Trivia

When Captain Kirk addresses the crew before launching, many of the extras were noted Star Trek fans, including Bjo Trimble, co-organizer of the letter-writing campaign that kept Star Trek (1966) alive for a third season.

William Shatner, who saw the completed film for the first time at the world premiere, was struck by the overall sluggishness of this film, and was convinced that the Star Trek franchise died there and then. He opined, "Well, that's it. We gave it our best shot, it wasn't good, and it will never happen again." Recalling his initial reaction 15 years later, he added "Shows you what I know."

The producers and the cast were very worried about their appearances after being away from Star Trek (1966) for ten years. Special lighting and camera tricks were used to hide the cast's aging, and William Shatner went on a near-starvation diet before filming. However, in all subsequent Star Trek films, it was decided to make the aging of the crew part of the story.

Uhura's communications earpieces are the only original props from Star Trek (1966). They were dug out of storage when it was realized someone had forgotten to make new ones for this film.

UCLA linguist Hartmut Scharfe devised the Vulcan words heard during the Kolinahr sequence. The scenes were originally shot in English, and when it was decided to change the dialogue to Vulcan, Scharfe wrote lines that fit the existing lip movements. Some of the subtitles were rearranged to make this less obvious.

David Gerrold: Among the extras in the crew briefing sequence was the author of The Trouble with Tribbles (1967).

Bjo Trimble: One of the extras during the briefing scene is the woman who spearheaded the letter-writing campaign to save Star Trek (1966) for a third season in 1968. She is standing in the front row.