For me this was my least favorite of the trilogy. I liked the humor but agree that it seems out of place and not really connected with the previous two films. I don't like it when a movie or TV show gets up its own ass with political/social commentary anyway so I'm glad they didn't beat us over the head with it.
@17:28 Beginning with STAR TREK II, all films up to JJ's were transferred to the Paramount TV from the film division, and given a TV movie budget. The would cut the budget with each film, so at this point doing a film set on contemporary Earth was cheaper than building a whole bunch of new "future sets". Harve Bennett wrote all the 23rd century scenes and Nicholas Meyers wrote the 1986 scenes.
Would be funny if the probe occupants were whale hunters. They bring the whales back and then these two harpoons shoot down from space, spearing through both whales killing them, and hauling them into the probe. Then they turn and leave. They were sending whale calls like we send duck calls when hunting lol.
The best comment I ever read regarding the hospital scene was something like, "I need a TV spinoff where Bones travels to different times just so he can insult the doctors of that era."
This is my absolute favorite Trek film. No evil enemies bent on revenge. No violence. Just those old scientists using their training and wits to save the day.
It's like a proper Comic book caper with seasoned characters excelling at being so seasoned. Absolutely love when a film in a franchise just sets characters loose to have an adventure without the now exhausting origin stuff and beyond overdone big bads. The closest I've seen to this lately is 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' and it's a very precious rarity.💖
It is because of that I don't really like this movie. I mean an alien probe is destroying the planet because it make contact with whales. And it is so stupid it apparently doesn't realize it. That's the story of this film. Of all the Star Trek films this is the most disappointing. Not the worst. Final Frontier and Nemesis are both worse.
I'm not sure it's still my favorite, but it was for a long time. So much of it works, and by that point we knew those characters so well that their interactions here are fantastic.
Ya I'm a huge Trekker and I remember back in Dec 86 People who didn't like Star Trek liked this movie. Even Siskel & Ebert liked it and both were not Star Trek fans. I remember it getting a lot of praise in the media for having a positive view with the whales. Hope for our future.
Jane Wyatt (Amanda) was often a guest at Star Trek conventions during the late-70's and early-80's and was amazed by how she was better known by the general public for a character she played once on Star Trek in 1967 than for the main character role she played for six years as homemaker and mother Margaret Anderson on the sitcom 'Father Knows Best.' Shortly after this film came out, Leonard Nimoy, Mark Leonard, and Jane Wyatt would appear together at Star Trek Conventions in New York, Los Angeles, and other major US cities billed as "The first family of Vulcan."
@@peterkoester7358 Yep. Jane Wyatt was actually blacklisted for protesting against the House Un-American Activities Committee. Reagan claimed the blacklists never happened.
The thing that gets me every time I watch this movie is how a completely emotion free conversation between Sarek and Spock conveys makes more emotional than anything else in this movie. Masterfully written.
Fun fact: this is the first Star Trek movie shown in the (former) Soviet Union. Apparently the Russian audience laughed really hard at McCoy's line about the one constant in the universe being the beuurocratic mentality.
I remember an interview with Leonard Nimoy prior to this movie premiering. He said that the first three films were so serious, that there was an effort among the writers, producers, and cast to do a movie that was more light hearted but yet had a message. While the story, in true ST fashion, presented its message, here the cause to save the whales, the movie was largely played for laughs.
George & Gracie: "Hi there" Probe: Oh, hey. You're back. What happened?" G & G: "It's been a weird day..." Probe: "Sorry to hear that. Anyway, I'll be going now."
No offense, but some times you guys have a knack for missing the forest for the trees. It's not about the whales or the time travel. The movie is the third of the trilogy because: 1. It completes Spock's journey. Spock at the beginning of the movie was not the Spock we know. He was not emotional and didn't understand his human side. Spock ultimately had to "guess" in order to get them back to the future. When he answers the question at the end of the movie, it's him acknowledging his emotional half, his human half, has returned. 2. It completes Kirk's journey. At the beginning of TWOK Kirk was an Admiral, feeling old. Yes, he gets a feeling of rejuvenation in III, but he's still an admiral. If he had come back as it was he'd have remained an admiral. Now he's back where he belongs: as a Captain in the Captain's chair. 3. It gives the crew the Enterprise back. It's very odd to have had 1 and a half Star Trek movies with no Enterprise. In the third movie the Enterprise wasn't even "theirs"; they had to steal it. And then it was destroyed and they had to tool around in a second-rate Klingon ship. Now at the end of the movie we're back to where we should be, full circle, with the original crew on the Enterprise (even if it is a copy). Hope that clears things up for you guys.
The "trippy" sequence as they go into time warp implies that the whole causal loop thing (Kirk selling his glasses back to himself, the transparent aluminium) because you hear snippets of "future" dialogue that hasn't yet happened. I'm glad they didn't over explain that tbh. It just works.
I only put that together after watching it several times. I heard Scotty say, there be whales here, Uhura saying she should've never left Chekov, and Kirk saying to Spock, you're talking about the end of every life on Earth. When I realized I was hearing lines from later on in the movie, I was like, WHOA!!!
Nicholas Meyer wrote the screenplay so I think a bigger influence on this film, rather than “Back To The Future” is the film “Time After Time” which was also written (and directed) by Nicholas Meyer. A brilliant film that I highly recommend you check out.
So glad you mention this. In all the _making of_ info I read and had seen about _STAR TREK IV,_ there was no mention of being influenced by the success of _Back to the Future._ Although, given the presence Christopher Lloyd in the previous film, I can see why someone might consider that a possibility. And I've no doubt that it may have crossed someone's mind. As I recall, much of this came from the recollection on how successful episodes of _STAR TREK_ were when they were out of their element. Specifically on Earth of the past. Which happened 3 ½ times (the ½ being "All Our Yesterdays"). I suppose you might include "Spectre of the Gun." 🤷🏼♂️
I was a teenager when both of those, Star Trek 4 and Back To the Future, came out. It never crossed my mind for some reason. I don’t know how I didn’t make that connection.
@@VulcanDeathGrip44Same here. I didn't see them as being related at all, including not really keying on the fact that it was Christopher Lloyd. He just VANISHES into that character he's sooooo good.
Funny thing is that IIRC, the choice of setting it in current day was a budget measure, it's far cheaper when you can just go out in town and film. As to Meyer, he's an awesome writer, if'n you like Sherlock Holmes, give a look at The Seven Percent Solution.
This movie really did open the world's eyes to the horrors of whaling and was enough to push to further protect and save them from extinction and they are thriving now. Also another way Star Trek's fantasy technology (transparent aluminum) was complete fiction at the time of the movie. But someone was thinking when they saw it because it is real now but extremely expensive to produce but it does exist which is fascinating, as Spock would say. Also Leonard Nimoy took into account of people being upset that the whales would've been disturbed so to combate the hate letters about 95% of footage of whales in movie was man-made.
Glad you mentioned Back to the Future. What's interesting is that Doc (Cristopher Lloyd) built a time machine, and Kruge's (Cristopher Lloyd) ship was used as a time machine.
Kruge thought GENESIS was the ultimate weapon? He should've spent his time and energy cracking the time travel equations like his alter ego Doc Brown. Time travel would be devastating in the hands of the Klingons.
The goal of the film was to lighten up after three serious films. This movie proved to be the most accessible to non-Trekkies and it was a huge hit because of that. Ironically, the general audience accessibility and the focus on humor made this one divisive among the fans. At the time, we only got new Star Trek every few years and it was frustrating to be given a mostly fluff comedy. It took several years but my opinion has softened on it and the film is now well regarded. I have never heard that Back to the Future directly influencing this direction. I think it had more to do with budget limitations. Filming on location in modern California is much cheaper than building new sets.
I loved it at the time, but a lot of it has since dated, sometimes badly, and it feels like a glorified sitcom. But at the time, it was great, and they should have bought the Commodore computer used for some of the effects for the product placement scene instead of a prerecorded animation for some other prop machine.
FYI, those were real Marines chasing Chekov. I saw Walter Koenig at a convention shortly before this came out, and he said that the only direction the Marines were given was "get him". He said the stuntman who went over the side of the ship landed on a small pile of cardboard, and was fine afterwards. "If I get a hangnail, I'm off the set for a week".
After life, death and resurrection, it was time for something a bit lighter and it worked! They're able to wrap the story arc, end on a high note. One of the unsung strengths of this cast is their ability to work comedically. Some of the most popular episodes were lighter,comedic ones like Tribbles, A Piece of the Action, and I, Mudd.
I worked w a guy named John Schuk in 2013 and I asked him if he was the Klingon Ambassador to the Federation. He said he wasn't but his uncle was. Great video that brought back that memory.
