Retro Rewatch: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Once again, we have an even numbered Star Trek movie. This was probably the movie I was most excited to revisit with my kids, because Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is unabashedly my favorite of the classic Trek fims. Possibly my favorite of any Star Trek films. That’s not to say it’s the best of all the movies, just that it’s my favorite. There’s a vein of light-hearted fun which runs through this movie that’s not found in any of the other movies in the series.

The story picks up a couple of months after the end of Star Trek III. Spock is completing his congnative testing, and the former crew of the Enterprise is preparing to return to Earth and take responsibility for their actions. However, an alien probe has other ideas for our intrepid crew. When Spock recognizes the calls of the probe as whale songs from an extinct species, the crew decides to jump back in time and attempt to bring back a pair of Humpback whales to save the future.

Here’s where things get fun. The various fish-out-of-water scenes provide some great character moments, many of which have become classic memes over the years. A few favorites of mine are Scotty’s interaction with the computer (I still occasionally pick up a mouse and say “Hello computer”), Scotty’s suggestion for how to create Transparent Aluminum (which we kind of have now), and the obviously Russian Checkov asking where the nuclear vessels are kept, and directions to Alameda. I still can’t say Alameda without mentally adding (“Where they keep de nuclear wessels). McCoy running through the hospital muttering about the Dark Ages of medicine and giving a dialysis patient a cure for her kidney problems is another great moment.

There are a few low-lights with just how preachy the movie is about the whole “Save the Whales” thing. Then again, that was a while big thing in the mid- to late-80s. There were bumper stickers. There were folksongs. One of the early Dilbert books even parodied it with “Shave the Whales”.

Overall, though, this is probably one of the better examples of how to do social commentary in a movie format. Too many modern films resort to hitting the viewer over the head with a completely unsubtle blast of social views. Star Trek IV is, whaling aside, pretty oblique in its criticism of late ‘80s culture. It’s mainly in the little asides from each character where their postmodern viewpoints are revealed.

Probably the other thing that makes the movie work is the genuine back-and-forth between each character. By this time, these actors have been working together on and off for about twenty years. That’s a long time to be dealing with the same people.

The ending sequences are pure happy for Star Trek fans. The crew splashing in the water around the crashed Klingon Bird of Prey just look happy. Spock choosing to stand along with his crewmates for final judgment shows how much he’s embraced his human side. Finally, there’s the reveal of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A. Same ship model, but the first of many, many letters.