ST09 Trailer Countdown: Taking A Look At The Voyage Home’s Trailer November 6, 2008
by TrekMovie.com Staff , Filed under: Feature Films (TMP-NEM) , trackback
We are now just about a week away to the new Star Trek trailer in front of Quantum of Solace (in the US and Canada). To pass the time TrekMovie is looking back at previous Trek trailers with today’s stop in 1986 with the cinematic trailer for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
Stardate 1986
Theatrical trailer for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
Commentary:
Featuring music from the previous two Star Trek films, this trailer is much more fast paced than previous offerings, which mostly speaks to the the influence of MTV editing styles entrenched by the mid 1980s. The trailer starts with the sci-fi mystery of the probe, but then quickly changes tone to the reflect the more light-hearted time travel fish-out-of-water comedy of the film. Of all the Trek film theatrical trailers, this is probably the one that is most geared for a general audience (which could also be said of the film it represents). The trailer also gives away pretty much everything in the movie. This approach obviously worked as Star Trek IV was a box office hit.
The new Star Trek 2009 film has similar goals of reaching a general film audience, but we will have to see how Paramount positions the film to reach that goal. One thing that we can be pretty sure of is that JJ Abrams will not be giving away as much of the plot as this STIV trailer does.
The STIV DVD features this theatrical trailer, with no TV commercials or teaser trailer.
Alternative Foreign trailer and intro
Due to previous Trek films performing poorly in foreign markets, the film was sold as ‘The Voyage Home’ with the ‘Star Trek IV’ part of the title becoming secondary. Here is the UK trailer which reflects that and has a different narrator.
Since this film capped off a ‘trilogy’ starting with Wrath of Khan, there was also a special prologue created for foreign markets to catch people up to what they missed.
Thanks to YouTubers SnapeSoul, TvFilmMedia and THX1138
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Comments»
The first Trek film I ever saw and the best. Harks back to Gene’s original social message and away from the militarism that made the previous two films so distasteful.
The third in the great TOS Trek movie Trilogy! Marks the height of the Trek Franchise!
Loved the line “Remember where we parked”
First time I saw it I was a bit bemused… why weren’t they in the future? What’s with all the joking around? Why no big space battles?
I certainly never expected to laugh (and groan) so much at a Trek film, this must be Trek’s most ‘feel good’ movie to date.
A pretty brave film to bring out, with a big in your face message. It’s great that it was so successful.
My DVD has that intro on it. I always thought it was just part of the movie
Still an interesting approach for a trailer: Show the entire film…. :-)
This trailer is just a lot of fun; like the film, it’s a joyous romp. The use of the Horner score is outstanding; the voiceover and copy are excellent. All in all, just the right way to give everyone an idea of Star Trek being something that CAN be for everyone. (That’s something that, ultimately, the production operations for Trek lost.)
While it’s unapologetically Star Trek, it nonetheless is a perfect trailer to draw in the larger audience – an excellent balance!
@5
Yea my copy has the intro too , and it has one for TWOK before The search of spock , as far as i know they where normally only put on european editions of star trek.
Also the music for Star Trek IV was great
I vividly remember watching this movie for the first time as a fire refugee in Yellowstone Natl. Park back in the summer of ‘88 – the summer when almost the entire park went up in flames. Ironically, I stayed up until 2:00 am watching this movie, only to be evacuated because of the fires that were consuming the National Park four hour later.
Talk about a summer to remember – STIV and massive forest fires. What a way to spend a summer, eh? :) :) :)
admiral, there be whales here!!!!
,,Due to previous Trek films performing poorly in foreign markets, the film was sold with ‘The Voyage Home’ as the focus with the ‘Star Trek IV’ part of the title becoming secondary,,
Despite that strategy TVH foreign box office was disappointing and TVH didn’t do any better then TWOK & TSFS in foreign markets..
However TMP did very well in foreign markets compare to rest of TOS movies. Amazingly if we look at it, TMP made more money overseas then TWOK, TSFS & TVH combined.
A fun, smart trailer for a groovy flick. This is still the Star Trek movie I can show to any members of my family, Trek-fan or otherwise, and that’ll always make it special.
I Love all the Trek Movies and Trailers, just check out my full-screen versions at:
http://startrektrailerpark.blogspot.com/
You will need Quicktime, though on your desktop.
To choose a trailer just click below the main screen.
And I can’t wait for the new trailer, the new series of LOST or the next episode of FRINGE.
JJ. Abrams, Alex Kurtman, and Robert Orci rule!!
Also why not check out my Blog: STAR TREK TRIVIA.com.
http://jmstartrektrivia.blogspot.com/
It’s still under construction, but has a gallery of pictures dedicated to the new movie.
No infringement intended.
What Insurrection tried to be and Failed!!!
“Nu-Clear WESSLES!!”
I saw ST-TVH in Los Angeles in December 1986 the day after the premiere when my wife and i were over for a holiday from the UK.
The day after we saw the film we got to visit the still standing sets at Paramount thru Gene Rodenberries assistant Richard Arnold, sat on the bridge (yes the Kirk’s chair!!) and stood in the transporter amazing memory!
I also remember Gene was in his office at Paramount next door to Richard’s working on TNG!!! Also got to meet Nimoy as he cycled into Paramount on his bike!
It was the first I saw on rental video in 1993. I had to watch it twice. I really like it. It is the funniest and most entertaining, however, I don’t think it’s the best! TMP, TWOK and TUC mean a lot more to me. But it’s movie number four, and the fourth best so far…
I missed cub scouts on a friday night to see The Voyage Home, my dad wanted to watch stock car racing – but I convinced him to take me to the cinema.
I remember it like it was yesterday.
Brilliant.
Also, does anyone remember the original title card in the UK?
As the article suggests, it went THE VOYAGE HOME with star trek iv underneath in much smaller letters.
The “O” in Voyage was made up of the glowing ball of light from the probe, but they seem to have dropped this version in recent years.
Anyone remember that version?
“Damage control is easy, reading Klingon, that’s hard.”
Nothing is better than seeing that Bird-of-Prey under the Golden Gate Bridge. It remains my favorite shot to this day.
All hail the greatest TREK film… to feature two whales!
(Shatner and Doohan don’t count.)
“The trailer also gives away pretty much everything in the movie.” … I don’t think so. Apart from one shot, you would never guess its about whales.
18# I had the “3D” cardboard video display in my bedroom for ages, the cuts out of the Golden Gate with the faces and the logs … my mother killed it trying to dust it :(
UK dudes, can anyone else remembering Spock doing 2 minute guest spots on Steve Wright in the Afternoon on Radio 1. I have vivid memories of him calling up the show in the afternoons doing random stuff before the film came out …
This is where my Star Trek memories begin…
I remember seeing the adds for ST:IV on TV about the same time they showed ST:III on TV- i couldnt travel to the city to see ST:IV but I remember watching ST:III on TV as well as repeats of the original series being shown on sundays for the 20th anniversary including the Galileo 7, shore leave and devil in the dark.
I also managed to get my mother to buy me 2 Star Trek comics from both periods of trek DC #37 which attempled to pick up where ST:IV left off and DC #38 an original series tale with purple pointy eared coneheads!
