Star Trek V: The Final Frontier [HD]

Moronic, or Misunderstood?
With the new release of the Special Collector's Edition of Star Trek V on DVD, I thought it would be a good time to review the picture.

What can I say? ST:5 is weak on many levels.

First, the ship's crew is way too small, less than a skeleton crew (they had like, what, five trainees besides the Classic cast?). Second, the ship is far more buggy than it should be. It's not as if General Dynamics builds these things, after all, it's suppossed to be a starship! A few bugs, sure, but to be in as bad a shape as the new ship is strains credibility.

Then there's the whole "barrier" thing. As any Trek fan worth his toy tricorder knows, the "barrier" is not at the center of the galaxy, but at the edge. It's also supposed to be pink, not Indiglo blue. Of course, they simply should have called this new "barrier" something else, but be that as it may, this kind of slip highlights a certain basic sloppiness in the production. Also, the ship gets there way too quickly, and the skeleton crew...

Cap'tin!, I canna take much more!
So much potential, wasted.

This could've been a really good film if only. If only they'd thrown out everything, or at least almost everything. Here's a few of things that will take away from your enjoyment of Star Trek 5, LAMBADA, I mean "The Final Frontier"

The special effects are sub par. There's a few shots of the Enterprise near the beginning that aren't bad, particularly the beauty shot of the ship and the moon, nice touch. But unfortunately, it's one of the few actual shots of the Enterprise you will see in ST5. Here's a hint for the producers of Trek. Fans like the ship, we like to see the ship, please include exterior shots of the ship in your films whenever possible. Other effects include the horrible "planet" beyond the "great effects barrier" that looks more like a visual depiction of Vicks Vapor-action than a planet. Really all the effects seem quite crude in comparison to other trek films; maybe they blew the budget getting Shatner to...

Better Than Its Reputation
Kirk v. God, and Kirk wins? An egotistical set up for a movie, but Trek V is better than it's reputation. The film has several positive attributes which are often overlooked:

1) A strong emphasis on character development, particularly with Spock, Kirk and McCoy. The campfire scenes are classic, and there are few moments in the film series which match the drama of McCoy confronting his "inner pain."

2) Final Frontier was the closest in spirit to the original series. The plot and (unfortunately) the special effects are reminiscent of such classic Trek episodes as "Who Mourns For Adonis."

3) Sybok, the "passoinate Vulcan" and half-brother of Spock, is an intriguing antagonist for the main characters.

4) Jerry Goldsmith delivered what I feel is his best Trek score for this installment.

What's keeping this movie from being one of the best in the Trek cannon?

1) The worst special effects put on film since the invention of the...

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