Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Theatrical release poster by Bob Peak
Directed by	Leonard Nimoy
Written by	Screenplay: Steve Meerson Peter Krikes Nicholas Meyer Harve Bennett Story: Harve Bennett Leonard Nimoy
Produced by	Harve Bennett
Starring	See list
Cinematography	Donald Peterman
Edited by	Peter E. Berger
Music by	Leonard Rosenman
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	November 26, 1986 (1986-11-26)
Running time	119 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$24 million
Box office	$133 million

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is a 1986 motion picture released by Paramount Studios. It is the fourth feature film based on the Star Trek science fiction television series. It completes the story begun in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and continued in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Intent on returning home to Earth to face trial for their crimes, the former crew of the USS Enterprise travels to Earth's past in order to save their present from a probe attempting to communicate with long-dead humpback whales.

After directing The Search for Spock, cast member Leonard Nimoy was asked to direct the next feature, and given greater freedom to the film's content. Nimoy and producer Harve Bennett conceived a story with an environmental message. After dissatisfaction with the first script produced by Steve Meerson and Peter Krikes, Paramount hired The Wrath of Khan writer and director Nicholas Meyer, who collaborated with Bennett to rewrite the script. Principal photography started on February 24, 1986, with many real locations used as stand-ins for locations around San Francisco. Industrial Light & Magic assisted in postproduction and the film's special effects, including animatronic whales. Composer Leonard Rosenman wrote the film's score.

The Voyage Home was well received. It earned $133 million worldwide. The film earned four Academy Award nominations, for Best Cinematography, Best Effects, Best Music and Best Sound.

Plot

A large cylindrical probe moves through space towards Earth, sending out an indecipherable signal and disabling the power of any vessel or station that it passes. As it takes up orbit around Earth, it continues signaling, disrupting the global power system and causing extreme weather patterns to develop over the planet while evaporating the oceans. Starfleet Command, on the last of its power reserves, sends out a subspace signal warning of the danger.

On the planet Vulcan, the former officers of the USS Enterprise are living in exile after the events of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Accompanied by the Vulcan Spock, still recovering from his resurrection, the crew takes their stolen Klingon starship and head to Earth to face trial for their theft and destruction of the Enterprise. As they enter the solar system, they hear Starfleet's warning and the alien signal; Spock determines that it matches the song of humpback whales, long since extinct on Earth, and that the object will continue to wreak havoc on the planet until its call can be answered. The crew use their ship to travel back in time by a slingshot maneuver around the Sun; the plan is to go to the past and return with whales to repopulate the species.

The crew travels back in time to the year 1986, but their ship's power is drained in the process. Hiding their ship using its cloaking device in San Francisco, the crew splits up to accomplish their tasks: James T. Kirk and Spock attempt to locate humpback whales, Montgomery Scott, Leonard McCoy and Hikaru Sulu must create a holding tank for the return trip, and Uhura and Pavel Chekov search for a way to recharge the ship. Kirk and Spock discover a pair of humpback whales—"George" and "Gracie"—in the care of Dr. Gillian Taylor at the Sausalito Cetacean Institute and learn they will soon be released into the wild. Kirk attempts to learn the tracking codes for the whales from Taylor, but is rebuffed. Scott, McCoy, and Sulu procure the necessary materials for the holding tank by giving the formula for transparent aluminum to a local manufacturer; Uhura and Chekov beam aboard a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and draw some of its power to recharge their ship, but are discovered. Though Uhura is beamed back, Chekov is severely injured in an escape attempt and captured. Kirk and company rescue him from a hospital and return to the ship.

The ship is successfully recharged, but Taylor learns the whales have been moved early. Kirk reluctantly lets her tag along on the ship to get the tracking codes. The crew locates George and Gracie before they are killed by whalers, and transport the creatures into the waiting tank. With the intended cargo, the crew returns to the future. On approaching Earth, the ship loses power and crashes into San Francisco Bay. Once released, the whales respond to the probe's signal, causing the object to restore Earth and return to the depths of space.