The Star Trek IV Trailer was the best – the quality of the trailers corilate with the success of the films well- the trailer for ST: V is light and trivial and the Nemisis trailer is dark and trying to be anything but a trailer for a Star Trek film- trying to be dark, sexy and action packed- the only triler not to use the Star Trek theme or previous music scores… but i’ll get to that one when we get to it next week.
The ST:IV trailer has an excellent build up and gives me goosebumps every time i watch it with some volume.
In regards to the film- i love it- i was dissapointed with how little time they spent in the 23rd century when i first saw it- as with the Masters of the Universe live action movie but it soon grew on me and i find it has not aged- the humor gets me everytime I watch it.
The australian DVD has the additional Captins log/last time on Star Trek segment before the credits- unlike the U.S. collectors edition- i dont know if that was always the case with the VHS & DVD releases before that.
All these Previews are making me crave a Star Trek movie Marathon…
THE MOST QUOTABLE “TREK” FILM EVER.
“No, I’m from Iowa… I only work in outer space.”
“Admiral, there be whales here!”
“Hello, computer!”
“Just one damn minute, Admiral.”
“Kin you till me vhere they keep the nu-clear wessels?”
And so on. Unlike any other TREK film, I have very fond memories of seeing this in December ‘86 and people were rolling in the aisles. Great stuff.
Is there a bad frame in this entire film? I don’t think so! Seeing TVH was one of the most enjoyable times I ever spent in a theater. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I still think this is the best Trek film. It made great use of the characters and the story was brilliant. And it was nice to see the cast out in the real world, away from claustrophobic sets. My favorite scene is the restaurant scene where Kirk tells Gillian the truth. I also think this film is fabulous proof that a movie does not have to have a “bad-guy” villain, tons of violence and lots of explosions to be a good film.
When TVH was released I was perturbed to find out it was a ‘funny’ Trek. It meant I’d have to wait years for some ’serious’ Trek. I’ve always had a strong preference towards (what I think of as) ’serious’ sci-fi and Trek. I wondered for a very long time at the extreme popularity of ‘The Trouble with Tribbles’. And other humorous eps of the various Trek series as well.
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE humor. From Marx Brothers to the Farrelly Bros., from Red Skelton to Lenny Bruce to Chris Rock, Dane Cook, David Cross, Katt Williams. I’m in to Monty Python and The Office and Thirty Rock. Wayne’s World is one of my favorite movies.
I love to laugh so eventually I come around to enjoying light Trek outings such as TTWT and TVH, really enjoying them. They ARE great Trek. And in fact the scenes with Kirk, Spock and Gillian in TVH, particularly the one in the pick-up are some of the best and my favorites.
Of course later came The Final Frontier and Insurrection with some rather badly handled, awkward wince-inducing humor.
Oh well.
thar be whales!
okay, maybe the most GR of films, but maybe the best of the movies…
TWOK is the benchmark for fans.
TVH is the benchmark for fans who don’t want to lose their friends.
The “trilogy” was accidental, but it works well in TWOK and TVH because these films can stand alone and yet tie-in. There’s nothing worse than a trilogy middle that doesn’t bring anything to the party — i.e. Pirates II, Matrix II.
Nolan seems to be determined to make sure his Batmans all stand strong on their own. Here’s to hoping JJ doesn’t cop out on ST2011 on his way to ST2013.
Goood trailer. Aside from the one tail in the water, there’s no reference to whales and no desperate need to give away the entire plot in the trailer. Very nice.
They do highlight the comedy, which reminds us of the Trek virtuosity. The Trouble with Tribbles and I, Mudd showed that the crew can have uncharacteristically funny days on the job. This film was one of those days.
God, I just love this film – love it love it love it…
Watching it just makes me feel comfortable.
#19
- Nothing is better than seeing that Bird-of-Prey under the Golden Gate Bridge. It remains my favorite shot to this day. -
Same here.
Speaking of previews…
Anthony-
Do u or anyone know if the new STAR TREK trailer only showing with Quantam of Solace in the U.S. & Canada? can anyone tell me when it screens in Australia & with what film- surely they have this organised by now?
The nice thing about the film itself is that by using a series of vignettes, all of the characters get some moments to shine. Seeing Chekov teamed with Uhura, and the Laurel and Hardy combo of McCoy and Scotty provided some real variety. McCoy also scored big laughs with his cranky rants at the hospital. Sulu came up a little short in this one, but hey, at least he found a helicopter.
I was in what’s called a “Magnet School” here in Philadelphia, which are public schools for kids with above-average grades. Mine was a music school, and I was in the concert choir.
For my senior year there (1989, only a few years after this movie), we did a choir tour/competition to San Francisco and Monterey.
I ended up seeing quite a few of the locations from this movie, as well as the aquarium in Monterey (re-labeled Sausalito in the movie).
That was quite a trip, to see all the places I saw in the movie!
This was a great movie. Of course many plot holes but a movie that did the job. I didn’t like the movie soundtrack though, just way too messy.
I’ve never been a fan of funny science fiction, but this one pulled it off.
Do you like Italian?
Yes… No… Yes… No… Yes, and so do you.
The trailer is pretty good, one that could be made today. I think it’s a good idea, that the trailer reveals some of the story, because I want to know more before I go to see a movie (I avoid nearly every movie, when it’s trailer shows only some scenes but no glimpse of the story.)
TVH was great and the first Star Trek I’ve seen on TV since TOS. That movie made me a Star Trek fan and so I think much of it und I like it even today. The humor was great and even my sister and my mom (absolute non-trekkers) liked it. TVH had some of the best moments of the TOS-crew ever, especially between Bones and Spock and it’s a great fun to watch it, even the 600th time.
Do you think it’ll come out early on the web before the Bond movie??\
“It’s ok to cheat…if you really just don’t like to lose.”
#33
I’m with you on the soundtrack. My least favorite music in a Trek film. I thought the music created too much of a carnival/cartoonish atmosphere. To this day, I am still amazed that it was nominated for an Academy Award (alright, what do I know?). I think Danny Elfman would’ve done a better job melding the light-hearted with the dramatic.
If I had not been a Trekkie my entire life and you came up to me today and told me that one of the best Star Trek movies was about the crew traveling back to the 80’s to save whales from extinction, I would laugh my head off. I got into Trek well before I realized the environmental message of the film, and I still have to stop and think “Oh yeah”. It’s just so much fun. Just what the series needed after so much death and chaos.
Good film, but the title sequence music (was the title sequence attached to the foreign trailer?) strikes me as much more happy and “entertaining” rather than noble/grand/awe-inspiring. Listening to it now it sounds like it would belong to a Harry Potter movie rather than Star Trek. (I am in agreement with #33 and #37.) Perhaps that was a part of the strategy for this film: to appeal to a wider audience rather than just the core fans. Definitely one of the more enjoyable movie adventures – my favorite moment was Scotty designing transparent aluminum on a little Mac! Priceless product placement.
I feel like I’ve watched the whole bloody film after that “trailer”!
Quantum of Solace will debut in Brazil today (friday), is it possible the trailer arrive before in others contries than USA?
“May fortune favor the foolish!”
