Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home 35th Anniversary REMASTERED

[Ron]

Fathom Events | Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home 35th Anniversary

When a mysterious alien power threatens the atmosphere of Earth in the 23rd Century, Kirk and his crew must time travel back to 1986 San Francisco to save mankind.

www.fathomevents.com

I've been looking forward to this. Never seen it in the theater. Showtimes are this Thursday and Sunday. Anybody else going?

 

[Apollo]

This was when Trek went mainstream, with even Nimoy as Spock on the cover of Time.

I had people who never had any interest in Trek come up to me and say how good it was.

Sad to see what has become of this once great Franchise.....

 

[bwize]

Yes, can't wait. I have afternoon tickets to see this on Sunday in my hometown. This move is so fun, especially seeing San Francisco of the early 80's.

 

[Too Much Garlic]

My most favorite Star Trek movie. Wish it was going to be shown here in Denmark.

 

[Ron]

This was when Trek went mainstream, with even Nimoy as Spock on the cover of Time.

I had people who never had any interest in Trek come up to me and say how good it was.

Sad to see what has become of this once great Franchise.....

Was ST-IV popular at the time? Growing up I always loved it but I never got a sense of what long time Trek fans thought of it when it came out.

Interesting factoid for those not familiar with the production: Eddie Murphy was originally slated to play the character that would become Dr. Gillian Taylor.

 

[CessnaDriver]

Was ST-IV popular at the time? Growing up I always loved it but I never got a sense of what long time Trek fans thought of it when it came out.

Interesting factoid for those not familiar with the production: Eddie Murphy was originally slated to play the character that would become Dr. Gillian Taylor.

It was super popular outside of Trek fandom and was breakthrough. I assume most long term Trek fans were quite satisfied. I suppose I'm an outlier... I frankly have no love for it. I thought it diverged heavily into sitcom content beyond my acceptance level and had a bizarre premise.

 

[Captain Dunsel]

I wish Fathom had not skipped Star Trek III….

I am in the minority of Trek fans, as well, regarding Trek IV. In my opinion, being firmly established in 1986, it is the Trek film that has aged the worst of all of the series with an abysmal soundtrack….

(Just compare this track to the prior work of Goldsmith and Horner…in my mind, I can see some guy with a mullet, mustache, and pastel sweater pounding away on his synthesizer to create this terribly dated sound)

The movie also has flat cinematography and serves mainly to complete the “reset” of everything that came before it.

The humor is what gave it broader appeal, at the time, but I am not a huge fan of Trek as a comedy piece (I also don’t care for I, Mudd, A Piece of the Action, or The Trouble With Tribbles). I have very rarely rewatched the film. It was also an attempt to keep that “give them the humor” momentum going that led to the terrible attempts at humor executed in Trek V.

But, then again, I am one of those eccentric fans that calls Star Trek: The Motion Picture their favorite Trek film.

The movie was a major hit for Paramount Pictures and was the 7th highest grossing film for 1986.

 

[Ron]

I wish Fathom had not skipped Star Trek III….

I am in the minority of Trek fans, as well, regarding Trek IV; in my opinion, being firmly established in 1986, it is the Trek film that has aged the worst of all of the series with an abysmal soundtrack, flat cinematography, and serves mainly to complete the “reset” of everything that came before it. The humor is what gave it broader appeal, at the time, but I am not a huge fan of Trek as a comedy piece (I also don’t care for I, Mudd, A Piece of the Action, or The Trouble With Tribbles). I have very rarely rewatched the film.

But, then again, I am one of those eccentric fans that calls Star Trek: The Motion Picture their favorite Trek film.

The movie was a major hit for Paramount Pictures and was the 7th highest grossing film for 1986.

Ah so Fathom didn't screen Search For Spock last year. Since our theaters were still shut down until earlier this year, I wasn't following Fathom's schedule very closely and wondered if Trek III had been shown. That's a bummer. I caught Trek I and II and was hoping to round out all of the original series crew movies. I wonder why they skipped it.

I actually agree with you on Star Trek: The Motion Picture. It just beats out Wrath of Khan for me as the best Trek film. TWOK certainly has the dramatic character moments but overall TMP really captures the spirit of the original series and Bob Wise did a hell of a job directing it. I do happen to like the main theme in Trek IV but yes I certainly agree it's nowhere near as strong as what Goldsmith and Horner gave us. Your other points on TREK IV I have to agree with as well. Although compared to how uninspired movies today are shot, the cinematography might not be so bad.

 

[The Brahma Bull]

I never watched a Trek movie that satified Trekkies in the first run. I liked it. When I watched it the first time it was my favorite ST movie. ST 1 was truly awful and the second one was ok, but at that time Khan was not a thing for me, because I did not know the episodes from TOS.

