Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is 1989 sc-fi about Captain Kirk and his crew who must deal with Mr. Spock’s long-lost half-brother who hijacks the Enterprise for an obsessive search for God at the center of the galaxy.
On the dusty home world of Nimbus III, called The Planet of Galactic Peace, a man digs holes in the desert. On the horizon approaches a silhouette of a figure on a horseback. The digging man, fearful of this horseman, readies his feeble weapon, but when the man draws near, his fear fades and instead a sense of hope washes over him. The cloaked figure dismounts and tempers the cowering desert dweller, easing his pain and holding him as he melts into tears as his inner pain burns away. Who is the powerful man seemingly emerging from nowhere? He’s a Vulcan, and when he tells of his plan to find the ultimate knowledge in the universe, he asks the man to join him in his quest. Then he smiles and breaks into long cheerful laugh. But wait? Vulcans don’t laugh.
His name is Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill), and he has a mission. He assembles a small army of followers and they take over a mostly desolate space colony on Nimbus III where representatives from Earth, Romulus, and Q’onoS (the Klingon home planet), are stationed, generally abhorrent to their current assignments in the middle of nowhere. Once Sybok has captured the base with his band of misfits and miscreants, the call goes out that the station is in trouble and its ambassadors are held hostage. Starfleet tasks the new Enterprise (the last one was blown up in The Search for Spock) to stage a rescue mission, even though the ship isn’t even space ready and there’s only a skeleton crew. Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy), McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Sulu (George Takei), Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Scotty (James Doohan), and Chevok (Walter Koenig), the eldest crew in the fleet, are back on patrol on a vessel where just about everything malfunctions. But the real issue is the Klingons, who have grown a distaste for the Captain over the past few films, stemming from his killing of Commander Kruge (Christopher Lloyd) in Star Trek III, not to mention a general hatred for years of encounters that have left the warrior race defeated at best, humiliated at worst. Once the Enterprise’s departure is known, a Klingon Bird of Prey decides to give chase on a mission and crush the maniacal Captain Kirk once and for all.
On the Enterprise, they view the Nimbus III hostage tape and get their first look at Sybok. He claims these are desperate times, and that he doesn’t plan to hurt the captives, but will if necessary. Spock takes an interest in the leader, understandably, since he is Vulcan. He seems to have a secret. When they arrive on Nimbus III, the mostly unprepared Enterprise still has not enough power to use its transporters, so they take a shuttle down under cover of night and steal horses and ride into the small outpost where the hostages are being held.
Kirk and his raiding party attack the terrorists, where a brief skirmish ensues. Shots are fired and while the fight rages outside, Kirk and Spock make it inside the compound where they expect to find the ambassadors and free them. They do find the three captives, but to their surprise, the prisoners are now the captors, taking Kirk and Spock with a show of force. With that, the fighting stops, and the crew are rounded up and led to their leader, who explains that he will be taking the Enterprise for his victory. More importantly, he meets Spock and the two seem very well-acquainted, though their relationship is still never spoken of.
Once on the ship, Kirk nearly gets the upper hand and for a moment, with Spock’s help, could retake the sip. All it requires is for Spock to shoot Sybok. But, Spock cannot do it and gives the gun to his captor. Kirk, Spock and McCoy end up in the brig while Sybok heads for the bridge, mind melting all the weaker crew members as he goes, making them his followers. In the brig, Spock finally reveals that Sybok is in fact his brother, actually half-brother. The bigger news though is what Sybok is up to and why he’s caused such a ruckus. Addressing the ship, he explains that it is his intention to go visit God. Technically, Sha Ka Ree, the legendary home of the entity where creation began.
Directed by Shatner, this fifth entry in the film series is, unfortunately, a wasted effort and the most disappointing of the films starring the original cast. While there are glints of hope, such as the introduction of the ambassadors on Nimbus III (with one played by David Warner), they are all dashed, especially concerning these actors who are cast aside and so frustratingly underused, it’s a wonder they were in the film at all. In fact, there is so much about the first act of this movie that seems utterly nonsensical and superfluous, it’s maddening to think what could have been done with the last act if it had been given a better set up. There is no doubt that the studio didn’t give the film a proper budget for the vision that the makers had, most certainly including Shatner, but this does not explain some of the most uncomfortable moments in the Star Trek canon, such as Uruah’s sexpot dance, a bar so blatantly trying to copy the Cantina in Star Wars you almost expect a disclaimer to appear on the bottom of the screen, and of course the row-row-row your boat campfire scene that is so troublesome, one wonders if this was either a) a lost bet or b) Shatner and the crew purposefully trying to murder the franchise.
There can be some forgiveness in the unremarkable special effects, but not for the story that promises more than it even tries to deliver. With Sybok on a mission from a message in a vision, we are, throughout the splotchy first half, teased about much awaiting those that can surpass the great barrier and discover the mysteries beyond. While we fidget in our seats as scene after scene goes by with absolutely nothing propelling the story forward, we finally arrive at the cause for all the concern, and the barrier is nothing but milky blue swirls that takes nothing but going forward to get past. Literally. They don’t even shake the camera. There’s nothing even remotely scary, difficult or challenging, which makes Syboks remark to “god” on the planet about breaching the barrier seem really out of place. And that is nothing compared to the hopelessly silly climax with the entity and Sybok (and even tacked on Klingon battle that follows.
