THEY TRAVELLED BACK TO WHERE 23RD CENTURY MAN HAD NEVER GONE BEFORE. TO A MAD, CRAZY, OUTRAGEOUS TIME. 1986.

Kirk (William Shatner) and his crew must go back to 1986 and bring a couple of humpback whales to the future; the animals are the only ones that know how to communicate with a space probe that’s about to destroy Earth.

Undoubtedly a very silly story, but handled with just the right touch, including a decent message: we must care for our planet. A generous amount of humor has been added to the clash between the time-traveling crew and the people and trends of 1986. Perhaps those who are not die-hard trekkies are the most likely to appreciate this attempt to have fun with the concept.

The cast’s willingness to gently (and sweetly) rib the earnestness of the original concept does the movie a great service.

1986-U.S. 119 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Leonard Nimoy. Screenplay: Harve Bennett, Steve Meerson, Peter Krikes, Nicholas Meyer. Cinematography: Donald Peterman. Music: Leonard Rosenman. Cast: William Shatner (James Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Spock), DeForest Kelley (Leonard “Bones” McCoy), James Doohan, George Takei, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols. 

Trivia: Eddie Murphy wanted to play a part in the film, but nothing came of it. Followed by Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989).

Last word: “The most difficult times were on the streets of San Francisco where we were dealing with a lot of people and a lot of traffic. But the city was extremely cooperative and there are a lot of Star Trek fans up there so a lot of them got to watch some of the filming. They were just great, though! They were not troublesome or difficult in any way and they did what they were asked. We also did some filming at the aquarium in Monterey which worked out wonderfully despite the fact that the place was open for business and there were several thousand people coming through.” (Nimoy, the Star Trek Official Fan Club Special Vulcan Issue)