fardell24

41 Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Rewatch. The fourth Star Trek movie. The 'one with the whales'. One of the best of the lot. The environmental message isn't hamfisted. The focus is rather on the former Enterprise officers dealing with 1986 San Francisco and on Spock recovering from his experience (although the latter has less focus). The story of the probe and the role of the whales in answering it, drives much of the plot, but isn't the focus, as noted above. There is also Gillian, who is confronted not only with the whales leaving, but also these strange men who show up at the Cetacean Institute.
She finds herself drawn to Kirk, and wonders what it is about him that interests her. This leads her to investigate Kirk and then to help them with the whales. Kirk has toe gain her confidence in order to get her to help. This is made more difficult as Spock's actions (especially his mind-meld with Gracie, while swimming with her and George) give her reasons to not trust them. However she does help them rescue Chekov. Of course, a Russian being caught on a US Navy Aircraft carrier is serious business in 1986.
The consequences of this fact are also quite well presented. The climactic chase through the hospital is as comedic as the rest of the film. But the main appeal of the film is the culture clash between the officers and the people they meet (especially their interaction with the punk on the bus). The discussion of 'colorful metaphors' is particularly good. Overall, this film is very good, one of the best of the original series films. 9/10.