1 00:00:00,252 --> 00:00:02,004 [Gates McFadden] Despite stellar box office... 2 00:00:02,087 --> 00:00:02,921 [cash register dings] 3 00:00:03,005 --> 00:00:06,967 [McFadden] Star Trek: The Motion Picture fell short of Paramount's expectations. 4 00:00:07,050 --> 00:00:10,596 But The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock were hits, 5 00:00:10,679 --> 00:00:14,475 proving that the franchise could charm audiences and critics. 6 00:00:14,558 --> 00:00:16,852 But as big-screen Star Trek got bigger... 7 00:00:16,935 --> 00:00:17,936 Boom! 8 00:00:18,020 --> 00:00:19,229 [McFadden] ...so did the egos... 9 00:00:19,313 --> 00:00:20,564 He wanted to be in my shot. 10 00:00:20,647 --> 00:00:22,191 [McFadden] ...the special effects... 11 00:00:22,274 --> 00:00:23,484 That's some of the most embarrassing work. 12 00:00:23,567 --> 00:00:27,404 [McFadden] ...and the mounting pressure on a risky fourth movie. 13 00:00:27,488 --> 00:00:30,157 This might be it, you know. This might be the franchise killer. 14 00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:31,241 Boop! 15 00:00:31,325 --> 00:00:33,911 [McFadden] So beam aboard and hold on tight 16 00:00:33,994 --> 00:00:37,998 as we boldly go into the depths of Star Trek. 17 00:00:40,125 --> 00:00:44,797 And you can see it all from here in The Center Seat. 18 00:00:49,051 --> 00:00:51,553 After finding success with The Search for Spock, 19 00:00:51,678 --> 00:00:55,057 Paramount wanted their biggest star to direct the next movie. 20 00:00:55,140 --> 00:00:57,476 Directing a motion picture 21 00:00:57,559 --> 00:01:00,229 is possibly the most fulfilling thing I can do. 22 00:01:00,312 --> 00:01:02,147 [McFadden] No, not William Shatner. 23 00:01:02,231 --> 00:01:03,065 Not yet. 24 00:01:03,148 --> 00:01:04,608 Their other biggest star: 25 00:01:04,691 --> 00:01:07,820 actor and director of Star Trek III, Leonard Nimoy. 26 00:01:07,903 --> 00:01:12,324 Jeff Katzenberg tells Leonard Nimoy, "We want you to make Star Trek IV ." 27 00:01:12,407 --> 00:01:15,911 [McFadden] Because Leonard already had a big idea. 28 00:01:15,994 --> 00:01:19,957 Leonard Nimoy had been reading a book by Edward Wilson called Biophilia. 29 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:22,417 [McFadden] Whose powerful environmental message 30 00:01:22,501 --> 00:01:24,253 resonated with Nimoy. 31 00:01:24,336 --> 00:01:26,004 [John Tenuto] There are certain species on Earth 32 00:01:26,088 --> 00:01:29,299 where if they get pulled out of the ecosystem, 33 00:01:29,383 --> 00:01:32,344 it would be detrimental to the entire ecosystem. 34 00:01:32,427 --> 00:01:35,222 [McFadden] Otherwise known as keystone species, 35 00:01:35,305 --> 00:01:40,018 the idea got Nimoy thinking about how Star Trek could save the world. 36 00:01:40,102 --> 00:01:43,564 Maybe there is some problem in the 23rd century 37 00:01:43,647 --> 00:01:49,027 that can only be solved by going back to the 20th century, 38 00:01:49,111 --> 00:01:53,407 finding the species that humans caused to become extinct, 39 00:01:53,490 --> 00:01:56,243 and bringing them back so that they can help solve the problem. 40 00:01:56,326 --> 00:01:58,161 [McFadden] So the crew of the Enterprise 41 00:01:58,245 --> 00:02:01,123 would help save one of Earth's most majestic creatures 42 00:02:01,206 --> 00:02:03,542 in the ultimate feel-good adventure. 43 00:02:03,625 --> 00:02:06,336 It was just a matter of finding the right animal, 44 00:02:06,420 --> 00:02:08,881 one that everyone loves. 45 00:02:08,964 --> 00:02:11,592 And the original idea that gets bantered around-- 46 00:02:11,675 --> 00:02:15,596 and it's Harve Bennett's idea-- is to use snail darts as the species. 47 00:02:15,679 --> 00:02:18,807 [McFadden] Sorry, was that snails or darts? 48 00:02:18,891 --> 00:02:20,684 Snail darts are very small. 49 00:02:20,767 --> 00:02:23,604 [McFadden] As in very small endangered fish, 50 00:02:23,687 --> 00:02:26,857 which producer Harve Bennett thought would become big stars. 51 00:02:26,940 --> 00:02:28,859 As a producer, he says he liked the idea 52 00:02:28,942 --> 00:02:31,111 because snail darts wouldn't be very expensive. 53 00:02:31,194 --> 00:02:34,281 [McFadden] But as far as director Leonard Nimoy was concerned, 54 00:02:34,364 --> 00:02:36,116 these snail darters were small fry. 55 00:02:36,199 --> 00:02:39,453 He had something else in mind for the big screen. 56 00:02:39,536 --> 00:02:40,454 Specifically... 57 00:02:40,537 --> 00:02:41,747 Humpback whales. 58 00:02:41,830 --> 00:02:43,832 [McFadden] Producer Harve Bennett and Nimoy 59 00:02:43,916 --> 00:02:48,462 quickly devised a story with all the classic Star Trek ingredients. 60 00:02:48,545 --> 00:02:50,464 And now humpback whales. 61 00:02:50,547 --> 00:02:51,715 [whale calls] 62 00:02:51,798 --> 00:02:54,217 [McCoy] You're proposing that we go backwards in time, 63 00:02:54,301 --> 00:02:57,262 find humpback whales, then bring them forward in time, 64 00:02:57,346 --> 00:03:01,099 drop 'em off, and hope to hell they tell this probe what to go do with itself? 65 00:03:01,183 --> 00:03:02,017 That's the general idea. 66 00:03:02,100 --> 00:03:02,935 Well, that's crazy. 67 00:03:03,018 --> 00:03:05,520 I thought the story was a little out there. 68 00:03:05,604 --> 00:03:07,481 You know, it's like, "Save the whales, okay." 69 00:03:07,564 --> 00:03:10,484 [McFadden] But things were about to get much further out there. 70 00:03:10,567 --> 00:03:12,819 [Tenuto] Jeffrey Katzenberg calls up Leonard Nimoy and tells him, 71 00:03:12,903 --> 00:03:15,489 "I either have what is the greatest idea of all time 72 00:03:15,572 --> 00:03:17,074 or the worst idea of all time." 73 00:03:17,157 --> 00:03:19,576 [McFadden] Which was enough to make Leonard's ears perk up. 74 00:03:19,660 --> 00:03:22,496 [Tenuto] That idea is Eddie Murphy has been mentioning 75 00:03:22,579 --> 00:03:24,456 how much of a Star Trek fan he is. 76 00:03:24,539 --> 00:03:25,457 Yeah, I'm a Trekkie. 77 00:03:25,540 --> 00:03:27,125 Get out of here, I'm a Trekkie. 78 00:03:27,209 --> 00:03:30,420 [McFadden] So a script for Star Trek IV was commissioned, 79 00:03:30,504 --> 00:03:33,882 starring none other than the biggest star on the Paramount lot. 80 00:03:33,966 --> 00:03:36,051 Eddie Murphy was going to play an English professor 81 00:03:36,134 --> 00:03:37,594 who is a little bit different. 82 00:03:37,678 --> 00:03:39,471 [McFadden] A nutty professor you might say, 83 00:03:39,554 --> 00:03:42,307 who had a thing for UFOs and whale songs. 84 00:03:42,391 --> 00:03:44,643 With the crew of the Enterprise searching for whales. 85 00:03:44,726 --> 00:03:45,560 [McFadden] But... 86 00:03:45,644 --> 00:03:48,438 [Tenuto] It just didn't work. It was too convoluted. 87 00:03:48,522 --> 00:03:51,149 How do you balance out the comedy with the science fiction? 88 00:03:51,233 --> 00:03:53,610 [McFadden] The one part of the script that worked... 89 00:03:53,694 --> 00:03:55,612 -[whale calls] -[McFadden] ...was the whales. 90 00:03:55,696 --> 00:03:57,823 With that piece of the puzzle figured out, 91 00:03:57,906 --> 00:04:00,534 Harve Bennett decided to bring in a writer 92 00:04:00,617 --> 00:04:01,994 who he could trust wholeheartedly. 93 00:04:02,077 --> 00:04:02,911 [phone rings] 94 00:04:02,995 --> 00:04:06,248 I got an emergency call saying, "Help, help, we had this script, 95 00:04:06,331 --> 00:04:07,833 we threw it out, we wanna start over." 96 00:04:07,916 --> 00:04:09,668 I said, "What's the story?" 97 00:04:09,751 --> 00:04:13,296 And I remember Leonard's first words. He said, "Something nice." 98 00:04:13,380 --> 00:04:16,133 [McFadden] That something nice came with a catch. 99 00:04:16,216 --> 00:04:18,468 And I was not allowed to read their script. 100 00:04:18,552 --> 00:04:19,928 'Cause I asked, I said, "Should I read it?" 101 00:04:20,012 --> 00:04:21,388 And they said, "No, please don't." 102 00:04:21,471 --> 00:04:23,557 [McFadden] Harve had an idea to speed things up. 103 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:24,683 What's your plan? 104 00:04:24,766 --> 00:04:26,518 Harve said, "I'll write the outer space parts 105 00:04:26,601 --> 00:04:28,186 and you write the Earth parts." 106 00:04:28,270 --> 00:04:30,689 [McFadden] It was a kind of cosmic job-share. 107 00:04:30,772 --> 00:04:34,651 My first line in Star Trek IV is, "When are we?" 108 00:04:34,735 --> 00:04:36,361 [McFadden] As in, "What's the date?" 109 00:04:36,445 --> 00:04:39,614 I believe we have arrived at the latter half of the 20th century. 110 00:04:39,698 --> 00:04:40,866 That's where I came in. 111 00:04:40,949 --> 00:04:43,744 And I went out when they start talking about D.H. Lawrence. 112 00:04:43,827 --> 00:04:45,579 [video rewinding] 113 00:04:45,662 --> 00:04:50,375 They say the sea is cold, but the sea contains the hottest blood of all. 114 00:04:50,459 --> 00:04:53,712 [McFadden] D.H. Lawrence was in. Eddie Murphy was out. 115 00:04:53,795 --> 00:04:57,966 And so was a storyline that would have lit up the tabloids on Vulcan. 116 00:04:58,050 --> 00:05:02,220 We would have learned that Saavik was pregnant with Spock's child. 117 00:05:02,304 --> 00:05:03,138 [dramatic music plays] 118 00:05:03,221 --> 00:05:04,056 [baby cries] 119 00:05:04,139 --> 00:05:06,308 [McFadden] Which was the offspring of this encounter 120 00:05:06,391 --> 00:05:09,061 with teenage Spock in Star Trek III, 121 00:05:09,144 --> 00:05:12,814 arguably modern cinema's most romantic high-five. 122 00:05:12,898 --> 00:05:16,860 I have a telegram that Harve Bennett sent me. 123 00:05:16,943 --> 00:05:20,989 He says, "I, too, am delighted you are with us. 124 00:05:21,073 --> 00:05:26,703 Have a wonderful shoot and bring a Vulcan obstetrician along just in case. 125 00:05:26,787 --> 00:05:28,914 Love, Harve." 126 00:05:28,997 --> 00:05:30,999 [McFadden] But ultimately there was only room 127 00:05:31,083 --> 00:05:33,752 for one Vulcan on this trip back in time. 128 00:05:35,087 --> 00:05:37,255 They ended the chapter, so to speak. 129 00:05:37,339 --> 00:05:38,840 This is goodbye. 130 00:05:38,924 --> 00:05:44,429 But I was mystified why she was so unceremoniously booted out of IV. 131 00:05:44,513 --> 00:05:45,847 Like, I didn't understand that. 132 00:05:45,931 --> 00:05:47,974 [McFadden] Ron Moore wasn't the only one. 133 00:05:48,058 --> 00:05:49,851 Many fans were left wondering, 134 00:05:49,935 --> 00:05:53,939 had Star Trek 's most famous female Vulcan hit the glass ceiling, 135 00:05:54,022 --> 00:05:55,941 or something more complicated? 136 00:05:56,024 --> 00:05:58,985 Had they revealed that Saavik was pregnant, 137 00:05:59,069 --> 00:06:02,447 then you would have had Saavik in the later films 138 00:06:02,531 --> 00:06:03,990 because what are you gonna do? 139 00:06:04,074 --> 00:06:08,411 Are you gonna have Spock have a child and then not deal with it? 140 00:06:08,495 --> 00:06:10,288 [McFadden] And producers felt that wouldn't make 141 00:06:10,372 --> 00:06:12,791 a good role model for young Vulcans out there, 142 00:06:12,874 --> 00:06:16,128 so Robin's role was cut down significantly. 143 00:06:16,211 --> 00:06:18,505 Live long and prosper, Lieutenant. 