Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Synopsis: Final Star Trek feature film featuring the cast of the original science fiction series. In this episode the aging crew must stop a plot to prevent a peace treaty between the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets.
An explicit reference to Hamlet (III.i.79) in the title, the film itself is full of Shakespeareana. Shakespearean actor Christopher Plummer as villainous Klingon General Chang quotes Shakespeare throughout (see notes) and the shapeshifting chameloid Martia (played by Iman) paraphrases Hamlet when she says, "I thought I would assume a pleasing shape" (cf. II.ii.602).
Series: Star Trek
Language: English
Country: United States
Medium: Film
Technical information: Colour / Sound
Year of release: 1991
Duration: 113 mins

Director

Nicholas Meyer

Producer

Cinematographer

Hiro Narita

Writer

Lawrence Konner; Leonard Nimoy; Mark Rosenthal

Screenplay

Denny Martin Flinn; Nicholas Meyer

Music

Cliff Eidelman

Costume

Dodie Shephard

Art Direction

Nilo Rodis-Jameiro

Cast

Brock Peters	Admiral Cartwright
Christopher Plummer	General Chang
David Warner	Chancellor Gorkon
DeForest Kelley	Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
George Takei	Captain Hikaru Sulu
Grace Lee Whitney	Commander Janice Rand
Iman	Martia
James Doohan	Captain Montgomery Scott
John Schuck	Klingon Ambassador
Kim Cattrall	Lieutenant Valeris
Kurtwood Smith	Federation President
Leon Russom	Starfleet Commander in Chief
Leonard Nimoy	Captain Spock
Mark Lenard	Ambassador Sarek
Nichelle Nichols	Commander Uhura
Walter Koenig	Commander Pavel Chekov
William Shatner	Captain James T. Kirk

Notes: Quotes from Shakespeare’s plays include:
Hamlet (I.iii; II.ii; III.i; V.i; V.ii)
Romeo and Juliet (II.ii)
2 Henry IV (III.ii)
Richard II (III.ii)
Henry V (III.ii)
Julius Caesar (III.i; III.ii)
The Tempest (III.i)
The Merchant of Venice (III.i)
General: In one of the film’s scenes Chancellor Gorkon, a Klingon, claims that one has never "experienced Shakespeare" (specifically, Hamlet) until his works are read in "the original Klingon" language, to which General Chang replies: "taH pagh, taH be?". In 1996, linguists from the Klingon Language Institute (Philadelphia) actually did publish The Klingon Hamlet (ISBN 0671035789). A paperback version followed in 2000, published by Pocket Books (ISBN 0671035789).
The variety of Shakespeare/Star Trek connections has been the subject of numerous essays. This database lists only those episodes or feature films in which the Shakespeare reference goes beyond a single quotation (various episode titles are borrowed from Shakespeare plays).
Figures: Budget: $ 30.000.000 estimate (imdb)
Gross: $ 94.000.000 worlwide (imdb)
Awards: Nominated for 2 Oscars in 1992:
Best Effects, Sound Effects Editing
George Watters II, F. Hudson Miller
Best Makeup
Michael Mills, Ed French, Richard Snell

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