Ranking the "Star Trek" Movies: #1 - Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

It all comes down to this. The best of the best in terms of Star Trek. I've only watched a majority of the original Star Trek TV series and only a handful of The Next Generation episodes and all ten movies, plus the first two JJ Abrams reboots. I've seen no episodes of Deep Space Nine or Voyager or Enterprise OR Discovery all the way through and I can easily say...beyond all of that...that this is the greatest Star Trek related thing to ever come down the pike. Not Captain Christopher Pike, just "the pike" in general. I don't want what comes out of Christopher Pike. Lame-ass joke, but funny enough it involves the very last movie done by the original TV cast, which was well into the television run of Star Trek: The Next Generation. That's hard to wrap my head around for some reason. Whatever! Let's get on with the greatest thing Star Trek has ever produced (in my opinion) with Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

The movie opens with when Praxis, a Klingon moon, explodes without warning. The starship USS Excelsior, commanded by Captain Hikaru Sulu (George Takei), is struck by the shockwave and its crew discovers that much of the moon has been obliterated. I'm pretty glad to see Takei got to stick it to Shatner once and for all by captaining his own vessel. Don't worry though, I'm sure Shatner will somehow undermine him in the end. Due to the loss of their key energy production facility and the destruction of the Klingon homeworld's ozone layer, the Klingon Empire is thrown into turmoil. No longer able to maintain a hostile footing nor a reputable presence as a scriptworthy villain, the Klingons sue for peace with their longstanding enemy, the United Federation of Planets. Accepting the proposal before the Klingons revert to a more belligerent approach, Starfleet sends the USS Enterprise-A to meet with the Klingon Chancellor, Gorkon (David Warner, in a role different then the one he played in Star Trek V) and escort him to negotiations on Earth. Enterprise's captain, James T. Kirk (William Shatner, whose son David was murdered by Klingons years earlier in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, opposes the negotiations and resents his assignment.I mean...can you blame him? Imagine if the Taliban murdered your son and then you had to escort Abdul Sayid Bin Salaam or whoever through the United States to Washington DC to sign a Peace Treaty. Fucking harsh, man.

"This President is not above the law...Klingon DUMBASS."

After the rendezvous between Enterprise-A and Gorkon's battlecruiser Qo'noS (Kronos) One, they continue towards Earth, with the crews sharing a tense meal aboard Enterprise-A regarding the union of their two cultures. Later that night, Enterprise-A appears to fire on Q'onoS One with a pair of photon torpedoes, disabling the artificial gravity aboard it. During the confusion, two figures wearing Starfleet spacesuits and gravity boots beam aboard the Klingon ship and grievously wound Gorkon before beaming away. Kirk surrenders to avoid armed conflict, and beams aboard the Klingon ship with Doctor Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) to attempt to save Gorkon's life. The chancellor dies, and Gorkon's chief of staff, General Chang (Christopher Plummer...yes that's right the Christopher Plummer) has Kirk and McCoy arrested and put on trial for his assassination. The pair are found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment on the frozen asteroid Rura Penthe. FUN FACT: Their lawyer is supposed to be a relative, or at least an ancestor to The Next Generation's Worf. The lawyer is also played by Michael Dorn, who played Worf, just to drive the point home. Gorkon's daughter, Azetbur (Roseanna DeSoto) becomes the new chancellor, and continues diplomatic negotiations; for reasons of security, the conference is relocated and the new location is kept secret. While several senior Starfleet officers want to rescue Kirk and McCoy, the Federation President (Played by Kurtwood "Red Forman" Smith) refuses to risk full-scale war. Azetbur likewise refuses to invade Federation space, stating that only Kirk will pay for her father's death.

