Review of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) by Aaron D — 17 Aug 2010

Shatner gets his hand in directing and co-writing this one. It is therefore all over the top like you would expect of his personality. They take the humor way too far compared to the previous installment.

It is not flattering. The effects and some melodramatic dialog take us back to 60's TV in a bad way. The Paradise planet and settlement with a dusty bar full of oddball aliens is a cheap rip-off of Star Wars.

The Row, Row, Row Your Boat scenes are absolutely goofy. The Enterprise hardly functioning after being rebuilt is a big set back and makes for an inexcusable plot hole when Kirk, as the only experienced Captain in the quadrant, is sent to save some hostages anyways.

And where did that wooden sailing ship's steering wheel in the one room where McCoy, Spock, and Kirk meet several times come from anyways? Scotty, Chekov, Uhura, and Sulu are pushed way into the background.

I must admit Shatner gave himself the best lines when in confrontations with Sybok. I appreciated his questioning. Sybok is a Vulcan who has a way of taking people's pain away and thus getting them to join his quest to find Ultimate Knowledge, Sha Ka Ree, the mythical paradise that was the beginning of creation past the great barrier, or God.

A kind of cult leader. This part of the movie was a throwback to the series as well. It was a common theme for the Enterprise to encounter god-like beings, or mysterious forces that appeared to have spiritual implications, until through scientific observation and some character questioning the validity of a god who seems to be beyond and above the physical laws of the universe, it is discovered that some smoke screen has been blocking the facts.

I had no problem with the exploration of this theme of a fake "God," but as seems to be the case more lately, I was not satisfied with the way it was executed.