ST09 Trailer Countdown: Taking A Look At STV: The Final Frontier’s Trailer November 7, 2008
by TrekMovie.com Staff , Filed under: Feature Films (TMP-NEM) , trackback
A week from tonight millions of film goers across North America will be seeing the first theatrical trailer for JJ Abrams new Star Trek movie, and some might even stay for the new James Bond movie Quantum of Solace. To bide our time we continue our trailer countdown, today looking at the trailer for William Shatner’s 1989 film Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.
If you ask me — and you haven’t — I think this is a terrible idea…
Theatrical trailer for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.
Commentary:
Star Trek V was always marketed as an action film, which is no surprise considering it has a story by and is directed by William Shatner. The teaser poster promised that seat belts were being installed in theaters because of all the action. The film needed to compete with Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (trivia alert: Sean Connery was asked to play Sybok, but couldn’t because of Indy, and the planet Sha Ka Ree is named after the Bond actor). The trailer is also all about adventure, as it is edited in an incredibly fast pace (for the late 1980s) and is action oriented. The trailer utilizes James Horner’s battle music from Star Trek II (which is a favorite choice in many Star Trek trailers) and features the tagline "The greatest Enterprise of all is adventure!" After the success of the light hearted Star Trek IV, the trailer really pushed the more humorous side of the film. The style of editing in the trailer with the scene where Kirk makes his distress call which is intercepted by the Klingons is very exciting to this day. Regardless of what you think of the film, the trailer itself is pretty good.
From the mind of a madman
The shorter teaser trailer still gives away quite a bit of the film and is actually better at selling the film as a fun sci-fi adventure. Plus it has the inadvertently funny bit of narration: "from the mind of a madman."
The DVD features this theatrical trailer, the teaser trailer, and TV commercials
Thanks to YouTuber ShipHunter
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Comments»
I don’t care what anyone says… this movie is great.
The campfire scene perfectly shows the relationship between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. It’s so perfectly done.
Ok, I am done now.
The film is such a clunker in so many ways, but I still enjoy it.
Could use a TOS style remastering though.
Best part of the film was when Spock and McCoy confront their pain, and kirk fights back…”I need my pain!!” Good scene, great acting, for a change… The special effects sucked though.
the trailer is better then the movie. and i hope that the same thing doesn’t happen with the new one.
speaking of new one, still no news whatsoever, and early showings in usa start on monday or tuesday i believe
From the mind of a mad man, indeed.
Poor Shat. Um, then again… poor us.
(Actually, this is by far NOT the worst of the movies.)
Well, if you want a serious science fiction film about the quest for God, try some of Tarkovsky’s work, such as “Solaris” and “Stalker” both of which are based on great SF novels.
This, unfortunately, is juvenile and jaw-droppingly superficial compared to those great films, which is sad, because it is a wasted opportunity. Star Trek can, at times, engage with philosophical and religious matters in a relatively mature way but this certainly is not one of those moments.
I believe that there really is a good movie somewhere inside Star Trek V, it just wasn’t given the support it needed to grow. Competition the summer of 1989 was tough (Indiana Jones, Ghostbusters 2, and let’s not forget the other guy with the pointed ears…Batman), but Trek could have fared better if Shatner had been allowed to really finish the film. Budget cuts, a writer’s strike, and studio indifference hobbled this movie well before it reached the theaters. Add to that the atrocious special effects and the heavy-handed attempts at humor and you’ve got yourself box office poison.
Even with all the strikes against it, though, I have to admit that I do like Trek V. Despite its many flaws, it’s heart is pure. I really wish that Paramount would finance a Director’s Cut and let Shatner finish the film. Tighten the editing, drop some of the forced humor, re-do the FX, and you might just be able to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. Alas, we’ll likely never know.
RE: 7. The “I need my pain” scene is almost an illusion to Dickens’ “Haunted Man.” Probably the only moment in this film that rises slightly above the utterly superficial tosh that is the rest of it.
As well as a great spiritual quest, it could have been a great critique of those bizarre United States phenomenons, the televangelists and “Religious Right”.
This continues to be one of my top 3 favorite TOS-crew movies. It really brought the characters together and focused more on their interactions….Kirk/Spock/McCoy, Sulu/Chekov, Uhura/Scotty….I agree with #2, this movie has some of the best, if not the best, moments of Kirk/Spock/McCoy together. And just for fun, this has my all time favorite Spock/McCoy spat…I probably don’t need to quote it, since you’ll likely know what I’m talking about, but here it is anyway:
At the campfire:
Dr. McCoy: “It’s a song, you green-blooded Vulcan. The words aren’t important, what’s important is that you have a good time singling.”
Spock: “Oh, I am sorry, Doctor…were we having a good time?”
McCoy: “My God, I liked him better before he died.”
I know fans love to crap on this movie, but I still find it a lot of campy fun (and certainly more entertaining than the lame TNG movies).
In fact– while TUC was a better send-off overall– I’m actually kind of grateful now that we got to see Kirk, Spock and McCoy go on one last romp together. Their scenes are just fun as hell to watch.
The film is better than most people give it credit, and has some fine moments between a cast that by then had worked together for well over twenty years. There were certainly no dull moments as in TMP. It remains very interesting that Shatner’s film was in many ways the most spiritual of the Treks and the first with the poignancy to name and depict the crew mates as a family.
11, agreed. Kirk’s “I need my pain” scene is such a classic, Kirk kind of moment.
And apparently Shatner DID want to explore the appeal of these televangelists, etc a lot more, but either the studio wanted to dumb things down too much or his writing talents just weren’t up to the task.
Of course he also wanted to have a real God and a real Hell, so I’m not really sure WHAT kind of point he was ultimately trying to make…
I believe Nick Meyer once said that Shatner was the type of actor that needed to be reined in by the director. Nowhere is that more apparent than in this movie.
And is everyone else just phoning in their performances? Even in this trailer the acting is rough. It’s like they’re just humoring Bill.
13. Yes, I heard that Shatner wanted to explore those issues. Pity he missed the mark, for whatever reason. If there was some biting social commentary in the film, I would have much more respect for it.
A real exploration of God? As per my previous comments, check out Tarkovsky’s masterpiece films, “Solaris” and “Stalker”. You will be richly rewarded as they show what science fiction can and should be.
Still, in my opinion, it is not the worst Trek film. Nothing could be as bad as Generations, which plays like a 12 year old’s attempt at fan fiction as far as I am concerned…
ST:V is such a strange beast.
It’s possibly the most embarrassing of all the movies, in terms of quality, but it has, tucked away between the folds, some of the BEST moments (the aforementioned campfire scene, Sybok showing the trio their pain, etc.). While I certainly can’t blame anyone for disliking the movie, it’s grown on me over the years. I still wince at the bad effects and the out of character bits, but I know they meant well, and like someone said earlier, it definitely portrayed them as family.
It didn’t dawn on me until right this moment: the flick starts with the new 1701-A being portrayed as a broken vessel. Doesn’t that kind of bring down the end of ‘Voyage Home’ a notch knowing that Starfleet dumps this garbage heap on Earth’s savior? ;D
This will truly be regarded by trek historians as THE ONLY trek to stay cannon to its roots. The music was perfect , the mood was ambient and the special effects were fun. In regards to the special effects…its the campiness that makes it fun.
the deal i heard was that nimoy and shat have contracts that says, when one of them is offered something, the other gets the same offere. so when nimoy turned down the chance to direct part five, they had no choice but to offer it to shat, who obviously accepted. i dont think anyone at paramount wanted it to happen, but they had no choice
at the time i really enjoyed it, but am kind of embarrassed now when i look at it. the best part is the music – special effects are on the same level as the original series..shockingly bad
For me, it’s a great movie, I like it very much. And it’s nice to read here, that there are people who like it too.
I’ve been subjecting – I mean, introducing – my girlfriend to these films and this one is her favourite because of its ‘realism’. That might sound odd but it does have more and better banter between the characters than any of the other films, giving it a dimension that helps it to overcome the often implausible action.
Also, this is really the only one of the classic Trek films with a message worthy of the series – albeit buried in a slightly jokey moment.
“Excuse me – what does God need with a starship?”
When Sybok and even McCoy are ready to bow before their creator, Kirk exposes the charade simply by being a little bit sceptical and asking a question.
Question everything. You’ll always be learning, and you won’t be a slave to anyone’s tall stories.
V is not as bad as it is made out to be. The worst Trek movies are all in the TNG half of the movie series.
This movie had some great character moments. The death of McCoy’s father, the camping scene. Also, great lines..”I miss my old chair”. “What does god need with a starship?”. If Paramount didn’t cheap out on the budget, the shuttle crash would have looked a lot cooler than it did.
Hitting God With a Photon Torpedo, Alone made it worth watching.
but I like it anyway.
All hail the best TREK film… to, uh, feature a half-naked feather dance by a 50+ year old Nichelle Nichols.
Worst moment is TREK V?
Has to be that “Go climb a rock” T-shirt. WTF?????????
I live in London, England, I saw this movie (twice!) opening weekend in San Francisco. I cried in the camp fire scene, and still do at the line ‘You were never alone’. One observation…The audience in SF, cheered and applauded at the line ‘I need my pain’.
I saw the movie again in London. At the same point, the British audience burst in laughter.
Two nations separated by Trek.
Well, I can watch this trailer now, and say with confidence “At least we were fairly warned.”
Virtually everything that bothers me about this movie is paraded openly in the trailer. My only defense is that I was too young and eager to pay much attention.
So Sean Connery chose THE LAST CRUSADE over TREK V, eh?
“He chose… wisely.”
I agree with you on that one SPB! Glad to know denim will still be around in the 23rd century.
V had it’s moments and not so great ones. IMO the not so great ones involved the behind the scenes troubles the Shat had. According to his book: Captain’s Log: William Shatner’s Personal Account of the Making of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, he complained about how not being able to use ILM because of a union strike and had to go with a low budget special effects company. He knew the Enterprise didn’t “look right” in the space shots. And there was a host of other problems that he had to deal with in making the film. I was pleased to see that he used Harve Bennett as the Starfleet Commander that gave him the order to go after Sybok. Harve was very instrumental in getting the Star Trek franchise going again.
My favorite scene: Scotty: “I know this ship like the back of my hand” and then gets hit with a conduit pipe!!
“…Not in front of the Klingons.” was one of the Worst lines in any of the Movies, But Every time I hear it I can’t stop Laughing.
i liked that movie instead of what most people say.the crew seems more relaxed and with a special bond..and seeing kirk with jeans ont the bridge it shows clearly that it is his ship….perfect idea
I always remember…
…that I went to see TREK V on opening weekend with my high school buddies, who loathed STAR TREK (and teased me mercilessly about it), but figured it was something to do on a weekend.
Early on, I of course knew we were in trouble (pretty much from the point Chekhov started blowing into the communicator), but my friends seemed to guffaw from beginning to end. When it was over, and as we filed into the lobby, I was prepared to apologize profusely for dragging them to see it, but they started singing its praises! “That’s the best STAR TREK I’ve ever seen!”
As if I needed any further confirmation that TREK V was terrible.
Best moment is when Chekov jerks back in the captain’s chair on the viewscreen as the compound is invaded – a real director’s touch
My favorite line:
Kirk: “I could use a shower.”
Spock: “Yes.”
