Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (Paramount Pictures, 1989; see also 1989 in film) is the fifth feature film based on the popular Star Trek science fiction television series. It is often referred to as ST5:TFF or TFF. It is widely regarded as the worst of the series.

Table of contents

1 Synopsis 2 Themes 3 Notes

Synopsis

Following the events of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, the crew is taking the new Enterprise NCC-1701-A for its shakedown cruise.

The ship is captured by Mr. Spock's (Leonard Nimoy) half-brother Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill) and his ragtag army of followers. Sybok has rejected the Vulcan ways of logic and supression of emotions, and has embarked on a quest to find the true physical location of heaven. In his quest he takes the Enterprise beyond the "Great Barrier" at the edge of the galaxy in an effort to find God.

To make matters worse, a Klingon captain is set on killing Captain Kirk (William Shatner) to make a name for himself.

Notes

The film was directed by William Shatner, following two films directed by his co-star and friend, Leonard Nimoy. Shatner also co-wrote the film.

The film is loathed by many Star Trek fans, and received terrible critical reviews. Most tend to place the blame for the film's quality squarely on Shatner's shoulders. It's been suggested that the film - originally shot to be much longer than its under-two-hour running time in release - lost much of its meaning due to Paramount slashing their budget.

The ending of the movie originally involved Kirk being chased by "Rockmen," gargoyles hewn from the rocky terrain. Most of this footage was scrapped when the costume began to deteriorate on-set. Due to budget cuts, Shatner was unable to refilm sequences and ended up having to edit unconvincing shots of "God" firing on him from the footage of the conversation at his altar from earlier in the movie.

The special effects work was also hampered by the budget cuts, causing the production to be unable to afford Industrial Light and Magic. Instead, director Shatner went with the much smaller Associates & Ferren who were also hampered by a decreased budget for the effects themselves.

The Enterprise's problems during its shakedown cruise are reminiscent of those of its predecessor in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

The next film in the series is Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.