Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (DVD)

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I wasn´t a "Star Trek" fan while growing up because I never got in the habit of watching TV shows on a weekly, dedicated basis. The only bits of the "Star Trek" films that I saw were scenes that I caught on TV on lazy weekend afternoons. I usually caught only the first or last five minutes of "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier", and I was charmed by the warmth of positive feelings generated by William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and Deforest Kelley as Captain James T. Kirk, Spock, and Dr. "Bones" McCoy. Little did I know how hated it was by the "Trek" community, and little did I know about how bad the rest of the movie is. The movie is so simplistic, banal, non-eventful, non-engaging, and drawn-out that it´s basically a waste of time.

In "Star Trek V", Spock´s half-brother, Sybock (Laurence Luckinbill), hijacks the Enterprise in order to reach a planet that is surrounded by an energy band known as The Great Barrier. Sybock--a Vulcan who rejected his culture´s embrace of logic--believes that "God" is to be found at Sha Ka Ree, and he intends to meet "God" for the answers to life´s big questions. Complicating matters is the fact that a young Klingon captain wants to make his name by defeating Kirk in battle, so he gives chase to the Enterprise.

I know that the filmmakers wanted to satisfy fans´ desires to see the entire Enterprise crew hang out all the time, but given the physical conditions of some of them (James Doohan in particular), it´s just not very believable to see all of them (Shatner, Nimoy, Kelley, Doohan, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei) traipsing across the universe as members of a military establishment. I´m also bothered by the make-up job done on Walter Koenig (Chekhov); he looks like he wants to be a transvestite sometimes. I know that this is a science fiction project, but the more improbable something is, the more "believable" it has to be in order to maintain its credibility.

William Shatner wanted to direct a "Star Trek" film after Leonard Nimoy helmed two of them. Shatner also wanted to control the flow of the story of his directorial effort. The thing is, Shatner should´ve realized that he was very lucky to have been cast as Kirk, and he should´ve realized that it´s okay to be limited sometimes. After all, being Kirk is kind of a nice thing in the grand scheme of things. However, he wanted to put his hands in two big fires, and he got burned.

There are many problems with the film´s script, including a serious lapse in logic (made by Spock!) that has a disgraced Klingon general taking command of a Klingon bird-of-prey. This sort of slight of hand makes one believe that the filmmakers simply ran out of time and money and wound up shooting whatever finale that they could in order to wrap things up. You also wonder how the Enterprise and the bird-of-prey can pass through the energy barrier even though no ship before them had done it. No one makes any significant modifications to the ship´s defenses, and they pass through The Great Barrier as if they´re people walking unharmed through a fog.

Many people complain about the sentimentality and silliness of the sequences that have Kirk, Spock, and Bones camping in Yosemite National Park, but I think that the movie could´ve benefited from focusing on elements that make the characters click. There is something quite lovely about the way that Kirk, Spock, and "Bones" bond when they sing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat..." and when they affirm their relationships as brothers. However, instead of gracefully moving the characters towards their retirements, we get interminable expository dialogue that betrays the writers´ lack of analytical skills. "Star Trek V" is proof enough that you have to start with a good script in order to make a worthwhile movie.

Video:
The 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen image often looks dirty and murky. It doesn´t look like anyone did much to adjust the picture for the film´s lighting scheme, so the print´s condition and the way that it was shot make for an unpleasant combination. There are several specks and dots that appear to be scratches on the print itself, and most colors look tired. Even the red Starfleet uniforms don´t look "right" (they´re orange-red rather than deep bold red). Mercifully, film grain isn´t a problem, though I wonder why Paramount didn´t at least clean up its own opening logo (the film looks warped and is heavily scratched).