Star Trek VI abandons the cutesy humor of the previous two films, wisely returning the series to its serious roots. Kirk and crew are swept into a Cold War game of cat-and-mouse when the Klingon emissary they're assigned to protect is assassinated. Along the way, Kirk must confront his anti-Klingon racism, while Spock faces personal challenges of his own. Darker in tone (revealed particularly well through Cliff Eidelman's effective Batman-like score) and genuinely suspenseful, the film suffers only from a sense of failed grandeur--we keep expecting to see great battlefleets that never materialize. Director Meyer's characteristic anachronisms abound--the crew sleeping in WWII-style bunkbeds; an actual galley aboard ship--but he keeps the pace right, and sexy Cattrall and Iman are welcome additions. This is the last Trek featuring all of the original crew, delivered on a DVD that looks and sounds good.

Star Trek VI abandons the cutesy humor of the previous two films, wisely returning the series to its serious roots. Kirk and crew are swept into a Cold War game of cat-and-mouse when the Klingon emissary they're assigned to protect is assassinated. Along the way, Kirk must confront his anti-Klingon racism, while Spock faces personal challenges of his own. Darker in tone (revealed particularly well through Cliff Eidelman's effective Batman-like score) and genuinely suspenseful, the film suffers only from a sense of failed grandeur--we keep expecting to see great battlefleets that never materialize. Director Meyer's characteristic anachronisms abound--the crew sleeping in WWII-style bunkbeds; an actual galley aboard ship--but he keeps the pace right, and sexy Cattrall and Iman are welcome additions. This is the last Trek featuring all of the original crew, delivered on a DVD that looks and sounds good.

Shatner, already reeling from fan outrage at his tongue-in-cheek anti-Trek comments, really took it on the chin for this one. But not deservedly so. Certainly, as far as directing goes, this film is no less pedestrian than the third film, and its humor is no more silly than the fourth. Where it truly suffers is in the special effects department, a fact that in part reveals how empty many modern sci-fi adventures are. The story foolishly blends the first film with a TV episode called "The Way to Eden," often regarded as one of the worst, with predictable results: Kirk and crew are hijacked by Spock's fanatical half-brother on a religious quest that is ultimately disappointing for everybody involved. While quite a bit in this movie feels incomplete--special effects, Jerry Goldsmith's score, the climax--Shatner and crew manage to muster a few genuine emotions, particularly in scenes revealing the past. Another 15 minutes in the oven and this one might have turned out okay. Widescreen DVD neither helps nor hurts.