Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
A film review by Joel B. Kirk
SYNOPSIS:
Spock's half-brother, Sybok, hijacks the Enterprise-A to pursue his
visions of God at the center of the galaxy.
MY TAKE:
The premise alone is outlandish, even for a Trek film. The last we saw
the crew they were speeding away in their new starship, the Enterprise
1701-A. Here that same starship has turned out to be a dud, which
mirrors the transition from the previous film to this entry.
It was inevitable that William Shatner would ask to direct Trek in his
image sooner or later, as the other star, Leonard Nimoy, helmed the
previous two pictures and succeeded.
This film is not entirely a misfire, but it fails more than it
succeeds. Also, the blame can be due to Paramount also, as the budget
for the film was hampered. Although, one might think: If the movie had
strong writing and characters, would a budget be a problem?
Comedic elements clash with the few dramatic parts. It was probably
thought that those elements worked with the previous picture, STAR
TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME (1986), so it should continue with this
entry.
Moreover, many of the characters act 'un-characteristically':
*Uhura, definitely beautiful, does a teasing dance number in order to
capture some criminals on a desert world.
*Two cringe-inducing scenes, one campfire and one in the Enterprise
brig, brings much of Shatner's over-acting abilities to the
fore-front. The man is a good actor, but even good actors need to be
kept in check.
*Montgomery Scott comes off as an incompetent jester, very much unlike
what we've seen in the television and movie series. This is supposed
to be the finest engineer in the fleet, from what we see here almost
contradicts that. (Note a scene where he 'knows the ship like the back
of his hand' before hitting himself on an Enterprise bulkhead—a scene
that might belong in a space parody).
*Uhura and Scott suddenly reveal hidden desires for one another that
was not hinted at or brought out in the series for years.
*The ship is to travel to the center of the galaxy. (It is realized
this is a science-fiction film, but even so, that is a bit
farfetched—a little 'science-fact' has to be realized, too).
*The Klingon villains seem obligatory, not really adding any menace.
Laurence Luckinbill's Sybok is too much of a 'lost-man-trying-find-his
paradise' to be a villain.
POSITIVE/NEGATIVE NITPICKS:
Melanie Shatner, the daughter of the director William Shatner, can be
seen as the yeoman in skirt and boots on the bridge throughout the
film.
Jerry Goldsmith would return as Trek composer, re-imagining of the
theme from STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE.
FINAL COMMENTS:
This entry is a film to see if you are a true Trek fan. With a story
that was not strong as it should have been, we don't exactly feel like
we've been to the 'final frontier.' It was hinted this may have been
the last film the original crew, but it was not be so, fortunately.
MY RATING:
**1/2 out of *****
DIRECTOR:
William Shatner
WRITER:
David Loughery (screenplay)
William Shatner (story)
Harve Bennett (story)
David Loughery (story)
CAST:
William Shatner-Capt. James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy-Spock
DeForest Kelley-Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
James Doohan-Montgomery Scott
Walter Koenig-Pavel A. Chekov
Nichelle Nichols-Uhura
George Takei-Hikaru Sulu
David Warner-St. John Talbot
Laurence Lukinbill-Sybok
Charles Cooper-Korrd
Cynthia Gouw-Caithlin Dar
Todd Bryant-Captain Klaa
Spice Williams-Vixis
Rex Holman-J'Onn
George Murdock-"God"
Harve Bennett-Adm. Robert Bennett
Melanie Shatner-Yeoman
GENRE:
Sci-fi/Action/Adventure
RUNNING TIME:
107 minutes
YEAR OF RELEASE:
1989 by Paramount Pictures
EMAIL:
joelkirk@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
2004 Joel B. Kirk
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X-RAMR-ID: 37462
X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 1268281
X-RT-TitleID: 1019865
X-RT-AuthorID: 9404
X-RT-RatingText: 2.5/5
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