Walter Koenig Movies

A disturbed health inspector begins a surreal descent into madness when her marriage fails, her mental health begins to plummet, and her obsession with kung fu movies drives her to seek vengeance against the Ten Tigers from Kwangtung in director Gregory Hatanaka's experimental psychological thriller. Therese's (Sarah Lassez) life is falling apart; her husband has abandoned her, her affair with a sleazy televangelist has left her sexually frustrated, and her brother may have poisoned her with some particularly bad meat. Now, as Therese begins to succumb to her all-consuming nymphomania and her doctor begins to suspect that there truly is something wrong despite her outwardly healthy appearance, the delusional slaughterhouse inspector begins the rigorous training that will allow her to take on the dreaded Ten Tigers from Kwangtung in an all-out bloodbath that could claim the lives of more than a few of her recent lovers. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Bester (Walter Koenig) doggedly pursues a murderous telepath who killed a friend of his. He takes this opportunity to provide valuable on-the-job training to a pair of rookie Psi Cops. Since the focus is on Bester, virtually none of the Babylon 5 regulars appear, with the exceptions of Jeff Conaway (Zack) and Richard Biggs (Dr. Franklyn). Best moment: the Psi Corps training film, a marvelous piece of ersatz propaganda. First broadcast on April 15, 1998, "The Corps is Mother, The Corps is Father. . ." was written by J. Michael Straczynski. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The already strained relationship between the Alliance and Byron's telepaths break down completely, forcing Lochley to seek the aid of Psi Cop Bester. The mysterious attacks on the Alliance ships intensify. And deep within the bowels of the Centauri palace, Londo and G'Kar stumble upon an old friend. The return appearance of first-season regular Julie Caitlin Brown was supposed to be a surprise, but was tipped off by an obscure Screen Actors Guild ruling. Originally titled "Cat and Mouse", "A Tragedy of Telepaths" was written by J. Michael Straczynksi; the episode first aired on March 25, 1998. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Garibaldi hatches a scheme to capture Sheridan, using the Captain's father as bait. Pharameutical baron William Edgars (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) then startles Garibaldi by explaining his true motivations. And Lyta agonizes about the future of Telepaths. Written by . Michael Straczynski, "The Face of the Enemy" first aired during the week of June 9, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Walter Koenig returns in his familiar Babylon 5 role as the reboubtable Psi Cop Bester. Somewhat surprisingly, Bester offers to work with Sheridan against the megalomanic Earth President Clark. But there's a price tag attarched: Sheridan must return to Z'ha'dum to resolve a personal crisis in Bester's life. Meanwhile, Garibaldi resigns as B5's security head. Written by J. Michael Straczynski, "Epiphanies" made its American TV bow during the week of February 10, 1997. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Walter Koenig returns as B5's pesky nemesis, Psi Cop Bester. On this occasion, Bester and the crew are obliged to form an uncomfortable alliance. The mission: to capture and neutralize Lindstrom (George Gerdes), the dealer of a dangerous telepathic drug. Main complication: G'Kar may be on the verge of becoming addicted to the deadly "dust." Written by J. Michael Straczynski, "Dust to Dust" was first syndicated during the week of February 5, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Walter Koenig returns as Psi Cop Bester, who is investigating reports of an underground railroad specializing in smuggling unregistered telepaths to freedom. Bester's vesit places Talia in the unenviable position of either remaining loyal to her B5 duties or aiding her fellow telepaths. Meanwhile, Sheridan rebels against a proposed "space rent." Written by J.Michael Straczynski, "A Race Through Dark Places" first aired on January 26, 1995. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The seventh Star Trek feature passed the torch to a new crew. Decades after the original "Trek," the skipper of the fourth USS Enterprise is Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), who investigates a massacre at a science outpost. The only survivor is Dr. Soran (Malcolm McDowall), who perpetrated the event to cover up his invention: a bomb he launches into a nearby sun, exploding it. As Soran escapes with Klingon cronies, Picard learns that Soran's plan is to summon a heavenly energy ribbon called the Nexus. Those who enter it live forever with every wish fulfilled. Attempting to stop Soran, Picard ends up inside the Nexus, where he discovers former captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), believed to have been killed in an accident 78 years earlier. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Kirk (William Shatner), McCoy (DeForest Kelley), and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) are enjoying a vacation in Yosemite National Park when duty calls. Vulcan cult leader Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill) and his followers have invaded a "planet of peace," where delegates from hostile races coexist in a sort of intergalactic United Nations. Ordered to quell the crisis, the Enterprise crew discovers that it's a ruse perpetrated by Sybok, who takes over the ship, piloting it toward the "Great Barrier," an energy field at the galaxy's rim. Sybok, who is revealed to be Spock's half-brother, possesses the ability to help people face their "inner pain." He also believes that God lies beyond the Great Barrier. Once arriving there, however, Sybok and the Enterprise crew discover only an imprisoned alien entity. Shatner wrote the story and made his directorial debut with the film, failing to ape the success that his colleague Nimoy enjoyed with his pair of Trek directing forays. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) concludes the story arc begun with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) and continued in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), but on a wholly new, different, and upbeat note. As the movie opens, months have elapsed since the events in Star Trek III; Admiral Kirk (William Shatner), McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Scott (James Doohan), Sulu (George Takei), Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), and Chekhov (Walter Koenig) are marooned in self-imposed exile on Vulcan, along with the resurrected and regenerated Spock (Leonard Nimoy, who also directed). While Spock tries to sort out the Vulcan and human halves of his resurrected psyche, the others prepare to return to Earth to face a brace of charges by the Klingon Empire and Star Fleet over events on Genesis. Taking off in their commandeered, jerry-rigged Klingon ship, they head to Earth, not knowing that a new crisis could destroy their home world -- a huge, immensely powerful alien probe has entered the galaxy and established a position near Earth, disabling every vehicle and installation in its path with its energy and communication output, and has ionized the entire atmosphere and started vaporizing the oceans, leaving the planet only hours to survive.

Spock determines that the probe is sending out signals to another intelligent terrestrial life form, humpbacked whales, which no longer exist. Using the gravity slingshot time-warp effect (established early in the original series) to travel back into Earth's 20th century, Kirk and company land in 1980s San Francisco to try and bring humpbacked whales to the 23rd century, to respond to the probe. Thus starts a surprisingly breezy, light-hearted, yet serious odyssey through the past (comparable to the best work of the original series), as the crew learns to deal with exact-change buses, angry drivers, punk-rock enthusiasts and other elements of '80s life, and Kirk tries to persuade a scientist (Catherine Hicks) of his good intentions for two whales in captivity. The screenplay, co-authored by Steve Meerson, Peter Krikes, Nicholas Meyer, and Harve Bennett (from a story by Nimoy and Bennett), is the cleverest and most sophisticated of all the Star Trek movie screenplays, recalling some of the elements of Meyer's earlier time-travel movie Time After Time and also anticipating the feel and tone of the series Star Trek: The Next Generation (which would be on the air not quite a year later). Nimoy's direction offers a combination of brisk pacing and a deep love of the characters and the actors, as well as a serious appreciation of the humorous aspects of the script, and Shatner gives his best performance of any of the movies. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi