by Leonard Nimoy.

Review
It has been a while since I've reviewed a Star Trek film (#299 - Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan), and it was pretty good. This is (obviously) the sequel to that film, so how is it is the main question. It's...alright. The one thing that Star Trek II lacked was a battle between the villain and Kirk, so Star Trek III has one between Kirk and the villain (with Christopher Lloyd, no less). But does that help the film be a good send up? In some ways, it is. Shatner and the rest of the cast do a fine job, and while Lloyd may not match the last villain and its themes, he is enjoyable enough. The plot is reasonably balanced and the effects are good enough (especially when the Enterprise is destroyed) to leave some sort of impression. It may have some sort of weirdness, but compared to the other "weird" Star Trek film (#225 - Star Trek V: The Final Frontier), this is some good stuff with good directing done by none other than Dr. Spock (Heh). Definitely not a bad odd numbered Star Trek film.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

Review #226: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

Cast
William Shatner (James T. Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Spock), DeForrest Kelley (Leonard McCoy), James Doohan (Montgomery Scott), Walter Koenig (Pavel Chekov), Nichelle Nichols (Uhura), George Takei (Captain Hikaru Sulu), Kim Cattrall (Valeris), Mark Lenard (Sarek), Grace Lee Whitney (Excelsior Communications Officer), Brock Peters (Admiral Cartwright), Leon Russom (Chief in Command), and Kurtwood Smith (Federation President) Directed by Nicholas Meyer.

Review
Two years after the bad reception of Star Trek V, this film would be released in time for the show's 25th Anniversary, but would it work better then the last one? In a word, yes. First off, the effects are good, a step up from the fifth one (Standout effect being the Praxis effect) While I find the Klingon blood a bit silly, it doesn't outright ruin the effects, which is a good thing. The acting is good, with the main trio (Shatner, Nimoy, and Kelley) and Plummer doing a great job. The plot is more defined here, keeping you interested throughout. The film was directed by Nicholas Meyer, who directed Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (which is considered by many to be the best out of all the Star Trek movies), and it is a good thing that he returned to direct the last film for the Original Series cast (Except for Shatner, Doohan, and Koenig, who would return in Star Trek: Generations) Roddenberry would not live to see the release of the film, but he did get to see an early version of it days before dying. 21 years later, this film still holds up as a new generation of films would soon follow.

Overall, I give it 8 out of 10 stars.