144 00:06:18,588 --> 00:06:23,051 Creatively, would I have loved to played a pregnant Vulcan? Yes, very much so. 145 00:06:23,135 --> 00:06:24,302 It didn't matter. 146 00:06:24,386 --> 00:06:27,222 It had been so, so good to me up until that point 147 00:06:27,305 --> 00:06:30,767 that I think one can only, you know, be so greedy. [laughs] 148 00:06:30,851 --> 00:06:33,145 [McFadden] Instead, the original crew of the Enterprise 149 00:06:33,228 --> 00:06:35,313 returned home on an aquatic mission. 150 00:06:35,397 --> 00:06:37,858 Everybody remember where we parked. 151 00:06:37,941 --> 00:06:41,069 It was always intended to be a fish-out-of-water story. 152 00:06:41,153 --> 00:06:44,906 A fish out of water is always an interesting concept. 153 00:06:44,990 --> 00:06:47,200 I'm from Iowa. I only work in outer space. 154 00:06:47,284 --> 00:06:48,910 [McFadden] It seemed everyone liked the script. 155 00:06:48,994 --> 00:06:51,371 I thought it was great. Chekov had another good part. 156 00:06:51,454 --> 00:06:52,914 We are in an enemy vessel, sir. 157 00:06:52,998 --> 00:06:54,958 I did not wish to be shot down on our way to our own funeral. 158 00:06:55,041 --> 00:06:55,876 Good thinking. 159 00:06:55,959 --> 00:06:57,961 It hit on all the right levels. 160 00:06:58,044 --> 00:07:01,339 It was such a relatable story with such beloved characters, 161 00:07:01,423 --> 00:07:05,510 a storyline that really resonated with what was going on at the time. 162 00:07:05,594 --> 00:07:08,388 [McFadden] And even though Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry 163 00:07:08,471 --> 00:07:10,849 was mostly on the sidelines these days, 164 00:07:10,932 --> 00:07:15,228 it sounded like Star Trek IV would be timely, compelling science fiction, 165 00:07:15,312 --> 00:07:18,315 exactly what Gene always wanted in the first place. 166 00:07:18,398 --> 00:07:20,275 It just felt like it was kismet. 167 00:07:20,358 --> 00:07:23,236 [McFadden] Shooting on Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home 168 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:26,740 began on February 24th, 1986. 169 00:07:26,823 --> 00:07:30,493 Okay, now the question is, we're tracking here with Bill... 170 00:07:30,577 --> 00:07:32,329 So let me see you do the walk and talk, please. 171 00:07:32,412 --> 00:07:33,830 Hold it real quiet, Doug. 172 00:07:33,914 --> 00:07:37,959 [McFadden] But it didn't take long for newcomer and female lead Catherine Hicks 173 00:07:38,043 --> 00:07:41,171 to realize she'd have to fight not only for her whales, 174 00:07:41,254 --> 00:07:44,424 but also for her space in this newly crowded film. 175 00:07:44,507 --> 00:07:47,385 Your friend was messing up my tanks and messing up my whales. 176 00:07:47,469 --> 00:07:50,639 They like you very much, but they are not the hell your whales. 177 00:07:50,722 --> 00:07:52,140 Bill Shatner. [chuckles] 178 00:07:52,224 --> 00:07:55,810 I love him, I swear to God, but he, you know, 179 00:07:55,894 --> 00:07:57,896 it's like he is a annoying brother. 180 00:07:57,979 --> 00:08:01,358 [McFadden] Like annoying brothers, he had a habit of getting in the way. 181 00:08:01,441 --> 00:08:02,567 He wanted to be in my shot. 182 00:08:02,651 --> 00:08:03,818 I want it all. 183 00:08:03,902 --> 00:08:05,737 [McFadden] And Catherine wasn't giving it to him. 184 00:08:05,820 --> 00:08:07,239 "Get him out of my shot, Leonard." 185 00:08:07,322 --> 00:08:09,157 [McFadden] Now a veteran director, 186 00:08:09,241 --> 00:08:12,244 Leonard knew how to handle his bickering stars. 187 00:08:12,327 --> 00:08:13,536 I know Bill. 188 00:08:13,620 --> 00:08:16,289 He shows up to not work but win. 189 00:08:16,373 --> 00:08:19,793 "Trust me, I know every, every angle and I'll protect you." 190 00:08:19,876 --> 00:08:23,755 [McFadden] But to be fair, it wasn't just Bill causing disruptions on the set. 191 00:08:23,838 --> 00:08:27,259 One time, I remember I had a moment with her. It was... 192 00:08:28,551 --> 00:08:31,805 We were in the bridge and all kinds of things are happening. 193 00:08:31,888 --> 00:08:34,140 The machines are going and the wind is blowing, 194 00:08:34,224 --> 00:08:35,517 and all the actors around are working. 195 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:37,727 Sulu, that's all I can give ya! 196 00:08:37,811 --> 00:08:39,521 [Leonard Nimoy] And right in the middle of this big set-up... 197 00:08:39,604 --> 00:08:40,897 "Leonard, can we stop?" 198 00:08:40,981 --> 00:08:42,065 ...she stops. 199 00:08:42,148 --> 00:08:43,149 And it was like... 200 00:08:43,233 --> 00:08:46,653 [McFadden] And Catherine was suddenly face-to-face with a very stern Vulcan. 201 00:08:46,736 --> 00:08:48,113 Yeah. 202 00:08:48,196 --> 00:08:49,281 [laughs] 203 00:08:49,364 --> 00:08:50,907 Something just wasn't working for her. 204 00:08:50,991 --> 00:08:55,412 And I'm yelling at her, "Keep acting, keep acting!" [laughs] 205 00:08:55,495 --> 00:08:56,830 And then we'll get this right. 206 00:08:56,913 --> 00:08:59,541 [McFadden] After the take, the ever-logical Nimoy 207 00:08:59,624 --> 00:09:02,460 went over to have a talk with his actors. 208 00:09:02,544 --> 00:09:05,839 He said, "Catherine, you can't do that. 209 00:09:05,922 --> 00:09:09,050 There's, like, 100 million things happening. 210 00:09:09,134 --> 00:09:10,427 Just play the scene out." 211 00:09:10,510 --> 00:09:14,806 [McFadden] Because one of the unwritten rules of working on a Star Trek film is... 212 00:09:14,889 --> 00:09:17,392 You don't stop an effects scene. 213 00:09:17,475 --> 00:09:19,269 [McFadden] And as stressful as they were, 214 00:09:19,352 --> 00:09:24,065 one big effects shot actually put a smile on Leonard's face. 215 00:09:24,149 --> 00:09:26,818 [Catherine Hicks] The diehards say, "Oh, my God, Leonard smiled. 216 00:09:26,901 --> 00:09:28,153 Spock never smiled." 217 00:09:28,236 --> 00:09:30,864 [McFadden] But accidental smiles can happen when you're all... 218 00:09:30,947 --> 00:09:32,198 Having a bit of fun. 219 00:09:32,282 --> 00:09:35,076 [McFadden] Well, worrying about diehards and what they think 220 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:37,829 seems to be par for the course on a Star Trek film. 221 00:09:37,912 --> 00:09:40,457 Just ask associate producer Brooke Breton, 222 00:09:40,540 --> 00:09:43,084 who was getting her first big break on a feature film. 223 00:09:43,168 --> 00:09:47,839 They brought me in to create a lot of the material that would play 224 00:09:47,922 --> 00:09:52,344 in Starfleet Command when everything was being disrupted by the probe. 225 00:09:52,427 --> 00:09:53,595 [McFadden] Ah, the probe. 226 00:09:53,678 --> 00:09:54,846 It appears to be a probe, Captain. 227 00:09:54,929 --> 00:09:57,974 Everybody had warned me, "Well, if you don't get this right, 228 00:09:58,058 --> 00:10:00,852 you know, you're in deep trouble because they're paying attention. 229 00:10:00,935 --> 00:10:03,313 Those fans really pay attention to everything." 230 00:10:03,396 --> 00:10:05,940 And there were a few nights where I didn't sleep all that well, 231 00:10:06,024 --> 00:10:08,151 thinking about, "Oh, my gosh, I hope the fans... 232 00:10:08,234 --> 00:10:09,986 I hope they're good with this." 233 00:10:10,070 --> 00:10:11,988 [McFadden] But when it came to the probe itself, 234 00:10:12,072 --> 00:10:15,033 they could rest easy because the movie's effects 235 00:10:15,116 --> 00:10:18,244 were in the safe hands of Industrial Light & Magic. 236 00:10:18,328 --> 00:10:20,121 And as usual, they were thinking big... 237 00:10:20,205 --> 00:10:22,123 or maybe not big enough. 238 00:10:22,207 --> 00:10:25,502 I think it's one of those things where you come up with the idea 239 00:10:25,585 --> 00:10:29,255 and you go, "Ooh, it's this big, gigantic, cylindrical thing. 240 00:10:29,339 --> 00:10:31,800 It'll be like the monolith in 2001." 241 00:10:31,883 --> 00:10:35,261 But then there's nothing to tell you how big it is. 242 00:10:35,345 --> 00:10:40,725 And no matter how you photograph it, it doesn't seem to improve it in any way. 243 00:10:40,809 --> 00:10:43,770 [McFadden] ILM's initial efforts looked good on paper, 244 00:10:43,853 --> 00:10:44,854 but only on paper. 245 00:10:44,938 --> 00:10:49,776 Nimoy called in the cavalry, asking ILM's top visual effects guru 246 00:10:49,859 --> 00:10:53,113 to drop everything and rush to Star Trek' s rescue. 247 00:10:53,196 --> 00:10:56,658 I got a call both from Leonard and Harve Bennett, 248 00:10:56,741 --> 00:10:58,827 begging me to take the show over. 249 00:10:58,910 --> 00:11:00,203 It was a 911 call. 250 00:11:00,286 --> 00:11:03,748 [McFadden] Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was in trouble. 251 00:11:08,795 --> 00:11:10,588 -[whale calls] -I am receiving whale song. 252 00:11:10,672 --> 00:11:15,218 [McFadden] The producers of Star Trek IV had a whale-sized problem. 253 00:11:15,301 --> 00:11:16,803 Well, it's not just the whales. 254 00:11:16,886 --> 00:11:19,431 [Saratoga Captain] We're tracking a probe of unknown origin. 255 00:11:19,514 --> 00:11:22,642 [McFadden] Their alien probe looked like something else altogether. 256 00:11:22,725 --> 00:11:24,894 All I saw was a big water heater. 257 00:11:24,978 --> 00:11:26,563 [McFadden] This is just one of the problems 258 00:11:26,646 --> 00:11:29,065 Ken Ralston was brought in to fix. 259 00:11:29,149 --> 00:11:30,150 A big, dumb shape. 260 00:11:30,233 --> 00:11:31,901 [McFadden] But he had to do it... 261 00:11:31,985 --> 00:11:33,153 As cheaply as possible. 262 00:11:33,236 --> 00:11:37,824 Conceptually, they wanted the probe to look like a whale. 263 00:11:37,907 --> 00:11:40,410 Specifically, humpback whale. 264 00:11:40,493 --> 00:11:43,246 [Brooke Breton] It looked rather ridiculous. 265 00:11:43,329 --> 00:11:44,664 It looked like a water heater. 266 00:11:44,747 --> 00:11:47,667 [McFadden] With no time or money to burn, Ken thought... 267 00:11:47,750 --> 00:11:51,129 "I can't design another ship. What am I going to do to hide this thing?" 268 00:11:51,212 --> 00:11:54,841 Then you're just gonna have to take your best shot. 269 00:11:54,924 --> 00:11:57,427 [McFadden] The solution had two parts. One... 270 00:11:57,510 --> 00:11:59,804 [Ken Ralston] I painted it glossy black. 271 00:11:59,888 --> 00:12:03,975 Making it look almost greasy, watery, giving it a lot more texture. 272 00:12:04,058 --> 00:12:05,143 [McFadden] Ah, much better. 273 00:12:05,226 --> 00:12:06,060 And two... 274 00:12:06,144 --> 00:12:08,104 Lit it in ways where it kind of came and went. 275 00:12:08,188 --> 00:12:11,900 [McFadden] Reminiscent of the monolith in Kubrick's 2001. 276 00:12:11,983 --> 00:12:13,026 I hoped. [chuckles] 277 00:12:13,109 --> 00:12:14,652 No offense to whoever designed it. 278 00:12:14,736 --> 00:12:17,614 [McFadden] But there would be no hiding the whales. 279 00:12:17,697 --> 00:12:19,282 There be whales here! 280 00:12:19,365 --> 00:12:22,702 When you saw whales look like they were swimming in water, 281 00:12:22,785 --> 00:12:25,413 they actually had a whale puppet. 282 00:12:25,497 --> 00:12:29,751 I remember there was a guy named Walt Conti who had designed these whales, 283 00:12:29,834 --> 00:12:32,420 an animatronic puppet that was remote-controlled. 