I am always amazed at how well some of the humor in this movie has aged. So many of the jokes are just based off of "it's funny because the people from the future don't know how stuff works", but now here we are talking to computers and using cards instead of change. I mean, is a hundred dollars a lot?
The Challenger explosion has another connection to Star Trek beyond this film. After the original series was cancelled and became popular in reruns, NASA approached actress Nichelle Nichols to help recruit women and people of color into the astronaut program. Some of the crew of Challenger that perished joined NASA in part because of that recruitment effort. A sad coincidence.
The probe is what's lost compared to today's movies where everything is explained to the nines & why most are suffering. Let it be mysterious. It did it's job for the plot of the movie.
The probe was not even here to talk to humans. Every other movie with aliens automatically assumes the aliens are here to contact us or conquer us, ignoring every other species on Earth.
@@miller-joel Exactly. It was an intentional directorial choice to say "the probe isn't intended for us (humans), so we (the audience) can't understand it either."
Incidentally I understand the woman Uhura and Chekhov stopped for directions was an actual passer-by, and had to chased after by production staff so that they had permission to use her in the film. Looking forward to your reactions to TNG. I trust you already know it ran for seven seasons (some 178 episodes), so a lot for you to watch. There's a lovely cameo in the first TNG episode by the way.
The probe design was inspired by Rendezvous with Rama. A novel written by Arthur C Clark about a very large object entering the Solar System, and a team of astronauts landing on it. The Oumuamua object that shot through our solar system in 2017 rang a lot of bells making people think of that novel. As the probe turns to leave it literally says "I'm sorry".
Starships do use transparent metal for windows. Something 'Generations' forgot about or chose to not take seriously with all the "glass" after the crash of Enterprise D saucer section.
The connection between transparent aluminum and sapphire is my headcanon reason for the Enterprise's large arboretum windows (at the very bottom of the engineering hull) being so blue.
Add some Transparent Aluminum to Steel and you have an interesting TV show in the making. Get Joanna Lumley and David McCallum to star, and it'd be a winner... 😁
First off, I have to say that this was the greatest movie experience I’ve ever had at the theater. It was opening night, and the crowd was crazy! From the opening credits, they were cheering every cast member has their name appeared on the credits. People were laughing and cheering throughout the whole movie. During the time travel scene, some guy was like whoa, I’m tripping! Crowd laughed and just had a great time. The only other time I ever had an experience like that was watching Rocky 4. Secondly, I think people call it a trilogy because each movie picks up where last one left off. It was never intended or written to be a trilogy. And also, it all wraps up in the end with the crew back together on the Enterprise with Kirk as captain again.
At the time, there was a lot of news regarding the killing of whales. The movie was a way to show that hunting a species to extinction could have consequences for us in the future. As a result of the movie and the awareness it brought to humpback whales, the number of humpbacks increased due to donations and conservation efforts.
Some of the S.F. scenes were shot without the usual securing of the areas. So, many of the people appearing on-screen were random regular people rather than extras meant to be there.
As far as I know, there was NO thought given to Back To The Future in making this movie. For me, it was an easy plot: your poor decisions today, may have dire consequences in the future, without beating you over the head with it! Having the crew come back to "our time" makes them more relatable to us because this is where we live. As far as the humour goes: some of the best episodes of TOS were the funny ones: I Mudd; Tribbles; Piece Of The Action. Watching the crew acting uninhibited, let's you "in" to their characters even further and you feel that you could sit down to dinner with each of them easily. Great job Leonard!
It's a trilogy that explores the character arcs. Kirk gets his command of a starship back and Spock gets his human side back. Spock originally thought the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. At the end of this movie he recognises that this might not always be the case. Both Kirk and Spock have learnt something about themselves.
The Voyage Home. Literally and metaphorically. Spock completes his journey. Kirk becomes Captain once more. And the Enterprise reveal at the end. The Enterprise herself is also an integral character. Kirk says we've come home.These are the Voyages indeed.
Interesting with your comment about Gillian adapting to her new outfit. In a later novelization Gillian could feel the difference in the textures and smells of the materials. That Cotton wasn't the same. She was given a few items of vintage clothes as a gift for her part in rescuing the Earth so she could have and wear until she aclimated.
Real quick two pieces of information. James Doohan(Scotty) is missing a finger on his right hand. Either his middle finger or his ring finger. It was shot off in World War II. Also in this movie in hospital over the intercom they successfully pulled off the bend over joke. Dr. Dover, Dr. Ben Dover ... LOL
Nostalgia time: My friend, who was a massive Star Trek fan and an aspiring science fiction writer, and I ditched our college classes to make a road trip to the city so that we could see the first showing. Being poor college students, we had to bum a ride from an acquaintance. We were the first in line at the mall. We, of course, thoroughly enjoyed it. I made a crack about how Greenpeace must be underwriting the movie but he shushed me. A few weeks later, the movie came to our small town and I went with a young lady who later became my girlfriend. So... positive memories all around for this. My friend recently published his 100th short story and has published several novels. By the time Star Trek V came around, we had gone our separate ways. I wonder what he thought of it. Since Star Trek IV was so popular, Shatner decided it was because of the humor. He tried to shoehorn some goofy jokes into his attempt at a movie. It wasn't as well received. You two will doubtless get around to it in a few months. I liked it but was mildly underwhelmed. Many hated it. I wonder what your reaction will be.... See you then.
I don't think Back to the Future had much influence on Star Trek 4. The film was already well into pre-production when BTTF was released and the time travel ideas had been floating around from before the release of Star Trek 3. Although the whale Idea came somewhat later.
I love that Alex reacted to the “You pompous ass!” being yelled at the Klingon ambassador. I’m also kind of jealous that he noticed it. I didn’t realize that was what was being said until just a couple of years ago when I accidentally left the captions turned on! That’s 35 years it took me.
Some fun trivia you guys might interesting about this movie: 1. The Cetacean Institute was actually the Monterey Bay Aquarium. 2. The woman Chekov and Uhura stop on the street was NOT an actress. She was a real person. The second unit team who shot that scene had to find her and have her a sign a release. 3. The head device McCoy puts on top of Chekov’s head in the surgery room is actually a part from a Klingon plastic model kit. 4. The scene where the cast is in the water after the Klingon vessel crashes in the Bay was actually a parking lot.
Per 2. She hadn't received the notice of filming and her car got blocked so she figured she'd work on the set for the day and wasn't supposed to talk but she kinda just went with the flow and did speak. She got her car back afterwards.
The crew paid out of wallet to get the woman registered into the Screen Actors' Guild, otherwise they would not be allowed to include her in the movie.
This is part three of the "trilogy" because it is the final part needed to return the crew back to the status quo. They are essentially fugitives from justice until the end of the movie, and Spock is still recovering from his resurrection. These are all elements that are directly informed by the events of the last two movies.
One thing Star Trek has always done is provide social commentary regarding current-day events, so the 'Save the Whales' message in this film was not considered out of place. In fact, Star Trek IV is regarded as having brought the concern of the potential extinction of Humpback Whales to the attention of the general public. New anti-whaling laws were implemented internationally in the years after this film's release, and now - almost 40 years later - Humpbacks are not only no longer on the edge of extinction, but the species is making a comeback with population increasing!
I cried when Spock died. I CRIED when the Enterprise died. I cried when WE got Ent-A. They go together as a trilogy. Save the whales was a big thing in the 80s. same thing with Lethal Weapon 2 and the tuna reference. it was everywhere.
The mad version of the trial was funny, "Sir I stand with my mates." the judge is like, "Their sentence could be death." spock then responds with, "Yes my mates, they are over there in the stands."
In my opinion, It feels connected because it deals with Spock having to rediscover who he is after his death from the 2nd film, and shows him reconnecting with his friends (the crew). Also, they face the consequences of stealing the Enterprise (from the 3rd movie). All the open plot lines were resolved and sets Star Trek 5 up to be able to go anywhere moving forward. They managed to do all that while still making the film assessable to non-trek fans - pretty impressive. They decided on time travel early on and wanted a lighter tone because of how dark the previous films were, also to save some money. Star Trek films were always getting their budgets cut. They originally thought of having to retrieve some kind of plant that would be extinct in the 23rd century. They wanted it to be something that would seem insignificant to modern audiences, they settled on whales. The film did a lot to help increase awareness of how endangered whales were at the time. Also, they wanted Eddie Murphy (who was huge at the time) to be in the movie but it didn't work out. At the time Richard Pryor had been in Superman 3 so someone, probably the studio, thought they should have a comedian. Thankfully, that never happened. All of this info can be found on the DVD commentary of the film. On a side note I was in 8th grade when this came out and I remember explaining the plot to a girl in my class and she thought I was trying to be funny and refused to believe me. She probably still thinks I was joking. Great reaction! I have been following you since TOS and am excited about TNG.
