The best "bad" Trek movie ever!

'The Final Frontier' is the movie that started the dubious trend of the odd-numbered 'Trek flicks being the worst of the series. But even for all of it's silly attempts at humor and plausibility-stretching (even more so than usual) moments of high adventure, I have a strange fondness for this less-than-able entry into the Star Trek canon.

Unlike the drab dullness of 'The Motion Picture', ST-V is the kind of film that falls flat on its face, yet is still fun & exciting to watch. You got Kirk, Spock, & McCoy singing campfire songs, Scotty having big trouble keeping the ship together, and Sulu & Chekov literally lost in the woods. Bad 'Trek just doesn't get any better than this! Oh yeah, there's also that subplot of the emotional Vulcan trying to find God, but that's neither here nor there... Enjoy!

'Late

the plan 9 of treks

okay, the worst moment isn't when the 3 principals are singing row row row your boat, it's not in the mountain climbing scene (were getting close though) or in the preachy ending or in seeing uhura suddenly having the hots for the beached whale scotty, it's here:

shatner, on the board of the new and (predictable)klunky enetrprise gets a shout from his boss on da big screen. shatner, just back from moutain climbing, opens up his jacket a little, sticks out his macho chest and winks at us (read my shirt here, man) GO CLIMB A ROCK.
i could swear he was chewing gum in this scene too.

Up to the end of the opening credits this one is pretty good

I suppose it would be interesting to know who gets the blame for "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier," which is almost universally acclaimed as being the worst of the "Star Trek" films. Story credits go to director William Shatner, producer Harve Bennett, and screenwriter David Loughery, so that at least narrows it down for us. I might not know who ultimately gets the blame, but I do know what part of the story becomes the film's downfall: the Great Barrier.

Now, supposedly the Great Barrier represents the end of the finite universe and even though I never took any science course beyond Life Through the Microscope, I know that this is a stupid idea. Just the idea of a finite universe is enough to blow the gaskets of every scientist in the known galaxy. This is without taking into account the fact that it would take a long time to prove the existence of this "finite space" in the first place. Besides, when you find out what is behind the Great Barrier the idea reaches a new level of stupidity (Think about it: which is larger, the area inside the Great Barrier or outside the Great Barrier? Answer: outside. Fine. But does that make sense given the purpose of the Great Barrier?) Granted, the purpose of the Great Barrier is simply to (a) create a mystery as to what is on the other side and (b) to set up the climax of the film, but even so, did they have to come up with something stupid to get that done?

This fifth "Star Trek" film starts off hoping to build on James T. Kirk's mortality, in much the same way that "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" did so well. This time confides to Spock and Bones that he has always known that he will die alone, which makes us pay attention when at a key moment in the finale Kirk seems to be alone. Of course now we know that Kirk does not die alone because we saw him die a couple of films down the road. This film also continues to emphasize the strong relationship between Kirk and Spock, which reached its operatic heights in the finale to "Star Trek II" and was resounded in different ways in the third and fourth "Star Trek." That alone was a clear indication of how this one was going to end.

"Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" starts off on stronger ground with the curious introduction of a laughing Vulcan. This would be Sybok, played by the under appreciated actor Laurence Luckinbill, who is the anti-Vulcan (or anti-Surak) in that he things truth can be realized only through exploring the emotions. Sybok has plans for binging peace to the "Star Trek" universe, but by the time those plans are underway this movie has become seriously derailed (basically, once the opening credits are over the film is in trouble). We have Kirk, Spock, and Bones on a camping trip to Yosemite where they toast marshmelons and sing "Row, row, row your boat." Apparently there are limits to what we will endure given our affection for these characters, and this scene prove its. Meanwhile Sybok has kidnapped diplomats for the three main powers in the "Star Trek" universe and the Enterprise has to go rescue them. They have to do this with a ship that does not have transporters (just the sort of starship you want to send on a rescue mission), which requires Kirk and his crew to do a whole bunch of silly things to move the plot forward. The only thing that keeps the patient alive is the mystery of what is on the other side of the Great Barrier, and as soon as we learn the answer we can only laugh at the absurdity of it all. This film also has the worst special effects in the series; the explanation is simply that ILM did not do them.

Fortunately, it had already been well established that every other film in the "Star Trek" series was worth watching, so "Star Trek V" had to be made just to get to "Star Trek VI." The only one of the original cast who fares well in this one is George Takei, whose mature Sulu consistently maintains his dignity through the ups and downs of this entire series. No wonder he inspired so many "Star Trek" novelists to write adventures about Sulu as captain of his own ship.

Finally, whatever the sins of this film, the DVD extras are sufficient to grudgingly round up give "Star Trek V" three stars. The father and daughter Shatner commentary has its comments, the text by the authors of "The Star Trek Encyclopedia" is well done, the various featurettes are all above average.