The story of a Klingon and his eye patch

Kirk and McCoy arrive at the Rura Penthe mines and are befriended by a shapeshifter named Martia (Iman...yeah that's it..."Iman") who offers them an escape route; in reality, it is a ruse to make their arranged deaths appear accidental. Shrewd actions from a crippled Empire. Once again, the Klingons get feisty. Once her betrayal is revealed, Martia transforms into Kirk's double and fights him, but she is killed by the prison guards to silence any witnesses. Or accidentally, based on how the scene plays out, but you get the gist. Just before the prison warden reveals who set them up, Kirk and McCoy are beamed aboard Enterprise-A by Captain Spock (Leonard Nimoy) who had assumed command and undertaken an investigation in Kirk's absence also headed by Lieutenant Valeris (Kim Cattrall). Determining that Enterprise-A did not fire the torpedoes but that the assassins are still aboard, the crew has begun a search for them. The two assassins are found dead, but Kirk and Spock trick their accomplice into believing they are still alive. When the culprit arrives in sick bay to finish off the assassins, Kirk and Spock discover that the killer is none other than Valeris herself. SHOCK! AWE! To discover the identity of the conspirators, Spock initiates a forced mind-meld, which is basically like "mental rape" but without the anguish and trauma aftewards, and learns that a group of Federation, Klingon, and Romulan officers of the law plotted to sabotage the peace talks, fearing the changes their success might bring the titular "undiscovered country" (the future), and that Chang is one of the conspirators. The torpedoes that struck Gorkon's cruiser came from a prototype Bird of Prey that can fire while cloaked, the ultimate doomsday weapon, and hovered just below Enterprise-A at the time of the assassination. What an other-worldly devious scheme by General Chang here. I'm actually quite astounded that this plan, so devious and so cunning in nature, practically went off without a hitch until they came up against James T. Kirk. Suck on that, deep space.

"Yes, Lieutenant. I am Leonard Nimoy and, therefore, a legend."

The crew contacts Captain Sulu, who informs them the conference is being held at Camp Khitomer near the Romulan border. Mighty of nice of Sulu to reveal highly-confidential and protected information such as that. He's got balls. Both ships head for the talks as fast as they can. As Enterprise-A nears the planet, Chang's cloaked Bird of Prey moves to intercept. With Enterprise-A unable to track his ship's position because of it's cloaking device, Chang inflicts severe damage on Enterprise-A and then Excelsior both. It's like playing agaisnt one of those assholes on Madden online that somehow knows how to spam the system to his (or her...gotta be PC here) advantage. At the suggestion of Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) the Enterprise-A's communications officer, Spock and McCoy modify a photon torpedo to home in on the exhaust emissions of Chang's vessel, using equipment originally intended to study gaseous anomalies. The torpedo impact reveals Chang's location, and Enterprise-A and Excelsior destroy the Bird of Prey with a volley of torpedoes. Crew from both ships then rapidly beam to the conference and halt an attempt on the Federation President's life. Kirk pleads for those present to continue the peace process. Having saved the peace talks, Kirk and crew are contacted by Sulu, who bids farewell to his old friends and the Excelsior departs. Enterprise-A is ordered back to Earth by Starfleet Command to be decommissioned, but the crew decide to take their time on the return voyage. As Enterprise-A cruises towards a nearby star, Kirk proclaims that though this mission is the final cruise of Enterprise-A under his command, others will continue their voyages... in the beginning of Star Trek Generations where Captain Cameron from Ferris Bueller will destroy the hell out of the Enterprise-B and kill Kirk, but that's a whole 'nother movie.

There you have it. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is the best Star Trek movie ever made. The story is the best, the tenseness of uniting two species of people that had never made peace between each other before is absolutely on point, the plot is mind-boggling and interesting in nature and the characters are all well-acted, well-developed and well-executed, and yes, I'm even looking at you, Shatner. The special effects are some of the best I've seen in a Star Trek production, the action is astounding, the pacing is excellent; overall, it's just easily the best Star Trek movie I've ever seen and I rank it above all the other ones easily. That's not to disparage the movies Star Trek II and First Contact especially, but Star Trek VI is just that damn good. "What if the Berlin Wall Fell in Space?" was Nimoy's single question posed that prompted the drafting of this scrip that led to this awesome movie. The best Star Trek movie ever, I'll say it over and over. Watch it now if you haven't, you won't regret it.