Awesome . . .
Biff
Watching this weak trailer for a truly horrible movie (sorry, folks, but…), I have only one question:
Will Abrams & Co. respect established canon and show us a young Sybok in Spock’s childhood? (Okay, that begs another question: Do we WANT them to include Sybok?)
I won’t go into my tirade against this film–the only TOS film I don’t own and never will–because its failings are well known. (Okay, I’ll say that Spock in anti-grav boots making puns at rock-climbing Kirk is the moment where I see the TOS films jumping the shark and never coming back.)
But I do wonder if it will have any effect on the backstory we see in the new Trek film.
Thanks for this, uh, fascinating trip down memory lane!
Ok. Ths is the seocond worset Trek Movie next only to Insureection. This has some great moments like Spock and Mccoy confronting there pain and the campfire scene was great. Mccoy had a grrat line when he tells Kirk he liked Spock better before he died. Scotty did a good job as well. I did not like the story where the Big E was always having problems and the doors not all working. I think that was a major weak poing and the skermish the Klingons was moot as far as im concerened. But it did have some great moments. I got tearyied when we see mccoys father die and then learned a few months latter they found a cure. That was hartbreaking. The Fx was shaky at best but was ok.
Buckaroohawk: “I really wish that Paramount would finance a Director’s Cut and l”Shatner finish the film. Tighten the editing, drop some of the forced humor, re-do the FX, and you might just be able to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. Alas, we’ll likely never know.”
We DO know. USA Network at one point began showing a re-edited version of ST V. They excised some of the bean/fart jokes and fixed the continuity in the riduculous shaft ascent (so they don’t pass the same decks repeatedly.) The result is an improvement, but not a great movie. As to the special effects, they aren’t much less impressive than other movies of the time. I think the biggest remaining technical problem is the lighting. It’s so bright it shows the screw heads in the bridge monitor panel covers… and of course, it shows the wires holding up Miss Kitty. But Shatner’s directing is the biggest problem. He’s in love with every piece of cheese in sight. Every gag, no matter how inappropriate is in the final cut. Lisabeth wandering the bridge trying to hang up a coat doesn’t even make sense, much less draw a chuckle.
This movie was beset with many problems, a shortened shooting schedule, budget cuts, transportation problems during filing, and some of the worst visuals for a trek film. The story isn’t that bad and does in over all structure is more like an episode from the original series. The music score for this is one is one of Jerry Goldsmith’s best with many fine themes. The studio owes the fans of this film and Shatner a directors special edition with at the least new remastered visuals. The visuals on the menu portion are better than whats in the move on the last DVD release and this is just ridiculous. The film is not that bad, with a little editing and some new visuals it could be much better.
Sad that he trailer is so much better than the movie. I give Shatner an A for effort, but he tried to squeeze in too much and went over the top in too many areas.
TFF in my books is The “Battlefield Earth” Of “Star Trek” Movies.
You know who no one ever talks about?
Todd Bryant as Captain Klaa. Made an absolutely awesome Klingon. Too bad he never went mano-a-mano with Admiral Kirk.
#39, fyi, actually that was Melanie Shatner, not Lisabeth, with the coat. A friend of mine went to college with her.
And too bad about Sean Connery…
Had he signed up, maybe Paramount would have given TREK V a little more TLC in the script and FX departments. Hell, maybe they would have gone with a more established director, too!
Give me this over Insurrection or Nemesis ANY day.
The best scene in STV was in the shuttle bay. Really dramatic when Kirk screamed, “Shoot him!”. The worst thing about this movie was the special effects. The Enterprise and other ships looked like they were cut and pasted into the background. Otherwise an almost good movie but the worst Trek.
There are a lot of great character moments in ST V, but the premise was doomed from the start. Everyone knew the Enterprise wasn’t going to ‘find God,’ so there was no overarching tension to the story. With a slightly different premise — say, Sybok is mysteriously drawn to an uncharted world (NOT in the center of the galaxy) by an unknown force, knowing only that the future of the galaxy is at stake, and putting the ship in constant danger enroute (NOT from the ho-hum Klingons), and maybe making him a little more unstable, but otherwise keeping much of the same storyline — you would have had a MUCH better film.
I always liked the suggestion of a different storyline in which the Enterprise is taken not to the center of the galaxy, but to its edge (hence the ‘Great Barrier’ becomes the barrier previously encountered in TOS episodes “Where No Man Has Gone Before” and “By Any Other Name”), and the ‘God force’ turns out to be Gary Mitchell, bent upon revenge against Kirk. It would have been a surprise to Trek fans, along the lines of Darth Vader’s “I am your father,” yet not distracting to non-Trekkers if done right.
25
Just part of that “Authentic 20th Century” rock climbing experience. :-)
Like others, I do wonder what this film would have been like without the behind-the-scenes problems affecting it’s quality. Comes across as hastily finished to me…
I agree with most people that this ST V is a pile of old tosh. I went to see it for my 18th in 1989 (how sad???) when all five movies were being shown in Leicester Sq. I remember being gutted by the horrible effects, and rather hoping they were temporary. I was very naive.
Anyway, something that no-one has mentioned….the score is actually pretty good. Yay for Goldsmith.
Michael Giacchini better give us some good music!
what they did to Scotty was unforgivable.
The head banging on a conduit was so unneeded for comic relief.
As I mentioned in a previous post…download pauley79’s Torrent of the reedit IN THY IMAGE its 62 minutes long and makes it one of the best trek films.
Connery in Star Trek V??? Sybok with a Scottish accent? I though he was Spock’s brother, not Scotty’s!!!!!
I allwasy liked the beginning (campfire scene etc.), but after Sybok boarded the Enterprise, the movie went down. The plot is ridiculous, the action very lame, the SFX terrible, just some of the gags are good.
Beside that, TFF is not so bad, that I can’t never watch it again. I’ve seen it ideed many times on VHS and later on DVD, but it’s clearly not my favorite.
lets give Trek V some love!
Random Stuff I liked:
TOS style pre titles credit sequence – the only trek film to do that….
The Yosemite Mountain scenes – nice grand opening…Shatner pre-empting Stallone in Cliffhanger by 4 years and kinda set a prescient for when filmmakers want to show their hero ‘relaxing’ (see MI2, AvP etc). The TNG writers of MI 2 (Branga and Moore) stole the opening.
‘Ive always known…I’ll die alone..’ – that was a good scene around the campfire with Kirk talking about his mortality….sort of a set up for a tremendous death scene in a future film (e.g. Kirk..alone..on the bridge of an empty enterprise…saving his crew/earth somehow…the captain going down with his ship…sorta like This Side of Paradise’s alone on the bridge scene mixed with Star Trek IIIs destruct scene)…shame they didnt follow up on it instead of choosing to kill him under a bridge instead of on one..
The Wheel Room scenes – this was a nice set…a bit of luxury on the normally rather bland starship, foreshadowing TNG..and i liked Spocks talking about Sybok and also Shatner strutting in his high heels…the music was great in that scene..which brings me to:
The Score – this was one of the best trek film scores and thats saying something as the scores for Treks I, II, & III were really great…i remember being quite shocked they were using the TMP theme during the opening credits as it was being used for TNG….and stuff like Syboks theme and the approach to the God planet etc were great..
Shuttle blasting into the dock bay – I liked the design of the shuttle..a nice update of TOS Galileo…and the blast into the ship was sorta reminisant of the ‘open the pod bay doors hal’ scene in 2001…(similar sound FX and computer displays in the shuttle)
The God planet – nice locations..Trona Peaks was it not? i believe Tim Burton used the same locations for POTA
Kirk being beamed up to the BOP – i thought that was cool…I also like the way he had to climb the mountain (going back to the start of the film)..pity more wasnt made of this…
erm thats it…I wont bother listing what I didn’t like….man i wish it was 89 again…i cant believe its 20 years ago…where does time go eh? time speeds up so fast the older u get….
time is the fire in which we burn…
I always tear up when Kirk says “I’ve always known, I’ll die alone.” That and Jerry Goldsmith’s music make that one of the ebst scenes in Trek history.
Bring on the new trailer!
The teaser that should have been:
“Star Trek V – a spectacular 10 minutes of film padded with almost 2 hours of nonsense – coming to a theater near you. Then to VHS, and someday to a format called DVD, and later on to an improved format called Blu Ray, and you Trekkies will all buy a copy regardless.
Hey I hate the movie but I have it on 2 formats. I watch it every couple of years and it gets worse each time. (other than the pain scene)
It will never be a classic. But it has some scenes that many have mentioned, between the 3, that elevate it from a truly terrible film.
Many blame Shatner. Paramount were responsible for the atrocious gags. Shatner had actually pitched a much darker movie where the Enterprise meets the devil. But Paramount demanded a light hearted romp, hence the unbearable gags.
This movie holds a special place in my heart. I know it’s flawed, I know it’s widely mocked, I know it’s NOT one of the great sci-fi films of all time, but it’s got a human element that I always really liked.
The emphasis on the Big Three characters gives it an emotional core missing from some of the other films, especially TMP. And it tackled the big issues the way Star Trek always should: God, faith, suffering, what makes us who we are.
And yeah, “that “I need my pain” is a big wow, a killer embodiment of the human struggle.
I don’t think ST5 was all that bad. However, as several others said above, it was juvenile in more than a few places, from all the phallic symbols (The 2 womens’ hairstyles, the stones that formed the “cathedral” near the end) and the three-breasted dancing cat woman (There was a KFC commercial airing at that time where it asked “Chickens don’t have three breasts–do they?”). However, Bill’s acting in this was outstanding. The story just needed a bit of fleshing out.
And I wished they had translated Gen. Korrd’s remarks to Capt. Klaaw. What could he have possibly said that made him cringe?!
And I liked Sybok. Oh, not in his fanatic state, but the character had possibilities. There are several good fanfics about him.
Thanks, BIll, for this movie!
im familiar with 2 STV trailers one was light and frivilous and the other was far better- more serious and action oriented- i dont know which one was the main trailer.
i love Star Trek V – what it lacked in action and an epic quality it made up for in heart.
The character scenes are priceless like the campfire scene.
The scene with bones and his fathers death makes me cry every time.
Most people agree, STV was low on quality FX, and lacking in story. There were some fine character moments, but I thought a lot of the humor was forced — like Scotty banging his head on a pipe. I don’t blame this kind of stuff on Shatner, I blame David Loughery.
I thought Shatner did a decent job directing, all things considered.
The biggest problem was the story. Shatner was told, “You cannot go looking for God because whatever turns up won’t be God.” This is the basic flaw. And, of course, God wouldn’t need a starship anyway! They tried to modify the story to Sybok seeking Sha-Ka-Ree, but it still amounted to the same thing. God was the object… and the “talking head” image of God was kinda silly.
So the “heavy” subject matter and the gags didn’t work too well together, IMO. That said, I totally agree this film deserved a Director’s Cut and it would have at least improved the FX. A few more simple edits and it would be an improvement all around, and Paramount would’ve made a few $$$ (especially if Shatner offered to put up some of his own).
Meanwhile, I often wondered what would have made a better story, coming on the heels of TVH. The line from the Klingon Ambassador in TVH “,,, there shall be no peace as long as Kirk lives,” could have made a good starting point. Might have been interesting to see Kirk on the run…
While V is the worst of the original cast movies it is no longer the worst Star Trek film.
