TREKCORE > MOVIES > UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY > Behind the Scenes Info
 

	Undiscovered Country was the original title for Star Trek II.
	The China in the movie was made by the same company that made China for the White House.
	Originally, the story had the crew coming out of retirement. The idea of incorporating retirement into the movie came as a result of a David Letterman joke in which he said the next movie would be called the Search for Geritol. In the original story for Star Trek VI, Kirk got the assignment and went out to find his crew (who were scattered about in 6 different exotic locations). Ohura was working for a radio call in show. Scotty was teaching Engineering. Spock was playing Polonius in a Vulcan production of Hamlet. Sulu was a taxi driver on an overcrowded planet. This all had to be dropped because of budget concerns.
	The conference briefing at the beginning of the movie was shot in a church with a black background draped around.
	Originally they wanted Saavik to be the Vulcan traitor. However, Kirstie Alley chose not to reprise her role, so they changed it to Valeris.
	Gorkon's facial features were designed to resemble Abraham Lincoln. The name Gorkon is a blending of Gorbachev and Lincoln.
	Nichelle Nichols refused to say the line "Guess who's coming to dinner" because she felt it was racist. So they gave the line to Chekov.
	The color of Klingon blood was originally going to be green.
	Two writers were hired prior to Nick Meyer and D.M. Flinn. Nick was asked to give them notes, which he did. He was then waiting for a script when Paramount decided to restart the project without those writers.
	When Klingon General Chang demands that Kirk answer a question without waiting for the translation, it is a reference to the real-life exchange at the United Nations between U.S. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson and Soviet Ambassador Valerian Zorin during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.
	The Klingon Judge was played by Bob Easton, the foremost dialect coach in Hollywood. The box the Klingon Warden stands on at the entrance to Rura Pente was the same box that colonel Saito stands on in the movie the Bridge on the River Qwai. The speech the warden gives is also based on the speech given in the Bridge on the River Qwai.
	The cave scenes were shot on location at Bronson Canyon (in Hollywood) and in Alaska.
	The first scene filmed for the movie was the Klingon Listening Post scene.
	The stunt where Kirk falls into the fire during the fight in the mines was actually performed by William Shatner.
	Christian Slater's cameo was due to his mother being the casting director; he was also a huge fan.
	Originally, the scene where Valeris enters sickbay to "kill" the framed crewmembers, was not in the script.
	The movie's opening party was at Leonard Nimoy's house.
	At the movie's wrap party, Nick Meyer was presented with the steering wheel from the Bird of Prey at the wrap party.
	Harve Bennett's first idea for Star Trek VI was a prequel featuring Kirk and Spock at Starfleet Academy.
	Nicholas Meyer and D.M. Martin wrote the script separately; they would email each other the script as they made changes.
	Gene Roddenberry originally hated the script for Star Trek VI. He saw the movie for the first time 2 or 3 days before he died, and said he liked the final product.
	The blue food served in the banquet scene was actually squid dyed blue.
	The Zero-G scenes were primarily done by building sets sideways.  Then wiring was used to pull the actors up or down, but it looked left to right due to the orientation of the background and the camera angles.
	Some sets were built on gimbles so that they moved with the actors.
	In the court room, the Klingon audience is chanting "To be or not to be" in Klingon.

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