Review of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) by Movie G — 23 Aug 2011

I think there's no doubt about it, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is one of the worst of the series.

The plot is that Spock's brother Sybok is on some other planet holding a bunch of diplomats hostage and demands that the crew of the Enterprise come and get him. When they go there and pick him up he wants them to take him to this mysterious planet where according to him life began.

This really sucks because it ruins what I love about Star Trek! I always loved the idea that we were just a small part of the universe, that there were all kinds of different alien races out there who all came about in different ways. In this movie they pretty much say that God lives on the planet and he created everything. I don't think I explained that very well but if you can understand where I'm coming from, good for you.

The previous two Star Trek films were written and directed by Leonard Nimoy (Spock), but this one was instead given to William Shatner (Kirk). I guess he got jealous! Either way it is definately not anywhere near as well done as III or IV. Now don't get me wrong, I love Shatner. He's a great actor in some stuff, and is very funny but he just cannot direct a movie. The movie does have a bit of humour in it, but compared to the comic brilliance of Star Trek IV it's pretty stupid. It's mostly all just stupid physical gags that aren't really that funny.

The film's special effects are terrible! Apparently the special effects team behind the last 3 films was busy doing Ghostbusters II so studios were forced to hire an independent effects studio. The result is terrible and though I won't describe anything in detail, I'll just say the ending looks laughable.

The acting is decent. The actors all have the same charm as they used to, but it's hard to act when you're given such bad dialogue. All the new actors are just okay aswell. Laurnece Luckinbill plays Sybok and he does a fairly good job, but nothing memorable.

The music is pretty good. Shatner hired Jerry Goldsmith, the man who wrote the score for the first film, to write a new score. It's not nearly as epic as the score of the first film (how could it be?) but it's still pretty good.

The film does have a clear theme like the other films though, religion. From the concepts of god, to the idea that the planet is a biblical "paradise" it's all over the place. It's a little too obvious in my opinion. I much preferred the way it was kind of hidden in the other films, espically Star Trek IV.

All in all Star Trek V is just sort of a mess. It doesn't have any action, any villain, any big plot, it's just sort of a lot of pointless small talk that builds up to the underwhelming ending. Star Trek V is at least watchable but I would only recommend watching it if you're planning on watching the entire series all the way through.