Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (Paramount Pictures, 1986) is the fourth feature film based on the popular Star Trek science fiction television series. It is often referred to as ST4:TVH or TVH. It completes the trilogy started in The Wrath of Khan and continued in The Search for Spock. This film is known colloquially as "The One with the Whales."

Cast

Actor	Role
William Shatner	Admiral/Captain James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy	Captain Spock
DeForest Kelley	Dr. Leonard McCoy
James Doohan	Captain Montgomery Scott
George Takei	Commander Hikaru Sulu
Walter Koenig	Commander Pavel Chekov
Nichelle Nichols	Commander Uhura
Majel Barrett	Commander Christine Chapel
Grace Lee Whitney	Chief Petty Officer Janice Rand
Mark Lenard	Ambassador Sarek
Jane Wyatt	Amanda Grayson
Catherine Hicks	Dr. Gillian Taylor
John Schuck	Klingon Ambassador
Robert Ellenstein	Federation President
Brock Peters	Fleet Admiral Cartwright
Robin Curtis	Lieutenant Saavik
Madge Sinclair	Saratoga Captain (uncredited)

Plot summary

A huge alien probe approaches Earth and begins boiling the oceans, causing widespread mayhem and draining the power from nearby ships. Admiral James T. Kirk and his crew return from their mission to revive Captain Spock on Vulcan, despite knowing that they will face court-martial for the theft of the USS Enterprise. Spock, who is still recovering mentally, discovers that the alien ship is trying to contact humpback whales, which unfortunately were hunted to extinction two centuries previously.

Kirk orders their hijacked Klingon Bird-of-Prey to slingshot around the sun in order to travel back in time to the late 20th century. Arriving in San Francisco, California in the year 1986, the crew hides their ship in Golden Gate Park. Thereafter, they attempt to find both the whales needed to communicate with the alien probe, as well as materials to repair the Bird-of-Prey's drives, which were damaged in travel. Kirk and Spock eventually recruit the assistance of Dr. Gillian Taylor, a cetacean specialist.

After rescuing two humpback whales and bringing them back (and saving Earth in the process), the crew is brought before the Federation Council facing numerous charges. Spock, though not accused, stands with his crewmates. All charges against the accused are dropped, except for those against Admiral Kirk. Pleading guilty of disobeying a superior officer, Kirk is demoted to Captain as a token reprimand, but as reward for his heroics is given command of the USS Enterprise-A. Dr. Taylor, who came to the 23rd century with the Enterprise crew, decides to join Starfleet.

A sub-plot, which is presented as a narrative frame, shows Spock gradually recovering both his memories and his previously-earned acceptance of his human heritage. At first, he does not understand the relevance of being asked his feelings; by the end, he is aware enough of their importance to humans that he asks his father to tell his mother that he "feel(s) fine".

Themes

The Voyage Home is played broadly for humor. Mr. Spock's memory and sense of self have not fully recovered from the events of the previous films, and his pilgrim-like appearance in Vulcan robes makes him the subject of a number of jokes, although he gives as good as he gets. Every member of the crew also gets an opportunity to star in a few scenes. Nicholas Meyer and Harve Bennett co-wrote the script, with Bennett writing the 23rd century scenes and Meyer writing the 20th century scenes. The film is essentially a lighthearted adventure. This was a conscious choice on the part of the producers, who felt that the prior three films were very serious affairs and that it was time to lighten up. However, the story still remains dedicated to the series' overall serious nature with constant reminders of the crew's mission to save the Earth in the future.

The loose threads from The Search for Spock involving the crew's disobedience of Starfleet orders is handled perfunctorily at the end of the film. In a way this denied viewers the opportunity to see Kirk and company having to own up to their actions, however Kirk was busted down to the rank of Captain in this film for his failure to obey orders. Since Kirk was dissatisfied with the responsibilities of the Admirality anyway, it was not an onerous punishment for him.

