Review of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Introduction

I`m afraid I`m going to start this review with a rant. It`s not the ideal forum to be sure, but having suffered a build up of bile for the last 12 months, this seemed the best opportunity to vent my spleen. You see Star Trek has gone to the dogs. You may find it hard to appreciate how difficult it is for me to say that. I`m a lifelong trekkie/ker (delete as appropriate) and have followed various heroes boldly splitting infinitives with bumpy headed aliens the galaxy over. More of my wage packet than I am comfortable mentioning has lined Paramount`s coffers in the pursuit of my addiction to all things Trek, but in the immortal words of Huey Lewis, "I want a new drug!"

Perhaps a little history first. Ironically, the most productive period in the Star Trek universe was when the show was in syndication. That was when frustrated fans, who just happened to be authors took it upon themselves to expand the Star Trek universe. A whole slew of novels appeared that filled in the back-story of Trek, and delved deeper into the various alien races. Writers like John M. Ford and Diane Duane created stories that were gripping entertainment as well as exploring alien cultures that the television series only hinted at. Even established sci-fi writers like Greg Bear got in on the act, sending Captain Kirk and his crew on adventures that challenged the borders of sci-fi. Their stories were only enhanced when the first movies were made and writers made use of the new concepts and designs. Indeed the best Trek fiction was written in the eighties and early nineties, and historical events in Trek, like first contact were explored in thrilling adventures. Then in 1987, The Next Generation came to our screens. New adventures with a new crew, it was amazing. For seven years fans were glued as we once again visited strange new worlds. It got even better, as in 1992 we were treated to DS9, a completely different concept in Trek. Rather than exploring planet after planet, week in week out, this was a static story set on a space station. We watched these characters evolve and grow while an epic tale unfolded around them. Personally I believe this was the apex of Star Trek.

But by 1994, the tarnish was spreading. Gene Roddenberry had passed away a few years prior, and the Next Generation had ended on a high note. Wishing to keep the till ringing, and with the franchise in the hands of Rick Berman, the new series would follow the tried and trusted formula established by TNG, a starship with regular characters having different adventures each week. But how to keep the fans unaware of the retread of the formula? Simple, set it at the other side of the galaxy. Thus Voyager was born. As the show progressed, the producers learned the staple ingredients of Trek for the 90s, a kooky alien, a dispassionate observer preferably Vulcan, and a bit of totty. Throw in some references to the Prime Directive and voila, identikit Trek. But Voyager ultimately had to end, and the need to keep the cash flow up once again reared its head. They fell back on the ingredients so carefully distilled previously and last year Enterprise was born. The twist in the tail is that this one is set 100 years before Kirk. This time they have screwed up big time. We have terminally bland characters that are interchangeable with their Voyager counterparts, the same stories are rehashed again and again, but the worst crime is that the new series doesn`t fit in. Other franchises have a degree of consistency with spin offs and novelisations. The expanded Star Wars universe has comic books and novels that all fit in with the movies to a degree. The Babylon 5 universe novels and comics are practically canon. But Star Trek is so vast and varied now that you can hardly expect consistency between television and novels. But Rick Berman, Brannon Braga et al, have thrown away any pretence of coherence in the stories they tell. If you have watched any incarnation of Trek, be it the Original series, TNG, DS9 or Voyager they offer contradictory histories of the future. But Enterprise makes no sense even when compared with these. The history that Enterprise spins is so different and implausible when compared with the rest of Trek that the new show feels like a parody, no more than that, it feels like a betrayal. Strong words indeed when you consider it`s just a television show. And most of you will be exhorting me to get a life at this point. It`s just that when you choose a TV programme that is your brief escape from a mundane existence, albeit Star Trek, Prisoner Cell Block H, Eastenders, whatever, you expect it to play by the rules. To me Enterprise is the sci-fi equivalent of Bobby Ewing walking out of the shower.