284 00:12:32,504 --> 00:12:33,922 [screams and laughter] 285 00:12:34,005 --> 00:12:35,882 [Gillian] Beautiful, aren't they? 286 00:12:35,965 --> 00:12:39,552 [Jay Riddle] National Geographic actually called to find out 287 00:12:39,636 --> 00:12:42,096 how we had photographed real whales like that. 288 00:12:42,180 --> 00:12:43,556 Perfect whales right in our hands. 289 00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:45,683 [McFadden] But there was one scene that couldn't be done 290 00:12:45,767 --> 00:12:47,936 even with the best animatronics. 291 00:12:48,937 --> 00:12:53,733 [Riddle] It was a sequence that involved going inside of Kirk's thoughts. 292 00:12:53,816 --> 00:12:56,528 There were these blobby, liquidy shapes. 293 00:12:56,611 --> 00:12:59,072 Turns into this surreal something or other. 294 00:12:59,155 --> 00:13:01,491 It was trying to do something artistic and interesting. 295 00:13:01,574 --> 00:13:03,660 [McFadden] But what resulted was more... 296 00:13:03,743 --> 00:13:04,827 Artsy fartsy. 297 00:13:04,911 --> 00:13:06,579 Oh, I hated that sequence. 298 00:13:06,663 --> 00:13:10,166 [McFadden] The special effects may have been special in unexpected ways, 299 00:13:10,250 --> 00:13:14,337 but under Nimoy's diligent direction, the film wrapped on schedule 300 00:13:14,420 --> 00:13:17,382 and under budget, a rarity for Star Trek films. 301 00:13:17,465 --> 00:13:18,299 [Nimoy] Clock it. 302 00:13:18,383 --> 00:13:20,343 [McFadden] So perhaps it was not a complete surprise 303 00:13:20,426 --> 00:13:24,722 that when the film debuted on Thanksgiving weekend in 1986, 304 00:13:24,806 --> 00:13:26,182 it was an instant hit. 305 00:13:27,183 --> 00:13:31,479 This unlikely comedic opera of whale song and environmental messages 306 00:13:31,563 --> 00:13:33,982 brought a whole new audience to Star Trek, 307 00:13:34,065 --> 00:13:38,528 raking in $133 million worldwide. 308 00:13:39,862 --> 00:13:40,905 [cheering and applause] 309 00:13:40,989 --> 00:13:41,990 [Larry Nemecek] For the first time, 310 00:13:42,073 --> 00:13:44,200 Star Trek is on the cover of Newsweek magazine. 311 00:13:44,284 --> 00:13:46,202 This is, like, awesome. This is incredible. 312 00:13:46,286 --> 00:13:48,746 All the geeks in the closet all through the '70s, 313 00:13:48,830 --> 00:13:50,164 you could only dream of this moment, right? 314 00:13:50,248 --> 00:13:53,293 But that was a real watershed moment showing where Star Trek was. 315 00:13:53,376 --> 00:13:55,336 Forget pop culture, in the culture, period. 316 00:13:55,420 --> 00:13:58,131 Everybody not going to Earth had better get off. 317 00:13:58,214 --> 00:14:00,758 Star Trek IV is really a crossover movie. 318 00:14:00,842 --> 00:14:03,469 A lot of fans who are starting to show 319 00:14:03,553 --> 00:14:05,930 their new girlfriend or boyfriend Star Trek, 320 00:14:06,014 --> 00:14:07,181 you start with Star Trek IV. 321 00:14:07,265 --> 00:14:09,225 Our own world is waiting for us to save it. 322 00:14:09,309 --> 00:14:10,685 [Ralph Winter] It was fun. 323 00:14:10,768 --> 00:14:16,774 The material attracted people that were outside of the Trek family and Trek fans. 324 00:14:16,858 --> 00:14:21,821 It's the least Star Trekky of all the Star Trek movies. 325 00:14:21,904 --> 00:14:23,406 You're very perceptive. 326 00:14:23,489 --> 00:14:25,491 It's ecological. It's relevant. 327 00:14:25,575 --> 00:14:28,911 If you do a Star Trek film, that's the one to do if you're not into sci-fi. 328 00:14:28,995 --> 00:14:30,622 It is a compliment? 329 00:14:30,705 --> 00:14:32,206 -It is. -Ah. 330 00:14:32,290 --> 00:14:33,124 And that's just good writing. 331 00:14:33,207 --> 00:14:37,503 That's good writing and good storytelling on Harve Bennett's and Nick Meyer's part. 332 00:14:37,587 --> 00:14:40,465 Everybody was happy with it and it made the studio a lot of money, 333 00:14:40,548 --> 00:14:42,508 and they decided they'd make another film. 334 00:14:42,592 --> 00:14:43,760 [whale calls] 335 00:14:43,843 --> 00:14:45,219 [McFadden] Thanks in part to the whales, 336 00:14:45,303 --> 00:14:47,805 Nimoy went on to have a whale of a time 337 00:14:47,889 --> 00:14:49,390 directing hit comedies, 338 00:14:49,474 --> 00:14:51,768 but he was far from done with Star Trek. 339 00:14:51,851 --> 00:14:53,561 [Ronald D. Moore] Star Trek II, III, and IV 340 00:14:53,645 --> 00:14:56,522 worked so well creatively and commercially, 341 00:14:56,606 --> 00:15:00,151 it's almost like a foregone conclusion that this is now a franchise. 342 00:15:00,234 --> 00:15:03,404 [McFadden] And that meant the next movie was guaranteed. 343 00:15:03,488 --> 00:15:05,448 It was written in the stars. 344 00:15:05,531 --> 00:15:10,495 So to direct, naturally they turned again to one of Star Trek 's biggest stars. 345 00:15:10,578 --> 00:15:11,663 Excuse me. 346 00:15:11,746 --> 00:15:13,414 [McFadden] This time, the other biggest star. 347 00:15:13,498 --> 00:15:14,666 James T. Kirk. 348 00:15:14,749 --> 00:15:17,377 [McFadden] Because William Shatner had negotiated his way 349 00:15:17,460 --> 00:15:19,629 to the real captain's chair. 350 00:15:19,712 --> 00:15:23,007 Now, Shatner had the famous favored-nations contract with Nimoy. 351 00:15:23,091 --> 00:15:24,550 [McFadden] Which was designed to guarantee 352 00:15:24,634 --> 00:15:28,429 Nimoy and Shatner each had their turn helming a Star Trek movie. 353 00:15:28,513 --> 00:15:31,015 [Winter] That deal was made to let Leonard direct IV 354 00:15:31,099 --> 00:15:32,725 and Bill could direct V, 355 00:15:32,809 --> 00:15:35,895 so that Bill felt comfortable with Leonard doing IV. 356 00:15:35,978 --> 00:15:37,397 Very clever, Captain. 357 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:38,815 Shatner's claiming the right to direct 358 00:15:38,898 --> 00:15:40,483 and everybody's like, "Sure, fine, go for it." 359 00:15:40,566 --> 00:15:42,652 [McFadden] And while it was a contractual thing, 360 00:15:42,735 --> 00:15:45,405 Shatner had earned his directing wings. 361 00:15:45,488 --> 00:15:46,531 Small ones. 362 00:15:46,614 --> 00:15:48,241 Shatner had directed TV episodes. 363 00:15:48,324 --> 00:15:49,867 He wasn't, like, a complete novice at that. 364 00:15:51,244 --> 00:15:53,788 [McFadden] If nothing else, Shatner had proved adept 365 00:15:53,871 --> 00:15:57,667 at directing himself in the popular police drama T.J. Hooker. 366 00:15:58,334 --> 00:16:01,963 So with his favored-nations clause in his back pocket, 367 00:16:02,046 --> 00:16:03,339 Shatner was given the green light. 368 00:16:03,423 --> 00:16:06,342 With the team around him, the camera team, the support team, 369 00:16:06,426 --> 00:16:07,719 the design team, the studio... 370 00:16:07,802 --> 00:16:09,679 [McFadden] Like Brooke Breton. She was back. 371 00:16:09,762 --> 00:16:13,141 And of course Harve Bennett, who'd been integral to the success 372 00:16:13,224 --> 00:16:16,936 of every Star Trek movie since The Wrath of Khan. 373 00:16:17,019 --> 00:16:20,231 Oh, and there was also Star Trek alumnus Ralph Winter. 374 00:16:20,314 --> 00:16:22,900 I was the post supervisor on Star Trek II. 375 00:16:22,984 --> 00:16:25,486 [McFadden] And he'd risen through the ranks to become producer. 376 00:16:25,570 --> 00:16:27,947 -[laughs] -[McFadden] So Shatner was in safe hands. 377 00:16:28,030 --> 00:16:31,200 Everybody felt like he was capable of pulling it off. 378 00:16:31,284 --> 00:16:32,285 "Go for it, Bill." 379 00:16:32,368 --> 00:16:34,829 [McFadden] Oh, and as for Leonard Nimoy... 380 00:16:34,912 --> 00:16:39,959 I seem to remember that Leonard was a little reticent to even be in V. 381 00:16:40,042 --> 00:16:43,588 [McFadden] Since Paramount owed him Star Trek merchandising revenue. 382 00:16:43,671 --> 00:16:45,548 So I remember that Harve and I went to bat for that. 383 00:16:45,631 --> 00:16:47,091 Harve prevailed. 384 00:16:47,175 --> 00:16:49,761 [McFadden] So the next time the three met for lunch, 385 00:16:49,844 --> 00:16:52,847 Harve made sure to bring an extra brown paper bag. 386 00:16:52,930 --> 00:16:55,057 We brought three bags for lunch. 387 00:16:55,141 --> 00:16:57,769 [McFadden] Bags one through three were just ordinary lunch, 388 00:16:57,852 --> 00:17:00,229 but Leonard spotted a fourth bag. 389 00:17:00,313 --> 00:17:03,608 "Well, who's that bag for?" "Oh, it's for you. Open the bag." 390 00:17:03,691 --> 00:17:04,901 [slide whistle blows] 391 00:17:04,984 --> 00:17:06,360 A million-dollar check. 392 00:17:06,444 --> 00:17:08,946 [McFadden] After that, Nimoy couldn't say no. 393 00:17:09,030 --> 00:17:11,365 He starts laughing. "Yeah, I'll be in the movie." 394 00:17:11,449 --> 00:17:12,366 Let's go to work. 395 00:17:12,450 --> 00:17:15,161 [McFadden] At the risk of biting off more than he could chew, 396 00:17:15,244 --> 00:17:17,163 Shatner took the biggest bite he could. 397 00:17:17,246 --> 00:17:20,208 He wanted to make the biggest damn Star Trek movie ever. 398 00:17:20,291 --> 00:17:22,126 We'll need all the power you can muster, mister. 399 00:17:22,210 --> 00:17:25,296 [McFadden] And thinking big meant choosing an ambitious story 400 00:17:25,379 --> 00:17:27,882 about the biggest possible topic. 401 00:17:27,965 --> 00:17:29,050 Something very big. 402 00:17:29,133 --> 00:17:30,843 [all cheer] 403 00:17:30,927 --> 00:17:33,763 [Winter] I think we were sort of smoking our own press releases 404 00:17:33,846 --> 00:17:36,390 when we went to do V because we picked 405 00:17:36,474 --> 00:17:38,684 the hardest topic you can possibly pick. 406 00:17:38,768 --> 00:17:42,271 [McFadden] Shatner wanted to return to a favorite Star Trek theme. 407 00:17:42,355 --> 00:17:43,439 I'm God. 408 00:17:45,107 --> 00:17:49,529 Probably not a bigger topic that you can tackle than meeting God. 409 00:17:49,612 --> 00:17:50,863 God? 410 00:17:50,947 --> 00:17:51,948 Where is God? Who is God? 411 00:17:52,031 --> 00:17:53,950 God's a busy man. 412 00:17:54,033 --> 00:17:57,203 Shatner's original story doc was called "An Act of Love." 413 00:17:57,286 --> 00:18:00,248 [McFadden] But maybe Shatner's script was not inspired by God, 414 00:18:00,331 --> 00:18:02,917 but rather by false prophets. 415 00:18:03,000 --> 00:18:05,002 Not everyone can hear the voice of God. 416 00:18:05,086 --> 00:18:07,713 A commentary on crooked televangelists... 417 00:18:07,797 --> 00:18:10,091 In the name of Jesus. 418 00:18:10,174 --> 00:18:12,218 [McFadden] 1980s America had no shortage of those. 419 00:18:12,301 --> 00:18:16,514 Now, this audience would warm you up on a cold, chilly October day. 420 00:18:16,597 --> 00:18:18,641 ...people who were hyping a flock... 421 00:18:18,724 --> 00:18:19,934 Help me with $1,000 gift. 422 00:18:20,017 --> 00:18:23,354 [Nemecek] ...sucking people in for their contribution money. 423 00:18:23,437 --> 00:18:27,024 The movie was going to be a commentary on basically charlatans. 424 00:18:29,402 --> 00:18:30,820 Why is God angry? 