Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986, Leonard Nimoy)

Star Trek traveling back in time? Can they do that? Hey, why not? Kirk and crew do all kinds of wacky shit, what's a little time travel going to hurt? I noticed something strange about this movie. The female lead is played by Catherine Hicks, the mom from Child's Play and also the Mom from the show Seventh Heaven with Stephen Collins who played Decker from the first Star Trek film. Crazy, huh?

The Voyage Home begins shortly after The Search for Spock and is the final chapter in a trilogy starting with the Wrath of Khan. Spock is finally becoming his old self again and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise are all back together. On their return home to Earth, they learn that a space probe is causing devastating weather preventing them from landing on their home planet. The only way to make contact with the probe and try to stop it from fucking up Earth is the call of the humpback whale, which has become extinct in the 23rd century. The crew must travel back in time to 1986 to try to retrieve some whales to save the planet.

Definitely a far out plot, but the film doesn't disappoint. In fact, it's very enjoyable and funny. Though the action of the previous two films is pretty non-existent, following the Enterprise crew through San Francisco 1986 is a riot. There are lots of jokes and one liners that work for the film, including my favorite one "Well, a double dumb ass on you!". Overall, not a perfect film and the plot is definitely silly, but the movie is still fun and very watchable.

RATING: 3/5

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984, Leonard Nimoy)

Initially I had heard that Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock were the best of the original series. I later read of a Star Trek curse where the even number Star Trek films were good (parts 2, 4 & 6), while the odd number ones sucked (1, 3 & 5). I was very skeptical of this curse considering how much I loved part 1. Continuing on with the original Star Trek series...

The Search for Spock picks up right after the events from the Wrath of Khan. Spock is dead (hope you are reading this before watching Wrath of Khan) and it is revealed that before he died he mind melded with Dr. McCoy. To save McCoy and with the chance of bringing Spock back to life, they need he to travel to Spock's home planet Vulcan. Kirk and the crew steal the Enterprise to make the trip, but they must first retrieve Spock's body from the Genesis planet. All seems well until a group of ruthless Klingons fuck things up.

Search for Spock is a decent film and a good continuation to the story that began with Wrath of Khan. Though not as good as Khan (or the first film), it definitely holds up. There are some nice special effects and a good storyline. The real thing that makes this film so good is the Klingons. Christopher Lloyd plays the lead Klingon and he proves to a dastardly bastard. His showdown with Kirk is great. John Laroquette also plays one of the Klingons but I didn't even recognize him until I watched the credits.

RATING: 3/5

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982, Nicholas Meyer)

Of course after enjoying Star Trek The Motion Picture so much, I had to watch part II. I have been hearing about certain scenes from this film for a long time (earworms being the one that came up the most) and knew it was time to finally see it. I remember in grade school kids talking about it and how gruesome it was for a Star Trek movie.

The Wrath of Khan follows the crew of the Enterprise reuniting again after a training exercise turns into a real mission to save the crew of another ship from the evil Khan. It is soon discovered that Khan not only wants to steal a powerful device called The Genesis which has the ability to create and destroy life, but also to avenge his exile 15 years ago by Kirk. Khan will stop at nothing to carry out his dastardly plans, no matter who he must kill to do so.

The Wrath of Khan is an excellent follow up to the first film and most people's favorite film of the series. Though I wouldn't say I necessarily liked it better than the first film, I did really enjoy it and thought it was a fun action packed adventure. There was lots of action, a great story, some nice bloody effects and creatures. I would say where the first film excelled as a science fiction film, The Wrath of Khan excelled as an action film. Overall a great follow up. Next up, The Search for Spock.....

RATING: 5/5

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979, Robert Wise)

What better time to watch the first Star Trek movie then now? Not only is the new Star Trek movie currently in theaters but I have been watching lots of classic Sci Fi movies lately. As I've stated before, my favorite period of Sci Fi films is the post Star Wars era of the late 70s/early 80s and Star Trek TMP definitely fits here. I remember watching this film on TV when I was younger (I remember drawing the crew members with crayons in my little kiddie sketch book) and for some reason never got around to watching the rest of the series. When I first started getting into more sci fi stuff (after the religious experience of Battle Beyond the Stars), I planned on watching this movie again and finally just got around to it.

