It's my favorite because I was in it for two weeks in October 1989. I was 21 years-old and I was one of the "Space Marines" (what the script called us)on the shuttle craft captured by Sybok's gang. It was an awesome experience!
The Final Frontier is a comfort movies for me, Shatner, Nimoy, Kelly have such sweet and likable chemistry that one can’t help but have a good time watching them
Glad I'm not alone in liking this movie. I enjoyed it when i first saw it on TV (didn't catch it at the cinema) and actually thought some of the special effects, mainly the exterior appearance of the 'God Planet' and the initial appearance of 'God' itself, were quite cool (really helped by Goldsmith's score, in my opinion the best of the TOS films, bar maybe TUC). The other effects are really poor though and the cost cutting can be clearly seen. Plus we have all these strange continuity problems: Spock's half brother, Scotty and Uhura being apparently romantically involved, the Enterprise A apparently having over 70 decks, starfleet having no experienced captains, being able to travel to the centre of the galaxy in just a few hours...etc etc. But the chemistry between the leads is fantastic, and the message it tries to get across is still quite relevant. Plus you have some memorable quotes: 'What does god need with a starship?' 'Then you are mad? "am I?" 'Damn it Bones, you're a doctor, you know pain can't be taken away by the wave of a magic wand'
@@martynstembridge7714 Yes, I haven't heard this expression before, but it's great! A movie doesn't have to be perfect or even technically sophisticated to give you that warm, familiar feeling, like you're visiting an old friend.
Yes - it's the only time in the whole original movie series where the three of them just banter with each other as friends throughout. ST:TMP - Spock is boring ultra-logical Spock and everyone else is a feint shade of their real character. ST2:TWoK - Bit of banter for the first half, but then separated and then Spock dies. ST3:TSfS - Spock = dead. ST4:TVH - Spock is boring ultra-logical Spock and McCoy is sidelined. ST5:TFF - Kirk, Spock and McCoy reunited and enjoying each other's company for most of the film. ST6:TUC - Spock shows dislike for his human friends for the first third, then they're separated, then only at the end do they enjoy other again.
Chekhov should have been like Hawkeye in AGE OF ULTRON: "Done the whole mind-control thing....not a fan." And then kicked ass (wasn't he head of security on Kirk's Enterprise?)
I can't hate this one. In some ways, it feels like the Trek film that's closest in spirit to the original show: warts and all. It's goofy and campy and has too many big ideas and sometimes falls on its face, while somehow still managing to be mostly charming. So I enjoy it from that POV, even if it is "objectively" the worst of the TOS movies. Even if it is the worst, it's still watchable. (Whereas the less said about Nemesis the better, as far as I'm concerned.)
III, IV, and V are all pretty much on the same level for me. IV is also goofy and campy, for example, but if done well (good production values, everyone playing it like they're in real movie) general audiences (who probably never watched TOS in the first place) get what they're expecting. I don't particularly want to re-watch any of these movies, but I'd rather re-watch V than III or IV.
The first and only time I saw this one was in 1989 as an 11yr old trapped on a 24hr long flight from the UK to Australia - "What does God need with a starship" is literally the only part I remember from it, and that's probably enough tbh.
The best thing about the movie is the now fan theories about the God character. My favorite is that he’s an Q who was cast out to that small plant and stripped of most of his powers. Kind of like the theory that Trelane from the original series is a Q just a child.
My headcanon is that “God” was a Cytherian. That’s the race from the TNG episode “Nth Degree” … the ones who made Reg super smart. They like to appear as big, floating heads, they live near the center of the galaxy, and they are able to teach/brainwash people to easily modify starships to reach their location.
Dont forget "Nageelum". He could be a child Cytherian. It's well established that at least 3 races in Star Trek, are willing to abandon their own very young offspring to destiny. The Founders sending off 100 inexperienced baby changelings, Odo and Laas being the 2 noted ones. The Xindi Insectoids left their eggs on a ship and only came back for them after Archer signalled them under the influence of baby Xindi Insectoid Pherimones The Q Continuum, Q (at first) gleefully threatening to let Q Junior be turned into an amoeba (yea Q Junior could be Billions of years old by the time he's a "teen" on Voyager, but he's still the youngest member of the Continuum) So it's certainly "possible" that the Cytherians have done a similar thing. Letting their young, do their own thing. The big Cytherian head that drew Barclay to get them to him, was a friendly and inquisitive guy. Nageelum was..friendly and inquisitive..lol. he really was though. Q... Friendly..i guess, in a sadistic sort of way, and very inquisitive. Maybe there's more examples im not thinking of. Trelane, (i believe confirmed to be a member of the Q Continuum) i know little about other than, he is basically the inspiration for John De Lancie's Q. Shown by Q's Marshall Uniform in the TNG Pilot. Anyhoo, Weed is legal here if you cant tell, ima go. Thx for readin. :)
Oh snap, I've been looking forward to this one! The Voyage Home made a trekkie out of me as a kid, and I was so excited about The Final Frontier, and just feeling empty inside after finally seeing it. On the bright side, it made The Undiscovered Country a pleasant surprise for me!
You hit the nail on the head when you said “Sybok’s therapy sessions.” He does not control anyone’s mind. He helps them face their issues and everyone falls in love with the therapist. A few weeks later, I’m sure the crew were all red-faced and apologized to Kirk.
Not to pile on (but I will), the one huge plot hole that always bothered me was the conveniently malfunctioning transporter. Because it's not working, they have to initiate a commando raid where they are captured by Sybok and his followers. Had it not been malfunctioning, Kirk could've just beamed up the hostages and left, warp factor one. Since Sybok didn't know about the transporter issue, his plan is completely inept. The writers could've fixed this problem by ditching the transporter issue and simply say that Sybok has rigged up a force field around the compound so they can't beam the hostages out. They wouldn't have even needed to do any special effects; just state it in the script somewhere.
