Movie Info
Movie Name: Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Genre(s): Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Release Date(s): June 9, 1989
MPAA Rating: PG
An old Earth saying is “Beans, Beans the musical fruit”…
An uprising on Nimbus III in the Neutral Zone forces the U.S.S. Enterprise to go on an emergency rescue mission to free hostages. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) discovers his disgraced half-brother Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill) is coordinating the situation. When Sybok reveals his real intentions to find the legendary Sha Ka Ree at the center of the universe, he takes the Enterprise and its crew hostage. The Enterprise is on a quest to find God, but Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) is also the target of a Klingon named Captain Klaa (Todd Bryant).
Wait, so Yosemite isn’t the final frontier?
Directed by William Shatner, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier was met with heavy criticism from fans and critics. Following the success of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home in 1986, this movie garnered three Razzies for Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Shatner), and Worst Director (Shatner), plus nominations for Worst Screenplay, Worst Supporting Actor (DeForest Kelley), and Worst Picture of the Decade.
Star Trek V is pretty bad. The movie is all over the place with a really stunted story. It is quite hard to watch with a long segment in Yosemite including a bad sing along with Shatner, Nimoy, and Kelley, the hostage part on Nimbus III, and then a complete switch in direction in the search for God. None of these parts really flow together well and the jokes and humor seem even more uneven than in Star Trek IV which I felt was too funny also.
No, Uhura…no dance of seduction please!
The cast had been criticized in the previous movies for being too old…they really look old here. No Kirk shouldn’t be climbing mountains (and it doesn’t look like he’d be able to), and no Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) shouldn’t be doing a seductive dance. It just feels like they are starting to get teetery. Laurence Luckinbill casting as Sybok could have been different with the original plan to have Sean Connery in the role, but Connery was busy with Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade…maybe it would have helped, but I doubt it.
Ok, God apparently is just an old white guy.
I have to say the whole God aspect of the script is weird too. The trip to the center of the universe leads to a confrontation with a being played by George Murdock. I like the Sybok/Spock aspect of the story and Sybok’s push for the others to find the “truth”, but then “God” is a false god and tries to destroy them all…it just is odd, dull, and feels out of place with the rest of the film.
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is a sad sequel in the Star Trek franchise and maybe the weakest in the series. Unless you’re a completist, it isn’t worth the time or effort. It isn’t very good and led to a lot of changes for the next film. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier was followed by Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country in 1991.
Preceded By:
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
Followed By:
