Rushed into production after an early attempt to reboot the franchise fell through, The Undiscovered Country featured the dramatic return of Wrath of Khan director Nicholas Meyer to the franchise, and a then-timely tale of peace between the Federation and Klingons that mirrored the real-life détente between the U.S. and Russia. The real highlight though was the casting of Christopher Plummer as Kirk’s Klingon nemesis General Chang. Spouting Shakespearean taunts at the Enterprise captain, Plummer and Shatner’s on screen battle was accentuated by the pair’s former real-life rivalry, as Shatner came up in the Montreal theatre scene at roughly the same time as Plummer, and later followed him to both the Stratford Festival and Hollywood. Released just in time for Trek’s 25th anniversary, The Undiscovered Country was a beautiful and fitting send-off for the Original Series crew and ended perfectly with Kirk’s order for the Enterprise to lay in a course for the “second star on the right, and straight on till morning.”
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