Star Trek II - IV: The Spock Trilogy - 10 Things You Never Knew
4. Star Trek IV: The Last Film Where These Stars Were The ONLY Stars Of Trek And Delivers A Message
Star Trek 4 The Voyage Home reunites the cast, Nimoy included, for a timely eco-friendly message. In the mid-'80s, the nuclear race was well into its latter act and the Cold War was heading toward its end. Eco-destruction was proceeding with gusto and many animal species were in decline.
Nimoy took on the Directing job again here, delivering a film that is directly inspired by the threats that the natural kingdom were facing from mankind. On initial return to the 20th century, Spock is able to tell the year they are in by the amount of pollution in the Ozone. Many references are made to the destructive power of Man. The sequence with the whaler looks like it was taken from documentary footage (up to a point!).
And yet, the film doesn't come across as preachy. It was a conscious choice on the part of the writers to start to bring the tone of the films back in a positive direction. The Wrath of Khan had ended in a dark place and the Search for Spock had featured the death of David. In The Voyage Home, not only does no one die but the threat comes from a probe unable to understand why there are no whales alive to answer it, prompting the crew to save more lives. It is a film celebrating life and the comedy that exists therein.