Star Trek V - The Final Frontier 6305350205Paramount Studio20 April, (Star Trek)

Star Trek V - The Final Frontier

6305350205

Paramount Studio

20 April, 1999

Movie critic Roger Ebert summed it up very succinctly: "Of all of the Star Trek movies, this is the worst." Subsequent films in the popular series have done nothing to disprove this opinion; we can be grateful that they've all been significantly better since this film was released in 1989. After Leonard Nimoy scored hits with Star Trek III and IV, William Shatner used his contractual clout (and bruised ego) to assume directorial duties on this mission, in which a rebellious Vulcan (Laurence Luckinbill) kidnaps Federation officials in his overzealous quest for the supreme source of creation. That's right, you heard it correctly: Star Trek V is about a crazy Vulcan's search for God. By the time Kirk, Spock, and their Federation cohorts are taken to the Great Barrier of the galaxy, this journey to "the final future" has gone from an embarrassing prologue to an absurd conclusion, with a lot of creaky plotting in between. Of course, die-hard Trekkies will still allow this movie into their video collections; but they'll only watch it when nobody else is looking. After this humbling experience, Shatner wisely relinquished the director's chair to Star Trek II's Nicholas Meyer. --Jeff Shannon

Seriously, this movie was much better than expected. I've heard nothing but bad things and negative remarks for this instalment in the Star Trek motion picture series, and thus I had to find out for myself if all this hatred was truly justified.
 
 The one time I caught The Final Frontier was when I was a wee lad, so my memories of it are practically non-existent. Watching it on this 2-disc DVD edition, I found myself intrigues by the opening sequence featuring Sybok, and the Mount Rushmore sequence between Kirk, Spock, and Bones was totally charming and wonderful.
 
 The idea behind the story is good - the crew of the Enterprise meeting God, although execution is flawed and the FX is awful. But these are flaws from a technical standpoint, and though one might want to blame director William Shatner for it, history has proved that there were many things that affected the production that was beyond his control.
 
 Overall, I enjoyed The Final Frontier. It's definitely not the best in the series, but is hardly the worst (that distinction still falls on The Motion Picture, IMHO). It's a very flawed movie, but this DVD is well worth the money if only to see more of the behind the scenes story behind The Final Frontier. Star Trek V is certainly not a highlight of the series, but I do not feel like blaming this completely on director William Shatner. As you may or may not be aware, there is much of this film that was cut out due to budget difficulties, and the late arrival of models to the studio forced the special effects to be rushed.
 Also, due to the success of the humorous Star Trek IV, Paramount forced some cheap laughs into Shatner's originally dark script. There is also a bit that is left unexplained, including how the Enterprise reached the center of the galaxy in a number of hours, and why Spock's half-brother has remained a mystery until now, among other things.
 Despite its many flaws, there are some aspects of The Final Frontier to be appreciated. In some bookend scenes, we get to see some bonding moments between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. There was also some well-done set design, in particular Paradise City. Also, shooting smoke into the sky on the location where they shot Sha Ka Ree, blocking out the sun, really did have a mystical effect.
 Anyways, I believe this is a film that must be seen to be judged fairly. My gosh, I'm not sure where to begin. This movie was just horrible! This is easily the worst Star Trek film ever and that's is definitely saying something because to date, it's the only film in the theatrical series I've seen! 
 
 Like the other Star Trek films (so I read anyway) this one continues the trend of trying to explore some deep, serious issues. In this case, The Final Frontier tries to answer the question that many people today still ask: is there a God? It's an interesting (if potentially blasphemous) basis for the story but the execution of it onscreen is awful. The plotting is a mess and the aging cast can't do anything to prop the movie up. I was thoroughly unimpressed by the special effects. ILM wasn't available (thanks to Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade) and it looks as if the film was handed over to some second-rate effects house.
 
 The tagline for this movie read, "Why are they putting seatbelts in the theaters this summer?" The answer seems obvious now: So the audience won't walk out of the screening!
 
 Darkhorse86

Captain's Glory (Star Trek: All)

0743453433

Star Trek

22 August, 2006