The One With The Whales… 

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I just gotta point out how much I respect that they destroyed the enterprise, and KEPT IT DESTROYED for one whole movie.

IV Demonstrated the strength of years of good character development. You could take these people out of their ship, uniforms, and setting, put them in a fish out of water story and watching them interact and solve problems together felt every bit like Star Trek.

What I remember is leaving the theater, thinking, "They really captured the humor of Star Trek with this one." The line that cemented it for me was, "Everybody remember where we parked."

“Don’t tell me, you’re from outer space” “no, I’m from Iowa. I only work in outer space” classic Kirk

Missed one of the best moments: Spock and Sarek reconciled. "Tell my mother I feel fine."

I like the part where Scotty tries to give verbal instructions to a computer. 37 years later not only can we do that and be understood by AI but we even have transparent aluminium.

"If my suspicions are correct, there can be no response to this message." Always found that statement so chilling coming from Spock.

I always loved the fact that, even though humanity was exploring the stars, they still couldn’t figure out the language of the humpback whales.

"Star Trek - The one with the Whales" is definitively the funniest one 😁

After 2 and 3, we really needed a pick-up story. This is one of my favorites.

My favorite part of the movie is when Dr. McCoy, Kirk and Taylor go to rescue Chekov in the hospital. Bones' reaction to the primitive 20th century medicine is hilarious, and is totally in character for him. There's a throwaway bit where he sees a woman who's in the hospital for dialysis, and he gives her a pill. Later, she's celebrating in a wheelchair shouting, "The doctor gave me a pill and I grew a new kidney!" It does have some slapstick bits, but I do think the whole scene captures the spirit of Trek, that things can get much better in the future, and medicine is probably the area where future generations will think we were barbarians, much like Bones.

Some actual good fun family entertainment with an environmental message that doesn’t punch you in the face.

I've always considered "Star Trek IV: Save the Whales!" a breath of fresh air in the movie series. For once, the rest of the cast got to do something besides react and "run lines." Kirk Thatcher as "the Punk on the bus with the Boombox," came up with a "fake Punk" song that continues to resound over the decades. Mr. Scott gets to "address the computer," Hikaru Sulu flies a helicopter, Chekov and Uhura get to spy on "nuclear wessels," Dr. McCoy gets to trash "20th century medicine," then there are the "colorful metaphors" made famous by "The Literary Masters," Harold Robbins and Jacquelyn Susann! Nothing like having fun while saving the world...again.;)

The real whales were the friends we made along the way.

My grandfather took me to see this at the cinema. It was the first Star Trek I saw on the big screen, and the memory of my spending time with my late grandfather will stay with me forever. One thing that's always made me chuckle is that they only used animatronic whales, but the usual sort still protested it and wrote angry letters. Sorry people in the 1980s, some things will never change.

The thing people forget is that many Star Trek episodes didn't have a "villain", but more an obstacle to overcome. Yes, there were dangers, but no one to fight directly. "This Side of Paradise", "Operation: Annihilate" , "The Immunity Syndrome", "Amok Time". Heck, in most of the Kirk destroys computer episodes it wasn't that the original programmers were evil, just misguided and the computers really couldn't handle the subtleties of human thought and emotion.

It was many years before I knew the whales were animatronic models. Amazing work they did, and the way the on screen chemistry came through was great. It takes many years to have chemistry like that

Voyage Home is my second favorite of the Trek movies, behind only Wrath of Khan. It absolutely fits with classic Star Trek's lighter episodes. Kirk's "A double dumba** on you!" is comedy gold.

Always enjoyed Star Trek on TV when I was a kid in the 70s, but it was Star Trek IV which turned me into a hard core Trekkie. The humour in the movie works with the characters being put in a fish out of water situation and environment they are not familiar with. One of the very best of the movies.

That alien cigar shape probe was similar to Oumuamua that recently passed Earth.