Completely agree. And they could have made the force field some kind of rigged equipment capable of temporary interruption of signal. A small fix that looks cool and explains a lot and costs nothing.
As a kid i felt the movie to be a bit boring BUT i really really loved the overall sense of family among the whole crew. The movie always felt more like a feature length Star Trek TOS episode with the same budget constraints that made you focus more on the story & characters. So i didn't really give too much about the subpar Special Effects. Took me many many years to hear about the troubled production conditions this movie project had to face. Especially ILM's completely sold out capacity since 1989 was INSANE for Industrial Light and Magic. I also still think Star Trek V has one of the most beautiful Scores of all the Star Trek movies. Jerry Goldsmith was an absolute BLESSING to the Star Trek movie franchise and he always treated EVERY movie with the same respect, dedication and greatness that could always be heard in his scores.
I thought that this was the worst Star Trek film… then decades passed, and I see Into Darkness; now I remember this film fondly… thank you JJ Abrams you fixed Star Trek five.
Giving what little credit the film deserves, when Shatner focuses on the regulars, it's not that bad. Those embarrassing scenes with Uhura and Scotty notwithstanding. Laurence Luckinbill was very good as Sybok. He did NOT have to be Spock's half-brother, however. That didn't really add much to the story, and for years, he was considered non-canon. But then, now Spock has a foster sister AND a half-brother, which I still maintain utterly destroys his long-time relationship with Sarek as originally established by the original series. Sarek cannot condemn Spock for joining Starfleet when his "daughter" did likewise.
_"But then, now Spock has a foster sister AND a half-brother"_ STD and SNW have recently been declared an alternate timeline to the Classic canon. I believe they kept the Picard series though.
@@stonebaxter Well, it really has to be now. They've made so many changes to canon, and I am still on the fence about SNW adding so many classic series characters. True, we never got any real background on the characters in the original series to really whine about continuity, but I wasn't that impressed with the stronger focus on the Augments and Khan's lineage. I suppose it adds to Trek history, but I never thought it fit in well. And making Number One an Augment just seemed arbitrary to me. I admit I haven't seen many episodes (mostly because I refuse to buy Paramount Plus), but what I have seem too often comprises changes for the sake of change and not for any real attempt to add to the canon. Same objection I have with the Kelvinverse, but that was always intended as an alternate history, so I don't hate the movies for that reason. I hate the movies because they stink IMO.
It's an entertaining movie, despite what people say. In spirit it feels like a fancy TOS episode and the chemistry between the leading actors is phenomenal.
There have been several folks online who have created new CGI that makes the film more watchable. Too bad an editor can't get ahold of all the original shot footage and reedit the film. What especially comes to mind is a reworking of scenes like the fan dance. IMHO, the last couple of minutes where Kick stands on the mountainside and dares the bird of prey to shoot him, with the surprise gunner being Spock , the kindly brother speech in 10 forward redress and the ending at Yosemite camping is one of the best endings in the franchise.
I was so glad they made Star Trek VI to make up for this one. I do like the Kirk, Spock, and McCoy scenes, theres real friendship and commradere going on there.
The beginning scene where they get caught by sybok in the bar looked like the litterally put on Halloween costumes and used a camcorder. It was almost star wars holiday special cringe level effects.
I think this is the only one I haven’t seen since the theater. I never watch trailers if I can avoid them, but in this case, it could have saved me some pain.
Thank you for this! 🤣👍🏾 I took the woman who eventually became my wife to see this wreck of a movie. It's amazing she still ended up marrying me. Star Trek V: We're Off To See The Wizard Who Resembles The Cowardly Lion.
I know I'm probably in a very small group of people who enjoys this movie more than Star Trek III. That movie mostly just feels like a sidequest, where this feels like a proper journey. Sure, the effects aren't great, and the comedy can be cringeworthy, but I still find it highly entertaining.
I've commented on your videos, fast-paced and funny. Even though you joke about these things, it's obvious that you do it out of love. I know Final Frontier doesn't get a lot of love but I really like it. It's far from the best Star Trek movie but there are a lot of things I love in it and I never skip it when rewatching the movies.
As I recall, before shooting began Nimoy said they should go ahead without him which prompted Shatner's panicked response "I can't do 'Star Trek' without Spock!" It's understandable if Nimoy wasn't especially thrilled to be losing the power he'd enjoyed in the previous two films, but I think his lack of enthusiasm shows in this, his weakest performance in the franchise.
Patiently awaiting your take on ST VI... Very patiently. Oh, so patiently. I haven't found it on the playlist, you see, so I'm PATIENTLY waiting to see an alert for it... Patiently, I must reiterate, most patiently.
And yet, Roddenberry openly bashed the film at conventions, even before its release. He thought Shatner had stolen the story idea from him. Roddenberry poisoning the well with the fans is a big part of why this movie is as hated as it is.
The scene with the crew in the shuttle trying to take off onn the planet, the shuttle was shaking and noises outside were from a cut of rock creatures. They supposedly didn't look good so the rock creature scene were cut out.
STAR TREK V: The Final Frontier is a big-budget finale to the 1960's TOS series. It's what a Star Trek motion picture would have been if it had been faithful in tone to the 60's show itself. It's exactly how William Shatner sees the Star Trek he made famous: Focus on the Big Three, alien "Gods", strange-hued alien skies, beaming down to the planet for a fist-fight and shoot out, etc. If you watch it as if there were no other movies before or after, this is a movie about the old 1960's scifi show called "Star Trek". Pure and simple. It captures that show more accurately than any other Trek movie.
