Our ongoing series looking at movies that took the blockbuster genre to the extreme and perhaps to excess. Note that these reviews may contain spoilers.
By John J. Joex
Rating: 1 ½ out of 5 Stars
The Star Trek franchise began in the 60’s with the original series which ran for three years before NBC made its infamous decision to cancel the show. Over the two decades that would follow, it would grow into a phenomena as it exploded in syndication and spawned an animated series continuation , four major motion pictures, and a live-action television sequel series. So I guess that by 1989, the franchise was due for its first major misfire.
For those who have missed the movie (and count yourself lucky), Star Trek V introduces Spock’s half-brother Sybok who we had never heard anything about previously, who has strange and mystical powers, and who has taken human, Romulan, and Klingon hostages in an attempt to lure a starship into his grasp. Sure enough, the Enterprise comes to the rescue and Sybok manages to commandeer it for his plans to travel to the mythical planet Sha Ka Ree at the center of the galaxy where creation supposedly began and where God has been known to hang out. From there, hijinks ensue.
Much has been written about the production problems that plagued this film (the script rewrites, the budget cuts, the change of sfx companies, Shatner’s directing) and some have suggested that the film is not as bad as its reputation especially when you take all of that into consideration (and Mr. Christopher is probably going to insist that I re-run his review from a year and a half ago as a counterpoint to this piece). But the fact is that as a movie Star Trek V fired blanks almost from the point that the film started rolling. The previous four movies had acted as a series of love letters for the original show and cast as they brought to life the much-beloved Trek universe on the big screen and delved into the characters that we had grown to know and identify with so well. And while those four movies had their ups and downs, they all stayed true to the spirit and feel of the original series and each added their own little piece to Trek’s overall legacy.
Where Star Trek V failed, though, was in taking too much stock in what had come before it. This movie, with William Shatner in all his swagger at the helm, believed in the legacy of Star Trek and set out to convert everybody in the theater to the gospel as well. The characters from the series had achieved demi-god status in the genre, and dammit you better understand that when watching this movie. When Captain Kirk appears onscreen, you better bow your head to his lofty status. When Spock says or does something intended to be humorous, you damn well better laugh (even if it feels forced or is just not very funny). In the previous films, all of this came naturally and felt effortless. Like getting back together the old gang and picking up where you left off. But Shatner pushed too hard this time around and ended up beating the audience over the head with the relationships, character-interactions, and humor that had come so easily in the past. Oddly enough, he intended the Sybok character to act as a comment on televangelists (Shatner penned the original script), but ended up assuming that same evangelical pulpit through his role as director, preaching to the audience about the awe and wonder of Star Trek.
The film actually had the germ of a decent story somewhere at its core, but ended up losing its way and falling flat on its face. Shatner’s ineptitude as a director ultimately doomed the movie (he had been promised the director’s chair after Nimoy had helmed the previous two films). He lacked the subtlety and finesse demonstrated by Nimoy (who would go on to direct more non-Trek movies as well as television episodes) and seemed to misunderstand the very characters so closely identified with much of his career achievements. And the attempts he made to inject humor into the movie too often misfired or descended into slapstick. Despite all this, Star Trek V did end up with a successful Box Office run, though much of the ticket sales came through name recognition alone. And it would ultimately be the lowest grossing Star Trek film until 2002’s Nemesis.
And unfortunately, the originally planned follow up to this movie never happened: Star Trek VI: The Wrath of the Fans – a group of angry Star Trek fans travel to the 23rd century where they discover that Klingons kidnapped Kirk, Spock, and McCoy and replaced them with the Three Stooges, altered in appearance to resemble the Starfleet officers. The fans must now rescue their heroes and return them to control of the Enterprise . . .
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