425 00:18:30,903 --> 00:18:34,365 [McFadden] It would tell the story of a man on a mission from God. 426 00:18:34,448 --> 00:18:36,450 [Sybok] The greatest adventure of all time. 427 00:18:36,534 --> 00:18:38,327 [McFadden] After The Voyage Home, 428 00:18:38,411 --> 00:18:41,539 it was time for a voyage to the promised land. 429 00:18:41,622 --> 00:18:42,623 The discovery of Sha Ka Ree. 430 00:18:44,250 --> 00:18:47,545 [McFadden] Which surprisingly turned out to have Scottish origins, 431 00:18:47,628 --> 00:18:49,922 because if you say it in a certain way... 432 00:18:50,006 --> 00:18:51,090 Sha Ka Ree. 433 00:18:51,173 --> 00:18:52,800 [McFadden] ...Sha Ka Ree sounds like... 434 00:18:52,884 --> 00:18:53,801 Sean Connery. 435 00:18:53,885 --> 00:18:55,303 The quest for the Grail. 436 00:18:55,386 --> 00:18:58,598 [McFadden] Who producers would have loved to have played Sybok. 437 00:18:58,681 --> 00:19:00,766 Again, it's Shatner dreaming big. 438 00:19:00,850 --> 00:19:02,560 And he was busy and it was never gonna work. 439 00:19:02,643 --> 00:19:04,729 [McFadden] So the closest they got was... 440 00:19:04,812 --> 00:19:06,397 Sha Ka Ree. 441 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:09,901 [Winter] Sha Ka Ree was definitely a reference to Sean Connery. 442 00:19:09,984 --> 00:19:11,319 We really wanted Sean in the movie. 443 00:19:11,402 --> 00:19:13,362 [McFadden] Instead, the role went to an actor 444 00:19:13,446 --> 00:19:16,032 who could be almost mistaken for the man he stood in for. 445 00:19:16,115 --> 00:19:18,075 Have faith, my friend. 446 00:19:21,579 --> 00:19:22,580 Sha Ka Ree. 447 00:19:22,663 --> 00:19:25,583 [McFadden] Unable to secure Sean Connery for Star Trek V, 448 00:19:25,666 --> 00:19:28,419 producers discovered their charismatic cult leader 449 00:19:28,502 --> 00:19:30,338 in Laurence Luckinbill. 450 00:19:30,421 --> 00:19:32,548 It's me. It's Sybok. 451 00:19:32,632 --> 00:19:34,884 Laurence Luckinbill more than fills the Vulcan boots 452 00:19:34,967 --> 00:19:37,011 of what Sybok needs to be. 453 00:19:37,094 --> 00:19:38,638 That's exactly what I'm counting on. 454 00:19:38,721 --> 00:19:40,723 Larry resonated with Harve and myself. 455 00:19:40,806 --> 00:19:44,226 We shall seek the answers... together. 456 00:19:44,310 --> 00:19:47,688 And so we were fortunate and pinching ourselves that we got him. 457 00:19:47,772 --> 00:19:50,566 [McFadden] Actor David Warner was cast as... 458 00:19:50,650 --> 00:19:54,153 St. John Talbot, the Federation representative here on Nimbus III. 459 00:19:54,236 --> 00:19:56,697 [Winter] David's a fine actor and we were happy to have him. 460 00:19:56,781 --> 00:19:59,033 He drank too much, but he was a fine actor. 461 00:19:59,116 --> 00:20:00,701 [speaking Klingon] 462 00:20:00,785 --> 00:20:03,371 [McFadden] Todd Bryant and Spice Williams-Crosby 463 00:20:03,454 --> 00:20:05,373 sported the foreheads. 464 00:20:05,456 --> 00:20:06,582 [speaking Klingon] 465 00:20:06,666 --> 00:20:10,711 Spice, you know, she was a great bodybuilder, weightlifter, a lot of fun. 466 00:20:10,795 --> 00:20:12,630 She has wonderful muscles. 467 00:20:12,713 --> 00:20:17,426 [McFadden] And for the Romulan consul, producers left no stone unturned. 468 00:20:19,178 --> 00:20:21,931 I was Caithlin Dar in Star Trek V. 469 00:20:22,014 --> 00:20:23,599 I'm Caithlin Dar. 470 00:20:23,683 --> 00:20:27,186 Casting director said I was one of 2,000 people 471 00:20:27,269 --> 00:20:28,938 that they auditioned for this role. 472 00:20:29,021 --> 00:20:32,024 Well, then it appears I've arrived just in time. 473 00:20:32,108 --> 00:20:37,029 It was a rollercoaster. I mean, there were eight callbacks in the end. 474 00:20:37,113 --> 00:20:39,490 [McFadden] Cynthia was a new kind of Romulan. 475 00:20:39,573 --> 00:20:43,160 I know my character didn't exactly look like a Romulan. 476 00:20:43,244 --> 00:20:46,330 [McFadden] And it was all to do with continuing the diversity 477 00:20:46,414 --> 00:20:47,581 of the Star Trek saga. 478 00:20:47,665 --> 00:20:50,292 The character of Caithlin Dar was biracial. 479 00:20:50,376 --> 00:20:55,756 I mean, her name, Caithlin Dar, very Irish-Terran, and Dar, very Romulan. 480 00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:58,759 [McFadden] Romulan, but only to a point. 481 00:20:58,843 --> 00:21:00,553 I never got pointy ears. 482 00:21:00,636 --> 00:21:03,472 [McFadden] But why would producers hide such an important detail? 483 00:21:03,556 --> 00:21:06,767 Because it was too expensive to do my ears every day. 484 00:21:06,851 --> 00:21:10,604 [McFadden] Going au naturel on the ears was one money saver, 485 00:21:10,688 --> 00:21:13,858 but producers applied the same penny-pinching logic to visual effects, 486 00:21:13,941 --> 00:21:16,152 where they made a brave call. 487 00:21:16,235 --> 00:21:18,362 "We're gonna find a cheaper vendor, basically." 488 00:21:18,446 --> 00:21:19,405 We made a choice. 489 00:21:19,488 --> 00:21:21,991 We didn't wanna spend the money that we'd been spending before. 490 00:21:22,074 --> 00:21:24,869 [McFadden] But producers wouldn't be able to replace ILM, 491 00:21:24,952 --> 00:21:26,871 the titan of Hollywood effects, 492 00:21:26,954 --> 00:21:30,041 as easily as they covered up those Romulan ears. 493 00:21:30,124 --> 00:21:32,668 They wanted a number of companies to do a test 494 00:21:32,752 --> 00:21:37,965 and show us what this, you know, imagination of God would be, 495 00:21:38,049 --> 00:21:40,259 which is a tall order no matter what. 496 00:21:40,342 --> 00:21:41,302 [McFadden] After all... 497 00:21:41,385 --> 00:21:43,262 How do you portray God? 498 00:21:43,345 --> 00:21:45,473 We sought only your infinite wisdom. 499 00:21:45,556 --> 00:21:49,518 [McFadden] The man that claimed to have an answer as splendid as his beard 500 00:21:49,602 --> 00:21:52,354 was special effects artist Bran Ferren, 501 00:21:52,438 --> 00:21:56,734 whose more traditional live effects had caught the eyes of the producers. 502 00:21:56,817 --> 00:22:01,072 He really fancied himself an in-camera effects person. 503 00:22:01,155 --> 00:22:03,115 [God] You doubt me? 504 00:22:03,199 --> 00:22:04,909 I seek proof. 505 00:22:04,992 --> 00:22:08,537 The character of God, Bran showed us some stuff that was really clever, 506 00:22:08,621 --> 00:22:12,374 like taking silver screen material that you'd project in a theater, 507 00:22:12,458 --> 00:22:15,878 ripping it up, putting it on a cylinder and spinning it, 508 00:22:15,961 --> 00:22:19,256 and then project God down there with big lights, 509 00:22:19,340 --> 00:22:20,674 and we'd never seen that before. 510 00:22:20,758 --> 00:22:22,093 And we're watching it in-camera. 511 00:22:22,176 --> 00:22:25,596 Bill and a number of others became very enamored with that 512 00:22:25,679 --> 00:22:28,224 because it was going to be an in-camera effect. 513 00:22:28,307 --> 00:22:30,851 [McFadden] Ferren was no one-man ILM, 514 00:22:30,935 --> 00:22:34,480 but his in-camera effects were immediate and tangible. 515 00:22:34,563 --> 00:22:36,774 And that was extremely appealing to people 516 00:22:36,857 --> 00:22:40,194 who had a very short schedule and not much of a budget. 517 00:22:40,277 --> 00:22:41,112 [cash register dings] 518 00:22:41,195 --> 00:22:43,697 [McFadden] And even though the last time they didn't use ILM, 519 00:22:43,781 --> 00:22:46,534 things wound up pretty expensive. 520 00:22:46,617 --> 00:22:47,993 They decided to go with Bran Ferren. 521 00:22:48,077 --> 00:22:50,746 [McFadden] With this special effects team on board, 522 00:22:50,830 --> 00:22:52,414 production was ready to roll. 523 00:22:52,498 --> 00:22:55,251 Filming began at Yosemite in 1988. 524 00:22:55,334 --> 00:23:00,005 And on day one of shooting on his first feature film as a director, 525 00:23:00,089 --> 00:23:01,257 Shatner hit a wall. 526 00:23:01,340 --> 00:23:03,134 But more specifically... 527 00:23:03,217 --> 00:23:07,012 A fiberglass wall, which I will climb. 528 00:23:07,096 --> 00:23:12,101 I had to build a side of a cliff in a parking lot at Yosemite. 529 00:23:12,184 --> 00:23:16,021 Theoretically, it's supposed to look like El Cap. 530 00:23:16,105 --> 00:23:18,149 [McFadden] Which it certainly did, 531 00:23:18,232 --> 00:23:21,068 but this was only the first part of the illusion. 532 00:23:21,152 --> 00:23:22,987 [screaming] 533 00:23:25,239 --> 00:23:26,657 [continues screaming] 534 00:23:26,740 --> 00:23:30,911 Shatner falls at Yosemite and Spock goes after him. 535 00:23:33,789 --> 00:23:35,040 [grunts] 536 00:23:35,124 --> 00:23:38,961 [Winter] That scene, we just turned the camera and built a set sideways, 537 00:23:39,044 --> 00:23:43,090 so that the ground has rocks and leaves glued to it, 538 00:23:43,174 --> 00:23:44,466 and that's the ground. 539 00:23:44,550 --> 00:23:49,597 Here's Shatner coming, you know, this way to hit the ground. 540 00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:53,350 Spock comes down this way to catch him. 541 00:23:53,434 --> 00:23:54,727 These are not fancy tricks, 542 00:23:54,810 --> 00:23:57,438 and they don't look great when you go back and look at 'em now. 543 00:23:57,521 --> 00:24:00,149 Hi, Bones. Mind if we drop in for dinner? 544 00:24:00,232 --> 00:24:03,360 [McFadden] Designing sets on terra firma was one thing, 545 00:24:03,444 --> 00:24:04,862 but in space... 546 00:24:04,945 --> 00:24:08,115 There was just so many concerns about the ship shots. 547 00:24:08,199 --> 00:24:10,701 [McFadden] Early tests showed the in-camera effects 548 00:24:10,784 --> 00:24:14,747 for the starship shots had come a long way since Star Trek IV. 549 00:24:14,830 --> 00:24:17,625 A long way in the wrong direction. 550 00:24:17,708 --> 00:24:20,127 [Breton] What was particularly challenging for Bran 551 00:24:20,211 --> 00:24:23,339 is I think he thought it was gonna be simpler to do 552 00:24:23,422 --> 00:24:26,759 and to replicate the kind of work that was being done at ILM. 553 00:24:26,842 --> 00:24:29,011 That was a serious mistake. 554 00:24:29,094 --> 00:24:31,597 [McFadden] The magisterial elegance of the Enterprise 555 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:36,435 in the previous films had devolved into something less nuanced. 556 00:24:36,518 --> 00:24:40,397 The years of experience of shooting the Enterprise 557 00:24:40,481 --> 00:24:45,444 and the pearlescent paint and all the fine details 558 00:24:45,527 --> 00:24:48,030 is an accumulation of years of experience, 559 00:24:48,113 --> 00:24:51,575 and especially on a tight schedule with Bran Ferren. 560 00:24:51,659 --> 00:24:54,119 He had a lot of technological know-how, 561 00:24:54,203 --> 00:24:59,208 but it didn't necessarily apply to how to get this show done. 562 00:24:59,291 --> 00:25:01,252 [McFadden] Bran Ferren wasn't the only one 563 00:25:01,335 --> 00:25:03,295 struggling to realize his vision. 564 00:25:03,379 --> 00:25:06,465 That problem went all the way up to the director. 565 00:25:06,548 --> 00:25:07,841 Me? What did I do? 566 00:25:13,055 --> 00:25:15,057 [McFadden] Star Trek V 's director 567 00:25:15,140 --> 00:25:18,018 was pouring his heart and soul into the project. 568 00:25:18,102 --> 00:25:19,520 [Breton] Bill was very passionate. 569 00:25:19,603 --> 00:25:22,648 He brought a lot to trying to make the story 570 00:25:22,731 --> 00:25:25,693 something that he had in his heart and in his mind. 571 00:25:25,776 --> 00:25:30,239 As a director, he was generous, compassionate, 572 00:25:30,322 --> 00:25:32,825 kind, supportive of all the actors. 