I remember sneaking into the theater and watching the tail end of the early showing for IV. It was the montage of images during the credit roll up. I had been waiting in line for the later show, and was becoming extremely bored. I was only eight at the time, but that didn’t warrant restraint on the faces of adults as I returned to the line up and blurbed out that the Enterprise was cruising the stars again. As I side note The Voyage home was the first official VHS tape I ever received. The trailer for the Next Generation was included at the beginning
Also…
Always thought the dedication for the Challenger explosion was always a nice tribute! For a youngling during those years that was a pretty big-to-do.
1 WEEK TO GO!!!
I’ll never forget seeing this movie in the theater in 1986…
That shot of the shuttle swooping up and over the Excelsior to reveal the Enterprise-A in all its glory is, to me, one of the greatest moments in the entire franchise…
Almost as great is that scene near the end when Sarek admits to Spock that “it is possible that judgement was incorrect” when Spock joined Starfleet…
I remember hearing the opening score and thinking, this is going to have a different feel than the other movies. It did , but I still enjoyed the movie.
They were decommissioning the Enterprise in ST3 and, I imagine, trying to keep the Enterprise A a surpise for Kirk. Then he went bug nuts and stole the ship.
Re: The score.
Danny Elfman was way too frenetic at the time. He had only worked on his first (brilliant) musical score for Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure the year before with a small group of musicians and would not have a full orchestra at his command until Batman a few years later.
Rosenman’s score had clever “vignette” portions, but often the background music often sounded atonal and somewhat cheesy.
The thing about the Trek series is that with its constant changing of musical scores it never seemed to have a coherent musical theme like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, or even James Bond. In the last two, there have been several musical writers in the films, but they try to maintain a musical continuity throughout the series. Trek, however, with its Goldsmith-Horner-Horner-Rosenman-Goldsmith-Edelman seemed never to know what it wanted to be and introduced brand new main credit themes every time – which is almost unheard of. I did like Edelman’s Star Trek 6 score a lot, by the way.
A friend once told me that the score for TVH always remided him of “Christmas In Space”, and that always comes to mind when I watch this movie.
That being said, the use of TOS score for the ending was very well-used, IMO. Very grand and fitting for the return of Enterprise.
…It really *was* the best of the TOS movies, even if it didn’t have Roger Carmel or Eddie Murphy in it in the end. :-(
RE #48
That’s due to the heavy use of DING DONG DING DONG DANG DANG DONG DONG in the main credits, which I actually like.
And how cool does Kirk look in that giant viewscreen?
“We are commencing time travel… at this tiiiiimmmmmeeeee”
TWOK-I CRIED
TSFS-I HOPED
TVH-I LAUGHED
OH,WHAT A RELIEF IT IS TO SMILE AND LAUGH WITH OUR FAVORITE CREW AFTER ALL THE ANGST OF THE PREVIOUS FILMS.
I REALLY LOVED TVH WITH ALL ITS MEMORABLE QUOTES AND CREW INTERACTION,ONE OF MY FAVORITE MOVIES.
I HAVE IT ON VHS AND WATCH IT QUITE OFTEN.
must admit i dont watch this as often as others. entertaining but its not what i enjoy about star trek. cant wait for the star trek 5 bashing when that trailer comes up. personally found 5 no worse than 4
Yeah, it was. They tried to keep the comedy, but it was often embarrassingly unfunny – with the exception of McCoy talking to himself and “Jim, not in front of the Klingons”.
seriously, still NO news whatsoever on new trailer?
weird
The Voyage Home – one of the few times Kirk didn’t get the girl. Remember how at the end Gillian bops up to Kirk and tells him she’s assigned to a science vessel? She then gives him a daughterly kiss on the cheek and says “See ya round the galaxy” and off she goes.
Shatners reaction was priceless. It was like, HUH? You’re not wanting to jump my bones?
Great movie.
kirks’s girdle
maybe i should of said i’m not into star trek for the humour. but thats the beauty of star trek. people can take all sorts from it. people will have different favourites and for different reasons. thats brilliant. but must admit i think maybe my toes curled at bit more at the the humour attempts in 5 than 4.
TVH is my personal favorite. Well, until STXI comes out.
What is Kiri-Kin-Tha’s first law of metaphysics?
siridi
I understand and appreciate your opinion. Everyone has their own wants and expectations when they walk into a theatre. Just hope we get what we want this tiime.
And just to clarify, are curling toes a good or a bad thing?
Watching all these old trailers makes me realize how much I miss Shatner, Nimoy and the late-Kelley making Star Trek. :(
@46:
I read in the Star Trek Encyclopedia that there was no planned replacement for the Enterprise – the Enterprise-A was originally built as the USS Yorktown, but redesignated Enterprise in Kirk & Co’s honour for saving Earth from annihilation by the ‘giant sausage’ in ST:IV.
However, this is not confirmed by either Memory Alpha or Startrek.com. Interestingly, Memory Beta does mention something along similar lines, except that it was originally designated USS Ti-Ho. However, the canonicity of this hypothesis remains unverified.
62 – And it may very well stay unverified. If the movie just shows the ship as the Enterprise, that means she was the next one to bear the name Enterprise from the get-go.
I’m impressed that only one person has mentioned their reaction to seeing the E-A at the end of the film —
I agree — one of the most uplifting and memorable moments of the franchise. VERY few moments have the same oomph as that moment. It’s the triumphant climax of the three-film ‘trilogy’. It makes for the end of a great afternoon of mid-winter movie watching!
@63:
I agree. I personally don’t like the idea of the ship being redesignated – I like it more that they were building a replacement for NCC-1701 ANYWAY, given the name’s history. They’re hardly NOT going to have a ship called Enterprise.
The canonical argument is that it was being built as a replacement even when there were plans afoot to decommission NCC-1701. Whether Starfleet Command were actually going to give it to Kirk or not will never be confirmed.
I wonder when they introduced the NCC naming convention as standard instead of NX? NX has always been used to indicate a prototype, e.g. Excelsior being NX-2000 until ST:VI, when it was NCC-2000. And Defiant was NX-74205. Until it got wasted by the Breen. The replacement was NCC-74205.
Trek IV is my least favorite of all the movies. Why do they only have 24 hours to complete the mission? They are almost 300 years back in time. They have all the time they need.
hmm anyone notice that the original excelsior bridge has striking similiarity to xi’s
This movie was alot of fun, and I thought the end scene was fantastic. That was just what I wanted to see.
However, 2 Captains and 5 Commanders aboard one vessel would seem to be a misallocation of valuable personnel resources on the part of Starfleet Command, and not very realistic, so some changes would need to be made.
I envisioned another 5 year mission, in which there might be some new young faces to serve under Captain James T. Kirk.
–McCoy could have remained as Chief Medical Officer.
–Scotty (whose promotion to Captain of Engineering aboard Excelsior was always somewhat up in the air) could have remained Chief Engineer, or not…either way
–Spock could have resumed his role as a teacher (yet still could make appearances in films), or accepted demotion back to Cmdr in order to remain with Jim Kirk (which I think would have been difficult to sell)
–Sulu would receive his captaincy of Excelsior, perhaps with Cmdr. Chekov as First Officer
–Uhura could have taken a position at SF Headquarters
Obviously, the Enterprise-A would require a new science officer, helmsman, navigator, and communications officer. This could have been the opportunity for new young faces aboard the Enterprise-A under JTK’s command.