I'm one of those people who like the films that others hate. So I DO enjoy Star Trek V. BUT, if they had thought far enough ahead I would have LOVED for Trek IV and V to continue connecting and when they returned from 1986 and saved Earth they would have found themselves on Mirror Earth and told Trek V from that vantage point.
The only good thing about this movie is DeForest Kelley's performance. It's interesting how the older McCoy got, the more his Southern accent came out.
I do remember Siskel and Ebert reviewing this and I think it was Roger Ebert who said something along the lines of even though the story wasn’t good he though Shatner had a better feel for directing a big screen movie than Nimoy’s as the latter’s looked more like television movies.
A few points about Goldsmith's music. As big a fan of Goldsmith as I am, I don't like his late 1980''s scoring style. He used synths instead of unusual organic instruments and this leads to a lack of variety and dynamism in sound. Furthermore, on Rambo III and this movie, Goldsmith used a 4 note and a 5 note motif to link together the rest of the score. I'm not enamored with this approach. The movie's set pieces lack flow and have editing issues (due to lack of footage?), so Goldsmith's music had to adopt a repeated start/stop pattern to cover them. This really prevents the music from gaining momentum and punching up the scenes' impact. Finally, the music needs to be heard on the CD, because the film's sound dub doesn't employ the music as consistently or prominently as it should have.
Depends on the synths. It should give you more variety in sound vs an orchestra. Dynamism depends on the synth uses, the FM synths can change the sound quite significantly based on velocity where as on subtractive analogue synths the velocity tends to just make the sound brighter by connecting velocity to filter cut off in the mod matrix. Well, you did mention synths and I have like 30 odd of them. By 1989 the ROMplers and samplers were starting to replace FM and analogue synths until Rave and the TB303 became a thing.
@@6581punk I won't dispute your expertise re synths. In my opinion though Goldsmith's use of organic instruments (Planet of the Apes, Alien, ST-TMP, etc.) always produced a richer soundscape. I had no problem with Goldsmith increasing his use of synths, but only with his reduction in corresponding unusual real instruments. A better balance could have been struck at times.
Like TOS, this movie has a lot more going for it than detracting from it. I prefer it to both IV on some levels and certainly like it more than VI, which I think did the original characters, especially Kirk, a huge disservice. I saw V in a Cinerama theater when I was 8 - plenty of nostalgia built in…. And, the Goldsmith score on this I would argue is at times better than TMP which is phenomenal itself. Make sure you listen to the complete score, not just the original release.
After my uncle saw the ST:V he cried out, "Sybok! Take away my pain!" The movie was a huge letdown after ST:IV. I didn't like the offduty camping stuff, especially Row Row Row Your Boat. The effects were truly low budget. I've heard that the FX company presented the shots to Shatner and okayed them as proofs, but then was told they were the final shots. I've seen some YTbrs try their hand at making the space scenes better, but still nothing spectacular. I didn't mind the finding God stuff, although a Great Barrier at the center of the galaxy was a "What??" And it does pay off with Kirk's "What does God need with a starship?" line. I found other gems in McCoy's trauma with his dying father and what Spock feels is Sarek's disappointment in him. But Kirk's "I need my pain!" is I think on point with the character and series ethos. Kirk and Humanity may make mistakes or fail. But we learn from them and strive for better. "Risk, is why we're aboard [the Enterprise]." Heroic, in the age of NuTrek where trotting out your pain gets characters some kind of brownie points and affirmation of selfworth.
Just for reference, these are the movies Star Trek V was competing with that summer... 1989 Summer season (May - August): Tim Burton's Batman (Batman was so freaking *HUGE* that year!) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Ghostbusters II Lethal Weapon 2 License To Kill (James Bond XVI) The Karate Kid, Part III Honey, I Shrunk the Kids! (Which showed with the new Roger Rabbit cartoon short "Tummy Trouble") James Cameron's The Abyss Dead Poets Society Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing Roadhouse Lock Up Great Balls of Fire Casualties Of War Hear No Evil, See No Evil When Harry Met Sally Uncle Buck Parenthood Weekend At Bernies UHF Turner & Hooch Little Monsters Millenium The Return Of Swamp Thing Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
My favorite line for the review was, "We are never shown what their biggest pain was, but we can probably take a stab in the dark." And then you flash a picture of Captain Kirk. 😂
I actually quite liked this one and prefer it to The Voyage Home, It had some Great Star Trek Character moments, I really liked the camping scenes and the death of McCoy's Father was genuinely moving.🤔👍
@@joshpinchuk7061 That's the Avenger's movie with Voldemort and The Bride. It has a nice fencing scene in an English clothier and Uma Thurman in a leather cat suit. That's about all it has going for it.
Original film was hated too but now its sort of a gem by many and ST5 is sort of ok and i totally agree with it being the worst but... i happy to watch it as it has some moments and for 6 films, it doesant take too much for one to be unwatchable or too long ect. Personally i rather sit through Final frontier than some of the late TNG cast films as they are so dark and FF is too but still keeps it light and the bad guy is "civilised" and speaks well and old style sort of thing where some of the films, the bad guy is a awful revengeful alien and even "Picard" is so hard going and merky in the second season and what about "feel good" when you see a movie?? Least with FF. scotty and jokes and dancing and looking for God and explosions and ship insides look ok and colourful but DECKS go up towards 1 and this is basic LAW and hello, the writers and checkers didnt pick this up????
Desilu didn't exist anymore and hadn't existed for close to two decades when this film released. Shatner had seen him in a production with him playing LBJ.