At the end of the film, the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), which was destroyed in the previous film is replaced by the almost identical USS Enterprise-A (which Gene Roddenberry suggested was the USS Yorktown renamed, not a new starship constructed for them). While it was a popular moment, some viewed it as marginalizing the destruction of the previous ship. The filmmakers initially intended for the crew to receive the USS Excelsior (NX-2000) (possibly renamed to Enterprise), but an unexpectedly large outcry caused this idea to be dropped. Sulu still mentions Excelsior before they find out which ship is theirs; he would later command that ship in Star Trek VI.

Notes

The film was directed by Leonard Nimoy, who also reprised his role as Mr. Spock.

The popularity of this film to the general public, the highest grossing Star Trek movie to date, prompted the decision to make a new spinoff series, which became The Next Generation.

The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography in 1986, but lost to the film The Mission.

Trivia

To date, this is the only Star Trek film in which no one dies or is killed (on screen at least); although some texts disagree, in keeping with the lighter mood of this film it is generally assumed that the USS Saratoga was only disabled but not destroyed by the probe.
Phasers are only used for sealing a lock shut, not used for fighting (although Chekov attempts to stun one of his captors, his phaser is inoperative and does not fire).
The film is dedicated to the crew of the ill-fated STS-51-L space shuttle mission, who were killed when the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated 73 seconds after liftoff. Before the opening credits, these words appear on the screen: "The cast and crew of Star Trek wish to dedicate this film to the men and women of the spaceship Challenger whose courageous spirit shall live to the 23rd century and beyond...".
The "punk on the bus" is played by one of the film's associate producers, a man with an amusingly appropriate first name, Kirk R. Thatcher. Thatcher also wrote the song playing on the radio ("I Hate You") during that scene. A Pocket Books novel of Deep Space Nine speculated on an interesting theory that the punk, in his middle age years, would be the Older Policeman seen in the episode "Past Tense". The reason given is that the policeman hated the bums and unemployed in the Sanctuary District so much since he, himself, had once lived that way.
The model of Apple Macintosh computer shown in the Plexicorp office scene is the Mac Plus. According to rumor, it was intended to be an Amiga, but Commodore required the producers to purchase a computer while Apple was willing to lend them the machine shown. Amigas were used to produce the screens of the Vulcan computer used by Spock to re-train himself in logic.
This is the only Star Trek production in which obvious product placement appears: an ad on a building for the Pacific Bell Yellow Pages is given considerable screen time, and the Yellow Pages are later used by Uhura and Chekov to locate the naval base. In addition, Dr. Taylor and Kirk drink Michelob beer, which is mentioned by name, and Scotty visibly uses an Apple Macintosh computer.
Sequences planned but cut from the final film included Hikaru Sulu encountering an ancestor in San Francisco, as well as a sequence that would have revealed that Lieutenant Saavik was pregnant with Spock's child (a continuation of events from Star Trek III), which is why she stays behind on Vulcan. The latter has caused much debate among Trek fans over whether Saavik's pregnancy should be considered canon if it was never confirmed on screen.
The film marks the first use of the word "ass" in a Star Trek production, when the term "dumbass" is used twice. The film suggests that, by the late 23rd Century, swearing is uncommon - Kirk did swear but he may have just been trying to fit in with the times (1986). The idea that swearing is uncommon in the future is contradicted not only by the original televised series and other Trek films, noncanon novels, but also by Kirk himself in this very film.
In the film, Uhura and Chekov visit the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise. The real Enterprise, being at sea at the time, was unavailable for filming, so the carrier USS Ranger (CV-61) was used. Since part of the ship's scenes were filmed in the engineering spaces, which on the nuclear-powered Enterprise were deeply classified at the time, it is unlikely that the production crew would have been allowed to use her for filming even if she had been in port.
The scenes at the fictional "Cetacean Institute of Biology" in Sausalito, California were actually filmed at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
The scenes set in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park were actually filmed in a park in Los Angeles.
The exact amount of time that elapses during the conclusion of this film is a matter of debate. It is evident that a number of months must elapse between the crew returning to Earth and later taking command of the NCC-1701-A, in order to allow for a trial, and refitting and recommissioning of a previously existing Constitution class vessel, yet Kirk's uniform still bears the gold piping on the chest from his former Admiral rank,however his insignia shows Captain. (It is also possible that the Enterprise-A was a newly built ship which had not yet received a name.) In addition, Dr. Taylor is shown to have adjusted to life in the future and sports a new hairstyle, while Spock appears to have fully recovered from his regeneration.
The whalers in the film spoke Finnish, which is strange considering that Finland is not a whaling nation.
The two humpback whales were named George and Gracie after George Burns and Gracie Allen, the comedy stars of the early 20th century.
Tying up the loose ends of the previous two Trek films, this film marks Star Trek's first usage of the story arc format which would become common during The Next Generation, Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Enterprise.
The molecular structure Scotty generates on the computer is supposedly that of transparent aluminum, when in fact, it is Lexan.
The movie features Madge Sinclair as the captain of the Saratoga, marking the first appearance of a female Starfleet captain in any Star Trek episode or film. (Chronologically, however, Erika Hernandez was the 'first' female captain in Starfleet, as seen in several episodes of Enterprise - a series that takes place over 130 years before the events of this film. In the last episode of the original series when Dr. Janice Lester tries to take over Captain Kirk’s body to command the Enterprise, it is implied that women have not yet had the opportunity to command a starship in Kirk’s time - but everyone involved with making the series later saw that aspect to be embarrassing so this was deliberately ignored).
The Academy Award nominated music score for Star Trek IV was composed by Leonard Rosenman. This is the only Star Trek film for which Rosenman composed music.
The first Star Trek movie since The Motion Picture to feature all nine regulars from The Original Series.
While James Doohan would usually be successful in hiding his right hand due to injuries sustained during his participation in the D-Day invasion, you can see that he is missing his right middle finger twice. Once while "typing" out the formula for "transparent aluminum", and again while directing the lowering of the plexiglass into the Bird-of-Prey.
During the storm on Earth, the alien starfleet officer reports on the probe's effects worldwide mentioning that Leningrad has lost all electrical power. This is despite the fact that after that fall of the Soviet Union the city returned to its original name of Saint Petersburg. The obvious reason for this is that the movie was released before the collapse of the USSR.