The other original actors (Nichols, Takei, Koenig) could also have made cameo apprearances at times in future films.
Instead….we got STV: Shatner’s Great Trek Turd Of ‘89.
:(
i dont mind sci-fi and humour if it is done well…but holy god. the jokes in this film are so bad….and why sacrifice logic just to make a joke. so many plot holes in this film
i personally hate when sci fi tries to save money by having future characters come into the present…its a rip off
#66—I think it was the power drain on the BOP, no?
magic movies…great soundtracks …..great cast..
#70
Yup. They make frequent reference to the fact that the Bird of Prey is a bit behind, techwise, the state of the art Starfleet vessels we usually see. Hard to believe anyone missed that, given it’s a huge subplot of the picture (breaking into the nuclear reactor to ’steal’ photons).
More great quotes:
“That’s what I said, Al-ah-mee-da”
“I will have to stun you”
“Ah…the giants”
“I thought I told you never to call me”
“Yes, Doctor, that is exactly what I said”
“Perhaps it is time for a colorful metaphor”
“Do you have a message for your mother?” “Tell her I feel fine”
That last one always brings a tear to me eye. ;-)
#59 Lancelot Narayan
Was it that nothing real exists?
If Starfleet was planning a new Enterprise anyway, why go back to an old class of ship? Enterprise-B was Excelsior-class, which was the shiny new toy on the shelf, so it stands to reason that a PLANNED Ent-A would not be a Constitution refit. I have always bought the premise that this ship was originally a different ship (I’d heard Ti-Ho; Yorktown was one of the original twelve). Remember, we see a worker painting the A in one shot of the saucer.
As for the NCC, it stands for Naval Construction Contract. My recollection is that it might have come from Matt Jeffries. But I can’t say for certain.
MY favorite movie of the series, because it resembled the television series, I love it. ST4 had drama, charm, with the ever important message were going to make it….
one scene that really pisses me off is when they plan to go back in time. and kirk says..’ok spock make calculations for time travel!’
if it was that easy, why dont they solve all thier problems by going back in time??? why wouldnt every person in the star trek universe with access to a space ship simlpy jump back and forth in time (and in the process create all sorts of paradoxes??)
the best time travel stories are when it happens by accident or it has some real ramifications. i dont have a problem with taking a light approach to sci and time travel. but not in star trek…its been establshed to many times that that is not what start trek is…..its just lazy writing
I first seen this trailer when i seen Top Gun. It was a great trailer and realy had me going when i seen it. I did not even know there was a trailer coming out for it then.That was the dark ages before the Internette and of corse Trekmovie.com What a great movie with action and some comedy and the thrill of seeing the Big E back once again.
Can we ban/ drop the word cannon -because I can safely say the new movie is going to break some rules and I’m O.K. with that. BSG has not suffered from breaking some rules, as long as the foundation there – GREAT! oops
Those concerned with “time line” perhaps shouldn’t watch the new movie if your approach is a pessimistic one – why torture yourself. I’m stoked about a new ST hope everyone here is. I don’t like the bridge pics; nevertheless, the only thing that would crushed me would be a lame performance or story. or the movie performs poorly…
KA’PLAH
I think the ENT A should have looked different to the original NCC 1701….as to get exactly the same ship again kinda cheapened the destruction scene abit.. (but then the same could be said of socks death)
Maybe something closer to the excelsior…
Anthony, here is the UK trailer:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAYCDsS3UjE
Two major differences, as you mentioned in the article “The Voyage Home” was the primary marketing, with a tiny “star trek IV” underneath.
Also, James Earl Jones, Darth Vader himself is the narrator.
I’m surprised that no one has mentioned that STIV was nominated for four Oscars, more than any other Trek film.
These nominations also included the music… which some people here don’t seem to like. To each their own. I really enjoyed Rosenman’s score, as it fit in nicely with the Christmastime release of the film, and the supporting music from the Yellowjackets when the crew was on the streets was great fun, too.
I agree with Doug and Lyle about the end scene. I was only 9 years old, but I still smile when I remember my reaction to the big reveal of the Enterprise A. It just made you feel so warm and fuzzy inside. I waffle from time to time about which Trek movie is best (TWOK is the other contender). I saw all of them in the the theatre, but I will never forget that moment as long as I live. The only scenes that come close (for me) are:
Star Trek 2: When the prefix code is entered, and Reliant’s shields drop.
Star Trek 3: When the Enterprise clears space doors
Star Trek 6: When the torpedo hits the prototype Bird of Prey and Sulu says “Target that explosion and fire!”
#77
So you never saw ‘Assignment: Earth’ from TOS then? The writers of TVH were only keeping consistent with the time travel methods we’d already seen.
You took them away without asking me!? YOU SON-OF-A-B*TCH!!
#79—”Can we ban/ drop the word cannon ”
We can ban the word, “cannon”, but not the word, “canon”.
“I can safely say the new movie is going to break some rules…”
Why? Orci has stated that “Anything which appears to violate canon will have a canon explanation”.
If there are ‘changes’ in what little is known of the characters’ backstories, it can be explained by the supposed alterations which are a result of the timeline incursion, as can the asthetic changes in the TOS-era as well.
Since the possibility of alternate timelines within the Star Trek Universe is in itself ‘canon’, I don’t see the problem to begin with…
“You’re not exactly catching us at our best.”
“That much is certain.”
Makes me laugh every damn time. My buddy and I still use this exchange from time to time. :o)
#77—I have to agree with Sean.
It first happened by accident in “Tommorow Is Yesterday”, and then again (on purpose) in “Assignment: Earth”.
Using the same method of time travel in TVH (yet accounting for doing it in a BOP in Spock’s “calculations”) is simply in keeping with ‘canon’ that was established two decades before in TOS.
“if it was that easy, why dont they solve all thier problems by going back in time???”
Using that method in TVH was a “last resort”. IMO, they were only willing to do it because Earth’s very survival depended on it, and there was no other resolution.
Using time travel irresponsibly in order to solve every problem would, IMO, be very dangerous and morally questionable. And as far as we know, that method might only work in the Sol system.
“if it was that easy, why dont they solve all thier problems by going back in time???”
I always figured because your odds of surviving the attempt were not favorable. There is very much a tone of risk about the attempt, best communicated by Nimoy. Kirk then definitely shows it as a last resort:
“That’s crazy.”
“You have a better idea, now’s the time.”
“Doctor gave me a pill and I grew a new kidney!!! Doctor gave me a pill and I grew a new kidney!!! Doctor gave me a pill and I grew a new kidney!!!”
Cracks me up every time.
Wow. That trailer does give away a lot.
Great movie.
No mention of Kirk losing his son in the foreign market recap? That seems strange though I’m not sure there are too many references to David in the film.
This is a great one, and the one general audiences remember as “the one with the whales”.
The humor worked wonders to bring in the general audiences after the more serious nature of the first 3 films.
There are a few subtle zingers that I like:
Spock: Judging by the pollution content of the atmosphere, I believe we have arrived at the latter-half of the 20th century.
Kirk: This is a primitive and paranoid culture. Some of the customs will doubtless take us by surprize.
