LD s5e8 “Upper Decks” and STIV: There Be Whales
There Be Whales is a better TOS movie than Wrath of Khan and I’m tired of pretending it’s not.
Kahn was the high octane reaction to TMP being so droll. It’s plenty entertaining, but without the context of the TOS episode it won’t have as much impact. Conversely, Whales countered the drama and sad bits of both Kahn/Search with hijinks of the highest order. It lands well and I love it.
ST IV was the first Star Trek movie geared for fans and mainstream audiences.
TMP was a Star Trek episode expanded to a movie time frame. There wasn’t a lot of action and was a lot of talking as well as flashy new special effects for the fan, so not a great movie for someone not already into Trek. But even the haters of the movie have to love the long beauty shot of the Enterprise, and the opening. Otherwise you’re not a Trek fan.
The ship porn is glorious. I can only watch the Enterprise sequence by myself… for, reasons.
I’ll…. be in my bunk.
TMP is Roddenberry & Co finally getting to flex the fx their TV budget never had.
Even in the Kahn TOS ep I thought the action was very generic. I like the idea of Kahn more than how he’s actually portrayed: he was too easily baitable. In our era of Big Data, AlphaFold, and modern genetics they could make a much smarter motivation for Kahn eugenics-wise.
It’s also the most lighthearted Trek movie, which I think helps a lot.
And it plays to one of the biggest strengths of Trek: the ensemble cast. A movie has enough breathing room that everyone gets their chance to contribute and everyone gets their chance to shine. Previous Trek movies didn’t take advantage of that to the extent that 4 did.
The Motionless Picture, even in its ponderous bulk, doesn’t give everyone stuff to do. Oh, it gives the fans long sweeping vistas of the Enterprise that are water in what at that time was a long drought. But if you were a fan of Chekov or Sulu or Uhura, they took a back seat to Decker and Ilia.
Spock Dies at the End is more narrowly focused on Kirk, just because the antagonist is obsessed with him. But even there, our buddy Pavel gets something to do other than “photon torpeeeedos awaaaaye.”
Spock Gets Better is… the one that cemented the reputation of the Odd Numbered Trek Movie.
Admiral Chekov would agree.
Undiscovered Country will always be my favorite. But… There Be Whales is a close second.
Undiscovered Country struck a better balance between drama and comedy much in the way that Evil Dead 2 stands out between the straightforward horror of 1 and the Looney Tunes of Army of Darkness.