Errata

On the bridge of the Bird of Prey upon their departure from Vulcan for Earth, McCoy entreats Spock to enter into a conversation about "life, death, life, things of that nature" now that Spock has died and essentially been resurrected. Spock rebuffs McCoy, saying that they could not have a conversation on this matter since they had no common frame of reference. In other words, Spock cannot talk with McCoy about dying and then living again since McCoy has also not died and then lived again. However, this is an internal error based on episodic canon. In the series episode "Shore Leave", McCoy is killed by a knight's lance and then brought back to life by the miraculous technology of the planet's overseers. Thus, McCoy, too, has in fact died and lived again. (This is a continuity error, one of many that have been found by "nitpickers" who have closely examined the artificial Star Trek universe. This kind of problem is due in part to the many individual writers in the various entries in the series, and in part to the lengthy time gap between the classic TV series and the films.) In The Search for Spock, Scotty was promoted to the rank of "Captain of Engineering" and is seen throughout the rest of the movie wearing a Captain's rank insignia on his Starfleet "bomber jacket". In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Scotty is wearing a Commander's rank insignia at the beginning and end of the movie. This is an obvious continuity error because in The Final Frontier, the other movies, and the ST:TNG episode "Relics", Scotty is wearing a Captain's rank insignia and is addressed as Captain Scott. Similarily, after Kirk's demotion, his uniform rank insignia is changed from admiral to captain on his shoulder strap, however the gold piping on the front flap under the black seam remained.

External links

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home at StarTrek.com
Five-Minute Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home — Parody version