Spock: To hunt a species to extinction is not logical.
Taylor: Whoever said the Human Race was logical?
Wow………can you say “Big Hair”?????
89 – yeah thats how its always struck me too – that its a very risky endevour – as Bones says ‘u can get fryed’ or something…
sorta like playing russian roulette…or having to go out for drinks with a crazy, vile tempered workmate…
94 – I think shatner hit the lethal Propecia/Rogaine combo b4 TMP…
regarding the UK trailers and the way TVH was ’sold’ in the UK – it was sorta like Back to the Future as that had been mega successful only the previous year so maybe that played a part in TVHs success…
There was a lot of upfront promotion for this movie. I remember seeing and hearing alot about the movie in the media prior to the release of the movie. Paramount did a really good job, something that the powers that be need to be aware of for the next movie.
William Shatner really did a lot to promote the movie as well. Who can forget his appearance on Saturday Night Live around the time of the movie’s release? The “Get a Life” skit gets a lot of the pub, but the skit with the Enterprise turned into a restaurant (with Dana Carvey as Kahn) was a real hoot.
Off subject, I was disspointed that my comment in the Barack is a Trek fan thread was not included. Do you have to have a certain political point of view here in order to be posted? My post was in line with the conversation about tolerance and acceptance of other people’s points of view — but I guess tolerance and acceptance of other people’s points of view possibly doesn’t apply here.
So unless there was some sort of glitch where clicking the submit button didn’t post my comment, I guess this will probably be my last post. I’m only writing this because I wonder if this post will end up being posted.
To whomever asked why they had only 24 hours. It was misleading in the trailer but it refers to how long they had until the two captive whales were released in the wide and then they would have to actually search for whales instead of having them at an exact location.
98 – wasnt there also a Shatner skit on SNL around the time of Trek IV where he admired himself in the mirror at home and says stuff like ‘look at me!..im a real man! look at those arms! man i aint even pumped up yet!…Im big! Im dangerous!…honey – look at that butt!’ etc
it was rather amusing
I always like the “You like Italian?”
“No”
“Yes”
“No”
“Yes”
“No”
“Yes,….and so do you.”
exchange
I like it when Mccoy says to kirk about going back in time. (You propose we go back in time and find some whales and then bring them forward in time and hope to hell they tell this thing what to do.(. Mccoy gave away the plot of the movie which was a simple plot but not so simple in carrying out which was just fantastic and funny. I loved the way Spock covered his ears by ripping his cloak and making like a Karety Kid. Very funny. The way Spock Cussed in the film had me rolling. Kirk. Where the hells that power .Spock. One Dame Minute Admiral.This Movie had it all and Spock Giving the Vulcan Neck Pinch To the Punker Kirk Thacher was Priceless. Checkov on the Aircraft Carrier Enterprise and getting Caught as a Russian retarded Spy was Crazy. I could go on but this was the second greates Movie only to TWOK and not by much.
#59:
Nothing unreal exists.
I’ll always remember seeing this in the theater too. You could hear a pin drop in the theater during the goodbye scene. When Gillian plants a quick peck on Kirk’s cheek, my friend unleashed a perfectly timed quick-peck equivalent of a fart that resulted in about a dozen cases of spontaneous whiplash in the crowded rows of seats ahead of us. The impact of the revelation of the new Enterprise was lost on me due to convulsive fits of laughter.
It will be sad (but it is predictable) if Paramount won’t release the trailer on the web too, and non Americans from all over the world will have to make do with a bad quality pirate trailer, as we all did with the teaser-trailer, for a few days :(
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RllSZW_YLk8
I appreciate the humour and fun, but this movie is far too campy and cheesy for me :)
102 Actually, it was “what to go do with itself”, which is funnier.
The most enjoyable to watch, great production, didn’t have the cheap budget feel, or lightweight story feel of most of the other movies. Lots of great memories here, like watching the audience around the home town (San Francisco) cheering when they came into the area. Yeh, the Consitution E at the end was weird, but the sequence to the way they approached it in space Doc was great.
This is one of the only ST movies that I didn’t walk out of feeling like they could have done better. Leonard’s gem!!!
#106—It’s the only Star Trek movie my wife will watch.
I remember before this movie came out, reading where Nimoy said this movie would return to the roots of Trek by commenting on an important social issue, although he didn’t elaborate what it was going to be.
Yeh, I especially liked seeing an original style Contitition starship in Spock’s training program. Too bad it looks like the new movie is going to hack up that beauty…
#109
I understand. It’s light hearted and non-trekker friendly. I remember a lot of people in theaters, back in the old days.
#58, Chris, I really enjoyed “Scotty” in TVH, and of course all the other epsisodes like Tribbles and By Any Other Name. I still to this day get a chuckle when I think about the one TNG scene where he “jumps up” to go with Jorday to engineering… priceless!
This and TWOk are still the best, most enjoyable, Trek movies, I think.
After the darker moments of WOK and TSFS it was good to smile and laugh out loud with The Voyage Home. This is a great movie and one of treks best.
Is it too soon to start the TrekMovie.com rank your ST movies poll? Has this been done on this site yet?
Here’s a start, best to worst (let’s pretend we know that all titles start with “Star Trek”)
First Contact (8)
Wrath of Kahn (2)
Undiscovered Country (6)
Voyage Home (4)
Search for Spock (3)
The Motion Picture (1)
Generations (7)
Nemesis (10)
Insurrection (9)
Final Frontier (5)
Thoughts?
#64, 83
I still get chills when Kirk & Co. fly past the Excelsior and the Enterprise-A is revealed. That – in my opinion – is the best moment in the film and the best reason to watch it.
McCoy (to officer):”Dammit, do you want an acute case on your hands? This woman has immediate postprandial upper abdominal distension! Out of the way… get out of the way.”
Kirk:”What did you say she’s got?”
McCoy:”Cramps.”
Since the main thrust of the discussion are the movie trailers, I’ll just say don’t recall seeing a theatrical trailer until after the movie opened. AMC, at least at that time, would run trailers not just for the movies that were coming but that were already playing at the current multiplex. Trekfans knew that this film was going to be lighthearted and fun and that there was time travel in it. I am glad that they had new music to accompany the trailer as opposed to reusing the tired Horner score. Though they did resurrect his score for V’s trailer.
My memory of the time recalls the fact that they kept playing over and over the scene where Kirk & Co cross the San Francisco street almost getting hit by not obeying the crosswalk signs. The mad taxi driver tells Kirk..”why don’t you watch where you are going, you DUMB ASS?” and Kirk responds, “well…a DOUBLE dumb ASS on you!” and raises his hands. It was funny the first time..maybe the second time, too. But it seems Paramount provided that same scene to every television critic, in addition to the restaurant scene between Jillian and Kirk. By the time I saw in theaters, it wasn’t that funny anymore.
With regard to extras and scenes left on the cutting room floor, fans will remember the fact that they either filmed or try to film a scene with Sulu and a boy, who would have been his great great great great grandfather. Even if the scene wasn’t successful, they should have included it as an outttake, in addition to the scene where Sulu commandeers the helicopter.
