Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is a 1989 film released by Paramount Pictures and the fifth feature film based on the Star Trek science fiction television series. The film was directed by William Shatner, following two films directed by his co-star, Leonard Nimoy. Shatner also developed the initial storyline. It was shot entirely in California.
Plot
Following the events of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, the crew of the USS Enterprise-A is enjoying some well deserved shore leave. The newly christened starship's shakedown cruise goes poorly and it is in Earth Spacedock for repairs. In Yosemite, Captain James T. Kirk faces two challenges: climbing El Capitan, and teaching camp fire songs to Captain Spock. Unfortunately, their rest is interrupted when the crew is sent on an urgent mission to rescue hostages on the desolate planet of Nimbus III.
A brash young Klingon commander named Klaa learns of the Enterprise's mission and pursues in an attempt to capture or kill Kirk. His actions are not authorized by the Klingon government, however, and he takes this quest merely to obtain personal prestige as a warrior, and is bored by his mundane assignment of neutralizing alien probes that land in Klingon Space.
Upon their arrival at Nimbus III, the Enterprise crew discovers that a renegade Vulcan named Sybok, the emotionally driven half-brother of Spock, has taken Klingon, Romulan, and Federation representatives hostage. Sybok reveals that he used the hostage situation as a ruse in order to obtain a starship, being sure the government of one of the hostages (Federation, Klingon, and Romulan) would mount a rescue mission.
Sybok then seizes control of the Enterprise, so he can reach a mythical planet named Sha Ka Ree, where a mysterious, presumably God-like entity awaits. Sybok claims to have had visions from the entity of its existence, and feels compelled to follow those visions in order to experience the entity's possible wisdom and power first-hand. However, the planet is somewhere behind The Great Barrier, a mysterious region of space that has been walled-off from exploration since time immemorial and that has never been breached (this is the "final frontier" of the title).
Sybok uses his unique ability to share with and help conquer a person's greatest emotional trauma to gain the trust of most of the crew. McCoy accepts the experience, reliving his father's death (he euthanized his father to end his pain, but learned afterwards that a cure had been developed a short time later). Spock also accepts the experience, reliving his birth (being born of a union between a Vulcan and Human, he was never fully accepted by his father). However, Kirk denies Sybok, telling him that the pain experience is what makes them Human.
Under agreement and cooperation (as long as he plays it by the book), Sybok relinquishes the helm back to Kirk, and the Enterprise successfully crosses the Great Barrier, finding a planet in this uncharted region of space. Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Sybok explore the planet, which seems completely barren until a strange outcropping of rocks rises from the ground in front of them and an entity appears to them. Masquerading as God, the entity asks the explorers how they got there. When told about the Enterprise, it demands to join with the starship in order to leave both the planet and the Great Barrier and to spread his knowledge to the rest of the Universe. When the skeptical Kirk questions the entity's motivation ("What does God need with a starship?"), it turns malevolent, harming Kirk. McCoy and Spock rush to his rescue, and even Spock has to ask for an answer to the question. Sybok then realizes that the alien entity is not actually God, but something sinister, seeking to escape the Great Barrier.
Realizing his mistake, Sybok sacrifices himself to delay the evil being long enough for Enterprise to launch a photon torpedo. However, while Sybok is killed, the entity isn't, and the Enterprise has only enough power to beam up two people. Kirk tells Scotty to take Spock and McCoy, leaving himself on the surface of the planet with the entity. Spock is able to convince the Klingon ambassador to order Klaa (who followed the Enterprise into the Barrier and to the planet) to rescue Kirk rather than kill him. Klaa's Bird of Prey suddenly de-cloaks and destroys the alien with a disruptor blast. Kirk is beamed aboard, where the Klingon ambassador insists upon an apology from Klaa himself, who begrudgingly does so, and admits that his attack on the Enterprise was not authorized by the Klingon government. The gunner who shot the entity was none other than Spock. The crews of both vessels and Sybok's captives enjoy a peaceful celebration of their newfound détente. The film ends with Kirk, McCoy, and Spock resuming their vacation in Yosemite National Park.