During TOS we had a number of episodes where the crew the Enterprise somehow end up in Earth's past, so IV is very in keeping with TOS. Also, most TOS episodes were NOT about space war, but were about solving quirky problems which is also what IV is about. IV is very in keeping with TOS and is only being done on a larger scale with a movie budget. IV may be a change of pace for the movies, but in many ways is the most typical of classic Trek.

I have nothing but love for this film. It's in the same bracket as The Goonies, where critical analysis doesn't even apply, it's pure joy

The morbid thing about renaming the USS Yorktown to the USS Enterprise-A was that the Yorktown was shown at the beginning of the movie, and its crew didn't survive the encounter with the probe.

A good copy of this kind of film is 'Galaxy Quest' back in 1999. It somehow pokes fun at the Stat Trek universe while being respectful at the same time. Jason Nesmith is one of my favorite starship captions. And the all-star cast did a fantastic job, too.

“Obviously too much LDS at Berkeley.” Will never get old for me.

I remember seeing this film as a young man on opening night. Star Trek IV came out shortly after the Challenger explosion which really shook up the USA at the time. Its message, positivity, & light hearted humor was such a warm welcome.

They cared about the franchise and thought about what they were making. I miss that level of professionalism and pride.

In 1986 the whaling moratorium had not started and whale populations had almost reached the point of no return. It was really quite depressing at the time. I wonder how much this film improved whales' lot? A superb Trek film as well!

I consider this my favorite movie, as it feels the most like the series. I do wish Takei's scenes, where he meets his great-great-grandfather were not lost.

I loved that they gave Uhura an opportunity to display her skills with audio tech when she had to adjust the probe signal for sea density. That hasn't happened since the original series when she had to climb into the the crawl space under her consul and repair circuitry with a space soldering gun.

Compared to what trek is now all the TOS films are bangers. I still enjoy rewatching them, yes even 5, as they still never fail to entertain.

After the dark tone of the previous two films, it was nice to see the cast having a bit of fun. It kind of reminds me of "Tomorrow is Yesterday." Each cast member got a chance to shine. It is purely 80's, but any time travel film is going to be locked into the era it is set in. I still enjoy this movie today, because I am an 80's kid.

I watched this on VHS around the time I was recovering from a perforated stomach ulcer. It took my mind off my problems and it's still my second favourite Star Trek movie after Wrath Of Khan.

Probably my favorite Star Trek movie. Great stuff.

I can't even begin to express how much fun that movie was! 😎

We still need a murder mystery sequel focusing on the sudden disappearance of Dr. Gillian Taylor. What happened to her after she fled the aquarium in a rage? Did Bob Briggs murder her? Or maybe he saw the perfect opportunity to abduct her without anyone knowing. The police will have questions!

I think Nicholas Meyer deserved so much praise for his contribution to this film as well as II and VI. I highly recommend one of his earlier films 'Time After Time' which had a lot of parallels to The Voyage Home. Meyer's interviews are also incredibly wonderful to watch, great sense of humour and very intellectual in knowing how an audience's mind works and to surprise them with a real dry wit.

I decided to watch it. The introductory orchestral soundtrack as the credits roll just baffled me. I had forgotten how great the original movies were. They put you in such an excellent mood. You want to call family members, you want to sit by a fireplace after a long day at work. Thank you!

This is my favorite "TOS" ST movies. "Well Double Damn on you!" :)

Always loved this one as a kid, but pretty much enjoyed them all as a Star Trek fan.

What always amazed me, even now so long later is how well those whales look .. because except for a couple of wildlife shots or shots from whaling documentaries there were no real whales in the movie

In 1986 I was 21 and working in the West End of London. I went to see this movie after work in Leicester Square and found myself sitting behind a middle-aged couple who were obviously huge Trek fans. When the Alexander Courage theme struck up at the beginning, the man briefly bounced in his seat with excitement. That's how wonderful it was to see these films back then. What a happy time.

Was a damn great film back in the day!

This film is a great example of how to have 'a message' , instead of pushing "THE MESSAGE". A few subtle hints here and there, then leaving it there without having it front and centre of every single frame.