On a final note, I’d like to say that this movie makes a return to a more theatrical feel and tone then the last two movies. For example, the Genesis cave and matte insert looked very cheap by ILM in ST2, as well as the controlled rocks in ST3 that either too conveniently emerge from the ground, or cut cleanly (Kruge falling before Kirk kicks him into the lava river). In STIV, the Federation Control Room was humongous with its huge screens, monitors and cool readouts and doodads. They didn’t have to resort to using stock shots or redress a lot of sets from the previous movies to save money.
NIS Agent: “Ok, let’s take it from the top.”
Chekov:”The top of what?”
NIS Agent:”Name.”
Chekov:”My name?”
NIS Agent:”No, my name!”
Chekov:”I do not know your name.”
NIS Agent:”You play games with me mister, and you’re through!”
Chekov:”I am? May I go now?”
#1 – Kerr Avon – “Harks back to Gene’s original social message and away from the militarism that made the previous two films so distasteful.”
I think you may have hit upon the main reason TREK IV was so successful. Star Trek is at its best when it transcends its militaristic underpinnings (yes, even the Gene’s Original Series was heavily influenced by a degree of militarism). They transcend this militaristic framework best with a mix of social commentary, science, philosophy, and humor. Hopefully, JJ can capture that magic as well. Although from the emphasis I have heard on action and space battles, it is possible Trek IX will be just as militaristic as II and III.
#1, #121—What I find distasteful is the use of the term “militarism”, which is defined as a predominance of the “military class” in the administration of the state, or a predominance of military virtues within a society.
I find that to be a misuse of the English language.
Starfleet has always had a military function. In addition to its primary tasks of exploration, scientific discovery, and frontier diplomacy, Starfleet is charged with the defense of the UFP and its member worlds.
I hardly find action scenes and space battles to be equated with “militarism”.
The Japanese Empire in the 1930’s-40’s was an example of “militarism”, where the ‘civilian’ leadership was a front for a military dominated oligarchy headed by Tojo.
I think you may be confused.
Rastaman – I am not a big Trekkie – just cruising past this site. I am interested in sci. fi. in general though (Blake’s 7, Russian version of Solaris, etc)…
What I find about Trek is that it tends to undermine itself. On one hand we have a utopian future yet we still have a military dominating proceedings. Is the best utopia Roddenberry imagined a benevolent military dictatorship?
Further from that, the show embraces a United Earth, with a Russian amongst the Enterprise crew, yet it seems that conflict is still often just around the corner. The Klingons are the new Russians, so nothing has really changed. :-(
Closettrekker, thanks for response. I think the show definitely took a more militaristic turn at the behest of studio executives. Wasn’t the original pilot slated for being “too intellectual” and thus the more gung-ho Kirk was introduced?
Also, I understand that the Enterprise was originally a representative spaceship oof the “United Earth Space Probe Agency”, (which sounds like a futuristic extension of NASA) yet this was later changed to “Starfleet” again giving the series a more military flavour.
RE: #124
I’m glad they did what they did, otherwise Trek would have failed miserably and would not be the Trek 99.999% of people love.
Saw this on its UK premiere back in 1987. In those days it took 5 months after the US to see a ST movie. Incredible experience I will never forget it. The cinema (Empire Leicester Square) was packed solid with fans and whilst waiting outside in the foyer for my show to start they opened the doors from the previous show for a moment and in this moment I caught a glimpse of the Enterprise leaving spacedock!! It was just like magic then they quickly shut the doors again when realising some people just had the end of the movie spoiled for them. Remember travelling to a West End cinema just to catch the trailer as in those days very hard to come by info and trailers were strictly in the cinema or very rarely on tv in some chat show for a few secs and usually cut as well.
Eddie Murphy is a massive trek fan and was hoping to get a part in this as the Gillian character but Paramount would not let him as they thought it would dilute his recent Beverly Hills Cop success.
Try and find the Cinefantastique 1987 Special (Issue # 64 – Vol 17 #3/4 1987) on this as it contains lots of rare behind the scenes info & pictures.
Nick Meyer & Harve Bennett really were a dynamite team and the best ST movies had either or both heavily involved. Shame Paramount did not see this potential as they could have easily made several more ST movies together.
Cannot wait for the Lowry Digital enhanced Bluray of this next year! Probably the 2nd best ST movie ever after TWOK.
“As a predominance of the “military class” in the administration of the state, or a predominance of military virtues within a society.”
Isn’t this what Trek does depict? Do Starfleet control the Federation? I am not enough of a fan to know but the multiple series obviously focus on Starfleet, albeit as a supposedly benevolent military.
At the same time, the series do extol military virtues. There is almost absolute obedience to ship captains with very few episodes in which commands are questioned. Are there any episodes that seriously critique the Federation and its uniformity?
Only ST6 really presents the military as dinosaurs whose relevance to society is now questionable.
#123—Star Trek has always depicted a civilian leadership. Starfleet is the servile exploration and defense arm of that leadership. Its military function is secondary at best.
It is not “militarism” in any sense of the term.
The Klingons ‘were’ an allegory to the Cold War era Soviets in the 1960’s, and their society is indeed militaristic.
Star Trek is a vision of an Earth which unites to conquer the social ills that plague our society today –and then unites with other worlds and peoples who share common values to explore the galaxy in a peaceful manner.
That vision does ‘not’ promise that all other sentient species share those values.
Some have their own agendas, as would likely be the case.
#127—” (Does) Starfleet control the Federation? ”
No. There is a Federation Council made up of representatives from its member worlds, as well as a President—all of whom are democratically elected.
Starfleet exists in service to the United Federation Of Planets.
Its primary functions are exploration, scientific discovery, and sometimes diplomacy (in which case, a Starfleet vessel is usually carrying a civilian ambassador).
Its defense function is secondary at best, and its leadership is subservient to the elected civilian officials.
Thanks for answering my question. Always unclear about that.
I feel the series/films would have been more effective had it focused more on Star Fleet’s primary function and less on the military aspect. There would still be plenty of scope for dramatic stories.
I actually think one mistake of the show was to introduce “shielding” on the Enterprise. All of the other new technologies like teleporters and artificial gravity were needed due to budget limitations and give a tantalising view of the future but shielding tends to make the Enterprise a little too invulnerable. By making the ship a little more flaky, more “man versus nature” episodes could have been written, with the ship suffering asteroid damage, etc, without threats to the Enterprise always needing to come from hostile alien aggressors. Would have also added to the sense that space really is a hostile, dangerous and exciting frontier. Thoughts?
#130—” I feel the series/films would have been more effective had it focused more on Star Fleet’s primary function and less on the military aspect. There would still be plenty of scope for dramatic stories.”
I think that was the case in the series, but admittedly, the exploration and scientific discovery elements were sorely missing from most of the films. I think that is the result of the desire to make them more “epic” in scale, thus setting them apart from the average television episode and the “planet of the week” formula.
“I actually think one mistake of the show was to introduce “shielding” on the Enterprise. All of the other new technologies like teleporters and artificial gravity were needed due to budget limitations and give a tantalising view of the future but shielding tends to make the Enterprise a little too invulnerable. ”
That might have been the case if the shields themselves had not been inpenetrable. Most often, the shields would only hold up for a little while.
