Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

An original movie poster in 1991; the cast of ST:TUC; inviting the Klingons over for dinner; Gorkon's D-7 Battlecruiser and the USS Enterprise-A; a drowsy Kirk awakened by the stunning torpedo attack; Kirk and McCoy attending to a wounded Gorkon; General Chang prosecuting Capt. Kirk and Dr. McCoy who are listening on the trial with universal translators; Capt. Spock forcibly mind-melding with Lt. Valeris to extract information; Capt. Sulu and his crew on the Excelsior's bridge; the Enterprise-A and the Excelsior heading out into the horizon.
Summary

Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country was completed and released by Paramount Pictures in 1991. This film was the last Star Trek film to star Captain Kirk and his crew, which would stand down in 'retirement' and open the way for the movies of The Next Generation era. The film starts out with the USS Excelsior, now under the command of Captain Hikaru Sulu. Sulu had served for many years as Kirk's helmsman on the Enterprises, and was now content to gain the state-of-the-art Excelsior as his own. They are patrolling along the Klingon Neutral Zone in the Beta Quadrant, when a sudden shockwave hits the vessel. As soon as it passes, it is then confirmed that the wave originated from within Klingon space. In particular, it is traced to the moon Praxis, one of several heavily mined moons orbiting Kronos, the Klingon homeworld. Sulu hails the Klingons to offer any assistance. The Klingons respond by telling them to observe the current treaty, not to enter the Neutral Zone.

The moon's explosion had been caused by the relentless mining of the Klingons. In addition, very few safety practices were observed, leading to the explosion and partial breakup of the moon. Almost immediately, Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy and Scotty were summoned to Starfleet Command, in a meeting with Starfleet's top officials. A brief introduction by Capt. Spock outlined the meeting. After the explosion of Praxis, the Klingon homeworld was ravaged, and its oxygen supply would run out within the next fifty years. The Klingons wanted to bargain for peace, beginning with the dismantlement of the Federation bases along the Neutral Zone. After mixed reactions to that plan, the Starfleet Chief-of Staff, decided to send Capt. Kirk and crew to escort the Klingon Chancellor Gorkon to peace talks on Earth. Spock had vouched for Kirk, knowing fully well that Kirk was the best man for the job. Kirk resented this mission, after the death of his son on the Genesis Planet by Klingon hands. Pulling out of SpaceDock, Kirk was greeted by his new helmsman, Lt. Valeris, a Vulcan who reminded the captain on the strict departure regulations. (no impulse drive in SpaceDock.) Kirk retired to his quarters, and recorded his feelings on the mission into his onboard log. He resented playing as the Klingon's babysitter, and overall, disliked the entire idea of peace between the Klingons and the Federation. Lt. Valeris barged in on him, apparently waiting at the door for some time, listening at his anger. She reported curtly that they were approaching Chancellor Gorkon's ship.

Grudgingly, Kirk went to the bridge and introduced himself to Gorkon. As part of this assignment, Kirk was required to extend 'full diplomatic courtesies'. He invited them onboard for dinner. Romulan ale was onboard, which, suggested by Lt. Valeris, 'might make the evening go more smoothly. At 0700, the Klingons were transported onboard the Enterprise. After some short introductions on both sides, Kirk invited them for a short tour of the vessel, while dinner was being prepared. During dinner, customs and visions clashed. Kirk clearly showed his resentment to the Klingons, and though the Romulan ale did improve relations between both sides, relations were still cool at best. Most of the senior officers expressed the greatest relief to see the Klingons beamed back. Kirk wandered back to his quarters and attempted sleep, when he urgently summoned to the bridge by Cmdr. Uhura. Once there, Scotty showed Kirk a recent scan of the area, displaying increased neutrino particles. Though they knew it not at the time, neutrino particles above the naturally-occurring range often signaled a cloaked vessel. Almost at that moment, a torpedo shot out seemingly from the Enterprise, damaging the Klingon ship. The shot disabled the Klingon's artificial gravity generators. A frantic search onboard the Enterprise showed that the Enterprise did not fire a torpedo. Soon, another torpedo battered Gorkon's vessel. With the shields down, a pair of crewmen, clad in Starfleet zero-grav suits and boots, transported onto Gorkon's ship. The two men shot every Klingon that they came across, eventually reaching the Chancellor himself. They stepped back onto the transporter pad, unaware that they had transported a small amount of floating Klingon blood with them. Meanwhile, one of Gorkon's generals, Chang, opened a channel to the Enterprise. He accused Kirk of destroying the little progress that has been made between the two races and that Kirk took advantage of the Klingon's peaceful approach. Kirk immediately transported to the ship with Dr. McCoy to render aid. Upon arriving, Kirk asked what had happened. He was told by a sharp-tongued General Chang that two of his crew had beamed aboard and committed the bloody crime. Meanwhile, Dr. McCoy attempted to treat and resusitate the Chancellor. He did not possess a great deal of knowledge on Klingon physiology, and may have worsened Gorkon's condition. Before Gorkon died, he told Kirk, 'Don't let it end this way...' Kirk and McCoy were arrested for their crimes, as Kirk was responsible for the conduct of his crewmen, and McCoy for the Chancellor's worsened condition that led to his death.

