The greatest year for fish-out-of-water movie fans was 1986. Hands down. No contest. End of story. That was the year we saw the release of Crocodile Dundee and Star Trek IV. Don’t argue with me about this. Don’t even think about it.
STIV was the end of a trilogy that started with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and continued in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Don’t watch IV without first watching II and III. Don’t worry about Star Trek The Motion Picture, as it doesn’t have anything to do with these films.
In STIV, the crew has to save the Earth from destruction. Again. This time, a giant, flying cigar with a soccer ball hanging out of the bottom shows up and starts to threaten mankind. It seems like something wants to communicate with whales even though they are extinct. Unless the extinct whales can answer the calls of the big cigar, mankind is headed for the same end as the whales.
Kirk and crew, including Spock – who is alive again – must time travel to 1986 and bring back one humpback whale. Then the whale can answer the big cigar and send it away happy before mankind witnesses the biggest temper tantrum ever.
What happens when they get to SF in ‘86 makes for the most fun anyone can imagine occurring in a Sci-fi film. The result is brilliant, funny and exciting. Everything in the film turned out perfect. This proved to be the most popular Star Trek film made with the original crew. Leonard Nimoy directs. Leonard Rosenman provides a wonderful musical background. He also provided the score to Fantastic Voyage (1966), which may make him one of only two composers to provide music for both inner and outer space. Who else did this? Do you care?
In the Blu-ray edition, this film looks like the theatrical release. It’s clear, colorful and beautifully lit so you can have this film in your house with the same clarity as at the movies. Lucky you.
There are lots of fun extras including a short retrospective on “Kirk’s Women” and an overall look at the entire trilogy. Best of all, a commentary track is on hand featuring Nimoy and William Shatner discussing the film in it’s entirety. What could be better than watching the movie at home with both Kirk and Spock on hand to offer up info? You can buy the film for about $10 – a true bargain. Look for a copy of Crocodile Dundee while you’re at the store. It can be a true fish-out-of-water weekend.
Rated 4.0 out of 4.0 reasons to save the whales. I’m going to tell you anyway, it was Jerry Goldsmith.