573 00:25:32,908 --> 00:25:34,827 [McFadden] But Shatner's acting instincts 574 00:25:34,910 --> 00:25:37,121 were not helping him direct his first feature. 575 00:25:37,204 --> 00:25:39,623 All the other staging things in terms of transitions 576 00:25:39,707 --> 00:25:42,835 and the way you're telling the story and the way it plays out... 577 00:25:44,086 --> 00:25:45,504 Yeah, he wasn't disciplined about that. 578 00:25:45,587 --> 00:25:48,424 [McFadden] Now his film was coming apart at the seams. 579 00:25:48,507 --> 00:25:51,218 [Winter] Two-thirds of the way through and it's out in Ridgecrest 580 00:25:51,302 --> 00:25:54,972 when we're filming all the stuff with God that it starts to just be... 581 00:25:55,055 --> 00:25:56,015 It's a mess. 582 00:25:56,098 --> 00:25:59,059 [McFadden] It seems Shatner's style of directing 583 00:25:59,143 --> 00:26:02,438 involved almost as much ad-libbing as his acting. 584 00:26:02,521 --> 00:26:03,772 [Winter] You know, having people running at camera 585 00:26:03,856 --> 00:26:05,816 and then while they're running at camera, 586 00:26:05,899 --> 00:26:06,859 "Some of you fall down." 587 00:26:06,942 --> 00:26:09,028 [McFadden] But no one did fall down because... 588 00:26:09,111 --> 00:26:10,612 [Winter] Normally, you'd prepare that ahead of time. 589 00:26:10,696 --> 00:26:11,697 But what do you expect to happen? 590 00:26:11,780 --> 00:26:14,450 [McFadden] And while they were having trouble falling down, 591 00:26:14,533 --> 00:26:17,077 Nichelle Nichols was having trouble staying on her feet. 592 00:26:17,161 --> 00:26:19,705 [Nichelle Nichols] You know what happens when you're in a dune? 593 00:26:19,788 --> 00:26:22,207 The sand does what it wants to do, 594 00:26:22,291 --> 00:26:26,170 and it's not always what you want it to do. [laughs] 595 00:26:26,253 --> 00:26:29,757 [McFadden] It seemed like every day there were some unexpected challenges. 596 00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:32,509 Production at times seemed a bit shaky. 597 00:26:32,593 --> 00:26:34,636 And we're trying to help with the cameramen, 598 00:26:34,720 --> 00:26:38,515 trying to help out with the first AD, trying to help out in all the other areas. 599 00:26:38,599 --> 00:26:40,184 But you know, there's only so much you can do. 600 00:26:40,267 --> 00:26:41,185 It didn't gel. 601 00:26:41,268 --> 00:26:45,564 [McFadden] Producers had seen enough and convened for an emergency summit. 602 00:26:45,647 --> 00:26:48,275 "What are we gonna do about this? How are we gonna control this?" 603 00:26:48,359 --> 00:26:52,196 [McFadden] As panic set in, Paramount contemplated the unthinkable: 604 00:26:52,279 --> 00:26:53,781 demoting the captain. 605 00:26:53,864 --> 00:26:56,408 But was anyone willing to take the wheel? 606 00:26:56,492 --> 00:26:59,536 Harve Bennett had asked me if I would take over directing it. 607 00:26:59,620 --> 00:27:01,830 And I said, "What is it about?" 608 00:27:01,914 --> 00:27:05,167 And they said, "It's about the search for God." 609 00:27:05,250 --> 00:27:08,587 [McFadden] Presented with the chance to get back into the director's chair 610 00:27:08,670 --> 00:27:11,799 of one of cinema's biggest franchises, Nicholas said... 611 00:27:11,882 --> 00:27:15,427 I don't think so, you know. It's just... I didn't like the odds. 612 00:27:15,511 --> 00:27:16,887 [McFadden] Neither did Paramount, 613 00:27:16,970 --> 00:27:19,807 but two-thirds of the movie was already in the can. 614 00:27:19,890 --> 00:27:20,724 The die is cast. 615 00:27:20,808 --> 00:27:23,268 [McFadden] And with little time to course-correct, 616 00:27:23,352 --> 00:27:25,646 one thing was becoming very apparent. 617 00:27:25,729 --> 00:27:26,730 Holy... 618 00:27:26,814 --> 00:27:28,774 We're gonna... We're gonna hit the wall. 619 00:27:28,857 --> 00:27:30,776 [McFadden] With what little time they did have, 620 00:27:30,859 --> 00:27:34,321 drastic changes were ordered to at least rein in the budget. 621 00:27:34,405 --> 00:27:36,532 Everything ended up being simplified. 622 00:27:36,615 --> 00:27:37,491 [McFadden] For example... 623 00:27:37,574 --> 00:27:40,077 Creating what should have been a much bigger town, 624 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:43,163 I must have taken every bit of stock scenery 625 00:27:43,247 --> 00:27:46,792 that was in the backlot out to the desert to build that little city. 626 00:27:46,875 --> 00:27:49,378 [McFadden] And given that it was expensive to build, 627 00:27:49,461 --> 00:27:51,880 when it came time to tear it all down... 628 00:27:51,964 --> 00:27:53,465 The town mysteriously burned. 629 00:27:53,549 --> 00:27:56,176 [dramatic music plays] 630 00:27:56,260 --> 00:27:59,179 I don't know what happened, but I know that it's cheaper than striking it. 631 00:27:59,263 --> 00:28:01,140 [McFadden] I guess it must have been an act of God. 632 00:28:01,223 --> 00:28:02,057 [chuckles] 633 00:28:02,141 --> 00:28:06,103 [McFadden] Because ultimately, even God himself was forced to bow to budget cuts. 634 00:28:06,186 --> 00:28:09,773 The scaled-back special effects went a bit Old Testament. 635 00:28:09,857 --> 00:28:11,608 Here is the proof you seek. 636 00:28:12,943 --> 00:28:14,319 [groans] 637 00:28:14,403 --> 00:28:17,781 [McFadden] Bran Ferren's special effects were so short of the mark, 638 00:28:17,865 --> 00:28:19,366 they were mistaken for tests. 639 00:28:19,450 --> 00:28:23,078 It was childish and we all really did believe that 640 00:28:23,162 --> 00:28:26,707 that was just a preliminary and that the good stuff was coming later. 641 00:28:28,375 --> 00:28:31,378 But it didn't really evolve all that much past that. 642 00:28:31,462 --> 00:28:33,547 [McFadden] And it wasn't just sets and special effects 643 00:28:33,630 --> 00:28:35,132 that were feeling budget cuts, 644 00:28:35,215 --> 00:28:36,675 so were the costumes. 645 00:28:36,758 --> 00:28:40,721 The rock man was a rock monster that comes together 646 00:28:40,804 --> 00:28:43,765 out of living boulders on this planet of weird stuff. 647 00:28:43,849 --> 00:28:44,892 Bill really wanted that. 648 00:28:44,975 --> 00:28:48,896 [McFadden] But in 1988, the technology just wasn't there to make it happen. 649 00:28:48,979 --> 00:28:51,315 It looks amateurish because it is. 650 00:28:51,398 --> 00:28:53,025 Yeah, the rock creature was a disaster. 651 00:28:53,108 --> 00:28:53,942 Boop! 652 00:28:54,026 --> 00:28:55,360 [McFadden] But on the bright side... 653 00:28:55,444 --> 00:28:58,989 If that had worked, then we wouldn't have had the great homage in Galaxy Quest. 654 00:28:59,072 --> 00:29:01,450 [McFadden] That's right, this grumpy customer 655 00:29:01,533 --> 00:29:04,453 is a loving nod to William Shatner's ambition: 656 00:29:04,536 --> 00:29:08,248 the rock monster he never had and we never saw. 657 00:29:08,332 --> 00:29:10,834 But despite all of the setbacks, 658 00:29:10,918 --> 00:29:13,754 Bill Shatner still very much believed in the picture. 659 00:29:13,837 --> 00:29:18,800 I remember he came to us three weeks after the picture ended and said, 660 00:29:18,884 --> 00:29:21,345 "I'm done. I've edited the picture. We're all done." 661 00:29:21,428 --> 00:29:24,932 And he leaves the room and Harve and I look at each other and go, 662 00:29:25,015 --> 00:29:27,184 "Holy... We're in trouble." 663 00:29:27,267 --> 00:29:29,269 Because you can't possibly edit the movie that quick. 664 00:29:29,353 --> 00:29:33,357 [McFadden] Sure enough, after viewing a rough cut rougher than most, 665 00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:34,900 producers were left asking... 666 00:29:34,983 --> 00:29:35,901 What's going on? 667 00:29:35,984 --> 00:29:37,444 It was a mess. It didn't make any sense. 668 00:29:38,487 --> 00:29:41,448 It was like this giant puzzle laid out in front of you. It was like... 669 00:29:41,532 --> 00:29:42,741 "All right, how do we fix this?" 670 00:29:42,824 --> 00:29:45,369 [McFadden] A radical makeover was in the cards. 671 00:29:45,452 --> 00:29:46,828 We were grasping at straws, 672 00:29:46,912 --> 00:29:49,289 trying to figure out how can we beef this up. 673 00:29:49,373 --> 00:29:53,752 I would put lipstick on the pig so that, you know, it's more attractive. 674 00:29:53,835 --> 00:29:55,754 [McFadden] Desperate to beautify their pig, 675 00:29:55,837 --> 00:29:59,716 Jerry Goldsmith was brought in to apply some musical lipstick. 676 00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:02,386 So, you know, we were hoping that the music's gonna elevate it. 677 00:30:02,469 --> 00:30:03,887 [McFadden] The music was good, 678 00:30:03,971 --> 00:30:05,847 but not that good. 679 00:30:05,931 --> 00:30:10,102 [Breton] If a project is stumbling and disappointing, 680 00:30:10,185 --> 00:30:12,646 it's not gonna be saved by a terrific score. 681 00:30:12,729 --> 00:30:14,690 [McFadden] It needed major surgery. 682 00:30:14,773 --> 00:30:15,983 And so we had to recut it. 683 00:30:16,066 --> 00:30:19,111 [McFadden] And the emergency surgeon was Harve Bennett. 684 00:30:19,194 --> 00:30:22,948 Harve was really known in his writing as a structuralist. 685 00:30:23,031 --> 00:30:24,825 He knew how to structure a story. 686 00:30:24,908 --> 00:30:27,911 And so Harve just went at it in the cutting room for a while. 687 00:30:27,995 --> 00:30:30,539 [McFadden] And quickly came to the realization 688 00:30:30,622 --> 00:30:32,916 he would need more than just edits. 689 00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:35,085 [Nemecek] The whole Klingon scene at the end on their bridge 690 00:30:35,168 --> 00:30:38,213 was added to kind of clean up the ending of Kirk's rescue 691 00:30:38,297 --> 00:30:40,007 and being reunited with Spock. 692 00:30:40,090 --> 00:30:42,801 Our new gunner. 693 00:30:44,261 --> 00:30:46,054 [McFadden] And even if you can't work a miracle, 694 00:30:46,138 --> 00:30:49,141 you can still act like you're about to reveal one. 695 00:30:50,517 --> 00:30:51,351 Spock. 696 00:30:51,435 --> 00:30:54,479 [McFadden] Paramount's marketing arm went into overdrive, 697 00:30:54,563 --> 00:30:57,816 asking audiences to strap themselves in. 698 00:30:57,899 --> 00:31:00,944 You saw the teaser poster with this row of theater chairs 699 00:31:01,028 --> 00:31:01,987 and the caption says, 700 00:31:02,070 --> 00:31:06,158 "Why are they installing seatbelts in movie theater chairs this summer?" 701 00:31:06,241 --> 00:31:08,660 Everyone's like, "Oh, it's exciting, the movie's opening!" 702 00:31:08,744 --> 00:31:10,787 It's like... [grumbling] 703 00:31:10,871 --> 00:31:12,372 You know, you're just like... 704 00:31:12,456 --> 00:31:16,710 You're sweating because you know what's gonna happen. 705 00:31:16,793 --> 00:31:18,420 You know it's not up to snuff. 706 00:31:18,503 --> 00:31:20,922 [McFadden] Oh, come on, that's up to the audience to decide. 707 00:31:21,006 --> 00:31:23,592 Premiering on June 9th, 1989, 708 00:31:23,675 --> 00:31:27,804 it raked in 17.3 million in its opening weekend box office. 