STAR TREK 6: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY

 
Release Date: December 6, 1991
Screenplay By Nicholas Meyer and Denny Martin Flynn
Story By Leonard Nimoy and Nicholas Meyer & Denny Martin Flynn
Music By Cliff Eidelman
Executive Producer Leonard Nimoy
Produced By Ralph Winter and Steven Charles Jaffe
Directed By Nicholas Meyer
Domestic Gross (US): $75 Million

Production Notes

Veteran Star Trek film producer Harve Bennett elected to part company with Paramount in 1990 when they decided not to proceed with his idea for a prequel movie. The prequel, Starfleet Academy, would have taken place during Kirk and Spock's academy days, prior to the original television series. David Loughery wrote the script and locations were even scouted. Eventually, Paramount decided to put the prequel project on hold and Bennett was asked instead to produce a conventional Star Trek movie with the original cast in time for the show's 25th anniversary in 1991. Despite being offered a large sum of money, he declined the project. Harve Bennett: For the first time in my life I drank excessively. I don't mind saying that I drank a lot. That's the truth and thank God I got over that. I got a life back, but I was terribly hurt."

With Bennett out of the picture, Paramount approached Leonard Nimoy about making a final original cast movie, offering him the chance to become involved in any aspect of the production that he chose, including writing, directing, and producing. Once he had had a plot in mind, Nimoy approached Nicholas Meyer, the director and co-writer of Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan and co-writer of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, to write the screenplay and eventually hired him to direct the film as well. Nicholas Meyer: "This wasn't about saving Trek. The idea for Star Trek VI originated with Leonard, who wanted me to do it with him. He simply didn't want to direct it. It's far too much work to be in makeup at that hour of the morning and to be directing as well."

When pressed for plot details on Star Trek VI early in the production, Meyer described it as "a small story about Spock in love," a comment which was apparently intended only to throw fans off the track. Nicholas Meyer: "I would not like to create a movie that ends with a bang or pulls too much on the heartstrings. I just want to tell a good story that seems to relate to today."

Nicholas Meyer: "What interested me about the project, and what I wanted to do with it, was to widen the world of Star Trek before closing out the series, if that's indeed what's happening. Do we ever see anything besides the principals and the bridge of the Enterprise? There was a sense of 'Where's the rest of this vessel?' and 'Where's the rest of the world in which it functions - the Federation President's office and the Chancellor of the Klingon High Council? I wanted to broaden the tapestry as much as I could within the financial restraints of an extremely tight budget."

At one point in pre-production, Star Trek VI was cancelled because Paramount wanted to slice another five million dollars from the already small budget but Meyer and Nimoy stood their ground. Nicholas Meyer: "My vision was much, much grander, and it got scaled down and down. I didn't have the production money or the shooting days or the locations. I'm not sure it's appropriate to get into Paramount's little behind-the-scenes stuff."

In early drafts of Star Trek VI, the character of Saavik, introduced in Star Trek II, was the Enterprise crewmember who conspired to disrupt the peace initiative. Gene Roddenberry was very vocal in his objections to her use in this manner, prompting an angry and public response from Nicholas Meyer: "I created the character of Saavik in Star Trek II. She was not Gene's. If he doesn't like what I plan on doing with her, maybe he should give back the money he's made off my films. Maybe then I'll care what he has to say." Meyer wanted Kirstie Alley to reprise the role, which had been taken over by Robin Curtis in Star Trek III and IV, but once again Alley's price was too high for Star Trek's budget. Rather than use Curtis, Meyer decided to create a new Vulcan character, Valeris, to be the traitor. Valeris was portrayed by Kim Cattrall, who had been Meyer's first choice to play Saavik in Star Trek II. Confused yet? Good.

Kim Cattrall: "I came into Nick after everything was settled and said I want to have traces of Leonard, so I dyed my hair black and had it done very sort of 60's, and shaved my sideburns. I felt my ears would look much stronger because I have a very feminine face and I wanted to look very strong because I was a warrior."

Ten minutes of prologue, which would have taken place between the opening Excelsior scene and the Starfleet briefing scene, were cut from the script before filming began. In the prologue, Kirk and Carol Marcus are happily contemplating spending their retirement together when Kirk receives word from Starfleet that he is to locate and reassemble the former crew of the Enterprise-A for a special mission. Kirk risks his newly rekindled relationship with Carol by accepting the orders and hunts the crew down, with the exception of Spock whose whereabouts are classified by Starfleet as "highly confidential."