Cast
- William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk. Shatner put himself into the best shape he had been in years, partaking in aerobics, strength training and stretching. The adrenaline rush meant he always awoke at 4 a.m. during filming, no matter what time he fell asleep.[1]
- Leonard Nimoy as Captain Spock, first officer. Nimoy noted Star Trek V was the most physical film in the series, which reflected Shatner's energetic sensibility and what he enjoyed doing most on the show; "running and jumping". Nimoy recalled Shatner instructed him in riding a horse, although Nimoy had ridden many horses bareback when playing Native Americans for Republic Pictures serials. He did not tell Shatner this so as to not embarrass him.[1]
- DeForest Kelley as Commander Leonard McCoy, chief medical officer. Kelley also noted the physicality required for this film and enjoyed doing things that he had not been asked to do for years. "I was very pleased to see that he [Shatner] brought it along in fine style."[1]
- James Doohan as Captain Montgomery Scott, chief engineer.
- George Takei as Commander Hikaru Sulu, helmsman. Takei said that despite the pressures of completing the film on time, Shatner maintained a creative and enthusiastic atmosphere on set "I have enormous admiration for his ability to block that kind of pressure from seeping on to the set."[1]
- Walter Koenig as Commander Pavel Chekov, navigator.
- Nichelle Nichols as Commander Uhura, communications officer.
- David Warner as St. John Talbot, Federation consul to Nimbus III.
- Laurence Luckinbill as Sybok.
- Todd Bryant as Klingon Captain Klaa.
- Spice Williams-Crosby as Vixis.
- Charles Cooper as Klingon General Korrd.
- Cynthia Gouw as Romulan Ambassador Caithlin Dar.
Production
When he signed on to reprise the role of Captain Kirk in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home following a pay dispute, William Shatner was promised he could direct the next film.[2] Shatner had directed plays and television episodes.[1] Shatner also convinced Harve Bennett to produce the film, although he was exhausted by the previous three films and wanted to move on.[1]
Shatner based Sybok on televangelists, and wrote an outline entitled "An Act of Love".[3] The Wrath of Khan and The Voyage Home writer Nicholas Meyer was preoccupied so he was unable to return to write the film.[1] Shatner approached novelist Eric Van Lustbader to write his screenplay, but his requested $1 million salary forced Paramount to offer the job to David Loughery instead. The studio told Loughery to inject more fun and humor to the otherwise intense story as to make it like its predecessor. While Shatner was busy making another film, Loughery and Bennett changed the storyline to focus on a less physical god; Shatner was unhappy when he learned about the rewrites to the script. Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley also disliked the script because they objected to how Spock and McCoy betray Kirk and allow Sybok to commandeer the Enterprise, which Loughery explained was done to give a "'one man stands alone'" conflict; the script was rewritten to please Nimoy and Kelley.[3]
Paramount rushed the film into production in late 1988, concerned that the franchise's momentum following The Voyage Home had disappeared,[3] in spite of the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike cutting into the film's pre-production.[4] Filming took place in the Mojave Desert.[1] Industrial Light & Magic had anticipated their involvement in the film, but were told by Paramount that due to their estimated costs, their services would no longer be required. ILM subsequently delivered the main Enterprise model to Associates and Ferren, the visual effects studio chosen by Paramount. ;[4] The film's original climax – where a creature made of solid rock attacks the three leads – was deemed unconvincing and dropped.[3][5]
Star Trek: The Next Generation production designer Herman Zimmerman was hired by Shatner to redesign the USS Enterprise-A's bridge so as to become a forerunner to the USS Enterprise-D's bridge.[4] Michael Okuda's LCARS style of backlit controls were implemented on the Klingon bridge as well as the Enterprise.[6] Shatner sought a grittier and more realistic feel to the Star Trek universe, although they could not overly alter the look of Starfleet's bridges.[7] Shatner rehired Richard Snell as makeup supervisor, advising him to make each Klingon forehead distinctive.[8]
Release
Reception
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I had the most joyous experience of my life on Star Trek V. And it was also full of the major joys and major sorrows of anything I've ever done [...] An eye-opener and a life-changing, mind-altering experience. But I've learned a great deal. I've learned how to put a film together. I've learned how to deal with certain people (George Takei). I've learned the art of compromise and I've learned the deadliness of compromise. And the necessity of perhaps compromising with compromise.