That dubious honor now goes to either Insurrection or Nemesis. I change my mind frequently about which of those is worse.
Today I vote Nemesis is the worst because someone actually thought they were making a good movie when they filmed it. I don’t think anyone had any such illusions about Insurrection.
Oh, and I forgot to say… I’m very excited to see the new trailer and am happy that it’s going to be before a film I actually want to see. Cloverfield made my head hurt.
I’m amazed at how many like this movie.
I ran the movie and most people that left the theater wanted their money back. But the story came out of an idea that Shatner had back during TOS. So that is why IMO the story was not accepted by the public at the time.
With an evanglical movement during the past 8 year, thank God that’s over, we can get back to discussions like at the end of STV
Kirk says that perhaps God is in the human heart. This is what I love about STV because it does point out how destructive to all one persons obsessive search for God can take others down a path to “hell”.
Yeah, I wish Paramount would let Shatner fix the end of the movie and all the visuals. Thought this was one of the best of Goldsmith’s scores for a Trek movie, FC was his ultimate trek score.
STV was in the vain of TOS. That is why it got laughed at.
But as TOS always did, it made you think. Even Spock’s Brain made you think.
Star Trek V – A Shatnerian Masterpiece…
If you look at TFF as a strange dream of Kirks…from the first campsite scene post mountain fall to right at the end of the film with the ‘Row Row Row your boat’ reprise..then its possible that Trek V is actually a masterpiece of modern day cinema
Consider:
- The events of the movie are a reflection of Kirk’s fears: being put back into action while he’s unprepared, geting screwed by Starfleet, losing his crew and losing, above all, his friends.
- Events from the camping trip are mirrored in the dream: climbing El Capitan/climbing the mountain at the end…the fall from El Capitan/the fall from the turbo shaft…musing around the campfire/musing around the steering wheel.
- The broken and unreliable Enterprise is another fear of Kirk; that no ship can live up to the original.
- The movie follows dream logic: characters appear when needed (Spock in the turboshaft, Scotty in the brig, Spock in the BoP) and reality warps to accomodate the “story” (70+ decks, the mysterious wheel room, unicorns, sybok, god).
- Kirk ate gods for breakfast, so it’s no surprise they show up in his dreams. The fight against “god” is Kirk’s subconscious idea of a generic adventure. Likewise, a Klingon is his idea of a generic villain.
- In the end, Spocks saves his ass, just like he saved Spock’s.
- The romantic relationship between Scotty and Uhura.
- A 30 year plus impossible journey to the centre of the galaxy that happens in a few hours.
- Spock having a brother which was never mentioned before.
- the song “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” ends with the line “life is but a dream.”
- when going through the great barrier and the 3 are in the mysterious wheel room Bones asks ‘are we dreaming?’ and Kirk goes ‘if we are..then life is a dream’…
- Being chased by ‘Rock men’ would also have had a very nightmare like quality to it (although those scenes were dropped)
- Kirk, Spock and Bones remain together for much of the movie..just like at the campsite..
- And of course the story starting and ending in the same spot, with the Kirk, Spock and McCoy wearing the same clothes.
When you look at the movie as a nightmare, a reflection of Kirk’s subconscious fears and desires, it actually, somehow, makes *more* sense. In fact, it starts making a *lot* of sense
I liked the character moments very much, but as someone has already said, the premise of the movie was the problem for me. A quest for God, with Spocks brother leading the way was just not plausible to me.
why did Sybok need to meet God?
pee -u. I hated this movie. It was such a let down and the crew were just plan stupid. It was an insult to all the actors had achieved over the years playing these characters. The special effects were the worst of all the films. My favorite is the gigantic MALFUNCTION light on Kirk’s future note pad–the fact that they had to have this huge malfunction light ready to go just in case..
Star Trek V was awful and atrocious. There were no good character moments. The entire script was awkward and forced. The emphasis on the big 3 vs. the rest of the crew was awful. The characters were almost unrecognizable. Especially after all the wonderful moments in ST III and IV.The special effects seemed atrocious (although in the trailers they almost seem OK).
I was visiting New York that Spring and I remember how the city was plastered with posters for both Batman and Star Trek V. I was so looking forward to this movie. The first thing I did upon getting back to California from New York was head to the mall to see Star Trek V. I remember though trying to actually sit through this movie and thinking “I could be having way more fun shopping in the mall” but somehow I stuck it out. It was a painful experience though. To see Scotty hit his head on the bulkhead. That was awful. It just seemed all about William Shatner’s ego and nothing else.
Star Trek V was definitely the worst Star Trek movie ever made, although Star Trek: Insurrection comes awful close. My wife and I saw insurrection on one of our first dates and she remembers being not quite sure what she was getting into when I stood up and shouted “They’re violating the Prime Directive!!” She married me anyway though.
I have to say while not a classic I felt this was an enteraining film. In terms of the characters themselves as close to canon as TOS as you can get. Even the sound effects of the bridge matched those of the TOS. I noticed that no one commented on their “tactical uniforms” when beaming down. I TOTALLY LOVED that look, wished we could have seen that in more of the movies. Again to me EVERYONE seemed to be in their character. Music score was great, but I liked James Horner better!!!
I guess we should all look for and watch the re-edit done several years ago by a fan. My understanding is that the film works much better…
Want to point out one thing I noticed as I watched the trailer again that might not be said. Just how unbelievably dated and aweful the Next Genie-fied sets look in 2008. The overall late 80-mid 90’s Hilton Garden Inn style looks amazingly cheap and far more dated than the more Utilitarian ship sets of the first 4 films. In fact if you look at the first tw, especially TMP, other than the basic computer rotoscoping displays of the day the sets and overall film look still looks most futureistic and functional and real!! I know at this point they were sharing sets but besides a few more bucks for some Rock creature suits and effects that weren’t terrible I had wished they had a few more bucks to differentiate from those terrible Next Genish sets. BLAHHHHHHHH!!!!
Could have been a decent film. Not as bad as many say and not as good as the defenders say. Certainly better than Insurrection, Nemisis and maybe Generations, no… definately better than Generations too. A sold C.
By the way, is the trailer going to debut in front of “Madagascar 2″ as well? That’s another potential movie unless Paramount feels that isn’t the target audience?
Laurence Luckinbill deserved an Oscar nod for his great and inspired performance. I wish the Sulu/Checkov forest scene was instead set in a restaurant with them and girlfriends as that scene, er, blows, in so many ways. Otherwise, an excellent, fun film. One of my favs.
re: Canonfornication – November 8, 2008
“Star Trek V – A Shatnerian Masterpiece…
If you look at TFF as a strange dream of Kirks…from the first campsite scene post mountain fall to right at the end of the film with the ‘Row Row Row your boat’ reprise..then its possible that Trek V is actually a masterpiece of modern day cinema…”
Dude. I think that you just brought this movie into canon. That was totally effing brilliant.
and to the rest of y’all, you are being much kinder to this movie than I thought these comments would be. Good for you. I’ve always liked this movie, although I understand the criticisms.
Canonfornication, you are a genius. ’nuff said.
THE WOMEN!!
=h=
Hmm.. that would have been interesting to see Sean Connery as Sybok. The movie probably would have been more popular.
I thought this movie held up well against any of the TOS-era movies, and is head and shoulders above any TNG work, with the exception being First Contact. It would have been interesting to see what Shatner’s final product would have been, had Paramount given him the budget he wanted at the time.
#5 – Early showing start at 12:01 AM Friday morning. Not five days before the film opens
#1, #2 I concurr ….and screw the haters….plenty went wrong for this film, some was Shatners fault but most of the glarring faults were budget related (ok with the exception of the naked Uhura dance….) . But one thing he got completely right was the relationship between Kirk Spock and McCoy…this film has some of the best “big 3″ moments that feel like “home”. And were sorely missed in the films.
oh and shame on Paramount for not letting the Shat redo it for dvd….bring on the rock creatures
Good concept for a Star Trek movie, BUT, bad bad bad acting by everyone, terrible special effects, poorly writen script, anti-gravity boots, Uhura singing in the nude dance number, funny half cat/woman aliens, a Star Wars rip off wannabe Cantina scene, another rogue Klingon commander who looks like he belongs in Planet of the Apes and a terrible ‘refit’ design of the Enterprise bridge, whatever happen to to white coloured bridge at the end of the last film? Overall, WORST MOVIE IN SCI-FI HISTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BTW, why was it that no one; Kirk, Spock and McCoy could pronounce the word ‘marshmallow’?
rented this on dvd when on holiday in florida, long before it was available here in the uk. i know what i hate and i dont hate this.i think the myth of how bad it is overshadows a quite entertaining little slice of star trek. not great but not terrible if you overcome some kak handed attempts at comedy.
#18 – You have the parity clause between Shatner and Nimoy partly right. I think the two referred to it as a favored nations clause but you’re right, whatever Shatner got, Nimoy got and vice versa but the director’s chair had been Shatners since IV. It wasn’t a case of Nimoy refusing because Shatner had to be given the same directing opportunity that Nimoy got in II and III. In fact, he had to convince Bennett to come back and he did, with the stipulation he had final cut. And thankfully, he did. Shatner’s first cut came in at almost 4 hours..the planet scenes were a lot longer, including the city takeover sequence.
#62. You hit the nail on the head, which I’ve been saying for years since the movie came out in that Shatner should have offered some of his own money to finish the film.
My recollection is that Shatner, Nimoy and Kelley hit pay day on this film because of the success of the previous four films. I believe Shatner and Nimoy received $8-10M or so, plus Kelley’s $3M, which he held out for though he did have some medical issues that put back production. Shatner probably received a little extra for directing but if you add just their salaries, plus a million for the supporting cast thats at least $20M for salaries before any film is shot! The film cost what.$32M or so and the result is what we see on screen. So I say again, and I’d pose this question to Shatner and if anyone can beat me to it by asking him, please do..ask him if the studio refused more money for a proper ending or visual effects, why he didn’t put his own money up to finish it. If the studio still refused, then I’d go public, take my name off of it as other big stars have done when they wanted their way to exert creative control over their product.
Back to the discussion of the trailer. I remember seeing the trailer in a THX cert theater, and it felt like it was in mono sound. No surround sound but as discussed here it was fast paced and looked exciting except for the recycled shots going back to ST3. In any case, this is Star Trek, so I’m going to see the movie no matter what.
Opening day, my friends and I saw the film in glorious 70mm in a THX certified theater..best presentation in the city. To start off with, I thought the opening was cool..it had that Lawrence of Arabia-eque look to it on the huge screen, desert vistas as Sybok rides in in slo-mo and then exerts that power he has over Sinjon. Then the long missed Star Trek theme from TMP began after Alex Courage’s intro, mixed in with a THXsound trailer deep note that was, oh so coool. It felt like home and an excellent start.
After this everything seems to go downhill. The recycled shots of the Enterprise A from IV and space dock is the start. Spock rescuing Kirk from the fall was too fake in the close up shots. When they finally showed the Enterprise with new visuals, it was a disappointment. The shuttle entry into the Enterprise bay showed little size and scope compared to TMP. Anyone remember the rec deck scene and that huge matte painting that seemed to go on forever? Gone.