In light of their heroic actions in saving Earth, all pending charges against the Enterprise crew are waived; only Kirk is punished for disobeying a superior officer, and is demoted from Admiral to the rank of Captain... a punishment that restores him to the position he has lamented he never should have left years before. Dr. Taylor, having been brought to the future, takes a position on a science vessel. The crew departs for their ship, the newly-christened USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A), to depart on a new mission into space.

Cast

William Shatner plays James T. Kirk, former captain of the Enterprise. Shatner was initially unwilling to reprise the role of Kirk until his salary was increased to $2 million and that he was promised that he could direct the next film. Shatner described The Voyage Home's comic qualities as one "that verges on tongue-in-cheek but isn't, it's as though the characters within the play have a great deal of joy about themselves, a joy of living [and] you play it with the reality you would in a kitchen-sink drama written for today's life."

Leonard Nimoy plays Spock, resurrected by the effects of a powerful terraforming device in the previous film, and whose "living spirit" was restored to his body.

DeForest Kelley portrays Doctor Leonard McCoy. McCoy was given many of the film's comedic lines; Kelley biographer Terry Lee Rioux wrote that in the film "he seemed to be playing straight man to himself". On Earth McCoy was paired with engineer Montgomery Scott (James Doohan), as Bennet felt that Kelley worked well with [Doohan's] "old vaudeville comic". The other members of the Enterprise crew include George Takei as helmsman Hikaru Sulu, Walter Koenig as Commander Pavel Chekov, and Nichelle Nichols as Uhura. Koenig commented Chekov was a "delight" to play in this film because he worked best in comedic situations.

Catherine Hicks plays Doctor Gillian Taylor, a biologist on 20th century Earth. During production a rumor circulated that the part had been created because Shatner had demanded a love interest, something Kirk had frequently had in the television series but that had been absent in the films; writer Nicholas Meyer denied this, saying that the inspiration for Taylor came from a woman biologist featured in a National Geographic documentary about whales. The choice for Taylor came down to Hicks and another actress. Nimoy invited them to lunch with Shatner and ultimately picked Hicks, as she and Shatner had the better chemistry.

Majel Barrett reprised her role as Christine Chapel, the director of Starfleet Command's medical services. Many of her scenes—some reportedly very large—were omitted in the final cut, angering the actress. Her final role in the film consists of one line of dialogue and a reaction shot. Mark Lenard and Jane Wyatt play Ambassador Sarek and Amanda Grayson, respectively, Spock's parents. Wyatt commented that although she disliked working with actors who were directing, she found Nimoy an exception because he could concentrate on working with being part of the cast as well as setting up the crew. Robin Curtis reprises the role of Saavik, a Vulcan member of Starfleet. Saavik's role is largely minimal in the film—originally, she was intended to have remained behind on Vulcan because she was pregnant with Spock's child after they mated in The Search for Spock. In the final cut of the film, all references to her condition were dropped.

The film contains several cameos and smaller roles. Madge Sinclair made an uncredited appearance as captain of the USS Saratoga. Jane Wiedlin appears as a Starfleet officer seen briefly at Starfleet Command. John Schuck appears as a Klingon ambassador, Robert Ellenstein as the Federation President, and Brock Peters as Fleet Admiral Cartwright. Grace Lee Whitney reprises her role as Janice Rand from the original television series.

Production

Development

Producer Harve Bennett collaborated with director Nicholas Meyer to revise The Voyage Home's script.

Leonard Nimoy was asked to return to direct The Voyage Home before The Search for Spock was released. Whereas Nimoy had been under certain constraints in filming the previous picture, Paramount gave Nimoy greater freedom for the sequel. "[Paramount] said flat out that they wanted my vision," Nimoy recalled. In contrast to the drama-heavy and operatic events of previous Star Trek features, Nimoy and producer Harve Bennett wanted a lighter movie that did not have a clear-cut villain. As William Shatner was unwilling to return, Nimoy and Bennett spent eight months considering a prequel concept by Ralph Winter about the characters at Starfleet Academy, before Shatner received a pay increase and signed on to star.

