Star Trek V - The Final Frontier (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)

Star Trek V - The Final Frontier (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition) | Harve Bennett, Cynthia Blaise | MST3K Fans Rejoice -- Rifftrax is Here!

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Star Trek V - The ...

	Star Trek V - The Final Frontier (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition) Harve Bennett, Cynthia Blaise Paramount, 2003 average customer review:based on 264 reviews view larger image
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It all Begins and Ends with the Human Heart

This is a great tale focusing on the three central Star Trek characters (Kirk, Spock and "Bones"). It examines their strengths, weaknesses, their diversities but ultimately shows us why they have grown a great sense of camaraderie through the years in search of that final frontier. It is a more personal story than the title of the film indicates and perhaps that is the film's true notorious weakness. The title gives one a sense of going beyond the beyond to find what lies beyond us, to find truth, but that is entirely misleading. Instead this film examines what drives these men to search for the all elusive unknown going literally great distances, to go where no man has gone before, when all the time the answer lies in the heart. In one sense this film is a scaled down version of STAR TREK: TMP and again that has unfortunately remained the bottom line for diminished appreciation for what STAR TREK V truly is. Even William Shatner's brilliant direction has been diminished into obscurity by this film's poor reputation. Even Shatner admits that he wanted the film to take on epic qualities. Shatner admits in the extra footage that the constraints of the budget and the poor special effects destroyed what he was trying to accomplish. I believe unwittingly Shatter seems to have wanted something larger than life, yet he captured the true essence of life and why we exist quite efficiently and successfully in this film. This was not a fly by night production, as one would have been lead to believe, and the seriousness of the intent of this production as seen in the extra footage is quite evident. Visually Shatner did not get the greatness he wanted but Jerry Goldsmith's outstanding score fills that void. Goldsmith's score goes beyond giving this film a feeling of the great adventure going to the ends of life's final frontier and once again coming full circle back to the conclusion that it all begins and ends with the human heart.

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MST3K Fans Rejoice -- Rifftrax is Here!

The bittersweet sequel to Star Treks I, II, III and IV was indeed the "Final Frontier", one last voyage for our heroic Captain Kirk and the brave crew of the Enterprise - except for another one to follow. And then of course the several dozen spin-offs and spin-off sequels to follow. "The Final Frontier" sees a special guest appearance by the one character fit to take equal billing with William Shatner: God.

And so this RiffTrax deserves an awe-inspiring guest appearance by none other than Kevin Murphy, Mike's riffing companion for years on the Satellite of Love! It's a RiffTrax lover's dream come true. (And Mike and Kevin promise not to make any jokes comparing the Enterprise and Charmin

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2.5 Stars: Capt. Kirk and Co. Meet the Man Upstairs?!!

After seeing what I considered the worst Star Trek movie thus far in the series (Part IV), I had my hopes that this film would bounce back with good results. Well, I can't stay that this film is the best one in the series, or even one of the best ones, but it is slightly better than the cheesy Star Trek IV. Yes, the plot has its problems, but at least its not about saving whales!!! The basic storyline is that a renegade Vulcan (who ends up being Spock's half-brother) steals the Enterprise and travels to the center of the Universe in hopes to find God himself!!! Yeah, not what you call a great plot, but again, at least theres no whales!!! But don't worry, this film still has some of the humor that Part IV was smothered with. Though most of it comes in the first few opening scenes with Kirk, Spock, and McCoy camping out during shore leave. Here we have Kirk, who's had to be pushing 60 by then, climbing a side of a cliff and Spock with rocket shoes on. The scene where Kirk and McCoy attempt to teach Spock to sing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" is especially painful. We also have a close to 55 year old Nichelle Nichols doing a "striptease" dance, and implications that her and Scotty were romantically involved. Just the plot overall has too many holes in it, and the ending was just plain disappointing and unclear in the fact that there is no indication on what or who this entity (whom they first thought was infact, God) was or if it was really destroyed. Also, the crew themselves really start to show their age in this one and the special effects were mediocre at best. This time, instead of Leonard Nimoy directing, none other than William Shatner himself directs this one. And though I've seen much better directed films, I think Shatner did a much better job than given credit for. Nevertheless, there are many more things wrong with this movie than right. I read one of the other reviews saying that this was more like an episode than a movie, and I agree. If this one would have been an old original episode, I would have probably loved it, but to be a feature film, the plot just suffers, and there's too much feeble attempts at humor that ultimately, just hurt the film even worse. Obsessed Star Trek fans may still find some solstice in this one, but for more realistic fans, I just don't feel that this film makes the grade. Still, its worth owning and watching a handful of times, and a must have in order to complete your Star Trek film series collection.

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Not the worst Trek film, by far!

First off, let's be real. Star Trek V, The Final Frontier is not the worst Star Trek film to date. That "honor" will always go to Star Trek - The Motion Picture: The Director's Cut (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition). No matter how many times they release new "Director's Cut" versions, that movie was horibble. It had only one redeeming quality: It was the first effort for the Trek film franchise. Compared to that, ST V is quite good.

The problems with ST V are many, though. It was William Shatner's first (and only?) opportunity to direct a film. And although he brought an interesting view of the Star Trek universe, the film does fall flat on many levels. The "nemisis", Sybok, isn't that interesting as a character for Kirk & Spock to play off of. The plot was one dimensional at best. And the final scenes where Kirk and crew are opposing some ridiculous, god-like being is almost laughable. Add to that, the soundtrack was nothing original. Shatner just used the theme that was from the first film, which was then appropriated by the Next Generation show. After James Horner's beautiful, and sometimes haunting, score from Star Trek II & III, and Leonard Rosenman's more upbeat music for Star Trek IV, this re-working of an 8 year-old soundtrack was disappointing.

Having said all that, there are some things to like here. The look of the film is different than any ST film before or after. Shatner seem to purposely give it a darker look & feel which I found intriguing, especially during certain scenes. The opening sequence, with the "not-so-sane" person digging holes out in the middle of nowhere, and then him seeing a horse and rider coming at him partially obscured by the heat waves rising from the desert is just an outstanding look. Also, the scene where Sybok takes McCoy & Spock back to view their inner-most "pain" is well done and almost hypnotic. But unfortunately, these are small islands in a not-so-great ocean of mediocre scenes. The promise of what could have been after the great lead in of Star Trek IV is, I believe, what makes this movie very disappointing.

Overall, I would give this movie a pass unless you are buying it only to round out your collection.

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