Review of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) by Ryan K — 30 Dec 2013

When looking at the Star Trek films, particularly The Voyage Home, film number 4 in the franchise, a plot about the crew going back in time to recover humpback whales sound s a fit far-fetched and ridiculous to sound true. But in the end, The Voyage Home is actually an extremely entertaining and funny Trek adventure that can actually appeal to non-Trekkies.

Kirk (William Shatner) and the former crew of the destroyed USS Enterprise, using the stolen Klingon vessel, head back to Earth to face charges for all the rules broken in Search for Spock, only to find that Earth and The Federation's systems are facing difficulties due to a mysterious probe that's searching for humpback whales. Since humpback whales are long extinct in the 23rd Century, Kirk and the crew go back in time to the late 20th Century to recover humpback whales to save the species.

The film also stars Leonard Nimoy as Spock, DeForest Kelley as Dr. Bones, James Doohan as Scotty, George Takei as Sulu, Walter Koenig as Checkov, Nichelle Nichols as Uhura, Mark Lenard as Spock's father, and Catherine Hicks as a 20th Century scientist into humpback whales.

What surprises me about The Voyage Home is how truly entertaining and original this film actually is. On the surface, a story about retrieving humpback whales is about the goofiest idea you can come up with in a film, but as the old saying goes, "You can't judge a book (or in this case, a film) by it's cover", and in actuality, the story is pulled off perfectly. Leonard Nimoy, who directed this film, gets more free time in the director's chair this time around, and manages to create perhaps the most fun Trek adventure I've ever had. The characters here show their extreme fun side and it's really entertaining to see the crew about in 1980's San Francisco, with some of the funniest being Kirk's responses to rude people, Spock swimming with whales in an aquarium, plus his uses of "colorful metaphors", Scotty attempting to talk to an 80's computer, and the funniest moment, Checkov searching for "nuclear wessles". Definitely the most fun I've had out of the old Trek films ever. It's also surprising that I really love this Trek film and it has no villain. Well, you could say that the enemy is the probe that intends to destroy the earth, but if you think about it, the probe is an inner being whose intentions are to get the earth back in shape, which explains their begging for humpback whales. The Voyage Home also features a wonderful environmental message reminding to help protect some of our beautiful creatures on the planet, including humpback whales.

As I said earlier, the cast is at their most fun in this one, which helps cause most of the time, they're in 80's San Francisco. Standouts here are William Shatner as Kirk, Leonard Nimoy as Spock, and DeForest Kelley as Dr. Bones. Even Sulu, Checkov, and Uhura are really enjoyable in this one. (Checkov having that extremely hilarious "nuclear wessles" outburst).

The Voyage Home has the smallest amount of visuals, but when used, the visuals created by Industrial Light and Magic are a huge step up from the disappointing visuals shown in Search for Spock. I was once again immersed in the visual worlds in this film. This shows that Industrial Light and Magic are the best at wonderful visual-making. The score by Leonard Rosenman is also a memorable listen to, with the most epic use of the Star Trek theme yet.

Call it a miracle, considering it's ridiculous premise upon first listen to, but Star Trek: The Voyage home is actually the best film in the original franchise thus far. The cast are fun to hang around with, the story is completely entertaining and inspiring, and you're left feeling satisfied in the end. Along with Wrath of Khan, this is living proof that a great old Trek film can be made.