Great analysis. I didn't mind the "center" portion of the film set in the past, but honestly it was the beginning and ending sandwich parts I found the most intriguing: the brief scene of the USS Saratoga and crew, Spock's computer training regime, the Klingon ambassador tearing into Kirk's actions, Spock's farewell to his father, and the "ta-da!" of the new Enterprise at the end all make up why I just love those Harve Bennett portions of the film.

This movie always reminded me of the light-hearted episodes like The Trouble with Tribbles and the Harry Mudd ones.

I love this film so much, a real masterpiece and immensely satisfying for OG series fans. Nothing about this film to dislike unless your crazy...

I had the chance to watch this film in the theaters when it first came out. At the time I was living in a community where a very large percentage of the community were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There is that scene where Spock was wearing his traditional Vulcan robes and Dr. Taylor asks Admiral Kirk what is up with his friend, and Kirk, slightly misremembering his history tells her, "Oh, him? He's harmless. Back in the sixties, he was part of the free speech movement at Berkeley. I think he did a little too much LDS." The auditorium absolutely ROCKED with laughter. I think the audience was delighted that not only was there a truly funny joke that referenced their faith in a Star Trek film, but that it was all in good fun without being even the slightest bit derogatory or having any mean spiritedness. I could hear a couple of people repeating the joke to each other and laughing as I left the cineplex. I remember the experience and the film quite fondly. Thanks Dave!

Love ST4! Visited the aquarium and was gaga walking down the same steps as Kirk & Spock! Also met Walter at DragonCon and he personally told me the "Nuclear Wessels" story. (About the woman they had to chase down to get her approval to be in the movie.) I love that this one doesn't have a big-bad villain. I think the current Star Trek should emulate *THIS* movie instead of Wrath of Khan.

I like the scene of Spock and Sarek at the end a lot. “Your associates are people of good character”…..Spock says “They are my friends” 👍🏽

Every time I think of Eddie Murphy being in this movie, I immediately remember Superman 3 with Richard Pryor

Nuclear wessels

What makes the OG film series so great is that each of the six movies is so unique in terms of story and style. After First Contact, every Next Gen and reboot film was a "revenge" story

I remember watching this in the theatre. When Enterprise A showed up, the whole audience applauded and cheered. It was a wonderful thing to be a part of.

This film brought back Star Trek back to prominence imo and helped pave the way for TNG.

I was in grade school when this movie came out - the whole "save the whales" schtick was pretty prevalent at the time (even at 10 years old I thought it was a little over the top and cliche, used to sell things and convince others to change their behavior through do-goodism). I didn't see this movie until I was in my early 20's, and I was pleasantly surprised, and now I can't really watch this film without watching the entire unofficial trilogy of II through IV. Definitely always worth watching when I see it on TV - the humor is great and not overdone, as you stated, and appropriate for the story.

Kirk is the Prince of Whales. 🙃

"Well a double dumbass on you!" one of the greatest quotes of James T Kirk.

It always comes back to the writing. And staying true to the origin of the franchise - the lore, if you will

It makes me smile how I simply read the phrase "the one with the whales" and instantly knew which Star Trek movie you meant.

You're right, the comedy works because it comes out of the characters. This movie is similar in many ways to Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade, which was also much more lighthearted than its predecessors and worked because the humour was genuinely funny and often delightful. That movie also made a perfect, satisfying ending to the trilogy.

Yeah this is my favourite of the TOS crew movies, the tone and style of the film reminded me of the tone and style of such classic TOS episodes like 'The Trouble with Tribbles' and 'Piece of the Action'. Have to say kind of glad that Murphy bowed out, did not know that about the production, I think Catherine Hicks and her character was a great part of the movie.

I find myself watching these "old classics" more and more these days. I think it's funny that you (Dave) have been doing a lot of reviews lately of them. It shows the terrible state we are in these days with a lack of good quality content. Yes. The "good ole days" may be a real thing.

Remember when characters were fun, and interesting, and you a whole film could be based around basically hanging out with them for a couple hours.

This is the only one I had on VHS.

An excellent film. So fun and in keeping with time travel episodes of the series.