You might have to look back on this, but the device they put on Chekov's forehead is made from a piece of a Klingon D-9 model kit; actually from the top section that holds the hanger bay and Enginering. I know, I've built plenty of them.
A much better sequel trilogy than current ones today.. all of the legendary characters remained legendary and played their parts well through the movies without downplaying anyone.
Nimoy's considering giving each cast member a vital part of the plot in this film reminds me of when the animated series was in production, the producers only wanted Shatner and Nimoy to voice their characters. Nimoy refused to be a part of the animated series unless all the other TOS regulars were also hired.
@@cyrilmauras4247not really as walter wasn't hired which he was upset about why wasn't Leonard sticking up for him? Walter mentions this in interview's that he didn't stick up for him.
22:15 "I'd Like To Know What They're Saying To Each Other" There was a novelization of Star Trek IV that actually included a translated dialogue between the whales and the alien probe in addition to expanded scenes in the novel that were depicted in the movie
I always wondered why the whales when they got to the Future did not say to the alien probe "humans have hunted us to the brink of Extinction. Please wipe them out!"
Did you guys notice the female captain in the beginning of the movie? A contrast from the final episode of TOS, of no female captains. Plus the actress is Simba's mother from Lion King, and Eddie Murphy's mother from Coming to America.
They were supposed to expand on Sulu's backstory in this film. He was supposed to run into a kid who turned out to be, if I remember correctly, his great grandfather. But when they were trying to shoot the scene, the kid was being, in Walter Koenig's words, "a pain in the ass". So the scene never made it into the movie. However, it was preserved in the novelization of the film. I'm a little surprised with all the fan projects out there, no one has tried to recreate this scene.
As weird as this movie might "feel", it was very "80s" and very accepted by the general viewing audience. I remember my friends and I laughing at a number of scenes. As far as how each of the movies to-date were so different from each other, that too was very Star Trek(tm) when you review how different many stories in TOS were: sometimes dramatic, sometimes comedic, and other times just action-adventure oriented. So these films make sense when viewed in that context.
This film was very influential regarding the conservation of cetaceans. If film/art (and science) can illuminate our future as a society, its ideal would be in helping the world become better. It certainly did for whales. I love this film. Love it. It's my fav.
Alex underestimates the fandom. Jane Wyatt had been in demand at conventions and fan events for over a decade (the first Trek-specific Con was in 1975), so she not only remembered having played Amanda, she was very familiar with all the details. Most prominent guest-stars do a good business at Comi-con and such.
Sulu was suppsupposed to save the child, probably from being hit by a car. Only then he would find out the child’s name was Sulu and he had saved his direct forebear! Too bad the scene didn’t get made.
This is my favorite of the films. To me the best sci-fi not only explores (obviously) hard science and technology topics, but also includes how it effects and is effected by intelligent beings (human or other). This film explores big topics but also successfully showcases the best of why we love this crew.
For a while I considered this my favorite of all the TOS films, but while it is still enjoyable, I feel like it has dated more than the other ones. After the director's cut of The Motion Picture was released I found that one to be closer to a favorite for me. I have heard though, that it raised awareness and create some positive results toward preserving whale lives.
probably because it's time specific being set in the 80s...i was also surprised that i enjoyed, "The Motion Picture" more recently (really hated it when it came out...)...
@@sseltrek1a2bTOS did a time travel episode in season 1 that doesn't feel as dated, despite being made decades earlier. (I don't mean season 2's backdoor pilot.) The season 1 story didn't have as many elements to feel as dated.
1:22 Yes, both of Spock's parents are portrayed by the original actors seen in TOS: "Journey to Babel" 9:22 The punk on the bus is Kirk Thatcher, the writer and vocalist of the song he's listening to. 4:35 McCoy's relationship with Spock is now a lot less adversarial since they've shared a brain. Except for just a few clips of obvious stock footage, all of the whales in this movie were actually remote controlled models in a swimming pool..
@@shauntempley9757 I've seen that season, but don't recall when this happened. 🤔 EDIT: I looked it up on RUclips. Funny! I don't know how I missed that...must have been in the bathroom.
Been looking forward to your reaction. Having sat through all Trek movies I can say that this by far had the best live audience reaction. I think this is the best from the opening music to ending credits. It also received the highest critical acclaim, one prominent critic called this "Far superior to everything that proceeded it". Nimoy put a lot of work into this one, and it shows... every detail is meticulous, including a screen shot of the original Enterprise, and consider this his gift to trek fans. The success of this movie was also directly responsible for Paramount deciding to bring Trek back to TV, aka TNG.
@@clearsmashdrop5829 The one thing about that scene (and the subsequent scene) that always bothered me; Why did Scotty beam them from the elevator to the park outside the ship? Technically their patterns would have had to pass through the transporter system on the ship, why not just materialize on the transporter platform? And then most of the crew help Chekov up the ramp into the ship but Kirk has to ask to be beamed aboard?? I know it was so Gillian could jump onto Kirk and be beamed aboard the Bird of Prey so she would continue to be there for the remainder of the film, but from a reality standpoint it makes no sense at all!
@@peterkoester7358 I never thought about before. Initially I would have said it was done cause they were going to leave Gillian behind but your right...its needed so she can grab Kirk at the last minute. You know what makes me wonder? Why does the crew not know where Alameda is? If they went to the Academy the Bay Area they should be aware of the city....and at the beginnning of the show we see Alameda island on the map of the Bay Area in Starfleet HQ. My guess is at some point the city got renamed. 🤷
@@clearsmashdrop5829 If you add a little real-world into the mix, the Naval Base in Alameda was closed in the 1990's during BRAC. It's possible I suppose that within 300 years the area changed so much (particularly after the Eugenics Wars and World War III) that people in the 23rd century would never know there had ever been a Navy base in Alameda?
Movies with time travel were a fairly big trend in the early to mid 80s and even a bit into the 90s. Terminator franchise, Flight of the Navigator, Back to the Future, Star Trek IV (duh) , The Final Countdown (I think still has the record for the largest prop in any movie), The Philadelphia Experiment, and many many MANY more. Even the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had a time travel movie. We still sometime get comic book movies or anime with time travel plots but except for established franchises we don't see nearly as much Hollywood stuff with time travel as we used to. For awhile there was seemingly at least one movie with time travel released every year or at most every 2 years. Now that I think about it, time travel in fiction in general was more popular in that era with TV shows and video games too. ST : TNG has some time travel here and there seemingly at least once a season, Quantum Leap, Time Trax, Chrono Trigger, Carmen Sandiego got a time travel edutainment game, even Mario ended up in a time travel game and Transformers had a animated series that involved time travel with Beast Wars. And again, those are just a few of the more noteable examples of ones that popped up in that era. Of course Dr. who also has to be mentioned even though it started much earlier and now they are talking about the 60th anniversary episodes they are doing.
The thing I remember about this upon its release (and the way I consider it among the orignal series cast movies) was that it was a HUGE holiday hit and it was pretty awesome that it was a mainstream hit independent of Trek fans.
Saw this in the theaters, back in the day, and the time travel element felt legit enough because it already existed in the franchise universe. And, I liked the part about whales communicating with the probe, alien intelligence, motivations and actions would not automatically make sense to us.
There's a book by John Scalzi titled "Red Shirts". In it (SPOILER), a crewmember on an Enterprise-like starship realizes he's actually a character on a Sci Fi TV series. Feeling he and his fellow crewmembers have been jerked around and killed off for the sake of drama, he decides the best option is to confront the writer. They manage to get copies of episodes of the TV series and realize that when the crew traveled back in time, it was often to the same time period and location on Earth and they reason that it was probably the same time and place the series was produced. So, they manage to travel to that time to try to find the writer and explain that he's ruining their lives. It's a great book that looks at the tropes and cliches of Trek and other Sci Fi series through the eyes of the crew.
The ironic side of comparing it to back to the future is... they use christopher lloyds ship as a time machine lol which kind of in back of head could tie it together and is something people pointed out alot since.
This so very nearly featured Eddie Murphy. He was signed to Paramount, and was a big Star Trek fan, but was talked out of appearing in it. Similar situation with Tom Hanks in Star Trek: First Contact.
The strange thing about every, and I do mean every, Star Trek movie is they never planned, or even expected there would be a next one. Due to this fact, 2 3 & 4 weren't written as a trilogy. In fact it really isn't a trilogy, it's more fan cannon trilogy after the fact, and we connected the dots with the mention of the Genesis Device. So what you were saying about it not feeling like a trilogy is accurate. Great reaction, can't wait for TNG!!
