Line #25 YMMV/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry


1	* AccidentalAesop: Some have taken the mind meld scene with Spock and Valeris to be a message that TortureAlwaysWorks. Of course this is also a FantasticAesop, since mind melds read actual thoughts, something RealLife torture cannot do.
2	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
3	** There's a faction of ''Franchise/StarTrek'' fandom, particularly in ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'''s playerbase, that views the destruction of Praxis as a missed opportunity for the Federation to deal with the Klingons permanently, that they should have taken the opportunity to launch a full-scale invasion because the peace, however well-intentioned, would not prove sustainable: "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS3E15YesterdaysEnterprise Yesterday's Enterprise]]" shows the Klingons and Federation at war despite the Khitomer Accords, with this only averted in the prime timeline through the loss of the ''Enterprise''-C against their mutual foe the Romulans. In 2372 the Klingons go off half-cocked against the newly democratic Cardassian Union, eventually driving them right into the hands of the Dominion, and declaring war on the Federation when their allies try to rein them in. The exact same thing as in 2372 happens in the backstory to ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'', only with the Undine instead of the Dominion as bogeyman du jour. In both of the latter two instances, the alliance was only restored by [[EnemyMine a mutual enemy]]. ''So what happens when the Federation runs out of mutual foes they can distract the Klingons with?'' But hey, we got an end-of-the-UsefulNotes/ColdWar allegory out of it, right?
4	*** Not to mention that, by [=DS9=]'s time, we're talking 70-80 years of peace between the Federation and the Klingons, which isn't a bad run at all. Who's to say that a Federation conquest of the Klingon Empire wouldn't have resulted in something much darker by the mid-24th century?
5	*** And don't forget that [[Series/StarTrekEnterprise by the 26th century, the Klingons have officially joined the Federation]]. EarnYourHappyEnding, right?
6	*** Notably, one of those who had a serious problem with the script was '''Gene Roddenberry himself.''' He was particularly disturbed by the more militaristic scenes and treating Kirk's history of distrust of Klingons as racism; the original series clearly used the Klingons as "alien Russians" who were guilty of serious ''ongoing'' violations of human rights, and he was disgusted with the main plot being ''defending'' them through military action without answering for those crimes - he especially disapproved of how the death of David Marcus was used. Luckily for Paramount, Roddenberry died two days after the movie was screened for him, before his lawyer could present his demands to the studio.
7	*** This interpretation may even get a boost when you consider how the events that the film is allegorizing turned out in RealLife. The collapse of the Soviet bloc did not exactly lead to everlasting peace between the Americans and Russians. In the long run, it led to Putin's dictatorship and renewed hostility between the West and Russia.
8	** Starfleet's decision to decommission the ''Enterprise''-A at the end of the movie. Was it because the ''Enterprise'' was simply too old to be worth repairing, as was the case of the original at the beginning of ''The Search for Spock'', or was it a [[ObstructiveBureaucrat vindictive punishment]] for all of crew's shenanigans in this movie? Kirk offhandedly mentioned earlier in the movie that the crew was due to stand down in six months, but whether this meant the ''Enterprise''-A itself was already set for decommissioning and it's just being done early is unclear.
9	*** Considering the introduction of the ''Enterprise''-B in ''Film/StarTrekGenerations'', canonically later in the same year (2293), either Starfleet was actually planning on decommissioning the ''Enterprise''-A to make way for the -B, or they shifted plans on the fly and renamed the ''Excelsior''-class cruiser then under construction as the vessel's successor.
10	** When the assassins hid their gravity boots in Crewman Dax's locker, were they actually trying to frame someone else and simply screwed up by picking Dax? Or [[EvenEvilHasStandards could they not bring themselves to frame a fellow Starfleet crewman]] and deliberately picked Dax because they knew he'd instantly be proven innocent? [[spoiler: Valeris' reaction seems to imply the former, but perhaps she was just more ruthless than her cohorts.]]
11	** Chancellor Gorkon's crack about appreciating Shakespeare "in the original Klingon". Was it an attempt at an olive branch via a light-hearted joke pointing out the similarities between Klingon and human culture? Was it an attempt at CulturalPosturing to appease the militarists in his government? Did he genuinely believe Shakespeare was a Klingon? ([[AluminumChristmasTrees Equally absurd "X person was actually Y nationality" nationalist myths exist in real life.]])
12	* {{Anvilicious}}:
13	** This film addresses the fears many people had about the imminent collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar.
14	** Admiral Cartwright, played by [[Film/ToKillAMockingBird Brock Peters]], is a stark and uncomfortable reminder that racism can come in any form. Especially considering that Cartwright was a ReasonableAuthorityFigure in ''Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome''.
15	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Cliff Eidelman's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcTegz0Vh_Q score]]. Nicholas Meyer wanted something based on [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Isic2Z2e2xs Gustav Holst's "The Planets"]], and he sure got it.
16	* BetterOnDVD: When you watch the film again, you can see just when Spock slaps the patch on Kirk--and see the patch, too. The Klingons weren't very thorough, huh? Or perhaps just didn't recognize it as important?
