Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Plot

Cast

• William Shatner as James T. Kirk, the captain of the USS Enterprise. Despite his personal hatred of the Klingons for killing his son David, Kirk is ordered to escort the Klingon High Chancellor to Earth. Shatner felt that though dramatic, the script made Kirk look too prejudiced.
• Leonard Nimoy as Spock, the Enterprise science officer and second-in-command. Spock first opens negotiations with the Klingons after the destruction of Praxis and volunteers Kirk and the Enterprise to escort Chancellor Gorkon to Earth.
• DeForest Kelley as Leonard McCoy, the chief medical officer of the Enterprise. Kelley's appearance as McCoy in The Undiscovered Country was his last live-action role before his death in 1999. With Leonard Nimoy as the film's executive producer, the 71-year old Kelley was paid for his role, assuring a comfortable retirement for the actor. Kelley and Shatner shot their prison scenes over the course of six to eight nights; the two actors got to know each other better than they ever had.
• James Doohan as Montgomery Scott, chief engineer aboard Enterprise. Scott discovers the assassins' clothing hidden in the dining room shortly before the two men are found dead.
• George Takei as Hikaru Sulu, captain of the USS Excelsior; despite having taken his own command, Sulu remains loyal to his old friends aboard the Enterprise. The Undiscovered Country marked the first canonical mention of Sulu's first name, which was first mentioned in Vonda McIntyre's 1981 novel The Entropy Effect. It was included when Peter David, author of the film's comic book adaptation, visited the set and convinced Nicholas Meyer to insert it.
• Walter Koenig as Pavel Chekov, navigator and security officer on Enterprise. Chekov finds Klingon blood by the transporter pads, leading Spock to widen his search of the ship.
• Nichelle Nichols as Uhura, the Enterprise communications officer. Uhura was supposed to give a dramatic speech in Klingon during the film, but midway through production the speech was scrapped and a scene where Uhura is speaking garbled Klingon while surrounded by books was added for extra humor. Nichols protested the scene, wondering why there were still books in the 23rd century, but accepted the change since it would be the last Star Trek film she would appear in. Being African-American, Nichols was uncomfortable with some of the dialogue's racial undertones. Nichols was originally to speak the line "Guess who's coming to dinner" as the Klingons arrive on the Enterprise; Nichols refused to say the line, which was given to Koenig's character in the final print. Nichols also refused to say the line "yes, but would you like your daughter to marry one ", and it was dropped from the film altogether.
• Kim Cattrall as Valeris, the Enterprise new helmsman and the first Vulcan to graduate at the top of her class at Starfleet Academy. Valeris is the protégé of Captain Spock, who intends her to be his replacement. Initially, the character of Saavik, who appeared in the second through fourth Star Trek films, was intended to be the traitor, but Gene Roddenberry objected to making a character loved by fans into a villain. Cattrall was unwilling to be the third actress to play Saavik, but accepted the role when it became a different character. Cattrall chose the Eris element of the character's name, for the Greek goddess of strife, which was Vulcanized by the addition of the "Val" at the behest of director Nicholas Meyer. Cinefantastique reported that Cattrall participated in a photo shoot during filming on the empty Enterprise bridge, wearing nothing but her Vulcan ears. Nimoy ripped up the photographs when he learned about the unauthorized photo session, because he feared harm to the franchise if it ever came to light.
• Christopher Plummer as Chang, a one-eyed Klingon general who serves as Gorkon's chief of staff. Plummer and Shatner had performed together in various acting roles in Montreal. Meyer wrote the role for Plummer, who was initially reluctant to accept it.
• David Warner as Gorkon, the chancellor of the Klingon High Council who hopes to forge a peace between his people and the Federation. The role of Gorkon was initially offered to Jack Palance. Warner had appeared in Meyer's first film, the 1979 science-fiction movie Time After Time, and had played a human ambassador in The Final Frontier. Warner's make-up was made to resemble Abraham Lincoln, as another way of humanizing the otherwise alien Klingon leader. When filming his character's death, a large lamp exploded and rained down on Warner and Kelley; one piece barely missed striking Warner's head, which Kelley was sure would have killed him.
• Rosanna DeSoto as Azetbur, the daughter of Chancellor Gorkon who succeeds her father after his death.
• Iman as Martia, a shapeshifting alien on the prison planet Rura Penthe who leads Kirk and McCoy into a trap. When Flinn originally developed the character, he had in mind a space pirate which he described as the "dark side of Han Solo". Flinn imagined an actress like Sigourney Weaver in the role, who was "as different as night and day" from Iman. Meyer described Martia as "Kirk's dream woman", and when the makeup artists learned Iman was cast for the role they decided to enhance her graceful bird-like appearance with feathers. Yellow contact lenses completed the look.
• Brock Peters as Admiral Cartwright, a high-ranking officer in Starfleet who vehemently protests Klingon immigration into Federation space. Peters had previously appeared as Cartwright in The Voyage Home. Meyer had Peters return partly on the basis of his acting as the wrongly convicted black man Tom Robinson in To Kill a Mockingbird. Meyer thought that Cartwright's vitriolic speech against the Klingons would be particularly chilling and meaningful coming from the mouth of a black man. The speech was so repugnant to Peters that he was unable to deliver it in one take. Peters later portrayed Joseph Sisko, the father of lead character Benjamin Sisko on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
• Kurtwood Smith as the Federation President
• René Auberjonois as Colonel West, the would-be assassin of the Federation president. Meyer was a friend of Auberjonois and offered him a chance to cameo months before filming. His part was cut from the theatrical version but restored on home video. Auberjonois later portrayed security chief Odo on the series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
• Michael Dorn as Colonel Worf, the Klingon attorney who represents Kirk and McCoy in their show trial for the death of Gorkon. He later unmasks the Klingon assassin at Khitomer as Colonel West.