This is my favourite of the TOS movies...probably all of them. Favourite moments: Sarek wiping the floor with the Klingon ambassador Amanda and Spock's conversation The crew using an already established in-universe method to time travel The scenes at and around the intersection of Kearny St, Columbus Avenue and Pacific Avenue in San Francisco The punk rocker on the bus Spock in the whale tank Scotty trying to use a 1986 computer Kirk, McCoy and Gillian springing Chekov from the hospital, particularly the old woman who grew a new kidney after McCoy gave her some pills. The crew fooling around in the water after releasing the whales Sarek approving of Spock's friends The revelation of the Enterprise-A
Think you really underestimate how long it takes a movie to be made. It takes a lot longer than a year to make a movie. It wasn't a copy of BTTF. If only movies were this well written nowadays. TVH only gets better with time and is just a joy to watch these beloved characters. I can see why this was the most successful Trek movie ever!
My favorite Star Trek movie! It's a trilogy because the movie is about their heroic act that saves earth, which in turn is the reason that charges against them (from the third movie) are dropped in the end.
Great reaction, I'm enjoying your journey. Our family is a bunch of Trekkers and we love this movie. Our favorite is Wrath of Khan but we thoroughly enjoyed TVH because we loved the humor in TOS, especially The Trouble With Tribbles. That's why we're also big fans of Galaxy Quest.
I highly recommend watching the blooper reel from this movie. The entire premise of an alien probe from across the galaxy communicating with whales on earth through whale song and then not realizing that it's destroying the planet where the whales were supposed to be is so ridiculous and stupid, but the rest of the movie is so much fun that the problems with the premise don't matter.
When she (Amanda) appeared and we heard her voice, the theater erupted in cheers. Uhura and Chekov were beamed into the ship near the nuke reactor. They filmed that water scene in Feb and they were freezing.
I saw a behind the scenes about ST4 where The Whole scene with Chekov questioning passersby about Nuclear "Wessels" was on the spot. The pedestrians didn't know it was a movie.
Christopher Lloyd who played Doc Brown in the Back to the Future movies played the Klingon commander of the Bird of Prey that they use to go Back in Time and then Back to the Future again. So you could call that a connection between the 2 movie series.
I don't know if this was inspired by "Back to the Future," but it _is_ interesting that this is the second time a Christopher Lloyd character owned a vehicle that could travel through time.
In Star Trek, humanity is ashamed of it's past a bit. I appreciate Trek for that, because sometimes I think humanity gets a bit too arrogant with it's progress and how important it feels about itself. I really love when Trek looks at something that is occurring in its own present, that mirrors some status quo accepted thought in OUR present and then goes, "how dumb are you that you're fine with that?" I mean, how often do we look back at the 1800s and go; "yes, they certainly had _something."_ Yes, they did. Dysentery. This movie establishes that while people in the future of Star Trek are aware of cursing, they also are a little unfamiliar with all its uses and clearly don't feel a need to use it as much, suggesting it's something society has largely moved beyond.
Spock's Father was the same actor who played the Romulan commander in Balance of Terror. TOS ep 08 That's probably already been brought up. Although he was a gifted actor, his roles on Star Trek were his most famous. RIP
It's a trilogy in a few ways, but for me it's mostly because of Spock's arc (II-death, III-resurrection, IV-restoration to full self). There's also an Enterprise arc of sorts (II-like Kirk, ship feels old and comes out broken but alive, III-her final hurrah, gives her life for her family, IV--her spiritual rebirth after her family earns her rebirth (like they earned Spock's rebirth through the events of III).
Having been around when these films were out in first run, I don't remember people thinking of II, III, and IV as a trilogy. They were just Star Trek movies that continued the original series franchise.
Amazing. It warms my Soul to see people enjoying Star Trek for the first time. Welcome to BEST FANDOM/FAMILY in the WORLD. What I like about YOUR reactions is that you notice all the same things that I like, and when you don't like something you EXPLAIN why and go in depth, with fair points. Great job guys. 🙂
I once saw a home improvement show on HGTV in which the home owners had two dogs. The host, a Canadian contractor named Mike Holmes, asked their names and the home owners said they called them George and Gracie. I remember sitting up and hoping against hope that Mike would say, "Burns and Allen, or Star Trek IV?" Well, the man knows more about building codes than I ever will, so I guess I can forgive him not picking up on the reference either to this movie or to the great old comedy duo of George Burns and Gracie Allen.
Time travel was used as a plot device during the 80's in several films: Time After Time (1979),Somewhere in Time (1980), The Terminator (1984), Back to the Future (1985), and Star Trek IV (1986).
My parents saw this movie in the theater on one of their first dates. I'm sure they probably could have gone to any movie, but we always joke that they wouldn't have married and my siblings and I wouldn't be here if it weren't for Star Trek 4. 😂
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Catch up on ALL of our Star Trek reactions before we get started on TNG! - ruclips.net/p/PL5Pso33oqJDh82uDmd6gNuzn3zg9-f0XG&si=oyA6S5LkBO8P_SWW
I saw this in the movie theater in the 80s when I was 12
Some people say that Saavik stayed behind because she was pregnant with Spock`s child since the pon farr on the Genesis planet.
For me this was my least favorite of the trilogy. I liked the humor but agree that it seems out of place and not really connected with the previous two films. I don't like it when a movie or TV show gets up its own ass with political/social commentary anyway so I'm glad they didn't beat us over the head with it.
@17:28 Beginning with STAR TREK II, all films up to JJ's were transferred to the Paramount TV from the film division, and given a TV movie budget. The would cut the budget with each film, so at this point doing a film set on contemporary Earth was cheaper than building a whole bunch of new "future sets". Harve Bennett wrote all the 23rd century scenes and Nicholas Meyers wrote the 1986 scenes.
Would be funny if the probe occupants were whale hunters. They bring the whales back and then these two harpoons shoot down from space, spearing through both whales killing them, and hauling them into the probe. Then they turn and leave. They were sending whale calls like we send duck calls when hunting lol.
The best comment I ever read regarding the hospital scene was something like, "I need a TV spinoff where Bones travels to different times just so he can insult the doctors of that era."
I can see Karl Urban doing this...
"Chemotherapy???! RU FUÇKÌNG KIDDING ME?!!" 😂
@@stirgy4312What is this, the goddamn inquisition?!
I’d buy that for a dollar
Damn it, Jim. I'm a doctor, not a time traveler!
This is my absolute favorite Trek film. No evil enemies bent on revenge. No violence. Just those old scientists using their training and wits to save the day.
It's like a proper Comic book caper with seasoned characters excelling at being so seasoned. Absolutely love when a film in a franchise just sets characters loose to have an adventure without the now exhausting origin stuff and beyond overdone big bads.
The closest I've seen to this lately is 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' and it's a very precious rarity.💖
It is because of that I don't really like this movie. I mean an alien probe is destroying the planet because it make contact with whales. And it is so stupid it apparently doesn't realize it. That's the story of this film. Of all the Star Trek films this is the most disappointing. Not the worst. Final Frontier and Nemesis are both worse.
@@trhansen3244 Very simplistic analysis.
There's a whole ton of esoteric depth there if you wish to dive in.
@@Cyborganna It's a simple movie. You can delve into any movie or tv show and give it more depth. That doesn't make it good.
I'm not sure it's still my favorite, but it was for a long time. So much of it works, and by that point we knew those characters so well that their interactions here are fantastic.
This movie was the most successful of the original cast. It was a massive general audience smash
Ya I'm a huge Trekker and I remember back in Dec 86 People who didn't like Star Trek liked this movie. Even Siskel & Ebert liked it and both were not Star Trek fans. I remember it getting a lot of praise in the media for having a positive view with the whales. Hope for our future.
@@Joe-hh8gd Still the highest, with the possible exception of Into Darkness, if adjusted for inflaction.
I was born in '62, this was the closet to the campiness that made the original so special. IMO. TWOK was a close second or tie on a good day.😉
Four quadrant movie, as the suits would say.
This was a much needed film. The characters were Spock on 😉@@jakerazmataz852
As someone who has been on dialysis for seven years, I want that pill.
Jane Wyatt (Amanda) was often a guest at Star Trek conventions during the late-70's and early-80's and was amazed by how she was better known by the general public for a character she played once on Star Trek in 1967 than for the main character role she played for six years as homemaker and mother Margaret Anderson on the sitcom 'Father Knows Best.'
Shortly after this film came out, Leonard Nimoy, Mark Leonard, and Jane Wyatt would appear together at Star Trek Conventions in New York, Los Angeles, and other major US cities billed as "The first family of Vulcan."
IMDB shows this as her last feature film appearance, and that she played 'Margaret Anderson' twice more before her last TV appearance in 1992.
What I know her best is because she's the ex-wife of former President Ronald Reagan.