I don't know shit about Star Trek, so I really don't see the problem with this movie. After the 1st, it's probably my favorite Star Trek movie. I haven't seen them all, though.
Yes, it was a terrible movie, but you know, after the Star Trek II & III bridge configuration, it was my 2ɴᴅ favorite and an excellent aesthetically pleasing Enterprise bridge. It kinda put that homey, carpeted 'Next Generation' spin on the classic. Although, if I remember correctly, the set designers placed the tactical station so as to make it visible from the view screen, which probably ranks as the most boneheaded choice, in the annals of Star Trek sets. I don’t know, maybe I’m mixing that up with the Star Trek VI bridge set?
I like so much about this movie, but I really hate the basic premise. But if I have a really long, loud and heartfelt sigh before I begin, I can just get past that bit and enjoy the journey, even if the destination is kinda rooted.
If you ignore the production values and VFX it's really not bad. But the truly bizarre thing is that STV had a quite healthy budget for the time, comparable to TMP even accounting for inflation since much of the first film's budget also included the costs of the unmade Phase II. Some serious mismanagement of funds going on here
I will take V over III, and I like both. V has such deep concepts and great quotable lines and Uhura's song and dance was really a nice treat. I didn't like the cussing because that was new, and now swamps Trek.
No way in hell V is better than III. V is clunky and it doesn't make an effort to go beyond TV storytelling. III is fine space opera, action coupled with heartbreaking sacrifice. The only way V out does III is in terms of cinematography, the blocking is excellent and there are quite a few good shots.
@@ricardocantoral7672 3 is boring from start to finish. There's 90 minutes of dull introspection that had already been done in ST2, and three action scenes - one is played as whimsical science fantasy (let's steal a spaceship), the second relies on a ticking clock (let's blow up a spaceship), and the third has a fat man shouting "I have had enough of you" and stealing another spaceship. And frankly, by then, we've all had enough of him and want the film to phucking stop.
@@RCassinello because cussing or cursing more correctly is what that language is called. Naughty words is a judgement call, cursing/cussing is a statement of fact.
@@ricardocantoral7672 When you are dealing with TV writing of the caliber of Star Trek, it's not necessary to go above it. Top notch is to notch regardless of the screen size.
It's my favorite because I was in it for two weeks in October 1989. I was 21 years-old and I was one of the "Space Marines" (what the script called us)on the shuttle craft captured by Sybok's gang. It was an awesome experience!
The Final Frontier is a comfort movies for me, Shatner, Nimoy, Kelly have such sweet and likable chemistry that one can’t help but have a good time watching them
Exactly! ... Comfort movie is a perfect description ... It just feels a bit warm and fuzzy.
Glad I'm not alone in liking this movie. I enjoyed it when i first saw it on TV (didn't catch it at the cinema) and actually thought some of the special effects, mainly the exterior appearance of the 'God Planet' and the initial appearance of 'God' itself, were quite cool (really helped by Goldsmith's score, in my opinion the best of the TOS films, bar maybe TUC). The other effects are really poor though and the cost cutting can be clearly seen. Plus we have all these strange continuity problems: Spock's half brother, Scotty and Uhura being apparently romantically involved, the Enterprise A apparently having over 70 decks, starfleet having no experienced captains, being able to travel to the centre of the galaxy in just a few hours...etc etc.
But the chemistry between the leads is fantastic, and the message it tries to get across is still quite relevant. Plus you have some memorable quotes:
'What does god need with a starship?'
'Then you are mad? "am I?"
'Damn it Bones, you're a doctor, you know pain can't be taken away by the wave of a magic wand'
@@martynstembridge7714 Yes, I haven't heard this expression before, but it's great! A movie doesn't have to be perfect or even technically sophisticated to give you that warm, familiar feeling, like you're visiting an old friend.
Yes - it's the only time in the whole original movie series where the three of them just banter with each other as friends throughout.
ST:TMP - Spock is boring ultra-logical Spock and everyone else is a feint shade of their real character.
ST2:TWoK - Bit of banter for the first half, but then separated and then Spock dies.
ST3:TSfS - Spock = dead.
ST4:TVH - Spock is boring ultra-logical Spock and McCoy is sidelined.
ST5:TFF - Kirk, Spock and McCoy reunited and enjoying each other's company for most of the film.
ST6:TUC - Spock shows dislike for his human friends for the first third, then they're separated, then only at the end do they enjoy other again.
And it has Scotty engineering a jailbreak. Scotty rules.
The worst part is how they portrayed Sulu, Uhura and Chekov being so easily turned by Sybok.
Chekhov should have been like Hawkeye in AGE OF ULTRON: "Done the whole mind-control thing....not a fan." And then kicked ass (wasn't he head of security on Kirk's Enterprise?)
@@stonebaxter : In Star Trek: The Motion Picture, yes. On the tv series, he was the ship's navigator.
I can't hate this one. In some ways, it feels like the Trek film that's closest in spirit to the original show: warts and all. It's goofy and campy and has too many big ideas and sometimes falls on its face, while somehow still managing to be mostly charming. So I enjoy it from that POV, even if it is "objectively" the worst of the TOS movies. Even if it is the worst, it's still watchable.
(Whereas the less said about Nemesis the better, as far as I'm concerned.)
III, IV, and V are all pretty much on the same level for me. IV is also goofy and campy, for example, but if done well (good production values, everyone playing it like they're in real movie) general audiences (who probably never watched TOS in the first place) get what they're expecting. I don't particularly want to re-watch any of these movies, but I'd rather re-watch V than III or IV.
i remember liking "nemesis"!
The first and only time I saw this one was in 1989 as an 11yr old trapped on a 24hr long flight from the UK to Australia - "What does God need with a starship" is literally the only part I remember from it, and that's probably enough tbh.