Despite Shatner's qualms, Nimoy and Bennett selected a time travel story where the Enterprise encounter a problem which could only be fixed by something only available in the present day (the Star Trek characters' past). They considered numerous ideas including violin makers and oil drillers, as well as a disease which had its cure destroyed with the rainforests. "But the depiction of thousands of sick and dying people seemed rather gruesome for our light-hearted film, and the thought of our crew taking a 600 year round trip just to bring back a snail darter wasn't all that thrilling!", explained Nimoy. The director then read a book on extinct animals and conceived the used storyline. Nimoy hit upon the idea of humpback whales after talking with a friend—their song added mystery to the story, and their size added logistical challenges the heroes would have to overcome.

Nimoy approached Beverly Hills Cop writer Daniel Petrie, Jr. to write the script when a concept that executive producer Jeffrey Katzenberg described as "either the best or worst idea in the world" arose—Star Trek fan Eddie Murphy wanted a starring role. Both Nimoy and Murphy acknowledged his part would attract non-Star Trek fans to the franchise following the rising popularity of Murphy, but it also meant the film might be panned. Steve Meerson and Peter Krikes (The Long Way Home) were hired to write a script with Murphy as a college professor who believes in aliens and who likes to play whale songs. Murphy disliked the part, explaining he wanted to play an alien or a Starfleet officer (Nimoy was unaware of this) and chose to make The Golden Child (a decision Murphy later said was a mistake). Murphy's character was combined with a marine biologist and a female reporter to become Gillian Taylor.

Paramount was dissatisfied with the script, so head of Paramount Dawn Steele asked The Wrath of Khan writer and director Nicholas Meyer to help rewrite the script. Meyer never read the earlier script, reasoning that since the studio did not like it there was no reason to. Instead he and Bennett split up the plot. Bennett wrote the first quarter of the story, up to the point where the crew goes back in time. Meyer wrote the story's middle portion, taking place on 20th century Earth, and Bennett finished with the ending. After 12 days of writing, Meyer and Bennett combined their separate portions. In this version, Gillian Taylor stays in 1986 Earth and vows to ensure the survival of the humpback whale despite the paradox it would create. Meyer preferred this "righter ending" to the film version, explaining "The end in the movie detracts from the importance of people in the present taking the responsibility for the ecology and preventing problems of the future by doing something today, rather than catering to the fantasy desires of being able to be transported in time to the near-utopian future." Meyer and Bennett also cut out Krikes and Meerson's idea of the Klingon Bird-of-Prey flying over the Super Bowl (where the crowd assume it is part of the halftime spectacle) and the hint that Saavik remained on Vulcan because she had become pregnant with Spock's child.

Nimoy said Meyer gave the script "the kind of humor and social comment, gadfly attitude I very much wanted". Nimoy added his vision was for "no dying, no fighting, no shooting, no photon torpedoes, no phaser blasts, no stereotypical bad guy. I wanted people to really have a great time watching this film [and] if somewhere in the mix we lobbed a couple of big ideas at them, well, then that would be even better." Meyer's film Time After Time had been largely based in San Francisco, and when he was told by the producers that The Voyage Home had to be set in the same city, he took the opportunity to comment upon cultural aspects not covered by his earlier film, among them punk rock—The Voyage Home's scene where Spock knocks out an annoying punk rocker with a stereo via a Vulcan nerve pinch was based on a similar scene cut from Time After Time.

Meyer described the writing process as running smoothly. He would write a few pages, go to Nimoy and Bennett and show it to them. After a conversation about the pages Meyer would return to his office and wrote some more. Once Nimoy, Bennett, and Meyer were happy, they showed the script to Shatner, who offered his own notes and started the rewriting process over again. The completed script was shown to Paramount executives, who loved it.

Design

The alien probe was the responsibility of ILM's model shop. The modelmakers started with Rodis' simple design, which was a simple cylinder with whalelike qualities. The prototype was covered with barnacles and colored. The probe's ball-shaped antenna that juts out from the bottom of the craft was created using a piece of irrigation pipe with machinery to turn the device. Three models were created; the primary 8-foot (2.4 m) probe model was supplemented by a smaller model for wide shots and a large 20-foot (6.1 m) model that used forced perspective to give the probe the illusion of massive dimensions.

During the Earth-based scenes, the 23rd century crew continues to wear their future clothing. Nimoy debated about whether the crew would change costumes, but after seeing how some people in the city dressed, he decided that they would still fit in.