At least the sound effects were quite good. The six track stereo mix was very effective that served the film well even if the visuals didn’t match it. I remember when Kirk orders the Enterprise to the Nimbus planet there is that familiar subwoofer hum of the engines that starts to increase in intensity before the ship warps, but there’s no beauty shot of the Enterprise going to warp. What a rip! Its like having great foreplay during sex with no climax. At least they could have recycled a warp jump from II, if not TMP, which has a superior warp jump effect.
Storywise, this has been discussed to death but I think of all the performances, I think the best of them had to be DeForest Kelley’s. The way he euthanized his Dad and then a cure for him was discovered shortly after had to have been quite painful to keep deeply buried inside. Spock’s rejection by his Dad was powerfully conveyed during his birthing scene but Nimoy just reacted. I would have put in at least one more scene as an older kid being teased, harassed maybe beaten by other Vulcans for being the half-breed that he was. It would have driven home the stupidity of prejudice and racism to contemporary audiences, which Star Trek has done well.
This was my first Star Trek “event.” With a couple of friends – one of whom is a pretty die-hard fan, especially of Shatner – we rented ST:I-IV the weekend of the ST:V premiere, watched them in sequence, and proceeded to the theater to complete our journey, so to speak. I remember being mystified how Sybok was pulling his “guru stuff” off (a group mind meld so that everyone can see each other’s pain?) but I enjoyed the overall plot (even if the plot reveal – “God” is an alien that has been trapped on a planet at the center of the galaxy? – is a little far-fetched) and all of the terrific character moments. The musical theme for the journey across Sha Ka Ree still haunts me to this day… thank you, Mr. Goldsmith! I would agree with critics who do not rank this film highly among the Star Trek films, but I always look for something enjoyable in each installment and appreciate the connections that tie the stories and characters together (some would label this “canon”). Heck, I bought the poster!
Maybe they shouldve done a sequel/prequel about KHAN for Trek V….showing Khans time on Ceti Alpha V from the end of Space Seed to the start of Wrath of Khan.. i.e. Greg Coxs novel ‘To Reign in Hell’..the original cast could have appeared in the opening 15 minutes with Kirk, Spock and Bones using their shore leave after the events of Voyage Home to visit the place where the change of events of II, III and IV started…
once there Kirk finds Khans journal..cue flashback about Khan for an hour and a half…then the final 5 mins bookending with Kirk, Spock and Bones beaming back up..
Ricardo Montoban couldve played Khan again in 1989 no worries…and maybe Nicolas Meyer wouldve wanted to direct it..
Khan, was, in the 80s (and pretty much still is) second only to Vader in terms of SF villians…I dont think fans and moviegoers wouldve had a problem with going to see a trek film mainly about Khan..
I think if they had done a Khan film for Trek V there wouldnt be an awful Trek film stinking up the original cast films….also it wouldve been new and interesting and innovative..
I read on the TWOK wikipdia that after the success of TWOK there was a script written for the Ceti Alpha Khan story but it never happened…(its a shame as they couldve done it back to back with Star Trek III or IV – minues the opening with Kirk and Co)
when Paramount got The Shats script for Trek V they shouldve gone..’hmmm….say wheres that Khan script?’
however the trouble was Shats had it written into his contract that whatever Nimoy got he got and vice versa – so when Nimoy had directed a film Shatner was able to as well…and he had his heart set on the God story..
re:post 69: I meant Nemesis not Insurrection. Sorry.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….
I still think that despite it’s problems, this is the one film that feels like it could have been an episode of the TV series if it had continued for many years after it’s first 5 year mission. Some of the bits are horrible…I always thought the humour was forced but it still manages to catch the spirit of the show somehow. Wrath Of Khan was a great movie, perhaps the best Trek movie but Trek V feels like a really good episode.
This has always been one of my favorite Star Trek movies. The only one I actually didn’t like was Nemesis.
Ahhhh….STV: The Great Trek Turd Of ‘89.
The lone pimple on the butt of an otherwise very good feature film series (the original movies of course).
This movie is terrible.
It has no saving graces whatsoever.
If you include the TNG movies, it may very well not be the worst of the 10 ST feature films. However, since I never warmed up to the TNG characters anyway, I had no expectations for the TNG movies (and never paid to see one). It was impossible for any of them to disappoint me.
After the triumphant, feel-good ending of TVH, this was a thorough disappointment.
—there are two captains and five commanders serving aboard one ship (a gross misallocation of valuable personnel resources on the part of Starfleet Command)
—a planet colony (Nimbus III) that the otherwise ‘benevolent’ Federation has allowed to descend into utter deprivation and lawlessness
—the Romulan Ambassador (a terrible actress) is so frightened that she has to be “held” by her human counterpart
—a Klingon “warrior” who puts his head down like a scolded dog and “apologizes”
—Sarek has apparently had an affair with a Vulcan princess(?) prior to his union with Amanda Grayson
—the Enterprise-A is a lemon
—the Enterprise-A can suddenly travel to the center of the galaxy in a matter of hours
—the Enterprise-A is hijacked by the “apple dumpling gang”, and Kirk only regains his ship when it is given back
—Spock betrays his captain instead of stunning his brother
—Scotty (in particular), Uhura, Sulu, and Chekov are portrayed as buffoons
—unlike in TVH, the humor is forced and caricatures our beloved heroes
—I could go on and on…fandance, toasting the marshmelon, explosive bourbon and beans…
Forget the poor special effects and the excuses…This movie is awful.
I still like this movie, and wish they had let the Shat back to re-do the spfx when the DVD came out. he could have re-edited a few things at the end as well (which really is the only point where the film truly falls apart) and – not to sound cheesy – then the rest of the world would see the movie *I* see when I watch it.
It’s still better in my book than every TNG movie except First Contact, with which it’s tied.
Torpedoes away!
Ehh I quite liked this film. Great “trinity” (Kirk/Spock/Bones) moments, best composer (Jerry Goldsmith), some drama, and Kirk’s “Go climb a rock” T-Shirt.
However, the effects were lame, the Enterprise had 70 DECKS!, and for some reason Uhura had gray hair, when in VI it was black again.
“The lone pimple on the butt of an otherwise very good feature film series (the original movies of course).”
Honestly, I think it’s no better or worse than Star Trek III.
Amend that: If pressed to choose, I would watch V over III.
Ok if one could somehow get hold of a timeship and go back in time and convince shatner NOT to do the god stuff (maybe by showing him the finished film on dvd) i wonder what would have happened instead? Id say keep to opening vaction/campfire stuff but change the Sybok/God plot…..now bear in mind we’d just had an unknown alien threat film with loads of humour and time travel etc (plus had an unknown alien threat thing in TMP) so id say they should have gone back to the straight serious hard action of Treks II and III – maybe had the (fully functional…not comedic malfunctioning) Enterprise sent to investigate some disturbance in the neutral zone…and since the klingons had already had their big movie in III (and again in VI) maybe something with the romulans…maybe Spocks son from his affair with the Romulan sub commander in ‘Enterprise Incident’ could have become some sort of threat (hey itd be more plausable than spocks long lost bro) that Kirk would have to deal with/go up against…something similar to Balance of Terror with the ent facing off against a Romulan BOP but done large – hide and seek battle scenes with cloaked ships…Sorta building on the Ent/Reliant battle scenes that proved so popular in TWOK..(so ‘doing’ BOT the same way TMP ‘did’ The Changeling/Doomsday, TVH ‘did’ Tomorrow is Yesterday/Assignment Earth, TFF ‘did’ The Way to Eden etc)….
It’s a shame Trek V wasn’t a better film especially since it was coming off the most successful trek film and it was such a competitive summer (Batman, Indy 3, GB 2, BTTF 2, LW 2 etc)
#25
Hey, I LOVE that T-shirt. I’m still wearing the one I bought on one of those wacky conventions way back. It sort of supports me in dealing with *my* pain…;)
Anyway, I do like STV very very much. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. It has great moments, it has some true TOS spirit and – yes guys – I do enjoy the cosy and familiar atmosphere of the campfire scene. A real classic.
#92—-I’d watch STIII on a 24-hour loop for seven days and seven nights before I watched STV: The Great Trek Turd Of ‘89 again.
That’s how bad it is to me.
One of the biggest favors that JJ Abrams could do for me is to have Nero go back in time, miss the target in the timeline by several years, and in an attempt to murder Spock—smother baby Sybok in his crib and rid Star Trek ‘canon’ of the enormous wart that is STV.
Yes…it’s that bad.
55. Canonfornication
Great list. I love this for film for all the things you have mentioned there. Plus it’s Star Trek. So what’s not to love?
I know it’s flawed but when I first saw this film it was years after it was out in the cinema. I watched it with my family on VHS, at the time to me it was just another good Star Trek film and it still is for me.
I also thought the McCoy pain scene was played brilliantly by DeForest Kelley.
I love to see a new directors cut with some new effects. I definitely pay for another copy if Paramount spent the money to clean it up. Unlike the rushed cheap approach they took for the TOS remastered project. That was a real missed opportunity.
Although it’s the weakest I still think there were great moments in this film.
It had the original actors which is always a bonus.
I loved the scenes between Kirk, Spock and McCoy camping. I loved the sequence where Spock and McCoy confront their pain with Sybok and love Kirk’s argument that he needs his pain.
The score by Jerry Goldsmith was fantastic.
If Shatner was allowed to make this movie the way he wanted it would have been a lot better.
The narrator’s voice is incredibly irritating. Nice trailer though, even though it gives away pretty much everything.
I like the movie. It’s definitely not the best TOS movie but the interaction between Kirk, Spock and Bones is priceless.
Goldsmith always got clunkers to score.
But I LIKE this movie more and more as time goes by!
I bet Bran Ferren would like a crack at fixing his own crappy effects.
Now give me some more of thet secret ingredient!
The only scene that really bugs me is the scene where SCOTTY bumps his head. It was so forced, and just ridiculous to watch. If they wanted to “knock him out”, they should have just had one of the rebels (or one of the brainwashed Enterprise crew, like Sulu) stun him with a phaser. Same effect, with Scotty’s dignity intact.
What this film needs is a good director’s cut. Fix the editing, and add new special effects. I am sur ethis will happen someday, but I hope it happens while Shatner is still around to see it.
Melanie. My apologies to Lisabeth. Thanks for the correction. Guess I’m not perfect. (Like there was ever a chance…)
Yes, there are good moments in V, but you have to set your brain to “sampler” rather than watch the film as a whole.
#101—If everything bad about this film was edited, there wouldn’t be a movie left…which is fine by me.
As for the trailer… it gives away too much, including the tone of the film, which should hit you gradually on first watching IMHO. I don’t remember seeing the trailer. I woulda cringed at Scotty’s idiotic pratfall. It was either Siskel or Ebert who snided: They all look a little drunk in this movie.
No “Star Trek” trailer before QoS in Poland. That’s official. I almost regret that Polish “Quantum…” premiere took place 1 week before American :]
I actually like Final Frontier, sure not as great as Wrath of Kahn, First Contact, Undiscovered Country or (my personal favourite of all the Trek films) Voyage Home. But, still a good adventure film.
Now, hopefully for the blu-ray release next year they finally let Shatner fix the film, maybe trim it down a bit (I know its the shortest of the TOS films, but I think it drags on a bit near the middle), and get some new effects done (which I think is the biggest problem I have with this one). Too bad Goldsmith wouldn’t be able to adjust his score for any new cut (which I have to agree with Dr. Image- the only really good Trek he got to score was First Contact- the rest were the lesser films, but probably the better scores).
