Star Trek: 10 Times Opening Credits Spoiled The Surprise

8. Michael Dorn - Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Star Trek Worf Undiscovered Country
Paramount PIctures

The sixth film to feature the Star Trek crew was a celebration and an ending. The critical failure of The Final Frontier was the finale that no one wanted for Kirk and crew, so The Undiscovered Country was conceived as a send-off that suited these heroes. Though not the first Original Series film that was produced during The Next Generation's run, it did feature some serious crossovers.

The famous opening credits to the film feature a bombastic overture by composer Cliff Eidelmann while the list of names tick by. After the main cast, there were some eyebrow-raising revelations - Iman, Christopher Plummer, Brock Peters, Michael Dorn...wait, what?

The film was produced as the series was between its fourth and fifth seasons, so by now, audiences were very familiar with Starfleet's (then) only Klingon officer, Worf. So, seeing him in the opening credits was certainly a bit confusing! Confusing, but exciting. We had a vague idea of Worf's age, but at that point, not much had been confirmed, and Klingons do tend to live longer than humans.

Then, Kirk and McCoy stood trial. Sure, it wasn't our Worf at all, but Colonel Worf - the former's grandfather - a somewhat useless defence lawyer. This was a case where the name in the credits helped to build excitement that paid off nicely. It's a small cameo part, with another scene added back in to the director's cut later on, but it was a nice connection to The Next Generation as well. 

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Seán is the host and head writer/presenter for TrekCulture, as well as a writer/presenter on WhoCulture and WhatCulture Horror. He has authored two novels, dozens of short stories, and hundreds of articles for WhatCulture. He holds a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from University College Dublin. As part of his work with TrekCulture, Seán has been invited to participate in collaborations with Roddenberry Entertainment, as well as contributing to several Star Trek community projects. An avid fan of Star Trek, Doctor Who, and the horror genre at large, Seán's expertise has helped develop these channels to the successes they are today. As host of the Ups & Downs series on TrekCulture, Seán has become internationally recognised for his positive yet critically informed approach to reviewing every episode of modern Star Trek, ensuring he is one of the go-to voices in the Trek community. Favourite Quote to describe himself: "I'm serious about what I do, just not always about the way that I do it"