Filming

Nimoy chose Donald Peterman, ASC, as director of photography. Nimoy said that he regards the cinematographer as a fellow artist, and that it was important for him and Peterman to agree on "a certain look" that Peterman was committed to delivering. Nimoy had seen Peterman's work and felt that his work was more nuanced than simply lighting a scene and capturing an image.

The film's opening scenes aboard the starship Saratoga were also the first to be shot, with principal photography commencing on February 24, 1986. The set was a redress of the science vessel Grissom bridge from The Search for Spock, which in turn was a redress of the Enterprise bridge created for The Motion Picture. The scenes were filmed first to allow time for the set to be revamped to stand in for the new Enterprise-A at the end of filming.

The Voyage Home was the first real look at how Starfleet Command operated. Bennett and Nimoy visited NASA JPL to learn how a real deep space command center might look and operate. Among its features was a large central table with video monitors that the production team nicknamed "the pool table"; the prop would later find a home in the engine room of the USS Enterprise-D on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.

As with previous Star Trek films, existing props and footage were reused where possible to save money. The Voyage Home's Earth-based story required less of this than The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock. The Earth Spacedock interiors and control booth sets were reuses from The Search for Spock, although the computer monitors in these scenes featured new graphics (the old reels had deteriorated in storage.) Stock footage of the destruction of the Enterprise and the Bird of Prey moving through space were reused. While the Bird of Prey bridge was a completely new design, other parts of the craft's interior was also redresses (the computer room was a modification of the reactor room where Spock died in The Wrath of Khan. After all other Bird of Prey bridge scenes were completed, the entire bridge was painted white for the one shot that transitioned into the dream sequence.

Vasquez Rocks was used as a stand-in for the alien world of Vulcan

Vulcan and the Bird of Prey exterior was created with a combination of matte paintings and a soundstage. Nimoy had searched for a suitable location for the crew's deliberations to go back to earth, but various locations did not work, so the scene was instead filmed on a Paramount backlot, with creative ways to mask the fact that buildings were 30 feet (9.1 m) away. A wide angle shot of Spock on the edge of a cliff was filmed at Vasquez Rocks, a park north of Los Angeles.

The Voyage Home was the first Star Trek film to extensively film on location (only one day was spent doing so in The Search for Spock.)

The Federation council chamber was a large set filled with representatives from many alien races. Production manager Jack T. Collis economized by building the set with only one end; reverse angle shots used the same piece of wall. The Federation President's podium and the actors filling the chamber's seats simply switched positions for each shot. Much of the production was filmed in and around San Francisco in ten days of shooting. The production wanted to film scenes that were instantly identifiable as the city. The use of extensive location shooting caused logistical problems; a scene where Kirk is nearly run over by an irate driver required 12–15 cars that had to be repositioned if the shot was not correct, taking a half-hour to reshoot. Other scenes were filmed in the city but used sets rather than real locations, such as an Italian restaurant where Taylor and Kirk eat. In the film, the Bird-of-Prey lands cloaked in Golden Gate Park, surprising some trashmen who flee the scene in their truck. The production had planned to film in the real park (where they had filmed scenes for The Wrath of Khan), but heavy rains before the day of shooting prevented this (the garbage truck would have become bogged down in the mud.) Will Rogers Park in western Los Angeles was used as the stand-in instead.

When Kirk and Spock are traveling on a public bus, they encounter a punk rocker blaring his music on a boom box, to the discomfort of everyone around him. Spock takes matters into his own hands and performs a Vulcan nerve pinch, stunning the man. The inspiration from the scene came from Nimoy's personal experiences with such a character on the streets of New York. "[I was struck] by the arrogance of it, the aggressiveness of it, and I thought if I was Spock I'd pinch his brains out!" The character (credited as "punk on bus") was played by Kirk Thatcher, an associate producer on the film. On learning about the scene, Thatcher convinced Nimoy that he could play the role; he shaved his hair into a mohawk and bought clothes to complete the part. Thatcher also wrote and recorded "I Hate You," the song in the scene, and it was also Thatcher's idea to have the punk (once rendered unconscious by Nimoy), hit the stereo and turn it off with his face.

The Monterey Aquarium, viewed from the back. The shallow area behind the rocks was turned into a whale tank via special effects; other changes included the addition of a skyline in the background and the removal of several buildings.