Out theatres opened again on the first of July, so they only show new movies.

 

[Apollo]

Was ST-IV popular at the time? Growing up I always loved it but I never got a sense of what long time Trek fans thought of it when it came out.

Interesting factoid for those not familiar with the production: Eddie Murphy was originally slated to play the character that would become Dr. Gillian Taylor.

It was the highest grossing Trek film to date when it was released, hell even the Russians liked it!

George told me the story of Leonard and Harve over there, in Moscow, when it premiered and they were surprised how much the Russians liked it, applauding at McCoys line about the bureaucratic mindset.

As we see here not all fans liked it, but the majority did at the time

Its release date of Thanksgiving began the Turkey and Trek times where a Trek film was released over the Thanksgiving weekend as well as some Cons going on.

Those were great days to be a Trek fan

 

[Treadwell]

My brother-in-law managed an AMC theater at the time and he got me into a preview shown to exhibitors months in advance. Some of the FX weren't finished (blue screens, etc), and it had a temp sound mix--all the control panels on the Bird of Prey had TOS Enterprise button sounds! Fun to see.

 

[Psab keel]

I really have to revisit the Star Trek films. I haven't seen then since I was a kid and while I enjoyed them I don't recall them too well.

 

[bwize]

Well, I love all the original cast films, sans #5. But with age, I need to give it a fresh viewing as my opinion may have changed. My fav is The Motion Picture as I think it best captured the essence of Star Trek,

To explore strange new worlds...
To seek out new life; new civilizations
To boldly go where no one has gone before!"

Right behind that is The Search for Spock. Totally for the the introduction to the USS Excelsior and that HUGE space dock.

 

[Gregatron]

I wish Fathom had not skipped Star Trek III….

I am in the minority of Trek fans, as well, regarding Trek IV. In my opinion, being firmly established in 1986, it is the Trek film that has aged the worst of all of the series with an abysmal soundtrack….

(Just compare this track to the prior work of Goldsmith and Horner…in my mind, I can see some guy with a mullet, mustache, and pastel sweater pounding away on his synthesizer to create this terribly dated sound)

The movie also has flat cinematography and serves mainly to complete the “reset” of everything that came before it.

The humor is what gave it broader appeal, at the time, but I am not a huge fan of Trek as a comedy piece (I also don’t care for I, Mudd, A Piece of the Action, or The Trouble With Tribbles). I have very rarely rewatched the film. It was also an attempt to keep that “give them the humor” momentum going that led to the terrible attempts at humor executed in Trek V.

But, then again, I am one of those eccentric fans that calls Star Trek: The Motion Picture their favorite Trek film.

The movie was a major hit for Paramount Pictures and was the 7th highest grossing film for 1986.

Interestingly enough, there's an ongoing defense of TMP and an ongoing criticism of TSFS over at the INGLORIOUS TREKSPERTS Podcast. Along with co-host Mark A. Altman's obnoxious insistence on jamming his partisan politics into the Podcast, the continued criticism of TSFS has earned a lot of scorn. I tend to agree that TMP is lionized and TSFS unfairly demonized.

That being said, TMP has received something of a critical re-revaluation over the past few years, perhaps due in part to the Director's Edition, whereas TVH seems to have become less of a favorite. I consider TMP to be a noble failure. Lots of interesting stuff, but it has serious problems. To paraphrase Kirk, I can be against it and admire it all at the same time.

For what it's worth, TVH was never my favorite, although it absolutely captures the spirit of episodes like "Tomorrow is Yesterday". I find myself watching TMP, TWOK, and TSFS most often.


If I were to rank them in order of preference...

1. TWOK. The one most near and dear to my heart. An all-time favorite film. A character-driven story with action, suspense, and great use of themes. Great music, great effects.

2. TSFS. Not objectively the best film in the series by any stretch, but I love the mood and the affirmation of the core characters' loyalty to each other. Also has great effects and great music. Great moments mixed with some terrible moments, writing shortcuts, and low-budget shorcuts.

3. TMP. A noble failure. Great effects, great music. Too far away from the look and feel of TOS, with the characters too far away from themselves, but that's kind of the point. Boring and flawed, yet fascinating.

4. TUC. A fun mystery hampered by some lazy writing. Great effects, great music, great performances.

5. TVH. An objectively solid and fun movie, but I've never found myself watching it over and over again.

6. TFF. Gets a much worse rap than it deserves. Another noble failure. Great music, terrible effects. Great moments mixed with awful moments.

 

[Ron]

Well, I love all the original cast films, sans #5. But with age, I need to give it a fresh viewing as my opinion may have changed. My fav is The Motion Picture as I think it best captured the essence of Star Trek,

To explore strange new worlds...
To seek out new life; new civilizations
To boldly go where no one has gone before!"