After a season of this, my hopes perked up with the theatrical release of Star Trek: Nemesis. Seeing the Next Generation crew on their fourth big screen adventure would definitely cheer me up. Alas, the Rick Berman method of success has been applied to the Next Gen movies as well. With the exception of First Contact the ingredients are, new alien race, doomsday weapon, and climactic starship battle. To make things worse the plot has been lifted wholesale from Wrath of Khan and anything resembling a character moment has been ruthlessly culled in favour of a "Wouldn`t it be cool if…" moment. Cue, futuristic dune buggy scene, starship ramming, and a fighter sequence in a ship`s corridor. As the final credits rolled, I swear I heard the death rattle of a franchise. I got home thoroughly disenchanted with the whole affair, and simply brimming with the bile that has prompted this cathartic essay. I searched for a way to assuage my vitriol, and chanced upon the idea to go back in time, to a moment when Star Trek was fun, innovative and enjoyable. Yes, for those few of you who have suffered through the last few paragraphs, we actually come to the point of this review. Yesterday, I watched Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

Star Trek IV was the final movie in a trilogy of stories that began with The Wrath of Khan, so it may help to summarise that which has come before. Spock died and was resurrected and to rescue their comrade, Admiral Kirk and the crew of the Starship Enterprise disobeyed several Starfleet orders and stole their mothballed vessel. Kirk, having destroyed the Enterprise returned with Spock to Vulcan in a stolen Klingon vessel, where Spock`s fractured memories were restored. As Star Trek IV begins, Kirk and his officers are debating whether to end their self-imposed exile on Vulcan and return to Earth to face the charges against them. Spock meanwhile is coming to terms with his apparently faulty memory and the unprecedented adventure he has experienced. Nevertheless he is resolute in his determination to accompany Kirk back to Earth so that he can offer testimony. Earth is in the grip of a dire crisis however, as an alien probe of immense destructive power has come to the solar system, broadcasting a message of unknown meaning. The message has the side effect of altering Earth`s climate and storms overtake the planet, plunging the world into an ice age that no life will survive. Starfleet is powerless as any ship that approaches the probe is drained of energy. As Kirk and co voyage to Earth, they intercept the dire communications of the Federation President warning all vessels to steer clear of the doomed planet. Kirk is at first helpless as he watches his home world begin to perish, but Spock`s disjointed memory gives him a lifeline. Spock recognises the probe`s message as that of humpback whales, a species that has been extinct for over 200 years. Kirk hatches a plan to rescue some whales that will communicate with the probe from the only place in the universe they exist, Earth 1986.

Video

Star Trek IV is presented in a 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer. The transfer itself is ideal, with the image resplendent on this disc. There are no artefacts at all and the picture is sharp and colourful throughout. The print itself is a little variable though. Dirt and scratches particularly affect the initial reprise from Star Trek III, but when the movie proper starts, this problem is significantly lessened to a few occasional flecks. That said there were a couple of moments of significant print damage, but still not enough to detract from the overall high quality of the transfer. It`s 1986 and CGI is just a glint in some programmer`s eye. All the effects in Star Trek IV are accomplished optically and they are of sufficiently high quality that they fit relatively seamlessly into the film. Fortunately the time travel element and the unconventional story (for a Star Trek film) reduce the eye candy quotient in favour of character moments. No big starship battles to see here, move along. Having said that, I was amazed to see in the featurette that over 95% of the whale footage was created via effects and animatronics. I always assumed that footage of real whales had been seamlessly blended into the story and to find the converse is true is mind-boggling. Remember, this is pre CGI and barely 10 years after Spielberg had such problems with an artificial shark.

Audio

The film comes with a DD 5.1 English soundtrack as well as a DD 2.0 Surround German one. The surround is adequate and does the job well. The sound is sufficiently ambient and does put you into the middle of the movie. That said there are moments when the speakers come to life. The sound of the probe is ominous and laden with overtones of bass, and the storm sequences are also vibrant and dynamic. The speech is always audible and the music suits the film well. Leonard Rosenmann provided the score (as opposed to Jerry Goldsmith or James Horner for the other features) and his music is jaunty and almost festive in its feel. He provides a lightness of tone that matches the buoyant nature of the script. If that hasn`t convinced you, then consider this, nowhere else will you hear a ZX Spectrum loading software from tape in Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. Trust me it`s there.

