Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

"You're proposing that we go backwards in time, find humpback whales, then bring them foward in time, drop 'em off, and hope to Hell they tell this probe what to do with itself!"

- Leonard "Bones" McCoy

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is an American science fiction/adventure film and the fourth installment in the original Star Trek movie series. It directed by Leonard Nimoy, best known for also portraying the character of Spock. The screenplay was co-written by Nimoy as well as producer Harve Bennett and writers Steve Meerson, Peter Krikes and Nicholas Meyer. Produced by Paramount Pictures, it was released theatrically in the United States on November 26th, 1986. The film stars the original primary cast members of the first Star Trek television series including William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Walter Koenig and Nichelle Nichols. Recurring guest stars from the franchise includes Mark Lenard as Sarek and Robin Curtis, briefly reprising her role as Lieutenant Saavik.

The film opens with the crew of the now-destroyed USS Enterprise returning to Federation space aboard a Klingon Bird-of-Prey when they discover that a dangerous space probe is threatening to destroy the planet Earth unless it receives a special response to its transmission - a transmission that can only be answered by the song of humpback whales - a species that went extinct several hundred years ago. The crew of the ship is forced to travel back in time to the year 1986 to bring two humpback whales back with them in the hopes that their song may satisfy the distress beacon from the space probe and thus avert global annihilation.

Notes & Trivia

 * Production on Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home began on February 24th, 1986. Principal filming concluded on May 5th, 1986.


 * Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was released theatrically in the UK on April 10th, 1987.


 * Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was first released to home video in VHS and Betamax formats on September 30th, 1987. It was re-released under the Director's Series banner on March 12th, 1992 in widescreen letterbox format. It was first released to DVD on November 9th, 1999. The Special Collector's Edition DVD, with the silver trim cover art, was released on March 4th, 2003. Along with the other films in the series, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was released on Blu-ray by Paramount Home Video on May 11th, 2009.


 * DC Comics published a on-shot 64-page comic book adaptation of the film as part of its DC Movie Special series in 1987.


 * This film marks the first appearance of the starship USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A. This ship is also featured in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.