I'm a big fan of the film, in spite of its flaws. The story does seem to be a bit on the rushed side if one scrutinises it too much, but it does the job that it set out to and sends the crew off on one last adventure and I agree with whichever poster it was who earlier suggested it to be a "TOS tropes greatest hits", which I think it does perfectly.
What I like:
The mixture of Klingon foreheads: from Chang's almost TOS-style smoothness (and frankly, I think that looks like a better "this is what the Klingons were supposed to be like" than TMP and I can imagine that they are like that under the hair) to the inbetween simple ridges on some of them and the more TNG-style full on pasties on others, it makes it look like there is some variation to the species.
The last ten minutes are, for me, note perfect. The way the Enterprise-A and the Excelsior come into shot over Khitomer, the warm exchange between Captains Kirk and Sulu right up to the final line just slay me every single time. Perhaps the signatures add a little too much egg to the pudding, but I can even forgive that as it was the last time we saw some of them on a non-fan production. It's a much, much more poignant farewell than Generations and, much as some part of that movie are fun, I think it's a shame the TOS era wasn't left here.
I like the "original Klingon" Shakespeare schitck, not just for it being a historical reference, but also because I think it just adds to the differences between Gorkon and Chang. When Gorkon says it, I get the impression that he's trying (and clearly failing) to make a joke to break the tension somewhat. David Warner has a twinkle in his eye that seems to take the bite out somewhat. Chang on the other hand really seems to believe that Shakespeare is superior in Klingon,which I take as him either not wanting or not being able to accept that times had changed and what it meant to be Klingon just a few months before is going to stop them from surviving. He seems to keep his blinkered view right up until the end when he quotes "To be or not to be" in English as the torpedo homes in on the BoPs "exhaust fumes". That was him, IMO, finally accepting that truth that Gorkon had accepted long before - that the Klingons ARE no longer the power they once were.
I like the Rura Penthe sequence, knee-genitals, super secret squirrel space detect-me-anywhere-patch and all. The changeling stuff was pretty cool, even if the effects have dated somewhat, and I recall getting excited when DS9 started in the UK that we would be seeing another one, only to be mildly miffed that Odo was a different species of shape shifter!
What I disliked:
The terrible "Uhura needs a massive phrase book to speak Klingon" scene. I hate it. Uhura should at least be competant enough in Klingon to be able to pronounce it without stumbling like she did, let alone need a flipping book to find the right words.
Valeris is obvious as the traitor from the beginning. She just doesn't seem to fit in at all, not even a little bit, and Spock just seems like a bit of a twit not to notice that she's clearly hiding something. Personally, I think this was down to how Kim Caterall's acting more than the writing, as she seemed to be playing a parody of a Vulcan (or, as I thought for most of my first viewing, a Romulan undercover as a Vulcan).
The aforementioned "Scooby Doo" moment with Colonel West is a little too much at that point in the movie. We've already seen some Klingons involved in the plot, so it would make some sense that there was at least one in Azetbur's group as a mole.
Scotty's "Klingon bitch" line. Far too over the top and totally unecessary.
What I like:
The mixture of Klingon foreheads: from Chang's almost TOS-style smoothness (and frankly, I think that looks like a better "this is what the Klingons were supposed to be like" than TMP and I can imagine that they are like that under the hair) to the inbetween simple ridges on some of them and the more TNG-style full on pasties on others, it makes it look like there is some variation to the species.
The last ten minutes are, for me, note perfect. The way the Enterprise-A and the Excelsior come into shot over Khitomer, the warm exchange between Captains Kirk and Sulu right up to the final line just slay me every single time. Perhaps the signatures add a little too much egg to the pudding, but I can even forgive that as it was the last time we saw some of them on a non-fan production. It's a much, much more poignant farewell than Generations and, much as some part of that movie are fun, I think it's a shame the TOS era wasn't left here.
I like the "original Klingon" Shakespeare schitck, not just for it being a historical reference, but also because I think it just adds to the differences between Gorkon and Chang. When Gorkon says it, I get the impression that he's trying (and clearly failing) to make a joke to break the tension somewhat. David Warner has a twinkle in his eye that seems to take the bite out somewhat. Chang on the other hand really seems to believe that Shakespeare is superior in Klingon,which I take as him either not wanting or not being able to accept that times had changed and what it meant to be Klingon just a few months before is going to stop them from surviving. He seems to keep his blinkered view right up until the end when he quotes "To be or not to be" in English as the torpedo homes in on the BoPs "exhaust fumes". That was him, IMO, finally accepting that truth that Gorkon had accepted long before - that the Klingons ARE no longer the power they once were.
I like the Rura Penthe sequence, knee-genitals, super secret squirrel space detect-me-anywhere-patch and all. The changeling stuff was pretty cool, even if the effects have dated somewhat, and I recall getting excited when DS9 started in the UK that we would be seeing another one, only to be mildly miffed that Odo was a different species of shape shifter!
What I disliked:
The terrible "Uhura needs a massive phrase book to speak Klingon" scene. I hate it. Uhura should at least be competant enough in Klingon to be able to pronounce it without stumbling like she did, let alone need a flipping book to find the right words.
Valeris is obvious as the traitor from the beginning. She just doesn't seem to fit in at all, not even a little bit, and Spock just seems like a bit of a twit not to notice that she's clearly hiding something. Personally, I think this was down to how Kim Caterall's acting more than the writing, as she seemed to be playing a parody of a Vulcan (or, as I thought for most of my first viewing, a Romulan undercover as a Vulcan).
The aforementioned "Scooby Doo" moment with Colonel West is a little too much at that point in the movie. We've already seen some Klingons involved in the plot, so it would make some sense that there was at least one in Azetbur's group as a mole.
Scotty's "Klingon bitch" line. Far too over the top and totally unecessary.
