71
Metascore
17 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThis is easily the most absurd of the "Star Trek" stories - and yet, oddly enough, it is also the best, the funniest and the most enjoyable in simple human terms. I'm relieved that nothing like restraint or common sense stood in their way.
- 88Washington PostRita KempleyWashington PostRita KempleyIt crackles with comedy, but it's no space cartoon, nor self-lampoon. It's a happy, heartfelt chapter that reunites the original cast with the original TV format, shying away from the cold and epic scale of the preceding movie adventures.
- 80Los Angeles TimesMichael WilmingtonLos Angeles TimesMichael WilmingtonIt has an irresistibly sure touch, an easy command of its audience. It hits the right buttons, strikes the right chords, plays with our expectations with the right blend of savvy, guile and imagination. [26 Nov. 1986]
- 75ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliStar Trek IV, while not a superior effort, is an effective and enjoyable sample of entertainment -- not good science fiction, but a lightweight piece of comic fantasy utilizing characters so familiar that they feel like old friends.
- 70The New York TimesJanet MaslinThe New York TimesJanet MaslinThe technical minutiae, the solemn silliness and the preachy tone occasionally sounded here...are all essential to the Star Trek mystique. Whatever it is, it seems durable beyond anyone's wildest dreams. And Mr. Nimoy, by injecting some extra levity this time, has done a great deal to assure the series' longevity.
- 70NewsweekDavid AnsenNewsweekDavid AnsenThe latest Star Trek is the most down-to-earth, and certainly the funniest, movie in the series, further evidence of the show's amazing durability. [1 Dec. 1986, p.89]
- 70VarietyVarietyLatest excursion is warmer, wittier, more socially relevant and truer to its TV origins than prior odysseys.
- 63Miami HeraldBill CosfordMiami HeraldBill CosfordStar Trek IV: The Voyage Home is the dopiest and most congenial in the series, an indication that the producers have at last acknowledged that what they're dealing with is not science fiction or adventure, but a kind of cosmic fluke. [27 Nov. 1986, p.F1]
- 50The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyThere's an easy familiarity and charm in the creased, middle-aged faces of Nimoy, Shatner and DeForest Kelly (the perpetually irascible Dr. McCoy), all of whom now play their parts with an ever-present twinkle. Their behavior rarely has anything to do with the motives provided by the plot; rather, they wear their characters like old habits, as they boldly go where they've always gone before. [26 Nov. 1986, p.C5]
- 30Chicago ReaderChicago ReaderI suspect the unconverted will want to be beamed up pronto.