William Shatner: "(Kirk would) have found Scotty bored out of his mind to the point where he's now spending his days taking apart the Klingon Bird of Prey last seen in Star Trek IV. . . .Uhura is next, equally bored, working for a Federation radio station as the host of a call-in advice program. Chekov, too, is uneasy, yawning his days away at a chess club while repeatedly trying in vain to defeat higher life forms with special Russian strategies. Finally, Kirk finds McCoy most unhappy of all. Hailed as a conquering hero, Bones is nonetheless drunk and disorderly at a high-society medical dinner in his honor."

Some of the cut "crew-gathering" scenes were used again by Star Trek VI co-writer Denny Martin Flynn in his Star Trek novel, The Fearful Summons.

Walter Koenig: "We did a dinner scene where six Federation officers and six Klingons sat down for dinner. Because almost everyone had dialogue in the scene, they had to shoot it an inordinate number of times. And during the course of those 35 or 40 times, everyone got a little punchy. Leonard, Bill, and DeForest had the term 'Starfleet' in their dialogue, and at least once during the 35 takes, they all said 'Star Trek' instead, which of course is absurd. 'Star Trek' never crosses the lips of a crew member because that's the name of the whole thing. It got hysterical. Each of them would laugh at the other when he made a mistake, and they would make a mistake in turn. I was very fortunate, I didn't have to say the world 'Starfleet.'"

When the film was nearing completion, Paramount began to have second thoughts about portraying a conclusive ending for the original crew. Walter Koenig: "There were some changes in the dialogue, and the way the movie ends now, there's a door that's more than an inch open."

Nichelle Nichols: "I was positive Star Trek VI was it (for the original crew), but now I have no idea. We shall see what we shall see."

George Takei: "I think Star Trek VI is too good for there not to be a demand for a seventh. Paramount listens to the fans. If the fans want Star Trek VII, then I imagine there will be a Star Trek VII."

As it turned out, Takei was not far from the mark. The success of Star Trek VI led Paramount to include three members of the original cast in the seventh Star Trek move, 1994's Star Trek Generations, which focused primarily on the crew of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," however. In 1996, Leonard Nimoy stated that he thought there would eventually be another Star Trek film focusing on the original crew. As Mr. Spock was fond of saying, "There are always possibilities."

Nicholas Meyer: "The making of Star Trek VI was, by and large, a real pleasure, and everybody, for whatever reason, seemed to be having a really good time. The only day that I remember being really curious was our last day of shooting. Suddenly everybody slowed down, nobody could say their lines, and I thought, 'What's going on here? What's wrong with these people?' But that was immediately followed by a thought of 'How dense can you be? We're at the last scene of twenty-five years' worth of scenes. These guys just don't want to say goodbye.'"

Leonard Nimoy: "You've got to understand that making Star Trek movies has always been like getting together for a family reunion. When we got together this time, we all knew this was going to be the last family reunion. There was a lot of emotion attached to this one, because we knew we were never going to do this again."

William Shatner: "This time, really for the first time, I made a conscious effort to avoid the telephone, the makeup man, and the book in my trailer, opting instead to reach out and maybe finally get to know my costars a little bit better. As you know, I hadn't won many popularity contests over the years, but these final days of production found me reminiscing about days gone by and stories untold."

George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic (ILM) provided the spectacular effects for Star Trek VI. ILM's William George: "The Star Trek series relies on effects to open the picture up, since they're supposed to span the whole galaxy and take place on all these different planets. Most of these films are set on a stage with actors talking, so if you don't have a framework of effects, the films suffer. Star Trek V is a really good example - without that visual support, it took away from the believability." Due to the extremely tight budget, the number of effects shots on Star Trek VI were cut in half from what was originally planned.

Producer Ralph Winter: "I would say there is a lot more action in space than there has been in the past couple of pictures. It's a pretty heavy effects picture, a lot of things going on in the scenes. It's as heavy as any film, but I think we are maximizing the action stuff to be exciting and thrilling and give it a nice emotional punch."