@@stevenwoodward5923 That was Jane Wyman. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Wyman
@@peterkoester7358 Yep. Jane Wyatt was actually blacklisted for protesting against the House Un-American Activities Committee. Reagan claimed the blacklists never happened.
@@peterkoester7358 Thanks, you are correct. Something I've been wrong about for years.
The thing that gets me every time I watch this movie is how a completely emotion free conversation between Sarek and Spock conveys makes more emotional than anything else in this movie. Masterfully written.
I totally agree. It’s a very powerful scene.
Excellent point- and Nimoy and Lenard made their lines sing. Such awesome line delivery, they made a fantastic onscreen pair.
"Do you have a message for your mother?"
And masterfully played.
Fun fact: this is the first Star Trek movie shown in the (former) Soviet Union. Apparently the Russian audience laughed really hard at McCoy's line about the one constant in the universe being the beuurocratic mentality.
I remember an interview with Leonard Nimoy prior to this movie premiering. He said that the first three films were so serious, that there was an effort among the writers, producers, and cast to do a movie that was more light hearted but yet had a message. While the story, in true ST fashion, presented its message, here the cause to save the whales, the movie was largely played for laughs.
George & Gracie: "Hi there"
Probe: Oh, hey. You're back. What happened?"
G & G: "It's been a weird day..."
Probe: "Sorry to hear that. Anyway, I'll be going now."
No offense, but some times you guys have a knack for missing the forest for the trees. It's not about the whales or the time travel. The movie is the third of the trilogy because:
1. It completes Spock's journey. Spock at the beginning of the movie was not the Spock we know. He was not emotional and didn't understand his human side. Spock ultimately had to "guess" in order to get them back to the future. When he answers the question at the end of the movie, it's him acknowledging his emotional half, his human half, has returned.
2. It completes Kirk's journey. At the beginning of TWOK Kirk was an Admiral, feeling old. Yes, he gets a feeling of rejuvenation in III, but he's still an admiral. If he had come back as it was he'd have remained an admiral. Now he's back where he belongs: as a Captain in the Captain's chair.
3. It gives the crew the Enterprise back. It's very odd to have had 1 and a half Star Trek movies with no Enterprise. In the third movie the Enterprise wasn't even "theirs"; they had to steal it. And then it was destroyed and they had to tool around in a second-rate Klingon ship. Now at the end of the movie we're back to where we should be, full circle, with the original crew on the Enterprise (even if it is a copy).
Hope that clears things up for you guys.
Nicely said. I had those same thoughts.
Well said, sometimes these guys really miss the mark lol
Oh it is definitely about the whales. Do check out Nimoy's efforts in that cause.
The "trippy" sequence as they go into time warp implies that the whole causal loop thing (Kirk selling his glasses back to himself, the transparent aluminium) because you hear snippets of "future" dialogue that hasn't yet happened. I'm glad they didn't over explain that tbh. It just works.
Ah, but shouldn't we have heard the dialogue backwards?
I only put that together after watching it several times. I heard Scotty say, there be whales here, Uhura saying she should've never left Chekov, and Kirk saying to Spock, you're talking about the end of every life on Earth. When I realized I was hearing lines from later on in the movie, I was like, WHOA!!!
Nicholas Meyer wrote the screenplay so I think a bigger influence on this film, rather than “Back To The Future” is the film “Time After Time” which was also written (and directed) by Nicholas Meyer. A brilliant film that I highly recommend you check out.
So glad you mention this. In all the _making of_ info I read and had seen about _STAR TREK IV,_ there was no mention of being influenced by the success of _Back to the Future._ Although, given the presence Christopher Lloyd in the previous film, I can see why someone might consider that a possibility. And I've no doubt that it may have crossed someone's mind.
As I recall, much of this came from the recollection on how successful episodes of _STAR TREK_ were when they were out of their element. Specifically on Earth of the past. Which happened 3 ½ times (the ½ being "All Our Yesterdays"). I suppose you might include "Spectre of the Gun." 🤷🏼♂️
I was a teenager when both of those, Star Trek 4 and Back To the Future, came out. It never crossed my mind for some reason. I don’t know how I didn’t make that connection.
@@VulcanDeathGrip44Same here. I didn't see them as being related at all, including not really keying on the fact that it was Christopher Lloyd. He just VANISHES into that character he's sooooo good.
Time After Time is a great movie that has had few if any Reactors pursue. Malcolm McDowell and Mary Steenburgen are excellent in it.
Funny thing is that IIRC, the choice of setting it in current day was a budget measure, it's far cheaper when you can just go out in town and film. As to Meyer, he's an awesome writer, if'n you like Sherlock Holmes, give a look at The Seven Percent Solution.
This movie really did open the world's eyes to the horrors of whaling and was enough to push to further protect and save them from extinction and they are thriving now. Also another way Star Trek's fantasy technology (transparent aluminum) was complete fiction at the time of the movie. But someone was thinking when they saw it because it is real now but extremely expensive to produce but it does exist which is fascinating, as Spock would say. Also Leonard Nimoy took into account of people being upset that the whales would've been disturbed so to combate the hate letters about 95% of footage of whales in movie was man-made.
The FX footage of the whales was so convincing that Nimoy still drew lots of hate for that.
yes, save the whales was big back than
Wait a minute, this was a save the whales movie that actually worked? I didn't think that was possible
Greenpeace was very active in 1980's whale saving. Japan still hunted back then,
@@Daviddaze They still do.
Glad you mentioned Back to the Future. What's interesting is that Doc (Cristopher Lloyd) built a time machine, and Kruge's (Cristopher Lloyd) ship was used as a time machine.
when this bird of prey hits 88 mph you're gonna see some serious sh.... LOL
that is why doc brown is often says "Great Scott!" - obviously referencing the Enterprise's chief engineer.
Kruge thought GENESIS was the ultimate weapon? He should've spent his time and energy cracking the time travel equations like his alter ego Doc Brown. Time travel would be devastating in the hands of the Klingons.
I remember Chuck Sonnenburg doing that joke, it is a funny observation.
The goal of the film was to lighten up after three serious films. This movie proved to be the most accessible to non-Trekkies and it was a huge hit because of that.
Ironically, the general audience accessibility and the focus on humor made this one divisive among the fans. At the time, we only got new Star Trek every few years and it was frustrating to be given a mostly fluff comedy. It took several years but my opinion has softened on it and the film is now well regarded.
I have never heard that Back to the Future directly influencing this direction. I think it had more to do with budget limitations. Filming on location in modern California is much cheaper than building new sets.
Same here. I came expecting a great action movie and kept waiting for it to start, then it ended and I felt disappointed, but I love it now.
I loved it at the time, but a lot of it has since dated, sometimes badly, and it feels like a glorified sitcom.
But at the time, it was great, and they should have bought the Commodore computer used for some of the effects for the product placement scene instead of a prerecorded animation for some other prop machine.
FYI, those were real Marines chasing Chekov. I saw Walter Koenig at a convention shortly before this came out, and he said that the only direction the Marines were given was "get him". He said the stuntman who went over the side of the ship landed on a small pile of cardboard, and was fine afterwards. "If I get a hangnail, I'm off the set for a week".
Yeah, if you watch the credits they thank the Marine Detachment on USS Ranger.
After life, death and resurrection, it was time for something a bit lighter and it worked! They're able to wrap the story arc, end on a high note. One of the unsung strengths of this cast is their ability to work comedically. Some of the most popular episodes were lighter,comedic ones like Tribbles, A Piece of the Action, and I, Mudd.
I worked w a guy named John Schuk in 2013 and I asked him if he was the Klingon Ambassador to the Federation. He said he wasn't but his uncle was.
Great video that brought back that memory.
I am always amazed at how well some of the humor in this movie has aged. So many of the jokes are just based off of "it's funny because the people from the future don't know how stuff works", but now here we are talking to computers and using cards instead of change. I mean, is a hundred dollars a lot?
It amuses me that the answer to the value of $100 being a lot or not is still exactly the same.
Tank of gas and a box of diapers. So, no.
@@Reepicheep-1 But that's the point... it wasn't really a lot then, either. They blew it all on bus fare and tickets to the aquarium.
The Challenger explosion has another connection to Star Trek beyond this film.
After the original series was cancelled and became popular in reruns, NASA approached actress Nichelle Nichols to help recruit women and people of color into the astronaut program.
Some of the crew of Challenger that perished joined NASA in part because of that recruitment effort. A sad coincidence.
Yes, and there is a wonderful documentary about Nichelle Nichols called Woman in Motion. I really think the guys should watch that.
Plus the first shuttle was named Enterprise because of the fans writing in and the cast was there at the roll-out.
The probe is what's lost compared to today's movies where everything is explained to the nines & why most are suffering. Let it be mysterious. It did it's job for the plot of the movie.
