Blockbuster Overload: Our ongoing series looking at movies that took the blockbuster genre to the extreme and perhaps to excess. Note that these reviews may contain spoilers.
What Is It?
This fifth entry in the Star Trek franchise follows Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise as they confront Sybok, a renegade Vulcan who hijacks the ship in search of a mythical planet believed to hold the secret of God itself. As the Enterprise journeys to the center of the galaxy, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy must face both physical dangers and deeply personal questions about faith, pain, and belief.
Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, Laurence Luckinbill
Crew: William Shatner (Writer/Director), Harve Bennett (Writer), Jerry Goldsmith (Music)
Original Release: June 9, 1989
What Were Its Excesses?
While the previous four films in the franchise helped to carry on the original show’s legacy and delve deeper into the characters, the fifth entry trampled upon much of what had been accomplished up to that point. The interactions between the regular characters seemed forced, the humor fell flat and seemed out of place, the pacing was very choppy, and the story devolved into somewhat of a mess. At points, you have to wonder if the Klingons somehow replaced Kirk, Spock, and McCoy with the Three Stooges and placed them on the Enterprise in disguise. The film actually did a decent job with its special effects, and there was an interesting story somewhere in there, but it completely derailed and gave the franchise a black eye.
A Closer Look:
Star Trek began in the ’60s with the original series, which ran for three years before NBC made its infamous decision to cancel the show. Over the two decades that would follow, it would grow into a phenomenon as it exploded in syndication and spawned an animated series continuation, four major motion pictures, and a live-action television sequel series. So I guess that by 1989, the franchise was due for its first major misfire.
For those who have missed the movie (and count yourself lucky), Star Trek V: The Final Frontier introduces Spock’s half-brother Sybok, whom we had never heard anything about previously, who has strange and mystical powers, and who has taken human, Romulan, and Klingon hostages in an attempt to lure a starship into his grasp. Sure enough, the Enterprise comes to the rescue and Sybok manages to commandeer it for his plans to travel to the mythical planet Sha Ka Ree at the center of the galaxy where creation supposedly began, and where God has been known to hang out. From there, hijinks ensue…
Much has been written about the production problems that plagued this film (the script rewrites, the budget cuts, the change of SFX companies, Shatner’s directing), and some have suggested that the film is not as bad as its reputation, especially when you take all of that into consideration. But the fact is that as a movie, Star Trek V fired blanks almost from the point that the film started rolling.
The previous four movies had acted as a series of love letters for the original show and cast as they brought to life the much-beloved Trek universe on the big screen and delved into the characters that we had come to know and identify with so well. And while those four movies had their ups and downs, they all stayed true to the spirit and feel of the original series and each added their own little piece to Trek’s overall legacy. Where Star Trek V failed, though, was in taking too much stock in what had come before it.
This movie, with William Shatner in all his swagger at the helm, believed in the legacy of Star Trek and set out to convert everybody in the theater to the gospel as well. The characters from the series had achieved demi-god status in the genre, and dammit you better understand that when watching The Final Frontier. When Captain Kirk appears onscreen, you better bow your head to his lofty status. When Spock says or does something intended to be humorous, you damn well better laugh (even if it feels forced or is just not very funny). In the previous films, all of this came naturally and felt effortless, like getting back together with the old gang and picking up where you left off. But Shatner pushed too hard this time around and ended up beating the audience over the head with the relationships, character interactions, and humor that had come so easily in the past (though at least he had the one good line: “What does God need with a starship?”).
Oddly enough, Shatner (who penned the original script) intended the Sybok character to act as a comment on televangelists, but ended up assuming that same evangelical pulpit through his role as director, preaching to the audience about the awe and wonder of Star Trek. The film actually had the germ of a decent story somewhere at its core, but ended up losing its way and falling flat on its face. In addition, Shatner’s ineptitude as a director ultimately doomed the movie (he had been promised the director’s chair after Leonard Nimoy had helmed the previous two films). He lacked the subtlety and finesse demonstrated by Nimoy (who would go on to direct more non-Trek movies as well as television episodes) and seemed to misunderstand the very characters so closely identified with much of his career achievements. And the attempts he made to inject humor into the movie too often misfired or descended into slapstick.
Despite all this, Star Trek V did end up with a successful box office run, though much of the ticket sales came through name recognition alone. And it would ultimately be the lowest-grossing Trek film until 2002’s Nemesis. It definitely tarnished the reputation of the franchise, though Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country would turn things around, and Trek would have a brighter future ahead of it.
Should It Be Rebooted?
There might be an argument to redo this movie in the Kelvin timeline (assuming they ever revisit that), and maybe try and get it right the second time around. But personally, I think that would be a bad idea, and it is best to leave this as the low point of the franchise that it is and move on.
Interesting Facts:
The movie originally had a much larger and more ambitious ending involving rock monsters and elaborate special effects, but budget cuts forced the production to scale it back significantly. One of the planned creatures was nicknamed “Rockman,” but the effect looked unconvincing and was ultimately dropped. And it seems unlikely that would have improved the overall film.
Sean Connery was originally offered the role of Sybok, but he had already committed to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, allowing him to dodge a bullet and avoid this movie. The mythical planet Sha Ka Ree was named in his honor.
The movie was partially inspired by televangelism scandals of the 1980s. Shatner has said that the character Sybok and the story’s “search for God” themes were influenced by the rise of celebrity preachers during that era.
Where Can You Watch It?
This movie has been released on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K UHD, and you can rent or purchase it VOD. It is available for streaming on Paramount+ along with most of the other Star Trek movies.
