One of my favorite Star Trek movies. Mostly because there’s a variety of character focus, locations and it has a lot of action. It also serves as an allegory for the end of the Cold War between USSR and USA and a setup for major plot-points to be featured in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (Khitomer Accords, Section 31).
It was also a relatively cheap movie in comparison to modern films. The vast majority of the ship interiors were repurposed from Star Trek: The Next Generation (officer’s galley, sick bay, warp core), and some special effects were recycled in Star Trek: Generations (Bird of Prey destruction, Excelcior class damage). Michael Dorn was hired to play an unnamed Klingon lawyer (which would eventually become an ancestor of Worf) simply because he was in the next sound stage.
Just something really good and family friendly to put on — even for non Trek fans.
Re-screened January 19, 2023 on HBO Max.