The probe was not even here to talk to humans. Every other movie with aliens automatically assumes the aliens are here to contact us or conquer us, ignoring every other species on Earth.
I'd say it still exists. Arrival is an example, Dune another. Maybe Denis Villeneuve favors the style.
@@miller-joel Exactly. It was an intentional directorial choice to say "the probe isn't intended for us (humans), so we (the audience) can't understand it either."
THERE BE WHALES HERE
Trivia quiz for all, Scotty also uses the term "beastie" in TOS, which episode?
Incidentally I understand the woman Uhura and Chekhov stopped for directions was an actual passer-by, and had to chased after by production staff so that they had permission to use her in the film. Looking forward to your reactions to TNG. I trust you already know it ran for seven seasons (some 178 episodes), so a lot for you to watch. There's a lovely cameo in the first TNG episode by the way.
The probe design was inspired by Rendezvous with Rama. A novel written by Arthur C Clark about a very large object entering the Solar System, and a team of astronauts landing on it. The Oumuamua object that shot through our solar system in 2017 rang a lot of bells making people think of that novel.
As the probe turns to leave it literally says "I'm sorry".
Fun fact: transparent aluminum actually exists although it's commonly called sapphire. It would make great windows for spaceships!
actually it is called Alon or Aluminium oxynitride
There is an actual youtube video, on how they make it, it's actually used to make bulletproof glass.
Starships do use transparent metal for windows. Something 'Generations' forgot about or chose to not take seriously with all the "glass" after the crash of Enterprise D saucer section.
The connection between transparent aluminum and sapphire is my headcanon reason for the Enterprise's large arboretum windows (at the very bottom of the engineering hull) being so blue.
Add some Transparent Aluminum to Steel and you have an interesting TV show in the making. Get Joanna Lumley and David McCallum to star, and it'd be a winner... 😁
First off, I have to say that this was the greatest movie experience I’ve ever had at the theater. It was opening night, and the crowd was crazy! From the opening credits, they were cheering every cast member has their name appeared on the credits. People were laughing and cheering throughout the whole movie. During the time travel scene, some guy was like whoa, I’m tripping! Crowd laughed and just had a great time. The only other time I ever had an experience like that was watching Rocky 4. Secondly, I think people call it a trilogy because each movie picks up where last one left off. It was never intended or written to be a trilogy. And also, it all wraps up in the end with the crew back together on the Enterprise with Kirk as captain again.
At the time, there was a lot of news regarding the killing of whales. The movie was a way to show that hunting a species to extinction could have consequences for us in the future. As a result of the movie and the awareness it brought to humpback whales, the number of humpbacks increased due to donations and conservation efforts.
I'm mildly shocked that this movie seemingly did the one thing most environmental films fail to do. Get people to actually care about the cause
Some of the S.F. scenes were shot without the usual securing of the areas. So, many of the people appearing on-screen were random regular people rather than extras meant to be there.
As far as I know, there was NO thought given to Back To The Future in making this movie. For me, it was an easy plot: your poor decisions today, may have dire consequences in the future, without beating you over the head with it! Having the crew come back to "our time" makes them more relatable to us because this is where we live. As far as the humour goes: some of the best episodes of TOS were the funny ones: I Mudd; Tribbles; Piece Of The Action. Watching the crew acting uninhibited, let's you "in" to their characters even further and you feel that you could sit down to dinner with each of them easily. Great job Leonard!
It's a trilogy that explores the character arcs. Kirk gets his command of a starship back and Spock gets his human side back.
Spock originally thought the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. At the end of this movie he recognises that this might not always be the case. Both Kirk and Spock have learnt something about themselves.
The Voyage Home. Literally and metaphorically. Spock completes his journey. Kirk becomes Captain once more. And the Enterprise reveal at the end. The Enterprise herself is also an integral character. Kirk says we've come home.These are the Voyages indeed.
John Schuck is a consummate actor.
He's been around since McMillan and Wife.
He's still alive, and about 83 years old as of this post.
Interesting with your comment about Gillian adapting to her new outfit. In a later novelization Gillian could feel the difference in the textures and smells of the materials. That Cotton wasn't the same. She was given a few items of vintage clothes as a gift for her part in rescuing the Earth so she could have and wear until she aclimated.
Was that in the Debt of Honor graphic novel or in the novelization?
@@artboymoy Mostly the novelization, IIRC.
@@artboymoy If this is Jeff Moy, I just want to thank you for all your great art. The LSH has always been a favorite of my childhood.
@@RLucas3000 Aw, thank you. This is. And I do love my Trek! Heard about Keith Giffen's passing. May he RIP.
Real quick two pieces of information. James Doohan(Scotty) is missing a finger on his right hand. Either his middle finger or his ring finger. It was shot off in World War II. Also in this movie in hospital over the intercom they successfully pulled off the bend over joke. Dr. Dover, Dr. Ben Dover ... LOL
Best special effect in the whole movie is William Shatner's hair when he's under water towards the end.
I’m 62 now and have always been a fan of anything Star Trek. This is my number one favourite thing to watch.
Nostalgia time:
My friend, who was a massive Star Trek fan and an aspiring science fiction writer, and I ditched our college classes to make a road trip to the city so that we could see the first showing. Being poor college students, we had to bum a ride from an acquaintance. We were the first in line at the mall. We, of course, thoroughly enjoyed it. I made a crack about how Greenpeace must be underwriting the movie but he shushed me. A few weeks later, the movie came to our small town and I went with a young lady who later became my girlfriend. So... positive memories all around for this.
My friend recently published his 100th short story and has published several novels.
By the time Star Trek V came around, we had gone our separate ways. I wonder what he thought of it.
Since Star Trek IV was so popular, Shatner decided it was because of the humor. He tried to shoehorn some goofy jokes into his attempt at a movie. It wasn't as well received. You two will doubtless get around to it in a few months. I liked it but was mildly underwhelmed. Many hated it. I wonder what your reaction will be....
See you then.
I don't think Back to the Future had much influence on Star Trek 4. The film was already well into pre-production when BTTF was released and the time travel ideas had been floating around from before the release of Star Trek 3. Although the whale Idea came somewhat later.
Some people seem to think movies are written, revised, filmed, and edited the day before release.
This was one of the most memorable theater experiences I have ever had. The audience was fantastic. We all stood and applauded at the end.
I love that Alex reacted to the “You pompous ass!” being yelled at the Klingon ambassador. I’m also kind of jealous that he noticed it. I didn’t realize that was what was being said until just a couple of years ago when I accidentally left the captions turned on! That’s 35 years it took me.
That’s why you gotta always watch with subtitles
I never made that line out. VCRs don't always have subtitles, haven't watched it in 30 years.
Some fun trivia you guys might interesting about this movie: 1. The Cetacean Institute was actually the Monterey Bay Aquarium. 2. The woman Chekov and Uhura stop on the street was NOT an actress. She was a real person. The second unit team who shot that scene had to find her and have her a sign a release. 3. The head device McCoy puts on top of Chekov’s head in the surgery room is actually a part from a Klingon plastic model kit. 4. The scene where the cast is in the water after the Klingon vessel crashes in the Bay was actually a parking lot.
Per 2. She hadn't received the notice of filming and her car got blocked so she figured she'd work on the set for the day and wasn't supposed to talk but she kinda just went with the flow and did speak. She got her car back afterwards.
Actors are not real people, I agree.
The crew paid out of wallet to get the woman registered into the Screen Actors' Guild, otherwise they would not be allowed to include her in the movie.
This is part three of the "trilogy" because it is the final part needed to return the crew back to the status quo. They are essentially fugitives from justice until the end of the movie, and Spock is still recovering from his resurrection. These are all elements that are directly informed by the events of the last two movies.
It's a trilogy from Spock's perspective: II. His sacrifice. III. His vulcan rebirth. IV. His human rebirth.
One thing Star Trek has always done is provide social commentary regarding current-day events, so the 'Save the Whales' message in this film was not considered out of place.
In fact, Star Trek IV is regarded as having brought the concern of the potential extinction of Humpback Whales to the attention of the general public. New anti-whaling laws were implemented internationally in the years after this film's release, and now - almost 40 years later - Humpbacks are not only no longer on the edge of extinction, but the species is making a comeback with population increasing!
So Star Trek IV altered history.
@@zoppie from a certain point of view.
(Whoops! Wrong franchise!)
Looking back, I'm glad Spock arrived in circa 1986 rather than 2023. I think he would've lost his Vulcan mind.
The 2024 Bell Riots would have been a curious time for the original series crew to participate in.
I cried when Spock died.
I CRIED when the Enterprise died.
I cried when WE got Ent-A.
They go together as a trilogy.
Save the whales was a big thing in the 80s. same thing with Lethal Weapon 2 and the tuna reference. it was everywhere.
