The most popular movie in the "classic Trek" series of feature films, Star Trek IV was a box-office smash that satisfied mainstream audiences and hard-core fans alike. The Voyage Home returns to one of the favourite themes of the original TV series--time travel--to bring Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Sulu, Uhura and Chekov from the 23rd century to present-day (i.e., mid-1980s) San Francisco. In their own time, the Starfleet heroes encounter an alien probe emitting a mysterious message--a message delivered in the song of the now-extinct Earth species of humpback whales. Failure to respond to the probe will result in Earth's destruction, so Kirk and company time-travel to 20th-century Earth--in their captured Klingon starship--to transport a humpback whale to the future in an effort to communicate peacefully with the alien probe. The plot sounds somewhat absurd in description, but as executed by returning director Leonard Nimoy, this turned out to be a crowd-pleasing adventure, filled with a great deal of humour derived from the clash of future heroes and contemporary urban realities, and much lively interaction among the favourite Trek characters. Catherine Hicks plays the 20th-century whale expert who is finally convinced of Kirk's and Spock's benevolent intentions. --Jeff Shannon