As far as I am concerned this movie never happened. I own all of the movies except V. Trek VI follows Trek IV quite nicely.
Star Trek V is the worst Star Trek joke ever to be told!
they are never going to let Shatner do a director’s cut of ST V. It just won’t happen.
I feel The Final Frontier is generally bad, though it does harbour a few gems. The campfire scene is perfect, and the scene where Sybok tries to release McCoy, Spock, and Kirk from their pain is priceless.
I never really understood how the Enterprise-A made it to the centre of the galaxy in just a few hours when Voyager was going to need 70 years to make it across the Delta quadrant.
Oh, and another big blunder…the rocket boots in the turbolift shaft scene…it just doesn’t fit in the Enterprise, sorry.
48.
“I always liked the suggestion of a different storyline in which the Enterprise is taken not to the center of the galaxy, but to its edge (hence the ‘Great Barrier’ becomes the barrier previously encountered in TOS episodes “Where No Man Has Gone Before” and “By Any Other Name”), and the ‘God force’ turns out to be Gary Mitchell, bent upon revenge against Kirk. ”
————-
OMG, that would have been something, wouldn’t it? I’ve never heard this before and I LOVE it!!
cellojammer — Have you seen Of Gods and Men yet?
fanboy-o-rific.
111.
Not yet–Thanks for the tip. I’m on it!
Retract my “Madagascar” statement. Already out apparently. Thought it was coming out later!
Because it is not highly regarded by either the fans or the studio, it will probably never get the “TOS remaster.”
I hated some of the comedy in this movie, but overall, the movie is better than it’s given credit for.
A careful re-edit combined with a remaster of the visual effects, and who knows? It could be pretty good….
CUT Scotty bumping his head. Jesus. CUT Chekov and Sulu lost. CUT the shower joke in the turbolift…. ok I’ll stop there…
“If you ask me — and you haven’t — I think this is a terrible idea…”
That just about sums it up.
It had a memorable Jerry Goldsmith score — far better than his music for any of the TNG films. Those hand phasers were a pretty cool design. Um… I can’t think of anything else nice to say about STV. The whole original cast was there but…meh.
#1 & 2: Definitely!
A big improvement over TVH in every respect, hugely entertaining both then and now. So many great moments, with the campfire scenes among the very best of the “Big Three” in all of Trek. A great looking/sounding film, as well. The barrier is spectacular, and Goldsmith’s score is awesome.
Favorite line: “Please, captain, not in front of the Klingons.” ;-D
There are a few good moments in this film, but they’re like diamonds in a pile of crap. Go digging for them, and you’ll find them, and you’ll feel good for having found them, but you’ll still be covered in shite.
I watched this again recently, and was tempted to turn it off about three times. It sucks. Remastering it won’t work, because there’s simply not enough good moments to actually pull a good film out of it. Which is a shame, because there are moments which are rather good:
- Kirk, Spock and McCoy back to their relatively normal selves;
- The ‘I need my pain!!’ scene;
- The ‘What does God need with a starship?’ line;
- The brig scene.
66 –
I’ve heard of the dream theory before, but never in so much detail. I’ve watched it before and gotten that sense. It’s like the world revolves around Kirk (Shatner) in this movie with little logic to the characters’ actions.
It was all a dream…
# 103 Closettrekker,
I think we get it… You don’t like it, don’t you? (You can calm down now, okay?)
IMO, TFF was a bit in the tradition of Trouble With Tribbles with all that comic moments of our beloved characters. But the idea of a spiritual missleaded Vulcan was not SO bad. Okay, the plot had some really HUGE holes and the SFX are desasterous. But with more thoughts and interest form the producers, writers and with another director, it could have become not a bad movie.
If only Sybok could have taken away MY pain at watching such an embarassing Trek film. I remember seeing this in the theatre as a kid and wondering if God was literally punishing us all.
As much as I like the movie, it does really need a director’s cut. Shatner deserved more creative control with this film. The Uhura dancing scene should be taken out. Get rid of Scotty bumping his head. Fix a few other things. Better special effects. Let Shatner add more to the ending.
I’m telling you. Despite the flaws, there is greatness in this film. I was always able to overlook the flaws and see it.
As for all those attempting to defend this disaster – please stop. Yes, there are moments here and there that are worthwhile (McCoy’s memory of euthanising his father, Spock’s plea to General Khord – ‘Damn you sir, you will try’), but they don’t make up for the fact that this sucker stinks to high heaven. It’s a bit like falling in a latrine and then trying to convince everyone the left corner doesn’t smell quite as badly. It may be true, but you’re still knee-deep in crap.
In terms of whether it was Shatner or Paramount’s fault that it failed – it’s both. Shatner because the story concept was bad from the start, whether it was the crew facing off against God or the Devil. Also because his performance as Kirk in this flick was the beginning of the end for the character, in my mind. Not to mention the ridiculously forced attempts at humor.
It was also Paramount’s fault because once they’d greenlit the silly thing, they should have at least let Shatner have their full support and the budget promised to him. Then we could look back and say ‘Boy, this was sure an ambitious project, and man does it suck.’. At least there’d be no wafling about ‘fault’.
1989 was an awesome year for movies. There was STV, Indiana Jones and Batman.
Back To The Future 2 and Ghostbusters 2 didn’t turn out to be very good, but it was still pretty exciting to have ALL this stuff come out at the same time.
It was a good time to be 13 year old geek!
The humor, and the great scenes (like the campfire scene) between Kirk, Spock and McCoy are what keep this from being my least favorite Trek movie.
It beats out The Motion Picture because TMP was too long and boring.
Still, I have to admit, this is not a great movie.
25 SPB – The “Go Climb a Rock” shirt is a classic at Yosemite, for the Yosemite Mountaineering School. It’s perfectly reasonable that that shirt would still be for sale in the 23rd C.
I don’t quite think the film is without merit. Sort of like watching your kid at a stupid school play, it’s still YOUR kid. Rather, it suffers from fatal flaws:
- Luckinbill was like a sleeping pill next to our heroes.
- The Shuttle crash is just unwatchably horrible.
- The Fan Dance [respect to Nichelle]
- Scotty’s pratfall.
- The lack of meaningful character dialog between Spock and Sybok, and the fact that they’re brothers is just weak.
- The anti-climax of a soundstage scene with Kirk and ‘God’ face-to-face… a scene that was shot practically at the same time as Tasha Yar’s soundstage death scene.
Great trailer, though. Saw it opening night in Beautiful Downtown Burbank. Damn Paramount for not giving this an effects budget to counteract some of the cheesy stuff.
Hope the new Star Trek isn’t a Trekkie film like this one was.
I agree with what many of you have said. Star Trek V has a lot going for it, but it’s unfortunately rough around the edges. It’s a shame that Paramount didn’t give Shatner the chance to fix some things on the special edition DVD, like they did with The Motion Picture. Can you imagine how the film would play if the special effects were redone properly? There’s a lot of ship action. They could fix the numbers in the turbolift shaft. Maybe delete some of the references about the Great Barrier being the center of the universe. How about with the original ending-fight against the rock demons? And they could make Sha-Ka-Ree look cool too.
I love the opening in Yosemite. The Enterprise not being all put together is interesting. The shuttle scene is cool. I liked the new assault uniforms and phasers. I really like the brig scene. “I need my pain!” Awesome.
As it is though, Star Trek V feels sort of incomplete. And as such, does not rank highly.
I think it’s almost best to just ignore The Motion Picture and The Final Frontier and have the trilogy with II, III and IV and the grand finale with VI. They all tie in together and are the actual good ones.
Ooh wait, there was another thing in this movie that worked for me: De Kelley’s pulling-the-plug-on-his-dad scene. I totally bought that scene. De was amazing — a really fine performance in an otherwise crappy film.
So that’s three nice things I can say about STV: 1.) great Goldsmith score, 2.) nice hand phaser design, and 3.) De Kelley’s emotional scene.
Now if I was to list my problems with the film that list would be pretty long (though maybe not quite as long for my list for that execrable Insurrection movie or Nemesis — but close). Here’s a gem: Kirk says “I need to sit down” in brig, presses button and sits down on brig toilet. Oh how I loooove toilet humor (that’s sarcasm, folks).
66. Canonfornication -
RE: the dream theory–
That is a brilliant line of reasoning. It is quite possibly the best perspective ever given (at least that I’ve read or heard) to interpreting this film. However, the film still blows.
Oh, and the marketing! [insert ubiqitous marsh-mellon dispenser refernce here]. I remember seeing a display in a local theatre that depicted a theatre seat flying through a star field. That had to be the least-compelling bits of marketing I’ve ever seen.
119. CaptainRickover –
“IMO, TFF was a bit in the tradition of Trouble With Tribbles with all that comic moments of our beloved characters.”
Please oh please don’t tell me you just compared TFF to “Tribbles”. “All the comic moments”?? I groaned my way through the entire movie (same with the awful jokes in similarly bad Insurrection). The toilet jokes, the need-to-shower-cuz-i-smell jokes, the “pool table”, pratfalls, the way the Enterprise is an expensive lemon, how every character’s professionalism and expertise is thoroughly undermined? It all fell flat.
#119—”I think we get it… You don’t like it, don’t you?”
I would certainly hope so. I felt that I was being quite clear and concise all along.
“You can calm down now, okay?”
I can assure you that I have not been otherwise.
I love TMP.
I love TWOK.
I really like TSFS.
I like TVH.
I like TUC.
I absolutely despise STV: The Great Trek Turd Of ‘89.
#120—”If only Sybok could have taken away MY pain at watching such an embarassing Trek film.”
Lmao.
“I remember seeing this in the theatre as a kid and wondering if God was literally punishing us all.”
I think it was William Shatner.
I remember seeing STV in the theater and being totally underwhelmed by the special effects, not realizing at the time that they had no ILM and less of a budget to work with. However, this is one film that I think works much better in a pan and scan 4×3 aspect ratio as a television experience rather than in widescreen. Thoughts?
“Fire the rockets!!!”
The STUPIDEST line in ANY of the films.
Still, I like the damn movie…
I saw Trek V twice. it was okay. At least the story moves fast. Too bad the plot makes no sense whatsoever. It’s never really explained what the “God” thing is, or how Sybok connected to him, or what happens to “it”. Kinda lame.
122 – Those of us who don’t despise this film have a right to post our opinions have a right to do so, so please don’t tell us to do so. Guess what — ANY and every Star Trek film is going to be liked by some people more than others. Please stop being an arbiter of taste. If you don’t like reading the posts of some fans who did find something good in this film, then do something else with your time. But don’t expect everyone to conform to your opinion or treat us like fools if we don’t see things the same way as you do. Viva la difference, IDIC, I might not agree with what you say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it and so forth. Plenty of highly intelligent people enjoyed this movie. Please stop the snobbery that they can’t be as bright as you if they do. Apparently a number of them are at least more open-minded.
Okay, my post above was garbled at the beginning because I was pissed at 122’s intolerance. In short, don’t tell me or anybody what they should or should not enjoy or choose to read or watch.
Not the worst. That would be VI.