William Shatner: "Gene Roddenberry, having suffered two strokes and now confined to a wheelchair, was wheeled into a screening room to view the completed film. When it was over, giving thumbs-up all around, he went back to his office, called his lawyer and angrily demanded that a full quarter-hour of the film's more militaristic moments be edited from the picture. Sadly, however, by the time Gene's lawyer was able to relay Gene's demands, the 'Great Bird of the Galaxy' was dead. He had fought for his vision of Star Trek literally to the end, passing away less than forty-eight hours after screening the film."

Roddenberry died on October 24, 1991. A Paramount executive decided to put a dedication to him at the beginning of Star Trek VI. Executive producer Leonard Nimoy was angry that he was not involved: "Why aren't you people talking about this to somebody connected to the picture, someone who had a relationship with Gene? Why not have this thing put together by somebody who knows exactly who Gene was, and what he was? How dare you arbitrarily slap something onto the top of the film as if it were some box office decision?" Despite Nimoy's misgivings, Meyer eventually came up with the simple "For Gene Roddenberry" dedication.

To further promote the film, Leonard Nimoy appeared as Spock in the fifth season "Next Generation" episode "Unification," the highest rated episode of the entire series. Gene Roddenberry had been against the episode and, ironically, it was the first new "Next Generation" episode to air after his death.

James Doohan: "It's been an experience few actors have an opportunity to enjoy. We touched a chord in America."

George Takei: "We, the Star Trek actors, are all proud to be a part of television history and the legend that is Star Trek."

Nichelle Nichols: "I thank the fans for giving us, me, so much support and love. And I want them to know I love them all very much and I always will."

Walter Koenig: "We're a family and were incorporated into a kind of extended American family. In a society where life is very unstable we became a fixture, an anchor that people find, I think, comfortable."

DeForest Kelley: "I started my career at Paramount and it looks like after these 25 years I'm going to end it here. If you look at our success, it was built on wonderful moments- something touching, sometimes very funny, or very off-center."

Leonard Nimoy: "We are definitely an emotional family. Why we have managed to stay together is part of the phenomenon. I think there is a chemistry that occurs when we work together."

William Shatner: "One of my favorite lines in the movie, a beautiful little grace note, was actually written by Nick late in the evening on the night before our last day of shooting. It comes at the very end of the film, as Kirk orders the crew to plot a new course for the Enterprise, targeting 'the second star to the right and straight on 'til morning.' Could the crew of the Enterprise utter a more perfect goodbye? Somehow, I think this reference, borrowed from Peter Pan and now bestowed upon Captain James Tiberius Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise, really served to drive home the fact that the voyage was almost over."



Film Quotes


Spock: "Logic is the beginning of wisdom . . . not the end."

Gorkon: "You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon."

Chekov: "We do believe all planets have a sovereign claim to inalienable human rights." Azetbur: "Inalien? If you could only hear yourselves: human rights. Why, the very name is racist. The Federation is no more than a Homo Sapiens Only Club."

Chang: "To be or not to be. That is the question which occupies our people, Captain Kirk. We need breathing room." Kirk: "Earth, Hitler, 1938."

Gorkon: "If there is to be a brave new world, our generation is going to have the hardest time living in it."

Kirk: "Please let me know if there's some other way we can screw up tonight."

Kirk: "We will not be the instigators of full-scale war on the eve of universal peace."

Gorkon: "Don't let it end this way, Captain."

Spock: "An ancestor of mine maintained that if you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

Spock: "What you want is irrelevant, what you've chosen is at hand."

Scott: "Then we're dead." Spock: "I've been dead before."

Spock: "You and the Doctor might have been killed." Kirk: "The night is young."

Kirk to Spock: "You're a great one for logic. I'm a great one for rushing in where angels fear to tread. We're both extremists. Reality is probably somewhere in between."

Spock to Kirk: "Is it possible that we two, you and I, have grown so old and so inflexible that we have outlived our usefulness?"

Kirk to Azetbur: "Some people think the future means the end of history. Well, we haven't run out of history quite yet. Your father called the future 'the undiscovered country.' People can be very frightened of change."

Chekov: "Course heading, Captain?" Kirk: "Second star to the right, and straight on 'til morning."

Captain James T. Kirk's Final Log Entry Stardate 9529.1

"This is the final cruise of the starship Enterprise under my command. This ship, and her history, will shortly become the care of another crew. To them and their posterity will we commit our future. They will continue all the voyages we have begun and journey to all the undiscovered countries, boldly going where no man . . . where no one has gone before."