Star Trek: Questions you always wanted answers to

Star Trek IV, of all the Classic films, has aged the worst of the series…from the horrible soundtrack that sounds like it was patched together from commercial bumpers performed by the house band from Saturday Night Live, circa 1984…to the bland and flat cinematography…to the dramatically dated 1986 setting.

Of all the classic films, Trek IV gets about one viewing every 8-10 years, by me.

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…the cinematography which was nominated for an Oscar, by the way.

And I’ll contend that the score itself isn’t horrible, but rather than it’s just too tonally inconsistent with TREK and the films surrounding it. As an 80s comedy score, it’s fine. But I would have preferred that Horner finish the trilogy. As it stands, Nimoy wanted Rosenman for TSFS, but didn’t have enough clout, so we should be thankful we got Horner’s score for that film, at least.

And my current preference order for the films would be:

TWOK
TSFS
TMP
TUC
TVH
TFF

I’ve really had a “come to God” experience with TMP, in recent years. I’m actively a fan of it, now, and have truly come to appreciate and obsess over it. The best-made of all of them, and arguably the most TREK of them all, although some of the later films better capture the feel and the characters.

The others have all lost a wee bit of luster, due to their more modest budgets and their flaws, but I still enjoy all six greatly.
 
…the cinematography which was nominated for an Oscar, by the way.

And I’ll contend that the score itself isn’t horrible, but rather than it’s just too tonally inconsistent with TREK and the films surrounding it. As an 80s comedy score, it’s fine. But I would have preferred that Horner finish the trilogy.

I know…shocking that the cinematography received a nom.

As for the soundtrack, unlike the timeless work by Horner, Goldsmith, and even Eidelman, the Trek IV score sounds small and cheap. I would compare it to the lesser Superman scores that followed Williams’ Superman The Movie score.

Ladies and gentlemen, as a sample, I present to you the timeless work of the Trek IV soundtrack:


If only Eddie Murphy has still been in the movie…then maybe My Girl Likes To Party (All The Time) could have also found its way onto the score ;)

 
Y’know, I often think of how lesser the SUPERMAN sequel scores are in comparison to Williams’ masterpiece, so that’s a good comparison. Although I think the score to SUPERMAN IV (by Alexander Courage) is legitimately great as standalone listening, But Ken Thorne’s scores to II and III, while not technically bad, suffer by comparison with Williams’ score, largely because Thorne’s cues are mostly just riffs on Williams’. And the orchestra was much smaller and cheaper.

But surely we can all agree that “I Hate You” is the standout music from STAR TREK IV, right?
 
Can’t wait!

Well I can cuz I could technically watch tonight but not in the mood….

But IV is next…

Once I get through the original trek I’m gonna get to the next gen movies. I haven’t seen any of them, but there are Plinket reviews to enjoy after!
 
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Y’know, I often think of how lesser the SUPERMAN sequel scores are in comparison to Williams’ masterpiece, so that’s a good comparison. Although I think the score to SUPERMAN IV (by Alexander Courage) is legitimately great as standalone listening, But Ken Thorne’s scores to II and III, while not technically bad, suffer by comparison with Williams’ score, largely because Thorne’s cues are mostly just riffs on Williams’. And the orchestra was much smaller and cheaper.

But surely we can all agree that “I Hate You” is the standout music from STAR TREK IV, right?
Riiiiiight.....

And, just for everyone's added value:
 
While STV is the worst OT Trek film, I will admit that it has two scenes which emotionally affected me very much.

The first was at the beginning when Sybok asks that guy why he would kill him over a desolate patch of rocks. That poor man looks at Sybok with such pain in his eyes and says "All I have..." I remember watching that in the theater and that scene really punched me in the gut.

The other obviously being the scene where McCoy turns off the life-support for his father. That scene is very moving.

Rest of the movie sucks.......
 
While STV is the worst OT Trek film, I will admit that it has two scenes which emotionally affected me very much.

The first was at the beginning when Sybok asks that guy why he would kill him over a desolate patch of rocks. That poor man looks at Sybok with such pain in his eyes and says "All I have..." I remember watching that in the theater and that scene really punched me in the gut.

The other obviously being the scene where McCoy turns off the life-support for his father. That scene is very moving.

Rest of the movie sucks.......

Yeah, but for those two scenes, it’s pretty much The Way To Eden on the big screen.

Yet…if given the choice between watching Trek IV or Trek V, it’s always Trek V for me.
 
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Star Trek IV, of all the Classic films, has aged the worst of the series…from the horrible soundtrack that sounds like it was patched together from commercial bumpers performed by the house band from Saturday Night Live, circa 1984…to the bland and flat cinematography…to the dramatically dated 1986 setting.

Of all the classic films, Trek IV gets about one viewing every 8-10 years, by me.

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I always liked that one for some reason. Part of me gets it's kind of boring, but it has a charm for me. I just love Chekov asking where the nuclear wessels are. In real life a Russian asking that near a military base would have most likely been arrested. That and the old lady that Bones gives a pill to, it cures her kidney disease, and while they escape she's yelling about how she's cured. :lol:
 
Let us also not forget the absolute best contribution to the franchise’s history that Trek V gave us…

B850A4E8-7CC4-4D1F-B970-F7DF2EE45FD5.jpeg
 
We almost got a revamped version of the TOS theme for STIV. Not sure if it was really for the main theme or to be used at the end, it was cut either way. But it took until ST09 for that idea to actually be used

 
We almost got a revamped version of the TOS theme for STIV. Not sure if it was really for the main theme or to be used at the end, it was cut either way. But it took until ST09 for that idea to actually be used

Sounds like the TOS Trek theme, but Love Boat style.
 