Features

Paramount fobs us off with special edition packaging and a couple of minor extras. No doubt the impending "Super duper" Special 2 disc edition will remedy that. (Milking money by dint of endless re-releases, I forgot to add that to my rant, damn!).

This disc unlike most of the other initial Star Trek discs actually has more than just the theatrical trailer. It`s nothing to get excited about though as it`s just a 15-minute featurette focussing on Leonard Nimoy`s direction. The man himself introduces the piece and goes over his career and the making of the film from his perspective. He also gives a quick description of the difference between widescreen and pan and scan.

Conclusion

Star Trek IV does not have a promising start. With an ominous probe appearing from a nebula and heading relentlessly towards Earth, it seems a little too similar to Star Trek the Motion Picture for comfort. However, any reservations are soon dispelled as the crew of the late starship Enterprise embark on what is perhaps their most light-hearted and fun filled screen adventure. Star Trek IV is unique in that it is played mostly for laughs, a welcome change after the rather tense storylines of Star Trek II and III. It`s also unique in that there is no enemy to be shooting phasers at, only a forbidding space probe, which actually embodies the retribution humanity is due for despoiling Mother Earth. Yes, there is the admirable eco-message at the heart of the story, but it`s put to work at the heart of the tale, rather than being used as a brute club to batter audiences into changing their wasteful ways. While the light tone is evident from the beginning, with some friendly banter among the crew and some jokes at the expense of Spock`s memory, it`s when Kirk and co make their debut into 1980`s San Francisco that the movie comes to life. The culture clash between future and past is judged perfectly, as the Enterprise crew find themselves completely out of their depth. The humour is sharp and well observed, and it`s easy to accept these characters as out of place spacemen. Seeing Kirk and Spock flummoxed by phrases like `exact change only` and Scotty having to watch his language when he let`s slip that he has travelled millions of miles gives the piece a little verisimilitude.

This movie sees the original cast at their most relaxed and every character gets a piece of the action. They`re also still of an age to be comfortable in their roles. William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley reprise their roles with their customary skill while the other actors get some choice scenes. A confused Chekov when asked to give his rank dreamily replies `Admiral`, Sulu has problems flying a Huey and Scotty finds that computers aren`t quite user friendly yet. Supporting the regular cast is Catherine Hicks as cetacean biologist Gillian Taylor. She is the 20th Century character who helps the time travellers in their quest and her character in this film is developed well. You get an insight into her story that you wouldn`t expect from a film that has such an established ensemble cast, and the film is the better for it. Trivia wise, Brock Peters makes his first appearance as Admiral Cartright and his character will make a bigger impression in Star Trek VI. Also making brief cameos are Majel Barrett and Grace Lee Whitney as well as Vijay Amritaj and Jane Wiedlin (The Go-Gos).

Watching Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home makes me realise how much the Star Trek franchise has lost. The sheer warmth and depth of the characters is like putting on a comfortable pair of slippers. Their banter is natural and it`s the journeys that these characters make that drive the story. The story itself is well thought out and interesting. More than that, it has a smidgen of originality. The film isn`t hamstrung by special effects or eye-candy, and in a way the non-violent and moralistic nature of the tale has more in common with Gene Roddenberry`s original vision of Star Trek than the battle fests that the recent movies have been. This film of all the Treks has the greatest mass audience appeal, and the sheer entertainment value lets you gloss over any minor failings. The picture is good but not great, while I haven`t heard this film sound so good. It`s a little light on extras, but will you look at the time? A super duper special edition with extra cheese and pepperoni topping is just about due and another version the year after that ad infinitum. Sorry, I had a little rant left over. You should be able to find this version for under a tenner, so if extras aren`t your bag, give it a spin.