How did you watch that on a plane in 1989?
@@sevenv2154 It was what was on - you didn't really get a choice, short of changing the audio channel and putting an eye-mask on.
@@nrgspike oh right I more meant in the respect that they even had TVs on planes in those days, interesting. Thanks 👍
@@sevenv2154 No, not TVs. It was a projector screen at the end of the centre row - the original flat-screen technology! ...And I feel old now.
A great concept that's ultimately bungled. I think the best thing about the film is Sybok, he was a genuinely well written character.
Well-performed, too. Lawrence Luckinbill took the material a lot more seriously than it deserved.
@@DannyBeans I just wish they didn't make him Spock's half brother. He could have been a close friend or early mentor.
The best thing about the movie is the now fan theories about the God character. My favorite is that he’s an Q who was cast out to that small plant and stripped of most of his powers. Kind of like the theory that Trelane from the original series is a Q just a child.
My headcanon is that “God” was a Cytherian. That’s the race from the TNG episode “Nth Degree” … the ones who made Reg super smart.
They like to appear as big, floating heads, they live near the center of the galaxy, and they are able to teach/brainwash people to easily modify starships to reach their location.
@@mitcharcher7528 Nice! I like it. Headcanon subscribed.
Dont forget "Nageelum". He could be a child Cytherian.
It's well established that at least 3 races in Star Trek, are willing to abandon their own very young offspring to destiny.
The Founders sending off 100 inexperienced baby changelings, Odo and Laas being the 2 noted ones.
The Xindi Insectoids left their eggs on a ship and only came back for them after Archer signalled them under the influence of baby Xindi Insectoid Pherimones
The Q Continuum, Q (at first) gleefully threatening to let Q Junior be turned into an amoeba (yea Q Junior could be Billions of years old by the time he's a "teen" on Voyager, but he's still the youngest member of the Continuum)
So it's certainly "possible" that the Cytherians have done a similar thing. Letting their young, do their own thing.
The big Cytherian head that drew Barclay to get them to him, was a friendly and inquisitive guy.
Nageelum was..friendly and inquisitive..lol. he really was though.
Q... Friendly..i guess, in a sadistic sort of way, and very inquisitive.
Maybe there's more examples im not thinking of.
Trelane, (i believe confirmed to be a member of the Q Continuum) i know little about other than, he is basically the inspiration for John De Lancie's Q. Shown by Q's Marshall Uniform in the TNG Pilot.
Anyhoo, Weed is legal here if you cant tell, ima go. Thx for readin. :)
Some of Shatner's original ideas were even wilder! Like meeting the ACTUAL devil???
Id watch that
@MatthewCaunsfield How many of me are in this thread?
@@stonebaxter In this particular thread? Only one of you!
Oh snap, I've been looking forward to this one!
The Voyage Home made a trekkie out of me as a kid, and I was so excited about The Final Frontier, and just feeling empty inside after finally seeing it. On the bright side, it made The Undiscovered Country a pleasant surprise for me!
Enjoyed watching the closed-captions struggle with Sybok. Sidewalk, Cyborg, Show Box, Shy Bach...
Poor Scotty.... I could watch that remix of him hitting his head all day. Should I feel horrible about myself?? 🤔😁
You hit the nail on the head when you said “Sybok’s therapy sessions.” He does not control anyone’s mind. He helps them face their issues and everyone falls in love with the therapist. A few weeks later, I’m sure the crew were all red-faced and apologized to Kirk.
This is a good, light-hearted film. It doesn't deserve the overly negative criticism that it receives.
Not to pile on (but I will), the one huge plot hole that always bothered me was the conveniently malfunctioning transporter. Because it's not working, they have to initiate a commando raid where they are captured by Sybok and his followers. Had it not been malfunctioning, Kirk could've just beamed up the hostages and left, warp factor one. Since Sybok didn't know about the transporter issue, his plan is completely inept. The writers could've fixed this problem by ditching the transporter issue and simply say that Sybok has rigged up a force field around the compound so they can't beam the hostages out. They wouldn't have even needed to do any special effects; just state it in the script somewhere.
Completely agree.
And they could have made the force field some kind of rigged equipment capable of temporary interruption of signal.
A small fix that looks cool and explains a lot and costs nothing.
I like star trek v despite the bad reviews. Feels like a plot to one of the original series
Spock is very good at never mentioning his siblings
As a kid i felt the movie to be a bit boring BUT i really really loved the overall sense of family among the whole crew. The movie always felt more like a feature length Star Trek TOS episode with the same budget constraints that made you focus more on the story & characters. So i didn't really give too much about the subpar Special Effects. Took me many many years to hear about the troubled production conditions this movie project had to face. Especially ILM's completely sold out capacity since 1989 was INSANE for Industrial Light and Magic. I also still think Star Trek V has one of the most beautiful Scores of all the Star Trek movies. Jerry Goldsmith was an absolute BLESSING to the Star Trek movie franchise and he always treated EVERY movie with the same respect, dedication and greatness that could always be heard in his scores.
I thought that this was the worst Star Trek film… then decades passed, and I see Into Darkness; now I remember this film fondly… thank you JJ Abrams you fixed Star Trek five.
Absolutely agreed. At the very least, V had some interesting ideas. Into Darkness is banal action fodder: villain, revenge, violence.
Brilliant as always. Thanks Stam Fine.
This is gonna be brutal.
Not the review. Just... remembering seeing this movie.
Giving what little credit the film deserves, when Shatner focuses on the regulars, it's not that bad. Those embarrassing scenes with Uhura and Scotty notwithstanding.