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The Final Frontier grossed $52,210,049 in the U.S. and around $70,000,000 worldwide against a $27,800,000 budget. Though profitable, the film was considered a financial disappointment by many. It made only around half what The Voyage Home had made, and it quickly dropped off the box office charts after its solid $17,375,648 opening weekend.[9] It sold the fewest tickets of any Star Trek film up until Star Trek Nemesis thirteen years later, in 2002.
The movie received a negative response from most critics and fans. It has provoked strong controversy amongst Trekkies, many of whom consider it to be one of the worst Trek movies, if not the worst.[citation needed] Fans complained about the sub-standard special effects, and that too much of the humor was at the expense of the popular supporting characters, particularly Uhura and Scotty, who the film strongly hints are romantically involved. However, much of the humor is also at the expense of the main characters (including Kirk). David Ansen liked the film, recommending its lack of "cynicism" and its cast, who "know each other's moves so well they've found a shorthand that gets more laughs out of the lines than they deserve ... it ain't art, but it's peculiarly satisfying."[4]
Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry jokingly considered elements of this film to be "apocryphal at best", and particularly disliked the idea that Sarek had fathered a child (Sybok) with a Vulcan female before Amanda. Roddenberry made similar statements about elements of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Nevertheless, both films are included in Trek canon.[10] Ralph Winter said they should have recognized the film's plot was too reminiscent of V'ger from Star Trek: The Motion Picture.[1] Shatner blamed himself for what he believed ended the franchise; only because the 25th anniversary of the series was approaching did Frank Mancuso, Jr. approve the development of the next film.[3]
The Golden Raspberry Awards declared Star Trek V as the Worst Picture of 1989, with Shatner also being named as both Worst Actor and Worst Director. It also earned nominations for DeForest Kelley as Worst Supporting Actor, Worst Screenplay and "Worst Picture of the 1980s".
Home media
The film was released on VHS videotape in 1989. It would also be released as a widescreen VHS edition.
The film was released on DVD on April 20, 1999 as a bare bones edition with no bonus extras. It was re-released on DVD as a 2-Disc Special Collector's Edition on October 14, 2003 with bonus extras added to it.
Following the success of the Director's Editions of Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 2002 and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and subsequent collector's edition DVD releases of the third and fourth films in the series, William Shatner lobbied Paramount to be allowed a budget to film new special effect sequences to replace the ones made by Associates and Ferren and otherwise re-tool the movie to bring it closer to what Shatner originally intended to be released as a Director's Edition on DVD. However, his request was rejected by the studio and the original release version was reissued instead.
The film was released on Blu-ray Disc in May 2009 to coincide with the new Star Trek feature, along with the other five films featuring the original crew in Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection.[11] The Final Frontier was remastered in 1080p high-definition from the 2000 DVD transfer. All six films in the set have new 7.1 Dolby TrueHD audio. The disc features a new commentary track by renowned Star Trek authors and contributors Michael and Denise Okuda, Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, and Daren Dochterman.[11][12]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Dillard, 87-91.
- ^ Hughes, 31.
- ^ a b c d e Hughes, 33-34.
- ^ a b c d Reeves-Stevens, 245.
- ^ Reeves-Stevens, 256.
- ^ Reeves-Stevens, 250.
- ^ Reeves-Stevens, 252.
- ^ Reeves-Stevens, 254.
- ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/?yr=1989&p=.htm Boxofficemojo.com Retrieved on 05-26-07
- ^ Okuda, Michael; Denise Okuda (1996). Star Trek Chronology: The History of the Future, revised edition. New York: Pocket Books. vii. ISBN 0-671-53610-9.
- ^ a b Pascale, Anthony (2009-02-16). "TrekMovie: CBS & Paramount Announce First Star Trek Blu-ray sets - TOS S1 & All TOS movies coming April/May". TrekMovie. http://trekmovie.com/2009/02/16/cbs-paramount-announce-first-star-trek-blu-ray-sets-tos-s1-all-tos-movies-coming-apmarily/. Retrieved on 2009-05-15.
- ^ Latchem, John (2009-02-20). "Boldly going onto Blu-Ray". The Gazette: p. D4.
References
External links