Star Trek The Motion Picture takes place a few years after the original series ended. The Enterprise, the spaceship from the original series, has been revamped and is now under control of Captain Will Decker (Stephen Collins). Most of the original crew is back on the ship and, when a mysterious entity is heading towards Earth, the original captain, James T. Kirk (William Shatner) is sent to takeover for Decker as the new captain. Kirk also has the ship's old doctor, Bones McCoy (DeForest Kelley) return. The last remaining member of the original crew, Spock (Leonard Nimoy) also returns to join his old friends. The crew of the Enterprise learn that this mysterious ship is threatening to destroy all of the humans on Earth so they must find out who or what is in charge of the ship and try to stop it from wiping out the human race.

I was hesitant about this film because of its legacy of being a snoozefest and not nearly as good as some of the sequels, namely part II, the Wrath of Khan. I must say that I have no idea why people don't like this film. I actually thought it was brilliant. The effects were great, the characters were interesting and fun to watch, the story was engaging and the ending was thought provoking and moving. This film to me was very much a classic and should be treated as such. There were some slow parts but I think the film as a whole was flawless. I really enjoyed the rivalry between Decker and Kirk and the chemistry between Decker and Ilia, one of the shipmates. I would definitely recommend this film to any Sci Fi fan (assuming there is a Sci Fi fan in the world who hasn't seen it) and will definitely rewatch it.

RATING: 5/5

Don Edmonds R.I.P.

A friend sent this over to me. Sad news for exploitation fans.

David Carradine R.I.P.

So Long, Grasshopper.

Battle Beyond the Stars (1980, Jimmy T. Murakami)

Battle Beyond the Stars is a film I never should have heard of. I was watching the old Corman Classics DVD of Rock N' Roll High School because I am a huge Ramones fan and for some strange reason (and I never do this) decided to watch the trailers on the disc. I hate trailers and skip them at every chance I get (though I'll admit that there is some charm to trailers on an old VHS tape). Even when I go to the theater, I show up late to miss the previews. Anyway, I don't remember how many trailers there were or what the other ones were, but one of them really stood out. See I used to like Sci Fi films as a kid and even still enjoy them every once in awhile. I don't really believe in signs but I feel that some other-worldly force may have been responsible for me seeing that trailer. Regardless, it was an important moment in my life, exposing me to more films that I probably would never have seen or had any interest in (The Black Hole, Battlestar Galactica, Logan's Run, etc) and urged me to go back and revisit some classics (The Last Starfighter and Close Encounters of the Third Kind). Coincidentally, this film was released in West Germany on the day I was born. Hows that for coincidence?

Battle Beyond the Stars is the story of Shad (Richard Thomas), a young inhabitant of the planet Akir. Shad must travel across the galaxy to recruit mercenaries to fight the evil space ruler, Sador (John Saxon), who has threatened the people of Akir. Among those that Shad recruits are Cowboy (George Peppard) - a space cowboy of course, Gelt (Robert Vaughn) - a wanted man with nothing to live for, Saint-Exmin (Sybil Danning), an Amazonian Valkyrie, among others.

The plot for Battle Beyond the Stars may sound familiar, mainly because it is a remake of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (which also inspired the Magnificent Seven). In fact, Robert Vaughn's character in this film is nearly identical to the character he played in Magnificent Seven. The planet Akir and its townspeople, the Akira, are obviously named after Akira Kurosawa. Other than that, this film is quite original, from its far out alien creatures to its colorful cast of characters. Producer Roger Corman has said that this was his attempt to make a Star Wars type film and there are some similarities to that film as well (the spaceships particularly), though it is still very much its own entity. I don't think George Lucas would make a spaceship with boobs. Roger Corman on the other hand....Overall, I'll admit that this film is flawed, silly, a little stupid and ridiculous at points. Plus the special effects are ok but not great and some of the makeup/costumes are laughable. But it was my destiny to praise this film and praise I will. I feel connected to this film like none other, like it's a part of me or something. It's flaws and silliness make it the perfect little film that it is.

RATING: 5/5