Star Trek VI is as faithful to the world of the original Star Trek as anything done since then. And its visual effects are good. For that, I rated it a 6.
But the story is recycled and stale. Federation vs. Klingons vs. Romulans... you only get so many possible combinations before you *have* to recycle. And the two-dimensional characters that played so well in the late 60s -- Kirk's swagger and defiance of regulations, McCoy's crusty wisecracking past the graveyard, Sulu's cheerful and unquestioning loyalty, and the Klingons' I-double-dare-you truculence -- don't play in a world that's learned that characters have three dimensions. Only Spock ("Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the ending") and one of the Klingons ("Kirk ... don't let it end like this") seem to have evolved at all.
In its original incarnation, Star Trek's drama fit the times. It was the Cold War era, and American culture -- especially its political culture -- saw good and evil as white and black. In that context, Star Trek not only fit, it was progressive. And Star Trek VI is a great chapter in that world which, for many, lives on. But the real world has evolved while the future world of Kirk and the crew has stayed, paradoxically, in the past. To a world that's learned to see shades of gray, and even pieces of the rainbow, Star Trek VI is just a comic book brought to life.
But the story is recycled and stale. Federation vs. Klingons vs. Romulans... you only get so many possible combinations before you *have* to recycle. And the two-dimensional characters that played so well in the late 60s -- Kirk's swagger and defiance of regulations, McCoy's crusty wisecracking past the graveyard, Sulu's cheerful and unquestioning loyalty, and the Klingons' I-double-dare-you truculence -- don't play in a world that's learned that characters have three dimensions. Only Spock ("Logic is the beginning of wisdom, not the ending") and one of the Klingons ("Kirk ... don't let it end like this") seem to have evolved at all.
In its original incarnation, Star Trek's drama fit the times. It was the Cold War era, and American culture -- especially its political culture -- saw good and evil as white and black. In that context, Star Trek not only fit, it was progressive. And Star Trek VI is a great chapter in that world which, for many, lives on. But the real world has evolved while the future world of Kirk and the crew has stayed, paradoxically, in the past. To a world that's learned to see shades of gray, and even pieces of the rainbow, Star Trek VI is just a comic book brought to life.