Walter Koenig Movies
Actor Walter Koenig is best known as Ensign Chekhov on the evergreen TV series Star Trek. Before his tenure on Star Trek he'd done some acting, both in his native Chicago and in New York. Absent from Star Trek's first season, Koenig was signed on in 1967 as Russian-born Pavel Chekhov when the NBC "suits" decided that a new, young regular was needed to woo the female teenaged viewers. The role turned out to be Koenig's life's work: he has portrayed Chekhov in every Star Trek feature film since. Oddly, he did not appear in the 1975 Saturday morning Star Trek cartoon spin-off, though he did contribute one of that series' scripts. Firmly entrenched in the science-fiction mode into the 1990s, Walter Koenig has appeared as Mr. Bester in the syndicated series Babylon 5. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie GuideA 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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sarah Lassez, James Duval, (more)
A supercomputer with a mind of its own threatens to cause worldwide chaos in this tale of technology run amuck starring Star Trek stalwart Walter Koenig and Baywatch beauty Yasmin Bleeth. It's only a matter of time before a supercomputer linked with a worldwide video game network takes control of the grid, and unless the game designer can enter the virtual reality cyberscape and defeat the malevolent machine, mankind may soon bow down to a new, all-powerful deity from which there is no escape. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Doug Abrahams, Yasmine Bleeth, (more)
B5 once more plays reluctant host to mercurial Psi Cop Bester (Walter Koenig. This time, Bester is determined to arrest the Downbelow refugee Telepaths. Elsewhere, Garibaldi has a falling out with Captain Lochley, and Delenn arranges for Londo, who has just barely survived assassination, to be given a bodyguard. As the episode draws to a close, an important revelation is made vis-a-vis the relationship between Sheridan and Lochley. Written by J. Michael Straczynski, "Strange Relations" made its American broadcast premiere on February 25, 1998. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Boxleitner, Tracy Scoggins, (more)
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Biggs, Jeff Conway, (more)
Summoned by Captain Lochley, Psi Cop Bester (Walter Koenig) attempts to bring the telepath crisis under control. Garibaldi's unexpected response to Bester's presence becomes a moot issue when he and Franklin are trapped by Byron's more violent disciples. This is one of those Babylon 5 episodes which asks far more questions than it answers. Written by J. Michael Straczynski, "Phoenix Rising" was originally telecast on April 1, 1998. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Boxleitner, Tracy Scoggins, (more)
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Boxleitner, Tracy Scoggins, (more)
Warrior leader Shakiri (Bart McCarthy) intensifies his aggression in the Minbari civil war. Hoping to resolve the crisis, Delenn prepares to make the ultimate sacrifice. And Psi Cop Bester (Walter Koening) tries to strike up an unusual bargain with telepath Lyta. Scott Adams, creator of the comic strip "Dilbert," makes a cameo appearance. Originally telecast during the week of May 19, 1997, "Moments of Transition" was written by J. Michael Straczynski. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Boxleitner, Claudia Christian, (more)
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Boxleitner, Claudia Christian, (more)
President Clark is dead, and the civil war on Earth is over. Delenn triumphantly stage-manages the convergence of the Earth, the Minbari and the Narn into a new alliance. Captain Sheridan's role in the Alliance must, however, wait until the Earthgov decides his ultimate fate. Elsewhere, Ivanova grieves over the apparent death of Marcus --- and what has become of Lise? First seen in America during the week of October 20, 1997, "Rising Star" was written by J. Michael Straczynski. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Boxleitner, Claudia Christian, (more)
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Boxleitner, Claudia Christian, (more)
First telecast November 4, 1996, this Deep Space Nine episode was a harkback to the classic 1967 Star Trek installment "The Trouble with Tribbles." Charlie Brill, a holdover from the original episode, reprises his role as renegade Klingon agent Arne Darvin, who sets the plot in motion by hurtling the Defiant and its crew some 105 years into the past. Upon getting their bearings, the crew finds themselves on board the original Enterprise, where they come face to face with James T. Kirk, not to mention thousands and thousands of those pesky and prolific Tribbles, one of which has been booby-trapped. "Trials and Tribble-ations" was scripted by Ronald D. Moore and Rene Echevarria from a story by Ira Steven Behr and Hans Beimler. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Boxleitner, Claudia Christian, (more)
Psi Cop Bester (Walter Koenig) again solicits the help of his erswhile foe Captain Sheridan. This time, Best wants to stop a transport ship which is smuggling Shadow weapons. While Bester faces possible censure from his own colleagues, G'Kar faces a different challenge when he asks to join the Conspiracy of Light. And the Interstellar Network News returns to the air despite opposition from President Clark. Written by J. Michael Straczynski, "Ship of Tears" first aired the week of April 29, 1996. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Boxleitner, Claudia Christian, (more)
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bruce Boxleitner, Claudia Christian, (more)
Talia's former teacher and lover, rogue telepath Jason Ironheart (William Allen Young, arrives on B5 with the Psi Cops hot on his trail. The victim of a secret experiment, Ironheart now possesses artifically enhanced "psi" skills, enabling him to "think" people into oblivion. And in another development, Catherine Sakai (Julia Nickson) ignores G'Kar's warnings and heads for Sigma 957. Star Trek stalwart Walter Koening appears as Psi Cop Bester. First telecast on March 2, 1994, "Mind War" was written by J. Michael Straczynski. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael O'Hare, Claudia Christian, (more)
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Patrick Stewart, William Shatner, (more)

