Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home Movie Review

This one makes it official (and Star Trek 6 only confirms it): the even-numbered Star Trek movies are better than the odd-numbered ones. This is a whale of a tale that you don't have to be a Trekker to enjoy. The crew of the Bounty (remember, the Enterprise was destroyed in The Search for Spock) time travels back to ‘80s San Francisco to retrieve two humpbacks and bring them back to the 23rd Century to save the Earth from a space probe unwittingly wreaking havoc while trying to communicate with the extinct species. The venerable cast hasn't been this funny since “The Trouble with Tribbles,” particularly Leonard Nimoy as Spock, whose deadpan delivery and unsteady command of contemporary profanities earn the biggest laughs. The “Director's Series” edition features Leonard Nimoy's take on the Star Trek films and a behind-the-scenes look at how The Voyage Home’s special effects were created.

1986 (PG) 119m/C William Shatner, DeForest Kelley, Catherine Hicks, James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, Walter Koenig, Mark Lenard, Leonard Nimoy; D: Leonard Nimoy; W: Steve Meerson, Peter Krikes, Nicholas Meyer, Harve Bennett; C: Don Peterman. Nominations: Academy Awards ‘86: Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Original Score. VHS, Beta, LV, 8mm PAR