I can live with george lucas using original star wars music wherever he wants in his trailers because it dosent matter, but this trailer using the wrath of khan music, I became just plain annoyed, Instead of an adventure movie, I get the feeling it was marketed more as an action movie.
It would have been nice to see a mystical sybok trailer instead where it shows scenes of each of the crew members facing their pain,and leave the klingon stuff for comic relief. I liked the klingon general but the captain of the bird of prey is the Shinzon of star trek V.
Again i remember seeing star trek V in a multi-plex, it was the day after it came out and there were about 12 people in the audience. Besides the nice character moments, i felt the rest of the production looked cheap.
Am I in some sort of Bizzaro internet where it seems the majority of posters have good things to say about Trek V? Maybe that is the difference between trekweb and trekmovie.
I also think there is quite a bit to like about this movie. What fails miserably about the movie is that Shatner couldn’t finish it. The effects were a joke, and that has nothing to do with Shatner, it has everything to do with Paramount just crapping out another movie.
If Shatner, perhaps with the help of Nimoy or Meyer, could have a true director’s version of this movie with new effects, I think that combined with the wonderful moments in this film would catapult it into the Trek 2 & 4 & First Contact family.
I’m thoroughly perplexed whenever I read things like “this movie wasn’t good but maybe it would be better if we got a director’s cut/TOS-style Remastering”. It’s constantly popping up whenever STV and that other loss, Nemesis, are mentioned.
A director’s cut would not save this movie. It rarely ever saves any movie. Two exceptions are ST:TMP and Blade Runner — and there were circumstances surrounding the final theatrical editing of both films that made this uniquely possible. Every other director’s cut I’ve seen either mucks things up further or has so few changes as to be virtually indistinguishable from the theatrical release.
Replacing all the sub-par visual effects in STV still wouldn’t elevate it much. I am reminded of the hundreds of crappy movies released in the past decade that were loaded with dazzling effects but still remained crappy films. No amount of effects work will fix all those lame jokes and lazy writing. Rocket boots? What is this, Captain Video?
Same with Nemesis. Just because there are yards and yards of footage that ended up on the cutting room floor doesn’t mean a masterpiece is hiding somewhere under all that mediocre material. Baird was an accomplished editor long before he attempted directing. It was a lousy film, folks. There’s an ancient Tellarite adage — you can’t polish feldercarb.
i enjoy watching ST:V on repete viewings as much as ST:IV & more than the others usually.
Incase anyone wants to know – although UK audiences didnt get the new Trek trailer before the US on Nov 14 i hear it is going to screen with the new Bond in Australia on Nov 19- which is the only reason im seeing Quantam of Solace.
There’s no real bad Trek film for me except for Insurrection. That was a chore to sit through.
95 – Iowagirl: Ma’am, you are awesome.
STV is not one of my favorites, but I have to agree with poster #8 Buckaroohawk and say that I think there is a potentially good movie in there somewhere. Remove the cringe-worthy attempts at humor and fix the SFX, and there could be a good, or at least promising, movie.
And I agree with everyone who said that Kelley’s performance is the best in the movie. It could be because he’s really the only one who never acts out of character, or does anything that makes you go “WTF?”
This one has a few good moments, and some of Shatner’s direction is actually pretty good, but overall I really can’t stand it. How anyone can seriously say this move is better than Insurrection or Nemesis is beyond me. While neither of those movies is perfect, they are lightyears better than this lemon.
All IMO of course. ;)
I hate Sybok. With all my heart. Hate the very thought of his existence. I loathe this movie so much because of him. His character is such a stupid and hackeneyed contrivance. Why in the name of all that is holy would Spock not tell Kirk that he has a half brother? You really expect me to believe that? I have had to buy into a lot of iffy propositions, plot wise, but Spock’s mystery half brother is the sort of ludicrous idea that one would find in an afternoon soap opera. Utterly and completely devoid of any basis in the Star Trek lore. Horrible. Awful. Dreadful.
Am I making myself clear?
And the scene where Scotty bumps his head on a cross-beam that he is looking at and knocks himself out is an insult to the character and fans.
These two things alone could make this the worst Trek film ever. Trek V has so much more wrong with it though. Bad effects. The ridiculous Peace Planet. Taking over the Enterprise with a bunch of Hocus Pocus.
I only watch this when someone makes me.
Good thing the best Star Trek trailer is next and we can clear our palates of this rubbish.
Positively awful movie. Wretched. Horrible effects. Horrible story.
I could say that it holds up better on TV than it did the theater, but that’s like saying reheated nacho dip tastes better at home than it does at Taco Bell.
This movie was doomed the moment William Shatner was signed to direct it, but it wasn’t necessarily Shatner’s direction that killed it. It was everything else, starting with the story and ending with the aborted Rock Monster that Paramount told Shatner it would NOT pay for.
Only redeeming thing about it was Jerry Goldsmith’s score.
This was the first of the Star Trek movies I saw in the theater. I had had minor surgery the day before, and I was still kind of feverish and medicated. Until I saw it again later on video, I thought that it wasn;t as bad as I remembered.
#138: The effects were ENTIRELY Shatner’s fault, because he created these idiotic elements that cost a fortune to build, and when the first one was completed, it was too horrendous to use. The movie was already hemmorhaging money, and Paramount finally told The Shat NO MORE.
You could remaster, reedit, restart, repolish, republish, rerelease this turd, but at the end of the day all you’d have is a remastered, reedited, restarted, repolished turd.
Nemesis, despite its critical failings that drew as much from Trek fatigue as it did the movie itself, was 10x better than this sow’s ear.
My father and I went to every Star Trek film on premier night. It was a huge deal for us. I still remember coming out of the premier of STV feeling betrayed. The movie was such a disappointment on every level. The Enterprise malfunctioning like it was built by the Three Stooges? What is funny about that? The security forces on the federation flagship can’t manage to overcome some nomads with guns that shot ROCKS? Then Enterprise taken over by the same, Monty Python-esque riff raff? Just how many decks are on the Enterprise anyway? Horrible in every way.
Despite not being the best Trek movie, I enjoy this one quite a bit. I really don’t see how people can hate it compared to Insurrection…
I also believe that it has the best soundtrack of any Trek next to TMP.
Good Trek movie. Most certainly does not deserve most of the hate it gets.
Has one of the best Jerry Goldsmith scores ever. Strong sound FX design.
Best TOS era movie Kirk/Spock/MCCoy banter.
Different Enterprise sets you never see again like the Observation lounge, Shuttlecraft bay & Lift Shaft.
Plenty of outside shots which is rare as most of TOS was studio interiors bound.
Most of the blame for the problems lies with Paramount as the studio heads of the day insisted on lots of humour as they incorrectly identified TVH’s box office with humour only so wanted plenty of that in TFF.
Then you can also blame Ralph Winter & Harve Bennett for letting sub-standard FX work slip through the net. What happened was they thought the finished FX shots were just work in progress so were shocked to find that was the best they could get in 3 months of post production (in those days a movie like this needed 12-18 months of post production as photo chemical FX took a lot of time & money to perfect). ILM only had their B team available which would have been far better than Brad Ferren but the producers chose Ferren to save more money from the budget instead of using a less experience ILM team.
Fate just meant TFF was doomed to failure as it was delayed by a year due to Nimoy directing a movie then the writers strike which meant that Connery had already accepted Indy3 before TFF was ready to offer him a role (which would have been amazing with him BTW).
Then to make matters worse the budget was $35M. $14M went to the 7 TOS actors (Shatner + Nimoy $5.5M each, Kelley $2M & $250K each to the other 4) leaving only $21M to make the actual movie so the FX budget got slashed to bits and the original opening sequence of a massive and expensive galaxy powers of 10 pullback shot into earth got scrapped first, then the rockmen got slashed down to just 1 suit so before any film was shot the movie was already severely compromised and doomed to failure.
Shatner can only really be blamed for some of the concepts not the execution as his directing was passable but the producers did not support him when it mattered and should have told Paramount they needed more time & money as the FX in a movie like this are always needed to be strong so that it lends an element of realism to the sci-fi story.
The weak FX execution highlight all that is wrong in the story. The whole movie plays out like a fun episode of the TOS TV series and is enjoyable even with poor FX.
Paramount must redo all the FX if they want to sell this on Bluray as even on DVD when I watch this on a HDMI upscaling player the FX looks terrible, matte lines, poor lighting, shoddy model work its all a total disaster. Hopefully they get CBS Digital to do it as would not cost them a lot to do so as in-house.
This movie sadly is the main reason we only got 1 more true TOS movie as no doubt if it had been made properly and released in 1988 the popularity would have ensured at least 2 more full TOS movies.
The announcers’ tone is kind of inappropriate – sounds like the same voice he’d use to advertise Crazy Eddie’s Used Autorama. And what’s with the “Where no man has EVER gone before?” That’s not how it goes!
just like to say that this is the film that got me 3 years bullying at school for saying i liked star trek
thanks bill…
Nimoy got 4 oscars noms for his directorial effort..
shats got the same in Razzies
do da math
#152 sez: “The announcers’ tone is kind of inappropriate – sounds like the same voice he’d use to advertise Crazy Eddie’s Used Autorama.”
That makes it kind of perfect for this movie, doesn’t it?
I mean, this is the one where an old guy hits his head! HAW HAW! AN OLD GUY HIT HIS HEAD! WOTTA KNEE-SLAPPER! How DO they come UP with this comedy GOLD???
>sigh<
Jordan
I, for one, don’t hate this one compared to Insurrection. I hate this one and Insurrection for their own reasons.
I have my dislikes (hates) listed a couple posts above. I’ll let you know about Insurrection when we get to it. Besides, I’m going to get raked for the amount of love I have for VI.
Not a bad movie, just not a great Trek installment. I still enjoy it immensely. Beautiful score by Goldsmith kicks it up a notch, and despite some arguably lousy acting and garage effects there are some genuine awe moments, as well as the usual good personal interactions. I truly believe that STV could have been top notch, one of Treks best, if it didnt suffer from a lack of money and time.
Nah, the Trek V soundtrack was bad. Half of it was warmed over TMP.
#155, 150:
And I for one have no point of comparison, since the trailer for Insurrection said “DON’T SEE ME; I LOOK VERY BAD!!!” in huge pulsing letters with accompanying ominous kettledrums*, so I didn’t see it. The re-used the same gimmick in the Nemesis trailer,* so I skipped that one, too. :/
Holding out hopes (and currently about 80% odds) that this new Trek film will be a Trek film I actually go see (or if that’s too much to ask, one that I’d at least be willing to rent later on). I hope I hope I hope.
* Note that the versions of these trailers that I remember may NOT be the ones trekmovie.com shows as we get to the end of the trailer-reminiscing countdown.
Dump on INSURRECTION all you want; of all the TNG movies, that’s the one closest to the spirit of the TNG series.
To each his own, I guess. And, FWIW, I agree with all who have said Shat should’ve gotten the opp from Paramount to do a Director’s Cut of this one, with proper effects.
Oh, and ditto to what Paul said in 151; here’s hoping someone sees the light to let CBS/D give it the once-over for an SE Blu-Ray release.
159 – that’s why INS did so bad in theaters. You need a BIG story to fill that theater screen. Not some movie set on some planet filled with only 200 people.