- 1991
- PG
- Add Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country to QueueAdd Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country to top of Queue
The plot involves a peace conference between the Federation of Planets and the troublesome Klingons. The Klingons are hoping to perform a little damage control after triggering a mining disaster on one of their moons; their spokesman is the seemingly contrite General Chang (Christopher Plummer). All negotiations abruptly cease when a Klingon vessel is attacked, and Capt. Kirk (William Shatner) and Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) are accused of the crime. As they stand trial for murder, Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Vulcanian trainee Lt. Valeris (Kim Cattrall) try to locate the real culprits. It turns out that Kirk and McCoy are victims of a conspiracy to foment further hostilities between the Good Guys and the Klingons. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, (more)

- 1989
- PG
- Add Star Trek V: The Final Frontier to QueueAdd Star Trek V: The Final Frontier to top of Queue
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 co-exist 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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, (more)
An Apollo astronaut lands on the moon to look into recently discovered artifacts there. Unfortunately, those strange objects were part of a plan to invade the Earth. The astronaut finds out soon enough. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Walter Koenig, Bruce Campbell, (more)
An impoverished adolescent outcast becomes a deadly, vengeful killer against his tormentors after he finds a super-secret anti-matter gun lying in an Arizona stream bed. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rodney Eastman, Kim Walker, (more)
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, All Movie Guide
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, (more)

- 1984
- PG
- Add Star Trek III: The Search for Spock to QueueAdd Star Trek III: The Search for Spock to top of Queue
When last we left the crew of the star ship Enterprise, they were heading home following a skirmish with the despotic Khan. The unpleasant incident had cost the life of Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy)--or so it seemed. Admiral Kirk (William Shatner) is informed by Spock's father Sarek (Mark Lenard) that his son is being kept alive in the thoughts of one of the crew members. It now becomes necessary to search for Spock's body, so that flesh and soul can be rejoined on Vulcan. It turns out that Spock's spirit is residing within the mind of the Vulcan's longtime shipmate, "Bones" McCoy (DeForrest Kelley). Finding the body is another matter, since the Enterprise has been consigned to the trash heap and thus is out of Kirk's jurisdiction. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, (more)

- 1982
- PG
- Add Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan to QueueAdd Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan to top of Queue
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is fondly regarded as being the closest in spirit to the 1966-69 TV series that spawned it. Admiral Kirk (William Shatner) escapes the tedium of a desk job to join Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley) on another space mission. While boldly going where no man etc. etc., Kirk crosses the path of his old enemy Khan (Ricardo Montalban), who as any die-hard Trekker can tell you, was the chief antagonist in the 1966 Trek TV episode "Space Seed." Leading a crew of near-savage space prisoners, Khan insinuates himself into the Genesis Project, which is designed to introduce living organisms on long-dead planets. Intending to harness this program for his own despotic purposes, Khan engages in battle with the Enterprise crew. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, (more)

