Once the news of Kirk and McCoy's arrest reached the Enterprise, Spock assumed command. He had the quest for the actual murderers hastened. Taking an assumption from the available evidence, Spock surmised that the killers were still onboard. The killers had donned Starfleet zero-grav boots and suits, obviously they had also tampered with the computer data banks. It was almost a certainty that the killers were onboard the Enterprise. Immediately, the ship was searched quarter by quarter for the imcriminating gear. The torpedoes in the torpedo bay were counted and recounted by hand, which showed all accounted for. Since every one of the Enterprise's photon torpedoes were visually accounted for, the fired shots had to have come from a ship that was beneath the Enterprise. Putting together the available evidence and a distant, but possible theory, Spock concluded that there was a cloaked vessel under the Enterprise. But, since no existing ship could fire while cloaked, Spock assumed that it must be a new prototype built by the Klingons, and manned by elements of the Klingon government or military who did not want Gorkon's peace initiative to work. Meanwhile, Kirk and McCoy arrived on the Klingon homeworld and were placed in a typical show trial. The trial was broadcast over a wide range. Starfleet Command was viewing it, as well as the Enterprise and Excelsior crews. A General West at Starfleet Command suggested a rescue operation to extract the famed captain, which the Federation president dismissed as a spark to war. Kirk and Bones were spared execution. Rather, they were sent to the frozen penal colony-asteroid Rura Penthe to mine dilithium for the remainder of their lives. Upon hearing this, Spock formed a plan to rescue them. It was a dangerous plan - a massive Federation starship masquerading as a freighter deep into the heart of Klingon space. Before they could set a course, Starfleet recalled the Enterprise back to base. The ship responded in static and went to warp. Surprisingly, the only obstacle that the Enterprise encountered was a deep space scanning station. They manuevered outside of its scanning range. When the Klingons asked for the 'freighter's' destination, Uhura responded personally in Klingon, as a universal translator would be easily detected. Kirk and Bones arrived at Rura Penthe. Immediately, Kirk was assaulted by a generously-sized creature who wanted his coat. Kirk needed the coat to keep from freezing, and was battered over several times. Kirk finally hit it on the knee which happened to be its 'sweet spot'. The two met up with an alien woman who recognized them and who shared their desire to escape. That night, Kirk and McCoy began wondering of their miserable future and how to escape. The alien woman popped up and told them to meet her in a certain turboshaft to the mines the next morning.

