Corrected entry: The Excelsior detects the incoming shockwave from the exploded Klingon moon Praxis and is hit seconds later. Assuming that the Excelsior in these times isn't operating within Klingon borders (or even the Klingon solar system) and is monitoring the neutral zone light years away, the Excelsior cannot be hit or even be surprised by a shockwave coming from so far away. Gravitational shockwaves or explosions (even huge ones) are not faster than light. It would take years to reach the Excelsior.
TonyPH
12th Oct 2019
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
3rd Jun 2003
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
Corrected entry: The character of Valeris was originally slated to be Lt. Saavik. The filmmakers tried to get Kirstie Alley back, but found out that her stardom in "Cheers" now made her too expensive. It was then decided that Saavik as she was known would never betray the Federation, so Valeris was created. This explains Valeris' infatuation with whether Spock is lying, as her words were originally Saavik's, mirrored in "The Wrath of Khan" (when Spock tells her, "I exaggerated," after she accuses him, "You lied.").
Correction: First, Saavik was already recast with Robin Curtis for Star Trek III and IV, so Alley was barely an issue for this film. Second, the exchange you mention is not a reference to the earlier film, but to the long-standing stipulation that Vulcans, as a rule, do not lie, established early in the original 1960s TV series.
There's nothing incorrect about the entry. Valeris was indeed originally written to be Saavik and Nicholas Meyer did try to get Kirstie Alley back (he did not care for Robin Curtis' interpretation of the character). The dialogue about Spock's apparent lies works with Valeris, too, but as originally written they would have been references to their earlier conversation in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
28th Mar 2014
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
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.
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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.
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.
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).
3rd Jun 2003
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
Corrected entry: When Spock mind melds with Valeris, you hear a heartbeat. Whose heartbeat is this? It is specifically stated in the original series that Vulcan hearts beat almost twice as fast as humans. It is, however, never established that Vulcan metabolic functions slow during a mind meld, due to conscious physical control or otherwise.
Correction: It was "never established that Vulcan metabolic functions slow during a mind meld." Not "it was established that they do not." If something is not established one way or the other, then there is no contradiction and therefore no error.
Correction: The heartbeat is almost certainly not diegetic.
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Correction: It's described as a "subspace shockwave" so by Star Trek parlance this is some type of disturbance that can indeed travel faster than light.
TonyPH