Let us also not forget the absolute best contribution to the franchise’s history that Trek V gave us…

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Don’t introduce me to props!

I’m not getting into trek props. Don’t tempt me! Don’t draw attention to them…. And their design

Bad enough I’m already wondering if I don’t need a ship model after that long ass reveal in TMP
 
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Let us also not forget the absolute best contribution to the franchise’s history that Trek V gave us…

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Shatner gets a bad rap as director of the film, but his instincts were quite good. Props like the assault phaser are great, the cinematography is quite good, the production design is quite good, and the music is great.

The writers’ strike threw a wrench into everything, as did their going with Bran Ferren for the effects. While there are certain innate flaws in the script (as well as studio meddling, which insisted on more of the comedy which made IV a hit), I consider V a noble failure, with the seeds of a really good movie in there somewhere.
 
Shatner gets a bad rap as director of the film, but his instincts were quite good. Props like the assault phaser are great, the cinematography is quite good, the production design is quite good, and the music is great.

The writers’ strike threw a wrench into everything, as did their going with Bran Ferren for the effects. While there are certain innate flaws in the script (as well as studio meddling, which insisted on more of the comedy which made IV a hit), I consider V a noble failure, with the seeds of a really good movie in there somewhere.
I wonder how the film would have been if Shatner was left alone to make it his way and had access to better writers and proper special effects?

On that note: someone redid the effects as a project on YouTube-

 
ew. That "redone" external shot of the enterprise just sticks out out crummy CGI to me. I'd rather have a dated shot of a model, than eye bleedingly "out of place" babylon 5 CGI. :p
 
Don’t introduce me to props!

I’m not getting into trek props. Don’t tempt me! Don’t draw attention to them…. And their design

Bad enough I’m already wondering if I don’t need a ship model after that long as reveal in TMP
Ah, son... I fell off that cliff decades ago. In middle-school woodshop, I used the FJ Tech Manual section drawings of the phaser to build the skeleton of one, then filled it in with Bondo at home, painted it, glued metal foil to the right spots... I didn't really know what I was doing, so things cracked and warped and chunks of bondo fell out and it's long since been thrown away, but I have been into Trek props for the majority of my life.

Shatner gets a bad rap as director of the film, but his instincts were quite good. Props like the assault phaser are great, the cinematography is quite good, the production design is quite good, and the music is great.

The writers’ strike threw a wrench into everything, as did their going with Bran Ferren for the effects. While there are certain innate flaws in the script (as well as studio meddling, which insisted on more of the comedy which made IV a hit), I consider V a noble failure, with the seeds of a really good movie in there somewhere.
Not being able to go with ILM and Paramount cutting his budget at least twice after production was underway were, I think, what hurt it the most. He had to cobble together an ending on the fly to replace his al-ready-toned-down-twice ending, and when that happens it can't help but feel anticlimactic.

Though one thing I'll give the effects house -- as clunky as the stop-motion animation was, I love the "recoil" effect they gave the Bird-of-Prey's wingtip cannons. I'll agree with the maker of that proposed-updated-VFX piece, too -- that's my favorite bridge, outside of a conjectural modern build of the "Cage" set (a la the partial bridge in "Relics"). And, since I'm all about the little things, I love the lounge, the ship's bell striking the watches, and that film had my favorite red alert klaxon.
 
I remember seeing STV and thinking "These folks are travelling to the center of the galaxy to possibly meet God and all it is, is smoke and lightning?" They should've just edited in some old V'ger effects or something. At least those looked mind-boggling.
 
I know…shocking that the cinematography received a nom.

As for the soundtrack, unlike the timeless work by Horner, Goldsmith, and even Eidelman, the Trek IV score sounds small and cheap. I would compare it to the lesser Superman scores that followed Williams’ Superman The Movie score.

Ladies and gentlemen, as a sample, I present to you the timeless work of the Trek IV soundtrack:


If only Eddie Murphy has still been in the movie…then maybe My Girl Likes To Party (All The Time) could have also found its way onto the score ;)

Fitting that Eddie Murphy was almost cast for the movie because "Market Street" sounds like it was ripped from the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack.

ALLEY , what do you think of the main theme at least? I've always really liked it. Not as great as the Goldsmith and Horner themes of course but still good I've always thought.
 
Fitting that Eddie Murphy was almost cast for the movie because "Market Street" sounds like it was ripped from the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack.

ALLEY , what do you think of the main theme at least? I've always really liked it. Not as great as the Goldsmith and Horner themes of course but still good I've always thought.

I WISH I could say I liked the main theme to Trek IV…but to me, it sounds like a main theme that would be right at home as the main theme for The Brave Little Toaster…just too light and bouncy, bland, and lacking gravitas.

22A79699-AD19-4063-93C2-4F4116D00CEB.jpeg
 
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