Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Other mistake: When Sulu tells Kirk he is coming to help, he states the Excelsior is currently in the Alpha Quadrant. The problem is the the Alpha Quadrant in the Star Trek universe is one quarter of the total Milky Way Galaxy. While technically correct, Sulu giving his position as in the Alpha Quadrant is useless to Kirk in terms of knowing when to expect help. It doesn't matter where Khitomer is in the galaxy. Sulu saying he is in the Alpha Quadrant gives Kirk absolutely no idea of when he will arrive. He could be anywhere from 5 minutes away to 5 weeks away or even further. Remember, it was originally projected to take Voyager 70 years to go from the Delta Quadrant back to the Federation in the Alpha Quadrant.

Guy

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Suggested correction: The implication is that Excelsior has only very recently crossed the border from the Beta Quadrant to the Alpha Quadrant.

TonyPH

Even if that "implication" were true (and there's nothing dialogue-wise to indicate such) it's still useless to Kirk as to when the expect help. The dividing line between the Alpha and Beta is fully half the width of the galaxy.

Guy

Sulu doesn't expect Kirk to deduce where the Excelsior is, he tells him directly that they're unlikely to make it in time, and the reason is that they are "now in Alpha Quadrant" i.e. they were previously not in the Alpha Quadrant, i.e. they're far enough away that recently they were in a whole other quadrant of the galaxy. (I agree it's an awkward line, but it makes sense if you think of it like "I'm now in the U.S." if it's known you already live there - it means you've just returned).

TonyPH

Other mistake: Throughout the film, Valeris is referred to as a Starfleet Lieutenant. However, in every scene, she wears the rank of Commander on her uniform. Best comparison can be made in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan where the same uniforms were used. Saavik (Kirstie Alley) wore a Lieutenant rank (2 piece), where Chekov and Scotty (himself then still a Commander, until promoted by Admiral Morrow in Star Trek III) wore the single-piece rank insignia used by Valeris in The Undiscovered Country.

Other mistake: It was shown that whatever form Martia was in, whether it be the attractive semi-human form, the Sasquatch form, or the little girl form, her voice always remained the same. Why didn't her voice remain when she morphed into Kirk?

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Suggested correction: Clearly she has the ability to control when and how her voice changes in the same way she controls her physical form.

Other mistake: Every time we see a high ranking Starfleet Officer in the Starfleet Command scenes, they are wearing dozens of different badges and medals. Why don't Kirk and crew have any? In just the movies, Kirk and Co. have saved Earth twice and foiled an internal assassination attempt against the Federation President, as well as all the heroic and successful missions carried out in the original series. In the classic episode "Court-Martial" it lists Kirk as receiving the Starfleet Medal of Honor, the Silver Palm with Cluster, Starfleet Citation of Conspicuous Gallantry and Kragite Order of Heroism. And it is appropriate to Starfleet regulations to wear them. Kirk was wearing two decorations in the TOS episode "Court Martial" when he was framed for a crewmans' death.

Grumpy Scot

Continuity mistake: At the beginning, the USS Excelsior detects an approaching shockwave. One of the bridge officers is standing next to Sulu, delivering a report. When the camera angle changes, the same officer is seated at a console behind two standing crewmen. When the camera cuts again, he's between Sulu and that console, then sits to operate it.

More mistakes in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Spock: The lieutenant was the first Vulcan to be graduated at the top of her class.
Kirk: You must be very proud.
Lieutenant Valeris: I don't believe so.
Bones: She's a Vulcan all right.

More quotes from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

Trivia: Both the opening explosion of the Klingon moon Praxis and much of the footage from the U.S.S. Excelsior was later used in an episode of "Star Trek: Voyager", ("Flashback") with special guest star George Takei.

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Chosen answer: There's a limit as to how much the shields can protect the ship. Depending on the force of the explosions, the ship still suffers some damage from any weapon blasts. Also, the shield only holds for so long and gradually loses it protectiveness with successive attacks, causing increasing damage to the ship.

raywest

Answer: The depiction of the shields in this movie is actually interesting because it seems they deliberately tried to show how the ship could plausibly take damage while the shields are up. Here the shields seem to be "on" the hull (or perhaps emanate from the hull itself) and their function seems specific to preventing hull breaches. In TNG and onwards the shields appear as a kind of energy bubble wrapped around the ship, and accordingly they seem to absorb much more impact.

TonyPH

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