Review Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

[Doctor Omega]

Your thoughts on this story....

To save Earth from an alien probe, Admiral James T. Kirk and his fugitive crew go back in time to San Francisco in 1986 to retrieve the only beings who can communicate with it: humpback whales.

On to the next story....

THE FINAL FRONTIER.....

https://www.imdforums.com/threads/star-trek-v-the-final-frontier-1989.293/


Back to the previous story.....

THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK.....

https://www.imdforums.com/threads/star-trek-iii-the-search-for-spock-1984.290/#post-2720

 

[Alex Vojacek]

It's a little cheesy but I liked it, it had a nice change of pace and scenery

 

[Doctor Omega]

Yeah, I do think it was one of the better ones. And the out of place and time humour worked well I thought.

 

[chainsaw_metal1]

A truly great film. I especially love that the social message is there, but not as heavy handed as it could have been. Wonderful humor, and an interesting twist to not have a villain in the traditional sense.

 

[Doctor Omega]

And, if one can't be bothered to watch the entire original film....

 

[Hux]

These fish out of water plots were very popular in the 80s.

When did the probe come from though?

 

[Elliot Thomas]

The tone is light-hearted and humorous as the characters face a complete culture shock and we see their differing eccentricities. It gets a bit hokey at times but is, on a whole, an enjoyable affair.

 

[Gavin]

When did the probe come from though?

There was an interesting novel in the 90's called The Probe by Margaret Wander Bonnano that follows up this movie with another encounter with the probe.

Spoiler

The explanation given was that the probe was created millennia ago by a race of "super whales" that had telekinetic powers but had since been wiped out by another ancient species (which had also since been destroyed). Apparently its mission was to seek out other life forms (which it identified by being able to speak the "true language" which whalesong is a primitive version of).

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Probe_(novel)

 

[Doctor Omega]

 

[Doctor Omega]

This is the recap that was included at the start of the European theatrical release......

 

[Doctor Omega]

 

[Doctor Omega]

 

[Doctor Omega]

 

[johnnybear]

One of the most popular Trek movies but sadly left us with a lot of unanswered questions about The Probe and the Whales extinction, future and previous encounters with the cigar-like mechanism!
JB

 

[Doctor Omega]

There was, of course, that book that I have never read following it up....

But then, there are lots of STAR TREK Pocket Books that I have never read.





Ten years have passed since Captain Kirk and the "EnterpriseTM crew brought back hump-backed whales from the twentieth century to communicate with the mysterious Probe which threatened Earth. The Probe is returning to Earth and has plotted its course, and the Enterprise must continue to delve into the mystery of its language, and its cosmic purpose to save Earth once again

• Margaret Wander Bonanno has disavowed authorship of this novel, which was rewritten by several others, including Gene DeWeese, the primary author of the book's published version. Bonanno's story of how this came about, along with her original manuscript, can be found on her website.
• Kirk's unfamiliarity with smiling and laughing Romulans somewhat contradicts TOS - Rihannsu novel: My Enemy, My Ally.
• Probe is a sequel to The Voyage Home filling in the backstory of the cetacean probe, though is actually set shortly after Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.
• The lives of the humpback whales brought to the 23rd century in The Voyage Home and briefly seen in Probe are depicted in the Strange New Worlds short stories "The Hero of My Own Life" and "Scotty's Song".

 

[Doctor Omega]

 

[Doctor Omega]

 

[Doctor Omega]

 

[Doctor Omega]

Here (more or less) is the storyline that Gene Roddenbery suggested for STAR TREK II, then III, then IV, etc.......

RUNNING AGAINST TIME.....

https://www.imdforums.com/threads/running-against-time-1990.6213/

 

[Doctor Omega]

Star Trek 6 foot scratch built Enterprise A - Construction

http://galaxyphoto.com/jw_ent.htm