Much of the blame has to go to Shatner, who famously wrote (well, his daughter actually did) about the experience in a book. It details his frustrations with budgets and the exhaustive schedule in terms of his dual role. Still, he is only one of the writers, and it is the awful dialog, pointless jokes, and obvious attempts at nostalgia that utterly wreck the experience, which is too bad seeing as how well the previous entry managed to find a fun balance. This one is as broken as the Enterprise is throughout the movie.
That Moment In: Star Trek: The Final Frontier
Sybok has taken over the Enterprise and turned the crew (well most of them) to his side, promising them a chance to find the answers to all of their questions and more when they reach Sha Ka Ree, the fabled home of the creator. Kirk, Spock and McCoy are the only hold outs and after a few useless attempts at regaining control of the ship, Sybok meets them in the forward lounge and discusses his plan for finding God. At the center of the galaxy there lies the Great Barrier, but not the one with the sharks near Australia. This one protects the heart of the galaxy and, according Sybok, the home of the big guy in the sky. Kirk claims Sybok has brainwashed his crew using tricks and is manipulating his followers, but Sybok tells him it isn’t so. He simply shows people their pain and how to become free of it. To demonstrate, he turns to Dr. McCoy.
Dr. Leonard McCoy is an emotional man, quick to express his opinion and generally critical of most anything that involves the slightest danger or adventure. That doesn’t mean he is not brave, only careful. Throughout the series and in the films, he has been a voice of reason, often providing the most human point of view in response to Spock’s logical approach. It has been a cornerstone of the show. Some of the greatest moments in the TV episodes and even the films have been those that have “Bones” commenting on or offering his perspective to something that is happening. In Star Trek: The Motion Picture, his assessment of Kirk’s behavior is the standout out moment in the film. Yet it has always been McCoy in service to others, his stern rebuttal, quick retort, snide remark, humorous quip or otherwise raspy comments reflecting something happening to someone else. Rarely does the opportunity come where the light shines on the doctor and we are invited to see more of the man behind so much of the real depth in the phenomenon that is Star Trek.
That changes here. Sybok recognizes that McCoy is carrying some deep pain, and that he of the three men will be the easiest to turn. McCoy himself seems to know that he is weak, even pleading to Sybok not do what he is about to do, probably because he knows full well what pain he has. And it is here when we finally see the power of Sybok and what that power does to those he helps free. It has been a mystery till now, with only the reactions of those he speaks with giving us any indication that something is affecting them. While it was frustrating to simply be kept on the other side of the curtain, as it were, to this “magic” he has, it was wise to keep it so secret, for the reveal of its strength is something wholly unexpected.
In a vision that all can see, an elderly, dying man, lies in shadow in front a night skyline. A ghostly voice beckons McCoy. It is the doctor’s father, and his appearance has Bones in deep distress. He moves to the bedside and hovers over his diseased father while the old man begs for him to stop the pain. McCoy whispers that he has done all that he can do, that the man must hold on, but the frail and aged man’s cracked voice cries he take it no more. He tells his son to release him.
All of the knowledge that McCoy has about medicine is useless and because of his oath he cannot do as he is asked. Meanwhile, Sybok lingers and reminds Bones of his duty, but more importantly, prods the man to go deeper. He says to Bones, you’re a doctor, suggesting that his role is to follow the rules and keep his suffering father alive, but McCoy says that he is also the man’s son and in so doing, shuts down the life support and essentially kills his father. But that is not the worst of it for McCoy. Sybok physically shuffles the shaken Bones away from the bed, and urges him to say more, to not resist the pain inside. McCoy exclaims that not long after he followed his father’s wishes, a cure for his disease was found. This has haunted him ever since and has been the burden he carries every day. Sybok takes this pain away and assures the doctor, there is more to come.
From there, Sybok moves to his half brother Spock and reveals a pain he also carries, pain that his father has for Spock’s humanity. When Sybok offers Kirk the chance to be free of inner pain, Kirk refuses and is instead angered at Sybok for his trickery, claiming he has done nothing but mask the pain. He says that the regrets and fears and pain are what defines a person and if we lose these memories, we lose ourselves. For Kirk, he needs his pain. When it’s over, Sybok expects Spock and McCoy to follow but they do not, and in an instant we realize that Kirk is right. The promise of answers and hopes of freedom are not the real truth. It is the choices we live with that are.
The entire sequence is so well done, it has an odd affect. The rest of the film is muddled and often lazy, unsure what it wants to be. Attempting to capitalize on the success of the humor-driven previous film, The Voyage Home, it tries significantly too hard to get laughs where none should be sought. Here though, we have a deep, dramatic moment that is punctuated, as always, by DeForest Kelley’s gifted acting, and some inspired direction from Shatner, who finds just the right tone. With (thankfully) no music to constantly cue us, the emotional impact resonates strictly from the actors, and the fantasy elements of the visions are wonderfully framed and lighted, giving each an proper displacement that seems both lucid and dreamlike.