"Each man hides a secret pain. It must be exposed and reckoned with. It must be dragged from the darkness and forced into the light. Share your pain. Share your pain with me..."
Alright, well, since you asked nicely...
I haven't exactly sugar-coated that I really, really don't care for this movie. It is the worst of the Original Series films (yes, even worse than the Slow-Motion Picture). Where that film was just Robert Wise not really understanding Star Trek and trying to create a massive visual spectacle on part with 2001: A Space Odyssey (and failing hilariously), Star Trek V: The Final Frontier has it's failings laid squarely at the feet of two groups - William Shatner and the board at Paramount Pictures.
If you recall, last time, William Shatner only agreed to come back for The Voyage Home if he got a substantial payday and got his butt a guaranteed spot in the director's chair for Star Trek V. Well, Paramount gave him his wish and this was the end result. Shatner's story was inspired by televangelists and how absolutely despicable he found them. Together with Harve Bennett and screenwriter David Loughery, Shatner began work on his epic masterpiece.
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| Here we see Shatner making an incredibly subtle homage to Blazing Saddles. |
... and that's where Paramount Pictures came into play. You see, the Writer's Guide Strike of 1988 hit during pre-production and it hit hard. David Loughery literally could not work on the script during it and, by the time that it was over, Paramount was so worried that they'd lost the momentum from The Voyage Home and it's previous two films (forming a trilogy that is still beloved by Trek fans today) that they rushed the film into production, which meant that a lot of things that probably would have been cut out or altered during a lengthy pre-production... weren't.
Well, one thing was altered in the story, but only because DeForest Kelley, Leonard Nimoy, and Gene Roddenberry himself insisted that it was a plot point that had no basis in the reality of the characters, but we'll get to that when we get there in the plot.
Speaking of the plot, last time, the Enterprise-A was fully-manned and ready for a shakedown cruise. So, naturally now, it's falling apart at the seams and Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and Bones (DeForest Kelley) are taking some shore leave. As you do.
On the planet of Arrakis, I mean Nimbus III, a strange Vulcan (Laurence Luckinbill) has arrived with a single purpose in mind: to discover the origin of life in the universe. To do this, he wants to acquire a starship and to do that, he captures a Human, Romulan, and Klingon ambassador to the planet. Naturally, given that Nimbus III is out in the middle of nowhere and they definitely don't have literally any other ships in the area... Starfleet taps James T. Kirk and the Enterprise crew to go.
Okay, to be fair, the excuse is no experienced commanders, which is still pretty lame as far as excuses go.
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| "Bill, if you kill the franchise, I swear-" "Oh, shut up, DeForest!" |
The Enterprise crew does what it always does - go out and try and save the day. Unfortunately the Vulcan, Sybok, turns the tables on them with superior (numbers of) force(s) and a secret... he is Spock's brother, or rather his half-brother, something which he has never told Kirk and Bones... and that is never mentioned again after this movie, and honestly with good reason. It's a dumb retcon that doesn't really add anything to the character of Spock and kind of just gives us more reasons to think Sarek is a complete dick.
I do want to give Laurence Luckinbill (who is still alive and still acting to this day) his due credit, however. He plays Sybok very much in the televangelist vein as Shatner envisioned, although he isn't really a straight up villain as you might think he'd be. Or, at the very least, he isn't presented that way. Playing a Vulcan with full on emotions, he does quite well. He's very driven toward his goals, seems to want to go for more peaceful solutions, and does work to make up for his mistakes when he realizes he's made them... and, plus, he does go out on a rather badass line, so there's something to be said for that.
I wish some of those great lines could have gone into the humor. Contrast this movie with the previous one. In The Voyage Home, as I said last week, a lot of the humor came organically through the disconnect of these people from the 23rd century suddenly being in the 20th. The Final Frontier, on the other hand... goes with lame puns and slapstick. It's very clear that the tone is trying to be comedic, but it really doesn't work. This is best exemplified when you realize the main plot of the film: trying to find God, something that is done with complete and utter seriousness. The film attempts to balance the deep and philosophical questions about God and the origin of life... with Scotty hitting his head on the ceiling after insisting that he knows the new Enterprise like the back of his hand.
... or Chekov and Sulu being "lost in a blizzard".
... or Spock telling Kirk to "hold [his] horse".
This also doesn't help Shatner's original plan for the movie, which brings us into what Kelley, Nimoy, and Roddenberry all objected to. When Sybok takes over the Enterprise, Shatner envisioned everyone turning on him and having to stand alone against Sybok. Naturally, Nimoy and Kelley in particular objected by saying that Spock and Bones would never betray Kirk. They are correct. The nail in the coffin was Roddenberry saying much the same, and so we sort of get Spock doing a half-hearted betrayal by way of not killing Sybok when he very clearly had the opportunity to do so.
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| "Sybok, you look like the Unabomber and Jesus had a love child, please stop." |
The problems with The Final Frontier are plenty (I didn't even get into the in-universe issues, such as the center of the galaxy being able to be reached in no time at all), but I will praise in one scene in particular. Late in the film, when trying to coax them over to his side, Sybok is (somehow) able to show Spock and McCoy visions from earlier in their lives. In Spock's case, we see his birth and Sarek's immediate dismissal of him as "so human". For McCoy, we see his father (Bill Quinn in his final role) on his deathbed and McCoy comes to grips with his decision to pull the plug on him... due to suffering from a disease that, a week later, a cure was discovered for and his guilt from his decision.
Then we come to Kirk, who refuses Sybok's gift. Shatner actually has a really good monologue about how pain is part of who we are and, if we lose that, we lose part of ourselves. Whatever pain Kirk hides, it is never shown, meaning that it's something he keeps even from Spock and Bones. Rather telling of the man. I am not joking in the least, it is an absolutely dynamite scene and if this film had 10% more of things like that, it would not be regarded so poorly as it is.
Of course, this is also the same film that a few scenes earlier had Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) doing a naked fan dance to distract some of Sybok's men (because comedy), so what do I know?
I dislike this movie, but even I can't deny that there are moments that are worth watching for. Nuggets of something brilliant that Shatner was reaching out to grasp and couldn't quite manage it. Partially it was due to studio overreach, partially due to his own ego, and partially due to some frankly baffling creative choices. It is the perfect storm of terrible, although it does come with a built in continuity eraser button in that it starts and ends in roughly the same place: Kirk, Spock, and Bones on shore leave at Yosemite.
The Final Frontier is bad, but fairly easy to ignore. The franchise certainly did and there are many Trek fans even today who are willing to pretend that this film never happened. It isn't as bad as it's hyperbolic-ally made out to be... but it's really not good. Despite the negative fan and critic backlash, the movie did make back almost double its budget and we all know how Paramount is never dissuaded from very, very bad ideas.
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| Gandalf the Grey?! What are you doing here?! |
Fortunately for you, me, and the Star Trek franchise, the next film is once more one of the greats. Next time, we enter into the place from which bourn no traveler returns. Brush up on your Klingon and get ready for some parallel with real world events political intrigue, because next time we will be taking a journey into The Undiscovered Country.
. . .
Okay, fine. Just once: "What does God need with a starship?"
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier was brought to us by Paramount Pictures.
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