Ya know, I felt the same way coming out of the theater after seeing STV as I did seeing Insurrection. I said, “Okay… that was… interesting.” (I had no emotional reaction at all when I came out of Nemesis– I was numb at how awful it was)
What STV had going for it was Kirk, Spock and McCoy– and they made the movie fun. When they weren’t on the screen, it was painful. They did turn the other characters into stooges– but then again, I never really cared about anyone but K,S & Mc. Scotty, Uhura, Chekov and Sulu were always secondary at best.
I think the failing was Shatner’s weakness– he is always over the top and big, and that’s what this story tried to be– over the top and big. Very shatneresque. But, it had some good moments.
I still feel like the worst original series movie is as good as the best TNG movie. IMHO.
# 9
surely it is not illusion but allusion?
With all due respect to tar this family film as ‘juvenile and jaw-droppingly superficial’ is somewhat missing the point,is it not?
It is a bit of fun and by no means an oscar winner but it is Star Trek albeit the untidier end of it.
As a trekker I dont need deep and meaningful from the movies.
If I want the profound from Trek how about ‘The Inner Light’ or ‘Family’ from TNG or any Sisko based DS9?
All of a sudden I realise what a fantastic bit of work DS9 really, is and how strong the cast was.
I love Star Trek, As I believe the Americans say ‘PERIOD’
Man, some easily pleased movie goers here. :) TFF…ouch…really bad. Insurrection is hardly as bad, or worse, than TFF. As someone else said, it was closest in spirit to the TV series. I believe that’s because Michael Pillar wrote it, and it was he who gave Next Gen most of its spirit. Sadly, insurrection was another movie that got bullied into adding inappropriate humor. The original script was quite serious in tone, but Pillar was made to rewrite….and thus, the movie we got.
Campfire camaraderie – the highlight. There were plenty of other good bits as well, however….
That Sybok, McCoy and even Spock (or any living being in the 23rd century for that matter) would for one nano-second believe that God lived on a planet in the centre of the galaxy was beyond the suspension of belief.. it was a really dumb…lost me right there.
Bad. Just wretched.
Still, I’d like to see Shatner do a Director’s Cut with new FX.
At least that might make it tolerable.
If you Don’t Like it, Go climb a F*#$in’ Rock.
For me it’s the worst trek movie of all by far.
I’m still trying to forget the Uhura’s dance and I hate all the Spock scenes wearing those boots.
For me the movie has a good issue, good moments, but very bad directing and stupid humor. Of course the effects were awful but I could perfectly tolerate them if the other things were better.
Insurrection wasn’t good but this this one is worst.
The trailer looks quite promising I must say
164 _ Man, some very condescending film amateur film critics here, too. The ones who have to say: “You can’t possibly have any taste in films because you don’t like the same ones I like and my tastes are superior to everyone else’s in every way.”
There sure a good number of posters on this thread who are trying to peddle this line of bullshit. Just say that YOU don’t like the movie but don’t tell us that we who do that we can’t do so, or shouldn’t do so, or that we’re not as smart as you because we do like it.
I have never encountered so much snobbery from Trek fans as around the issue of disliking this movie. If you don’t like it — fine. Just stop attempting to berate or belittle those of us who do.
Gee, I never thought I’d see someone in this thread use the term the “Great Trek Turd of ‘89.” I’ve only seen this ingeniously clever epithet posted on threads on this site about eight thousand times. And each time it is as hilarious as it is original! That’s sarcasm, by the way. One of Dinsdale Piranha’s most effective weapons.
I’ve stopped bothering to read the comments on this film from a number of posters on this site because they’ve restated their opinion on it over and over that they are unbearably predictable. I know exactly what they’re going to say (some of them are absolute broken records about it), so there’s no point in reading their comments. It’s always just more of the same vitriol, sometimes in stronger doses than others.
You don’t like the film? Fine. Get used to the fact that a lot of people do. It’s nice to have a thread for a change that does point out the film’s merits. I’m glad others also noticed what a tour de force performance Deforest Kelley gave in the scene of euthanizing his father. And Shatner’s brief soliloquy about Kirk needing his pain is one of his finest moments in portraying a strong leader who experienced more than his share of tragedy in his life and career.
I’ll take this film over ANY of the TNG movies with their lackluster cast of characters any day. I’m glad there was an opportunity to have at least a half dozen films with all of the TOS cast before we lost De Kelley and James Doohan.
Try to get some enjoyment out of ALL of these flicks, folks. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. And they are the only six films with all of the TOS cast that we are EVER going to have.
169.
Well, if it’s so good…I think you can take a rest from defending it. It doesn’t matter to me if someone enjoys it, it’s still a very poor movie…artistically and technically. You’re free to enjoy it…or parts of it…that’s quite all right. Some people are more forgiving about films than others. As for myself, I expected a higher standard from Trek. I enjoy ‘parts’ of it myself, but over all it’s a horrendous film. As for being an amateur, I have worked professionally in the entertainment industry for many years…theatre, musicals, film, television, and on the production side of things as well.
You’ve restated your own opinion of the film several times yourself. If calling Trek V a piece of garbage bothers you, then you’re taking it far too personally. To be perfectly blunt…it’s only a movie. There are far more important issues in the world than protecting the integrity of Star Trek V.
#134
Brett, apologies if I was overzealous with my comment. Of course, you’re free to like or dislike what you will and it hardly makes you a worse/better person. Just an individual with your own tastes.
However, I will say that this movie is very nearly universally panned by critics AND fans alike. That doesn’t mean you can’t like it, of course. Or that you’re somehow ‘wrong’ for liking it. Though I do think there are certain objective criteria that point to it being a less than well executed picture.
I can only iterate why I was so upset as a kid after watching it, and why it’s so difficult to sit thru now. Stylistically, tonally & visually it’s just so out of sync with every other TOS film, and the story has holes the size of the Great Barrier in it. The characters feel like caricatures, and I’m just SO embarrassed for nearly every single actor in it. As I said before, De Kelley is the only one given some decent emotional content to work with. As I recall, Leonard objected to the fact that the movie basically ignored the progress his character had made over the previous 4 films, something I agree with him on. Scotty bumping his head is just shameful, and Uhura’s fan dance makes me queasy. There are parts of the movie where I literally feel I’m watching a Three Stooges reel.
So I guess what I’m saying is that while yes, we should respect your fondness for the film, you have to understand that some of us were so absolutely disgusted upon watching it, that our emotional scars sometimes cause us to lash out in unfocused anger. We don’t mean it! :)
#134
PS – I *will* take issue with your implication that I was calling fans of the movie unintelligent. I said no such thing. The only allusion I made was that even after pointing out the few things that worked, overall you still had a really bad movie.
One of the things I thought was unintentionally funny is in one of the trailers it says “They are taking adventure where it has never gone before”.
That’s patently false!
If you’ve seen The Way To Eden, you’ve seen this shite.
LOL!!!
Again, bring on the Director’s Cut before the director roaches off!
Im one of those weirdo trekkies that loves The Final Frontier, despite its numerous shortcomings, I think at its heart it was a different trek than we’ve ever seen before and since. I think had it been more solidly produced and all of the technicalities been worked out (such as the deck numbers being all off and the center of the galaxy being reached somehow in hours) it wouldnt have gotten all the crap it has. As for the trailer, its the best Ive seen from any of the originals.
Wow, the trailer really is outstanding especially considering the movie was so horrible. The movie did have promise though and I don’t think it was totally William Shatner’s fault that it went so awry. It was good that V was so bad in the end though at TUC was the best trek film of all!
Trek V wasn’t the best for sure, but, it certainly wasn’t the worst either. If I remember correctly, there were a couple of strikes going around at that time. The first writer’s strike was in ‘88, I believe, so it did ok, with so many obstacles in its way.
I actually dug the Goldsmith soundtrack quite a bit and still pull it out from time to time.
I’ve always wondered how well Sean would have done as Sybok,, though (I oddly enough write this as Sean’s version of In My Life is playing on my player)
#66
I believe you are correct. As a dream, the movie works like a damn masterpiece.
“Life really is a dream.”
I wish Denny Crane would tell Spader’s character something like “You know, I dreamt I went rock climbing and fell off the rock face. Funny thing, I never quite hit ground.”
“You woke up?”
“No. Just kinda hung there.”
Sean and New Horizon. Peace be with you both. I don’t think that this is the best of the Trek films, either. But my experience of it in the theater and in later viewings is that it is fairly decent, and it tried to break the mold of the previous films: the sturm and drang of II and III, and the largely for laughs IV. Shatner made an action film with humorous moments and something for each of the characters to do to that gave the TOS actors room to stretch themselves some. I don’t agree that it’s a horrendous film. And I don’t think it’s a great one. I just think it does not deserve the acrimony it has received from so many people. And I recall reading some decent reviews when it first came out. It was not universally panned. Again, I respect your opinions and our right to disagree respectfully. I apologize if I was too rancorous with either of you.
#130
- “I remember seeing this in the theatre as a kid and wondering if God was literally punishing us all.” –
- I think it was William Shatner. -
At least you guys now know for sure that William Shatner IS God. :)))
#142
Brett Campbell: Thank you, Sir – likewise.
48. RTC I have heard the comment on if the plot had been Garry Mitchell had been the god of STAR TREK V. Too me it good of been a glorious film if that would of happened! Imagine Gary manipulating Sybok all to bring Kirk and the Enterprise to him for a revenge of sorts. It would of been a tie in to the beginning of the STAR TREK series and handled right could of been a great character/action piece like WRATH OF KHAN. Man I need a time machine to make this happen.;) Beaming up!
There is no doubt this movie could have been a lot better and Wiliam Shatner himself has said that the movie didn’t turn out the way he had planned.
Having said that, The Final Frontier is not as bad as some people say. There were some great moments in this movie. The camp fire scenes between Kirk, Spock and McCoy alone are worth the price of admission!
And btw how freakin cool are Spcoks boots?!
I love the opening of the film, and I like much of it once Sybok starts psychoanalysing Kirk, Spock and McCoy. The problem is the chunk of the movie between Kirk’s fall from the cliff and the rocket-boots up the Turboshaft – that entire (sizeable) section feels uneven, hamfisted and littered with out-of-character comedy.
I agree with whoever said this feels like a TV episode not a film. Sadly it’s not a very good TV episode, but like the worst of TOS there are still a few character scenes that shine out amidst all the bad bits. Bits like “If we are, then life is a dream.” in front of the ship’s wheel.
The meal is lousy, but I’ll take the scraps. ;-)
IMHO, this movie is like TMP: the best scenes involve the Klingons.
Well, and the marsh mellons are cool too.
Oh, do you know what else it has in common with TMP? It shares a plot with an episode!
“The Magiks og Megas Tu” (TAS) has the Enterprise going to the center of the galaxy and finding “gods” and end up defending the devil!
#179
I doubt any God that inflicts pain for his own pleasure! ;)
#178
Let me put it this way, Brett:
Rotten Tomatoes currently has Star Trek V at an 18% rotten. IMDB has it rated at 4.8. Until Nemesis (which yes, WAS awful but at least had decent effects) this movie sold fewer tickets than ANY other Trek film. Gene Rodenberry considered most of the storyline ‘apocryphal’. Reviewer James Berardinelli said the movie’s tagline about theatre’s needing seatbelts was “to keep people from leaving before the movie is over.” It won the 1990 Razzie awards for Worst Picture, Worst Actor, and Worst Director. Shatner’s original storyline about Spock & McCoy joining Sybok couldn’t be filmed because Leonard & DeForest refused to perform it.
