As you may know, it seems that any Star Trek movie that is an odd number, turns out to be a poor movie. One would hope that this movie could change the mold……

Sybock, Spock’s half brother hijacks the Enterprise and forces the crew to travel to a planet that is surrounded by a strange barrier. Sybock is not your normal Vulcan. He’s abandoned the normal tenet of the Vulcan culture, thrown away the control of emotions and use of logic, and embraced unconventional Vulcan beliefs and embraced his emotional side (it should be noted that there are a few Vulcan’s who have done this, but this is not widely known – additionally, it is believe that the Romulans are distant cousings to the Vulcan’s and they also are more open to emotions). With his overly illogical mind, Sybock believes that God can be found at the planet and Sybock intends to find out answers to the questions pertaining to life Now if only he’d read Hitch Hikers guide to the Galaxy and he’d know the answer is simply 42!

To complicate matters further, there is a young Klingon Captain chasing the Enterprise – as Kirk is one of the most renowned Captains of the Federation, the young Klingon seeks to make a name for himself by killing Kirk in battle……

Part of what has made previous movies (2 & 4) so good was the combination of a decent plot, some great acting (especially with the camaraderie between Kirk, Spock and McCoy) and a sense of continuity that has somehow made the movie both believable, but also made the movie flow well so that even non-trekkie fans can enjoy without having to have to much knowledge of the original series.

So immediately we are presented with a huge problem – if you haven’t watched the previous movies, or more importantly the original series, you will not really understand the importance of logic and the control of emotions to a Vulcan –thus the premise of the movie immediately falls apart as you don’t realize the significance of Sybock. While the movie attempts to explain this, there really isn’t sufficient explanation and I am sure non-trekkies will immediately be lost.

Furthermore, the makers of the movie are really beginning to stretch the ‘crew’ – it doesn’t really seem believable that the crew would be still together after so much time – they are really showing their age, and I am sure if this had been ‘real-life’ that the crew would definitely have changed over time, as younger and perhaps more eager crew members gained promotions – this lack of real continuity comes down to the fact that the original fan base don’t want to let go of the original characters – this is a shame as it doesn’t give the series a chance to adapt and change, and modernize. In my opinion, they could have spent many movies transitioning from the original series into the ‘Next Gen’ series, and they could have done it naturally over 4 or 5 movies, expanding the series in a logical way and not ending up with one movie to transition totally – but I digress….

One of the biggest problems in my opinion is that William Shatner took control of the movie. If you’ve read any of his books based in the Star Trek world you’ll realize that he still holds true to the old ‘Kirk is God’ type of feeling, and this while good initially, really isn’t complex enough for the modern audience. To this end, the script and the ‘logic’ really got a little messed up. The plot relied on ‘old’ material that has been used over and over again, and really didn’t provide anything new. For ‘real’ fans, there really was a lack of logic in the movie – things happened that never would have happened in the original series.

The only part I really liked was the opening sequence – especially when the intrepid trio of Kirk, Spock and McCoy began singing ‘Row, Row, Row your boat’ in the middle of Yosemite National park – this captured the essence of the bond between the three, and really should have been used to build the plot and make the plot far more believable.


For me, this movie seemed more like a re-hash of the original movie, trying to delve into metaphysical aspects rather than the action adventure that is the true essence of Star Trek. Whenever the makers of Star Trek have tried to be metaphysical they have failed miserably, creating an unbelievable plot, and getting bogged down trying to explain what the characters are thinking, and fitting a ludicrous plot together, with a tired and worn out crew.

Star Trek 5 The Final Frontier really showed the need for change and sadly wasted a huge opportunity to try and begin gracefully retiring the original cast.

I'd perhaps go as far as saying that this is the poorest of the movies (including the movies after this one) - it certainly was poorly conceived and very convoluted....

Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12