20 Things You Didn't Know About Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

For full transparency from the beginning: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is this author's favourite Star Trek film. It simply works on every level, and also pulls off one of the most spectacular saves in the history of the franchise.

Star Trek was teetering on the edge of the abyss after the release of Star Trek V. It was almost universally panned, and The Next Generation was beginning to succeed on the small screen. That could have been the end for Kirk and crew, but thankfully enough people in Paramount felt that they needed one last hurrah.

Reflecting modern political issues, The Undiscovered Country opens with a bang, very literally, then proceeds not like an action film, but morphs into a tense thriller, incorporating murder mystery themes, the time-honoured ticking clock, and a genuinely startling set of twists and turns. It contains many of the darker elements that would begin to frequent Star Trek, including the infamous line that is spat by Kirk near the film's beginning.

It may have been the end for many of the Original Series' crew, but Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country proved that there was plenty of life left in the franchise.

At the tender age of 26, Cliff Eidelman was hired to score Star Trek VI. Tonally, the music is completely different from what had come in the previous five films. This was at the urging of Nick Meyer, who gave Eidelman his blessing to really get into the darkness of the film. He also had choice words about both Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner - there was no way Eidelman was going to replicate their style, so there was no point in trying.

Eidelman secured the gig by, after one conversation with Meyer, going home and writing the Main Title overture that appears in the final film. There were still some hurdles to jump through, including convincing Ron Roose, the editor, that he was right for the role.

In an unusual move at the time, Eidelman was able to score the film's trailer. That music appears in the Overture and the Battle for Peace. His own personal favourite cues include these pieces, along with Rura Penthe and Escape from Rura Penthe, the latter of which allowed a full flourish from the orchestra.

Speaking to TrekMovie in 2016, he explained his inclusion of Alexander Courage's theme at the end of the film. He said, quite simply, that a Star Trek film simply couldn't end without that piece of music to wrap everything up. A short 45-minute score was released at the time, with an expanded edition hitting the shelves in 2012.