Laurence Luckinbill was very good as Sybok. He did NOT have to be Spock's half-brother, however. That didn't really add much to the story, and for years, he was considered non-canon. But then, now Spock has a foster sister AND a half-brother, which I still maintain utterly destroys his long-time relationship with Sarek as originally established by the original series. Sarek cannot condemn Spock for joining Starfleet when his "daughter" did likewise.
_"But then, now Spock has a foster sister AND a half-brother"_
STD and SNW have recently been declared an alternate timeline to the Classic canon. I believe they kept the Picard series though.
@@stonebaxter Well, it really has to be now. They've made so many changes to canon, and I am still on the fence about SNW adding so many classic series characters. True, we never got any real background on the characters in the original series to really whine about continuity, but I wasn't that impressed with the stronger focus on the Augments and Khan's lineage. I suppose it adds to Trek history, but I never thought it fit in well. And making Number One an Augment just seemed arbitrary to me. I admit I haven't seen many episodes (mostly because I refuse to buy Paramount Plus), but what I have seem too often comprises changes for the sake of change and not for any real attempt to add to the canon. Same objection I have with the Kelvinverse, but that was always intended as an alternate history, so I don't hate the movies for that reason. I hate the movies because they stink IMO.
I love the ending to this movie and how Life Is But A Dream segues into the Star Trek theme.
The first rule of Star Trek 5, we dont talk about Star Trek 5.
The music is good.
It's an entertaining movie, despite what people say. In spirit it feels like a fancy TOS episode and the chemistry between the leading actors is phenomenal.
The camps scenes with Bones, Spock and Kirk are greats.
I remember walking out after seeing this and the only sensible comment could utter to my friend was. Pub?
Love Scotty's Wii bit o' improvised music.
He's a dunce.
I got to see this movie for free and I still wanted my money back.
I pirated this movie and I asked for my money back.
You both need to watch Discovery then!
This feels like a fan-fiction given a big budget.
There have been several folks online who have created new CGI that makes the film more watchable. Too bad an editor can't get ahold of all the original shot footage and reedit the film. What especially comes to mind is a reworking of scenes like the fan dance. IMHO, the last couple of minutes where Kick stands on the mountainside and dares the bird of prey to shoot him, with the surprise gunner being Spock , the kindly brother speech in 10 forward redress and the ending at Yosemite camping is one of the best endings in the franchise.
Star Trek V is the Jaws sharkfin on the horizon of the Star Trek movie series.
I was so glad they made Star Trek VI to make up for this one.
I do like the Kirk, Spock, and McCoy scenes, theres real friendship and commradere going on there.
Star Trek VI: The Apology
The beginning scene where they get caught by sybok in the bar looked like the litterally put on Halloween costumes and used a camcorder. It was almost star wars holiday special cringe level effects.
It is very funny to learn that Shatner helped direct, and that could be why Kirk saw through the false God and was not psycho analyzed by Sybok
Undiscovered Country is my favorite. Is that the next release or will it be a couple weeks/months?
Kirk: "What does dog need with a starship?" 🐩⭐🚢
I love your humor. This was a fun ride! ♥
I saw this in theaters.
It stunk on ice.
I think this is the only one I haven’t seen since the theater.
I never watch trailers if I can avoid them, but in this case, it could have saved me some pain.
Thank you for this! 🤣👍🏾
I took the woman who eventually became my wife to see this wreck of a movie. It's amazing she still ended up marrying me.
Star Trek V: We're Off To See The Wizard Who Resembles The Cowardly Lion.
I know I'm probably in a very small group of people who enjoys this movie more than Star Trek III. That movie mostly just feels like a sidequest, where this feels like a proper journey. Sure, the effects aren't great, and the comedy can be cringeworthy, but I still find it highly entertaining.
Unlike the other movies, this one just felt like a longer episode of TOS, with marginally better effects than the show.
10:16
Waiting for your take on Airwolf, my good man!
I've commented on your videos, fast-paced and funny. Even though you joke about these things, it's obvious that you do it out of love. I know Final Frontier doesn't get a lot of love but I really like it. It's far from the best Star Trek movie but there are a lot of things I love in it and I never skip it when rewatching the movies.
As I recall, before shooting began Nimoy said they should go ahead without him which prompted Shatner's panicked response "I can't do 'Star Trek' without Spock!" It's understandable if Nimoy wasn't especially thrilled to be losing the power he'd enjoyed in the previous two films, but I think his lack of enthusiasm shows in this, his weakest performance in the franchise.
Agreed. Nimoy just seemed to be going through the motions. In the next film, he put in a greater effort.
Patiently awaiting your take on ST VI...
Very patiently.
Oh, so patiently.
I haven't found it on the playlist, you see, so I'm PATIENTLY waiting to see an alert for it...
Patiently, I must reiterate, most patiently.
Always felt V was the closest to Roddenberry's idea. Plus I've seen a recut version with redone SFX and it's fantastic!!
And yet, Roddenberry openly bashed the film at conventions, even before its release. He thought Shatner had stolen the story idea from him. Roddenberry poisoning the well with the fans is a big part of why this movie is as hated as it is.
William Shatner has seen the version with the improved SFX and said that was exactly how he wanted it to be! :-)
@@RJSRdg do you have a link to when he said this please?
YES, this has the 'TV episode' feel to it .... and as a one-off I really enjoyed it.
The actor who played 'dog' 🐩 was the same actor who would later play admiral Hansen in TNG's 'Best Of Both Worlds'.
Star Trek V: Meh Final Frontier lol. Love the vid and I just started watching it
some good moments in that movie, e.g the campfire scene, b as in barricade, mcoy assisting his father's death- very powerful.