As I recall, even Allan Asherman – who has been far more forgiving to many TOS episodes than I ever would have been – said TFF was a very poor showing in his last Star Trek Companion. *That* is what I mean when I say the movie was ‘very nearly universally panned’.
Ah yes, THE definitive movie that seperates those who “Get it” and those that don’t.
Trek 5 remains the movie that is closest in spirit to TOS and that really is all that matters.
Since it’s in the trailer… that scene where Spock uses his anti-grav boots to lift Kirk and McCoy… it never seemed well done to me. He shoots straight up with that black line of the wall behind him and looks like he’s on some sort of lift that is traveling along the wall. And what I mean is, that’s what it looks like, not that’s what they probably did to make it look like his boot were doing the work. It’s so hard to suspend my disbelief because it looks like they’re being lifted by something attached to the wall and not some wacky never before seen anti-grav boots that can lift all three of them. You know?
Oh, and I liked Star Trek V. I believe it’s short-comings were due to budget problems. Quick solutions to major storyline costs made the ending lame.
186 – Sean, it was certainly panned by many. But many others still find some quality moments in it. I would put it on closer to equal footing with Trek III on those regards. And there are countless films that are far worse than these two.
I still don’t think either of them horrendous. I don’t think any of the TOS films are particularly “bad.” Some are certainly stronger than others. And the bar for the franchise was set early with TWOK. And each of the six films all have their strengths and weaknesses.
I am still glad that we got a half dozen films with the original cast in our video libraries. You have a good weekend, sir.
#185 – Sean:
“I doubt any God that inflicts pain for his own pleasure!”
May I refer you to Loki from Norse mythology?
Iowagirl — Are all the women in Kirk’s home state like you? I gotta get me out there sometime! ;)
#185
Your doubt is comprehensible, but remember that the Shat moves in mysterious ways, and be aware that a little suffering is good for the soul. ;)
#191
Brett – thanks again;) Come to Germany instead; that’s where I’m actually from (Iowa is my “spiritual” home…:) Maybe you would like to join Shatner Fan and Closettrekker; they are planning to have a nice little trip to Germany in the near future, too. Let me know if you come; I’ll order more beer! :)
#191
Oh Brett, I’m just quoting your beloved Trek V! ;)
#187
I’ll meet you halfway. TFF does remind me of TOS – ‘The Way To Eden’ & ‘Spocks Brain’, specifically. :)
i cried myself to sleep in the theatre watching Star Trek V….i thought the film series was over
maybe shatner did it delibritly to try and kill off star trek so he wouldnt have to be in it ever again?
Star Trek: V “The steaming pile of poo.”
I’ve always found the fifth movie to be so quotable compared to the others. The banter between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy is simply fantastic!
Trek V does indeed contain some nice moments. Or as we say in Texas, “All Shat ain’t bad.” ;-)
Something I learned a long time ago, Just because a movie didn’t sell, doesn’t mean it was no good. I always loved this movie. It was my second favorite, the first being IV. I really liked the humor. It may not have been the vision that was originally intended, but he still pulled it off with what he had, at least that is my opinion.
#4Best part of the film was when Spock and McCoy confront their pain, and kirk fights back…”I need my pain!!” Good scene, great acting, for a change… The special effects sucked though.
To tell you the truth, I never noticed.
I don’t know what people’s problem was with “Nemesis.” I mean yes they killed off Data, but at least his death counted for something, unlike Tasha Yar. Other than that, I thought it was awesome.
187. Mr. Bob Dobalina – November 9, 2008
“Ah yes, THE definitive movie that seperates those who “Get it” and those that don’t.
Trek 5 remains the movie that is closest in spirit to TOS and that really is all that matters.”
How kind of you to sit in judgement of other fans.
ok another post of mine has dissapeared? i posted a response on here last night. it was registered and i saw it on here now its gone. same happened on Trek 3 thread. dont know why, nothing controversial was said? any ideas?
Greg
UK
#201
Don’t get me started on Nemesis. Data’s death was for NOTHING. Picard froze at a critical moment that forced Data to take charge (out of character, I cry!). The entire movie is a wasted opportunity.
TFF makes me sad; Nemesis makes me angry.
#202: The irony of your hypocrisy is lost on you, isn’t it? :)
205. S. John Ross – November 9, 2008
#202: The irony of your hypocrisy is lost on you, isn’t it? :)
No. It reminds me of your comments on another thread. This comment and yours both belittle or try to define the others around you.
203 – Could be a glitch and the fact that computers often suck.
Nice to have a poster from the UK. I lived there a few times and sure miss it.
192 – Germany? Even better! I do hope to get back over there again someday…
The funny thing about the DVD of this film is that the effects on the menu screen are WAY better than the effects in the film itself!
Some special moments in this film for me.
Loved the music score.
Sad the special effects were not up to it, and a shame Shatner was allowed to film his ending.
The narration of the first one is terrible.
Correction:- Wasn’t allowed the extra budget to film his ending
“Sybok, you are my brother but you do not know me. I am not the outcast child you left behind those many years ago. Since that time, I have found myself, and my place. I know who I am, and I cannot go with you.”
Best line of the movie IMO.
Star Trek V was the most disappointing movie of the series to me in that it really had potential to be something special, but was ruined by bad editing, horrible special effects (except for the shot of the Enterprise-A hanging in front of the moon, love that shot), a butchered ending, ridiculous Klingons, and a ham-fisted approach to humor.
I recall high expectations for this when I first saw the trailer in theaters. And I think the novelization was actually pretty good, although it’s been years since I read it.
Overall, not much to redeem with V. Terrible effect and acting, a horribly flawed script and unfunny slapstick humor make me want to erase it from canon. The soundtrack was good.
#169—-”I’ll take this film over ANY of the TNG movies with their lackluster cast of characters any day. I’m glad there was an opportunity to have at least a half dozen films with all of the TOS cast before we lost De Kelley and James Doohan.
Try to get some enjoyment out of ALL of these flicks, folks. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. And they are the only six films with all of the TOS cast that we are EVER going to have.”
There were 5 good ones….and IMO, 1 very bad one. The weaknesses you speak of in TMP, TWOK, TSFS, TVH, and TUC do not overpower what is great about all of those films.
I fail to understand why it seems to offend you that many of us don’t like one of the films featuring the original cast.
I don’t like any of the TNG-era films either, but the difference is, I never had any expectations for those. That’s what makes STV such a disappointment to me.
I see no merit in the film. The franchise would have, IMO, been better served if “TGTTO89″ had never happened.
Yes—Kelley is a fine actor, but I already knew that. He certainly did not need anything he did in STV to validate him as such. De was always going to give 100%.
However it, by no means, saves this film…or even makes it watchable to me.
I don’t like the implication that we, as fans of the original cast and characters, have some obligation to find merit in it.
If it is an awful movie, I have no problem saying so.
STV: TGTTO89 is awful.
Oh, and the movie poster for V is actually my favorite of them all.
The worst TOS film was given the best DVD release … go figure. Multiple trailers and TV spots. Where were the TV spots for the other films??
#202 “How kind of you to sit in judgement of other fans.”
My pleasure.
Like many have stated, I also think this movie had its moments.
But man, were they few and far between.
Couple of things which don’t seem to get much mention:
1) I have always loved the opening desert sequence and how it was directed – as an artist myself, I admire this portion of the film for its look and give Shatner a lot of credit for executing under horrible circumstances (as outlined in ST Movie Memories)
2) The shuttlecraft scene with Sybok – you can actually see the wires as the body gets spun around during the action sequence
If this movie does indeed get the greenlight and funds for a director’s cut, among the things many of us seem to agree on (ie; effects and terrible jokes), I would also like to see The Shat get his five or six ROCKMEN. God knows the movie could use some action…
“The announcers’ tone is kind of inappropriate – sounds like the same voice he’d use to advertise Crazy Eddie’s Used Autorama.”
“That makes it kind of perfect for this movie, doesn’t it?”
“I mean, this is the one where an old guy hits his head! HAW HAW! AN OLD GUY HIT HIS HEAD! WOTTA KNEE-SLAPPER! How DO they come UP with this comedy GOLD???”
OMG YOU GUYS ARE HILARIOUS!! : D
STAR TREK V: THE SEARCH FOR POOP
is more like it.
it wasn’t the best,but by no means was it the worst.if shatner had gotten his funds,it would have been better,but hey,it was a trek film with the entire crew.what more do you need? it had some great scenes,some good acting,some great music.it’s a movie,folks.it doesn’t have to be “gone with the wind”or “the godfather”.
it just has to entertain us for a few hours,
lighten up,people!
The seatbelt part of the promotion was not to suggest the action-packed nature of the film, but rather suggests that the seatbelts are to keep the audience from leaving during the film!
The film rates better that ST:TMP in some ways, but is more akin to season 3 of TOS.
Sean Connery as Sybok:
“Schpock!”
#222—”…hey,it was a trek film with the entire crew.what more do you need?”
Are you serious?
Let’s start with a director…
224 – Priceless!
My only problem with TFF was the effects. The story was good, the acting some of the best out of the films, and the music was pretty decent. It was a good continuation on TVH and continued the move away from the militaristic nature of TWOK and TSFS. If the effects had been better, man, it would’ve been a greater movie!
“My only problem with TFF was the effects.”
omg obviously you and I watched two different movies then.
terrible dialog (in several instances)
awful jokey jokes
not enough real action
anti-climactic ending
bad effects
a lot of the dialog is WAYYY too rushed, particularly lines from Shatner
story is sub par overall
I’m sorry, even with several bright spots in the film (which many of you pointed out and I do agree), STV is really, truly sub-standard Star Trek.
haha —> #224
#226—-Look up the word “militarism”, please.
TWOK and TSFS are ‘not’ militaristic.
At no time is the 23rd Century society depicted in those two films suggesting a predominance of the military class. The Federation Council and the other civilian leadership within the UFP are very much in charge.
Japan in the 1930’s-40’s was “militaristic”. Even under threat of a conspiracy involving Starfleet officers in TUC, none of the films were “militaristic”.
Space battles between starships (especially instigated by villains) do not equate to that.
“If the effects had been better, man, it would’ve been a greater movie!”
It simply would have been a more expensive turd, IMO.
This movie was an embarrasment to the franchise, and using Shat’s explanation in his books to try to hide from his own failings is ridicoulous. Better SFX would not have saved this movie, because the premise is a joke and the characters act out of character.
For all those claiming that this movie contains great character moments, umm ok, but what about all the out of character moments? Spock betraying his captain and turning over the keys to the Enterprise? Allowing a bunch of desert idiots to take over the ship is also a joke. How about Scotty – the once and future engineer of the Enterprise hitting his head?????????/
This movie was a joke on many levels, and to use Shatner’s book to blame others is also a joke.
I remember seeing this movie in the theaters and being embarrassed to be there.
Too bad it SUCKED.
218. Mr. Bob Dobalina – November 10, 2008
#202 “How kind of you to sit in judgement of other fans.”
“My pleasure.”
As I thought.
30. That scene was IMO the very moment when the Original Seies Star Trek Movies jumped the shark.
I watched this film in bed wit my girlfriend and somehow we never finished watching it lol!!