Movie Trailers

• Directors: Leonard Nimoy
• Producers: Harve Bennett
• Writers: Gene Roddenberry, Leonard Nimoy, Harve Bennett, Steve Meerson, Peter Krikes, Nicholas Meyer
• Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi
• Actors: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Catherine Hicks

The film begins three months after the events of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock as a large cylindrical object moves through space heading towards Earth, sending out an indecipherable signal and disabling the power of any vessel or station that it passes. As it takes up orbit around Earth, it continues signaling and disrupting the global power system, and then starts causing extreme weather patterns to develop over the planet while evaporating the oceans. Starfleet Command, on the last of its power reserves, sends out a subspace signal warning of the danger.

On Vulcan, the former officers of the USS Enterprise living in exile decide to return to Earth to face the punishment for the willful destruction of the ship; Spock, still recovering from being reborn on the Genesis planet, goes with them. The Enterprise officers use the seized Klingon Bird of Prey, renamed the HMS Bounty, to return to Earth. As they enter the solar system, they hear Starfleet’s warning and the alien signal; Spock is able to determine that it matches the song of humpback whales, long since extinct on Earth, and that the object will continue to wreak havoc on the planet until it can be answered. The crew devise a plan to slingshot around the Sun to time travel back to the late 20th century and return with a whale.

…

Despite having just saved the world, the officers are put on trial at Starfleet on several charges, including the destruction of the Enterprise. However, in light of their heroic efforts, only the charge of disobeying a superior officer is not waived, with the punishment being the demotion of Kirk from Admiral to Captain, giving him command of a new starship. Despite her feelings for Kirk, Dr. Taylor takes a position aboard a civilian science vessel, being the only expert on whales in this century. The crew departs to their new vessel, the newly-christened USS Enterprise-NCC-1701-A, and depart on another mission.