Yo, what's up, my friends?

This is your friendly group contributor here with another thread.

Today, following my analysis on "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock", I'm gonna give you guys my take of "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home".

Here's the rundown of this adventure:

In the wake of Spock's revival on Vulcan, Kirk and the rest of the gang head for Earth via the captured Klingon vessel, the Bird of Prey, to face the consequences of their actions to bring Spock back.

Before they could reach Earth, though, the crew discover that the planet is being attacked by an alien probe. Its intentions turns out to be communicate with something on the planet that isn't human. That thing being a humpback whale because its sounds match the creature's song.

Unfortunately, the whale went extinct long before the 23rd century. With no alternative, Kirk and his friends travel back in time to the year 1986, intending on finding a live humpback whale to bring back with them so that it can communicate to the probe in order to save Earth.

Will they find a whale? Or will Earth and its inhabitants be doomed to extinction?

I remember seeing this movie once when I was a child, really. My Dad rented it back when Blockbuster was open, and that was before I got into Star Trek and learned the film was part of one big story.

Seeing it again recently after all this time, I'd like to start by saying that I can see why it's such a popular member of the franchise. Everything about this movie was enjoyable from start to finish.

For instance, the direction by Leonard Nimoy, the story by him and Harve Bennett, and the screenplay by Bennet, Nicholas Meyer, Steve Meerson, and Peter Krikes were absolutely splendid.

The incorporation of humpback whales and the role they played in the movie was something that I found to be very unique. I'm aware that the film didn't depict the first time Kirk and the others went back in time, but their other ventures doing so were usually because of some sort of accident. Combined together, Nimoy and the writers not only came up with a fresh concept for a time travel story, but it had a message that was greatly encouraging and true, which is to value the fellow life on our planet and treat it with care. Along with that, the humorous spirit the film had was all-out hilarious, and there was a side dish of compelling emotion and heart to go with it.

The music by Leonard Rosenman was amazing as well. Admittedly, for some reason I thought that James Horner would be returning to compose the score since he pretty much left his mark as a true Star Trek musician with his work on the previous two films. When I found that Rosenman was composer for this movie, though, I was deeply surprised. Rosenman did a brilliant job at making the music his own, and there was a resonance to it that greatly reflected the emotions of the story, direction, and characters.

Finally, the acting, characters, and character development were wonderful.

All of the people who portrayed the regular characters we know and love gave phenomenal performances. William Shatner as Kirk, Leonard Nimoy as Spock, James Doohan as Scotty, everybody! It was especially in a way like they were having all the fun in the world. To top it all off, Catherine Hicks portrayed Dr. Gillian Taylor with grand personality and sense of dimensionalism, and the character development of the lead characters throughout the film was nicely worked.

The only thing I would like to point out is that once the crew arrived in the year 1986, there seemed to be a handful of cuss words here and there. I get that this movie was obviously made before the PG-13 rating was invented, but I felt that it was crossing the line on whether a PG was appropriate for it or not.

In the end, though, "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" is not only another sequel that'll beat "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" in a throw down, but it's the prefect conclusion to the three-story saga started by "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan".

So, I rate "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" five out of five stars.

As interested as I am in reviewing Star Trek 5 & 6, I'd like to take a little break from the series. There are other things I'd like to analyze, and I'm rather "Trekked" out at the moment.

For now, however...