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William
Shatner did not want a time travel movie. |
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When the
film's story was being developed, Leonard Nimory and
Harve Bennett weren't sure what organisms the probe
should be contacting (they toyed with the idea of plants
at one point). Leonard finally got the idea of using
whales from a conversation he had with a friend about
whale songs. |
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The sound that
the probe makes in the movie as it flies by was recorded
directly from Leonard Nimoy. |
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The sound of
the "banging" on the hull during the time warp was made
from hitting a bat against a large dumpster that
contained a microphone. |
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The water
scenes were primarily filmed in a tank that was
rediscovered by the crew under a parking lot in
Paramount Studios. |
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All the scenes
on Vulcan were shot in the Paramount lot because they
could not find a suitable location. The scene where the
Bird of Prey takes off from Vulcan was filmed on the
Paramount lot. Robin Curtis (Saavik) and Jane Wyatt
(Amanda) were standing on a wooden platform for the
shot, everything else is special effects. |
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DeForrest
Kelley was a very private man. He never invited any of
the other actors to his home. |
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The scene
where the Bird of Prey lands on Earth was shot at Will
Roger's Park in Los Angeles. It was originally going to
be filmed in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, but
heavy rains prior to shooting meant the garbage truck
would get stuck, so they couldn't get it. |
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When McCoy,
Scotty and Sulu are standing in front of the building
with Yellow Pages ad, a door opens and an oriental woman
appears. The scene in the movie ends at this point but
originally this woman was to begin shouting for a young
boy named Hikaru, who would run into Sulu. Sulu would
realize that this boy was his great-great-(etc.)
grandfather. The young boy hired for this scene began to
cry on the set before the shot and they were unable to
get him to do the scene. With no one to replace him, the
scene was never shot. |
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The Punk guy
on the bus was Kirk Thatcher; he also wrote the music
playing. |
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The scene
where Spock was swimming with the whales was shot at the
NASA training pool. |
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The 'USS Enterprise CVN-65' was
actually The USS Ranger CV-61. The Enterprise was out to
sea during filming. |
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The set for
the Italian restaurant was built in a Paramount
soundstage. |
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The Commander
on the Navy Enterprise who reports intruders was an
actual Navy officer. |
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The shots of
the helicopter carrying the transparent aluminum to the
Bird of Prey were shot from Alcatraz Island. The
helicopter was actually a remote controlled miniature. |
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When Chekov is asking where the nuclear
"wessels" are, the lady who responded to him wasn't an extra (extras weren't supposed to talk,
or else they would have to be paid).
She just happened to be walking by... Leornard liked the
scene, so they caught up to her and signed her a
contract. |
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The whales in
the movie were animatronic, not real. |
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The film was
originally supposed to have 'Murphy, Eddie' instead of
Catherine Hicks. Murphy was supposed to be a professor
concerned with UFO's who spots the de-cloaking Klingon
ship at the Super Bowl. Apparently, all others are
convinced the ship is a half-time special effect while
Murphy believes it is real. Paramount declined this
script for two reasons: Paramount didn't want to combine
their two most profitable franchises (Star Trek and
Beverly Hills Cop), and Murphy had signed on to do
Golden Child, The (1986) instead. |
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When Kirk,
McCoy, and Gillian first enter the hospital and are
walking around trying to locate Chekov, a voice on a
loudspeaker in the background says "Paging Dr. Zober...
Dr. Sandy Zober." Sandra Zober was director/star Leonard
Nimoy's wife at the time. |
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A scene
written for but cut from the film explained why Saavik
stays on Vulcan: she is pregnant with Spock's child,
stemming from an event in Star Trek III: The Search for
Spock (1984). This was the character's final appearance
in a Star Trek film. |
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The
captain of the USS Saratoga, seen at the start of the
film, was the first female captain ever seen in Star
Trek. |
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One
early draft script was subtitled "The Trial of James T
Kirk". This script involved Kirk being court-martialed
at the request of the Klingons, who were indignant about
the events in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
(1984). One particularly interesting facet of this
script is that it included the character of Harry Mudd
as a character witness. When the time-travel script was
approved instead, the trial was included as a minor
sequence. The trial-by-Klingons idea (and portions of
the dialogue) was later re-used in Star Trek VI: The
Undiscovered Country (1991). |
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The Voyage
Home is the only Star Trek movie in which no one is
killed. |