Much of the Cetacean Institute was created by using the real-life Monterey Bay Aquarium. A holding tank for the whales was added via special effects to the Aquarium's exterior. For close-ups of the characters watching the whales in the tank, the Aquarium's walls and railings were measured and replicated for a set on the Paramount parking lot. One scene takes place by a large glass through which observers can see the whales (and Spock initiating a mind meld) underwater. This was a combination of footage of actors reacting to a brick wall in the Aquarium (shot from the front) and shots created using a large blue screen at ILM (shot from the back.) The footage of Spock melding with the whales was shot weeks later in a large water tank used to train astronauts for weightlessness.

In the film, Uhura and Chekov visit the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise. The real Enterprise, being at sea at the time, was unavailable for filming, so the non-nuclear powered carrier USS Ranger (CV-61) was used. Oakland International Airport was used for the foreground element of Starfleet Headquarters. Scenes in the San Francisco Bay were shot at a tank at Paramount's backlot.

The scene in which Uhura and Chekov question passersby on the location of nuclear vessels was filmed with a hidden camera. However, the people whom Koenig and Nichols speak to were extras hired off the street for that day's shooting, and, despite legends to the contrary, knew they were being filmed. In an interview with StarTrek.com, Layla Sarakalo, the extra who said, "I don't know if I know the answer to that... I think it's across the bay, in Alameda", stated that after her car was impounded because she refused to move it for the filming, she approached the assistant director about appearing with the other extras, hoping to be paid enough to get her car out of impoundment. She was hired and told not to answer Koenig's and Nichols' questions. However, she did answer them and the filmmakers kept her response in the film, though she had to be inducted into the Screen Actors Guild in order for her lines to be kept.

When Sulu, Scotty and McCoy are standing in front of the Yellow Pages ad, they encounter an arguing Asian couple. This scene was supposed to end with Sulu encountering his young ancestor, Akira Sulu, but the child actor hired for the part began to cry and was unable to finish the scene.

Effects

Industrial Light & Magic created the visual effects. Nimoy approached the effects house early in development and helped develop storyboards for the optical effects sequences.

Most shots of the humpback whales were scale models shot at their studio or life-size animatronics shot at Paramount. The USS Enterprise was destroyed in the previous film partly because visual effects supervisor Ken Ralston wanted to build a "more state-of-the-art ship for the next film", but the filmmakers made the less costly decision to have the crew return to serve on the duplicate USS Enterprise A, and six weeks was spent repairing the old model. A travel pod from Star Trek: The Motion Picture was also reused for the ending, although the twenty-foot long interior set had to be rebuilt. Graphic designer Michael Okuda designed smooth controls with backlit displays for the Federation which were eventually dubbed "Okudagrams". Okudagrams were also used for displays on the Klingon ship, though large buttons remained for that set.

A scale model of the Golden Gate Bridge was used, which was two feet tall at one end and sixteen feet tall at the other. The shorter end was filmed in front, creating a forced perspective which made it look longer. For the alien probe, Ralston had it painted black to make it look more mysterious after viewing the first few shots of it. Computer graphics were used for the crew's time traveling.

Sound

James Horner, composer for The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock, declined to return for The Voyage Home. Nimoy turned to his friend Leonard Rosenman, who had written the music to, among other films, Fantastic Voyage, Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings, and two Planet of the Apes sequels. Rosenman wrote an arrangement of Alexander Courage's Star Trek television theme as the title music for The Voyage Home, but Nimoy suggested that he write his own instead. As music critic Jeff Bond writes, "The final result was one of the most unusual Star Trek movie themes," consisting of a six note theme and variations set against a repetitious four note brass motif; the theme's bridge borrowed material from Rosenman's Frodo March for The Lord of the Rings. The melody makes appearances in the beginning of the film at Vulcan as well as when Taylor seeks Kirk's help finding her whales.