Arriving at the turboshaft bright and early the next morning, the woman was not to be seen. They walked in and behind them a furred creature spoke to them in the woman's voice. They followed her to the end of the mine. Dashing past a group of dining guards at the shaft's end. The woman transformed from a hairy creature into a young girl. This had the advantage of removing her shackles with ease. Prying off a loose metal seal, she led them down a narrow shaft to the icy surface of Rura Penthe. Transforming once again into a bulky furred creature, she cut loose a package of extra, possibly hoarded, rags for them to wear. Trekking outside of the deflector shield that protected the camp, they sat down to rest in a sheltered hollow. The woman, Marta, explained that her race were Chameloids, able to change form and shape, but with great effort. She lit a fire with a modified flare. At once, Kirk demanded to know where she had sourced the flare and the extra rags. She claimed that she had been hoarding them for some time. Kirk, however, did not believe her story, realizing that he was stood up. The flare was a method for the Klingons to locate them. Marta transformed herself into Kirk and the two Kirks fought. Almost immediately, the Klingons located them and drew their weapons. Seeing that there were two Kirks, each one accused the other of being the real Kirk. The prison commandant shot one of them, which happened to be the Chameloid. Since they were going to die anyway, he decided to tell them of the real murderers. Before he could start, however, the Enterprise beamed up Kirk and McCoy in a shimmering flash. Kirk chastised Spock for his punctuality, with Spock inquiring, 'Did you want to go back?' 'Absolutely not!', remarked McCoy. Upon the duo's return to the ship, Scotty ran towards them in the corridor, carrying two anti-grav suits that he had discovered earlier in the dining hall. Walking a short distance further down the corridor, the door slid open to reveal the two murderers, who had since committed suicide. As the two dead men lay in Sick Bay, Kirk and Spock waited for any comrade of theirs to show up, possibly to conceal any further evidence. Lt. Valeris walked into the dim room armed with a phaser and began to approach one of the dead bodies. Immediately, Spock pulled out from beneath the cover, switching on the light. A collaborator was exposed. Kirk and later, McCoy, appeared. Leading her to the bridge, they attempted to extract information regarding her colleagues in crime and the location of the peace talks. Kirk inquired if there were more Klingon ships that could fire while cloaked. She remarked that General Chang's ship, the prototype, was the lone one. Forcing a mind-meld with her, Spock learned of her criminal colleagues, including Admiral Cartright, the Romulan ambassador Nanclus, General Chang and others. At once, Kirk urgently contacted the Excelsior for the location of the rescheduled peace talks. Explaining to Sulu about the prototype ship and its mission to disrupt the peace talks, Sulu relented. Sending the location of Khitomer, a world in the Federation/Klingon Neutral Zone, on a coded channel, Sulu sent word that the Excelsior would meet and assist them there. Sulu then set course at maximum ward speed from his location in the Beta Quadrant.

The Enterprise began to approach Khitomer. Within several minutes, the viewscreen activated, showing a field of stars, but no ship. General Chang taunted them for some time, as the Enterprise raised shields and armed its weapons. Soon, a plasma torpedo flashed nearby and struck the ship. Although the weapon's point of origin was pinpointed, it provided little solace, as the Klingon ship was certainly manuevering around them. Another torpedo came from the dark, then another. Meanwhile, the Excelsior approached at full speed. As the Enterprise fired torpedoes blindly in every direction, she retreated. As the Excelsior dropped out of warp, Chang focused his attention on it, firing torpedoes as well. In a vain attempt to locate Chang's vessel, Uhura suggested that they use gaseous anomaly sensors that they carrying onboard in the science labs. The sensor would track the location of engine exhaust from the ship. Spock and Dr. McCoy quickly went into the torpedo shafts to modify a single torpedo with the sensors, effectively turning it into a deadly guided weapon. Continually racked by the shuddering of the ship, the two finished their work and loaded the torpedo. The launched torpedo quickly honed in on the exhaust of the cloaked Bird-of-Prey, disabling and decloaking it. The Enterprise and Excelsior relentlessly finished off the doomed vessel. Beaming down to the planet in the conference center, Kirk and crew pushed their way to the central platform to protect the Federation president and the new Klingon chancellor, Gorkon's daughter, Azetbur. Working his way up to a glassed room above the platform, Scotty shot a sniper preparing to kill the Federation president. Sulu and his crew beamed down within seconds and detained the fleeing Admiral Cartright. Nanclus and several others were also detained. Clearly, elements from both sides wished to stop the peace talks, known as the Khitomer Conference. The conference established the Khitomer Accords, which began a peaceful era between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. And what of Kirk and his crew? They received a hero's welcome, and so began their retirement from Starfleet, and from the big screen. The Excelsior parted from the Enterprise, as it left slowly, bittersweetly (Kodak moment!) into the horizon. Kirk, Scotty and Chekov, however, would still make it into one last Trek film......









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