The mad version of the trial was funny, "Sir I stand with my mates." the judge is like, "Their sentence could be death." spock then responds with, "Yes my mates, they are over there in the stands."
In my opinion, It feels connected because it deals with Spock having to rediscover who he is after his death from the 2nd film, and shows him reconnecting with his friends (the crew). Also, they face the consequences of stealing the Enterprise (from the 3rd movie). All the open plot lines were resolved and sets Star Trek 5 up to be able to go anywhere moving forward. They managed to do all that while still making the film assessable to non-trek fans - pretty impressive.
They decided on time travel early on and wanted a lighter tone because of how dark the previous films were, also to save some money. Star Trek films were always getting their budgets cut. They originally thought of having to retrieve some kind of plant that would be extinct in the 23rd century. They wanted it to be something that would seem insignificant to modern audiences, they settled on whales. The film did a lot to help increase awareness of how endangered whales were at the time.
Also, they wanted Eddie Murphy (who was huge at the time) to be in the movie but it didn't work out. At the time Richard Pryor had been in Superman 3 so someone, probably the studio, thought they should have a comedian. Thankfully, that never happened.
All of this info can be found on the DVD commentary of the film.
On a side note I was in 8th grade when this came out and I remember explaining the plot to a girl in my class and she thought I was trying to be funny and refused to believe me. She probably still thinks I was joking.
Great reaction! I have been following you since TOS and am excited about TNG.
You might have to look back on this, but the device they put on Chekov's forehead is made from a piece of a Klingon D-9 model kit; actually from the top section that holds the hanger bay and Enginering. I know, I've built plenty of them.
During the 80's, there was a big movement to "Save The Whales", the Enterprise crew did just that...
A much better sequel trilogy than current ones today.. all of the legendary characters remained legendary and played their parts well through the movies without downplaying anyone.
Nimoy's considering giving each cast member a vital part of the plot in this film reminds me of when the animated series was in production, the producers only wanted Shatner and Nimoy to voice their characters. Nimoy refused to be a part of the animated series unless all the other TOS regulars were also hired.
@@cyrilmauras4247 yeah Nimoy is definitely the goat when it came to the franchise!
@@cyrilmauras4247not really as walter wasn't hired which he was upset about why wasn't Leonard sticking up for him? Walter mentions this in interview's that he didn't stick up for him.
22:15
"I'd Like To Know What They're Saying To Each Other"
There was a novelization of Star Trek IV that actually included a translated dialogue between the whales and the alien probe in addition to expanded scenes in the novel that were depicted in the movie
I saw this in the theater and the whole crowd ate it up. Still easily among my faves of all Trek flicks
I always wondered why the whales when they got to the Future did not say to the alien probe "humans have hunted us to the brink of Extinction. Please wipe them out!"
Did you guys notice the female captain in the beginning of the movie? A contrast from the final episode of TOS, of no female captains. Plus the actress is Simba's mother from Lion King, and Eddie Murphy's mother from Coming to America.
Can’t wait for “The Final Frontier” reaction. I really think you’ll like the beginning😂
Can't wait for you guys to start TNG.
They were supposed to expand on Sulu's backstory in this film. He was supposed to run into a kid who turned out to be, if I remember correctly, his great grandfather. But when they were trying to shoot the scene, the kid was being, in Walter Koenig's words, "a pain in the ass". So the scene never made it into the movie. However, it was preserved in the novelization of the film. I'm a little surprised with all the fan projects out there, no one has tried to recreate this scene.
As weird as this movie might "feel", it was very "80s" and very accepted by the general viewing audience. I remember my friends and I laughing at a number of scenes. As far as how each of the movies to-date were so different from each other, that too was very Star Trek(tm) when you review how different many stories in TOS were: sometimes dramatic, sometimes comedic, and other times just action-adventure oriented. So these films make sense when viewed in that context.
This film was very influential regarding the conservation of cetaceans. If film/art (and science) can illuminate our future as a society, its ideal would be in helping the world become better. It certainly did for whales. I love this film. Love it. It's my fav.
Alex underestimates the fandom. Jane Wyatt had been in demand at conventions and fan events for over a decade (the first Trek-specific Con was in 1975), so she not only remembered having played Amanda, she was very familiar with all the details.
Most prominent guest-stars do a good business at Comi-con and such.
There was to be another scene where Sulu meets one of his ancestors. But issues with the child actor caused it to be dropped.
That's really too bad. He's the who was born in San Francisco, after all. Would've been a really nice scene to have
@@WEB_78O . Indeed. They waisted a whole day trying to film it.
Sulu was suppsupposed to save the child, probably from being hit by a car. Only then he would find out the child’s name was Sulu and he had saved his direct forebear! Too bad the scene didn’t get made.
This is my favorite of the films. To me the best sci-fi not only explores (obviously) hard science and technology topics, but also includes how it effects and is effected by intelligent beings (human or other). This film explores big topics but also successfully showcases the best of why we love this crew.
For a while I considered this my favorite of all the TOS films, but while it is still enjoyable, I feel like it has dated more than the other ones. After the director's cut of The Motion Picture was released I found that one to be closer to a favorite for me. I have heard though, that it raised awareness and create some positive results toward preserving whale lives.
probably because it's time specific being set in the 80s...i was also surprised that i enjoyed, "The Motion Picture" more recently (really hated it when it came out...)...
@@sseltrek1a2bTOS did a time travel episode in season 1 that doesn't feel as dated, despite being made decades earlier. (I don't mean season 2's backdoor pilot.) The season 1 story didn't have as many elements to feel as dated.
1:22 Yes, both of Spock's parents are portrayed by the original actors seen in TOS: "Journey to Babel"
9:22 The punk on the bus is Kirk Thatcher, the writer and vocalist of the song he's listening to.
4:35 McCoy's relationship with Spock is now a lot less adversarial since they've shared a brain.
Except for just a few clips of obvious stock footage, all of the whales in this movie were actually remote controlled models in a swimming pool..
Kirk Thatcher returns to Picard Season 2 as well. His character remembers Spock.
@@shauntempley9757 I've seen that season, but don't recall when this happened. 🤔
EDIT: I looked it up on RUclips. Funny!
I don't know how I missed that...must have been in the bathroom.
Thatcher was a producer of the movie, too.
@@shauntempley9757: why are people compelled to give spoilers?
Been looking forward to your reaction. Having sat through all Trek movies I can say that this by far had the best live audience reaction. I think this is the best from the opening music to ending credits. It also received the highest critical acclaim, one prominent critic called this "Far superior to everything that proceeded it". Nimoy put a lot of work into this one, and it shows... every detail is meticulous, including a screen shot of the original Enterprise, and consider this his gift to trek fans.
The success of this movie was also directly responsible for Paramount deciding to bring Trek back to TV, aka TNG.
This movie sucks.
One thing I remember from watching this in the theater was the entire audience clapping/cheering when they beamed out of the elevator in the hospital.
@@clearsmashdrop5829 The one thing about that scene (and the subsequent scene) that always bothered me; Why did Scotty beam them from the elevator to the park outside the ship? Technically their patterns would have had to pass through the transporter system on the ship, why not just materialize on the transporter platform? And then most of the crew help Chekov up the ramp into the ship but Kirk has to ask to be beamed aboard??
I know it was so Gillian could jump onto Kirk and be beamed aboard the Bird of Prey so she would continue to be there for the remainder of the film, but from a reality standpoint it makes no sense at all!
@@peterkoester7358 I never thought about before. Initially I would have said it was done cause they were going to leave Gillian behind but your right...its needed so she can grab Kirk at the last minute.
You know what makes me wonder? Why does the crew not know where Alameda is? If they went to the Academy the Bay Area they should be aware of the city....and at the beginnning of the show we see Alameda island on the map of the Bay Area in Starfleet HQ. My guess is at some point the city got renamed.
🤷
@@clearsmashdrop5829 If you add a little real-world into the mix, the Naval Base in Alameda was closed in the 1990's during BRAC. It's possible I suppose that within 300 years the area changed so much (particularly after the Eugenics Wars and World War III) that people in the 23rd century would never know there had ever been a Navy base in Alameda?
Movies with time travel were a fairly big trend in the early to mid 80s and even a bit into the 90s. Terminator franchise, Flight of the Navigator, Back to the Future, Star Trek IV (duh) , The Final Countdown (I think still has the record for the largest prop in any movie), The Philadelphia Experiment, and many many MANY more. Even the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had a time travel movie.