709 00:31:27,888 --> 00:31:28,722 [cash register dings] 710 00:31:28,805 --> 00:31:32,309 It actually opened a half-million more than IV had opened, 711 00:31:32,392 --> 00:31:33,977 which was a big, great sign. 712 00:31:34,061 --> 00:31:36,605 [McFadden] But week two was a different story. 713 00:31:36,688 --> 00:31:38,357 It just sunk like a rock after that. 714 00:31:38,440 --> 00:31:41,485 [McFadden] Box office fell 59% in the second week 715 00:31:41,568 --> 00:31:43,987 to just over $7 million. 716 00:31:44,071 --> 00:31:45,656 Like the rogue rock monster, 717 00:31:45,739 --> 00:31:48,700 Star Trek V had come crashing down to Earth. 718 00:31:48,784 --> 00:31:50,327 Fans were disappointed. Yeah. 719 00:31:50,410 --> 00:31:52,454 [McFadden] And they weren't the only ones. 720 00:31:52,537 --> 00:31:56,375 Star Trek V is so slow to get moving and so confused in its plotting. 721 00:31:56,458 --> 00:31:59,711 I had a stern talking-to from the studio afterwards and saying, 722 00:31:59,795 --> 00:32:02,297 "Don't ever do this again. This is not good." 723 00:32:02,381 --> 00:32:04,716 [McFadden] Star Trek V looked for all the world 724 00:32:04,800 --> 00:32:06,968 like it might end careers. 725 00:32:07,052 --> 00:32:08,345 When it was over, I thought, 726 00:32:08,428 --> 00:32:11,515 "Well, they'll never offer me another picture after this." 727 00:32:11,598 --> 00:32:14,309 [McFadden] And even hastened the end of something much bigger. 728 00:32:14,393 --> 00:32:16,603 We all kind of thought this might be it, you know. 729 00:32:16,687 --> 00:32:18,480 This might be the franchise killer. 730 00:32:21,525 --> 00:32:22,526 [screaming] 731 00:32:24,236 --> 00:32:27,197 [McFadden] Star Trek V was a box-office bomb. 732 00:32:27,280 --> 00:32:29,533 I'm hardly in a position to disagree. 733 00:32:29,616 --> 00:32:31,785 [McFadden] But its failure was not fatal. 734 00:32:31,868 --> 00:32:35,747 The franchise had something a single dud film could not erase. 735 00:32:35,831 --> 00:32:36,665 [cash register dings] 736 00:32:36,748 --> 00:32:39,292 [Nemecek] All of those say Hollywood and the franchise 737 00:32:39,376 --> 00:32:41,628 and the films are all totally about the bottom line. 738 00:32:41,712 --> 00:32:45,549 There was a lot of affinity beyond budget dollars for Star Trek 739 00:32:45,632 --> 00:32:47,551 and a lot of affinity for those actors. 740 00:32:47,634 --> 00:32:50,804 [McFadden] And with a growing and vocal fan base in mind, 741 00:32:50,887 --> 00:32:53,598 Paramount executives asked themselves... 742 00:32:53,682 --> 00:32:57,060 "Do we really want to end Star Trek movies and the Kirk era 743 00:32:57,144 --> 00:32:58,228 with that movie?" 744 00:32:58,311 --> 00:32:59,938 Your pain runs deep. 745 00:33:00,021 --> 00:33:02,023 [McFadden] While the answer was obvious, 746 00:33:02,107 --> 00:33:04,025 the story for the next film was not. 747 00:33:04,109 --> 00:33:06,820 [Nicholas Meyer] Harve had proposed to Paramount 748 00:33:06,903 --> 00:33:11,575 to do a movie about young Kirk and young Spock, et cetera, 749 00:33:11,658 --> 00:33:15,912 at the Starfleet Academy, and he had developed this in some detail. 750 00:33:15,996 --> 00:33:16,955 You want to go back? 751 00:33:17,038 --> 00:33:19,499 [McFadden] With an aging original cast, 752 00:33:19,583 --> 00:33:22,210 producer Harve Bennett had his eye on the future. 753 00:33:22,294 --> 00:33:24,212 Maybe they're throwing us a retirement party. 754 00:33:24,296 --> 00:33:26,047 That suits me. I just bought a boat. 755 00:33:26,131 --> 00:33:30,427 [McFadden] Harve Bennett and Ralph Winter teamed up for the proposed prequel. 756 00:33:30,510 --> 00:33:34,598 We developed a screenplay with David Lowery who wrote V. 757 00:33:34,681 --> 00:33:36,141 And Harve really wanted to make that. 758 00:33:36,224 --> 00:33:37,434 Still think we're finished? 759 00:33:37,517 --> 00:33:38,643 More than ever. 760 00:33:38,727 --> 00:33:41,563 [McFadden] A changing of the guard was being conceived 761 00:33:41,646 --> 00:33:44,316 to allow the original cast a graceful exit. 762 00:33:44,399 --> 00:33:49,738 You and I have grown so old and so inflexible. 763 00:33:49,821 --> 00:33:52,574 "They're going to age out of being able to do this. 764 00:33:52,657 --> 00:33:53,533 Here you go, Paramount. 765 00:33:53,617 --> 00:33:55,827 Here's a perfect way to continue the franchise." 766 00:33:55,911 --> 00:33:56,745 [McFadden] But... 767 00:33:56,828 --> 00:33:58,163 The studio didn't wanna do it. 768 00:33:58,246 --> 00:34:01,208 [McFadden] In fact, just about no one wanted to do it. 769 00:34:01,291 --> 00:34:04,586 [Nemecek] Gene, the studio, the fan base, and the actors, 770 00:34:04,669 --> 00:34:07,214 they're all saying, "No, we're not quite ready to go out to pasture yet." 771 00:34:07,297 --> 00:34:09,591 People can be very frightened of change. 772 00:34:09,674 --> 00:34:12,761 [McFadden] Paramount was not quite ready for the future 773 00:34:12,844 --> 00:34:15,263 because they were not done with the past. 774 00:34:15,347 --> 00:34:20,393 They said they weren't happy with the fifth Star Trek movie. 775 00:34:20,477 --> 00:34:21,311 My pain? 776 00:34:21,394 --> 00:34:22,395 It runs deep. 777 00:34:22,479 --> 00:34:25,941 And they didn't wanna go out on that note with the original cast. 778 00:34:26,024 --> 00:34:27,859 I wouldn't. 779 00:34:27,943 --> 00:34:30,237 [McFadden] There was a legacy that needed to be honored. 780 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:33,406 [Winter] Frank Mancuso and the studio wanted to capitalize 781 00:34:33,490 --> 00:34:37,285 on the 25th anniversary for the marketing and distribution aspect. 782 00:34:37,369 --> 00:34:38,495 It was a nice ending to all of this. 783 00:34:38,578 --> 00:34:41,331 There was so much more momentum on a larger scale. 784 00:34:41,414 --> 00:34:44,167 This is the final cruise of the Starship Enterprise 785 00:34:44,251 --> 00:34:45,293 under my command. 786 00:34:45,377 --> 00:34:48,713 They decided there was gonna be a Star Trek VI 787 00:34:48,797 --> 00:34:49,965 with the original cast. 788 00:34:50,048 --> 00:34:52,551 [Gorkon] The Undiscovered Country. 789 00:34:52,634 --> 00:34:56,346 [McFadden] Everyone was on board for one last blast with the original cast, 790 00:34:56,429 --> 00:34:59,224 barring one key crew member. 791 00:34:59,307 --> 00:35:03,687 Harve really just didn't wanna do that. He really wanted to make the prequel. 792 00:35:03,770 --> 00:35:06,815 He left very upset and very disillusioned 793 00:35:06,898 --> 00:35:11,570 and feeling very manipulated by Paramount. 794 00:35:11,653 --> 00:35:13,655 "After all I've done for you?" 795 00:35:13,738 --> 00:35:15,365 And they're like, "Sorry, no." 796 00:35:15,448 --> 00:35:18,910 So he's like, "Okay, then I guess our time together is at an end." 797 00:35:20,537 --> 00:35:22,747 [McFadden] Ralph Winter would stay on as producer, 798 00:35:22,831 --> 00:35:25,041 but the biggest personnel question was... 799 00:35:25,125 --> 00:35:28,044 "Who's been the most successful with our Star Trek movies so far?" 800 00:35:28,128 --> 00:35:29,838 I think my passion is directing. 801 00:35:29,921 --> 00:35:31,715 [clears throat] 802 00:35:31,798 --> 00:35:33,133 -Leonard directing... -[sighs] 803 00:35:33,216 --> 00:35:36,511 [McFadden] And... -...and Nick Meyer writing-directing. 804 00:35:36,595 --> 00:35:39,556 [McFadden] After Shatner's mismanaging of Star Trek V, 805 00:35:39,639 --> 00:35:42,392 the studio wanted a safer pair of hands. 806 00:35:42,475 --> 00:35:45,228 [Winter] They certainly went back to Nick to be sure. 807 00:35:45,312 --> 00:35:48,565 Here's the guy that directed II and did a lot of writing on IV. 808 00:35:48,648 --> 00:35:50,650 "Let's do this the way we know that works. 809 00:35:50,734 --> 00:35:52,819 Let's not take any chances like we did on V." 810 00:35:52,903 --> 00:35:54,404 I gotta sit down. 811 00:35:54,487 --> 00:35:57,866 "You know, we're not gonna screw this up. This is the 25th anniversary. 812 00:35:57,949 --> 00:36:00,994 This is the one we gotta deliver on. We gotta go out with a bang." 813 00:36:01,077 --> 00:36:03,204 [banging] 814 00:36:03,288 --> 00:36:06,625 [McFadden] Nicholas Meyer had not only worked on Star Trek films, 815 00:36:06,708 --> 00:36:10,670 he had also saved them and even done some writing for free. 816 00:36:10,754 --> 00:36:13,298 -But this time, it was all about money. -[cash register dings] 817 00:36:13,381 --> 00:36:16,176 They said they wanted to do it for about 30 million bucks 818 00:36:16,259 --> 00:36:18,511 and would I be interested. 819 00:36:19,387 --> 00:36:20,764 -And I said, "Sure." -[cash register dings] 820 00:36:20,847 --> 00:36:23,433 [McFadden] Paramount had already confirmed 821 00:36:23,516 --> 00:36:25,226 the other member of their dream team. 822 00:36:25,310 --> 00:36:27,062 I assume command of this ship. 823 00:36:27,145 --> 00:36:29,022 [Meyer] I get a call from Leonard. 824 00:36:29,105 --> 00:36:32,275 "Can I come and talk to you about a Star Trek VI movie 825 00:36:32,359 --> 00:36:34,527 which I'm gonna executive produce?" 826 00:36:34,611 --> 00:36:35,779 And I said, "Sure." 827 00:36:35,862 --> 00:36:39,282 It's a case of Leonard and Nick kind of saying, 828 00:36:39,366 --> 00:36:40,700 "It's up to you and me, buddy." 829 00:36:40,784 --> 00:36:42,452 [McFadden] Leonard already had a concept. 830 00:36:42,535 --> 00:36:46,164 [Meyer] He said, " Star Trek has always reflected things 831 00:36:46,247 --> 00:36:49,834 that are going on on planet Earth, inevitably." 832 00:36:49,918 --> 00:36:53,672 [McFadden] And in 1989, what was happening on planet Earth 833 00:36:53,755 --> 00:36:55,590 was about to change everything. 834 00:36:55,674 --> 00:36:56,716 I'm Peter Jennings in New York. 835 00:36:56,800 --> 00:36:59,344 Just a short while ago, astonishing news from East Germany, 836 00:36:59,427 --> 00:37:01,638 where the East German authorities have said, in essence, 837 00:37:01,721 --> 00:37:04,140 that the Berlin Wall doesn't mean anything anymore. 838 00:37:04,224 --> 00:37:06,643 [McFadden] Nimoy saw the fall of the Berlin Wall 839 00:37:06,726 --> 00:37:08,812 and the collapse of the Soviet Union 840 00:37:08,895 --> 00:37:11,648 as a potential turning point for Star Trek, 841 00:37:11,731 --> 00:37:15,276 a show originally conceived at the height of the Cold War. 842 00:37:15,360 --> 00:37:18,488 We Klingons have a reputation for ruthlessness. 843 00:37:18,571 --> 00:37:22,784 [Meyer] The Klingons have always been our stand-ins for the Russians. 844 00:37:22,867 --> 00:37:26,454 "What if the wall comes down in outer space?" 845 00:37:26,538 --> 00:37:29,582 And that was all I needed. You primed my pump. Okay, great. 846 00:37:29,666 --> 00:37:31,292 [McFadden] The starting point for the story 847 00:37:31,376 --> 00:37:33,920 was inspired by another Cold War flashpoint. 848 00:37:34,004 --> 00:37:36,381 [Peter Jennings] There has been a nuclear accident in the Soviet Union. 849 00:37:36,464 --> 00:37:39,426 One of the atomic reactors at the Chernobyl Atomic Power Plant 850 00:37:39,509 --> 00:37:41,428 near the city of Kiev was damaged. 851 00:37:41,511 --> 00:37:44,639 We start with an intergalactic Chernobyl. 852 00:37:44,723 --> 00:37:46,808 [explosion] 853 00:37:46,891 --> 00:37:48,476 Like a nuclear meltdown. 