Star Trek IV

Well, we all know by now that I am a sucker for just about any “Star Trek” movie, and this is no exception. Actually, the writers must all have been smoking a lot of hash when they came up with the lamebrained plot about the whales, but the picture is redeemed by the fact that it is NOT science fiction. It transcends science fiction. It is a comedy plain and simple and just happens to use all of our favorite characters. The performers must all know this, and they play their roles with a lot of deadpan relish, and a lot of it is very funny. I cannot say for certain whether it would be as funny for people who weren't fans to begin with (I'm too far removed from that state) but it probably would be (and word-of-mouth from some of them seems to confirm this). Uninspired directing from Leonand (“I am not Spock”) Nimey, but most of the material rises above it. Not in the same class as II, but they may never make another Trek movie like that. In any event, at the end of this, all is restoned to normal, even the Enterprise (NCC-1701A) which I think is a cop-out, and may be the ultimate failing of this series; that is, absolute terror at the mere notion of upsetting the cosmology. They refuse to allow things to evolve and grow, and that's too bad, because I think it would add a lot to the series, and I think fans would appreciate it. Ah well, that's just an old Trekkie talking. In the meantime, they can make movies about whales. Maybe next time: chimps