Rating of
4/4
Better than it sounds
JTurner - wrote on 05/31/09
Leonary Nimoy again returns to the director's chair for the fourth entry to the STAR TREK film franchise, which concludes a three-film long adventure arc that started with STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN. This time, Kirk, Dr. McCoy, Scotty, and a newly recovered Spock travel back in time to the 20th century in search of humpback whales to save their own time from being destroyed by a mysterious alien probe. They do this by traveling through the "modern-day" streets of San Francisco and convince a sassy woman worker to aid them. Doesn't that sound like a very strange idea for a STAR TREK film? Sure does, but guess what? It works really, really well, thanks to lively interactions from our cast and a surprisingly fresh sprinkling of humor. Much of the jokes come from our 23rd century heroes obviously not "getting" the lifestyle of 1986 (the scenes where Spock attempts to use profanity while conversing with the city's inhabitants are a hoot, as is Chekov's questioning "where are the nuclear 'wessels'?"). There's enough laughs to tickle your funnybone, and of course, the cinematography involving the humpback whales is beautiful and breathtaking. If there's any STAR TREK movies I'd give my highest recommendation to, it would certainly be STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME, right alongside WRATH OF KHAN, SEARCH FOR SPOCK, and THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY. All four of these films are classics, with this one emerging as the most fun.