Definitely a great closing to the best story written for Trek, in this fan's opinion. On a personal note, I love the epicness of the "BACK OFF" moment when the BoP decloaks in front of the whaler.

I always thought the alien probe looked like a Slim Jim with a soccer ball coming out of it...

This is my favorite of the ST films. The film, being shot in San Francisco, missed an absolutely golden opportunity! I would have loved to see a seen where Kirk and Spock spot a "fellow" in only chaps and wondering if he is an extraterrestrial, they follow him into a leather bar to ask him. They both enter, the door closes and instantly (sharp cut edit), they both exit looking astonishingly perplexed! Spock turns to Kirk and says, "It's life Captain. But not as we know it!"

It’s like they said, “Hey, let’s remake Star Trek I, but make it a comedy!”

“Now wait just a damn minute……..” 😂😂😂😂😂😂

No villain - what a concept!

Loved that movie, "Double dumb ass on you"

This film is the perfect gateway to Star Trek: My sister used to rant about Star Trek all the time. So one day, I showed her this film. Now she can't get enough of Star Trek.

I love the dialogues of the characters. There are so many funny dialogues and I couldn't even choose the best one.

I loved this one! "Computer, hello computer?" I do that with my mouse at least once a month 😂

TOS had tons of humor and camp in it. It subverted expectations and still holds up.

Interesting side note when Scotty and Doc. Mc Coy get the plastic needed to transport the whales they get it by giving the formula for transparent aluminum. Transparent aluminum now exists!

My first exposure to punk music that I can recall lol. It’s funny how one short part in a movie had such impact on me

The bit with the mouse is the most memorable part of the movie to me, for some reason. Well done.

I was middle school age in 1986 and I really loved watching this movie over and over again.

I unironically adore this movie.

Lots of funny one-liners. And a good romp. It's a Star Trek movie to give you some time to relax between catastrophes.

What a joy to have seen Star Trek IV during its theatrical release, but it was watching on television years later that I realized how much Star Trek IV allowed the entire cast to have some wonderful moments. Star Trek turns the crew into family and I really enjoyed seeing everyone on the ground, mixing with the locals. Thank you for some great memories, Dave.

This is what we need now family fun, light hearted movies

This one is special to me. It was the first film I remember seeing in theatres at age 6. Still love it today.

Just like in The Trouble with Tribbles, Trek always needed a light moment. They're people too with days that are just humorously strange. The 20th century bits of IV are reminiscent of City on the Edge of Forever.

When I was a kid, my dad (a huge Trek geek) took me to the Monterey Bay Aquarium every other weekend. Imagine my surprise when at 10 years old, seeing this movie for the first time, I saw all my favorite characters roaming around one of the places I'd spent so much of my time growing up.

I love The Voyage Home. I do not love Picard Season 3 which follows on, not from this film or the Trek we love (however many 'memberberries it uses,) but from the abysmal Picard Seasons 1 & 2. It's one show and not a thing on it's own. You said in your last video we should walk away from the bad stuff, this is an excellent illustration of why we can't, people keep reminding us!

My fave!!!!!! Edit: "....he did too much LDS...."😂😂😂😂

"Can't find it? Try the Yellow Pages!" Talk about a blast from the past...

I've seen all of them. From 'The Original MP' in the theater when I was about 8 (I was born in 71). This entry is far and away my favorite. I watched it over and over again, on VHS when I was stationed in Germany in the Army.

My wife refers to this Star Trek as “rebar in space”.

This was my first Star Trek movie, and I absolutely fell in love with the franchise because of it.

Love all the “old” Trek stuff and this one is a gem. Could watch it anytime from any point in the movie

Humpback people?

I loved your comment “the studio does not understand Star Trek”. I have been saying that for 50 years.

This one is my personal favorite of the films. I always enjoy when Star Trek is able to have fun at times and is not always serious end of the world stuff. This is just one of those feel good movies that can always uplift you.

My parents first date was going to this film. Quite literally, I wouldn't be alive without this film. 🤣