Right behind that is The Search for Spock. Totally for the the introduction to the USS Excelsior and that HUGE space dock.

You know, I used the word "spirit" but "essence" is closer to what I meant about TMP since all six films have some spirit of the original series. It really embodies TOS in that the story is about exploring the unknown. The thing about Trek V (which I agree is the weakest movie hands down) is it's actually right there with Trek I in that it's also about exploring the unknown as opposed to say, the political intrigue of Trek VI or the time travel fishes out of water adventure of Trek IV, and I think the idea of venturing out to the limits of space to possibly find God was an intriguing concept though it proved to be difficult to execute. The performances were great as always. I can enjoy it just for that alone. Gregatron described it perfectly though as a "noble failure".

 

[Psab keel]

The only one of the original Trek films I saw in the theater was VI: The Undiscovered Country. Being a Star Wars fan and not too interested in Star Trek I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I really have to go back and revisit these.

 

[Gregatron]

You know, I used the word "spirit" but "essence" is closer to what I meant about TMP since all six films have some spirit of the original series. It really embodies TOS in that the story is about exploring the unknown. The thing about Trek V (which I agree is the weakest movie hands down) is it's actually right there with Trek I in that it's also about exploring the unknown as opposed to say, the political intrigue of Trek VI or the time travel fishes out of water adventure of Trek IV, and I think the idea of venturing out to the limits of space to possibly find God was an intriguing concept though it proved to be difficult to execute. The performances were great as always. I can enjoy it just for that alone. Gregatron described it perfectly though as a "noble failure".

There’s a curious case of history repeating itself in the TOS films. You have the monochromatic, serious, pure-Roddenberry “first pilot” with TMP. Then, a retooled, more colorful, more action-oriented “second pilot” with TWOK. Then some solid first and/or second season episodes with TSFS (Kirk goes rogue to save Spock, a la Spock going rogue to save Pike in “The Menagerie”) and TVH (a riff on “Tomorrow is Yesterday” and the like), a third season episode with TFF, and a nice finale with TUC.

But they all capture elements of the entire span of the TV series, good AND bad. TMP is the smartest and most Roddenberry-ish, while the Genesis Trilogy is more in line with Gene Coon’s mix of action, character, and humor, etc.

Yet, the movies also broke new ground (even while they hit the brakes after the decision was made to resurrect Spock), and I think the fact that they show our heroes in their golden years and dealing with new kinds of problems (rather than just doing feature-length TV episodes) is a big point in their favor.

An ongoing, episodic TV series should be beginning and then all middle. A movie, however, is supposed to depict growth and change. The TOS movies found a good balance of growth and change (without breaking all the toys) AND episodic-style fun. The stories are mostly worthy of the big-screen treatment.

Compare all this to the TNG films, which are far, far less successful. GENERATIONS is a pointless “passing of the torch” movie, especially since TUC was a perfect send-off for the original cast. FIRST CONTACT is a fun and great movie, but not necessary a great TNG movie. INSURRECTION is a bloated TV episode. NEMESIS is a disaster.

The TOS movies got a lot more right than wrong, and I’d happily watch any of them (even TFF) before any of the later films. Especially Abrams’ trainwreck of a trilogy.

 

[Ron]

The only one of the original Trek films I saw in the theater was VI: The Undiscovered Country. Being a Star Wars fan and not too interested in Star Trek I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I really have to go back and revisit these.

Same! I saw that one first and then went back and watched the others. Of course I watched some of TOS prior to that but Trek VI ended up being the right segue movie for my kid self that was mainly watching Star Wars to get into Star Trek movies.

 

[Gregatron]

This may have been my first exposure to anything STAR TREK, although I know I saw IV in the theater at a very young age.

Trivia bonus: The great Corey Burton voiced Kirk for these read-along books, and he also voiced Luke Skywalker in the contemporaneous STAR WARS read-alongs, thus making him perhaps the only actor ever to officially play the main characters of both franchises.

 

[Psab keel]

I saw some of the other films at home or on television before I saw Undiscovered Country though I only remember bits and pieces of them. I also saw Next Generation as a kid but most of those memories are also cloudy at best. Being more intellectual and slower paced it didn't hold my interest the way Star Wars did, but I did enjoy it from time to time.

My recollections are laughable. I remember there was one where Spock dies. One with whales. One where a creature comes out of the crew's ears. One with Khan. I recall larger sections of 6 with the attempted assasination and the ice planet with the shapeshifter. I'm pretty much an outsider at best with this property, though as I've gotten older I've come to appreciate what it represents.