Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Movie, 1986, Kirk, Set in 2286
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is #6 of 26 in release order and #9 of 26 in chronological order in the Star Trek.
The story
When a huge alien probe enters the galaxy and begins to vaporize Earth's oceans, Kirk and his crew must travel back in time in order to bring back whales and save the planet.
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home recap
The crew is in exile on Vulcan with the captured Klingon ship, and they decide to fly home and face charges for stealing the Enterprise. A huge probe arrives at Earth sending a signal nobody can answer, knocking out power and boiling the oceans. Spock recognises the call as humpback whale song; whales are extinct, so Kirk takes the Klingon ship back to San Francisco in 1986 to find some. There, the crew gets lost in the city: Chekov is arrested on a Navy carrier, Scotty trades the formula for transparent aluminum for tank material, and Kirk and Spock meet the marine biologist Gillian Taylor, who looks after two humpbacks, George and Gracie, about to be released.
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ending explained
The crew beams up the whales and Gillian, returns to the 23rd century and crash-lands in San Francisco Bay. The whales answer the probe, which leaves. The charges against the crew are dropped except one: Kirk is demoted to captain, and given command of a new ship, the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A.
Post-credits scenes
No. There is no post-credits scene.
Where to watch Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is streaming on fuboTV, Paramount+, Kanopy, and Tubi in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 7.3/10, Rotten Tomatoes 82%
Where it fits
- Release order: after Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, before Star Trek: The Next Generation.
- Chronological order: after Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, before Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.
What to watch before Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
In release order, the essentials before Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) are Star Trek: The Original Series (1966), Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984).
Cast
- William Shatner as Admiral James T. Kirk
- Leonard Nimoy as Captain Spock
- DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard 'Bones' McCoy
- James Doohan as Captain Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott
- George Takei as Cmdr. Hikaru Sulu
- Walter Koenig as Cmdr. Pavel Chekov
- Nichelle Nichols as Cmdr. Uhura
- Mark Lenard as Sarek
- Jane Wyatt as Amanda
- Majel Barrett as Commander Chapel
- Robert Ellenstein as Federation Council President
- John Schuck as Klingon Ambassador
Directed by Leonard Nimoy.