Thursday 4 February 2021

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

Costume Design by:

- Robert Fletcher ( notable efforts: The Scarecrow (1972), The Taming of the Shrew (1976), Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), The Last Starfighter (1984), Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), Fright Night (1985) )

Perhaps the most famous of the original Star Trek movies, mostly on account of 'being 'the one with the whales', The Voyage Home was the fourth entry in the series, and followed on directly from The Search for Spock, with the Enterprise crew having to save Earth from an alien probe that is trying to communicate with Earth's now extinct whale population. This would be the last of the Star Trek movies to have Robert Fletcher as costume designer, and most of the work in this film was the then-present day Earth of 1986 (and nothing really worth noting costume-wise on Earth either, unfortunately) - but there was still some new futuristic fashions on display, among the reused outfits of the previous film. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) is still in the same outfit he was wearing when reborn on Vulcan, but minus the shouldered garment - this gown is sealed with a metallic carved piece, similar to all the metallic pieces carved on Vulcan garments as designed by Fletcher.




The start of the movie takes place on Vulcan, where we are treated to an appearance of Spock's mother, Amanda (Jane Wyatt), who is in a silver-lined grey dress, worn with a grey veil and with a skullcap fitted with a shiny metallic piece on the front.





Some Vulcan workers are briefly seen as well, wearing white tunics and trousers, but mostly notable for the headwear they are sporting, the same sort of phrygian cap designs that were worn by background Vulcans in the previous film.



This film introduced one more addition to the Starfleet wardrobe - the black utility vest worn by Scotty (James Doohan), which was introduced in this film and would be worn by the character in the remaining movies, as well as his appearance in the Next Generation episode 'Relics'.





There is also one more new addition in the clothing of the Enterprise crew's civilian attire - Chekov (Walter Koenig) has ditched his pink and brown outfit seen in The Search for Spock (which reputedly, the producer hated so much he wanted it never to be seen on camera again), and is now wearing a brown leather ensemble, with matching jacket and trousers.




There are several sequences on Earth, where the Federation Council's President (Robert Ellenstein) is trying to manage the chaos caused by the alien probe - the president is clad in a uniform consisting of a black suit fitted with an ornate white patch over the front, and worn with a black cape also adorned with patterned white material - this outfit actually slightly resembles the suit worn by the the 'Star League' president in The Last Starfighter, which Fletcher had acted as costume designer on two years previously. The suit part was reused in the later Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country a few years later, again worn by a Federation president.








Also of note are the two presidential aides seen at a distance behind him, in white and black wraparound tunics with padded material on one of the sleeves.



Whilst on the Earth of 1986, the Enterprise crew befriend the scientist Gillian (Catherine Hicks), who they take back with them to the twenty-third century, where she is briefly seen wearing a white and lilac tunic with an open collar, and a round black line over the front, as well as with black trousers.




The various background aliens seen in the Federation Council scenes aren't really worth noting due to them pretty much being reused costumes from the first film - the one exception is perhaps this rather doll-like alien humanoid, who wears a golden patterned dress with a metallic collar.
However, there is a brief appearance from the Klingons in the form of the Ambassador (John Schuck), who wears a grey-blue tunic with white fur stripes, a metallic shoulder piece, and an armored sash over it, as well as a spiked medallion over his neck, with the tunic also being covered in threaded strips that form a sort of skirt almost - this outfit would be reused again in The Undiscovered Country five years later, again worn by the Klingon ambassador.







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