9:25 what is that? doohan and hasselhoff???
Uhuru's fan dance is something Auntie Beryl would do when drunk at a party
The scene with the crew in the shuttle trying to take off onn the planet, the shuttle was shaking and noises outside were from a cut of rock creatures. They supposedly didn't look good so the rock creature scene were cut out.
When watching the UHD disc it becomes apparent that the focus puller had some kind of trouble doing his job.
Numerous scenes with bad focussing.
I will likely ALWAYS prefer this movie over TMP!
STAR TREK V: The Final Frontier is a big-budget finale to the 1960's TOS series. It's what a Star Trek motion picture would have been if it had been faithful in tone to the 60's show itself. It's exactly how William Shatner sees the Star Trek he made famous: Focus on the Big Three, alien "Gods", strange-hued alien skies, beaming down to the planet for a fist-fight and shoot out, etc. If you watch it as if there were no other movies before or after, this is a movie about the old 1960's scifi show called "Star Trek". Pure and simple. It captures that show more accurately than any other Trek movie.
The upvote was for your video, not the film, lol.
Man, your knowledge of tv minutiae is astounding. The Bionic Man's crashed capsule had a name? HL-10?
I'm one of those people who like the films that others hate. So I DO enjoy Star Trek V. BUT, if they had thought far enough ahead I would have LOVED for Trek IV and V to continue connecting and when they returned from 1986 and saved Earth they would have found themselves on Mirror Earth and told Trek V from that vantage point.
Hey, this is my favourite Star Trek production!
Oh, wait, sorry, the word 'least seemed to have dropped off that first sentence.
A fascinating mess of a film. I find it quite watchable!
The only good thing about this movie is DeForest Kelley's performance. It's interesting how the older McCoy got, the more his Southern accent came out.
The story and the acting are solid. It’s the lack of budget for FX, set design, makeup and costumes that wrecked it.
I'm disappointed the marshmallow device never became standard gear for future landing party crews. 🖖🙂
id still watch and enjoy more than anything post trek 6
I do remember Siskel and Ebert reviewing this and I think it was Roger Ebert who said something along the lines of even though the story wasn’t good he though Shatner had a better feel for directing a big screen movie than Nimoy’s as the latter’s looked more like television movies.
George Takei has said recently that he found being directed by Shatner "surprisingly enjoyable".
Thanks, Stam. You're funny. Just so darn funny.
9:27 What is this clip from?
A few points about Goldsmith's music. As big a fan of Goldsmith as I am, I don't like his late 1980''s scoring style. He used synths instead of unusual organic instruments and this leads to a lack of variety and dynamism in sound. Furthermore, on Rambo III and this movie, Goldsmith used a 4 note and a 5 note motif to link together the rest of the score. I'm not enamored with this approach. The movie's set pieces lack flow and have editing issues (due to lack of footage?), so Goldsmith's music had to adopt a repeated start/stop pattern to cover them. This really prevents the music from gaining momentum and punching up the scenes' impact. Finally, the music needs to be heard on the CD, because the film's sound dub doesn't employ the music as consistently or prominently as it should have.
Depends on the synths. It should give you more variety in sound vs an orchestra. Dynamism depends on the synth uses, the FM synths can change the sound quite significantly based on velocity where as on subtractive analogue synths the velocity tends to just make the sound brighter by connecting velocity to filter cut off in the mod matrix. Well, you did mention synths and I have like 30 odd of them. By 1989 the ROMplers and samplers were starting to replace FM and analogue synths until Rave and the TB303 became a thing.
@@6581punk I won't dispute your expertise re synths. In my opinion though Goldsmith's use of organic instruments (Planet of the Apes, Alien, ST-TMP, etc.) always produced a richer soundscape. I had no problem with Goldsmith increasing his use of synths, but only with his reduction in corresponding unusual real instruments. A better balance could have been struck at times.
Like TOS, this movie has a lot more going for it than detracting from it. I prefer it to both IV on some levels and certainly like it more than VI, which I think did the original characters, especially Kirk, a huge disservice. I saw V in a Cinerama theater when I was 8 - plenty of nostalgia built in…. And, the Goldsmith score on this I would argue is at times better than TMP which is phenomenal itself. Make sure you listen to the complete score, not just the original release.
V. The Enterprise drives to heaven and shoots god…
TJ Hooker meets Dune
After my uncle saw the ST:V he cried out, "Sybok! Take away my pain!"
The movie was a huge letdown after ST:IV. I didn't like the offduty camping stuff, especially Row Row Row Your Boat. The effects were truly low budget. I've heard that the FX company presented the shots to Shatner and okayed them as proofs, but then was told they were the final shots. I've seen some YTbrs try their hand at making the space scenes better, but still nothing spectacular.
I didn't mind the finding God stuff, although a Great Barrier at the center of the galaxy was a "What??" And it does pay off with Kirk's "What does God need with a starship?" line. I found other gems in McCoy's trauma with his dying father and what Spock feels is Sarek's disappointment in him.
But Kirk's "I need my pain!" is I think on point with the character and series ethos. Kirk and Humanity may make mistakes or fail. But we learn from them and strive for better. "Risk, is why we're aboard [the Enterprise]." Heroic, in the age of NuTrek where trotting out your pain gets characters some kind of brownie points and affirmation of selfworth.
Just for reference, these are the movies Star Trek V was competing with that summer...
1989 Summer season (May - August):
Tim Burton's Batman (Batman was so freaking *HUGE* that year!)