The Earth-based setting of the filming gave Rosenman leeway to write a variety of music in different styles. Nimoy intended the crew's introduction to the streets of San Francisco to be accompanied by something reminiscent of George Gershwin, but Rosenman changed the director's mind and the scene was scored with a contemporary jazz fusion piece by Yellowjackets. When Chekov flees detention aboard the aircraft carrier, Rosenman wrote a bright cue that incorporated classical Russian compositions, while the escape from the hospital was done in a baroque style. More familiar Rosenman compositions included the action music as the Bird of Prey and a whaling ship face off in open water, while the whale's communication with the probe utilized atmospheric music reminiscent of the composer's work in Fantastic Voyage. After the probe leaves, the music turns into a Vivaldiesque "whale fugue". The first sighting of the Enterprise-A uses the Alexander Courage theme before the end title music.

Mark Mangini served as The Voyage Home's sound designer. He described it as different from working on many other films because Nimoy appreciated the role of sound effects and made sure that they were prominent in the film. Since many sounds familiar to Star Trek had already been established—the Bird of Prey's cloaking device, the transporter beam, et al.—Mangini focused on making only small changes to them. The most important sounds were those created by the whales and the probe. Mangini's brother lived closed to biologist Roger Payne, who had many recordings of whale song. Mangini went through the tapes and chose sounds that could be mixed to suggest a sort of language and conversation. The probe's screeching calls were the whale song in distorted form. The humpback's communication with the probe at the climax of the film contained no dramatic music, meaning that Mangini's sounds had to stand alone. He recalled that he had some difficulty with envisioning how the scene would unfold, leading Bennett to perform a puppet show to explain. Nimoy and the other producers were unhappy with Mangini's attempts to create the probe's droning operating noise; after 18 attempts, the sound designer finally asked Nimoy what he thought the probe should sound like, and recorded Nimoy's response. Nimoy's voice was distorted with "just the tiniest bit of dressing" and used as the final sound.

The punk music that blares during the bus scene was written by Thatcher after he learned that the audio to be added to the scene would be "Duran Duran, or whoever" and not "raw" and authentic punk. Thatcher collaborated with Mangini and two sound editors (who were in punk bands) to create their own music. They decided that punk distilled down to the sentiment of "I hate you", and wrote a song to match. Recording in the sound studio as originally planned produced too clean a sound, so they moved to the outside hallway and recorded the entire band in one take using cheap microphones to create the distorted sound intended. The song was later used for Paramount's Back to the Beach.

Reception

Release

The movie begins with a dedication from the cast and crew of Star Trek to the memory of the astronauts killed in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster on January 28, 1986.

Since Star Trek had traditionally not performed well internationally, the producers created a special trailer for foreign markets which de-emphasized the Star Trek part of the title, as well as retelling the events of The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock. Winter recalled that the marketing did not seem to make a difference.

The Voyage Home was the first Star Trek film shown in the Soviet Union. It was screened by the World Wildlife Fund on June 26, 1987 in Moscow to celebrate a ban on whaling. Nimoy and Bennett attended the screening. Bennett was amazed the film got the same laughs as it did with an American audience; he said "the single most rewarding moment of my Star Trek life" was when the Moscow audience applauded at McCoy's line, "The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe. We'll get a freighter." To him, it was a clear "messenger of what was to come."

A novelization of the film, written by Vonda N. McIntyre, was released alongside the film. Publisher Pocket Books' biggest tie-in novel, it spent eight weeks on The New York Times bestseller list, with a top spot of #3.

The film was a major commercial success for Paramount, with five of the top ten films of the year released by the studio, and 22% of all money taken in at American theaters. In six weeks, it sold $81.3 million in tickets, more than the second or third films, and almost as much as Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Much of the credit for Paramount's success was given to chairman Frank Mancuso, who moved The Voyage Home's release from Christmas to Thanksgiving after research showed that the film might draw filmgoers away from The Golden Child. In its first week it knocked "Crocodile" Dundee from the top box office spot, which it had held for eight weeks.

It grossed $109,713,132 in domestic markets for a global total of $133,000,000, against its $21 million cost ($1 million under budget).

Critical response

The Voyage Home was well-received by critics; Nimoy called it the most well-received of all the Star Trek films made to that point; it appealed to general audiences in addition to fans of the series. The Washington Post's Paul Attanasio called the film "loose, jovial, immensely pleasurable Christmas entertainment". While admitting that the film's plot was "demented", Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote that the film "has done a great deal to ensure the series' longevity."

