107. Star Trek V: The Final FrontierFORMULA: The Way to Eden + The Magicks of Megas-tu + The Search for Spock
WHY WE LIKE IT: All the regulars get to use their talents. Some insights into what makes the big three tick.
WHY WE DON'T: The humor doesn't quite work this time. The plot about finding "God" is slow, unsound, redundant and uninspired. The Klingons are wasted.
REVIEW: No, it DOESN'T work, but every time I watch this movie, I find it's not as bad as its reputation. By that, I mean that it's worth watching for the characters. The regulars almost all get something to do (Chekov's pretty useless again though): Sulu crashlands a shuttle into the shuttle bay, Uhura dances for the natives, Scotty plans a breakout, and the big three go camping ("Row, Row, Row Your Boat" is a little painful, yes). They're all charming and we learn new things about them, whether that's a possible relationship between Scotty and Uhura, or the visions shown McCoy and Spock by Sybok. I particularly like Kirk refusing the whole exercise stating "I NEED my pain".
The plot is pretty clunky, however, and the search for God is both boring and ridiculous, especially once they have to break through yet another galactic barrier (this one, at the center of the galaxy). The location shooting is interesting, both on God's planet and Nimbus III (in Yellowstone too), but the pacing is rather slow, so we don't care that much. There are also too many characters littering the story, from the ambassadors to Sybok's followers to the wasted, pursuing Klingons. Net result: Except for Sybok himself, all the guest stars seem irrelevant, and as a villain, Sybok is too sympathetic to create any real tension.
There's also a big problem with effects in this movie. They look awful and far less credible that in earlier films (a change of fx companies resulted in unfinished fx, according to the DVD), and even the Enterprise looks more low-tech than before (the interiors, I mean). Speaking of the ship's interiors, they're more than a little strange here. Why the steering room, for example? And that turboshaft just isn't the shape of any turbolift I've ever seen, nor are the floors numbered in the right order. All in all, it's pretty dismal when compared to the fine trilogy we just had.
LESSON: There's nothing worse than finally finding God and it turns out he's a real jerk.
REWATCHABILITY - Just Barely Medium: Nowhere near as awful as everyone says, but still a big disappointment. I remember not wanting to tell my mom I didn't like it after she took the time (and I'm sure, considerable mental effort) to bring us boys see the new Star Trek picture at the drive-in. But I'd watch this over The Motion Picture any day, and not having seen it as often as the others, there are always character moments that surprise and entertain me.
Comments