Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

The film is a simple, humanistic allegory with humor and heart that lightens the series with fish-out-of-water comedy and crew camaraderie. The collision of 23rd-century values with 20th-century culture and the intimate focus on the characters are praised.

The film is the best, funniest and most enjoyable Star Trek movie so far, despite its absurd plot about time-traveling to save humpback whales. The crew's familiar interactions and human-focused story in 1980s San Francisco are singled out for praise over action sequences.

The piece calls the film the best in the series for its goofily endearing comedy and willingness to embrace silliness, contrasting it with more self-serious entries. It singles out the crew's interactions with 1980s culture and the environmental message as highlights.

The critic finds the film a polished, well-balanced audience-pleaser and deeply ingratiating gateway entry that blends fish-out-of-water comedy with the franchise's characters. It praises the ensemble's enthusiasm and genial tone while noting its lack of edge compared to prior entries.

The critic finds the film preposterously good fun as a silly, whale-jumping time-travel comedy with half-baked environmentalism. The fish-out-of-water scenes of the Enterprise crew in 1980s San Francisco and Spock's communion with the whales are singled out as highlights.

Kirk and the crew travel back to 1980s San Francisco to save the whales in what the critic calls the most enjoyable film of the series so far. Nimoy's irreverent directorial tone and the crew's comic misadventures in contemporary California are singled out for making the time-travel morality tale especially digestible and fun.

The movie is a large, lavish and sincere mass-market entertainment about saving the whales that injects extra levity to assure the series' longevity. Nimoy's direction is noted for sincerity despite some technical shortcomings, with the crew's camaraderie highlighted.

The latest excursion is warmer, wittier, more socially relevant and truer to its TV origins than prior films. The use of time travel, the Hope-and-Crosby-style interplay between Spock and Kirk, and the save-the-whales biologist character are highlighted.

The critic enjoys the film's light tone and the cast's chemistry, especially Nimoy and Shatner's comedy, calling it the light movie that plays brilliantly.

The critic calls it a great Trek film that broadened the franchise's appeal through strong ensemble character focus and genuine humor from Nimoy's direction and script. It ties up prior plot threads with an environmental message while remaining fun and accessible, with only minor nitpicks about production details.