We still sometime get comic book movies or anime with time travel plots but except for established franchises we don't see nearly as much Hollywood stuff with time travel as we used to. For awhile there was seemingly at least one movie with time travel released every year or at most every 2 years. Now that I think about it, time travel in fiction in general was more popular in that era with TV shows and video games too. ST : TNG has some time travel here and there seemingly at least once a season, Quantum Leap, Time Trax, Chrono Trigger, Carmen Sandiego got a time travel edutainment game, even Mario ended up in a time travel game and Transformers had a animated series that involved time travel with Beast Wars. And again, those are just a few of the more noteable examples of ones that popped up in that era. Of course Dr. who also has to be mentioned even though it started much earlier and now they are talking about the 60th anniversary episodes they are doing.
The thing I remember about this upon its release (and the way I consider it among the orignal series cast movies) was that it was a HUGE holiday hit and it was pretty awesome that it was a mainstream hit independent of Trek fans.
Saw this in the theaters, back in the day, and the time travel element felt legit enough because it already existed in the franchise universe. And, I liked the part about whales communicating with the probe, alien intelligence, motivations and actions would not automatically make sense to us.
I'm sure someone will mention this that Saavik stayed behind because she was pregnant with Spock's child. However, that storyline was omitted.
Man....He must have banged the snot outta her
Always thought the alien probe looked like a Tootsie Roll.
Or a Tootsie Roll shaped whale.
Everything I think I see, becomes a Tootsie Roll to me.🎶
There's a book by John Scalzi titled "Red Shirts". In it (SPOILER),
a crewmember on an Enterprise-like starship realizes he's actually a character on a Sci Fi TV series. Feeling he and his fellow crewmembers have been jerked around and killed off for the sake of drama, he decides the best option is to confront the writer. They manage to get copies of episodes of the TV series and realize that when the crew traveled back in time, it was often to the same time period and location on Earth and they reason that it was probably the same time and place the series was produced. So, they manage to travel to that time to try to find the writer and explain that he's ruining their lives.
It's a great book that looks at the tropes and cliches of Trek and other Sci Fi series through the eyes of the crew.
Death by falling rocks, Death by toxic atmosphere, Death by ......., Death by Ice Shark?
Great book.
The ironic side of comparing it to back to the future is... they use christopher lloyds ship as a time machine lol which kind of in back of head could tie it together and is something people pointed out alot since.
This so very nearly featured Eddie Murphy. He was signed to Paramount, and was a big Star Trek fan, but was talked out of appearing in it. Similar situation with Tom Hanks in Star Trek: First Contact.
The strange thing about every, and I do mean every, Star Trek movie is they never planned, or even expected there would be a next one. Due to this fact, 2 3 & 4 weren't written as a trilogy. In fact it really isn't a trilogy, it's more fan cannon trilogy after the fact, and we connected the dots with the mention of the Genesis Device.
So what you were saying about it not feeling like a trilogy is accurate.
Great reaction, can't wait for TNG!!
I won't be watching TNG until it hits Yesterday's Enterprise.
This is my favourite of the TOS movies...probably all of them.
Favourite moments:
Sarek wiping the floor with the Klingon ambassador
Amanda and Spock's conversation
The crew using an already established in-universe method to time travel
The scenes at and around the intersection of Kearny St, Columbus Avenue and Pacific Avenue in San Francisco
The punk rocker on the bus
Spock in the whale tank
Scotty trying to use a 1986 computer
Kirk, McCoy and Gillian springing Chekov from the hospital, particularly the old woman who grew a new kidney after McCoy gave her some pills.
The crew fooling around in the water after releasing the whales
Sarek approving of Spock's friends
The revelation of the Enterprise-A
This movie sucks.
All of my favorite parts too! 😁
Yup. 100% agreed.
You faintly hear part of the “new kidney” line in their edit here. Actually quite sad they didn’t include that
Think you really underestimate how long it takes a movie to be made. It takes a lot longer than a year to make a movie. It wasn't a copy of BTTF. If only movies were this well written nowadays. TVH only gets better with time and is just a joy to watch these beloved characters. I can see why this was the most successful Trek movie ever!
Probe was pissed the text message it sent to earth was left on “read” with no response so it decided to show up at the doorstep. 😆
My favorite Star Trek movie! It's a trilogy because the movie is about their heroic act that saves earth, which in turn is the reason that charges against them (from the third movie) are dropped in the end.
Great reaction, I'm enjoying your journey. Our family is a bunch of Trekkers and we love this movie. Our favorite is Wrath of Khan but we thoroughly enjoyed TVH because we loved the humor in TOS, especially The Trouble With Tribbles. That's why we're also big fans of Galaxy Quest.
I highly recommend watching the blooper reel from this movie.
The entire premise of an alien probe from across the galaxy communicating with whales on earth through whale song and then not realizing that it's destroying the planet where the whales were supposed to be is so ridiculous and stupid, but the rest of the movie is so much fun that the problems with the premise don't matter.
It was not destroying the planet.
When she (Amanda) appeared and we heard her voice, the theater erupted in cheers. Uhura and Chekov were beamed into the ship near the nuke reactor. They filmed that water scene in Feb and they were freezing.
It's a personal opinion, but there is no ship more beautiful than a bird of prey ... I love that design.
I respect your opinion, but for me is the Connie refit from the movies.
@@sergioaccioly5219 😁
I can respect that, but the Enterprise - A will always be my love.
Oh, man, the last bit where you tease TNG and you guys looking giddy was great! 😄
I saw a behind the scenes about ST4 where The Whole scene with Chekov questioning passersby about Nuclear "Wessels" was on the spot. The pedestrians didn't know it was a movie.
You're just getting started, guys. It keeps getting better and better...
Great Oscar nominated score composed and conducted by Leonard Rosenman.
Christopher Lloyd who played Doc Brown in the Back to the Future movies played the Klingon commander of the Bird of Prey that they use to go Back in Time and then Back to the Future again. So you could call that a connection between the 2 movie series.
I don't know if this was inspired by "Back to the Future," but it _is_ interesting that this is the second time a Christopher Lloyd character owned a vehicle that could travel through time.
And instead of gigglewatts, how might "terawatts" be mispronounced? 😅🤣
In Star Trek, humanity is ashamed of it's past a bit. I appreciate Trek for that, because sometimes I think humanity gets a bit too arrogant with it's progress and how important it feels about itself. I really love when Trek looks at something that is occurring in its own present, that mirrors some status quo accepted thought in OUR present and then goes, "how dumb are you that you're fine with that?" I mean, how often do we look back at the 1800s and go; "yes, they certainly had _something."_ Yes, they did. Dysentery.
This movie establishes that while people in the future of Star Trek are aware of cursing, they also are a little unfamiliar with all its uses and clearly don't feel a need to use it as much, suggesting it's something society has largely moved beyond.
Spock's Father was the same actor who played the Romulan commander in Balance of Terror. TOS ep 08
That's probably already been brought up.
Although he was a gifted actor, his roles on Star Trek were his most famous.
RIP
Spoc's mom is still the ICON mom from FATHER KNOWS BEST.
It just occurred to me that this movie is like a D&D campaign heist in the best way.
It's a trilogy in a few ways, but for me it's mostly because of Spock's arc (II-death, III-resurrection, IV-restoration to full self). There's also an Enterprise arc of sorts (II-like Kirk, ship feels old and comes out broken but alive, III-her final hurrah, gives her life for her family, IV--her spiritual rebirth after her family earns her rebirth (like they earned Spock's rebirth through the events of III).
I like that
Interesting -- if you look at IV as a spiritual rebirth it makes all the joyous splashing around at the end have kind of a baptism subtext.
The Back to the Future comparison is spot on, since the Klingon ship was also commanded by Christopher Lloyd.
Having been around when these films were out in first run, I don't remember people thinking of II, III, and IV as a trilogy. They were just Star Trek movies that continued the original series franchise.
Amazing. It warms my Soul to see people enjoying Star Trek for the first time. Welcome to BEST FANDOM/FAMILY in the WORLD. What I like about YOUR reactions is that you notice all the same things that I like, and when you don't like something you EXPLAIN why and go in depth, with fair points. Great job guys. 🙂
I once saw a home improvement show on HGTV in which the home owners had two dogs. The host, a Canadian contractor named Mike Holmes, asked their names and the home owners said they called them George and Gracie. I remember sitting up and hoping against hope that Mike would say, "Burns and Allen, or Star Trek IV?" Well, the man knows more about building codes than I ever will, so I guess I can forgive him not picking up on the reference either to this movie or to the great old comedy duo of George Burns and Gracie Allen.
Time travel was used as a plot device during the 80's in several films: Time After Time (1979),Somewhere in Time (1980), The Terminator (1984), Back to the Future (1985), and Star Trek IV (1986).
My parents saw this movie in the theater on one of their first dates. I'm sure they probably could have gone to any movie, but we always joke that they wouldn't have married and my siblings and I wouldn't be here if it weren't for Star Trek 4. 😂