8. The Ovation - Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Paramount PicturesOther commentators have pointed out that, even though Star Trek VI is one of the best movies in the franchise, director Nicholas Meyer makes a few decisions that go beyond "questionable" into the realm of "effin' crazy." One of them is the climactic scene in which Kirk saves the President of the Federation, reveals the conspiracy that resulted in the death of the Chancellor, and then delivers the very understated and beautiful line "People can be very frightened of change." The Chancellor's daughter responds by saying, "You've restored my father's faith," to which Kirk replies, "And you've restored my son's." The scene ends on that beautiful note, and the movie proceeds to the last scene in which... Oh, wait. No, it doesn't. Instead, some jackass in the crowd starts one of those sarcastic slow claps; then someone else picks up on it and thinks, "You know, they really
did do something great just now!" Then the whole place erupts into applause. Kirk smiles in acknowledgement of the applause, because, as we all know, he thinks he deserves it. And then Sulu and Scotty, who have done a
few things to help out in all this, walk up to the dais Kirk is standing on, stand below him on either side, turn...and, as one writer has called it, "strike a pose." A few years back, there was talk of a Star Trek opera in the works. We have a feeling that this is what the curtain calls would look like, with some roses thrown in. For that matter, it destroys one of the few times William Shatner actually
is understated and subtle in his performance, and that's even more worthy of a cringe.