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Ghostbusters II
Lethal Weapon 2
License To Kill (James Bond XVI)
The Karate Kid, Part III
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids! (Which showed with the new Roger Rabbit cartoon short "Tummy Trouble")
James Cameron's The Abyss
Dead Poets Society
Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing
Roadhouse
Lock Up
Great Balls of Fire
Casualties Of War
Hear No Evil, See No Evil
When Harry Met Sally
Uncle Buck
Parenthood
Weekend At Bernies
UHF
Turner & Hooch
Little Monsters
Millenium
The Return Of Swamp Thing
Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan
A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
It was a bloody brilliant year for movies, wasn't it? Just not such a good year for studios.
Nothing released that summer from Star Trek would've made a fortune. That's one of the unlucky things about the film business.
"skullet" lol, Rimmer would be pleased
It shouldve been fun this one. Its not so bad. You can watch it. Certainly better than any of the Next Generation movies.
My favorite line for the review was, "We are never shown what their biggest pain was, but we can probably take a stab in the dark." And then you flash a picture of Captain Kirk. 😂
I actually quite liked this one and prefer it to The Voyage Home,
It had some Great Star Trek Character moments, I really liked the camping scenes and the death of McCoy's Father was genuinely moving.🤔👍
i love this movie.
and i love laughing at the “fandom” who hate it.
Well, sorry we offend you your majesty. 🙄
The Big God head should have been Bill Shatner
Star Trek VI is great though 👍🏻
The Final Sliders
What does God need with a Stam Fine?
Where is that clip of James Cromwell talking to a Mr Shatner on the phone, from? What's the context?
And where is the clip of Hasselhoff and James Doohan from? I recognize the Devon actor (not his name ) from Knight Rider.
Ok i guess I don't know $hit. Where is the Connery as a giant bear scene from?
@@joshpinchuk7061 That's the Avenger's movie with Voldemort and The Bride. It has a nice fencing scene in an English clothier and Uma Thurman in a leather cat suit. That's about all it has going for it.
@@neohermitist Connery is in the bear suit and Uma in the cat suit? Some cross species kink going on.
I remember this one. I guess you could say it was a steaming pile of Shat.
I too look upon the not so good films as extended episodes. Hell, Insurrection would have been one of the best TNG end of season cliffhangers.
Original film was hated too but now its sort of a gem by many and ST5 is sort of ok and i totally agree with it being the worst but... i happy to watch it as it has some moments and for 6 films, it doesant take too much for one to be unwatchable or too long ect. Personally i rather sit through Final frontier than some of the late TNG cast films as they are so dark and FF is too but still keeps it light and the bad guy is "civilised" and speaks well and old style sort of thing where some of the films, the bad guy is a awful revengeful alien and even "Picard" is so hard going and merky in the second season and what about "feel good" when you see a movie?? Least with FF. scotty and jokes and dancing and looking for God and explosions and ship insides look ok and colourful but DECKS go up towards 1 and this is basic LAW and hello, the writers and checkers didnt pick this up????
Despite the official story, I wonder if Luckinbill was considered because he was the son in law of Desilu studios
Desilu didn't exist anymore and hadn't existed for close to two decades when this film released. Shatner had seen him in a production with him playing LBJ.
I don't know shit about Star Trek, so I really don't see the problem with this movie. After the 1st, it's probably my favorite Star Trek movie. I haven't seen them all, though.
10:03
...is where I peed myself.
The one good thing about This movie Is the relative between Kirk bones and Spock
Yes, it was a terrible movie, but you know, after the Star Trek II & III bridge configuration, it was my 2ɴᴅ favorite and an excellent aesthetically pleasing Enterprise bridge. It kinda put that homey, carpeted 'Next Generation' spin on the classic. Although, if I remember correctly, the set designers placed the tactical station so as to make it visible from the view screen, which probably ranks as the most boneheaded choice, in the annals of Star Trek sets. I don’t know, maybe I’m mixing that up with the Star Trek VI bridge set?
I like so much about this movie, but I really hate the basic premise. But if I have a really long, loud and heartfelt sigh before I begin, I can just get past that bit and enjoy the journey, even if the destination is kinda rooted.
If you ignore the production values and VFX it's really not bad. But the truly bizarre thing is that STV had a quite healthy budget for the time, comparable to TMP even accounting for inflation since much of the first film's budget also included the costs of the unmade Phase II. Some serious mismanagement of funds going on here
I will take V over III, and I like both. V has such deep concepts and great quotable lines and Uhura's song and dance was really a nice treat. I didn't like the cussing because that was new, and now swamps Trek.
Imagine being a grown adult and calling naughty words "cussing".
No way in hell V is better than III. V is clunky and it doesn't make an effort to go beyond TV storytelling. III is fine space opera, action coupled with heartbreaking sacrifice. The only way V out does III is in terms of cinematography, the blocking is excellent and there are quite a few good shots.
@@ricardocantoral7672 3 is boring from start to finish. There's 90 minutes of dull introspection that had already been done in ST2, and three action scenes - one is played as whimsical science fantasy (let's steal a spaceship), the second relies on a ticking clock (let's blow up a spaceship), and the third has a fat man shouting "I have had enough of you" and stealing another spaceship. And frankly, by then, we've all had enough of him and want the film to phucking stop.
@@RCassinello because cussing or cursing more correctly is what that language is called. Naughty words is a judgement call, cursing/cussing is a statement of fact.
@@ricardocantoral7672 When you are dealing with TV writing of the caliber of Star Trek, it's not necessary to go above it. Top notch is to notch regardless of the screen size.
There are truly worse Treks out there... that cost much more money... and included far more guys with JJ in their name. Lookin' at you Into Dorkness!
Yeah, that's still the worst Star Trek film. Underwater enterprise my a**!
Star Trek V: The Final Affront
❤ this film. Swear too God
I liked it