Grab your communicator and a couple of humpback whales, because the crew of the Enterprise is heading back to the big screen. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is returning to UK cinemas to celebrate its 40th anniversary, and tickets are already on sale.
The re-release lands on September 4, 2026, marking the film’s first theatrical outing since it originally opened on November 26, 1986. For a movie that has spent four decades circulating on TV, VHS, DVD and streaming, seeing it projected as intended is a genuine event for franchise fans.
For the uninitiated, The Voyage Home is the fourth entry in the original-cast film series and remains one of the most beloved. It ditches the space battles for a time-travel caper that sends Admiral Kirk, Spock and the rest of the crew back to 1980s San Francisco on a mission to save Earth’s future by transporting humpback whales through time. Directed by Leonard Nimoy, it leans hard into comedy — the fish-out-of-water gags around Spock navigating punk-era California have aged into cult-classic territory.
The film is widely regarded as the most accessible in the original run, the one you can hand to someone who has never watched a minute of Star Trek and still hook them. Its lighter tone and environmental message helped it become a crossover hit far beyond the core Trekkie audience, and that reputation is a big part of why it’s being singled out for the anniversary treatment.
- Film: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
- UK re-release: September 4, 2026
- Original release: November 26, 1986
- Anniversary: 40 years
- Tickets: on sale now
There’s something fitting about a movie centered on preserving the past coming back for a nostalgia run of its own. Whether you’re a lifelong Starfleet loyalist or someone curious about why this particular sequel keeps getting name-checked, the theatrical return is the ideal excuse to experience it the way audiences did in 1986 — minus the shoulder pads.
If you’ve only ever caught it in fragments on a Sunday afternoon rerun, a proper cinema screening reframes it entirely. Live long and prosper, and maybe book early.