17	* EvilIsCool: General Chang, no small part due to his actor Christopher Plummer ChewingTheScenery, being WickedCultured and how he views Kirk as a WorthyOpponent.
18	* EvilIsHammy: of course, the Shakespeare-spewing Chang also gets to the point of spinning around in his chair while yelling "Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!!" in the midst of battle. Dr. [=McCoy=] lampshades it.
19	-->'''Chang:''' I am constant as the Northern Star!\
20	'''[=McCoy=]:''' I'd give real money if he'd shut up.
21	* FanNickname: ''Star Trek VI: The Apology'', due to the film being seen as a return to form after the unpopular ''Film/{{Star Trek V\|TheFinalFrontier}}''.
22	* HarsherInHindsight:
23	** The film was written at the latest early in 1991 (to give time for filming and post-production for the December release date). The film was essentially about a dual coup attempt against both the Klingons and the Federation so that BloodKnight elements in both could continue their war. In August 1991, there was a coup attempt against Gorbachev in the USSR, by BloodKnight elements in the CPSU who wanted to continue the Cold War.
24	** In the book, Kirk finds dying with his friends on the bridge a much better prospect than growing old and retiring. [[Film/StarTrekGenerations There's a bridge involved in his death, but not exactly how he would have liked it.]]
25	** The peace talks between the Federation and the Klingon Empire are a clear metaphor for the collapse of the Soviet Union and more cooperation between the rival superpowers. To put it bluntly, as of TheNewTwenties, the film's implicit optimism about post-Cold War U.S.-Russian relations has aged like milk in the wake of continued Russian aggression.
26	* HilariousInHindsight:
27	** The Klingon Assassin is actually [[spoiler:Starfleet's Colonel West]]. Rene Auberjonois, who played [[spoiler:West]], would also appear disguised as a Klingon in the ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS05E01ApocalypseRising Apocalypse Rising]]". Amusingly, his characters have opposing motivations: [[spoiler:West]] was trying to start a war between the Klingons and the Federation, Odo was trying to stop the Klingon/Federation War going on at that point in the series.
28	** This won't be the last time [[Film/TomorrowNeverDies a general named Chang tries to start a war using a stealth ship]]. ''Star Trek VI'' director/co-writer Creator/NicholasMeyer was also a ghostwriter for ''Tomorrow Never Dies''.
29	** Nicholas Meyer wanted Saavik to be TheMole for this film, but for various reasons, notably Gene Roddenberry's objections, the character of Lt. Valeris was created instead. In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' two-part episode "Gambit", Robin Curtis, who played Saavik in ''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock'' and ''Film/StarTrekIVTheVoyageHome'', played Tallera, a member of a Vulcan isolationist group, giving a glimpse at what a villainous Saavik might have been like.
30	** In one scene, Lt. Valeris talks about the origins of the word "sabotage". The ''[[Film/StarTrek2009 Star Trek]]'' reboot films would prominently feature the Music/BeastieBoys song "Sabotage".
31	** Azetbur, Chancellor Gorkon's daughter, is named Klingon council chancellor in the wake of her father's asssassination. In ''TNG'', when asked why Lursa and B'Etor are promoting their nephew Toral for their brother Duras' council seat after Duras' death at Worf's hands, instead of one of them applying for the seat themselves, Gowron responds that women may not serve on the council.
32	* HoYay: Kirk and Spock are in the same film, of course there is. There's one particular scene where they're conversing in a corridor that's a deep breath away from being a kiss.
33	* LifeImitatesArt: The plot of the film, whereby hardliners attempt a coup against the moderate leader in the hostile empire, was nearly repeated as the film was being edited, in the form of the August coup against Mikhail Gorbachev, on whom Gorkon was based, by hardliners who wanted to go back to the good old Cold War days.
34	* MagnificentBastard: [[GeneralRipper General Chang]] is a Klingon traditionalist who opposes peace with the Federation. After the moon of Praxis explodes due to over mining and threatens the Klingon home world, Klingon Chancellor Gorkon begins peace talks with the Federation and Chang forms a conspiracy Star Fleet admiral Cartwright to scuttle the peace talks. Chang has developed a Klingon bird of prey that can fire while cloaked and after Gorkon meets Kirk on the ''Enterprise'' and returns to his ship, Chang has the bird of prey fire on Gorkon's ship, making it look like the ''Enterprise'' did it. This disables the ship's shields and gravity, allowing 2 Star Fleet officers loyal to Cartwright to come aboard and kill Gorkon. Kirk and Bones come aboard to help Gorkon, Chang has them arrested. Chang prosecutes them at their trial and when the judge sentences to life in the penal colony of Rura Penthe, instead of executing them, Chang arranges for agents in the prison to free Kirk, so the guards will kill him in an escape attempt. After the ''Enterprise'' rescues Bones and Kirk, Chang uses his cloaked ship to guard the site of the new peace talks, planet Khitomer. Chang plans to destroy the ''Enterprise'' when it gets in orbit, in order to allow the conspirators to assassinate the President of the Federation, scuttling the peace talks for good.
