It's only natural after watching Leonard Nimoy's huge box office success directing Star Trek 3 and 4 that William Shatner would want his turn in the directors chair for part 5.
Oops.
The worst film in the Star Trek series, STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER is..what's the word, awkward.
The film opens with a mysterious stranger gathering his flock in the middle of a wasteland, inviting them to "share their pain" like some intergalactic group encounter.
Cut to Kirk, Bones and Spock on vacation in Yosemite, and Shatner climbing El Capitan without ropes.
When Tom Cruise free climbed at the beginning of Mission Impossible 2 he was probably early thirties and ripped. Watching a doughy Shatner climb the mountain just makes you think, 'Wow these special effects are good". (don't worry you wont be thinking that long)
The trio ends up around a campfire singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat (unfunny and uncomfortable, like watching a comedian bomb).
Soon, our usual crew is picking up our space campers and rushing off to help three ambassadors kidnapped by our mysterious stranger.
To describe any more of the plot would be more exhausting than necessary. Let's just say that the Vulcan stranger has ties to Spock and is searching for God. He's determined to have the Enterprise take him to heaven.
An interesting concept IF it's well executed.
Oops.
Some questions:
*Isn't Uhura well past the age where you want her doing nude fan dancing to distract sentries?"
* If the planet where the hostages are is described as a nirvana of intergalactic peace, should it really look like the set of Mad Max:Fury Road?
* If you are going to depict God in a movie, shouldn't the special effects be better than the Wizard of Oz? That film was made in the 1930's. If you're making a comparison between the man behind the curtain and the deity concept you have my interest and respect, but that's clearly NOT what's happening here.
* If God had a weapon, I doubt it would be laser beams out of his eyes, but hey, judge not lest ye be judged (did you like what I did there?!)
If you read Shatner's book about making the movies, he blames the final film on Paramount cutting his budget again and again.
As Spock would say, that seems "illogical" as the films were making more and more money and 4 was a HUGE money maker.
My guess is that the studio was watching pieces of this intergalactic turd as it was coming together and were trying to not throw good money after bad.
I'm a fan or Shatner. He's funny, self deprecating and always having a good time. But it's probably best you sit in the Captain's chair Kirk, and give Spock the Director's chair.
By the time you've survived the film and Shatner decides to end it with a reprise of the campfire scene, you can only shake your head and look forward to the NEXT film in the series that's one of the best, STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY.
As for this Final Frontier, here's one guy that wishes he hadn't boldly gone where few have gone in revisiting this Howard the Duck of the Star Trek Series.
FIVE gets a D.
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