Also, it would seem rather dangerous to travel at faster than light speeds without any shielding that could prevent damage from debris in space. At that speed, even a pebble from an asteroid might rip a hole in the ship’s hull.
Had “been” inpenetrable…sorry.
Let’s not forget, and maybe I’m wishfully hallucinating, but don’t we see Spock let out a Warp Factor 9 SMILE when the whales breach next to the floating Bird of Prey?
So many great moments in this movie, and I do think this movie was a cathartic release after all the death and questioning about age in II-III. Nobody mentioned it, but TWOK opens with a recreation of a scene from The Cage, with Kirk and McCoy discussing age, the gift of eyeglasses, etc. It’s a great moment and possibly one of De Kelley’s greatest scenes as McCoy.
Although TWOK was the high water mark for many of us, TVH was the high water mark for Star Trek. I haven’t read any of the “Making of” memoirs, but it seemed to me at the time that the success of this film led to the greatest and the worst things in the history of the franchise:
Greatest effect of TVH: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Worst effect of TVH: Shatner’s lopsided bargaining power to direct THE FINAL FRONTIER. [Though I'm partial to Closettrekker's non-canon title THE GREAT TURD OF 1989--TGTO89].
Can you imagine the horror that would have befell us all if this movie had been produced with Eddie Murphy, as originally planned? I’m not suggesting the movie would have sucked [who knows?], but it would have changed the nature of Trek forever, as studio executives became addicted to the ‘crack’ of celebrity box office.
Coming Soon! STAR TREK V: Featuring Charles Nelson Reilly, Jamie Farr, and Charo!
#130 & 131
If I recall correctly, the primary function of the main deflector dish was to ‘push’ interstellar debris out of the path of a starship, so that it wouldn’t suffer damage from say, a tiny asteroid fragment that would otherwise rip the hull like scissors through paper. This also resulted in the invention of the ’structural integrity field’ and ‘inertial dampers’. I think the SIF was what protected the ship during warp flight, whereas the shields were only used for defense or extreme stresses.
Yes, I’m a massive nerd.
As much as I love the enterprise, I always thought they should have shown some back bone and re-christened the excelsior as Enterprise 1701 – A. I think it would have made just as strong a statement…if not stronger…when Kirk said, “My friends, we’ve come come.” It would have sent a very strong message that regardless of how much things have changed, and how much they lost….home would be with each other. Seeing the exact same ship rechristened enterprise just felt like erasing everything that had happened. The biggest ‘reset’ of all.
The inappropriate music and murky cinematography hurt this film a lot, making it a near-miss after 2 and 3. The “trilogy” notion was effectively broken already by the recasting of Saavik, but this film’s off-kilter score (fine for some other film) ruined any semblance of thematic continuity.
Gillian: Don’t tell me – you’re from outer space!
Kirk: No, I’m from Iowa, I only work in outer space…
Gillian: Oh – well, I was close, I mean I knew outer space was going to come into this sooner or later!
———-
Kirk: I am from what, on your calendar, would be the late 23rd century, I have come back in time to bring 2 humpback whales with me in an attempt to repopulate the species.
Gillian: Well, why not just say so, I mean, why all the coy disguises?
———-
Waiter: So who gets the bad news?
Gillian: Don’t tell me, they don’t use money in the 23rd century, right?
Kirk: Well, we don’t….
Just great!
75: Actually, NCC stands for nothing. Well, it probably stands for something, but it’s never been canonically established what. As for where it came from, per Matt Jeffries:
Jefferies also elaborated on how he decided to use “NCC” as the prefix for the registry numbers of Starfleet ships. He said that American civil aircraft have their registry numbers preceded by “NC,” and Soviet craft used a prefix of “CCCC,” so he more-or-less combined the two. His philosophy was, “If we do anything in space, we (Americans and Russians) have to do it together.”
http://startrek.com/startrek/view/news/article/120394.html
I love the music for Trek IV. It’s much better than the meandering scores for Trek’s 5 and 6. The cut “Home Again” from the CD is my favorite.
Catherine Hicks is HOT!!!!!!
I have never like this movie, it was just a way of making a profit due to the lack of SFX and really cheapened the franchise by making the crew a bunch of idiots that moved into TGTO89. However if you can download the torrrent of pauley79 of Max Rems In Thy Image it actually makes STV enjoyable.
what a film this is. its truly wonderful and it has so many fantastic memorable lines. one of treks finest. i saw it at the UK premiere and it was an awesome experience. what an atmosphere-probably the best in a cinema ive ever experienced. the crowd laughed, cheered and applauded throughout.
Good Times
Greg UK
#139
I love IV’s score as well, but VI will always be my favorite. Eidelman’s score is hardly ‘meandering’!
Well, the only thing I enjoy from the Trek 6 score is the main theme. The other cues aren’t very memorable for me.
I know I am in the minority here but all this did was remind me what a complete pile of garbage TVH was. They tried to be light but it just came off as stupid. The jokes in TFF worked better. Plus, ST hadn’t been so in your face with it’s message since “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield”. Trek works much better when the commentary (or message) is camouflaged.
They should have just sent the big black space dildo back in time.
Problem solved.
Next!
#138
That’s interesting.
I remember reading that NCC stood for Naval Construction Contract number(in this case 1701)
I like the new US-Russian explaination better though.
Not a big fan of adding letters at the end of the ships’ name when replacing one. I rather they assign a new registry number to the ship. NCC-1702 and so forth.
We should also remember that Leonard Rosenman was also the composer for “Fantastic Voyage”, so he wasn’t a sci-fi newbie.
I think it was a nice change from Horner’s scores.
Has anyone watched TSFS along with ALIENS? The scores are interchangeable. Witness the Klingon theme showing up when Ripley takes over the ground car, and again when they’re on the platform waiting for the drop ship at the end. It’s always bugged me that Horner uses the same elements over and over. Khan’s theme even showed up (the pattern, at least) in WILLOW, of all places.
After two very serious Star Trek films in The Wrath of Khan and Search for Spock the time was right to lighten things up a bit and The Voyage Home managed to combine humour with a great story to create one of the great Star Trek movies. I was six years old when The Voyage Home was released and this was the first Star Trek movie I had seen on the big screen (My Mother, God bless her, has been a Star Trek fan since the time of The Original Series and convinced my Dad, who is unfortunately not a Star Trek fan, to see take the family to see the movie) and really this was the first time I can remember being exposed to Star Trek and I havn’t looked back since!
So as you can imagine as a six year old it was pretty cool and I was blown away! At the time Back To The Future was my favourite movie (and is still pretty high up on the list btw) and time tavel fascinated me so the fact that The Voyage Home involved the crew of the Enterprise travelling through time really sealed the deal for me. Plus I use to watch TJ Hooker so after seeing The Voyage Home I knew TJ was really Captain Kirk! (hey it made sense to me when I was a kid)
I also remember thinking how cool the bit at the end was when they’re discussing what ship they’re going to get and then it’s revealed and it was the Enterprise. The first time I had seen the Big E on the big screen!
Ok well that’s The Voyage Home and now we move onto The Final Frontier. Any chance we’re gonna skip straight ahead and go to The Undiscovered Country?! NO. Oh well. Just remember to be kind everyone. Willian Shatner did his best!