35	* MemeticMutation: "Only Nixon could go to China" gets used frequently in political discussions. This is actually OlderThanTheyThink. The phrase has been in use since at least 1971, ''before'' Nixon actually went to China.
36	* NightmareFuel:
37	** Spock's reaction to [[spoiler:Valeris' betrayal]]. It's chilling to think of how furious he must be to display that much emotion.
38	** The scene of the two assassins stalking the halls of ''Kronos One,'' mercilessly shooting any Klingon they see, leaving bubbles of blood drifting in the weightless atmosphere of the damaged ship. The only people able to move freely thanks to their magnetic boots and [[FacelessMooks their faces obscured by their suit helmets]], they're utterly remorseless as they slaughter their helpless, drifting victims. One Klingon is only clipped and is sent flying away in one direction, [[AnArmAndALeg his severed arm flying in another]]. Shortly after they beam out, artificial gravity is restored to the ship and it ''[[RainOfBlood rains blood]].''
39	* OlderThanTheyThink: Even the novel tries desperately to soften Kirk’s racism (by making Carol a victim of a Klingon attack), something that he admits is what’s making him a relic of an earlier century and needs to be overcome. Numerous episodes of the original series have Kirk being paternalistic towards other cultures and having an urge to be a soldier, both treated as flaws.
40	* OneSceneWonder: Christian Slater has a cameo as the crewman who wakes Sulu up in the middle of the night. The scene was originally written for Grace Lee Whitney as Janice Rand; Slater only got the part as a favor to his mother, the casting director. Also a case of PromotedFanboy.
41	* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: The ''Excelsior'', after its ButtMonkey status in ''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock''.
42	* RewatchBonus: The humorous scene with Crewman Dax shows Valeris looking up with a seemingly exasperated expression when it's revealed that the gravity boots couldn't possibly fit his feet. [[spoiler:It plays a lot less humorously with the reveal of Valeris' role as TheMole, as she is actually realizing that the plot to find a FallGuy has failed, which leads to her killing Burke and Samno.]]
43	* SpecialEffectFailure:
44	** When Chang's Lieutenant or Weapons Officer presses the button to fire torpedoes (installed in a box attached to a wall) you can clearly see the entire box shift position as if poorly glued down.
45	** When Chang is quoting Shakespeare as he watches the ''Enterprise'' fly past, the ''Enterprise'' looks like what it is: a model, right down to the scored detail lines and paint job. Especially jarring when compared to the other exterior shots of the ship in the movie.
46	*** Not all the exterior shots, in fact not many of them at all. This film's visuals of the ''Enterprise'' are completely different in style altogether to the other movies, and suffer by comparison. Despite using the same filming model and the [[Creator/IndustrialLightAndMagic same visual effects studio]]. Especially awful is the "warp to camera shot" after Kirk says, "Come on, I need you," to Spock. This was only intensified by the Enterprise model, 12 years old at the time, being on its last legs and having been "fixed" by Brian Ferran's team for [[Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier the previous film]] meant that the model wasn't in the best of shape come filming.
47	*** There was also no background in the Bird-of-Prey's view of the ''Enterprise'', either, just a completely black space devoid of stars.
48	** The Klingon blood is depicted with early 1990s CGI in all of its imperfect glory. To be fair, it's been twenty years and the technique has yet to be perfected.
49	*** It's interesting to compare the blood effects in this film with "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS6E3BargeOfTheDead Barge of the Dead]]", an episode of ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' which aired only 8 years later, to see how much CGI blood (and indeed, CGI liquids in general) had been improved.
50	*** The Zero-G blood drops were also one of the first uses of an at-the-time new CGI technology called "metaballs"--a new way to make smooth, blobby, and more organic objects. As much a tech demo proof-of-concept for the technology as a special effect.
51	** The practical effect for the Klingon blood isn't much better. Gorkon's death scene loses a lot of its intended seriousness when it looks like he and the scenery are splotted with bright pink paint.
52	** The mining tools used by the prisoners on Rura Penthe make use of some incredibly half-hearted laser effects which would have barely passed muster even on TOS, much less a film released over two decades later, and don't even line up properly with where they're supposed to be emitting from.
53	* SurprisinglyImprovedSequel: Not only was it a major return to form after the horribly-received previous film, more than a few fans even regarded it as the best ''Trek'' film since ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan''.
54	* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Or intentional, as this movie could only have been made in the midst of the end of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar of 1990-91. Since Cold War allegories played a big part in the original series in the '60s, it's actually rather thematically fitting that the original cast's story should end here.
55	* TheUntwist: General Chang was behind the attack on Gorkon's ship. Given his attitude when he's first seen coupled with the fact that he had the recording of Kirk's statement he would never forgive Klingons, it's not much of a surprise. Chang is clearly the obvious villain of the piece, though--covering for the [[spoiler: real twist in the film that ''Starfleet officers'' are part of a conspiracy, and that ''they'' supplied Chang with the damning recording of Kirk]].
56	* WinBackTheCrowd: Doing so after the disappointing reception for ''Film/StarTrekVTheFinalFrontier''. This is the one that really cemented the StarTrekMovieCurse.

Context YMMV / StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry