It took 22 years for Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country to give Star Trek: The Original Series the finale Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and his USS Enterprise crew always deserved. Directed by Nicholas Meyer from a story conceived by Leonard Nimoy, Star Trek VI was released in December 1991 as a timely parable for the fall of the Soviet Union. In Star Trek VI, Captain Kirk and the Starship Enterprise must foil a conspiracy to prevent peace between the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets.
Star Trek: The Original Series ended in 1969 with season 3, episode 24, “Turnabout Intruder.” A mad scientist, Dr. Janet Lester (Sandra Smith), switched bodies with Captain Kirk, her former lover. In Kirk’s body, Lester then tried to take over the Starship Enterprise. When Star Trek was canceled by NBC after season 3, it left “Turnabout Intruder” as the ersatz series finale and final original episode aired of the series. “Turnabout Intruder” was produced in an era where television shows did not build toward season finales, although the writing was on the wall that Star Trek was over in season 3.
Star Trek‘s phenomenal popularity in syndication, along with Star Wars becoming a blockbuster in 1977, led to Paramount Studios reviving Star Trek as a feature film. Star Trek: The Original Series then continued as a movie franchise, starting with Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country was the final film starring the cast of Star Trek: The Original Series, and it was also the fitting farewell Star Trek didn’t get in 1969.
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country Was The Original Series’ True Finale
“So, This Is Goodbye.”
22 years after Star Trek: The Original Series limped to an unceremonious end with season 3’s “Turnabout Intruder,” Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country gave Captain Kirk’s USS Enterprise crew a rousing and fitting ending. Star Trek VI was a big-screen outing that showed the original legends who started in all in their best light. By saving the Federation and Klingon peace talks, Captain Kirk’s Enterprise heroes also got to close out their final voyage by altering the state of the galaxy for the better, setting up Klingons and the Federation as allies in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Star Trek: The Original Series‘ movies dealt head-on with the Starship Enterprise’s aging crew, but Star Trek VI showed they still had a spring in their step. Captain Kirk, Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Dr. Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley), and their friends sparkled with their chemistry, wit, and heroism. Star Trek VI allowed the USS Enterprise’s icons to have one last, memorable hurrah and then literally sign off in triumph, with the actors signing their names on the screen as a farewell – images so moving, Marvel Studios mimicked them in Avengers: Endgame.
Why Star Trek: The Original Series Needed A Real Finale After 22 Years
Star Trek’s Original Legends Needed A Chance To Say Farewell
“Turnabout Intruder” is by no means one of the best episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series. As a final impression of Captain Kirk’s original voyages aboard the Starship Enterprise, his body swap escape with Dr. Janet Lester was a poor way for the classic TV show to sign off. Similarly, 1989’s Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, directed by William Shatner, was a critical and box office disappointment. After a series of hit films, and coming off director Leonard Nimoy’s 1986 crowd-pleaser, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Star Trek V could not be left as the last time audiences saw the Starship Enterprise crew that started it all.
Although Star Trek V: The Final Frontier celebrated the eternal friendship between Captain Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy, what the entire crew of the Starship Enterprise — and audiences — needed was closure. Further, a figurative pᴀssing of the torch to Star Trek: The Next Generation, earmarked as the inheritors of the Star Trek movie franchise, was also required. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country delivered both, and left generations of Star Trek fans wholly satisfied as the franchise closed the chapter of its original cast.
Star Trek VI Was Supposed To Be What J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek Became
A Starfleet Academy Movie Was Planned For 1991
Star Trek VI was originally going to be a very different movie where the original Starship Enterprise crew would have gotten a beginning, not an ending. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier‘s failure nearly led to the cancelation of the Star Trek movie franchise, but producer Harve Bennett began developing a prequel film. Dubbed Star Trek: The Academy Years, Bennett’s prequel would have told the tale of the young James T. Kirk and Spock’s first adventure as Starfleet Academy cadets.
J.J. Abrams proved in Star Trek 2009 that audiences would accept recasting iconic characters like Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock with younger actors.
However, Paramount decided to scrap the prequel idea and give Star Trek: The Original Series‘ cast one more movie, and to get that film into theaters in 1991 to celebrate Star Trek‘s 25th anniversary. Harve Bennett’s Starfleet Academy idea was eventually brought to the big screen in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot film in 2009. Abrams’ alternate timeline Star Trek depicted the contentious first meeting between James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) before they teamed up to save the galaxy.
Not Everyone Loved Star Trek VI As The Original Series’ Finale
Star Trek VI Didn’t Serve All Of The Enterprise’s Characters As Well
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country has stood the test of time as one of the best Star Trek movies, but not everyone in the cast was as pleased as critics and audiences were. Walter Koenig, in particular, lamented that Commander Pavel Chekov’s dialogue was generic and could have been said by any character. Koenig also felt that Star Trek VI failed to finally develop supporting characters like Chekov, Scotty (James Doohan), and Lieutenant Uhura (Nichelle Nichols). Given that it was their last Star Trek movie together, ending with the USS Enterprise’s bridge crew being underserved was a bitter pill to swallow.
George Takei’s Sulu was promoted to Captain of the USS Excelsior in Star Trek VI.
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country also upset the ailing Gene Roddenberry, who was angered by how Starfleet Officers’ atтιтudes towards the Klingons were depicted. However, Roddenberry reportedly enjoyed the film, which he saw days before his death in 1991. With Roddenberry and the Starship Enterprise heroes he created warping into the sunset, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country continues to be the blueprint for how a Star Trek TV series or movie should say goodbye to its icons.