To answer some things:
The 24 hours thing – a reference to both how much time there would be that George and Gracie are readily accessible, and also, how much time they had until they were completely out of power, thus resulting in the failure of the cloak. After all, you don’t exactly hide a Klingon Bird of Prey.
Why was the Ent-A not an Excelsior Class ship – because the Excelsior was “The Great Experiment,” and a prototype vessel.
That being said – TVH was a great movie. And, in a way, it was a movie that the country needed. Remember, it was dedicated to the crew of the Challenger. To the folks younger than me (27) who post here: At one time, space exporation was a big deal to this country, and it still was in the 80’s. But the destruction of the Challenger did make America pause and wonder: Is it worth it? This movie showed America the answer: yes it is.
I always wondered if anyone got curious at the disappearance of Gillian Taylor? I wondered if she was on some list somewhere of people that had helped break Chekov out of the hospital? If anyone had made the connection of her working at the whale institute, and then hours later the disappearance of the whales (they were tagged with markers, surely someone would have noticed the whales had gone missing).
This one had me confused as to just how big a BOP is. At he beginning of the film, on Vulcan, it looks like it’s about 300 ft. or so. When it’s hovering over the whaling ship it looks like it’s about a mile and 1/2. And thus began the sliding scale BOP’s seen throughout the rest of Star Trek.
And agreed about Nimoy letting a take of himself slip through smiling from ear to ear. Oops.
Still, a fun flick that did serve to get Trek in front of a more general audience.
All hail Star Trek IV: The One With The Whales.
Couldn’t Scotty just hide the whales in the transporter? Then, later, he could beam them in the ocean!
There was a fan short story in one of the STRANGE NEW WORLDS anthologies that addressed the question of Dr. Taylor’s disappearance. It was really well-planned, following a police detective who investigated the disappearance. He made the connection with Chekov and the nuclear vessels, and decided to leave it in the “unsolved” files because of all of the strange events surrounding the case.
149
When I hear TVH’s soundtrack, I’m always reminded of the music of 1978’s Lord of the Rings, which Roseman also scored.
Sounds like the X Files.
145. ML31
Man, that’s ridiculous. Sure TVH was silly, but the comedy flowed naturally from the fact they were completely out of their element…the original series did this a few times too…and it works. TFF was an awful piece of work, with comedy painfully squeezed into every scene. It certainly did not work better in TFF than in TVH…, but if that’s your style of comedy…hey, who am I to say anything.
# 66 – while ST IV: STW (Save the Whales), is your least favorite, it’s my personal favorite, with TWOK a very close second. However, you are right about the 24 hour business – they could take ten years if they wanted to, as long as they returned about the same time they left.
Parenthetically, I always thought it would have been a nice touch (and one more brain twister/paradox; especially the first time you saw it) if for at least a few moments there were two Birds of Prey – meaning that Spock’s calculations were just slightly off (they were from memory, after all) and they returned a few minutes or so before they left.
I don’t believe #99 is right. The 24 hours had nothing do with the whales, only the amount of time until the crystals were depleted. Scotty’s line there was great: “Oh, 24 hours, give or take staying cloaked.” But that was never a focal point of the film, and once they recrystallized the dilithium, time was no longer an issue. The point of the film was to find the whales, not to find the whales within 24 hours, because they didn’t know in advance of the time travel they would have the 24 hour time frame. If they did, the would have dealt with the dilithium issue before they left.
#86 – yes, yes, yes. I can’t believe that people here can read post after post and not see two separate words – cannon and canon.
Lastly, #154: They were in a Klingon Bird of Prey, not a Federation Starship – the pattern buffer was too small. :-)
And I actually didn’t finish my point in 159 – the 24 hours in the trailer was bogus, as stated in #66. They don’t have “24 hours to complete their mission.” They had all the time they needed. The mission was to get the whales. The 24 hour thing was an obstacle during the mission.
TVH was a wonderful, fun film.
It was a great idea, and a great end to the 2/3/4 trilogy. It’s success was the reason TNG and all its pals were released, and why we have a new film coming in six months.
It was great for fans (Jane Wyatt! Slingshot effect!) and regular punters alike. A perfect story.
It’s amazing that it led to the dross that was TFF, and not to another Nimoy-helmed film. It’s all history, I guess, and we owe Mr. Nimoy a debt of gratitude that he could put Trek solidly into the mainstream in 1986.
Hopefully JJ will do the same next May.
160 – Scotty specifically says that the Dilithium Crystals would burn out in 24 hours, and the ship would decloak in the park and be stranded. They had to re energize the crystals.
#81
Thats what i’m talking about.
I got the title card slightly wrong on the UK version – just what is the O in the word voyage supposed to be.
Is it the probe?
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAYCDsS3UjE
@153:
There are actually two separate classes of Klingon Birds-of-Prey – B’Rel class, which was the12-man scout vessel seen in ST:III & ST:IV, and a larger K’Vort class, which was a lot bigger – carrying a crew of about 200.
There was also a D12 class, but that appears to be very similar to the B’Rel class.
So the ’sliding scale’ of Klingon Birds-of-Prey does have an explanation. However, you are right about it’s scaling problems within ST:IV – it looks massive compared to the whaling ship, whereas it appears relatively small when it’s landed on Vulcan. Did anyone else notice that the bridge has changed since ST:III as well?
one of the reasons i think these films might have worked was because in a way wok tsfs and tvh were like a story arc in a way.
I’ve always enjoy watching ST2 and ST3. But I’ve never liked this one. For me both ST4 and 5 are the worst trek movies. And I think what bothers me more are those silly humor touches. They turns the characters and the whole thing ridiculous.
Several TOS TV episodes are far more interesting and clever, having fine humour (there are exceptions of course).
By fortune ST6 is a great movie, well balanced, a good farewell.
i can remember when Voyage Home came out on Laser Disc (which i still have btw, all of em actually) , and Home Theaters were just getting going.. and all the AV stores in the malls in Dallas, TX were using the Voyage LD as a Surround System Demo. sounded pretty good at the time too. most stores were looping the Time Travel scene over n over, where they sling shot around the sun, and so on.
anyway, it’s one of my favorite ST films. i love time travel, can’t get enough of it. that’s probably why i have the whole Quantum Leap series, and all the Terminator movies, T-TSCC S1 as well.
so many gr8 scenes in Voyage. i think it’s about time to give it another watch, along with the 1st three, then prolly skip 5, and watch Undiscovered =P
158. New Horizon
I disagree. We’ve seen it before. When the comedy actually DID flow freely. “The Trouble With Tribbles” is a perfect example. In TVH, it just felt forced. Like they were TRYING too hard to be light. It didn’t help that the story was the worst of all the movies. (I mean good lord… Time travel has been done to death on ST) I kind of thought it would be more fun if they had to go back in time on Vulcan. Make the humans blend in. They could have made up some Vulcan animal for the probe to look for. Same lame message. But not quite as much as an in-your-face approach. OF course, such a story would not appeal to as wide an audience that TVH did. As I said, I am in the minority here.
TFF was not too good, but it is still more watchable than TVH.
On another matter, I will say that I never liked adding letters to the Starship names either. The comment of going to NCC-1702 I like better.
Hey, what’s Sisko’s dad doing there?