Review of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) by Ben P — 23 Mar 2010

Even for Star Trek, this one was pretty odd. I was admittedly lost at first, since I never saw the previous film (the odd numbered films apparently suck, so I didn't bother). The only thing I knew is that Star Trek III pulled some plot device shenanigans out of its ass to bring Spock back from the dead. I guess they pissed off some Klingons along the way.

Anyway, The Voyage Home sends the aging crew to the 1980's (I think) in order to find some whales. As you may have guessed, this one's a bit sillier than other Trek films. Much of the story puts our misplaced heroes in situations where they aren't familiar with the "current" culture. It sounds like a horrible idea, but it works pretty well. Some of the jokes fall flat, but others are pretty funny. Most of the humor works because of the absurdity of the situations, rather than actual jokes. There's also a fairly heavy environmental message, but I didn't think it was preachy enough to hurt the film. Overall, its not as good as Wrath of Khan, but its still an enjoyable two hours.