DVD Review HTF REVIEW: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (Recommended) (1 Viewer)

[Sean Laughter]

Is there anything in the TOS with Zephram Cochran that gives a timeframe for how long he's been on that planet? I haven't seen the episode in ages, so I can't remember if there was anything in there that would actually cause itself to become non-canon relative to "First Contact."

 

[Nelson Au]

McCoy has a line when it's realized who Cochran of Alpha Centuri is, he says Cochran died 150 years ago. Spock then says his body was never found. Kirk then says he'd been there for 150 years from the time the Companion brought him there.

 

[Sean Laughter]

Well, what year does the episode take place? "First Contact" (the part in the past anyway) is in 2063 I believe.

 

[Tony Whalen]

Yupyup..me too! I used to have trouble with "the President". I always expected him to whip out a shotgun and mutter something akin to "Romulans don't like me...so I... don't ... like ... Romulans".

Boddicker was (and is) one of the best bad-guys ever.

 

[Nelson Au]

Excuse my geeky disgression

Sean-

Metamorphosis takes place on stardate 3219.4 according to the DVD cover. In the Trek encyclopedia, it takes place in 3219.8. Cochran developed the space warp in 2061 and then he disappeared from Alpha Centauri about stardate 2117 at 87 years old. (My Trek Encyclopedia was published before First Contact, I should get a current one)

The mainpart for me that doesn't ring true as canon is the way Cochran is portrayed in First Contact, as a drunken guy who only wants to be rich and live on an island with naked woman. Not that that is bad, but it's contrary to the way he is in Metamorphosis. You can argue that the discovery changed him and he became more of a statesman as he's shown in the pilot for Enterprise.

 

[Tony Whalen]

Like that's a bad dream?

Seriously, if you read the novelization of FC, Cochrane is actually bipolar and/or manic/depressive, which suddenly makes his behavior in the movie that much more understandable.

In the post-war camps, he couldn't get his medication. I think Crusher did him a "favour", if memory serves, and fixed his condition with 24th century medicine. That would also help explain his becoming a more statesman-like person.

Or maybe it was just the booze.

 

[Brandon Conway]

I always figured the point was that history tends to paint people as more heroic and sincere than they often are, hence Cochran in FC being more selfish and a drunk.

 

[Randy A Salas]

It was a pleasant surprise to see that this DVD debuted at No. 14 on the Video Business weekly chart of top-selling DVDs--one place ahead of the debut of the latest season set of Friends, which has been getting much more publicity lately.

 

[Tony Whalen]

Good stuff Randy! Not bad placement for an older Trek film.

 

[Nelson Au]

By the way, as I mentioned a few posts ago, I had my Star Trek 6 DVD signed by Nicholas Meyer last Saturday. He signed it and added something I have no idea what it means, he wrote, "BSI" under his autogragh. Since I was asking a question, I didn't look at the sig till later. Any ideas as to what it means?

I've thought it might be his title, only it refers to something in the film world, like A.S.C. for cinematographers. Or perhaps it refers to something relating to Sherlock Holmes as he's a huge fan of that work.

Glad to hear the DVD is doing well in sales, shows TOS still has juice!

Thanks, Nelson

 

[Seth--L]

Just finished going through the DVD. Overall quite good in terms of audio & video, extras, and value. For once Shatner had something good to say and was an engaging interviewee. For instance, it was interesting to hear how he clashed with Meyer over Kirk's racisms. Along these lines, the documentary seemed pretty honest about how the cast and crew's were uncomfortable with some of the film's politics.

I can't believe some people are complaining about the white case, lack of insert, and upside down wrong cover art.

 

[Martin Blythe]

Nelson: "Baker Street Irregulars"

 

[Nelson Au]

Wow, thank you Mr. Blythe for the BSI explaination! It was Sherlock Holmes.

Nelson

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Am I the only one who mostly thinks of Smith as "Russ Crane"/Mr. Lombino from Quick Change? Man, is THAT a movie that needs to be on DVD NOW!!! It's Bill Murray's best...

 

[Dome Vongvises]

Don't forget, he's also the guy from Robocop.

 

[Peter McM]

A good treatment of Zephram Cochrane can also be found in the novel Federation, by Garfield and Judith Reeves-Stevens. It is also the Kirk-meets-Picard story which should have been filmed, but admittedly is a little too epic in scope to condense for the screen.

 

[Ric Easton]

Sean Laughter, said the same thing back in post 174! We're starting to repeat ourselves like that Star Wars thread!

Ric

 

[Phil Florian]

Good review. I did think this was a missed point, though. Spock never says he is Sherlock's ancestor, just "as an ancestor once said..." That ancestor is obviously Arthur Conan Doyle. This was more about Spock admitting his human ancestry, which he often ignores. Nice final nod to his arc during the movies.

This was clearly a movie that lept far above its faults for me. There were plenty of distractions (as noted in the review) but it was such a great overall product, who cares. Fitting finale. Can't wait to buy this thing!

Ciao,

Phil

 

[Dennis]

Rollie,

That sounds like the same exact one I bought at Best Buy, it's also black and different from the previous releases.
Did it have a sticker on the back that said "Made In Mexico"?

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

My brother just got this DVD set from Deep Discount DVD. Inside the case, the discs overlap each other. You can't get to disc 2 without first taking out disc 1, which is very annoying.

It's been a while since I last read this thread, but I don't remember anyone mentioning this. Is anyone else's ST6 cases like this? (The case my brother got was black, btw.)