854 00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:50,895 Their moon has exploded their energy source. 855 00:37:50,979 --> 00:37:53,690 No! [screams] 856 00:37:53,773 --> 00:37:57,027 [Meyer] And suddenly, the Klingon Empire is no more. 857 00:37:57,110 --> 00:38:01,614 And all these immigrants are gonna be trooping to planet Earth 858 00:38:01,698 --> 00:38:04,534 and other places dispersed 'cause their planet is collapsing. 859 00:38:04,617 --> 00:38:06,661 The Klingons have never been trustworthy. 860 00:38:06,745 --> 00:38:10,165 [McFadden] This existential threat to the Klingons 861 00:38:10,248 --> 00:38:13,209 would also prove an existential crisis for Kirk. 862 00:38:13,293 --> 00:38:14,377 They're dying. 863 00:38:14,461 --> 00:38:16,087 Let them die. 864 00:38:16,171 --> 00:38:19,966 "Who am I if I have no enemy to define me?" 865 00:38:20,050 --> 00:38:22,886 Would you and your party care to dine in this evening? 866 00:38:22,969 --> 00:38:23,887 We would be delighted. 867 00:38:23,970 --> 00:38:26,681 Kirk's assigned to escort the Klingon Chancellor. 868 00:38:26,765 --> 00:38:28,516 [clears throat] 869 00:38:28,600 --> 00:38:30,852 We must do this again sometime. 870 00:38:30,935 --> 00:38:32,896 The Klingon Chancellor gets assassinated... 871 00:38:32,979 --> 00:38:34,689 [groans] 872 00:38:34,773 --> 00:38:36,608 -...due to Kirk's negligence.... -What happened? 873 00:38:36,691 --> 00:38:38,651 -...'cause he hates Klingons... -They're animals. 874 00:38:38,735 --> 00:38:39,569 ...'cause they killed his son. 875 00:38:39,652 --> 00:38:41,821 [Kirk] I could never forgive them for the death of my boy. 876 00:38:41,905 --> 00:38:45,033 They're all unfurled, you know, in a big gush. 877 00:38:45,116 --> 00:38:46,451 [all cheer] 878 00:38:46,534 --> 00:38:50,371 Tell us that you plan to take revenge for the death of your son. 879 00:38:50,455 --> 00:38:54,125 It parallels a great deal of what's going on today in this universe 880 00:38:54,209 --> 00:38:58,671 and more or less a quest for peace. 881 00:38:58,755 --> 00:39:01,633 [McFadden] Leonard Nimoy liked Nicholas' idea. 882 00:39:01,716 --> 00:39:03,301 And he said, "Great! This is great!" 883 00:39:03,384 --> 00:39:06,096 [McFadden] But there was one opinion that had to be heard... 884 00:39:06,179 --> 00:39:08,014 even if no one wanted to hear it. 885 00:39:08,890 --> 00:39:12,769 [Meyer] I met Gene Roddenberry when the script was finished, 886 00:39:12,894 --> 00:39:15,897 and he had a lot of objections to it. 887 00:39:15,980 --> 00:39:19,859 It's no surprise that Roddenberry would be dissatisfied with the script 888 00:39:19,943 --> 00:39:20,985 'cause that means he's gotta fix it. 889 00:39:21,069 --> 00:39:21,903 That means he gets paid. 890 00:39:21,986 --> 00:39:25,490 [McFadden] One of Gene's objections had to do with a traitor 891 00:39:25,573 --> 00:39:27,575 the producers decided should be... 892 00:39:27,659 --> 00:39:29,786 Lieutenant, are you wearing your hair differently? 893 00:39:29,869 --> 00:39:31,412 [McFadden] ...Lieutenant Saavik. 894 00:39:31,496 --> 00:39:33,790 Out of the gate, they wanted to bring Saavik back. 895 00:39:33,873 --> 00:39:38,044 [McFadden] Originally played by Kirstie Alley and later by Robin Curtis. 896 00:39:38,128 --> 00:39:40,255 But how could they have evolved so quickly? 897 00:39:40,338 --> 00:39:42,632 [Meyer] Ideally, it was to have been Saavik. 898 00:39:42,715 --> 00:39:45,802 It was to have been somebody that you liked, trusted, 899 00:39:45,885 --> 00:39:51,224 whose tragedy was this terror of the unknown, 900 00:39:51,307 --> 00:39:52,809 of change. 901 00:39:52,892 --> 00:39:55,228 And that made the whole story more complicated. 902 00:39:55,311 --> 00:39:59,691 [McFadden] But complicated was not how Gene saw his beloved Vulcans. 903 00:39:59,774 --> 00:40:02,318 He did not like the idea of making her a traitor. 904 00:40:02,402 --> 00:40:03,444 A lie? 905 00:40:03,528 --> 00:40:04,904 A choice. 906 00:40:04,988 --> 00:40:09,576 [Meyer] We had a meeting with a lot of other people in the room, in his office. 907 00:40:09,659 --> 00:40:13,121 I had so much raining down on me. 908 00:40:13,204 --> 00:40:15,248 We just created another character. 909 00:40:15,331 --> 00:40:18,084 So there were a lot of forces here that aligned 910 00:40:18,168 --> 00:40:21,004 to have the turncoat be someone that you just met. 911 00:40:21,087 --> 00:40:22,046 Lieutenant? 912 00:40:22,130 --> 00:40:23,047 Valeris, sir. 913 00:40:23,131 --> 00:40:24,924 [McFadden] An all-new Vulcan. 914 00:40:25,008 --> 00:40:26,593 She's a Vulcan all right. 915 00:40:26,676 --> 00:40:28,595 [McFadden] And there was one other element to the story 916 00:40:28,678 --> 00:40:30,430 that Gene found objectionable. 917 00:40:30,513 --> 00:40:34,309 The Federation is no more than a Homo sapiens-only club. 918 00:40:34,392 --> 00:40:38,229 [Meyer] He, in retrospect, perhaps was understandably mortified 919 00:40:38,313 --> 00:40:41,191 to find that the crew of the Enterprise was racist. 920 00:40:41,274 --> 00:40:42,442 They all look alike. 921 00:40:42,525 --> 00:40:43,985 What about that smell? 922 00:40:44,068 --> 00:40:46,988 [Meyer] Which was sort of the point I was trying to make, 923 00:40:47,071 --> 00:40:50,241 but it was absolutely antithetical to his view 924 00:40:50,325 --> 00:40:53,870 about the perfectibility of people. 925 00:40:53,953 --> 00:40:54,954 We were at loggerheads. 926 00:40:55,038 --> 00:40:56,122 [Azetbur] It's racist. 927 00:40:56,206 --> 00:40:59,000 [McFadden] But at least everyone could agree on the budget 928 00:40:59,083 --> 00:41:02,045 because what's not to like about $30 million? 929 00:41:02,128 --> 00:41:07,342 When VI was proposed to me in London by Frank Mancuso, 930 00:41:07,425 --> 00:41:09,093 he said $30 million. 931 00:41:09,177 --> 00:41:12,639 [McFadden] But having already moved his family to LA... 932 00:41:12,722 --> 00:41:16,476 I rented a house for my family. We're all there. 933 00:41:16,559 --> 00:41:18,937 [McFadden] Nicholas attended a Hollywood meeting 934 00:41:19,020 --> 00:41:22,649 and found that something had been lost in the trip across the Atlantic. 935 00:41:22,732 --> 00:41:28,738 I was in a meeting with Ralph Winter, Steve Jaffe, Leonard Nimoy, and Paramount. 936 00:41:28,821 --> 00:41:30,823 [McFadden] In other words, the big wigs. 937 00:41:30,907 --> 00:41:33,284 [Meyer] "And we're all excited to be making this movie. 938 00:41:33,368 --> 00:41:35,662 Now we're talking about a budget of 25 million." 939 00:41:35,745 --> 00:41:38,456 And I go, "Wait, wait. 940 00:41:38,539 --> 00:41:40,208 We're not talking about 25. 941 00:41:40,333 --> 00:41:45,505 We're talking about 30 because Frank said 30 when I agreed to come here." 942 00:41:45,588 --> 00:41:49,259 [McFadden] It seemed Paramount now had a new vision for the film. 943 00:41:49,425 --> 00:41:53,429 "Well, Frank has this vision," and I said, "Stop." 944 00:41:53,513 --> 00:41:55,598 [McFadden] That turned out to be the trigger word. 945 00:41:55,682 --> 00:41:57,267 "Don't talk to me about Frank and his vision. 946 00:41:57,350 --> 00:41:59,394 I'm the artist. I have the vision. 947 00:41:59,477 --> 00:42:04,065 And I wanna give you some math, which shouldn't be my responsibility, 948 00:42:04,148 --> 00:42:05,316 but I'm gonna do it." 949 00:42:05,400 --> 00:42:08,945 [McFadden] Standby for a lesson in basic film-production accounting. 950 00:42:09,028 --> 00:42:11,698 "You have the cast, you have the script, 951 00:42:11,781 --> 00:42:14,325 producers' fees, directors' fees, all of that. 952 00:42:14,409 --> 00:42:18,288 There's 14 million before you've put any film in the camera." 953 00:42:18,371 --> 00:42:19,789 And back then it was film. 954 00:42:19,872 --> 00:42:21,249 [McFadden] Expensive film. 955 00:42:21,332 --> 00:42:23,793 Then there's the small matter of post-production. 956 00:42:23,876 --> 00:42:28,131 You got two and a half million dollars in post-production or something. 957 00:42:28,214 --> 00:42:31,009 You have $4 million in special effects. 958 00:42:31,092 --> 00:42:33,511 We're now up to, I don't know, $19 million. 959 00:42:33,594 --> 00:42:34,887 I can't remember. I added it all up. 960 00:42:34,971 --> 00:42:37,307 [McFadden] Actually, we're already over 20 million. 961 00:42:37,390 --> 00:42:39,058 But the point is... 962 00:42:39,142 --> 00:42:40,226 "Where's the movie?" 963 00:42:40,310 --> 00:42:43,896 [McFadden] In Hollywood, everyone lies except the numbers. 964 00:42:43,980 --> 00:42:45,481 Numbers don't lie. 965 00:42:45,565 --> 00:42:48,818 I see we have a long way to go. 966 00:42:48,901 --> 00:42:51,404 "Would you excuse us for a minute?" 967 00:42:51,487 --> 00:42:54,615 And we sat there and they went into another room. 968 00:42:54,699 --> 00:42:56,284 And then we waited for about 20 minutes. 969 00:42:56,367 --> 00:43:00,830 And they came back and they said $27 million. 970 00:43:01,622 --> 00:43:06,169 And I said, "Guys, you're confused. 971 00:43:06,252 --> 00:43:08,379 I'm not negotiating. 972 00:43:08,463 --> 00:43:11,924 I'm gonna see Frank Mancuso. I'm gonna explain it to him. 973 00:43:12,008 --> 00:43:13,634 We're gonna settle this whole thing." 974 00:43:14,635 --> 00:43:19,390 So I go see Frank Mancuso and he courtly hears me out, 975 00:43:19,515 --> 00:43:23,061 and he said, "Thank you very much, Mr. Meyer, for explaining this." 976 00:43:24,062 --> 00:43:26,397 I leave and he cancels the movie. 977 00:43:26,481 --> 00:43:27,815 The operation is over. 978 00:43:33,571 --> 00:43:36,783 [McFadden] With Star Trek VI canceled over budgetary concerns, 979 00:43:36,866 --> 00:43:39,535 Nicholas Meyer suddenly had a lot of time on his hands 980 00:43:39,619 --> 00:43:41,913 to think about where it all went wrong. 981 00:43:41,996 --> 00:43:44,999 I am in total shock, 982 00:43:45,083 --> 00:43:48,294 wandering around the lot like a lost soul 983 00:43:48,378 --> 00:43:49,796 and the sound of an empty soundstage, 984 00:43:49,879 --> 00:43:50,963 and I thought, "Oh, yeah, 985 00:43:51,047 --> 00:43:53,508 this is where the peace conference was supposed to be." 986 00:43:53,591 --> 00:43:54,425 [phone rings] 987 00:43:54,509 --> 00:43:56,636 [McFadden] When out of nowhere the phone rang. 988 00:43:56,719 --> 00:43:59,097 There's nobody else there. I pick up the phone. "Hello?" 989 00:43:59,180 --> 00:44:02,433 And this voice says, "Nick." 990 00:44:02,517 --> 00:44:05,186 And I said, "Yeah." He said, "This is Stanley Jaffe." 991 00:44:05,269 --> 00:44:07,480 [McFadden] Stanley Jaffe was the super producer 992 00:44:07,563 --> 00:44:10,733 behind some of Hollywood's recent big box-office hits. 993 00:44:10,817 --> 00:44:13,986 [Meyer] Now, Stanley Jaffe and Sherry Lansing 994 00:44:14,070 --> 00:44:15,905 had made Kramer vs. Kramer 995 00:44:15,988 --> 00:44:17,615 and they had made Fatal Attraction. 996 00:44:17,698 --> 00:44:19,867 [McFadden] But it was Stanley Jaffe's new job, 997 00:44:19,951 --> 00:44:21,119 not his track record, 998 00:44:21,202 --> 00:44:23,246 that was about to make Nicholas' day. 999 00:44:23,329 --> 00:44:27,583 He said, "Frank Mancuso is not with the studio anymore. 