The film's "fish out of water" comedy and acting was well-received.

The special effects were generally well-received. Maslin wrote that Nimoy's technical direction left "much to be desired" (pointing out a special effects scene where the Bird-of-Prey does not cast a shadow on the whaling ship as a mistake), but his "unmistakable" sincerity made up for these issues.

USA Today gave the film a positive review, declaring "Kirk and company turn into the most uproarious out-of-towners to hit the Bay area since the Democrats in 1984," and felt the lack of special effects allowed the actors to "prove themselves more capable actors than ever before." Due to the success of this film, Paramount greenlit a new Star Trek television series (after failing to get one off the ground in 1977). The series ultimately became Star Trek: The Next Generation, which premiered in major markets on September 28, 1987.

The Voyage Home garnered 11 nominations at the 14th annual Saturn Awards, tying Aliens for number of nominations. Nimoy and Shatner were nominated for best actor for their roles. It was nominated in the "Best Cinematography" category at the Academy Awards.

Home video

The Voyage Home was first released on VHS home media on September 30, 1987. Paramount Home Video spent $20 million marketing the film's release alongside 10 episodes of the original series. The video sold hundreds of thousands of copies in the United States and Canadian markets, and was in the top ten rankings for sales and rentals in December and January 1987. Paramount rereleased the film on March 12, 1992 with Fatal Attraction as part of a "Director's Series"; these editions had additional commentary and were presented in a widescreen letterbox format to preserve the film's original cinematography. Nimoy was interviewed on the Paramount lots and discussed his acting career as well as his favorable opinion of the widescreen format.

The film was given a "bare bones" DVD release on November 9, 1999, containing the film with the original theatrical trailer and the introduction from the "Director's Series" VHS release. Three and a half years later, a two disc "Collector's Edition" was released with supplemental material and the same video transfer as the original DVD release. Among other special features, it contains a text commentary by Michael Okuda and an audio commentary from director Leonard Nimoy and star William Shatner.

The film was released on Blu-ray Disc in May 2009 to coincide with the new Star Trek feature, along with the other five films featuring the original crew in Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection. The Voyage Home was remastered in 1080p high-definition from the 1999 DVD transfer. All six films in the set have new 7.1 Dolby TrueHD audio. The disc features a new commentary track by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, the writers of the 2009 Star Trek film.

References

• Bond, Jeff (1999). The Music of Star Trek. Lone Eagle Publishing Company. ISBN 1580650120.
• Breyer, Wolfgang (1995). "Interview with Leonard Rosenman". Soundtrack Magazine. 14 (55).
• Dillard, J.M. (1994). Star Trek: "Where No Man Has Gone Before" — A History in Pictures. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-51149-1.
• Fischer, Dennis (1987). "Nicholas Meyer; The Man Who Saved Star Trek". Cinefantastique. 14 (3/4): 34–39. {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)
• Hughes, David (2008). The Greatest Science Fiction Movies Never Made. Titan Books. ISBN 9781845767556.
• Lee, Nora (1986). "The Fourth Trek: Leonard Nimoy Recollects". American Cinematographer. 67 (12): 42–48. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Nimoy, Leonard; William Shatner (2003-03-04). Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Special Collector's Edition: Audio commentary (DVD; Disc 1/2). Paramount Pictures.
• Okuda, Michael (2003-03-04). Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Special Collector's Edition: Text commentary (DVD; Disc 1/2). Paramount Pictures.
• Reeves-Stevens, Judith and Garfield (1995). The Art of Star Trek. Pocket Books. ISBN 0-671-89804-3.
• Gire, Dan (1987). "Why 'Star Trek IV' Leaves Lt. Savik Stranded on Vulcan". Cinefantastique. 17 (1). {{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help)
• Shay, Jody (1987). "Humpback to the Future". Cinefex (29). {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Star Trek cast and crew (2003-03-04). Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Special Collector's Edition: Special Features: "Future's Past: A Look Back", "On Location", "From Outer Space to The Ocean", "Below-the-Line: Sound Design" (DVD; Disc 2/2). Paramount Pictures.

External links

• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home at StarTrek.com
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home at IMDb
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home at Memory Alpha