Greetings, Dear Reader. It’s early afternoon here in New Hometown, Florida on Tuesday, September 7, 2021. It is a hot, rainy, and overall dreary day. The current temperature is 89˚F (29˚C) under rainy conditions. With humidity at 63% and the wind blowing from the west-northwest at 4 MPH (7 KM/H), the feels-like temperature is 91˚F (33˚C). The forecast for the day calls for thunderstorms to move through through our area. The high will be 90˚F (32˚C) Tonight, skies will be partly cloudy. The low will be 73˚F (23˚C). The Air Quality Index (AQI) is 63 or Moderate.
As I predicted, I will not receive my box set of Star Trek: The Original 4-Movie Collection today. And considering that the supply and distribution issue that is affecting all of the retailers and not just Amazon, I long ago resigned myself to the reality that I might have to wait a week or two before I receive my order, even though I pre-ordered it back in July. [1]
And since the box set includes actor-director Leonard Nimoy’s Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, I thought I’d share a review that I wrote of that film – a fan favorite that had massive crossover appeal 35 years ago – back in 1986 for my college campus’ student newspaper.
Without further ado, here it is:
Star Trek IV – a treat you will enjoy this holiday season
Alex Diaz- Granados
Copy Editor
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, actor-director Leonard Nimoy’s second entry in the continuing saga of Admiral Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and the rest of the crew, is the best film in the series to date.
It’s a holiday present sure to please.
The Voyage Home takes up the story three months after the rescue of Spock from the doomed Genesis planet.
Self-exiled on Vulcan with his officers, Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) has saved his friend, but at great cost – his son is dead, his beloved Enterprise destroyed and his career is in jeopardy.
Meanwhile, the Klingons are demanding the Federation Council extradite Kirk for his “crimes against galactic peace,” (if stopping a Klingon plot to take Genesis can be called criminal) and warn there will be no peace as long as Kirk remains alive.
But there is a bigger threat to Earth’s existence – a strange alien probe is immobilizing everything in its path as it heads toward our solar system. It threatens to destroy Kirk’s home world unless it receives a reply to its signal – which is not intended for man.
On their way home to face the consequences of their actions, Kirk and his crew come across Earth’s distress signal and realize that the answer to the problem lies not in the 23rd Century but in the San Francisco of the past – 1986, to be exact.
Star Trek IV’s main strengths, its light-hearted approach (in contrast to The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock) and its clever mixture of adventure, comedy, suspense and even a dash of courtroom drama, definitely show that Nimoy, who, in addition to writing the story with producer Harve Bennett, also plays a “new and improved” Spock, has a feel for the characters and their environment.
This should be a box office smash.
And yes, Virginia, there will be a Star Trek V.
© 1986, 2021 Alex Diaz-Granados and Catalyst
[1] On the other hand, my 4K UHD Blu-ray set with Zack Snyder’s Justice League shipped out early this morning – sometime after midnight – and will arrive tomorrow.
A Certain Point of View, Too 