1000 00:44:27,667 --> 00:44:29,794 Sherry Lansing and I are running the studio. 1001 00:44:29,877 --> 00:44:31,337 And I hear you have a problem." 1002 00:44:31,421 --> 00:44:34,549 And I said, "Yeah, I need $5 million." 1003 00:44:34,632 --> 00:44:35,883 And he said, "You got it." 1004 00:44:35,967 --> 00:44:36,801 And he hung up. 1005 00:44:37,927 --> 00:44:39,512 And suddenly, we were back on. 1006 00:44:39,595 --> 00:44:42,181 [McFadden] And just like that, all of Nicholas' problems 1007 00:44:42,265 --> 00:44:44,434 were the kind with creative solutions. 1008 00:44:44,517 --> 00:44:48,938 Like casting, which stretched all the way back to the original series. 1009 00:44:49,021 --> 00:44:52,108 Mark Lenard as Spock's father. 1010 00:44:52,191 --> 00:44:53,109 That was a no-brainer. 1011 00:44:53,192 --> 00:44:54,193 Quite logical. 1012 00:44:54,277 --> 00:44:55,987 [McFadden] Having appeared as Spock's father, 1013 00:44:56,070 --> 00:44:58,906 Mark Lenard was an old hand at playing a Vulcan. 1014 00:44:58,990 --> 00:45:02,368 While Kim Cattrall was new as Lieutenant Valeris. 1015 00:45:02,452 --> 00:45:05,246 Sir, I address you as a kindred intellect. 1016 00:45:05,329 --> 00:45:08,666 [McFadden] Star Trek V 's David Warner underwent a makeover 1017 00:45:08,749 --> 00:45:11,878 and reemerged as the cultured Chancellor Gorkon. 1018 00:45:11,961 --> 00:45:13,379 You've not experienced Shakespeare 1019 00:45:13,463 --> 00:45:15,673 until you have read him in the original Klingon. 1020 00:45:15,756 --> 00:45:18,509 [McFadden] Kurtwood Smith played the Federation President. 1021 00:45:18,593 --> 00:45:20,761 I have ordered a full-scale investigation. 1022 00:45:20,845 --> 00:45:23,264 [McFadden] And Nicholas Meyer had only one actor in mind 1023 00:45:23,347 --> 00:45:26,225 to play the rambunctious General Chang. 1024 00:45:26,309 --> 00:45:29,437 I have so wanted to meet you, Captain. 1025 00:45:29,520 --> 00:45:33,316 When the time came, I said to my casting director, Mary Jo Slater, 1026 00:45:33,399 --> 00:45:37,612 "Don't come back without Christopher Plummer or we're sunk." 1027 00:45:37,695 --> 00:45:42,825 Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war! 1028 00:45:42,909 --> 00:45:47,246 And his only thing was, you know, "Don't strangle me with makeup." 1029 00:45:47,330 --> 00:45:51,334 So he wound up being sort of a modified-Klingon look. 1030 00:45:51,417 --> 00:45:54,253 [McFadden] When it came to Klingons, Nicholas' biggest problem 1031 00:45:54,337 --> 00:45:57,423 was figuring out how to assassinate one in space. 1032 00:45:57,507 --> 00:46:00,760 One of the things that always struck me is, 1033 00:46:00,843 --> 00:46:04,055 when you watch Star Wars or any outer space movie, 1034 00:46:04,138 --> 00:46:05,515 nobody's ever floating. 1035 00:46:05,598 --> 00:46:08,684 They all walk down these corridors like they're in a Holiday Inn. 1036 00:46:08,768 --> 00:46:11,729 And I'm thinking, "Ooh, what a cool idea." 1037 00:46:11,812 --> 00:46:14,315 They knock out the gravity machine, 1038 00:46:14,398 --> 00:46:17,735 and two guys in magnetic boots go in and blast away. 1039 00:46:17,818 --> 00:46:18,903 [McFadden] Which leads to... 1040 00:46:18,986 --> 00:46:21,489 Floating blood. Ooh! 1041 00:46:21,572 --> 00:46:24,742 [McFadden] Which raised a surprisingly vexing question. 1042 00:46:24,825 --> 00:46:27,411 What color should Klingon blood be? 1043 00:46:27,495 --> 00:46:30,873 Originally, I thought about it. It should be green. 1044 00:46:30,957 --> 00:46:33,000 And Leonard nixed that. 1045 00:46:33,084 --> 00:46:35,044 I'm not sure why, but he didn't like it. 1046 00:46:35,127 --> 00:46:37,922 [McFadden] Possibly because Vulcan blood is green. 1047 00:46:38,005 --> 00:46:40,758 So producers went to the other end of the spectrum. 1048 00:46:40,841 --> 00:46:42,635 On Next Generation , Klingon blood 1049 00:46:42,718 --> 00:46:45,096 had seemed to be just kind of a dark red-brown. 1050 00:46:45,179 --> 00:46:47,431 [McFadden] But that sounded a little dull. 1051 00:46:47,515 --> 00:46:49,642 And we just wanted it to be different. 1052 00:46:49,725 --> 00:46:51,352 -[McFadden] And so... -I chose this pink. 1053 00:46:53,229 --> 00:46:56,857 We retcon that as saying, "Well, when Klingon blood's in no gravity, 1054 00:46:56,941 --> 00:46:58,317 then it turns that way." 1055 00:46:58,985 --> 00:46:59,944 [groans] 1056 00:47:00,027 --> 00:47:01,737 [McFadden] But if gallons of floating pink blood 1057 00:47:01,821 --> 00:47:05,616 were unsettling for some, not to worry. 1058 00:47:05,700 --> 00:47:09,912 I didn't think about Pepto-Bismol, and I wish I had. 1059 00:47:09,996 --> 00:47:14,125 [McFadden] So Klingon blood looked a little bit like indigestion medicine, 1060 00:47:14,208 --> 00:47:17,169 but producers were occupied with a bigger challenge. 1061 00:47:17,253 --> 00:47:20,548 Which was the guy being shot in the hallway. 1062 00:47:20,631 --> 00:47:24,427 [McFadden] Producers were stumped about how to create zero-G effects 1063 00:47:24,510 --> 00:47:26,095 on a shoestring budget. 1064 00:47:26,178 --> 00:47:31,726 "How do we get the impact of this guy to take the phaser hit 1065 00:47:31,809 --> 00:47:35,980 and then in a weightless environment, push him down the hallway?" 1066 00:47:36,063 --> 00:47:38,232 [McFadden] No CGI would be necessary, 1067 00:47:38,316 --> 00:47:40,651 since veteran production designer Herman Zimmerman 1068 00:47:40,735 --> 00:47:42,862 had an old-fashioned solution. 1069 00:47:42,945 --> 00:47:46,282 We take the whole scene, the hallway that we're gonna build, 1070 00:47:46,365 --> 00:47:47,992 and we build it like this. 1071 00:47:48,075 --> 00:47:51,912 So that the guy who's gonna be shot is hanging. 1072 00:47:51,996 --> 00:47:54,707 And now we yank the guy up towards the ceiling 1073 00:47:54,790 --> 00:47:58,836 and it looks like he's weightless going down the hallway. 1074 00:47:58,919 --> 00:48:00,504 [McFadden] The visual effects were stunning, 1075 00:48:00,588 --> 00:48:03,758 but were they convincing enough for Star Trek 's creator? 1076 00:48:03,841 --> 00:48:08,179 Gene Roddenberry still had a contractual guaranteed say on Star Trek. 1077 00:48:08,262 --> 00:48:10,640 They had basically the completed cut. 1078 00:48:10,723 --> 00:48:13,059 Gene is in his wheelchair, having had his mini-strokes. 1079 00:48:13,142 --> 00:48:16,187 He's having good days and bad days, more bad days than good days. 1080 00:48:16,270 --> 00:48:20,441 [McFadden] They had a special screening just for him at Paramount Studios. 1081 00:48:20,524 --> 00:48:23,235 Producers anxiously waited for his reaction. 1082 00:48:23,319 --> 00:48:25,863 I'm thinking in my head, "If there's a problem, 1083 00:48:25,946 --> 00:48:27,198 A, he gets more money, 1084 00:48:27,281 --> 00:48:29,784 and B, we gotta deal with that problem." 1085 00:48:29,867 --> 00:48:33,037 [McFadden] And so an ailing Gene was seeing his characters 1086 00:48:33,120 --> 00:48:36,123 behave in ways he would never have imagined. 1087 00:48:36,207 --> 00:48:38,542 Like Spock mind-melding in anger. 1088 00:48:38,626 --> 00:48:43,047 It's waterboarding by sci-fi means, and it ain't pleasant. 1089 00:48:43,130 --> 00:48:46,842 [McFadden] And yet Star Trek VI was pleasant enough for Gene. 1090 00:48:46,926 --> 00:48:48,052 As they're wheeling him out the theater, 1091 00:48:48,135 --> 00:48:49,553 he said, "No, I liked it. Thanks very much." 1092 00:48:49,637 --> 00:48:51,305 [McFadden] Until he thought about it. 1093 00:48:51,389 --> 00:48:53,474 A couple of days later, here come a whole list 1094 00:48:53,557 --> 00:48:56,310 of complaints and comments and demands that Gene wants changed. 1095 00:48:56,394 --> 00:48:59,021 [McFadden] But before they could get to the bottom of it... 1096 00:48:59,105 --> 00:49:00,773 Gene dies within days. 1097 00:49:00,856 --> 00:49:01,941 [dramatic music plays] 1098 00:49:02,024 --> 00:49:04,318 [McFadden] And the notes were never brought up again. 1099 00:49:05,319 --> 00:49:09,824 It's kind of an odd last moment for Gene and the characters that he created. 1100 00:49:09,907 --> 00:49:13,452 [McFadden] Star Trek VI premiered December 6th, 1991, 1101 00:49:13,536 --> 00:49:18,708 and The Undiscovered Country discovered $96 million worldwide 1102 00:49:18,791 --> 00:49:19,959 on its budget of 30 million. 1103 00:49:20,042 --> 00:49:21,502 -[cash register dings] -It did well, yes. 1104 00:49:21,585 --> 00:49:24,130 [McFadden] For Paramount, it was the best possible way 1105 00:49:24,213 --> 00:49:26,966 to celebrate the franchise's 25th anniversary. 1106 00:49:27,049 --> 00:49:29,176 -Here's to 25 years. -You bet. 1107 00:49:29,260 --> 00:49:32,471 Of joy and happiness, and fussing and fighting. 1108 00:49:32,555 --> 00:49:33,472 Yeah. 1109 00:49:33,556 --> 00:49:35,224 [McFadden] But what this really meant was... 1110 00:49:35,349 --> 00:49:37,518 We were done with that cast. That was the end. 1111 00:49:41,689 --> 00:49:42,898 [McFadden] At the end of the film, 1112 00:49:42,982 --> 00:49:45,693 each actor's signature appears on the screen. 1113 00:49:48,070 --> 00:49:53,492 Signing off both on the roles they had shaped into iconic characters 1114 00:49:53,576 --> 00:49:56,370 and also signaling the end of an era. 1115 00:49:57,371 --> 00:50:00,666 Your heart's in your throat, watching those signatures go up at the end. 1116 00:50:02,960 --> 00:50:06,213 [McFadden] And although it was the end of an incredible era, 1117 00:50:06,297 --> 00:50:08,883 there would be a small return to the silver screen 1118 00:50:08,966 --> 00:50:14,138 for some of the original cast in 1994's Star Trek: Generations. 1119 00:50:14,221 --> 00:50:17,308 And even though Captain Kirk had clearly lost his place 1120 00:50:17,391 --> 00:50:22,229 at the center seat, he did leave us with this final moment. 1121 00:50:22,313 --> 00:50:23,522 [exhales] 1122 00:50:24,482 --> 00:50:25,483 It was... 1123 00:50:28,527 --> 00:50:29,528 fun. 1124 00:50:30,780 --> 00:50:32,865 [McFadden] While that was the end of Captain Kirk, 1125 00:50:32,948 --> 00:50:35,201 that wasn't the end of Star Trek. 1126 00:50:35,284 --> 00:50:36,827 Quite the opposite. 1127 00:50:37,828 --> 00:50:40,623 Because the staggering success of Star Trek IV 1128 00:50:40,706 --> 00:50:44,418 had not only done its part in saving the whales, 1129 00:50:44,502 --> 00:50:47,922 it also saved televised Star Trek from extinction. 1130 00:50:48,005 --> 00:50:50,883 1986, Voyage Home is a huge hit 1131 00:50:50,966 --> 00:50:55,930 and the local stations saying, "Guys, can you please do something? 1132 00:50:56,013 --> 00:50:59,099 We've had these same damn little 80 one-hour episodes 1133 00:50:59,183 --> 00:51:02,353 we've been showing for 15 years now, 1134 00:51:02,436 --> 00:51:05,856 but if you would just make some more Star Trek for us on TV, 1135 00:51:05,940 --> 00:51:07,191 we'd all make more money." 1136 00:51:07,274 --> 00:51:10,361 And it's within several months of the film's success 1137 00:51:10,444 --> 00:51:13,739 that they announce that Next Generation is gonna be a reality. 1138 00:51:13,823 --> 00:51:17,201 [McFadden] And believe me, that is quite a story. 1139 00:51:17,284 --> 00:51:19,370 [theme music playing]