Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)My inner masochist was geared up for The Final Frontier, ready to witness an absolute trainwreck. I recently read a pretty detailed review that absolutely tore the film apart virtually scene by scene, and going by the impression I gleaned from that, I was expecting something laughably bad. The crew sing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" around a Yosemite campfire? Right...
Well, I can say that it wasn't as bad as I had feared. Indeed, I would go as far as to call it an overall entertaining entry in the series. It definitely has some rather shaky moments and sizeable plot holes but these, for me, did not ruin the film; they just made it a slightly weaker instalment.
There are quite a number of things going for it. In principle, the plot sounds perfectly decent, involving the Enterprise being hijacked by a renegade Vulcan - who turns out to be Spock's half-brother, no less - in search of a mythical planet that lies beyond the 'Great Barrier' at the centre of the galaxy through which no ship has passed (i.e. the final frontier). Unfortunately, at almost every turn there are rather dodgy scenes of attempted comic relief that do their best to undermine the film's dignity.
By all accounts, The Final Frontier is the least liked of the original crew films, even reviled in some quarters. Much of the blame is often lain at the feet of William Shatner, who having been bossed about by supporting player Leonard Nimoy for two films, had it written into his contract that he would get to direct the next film. And while the direction in some of the scenes comes across as amateurish, it's never distractingly bad. Furthermore, it is noted in the DVD commentary that Shatner's original intention (he receives story credit too) had been for a pretty dark tale, but was shot down by the studio who wanted more of The Voyage Home's style of light-heartedness (it had, after all, been a big hit). So it may be unfounded to blame all of the film's misjudged moments on Shatner.
It is certainly true though that Kirk is shown in a much more flattering light here than in any of the films so far. It's funny that way back in Khan in 1982 there was a subplot involving Kirk's advancing years, about which Shatner was supposedly uncomfortable, but age hasn't been mentioned in any of the films since. In Frontier Kirk is at his most heroic and virile yet, which is taken to a rather hilarious extreme in the film's opening credit sequence when the captain is shown to be climbing a vertical cliff face in Yosemite National Park. Comparisons with the opening of Mission: Impossible 2 come to mind, but it's fair to say that Shatner in his late 50s seems a less likely rock climber than Tom Cruise in his prime. Kirk is also involved in several fights this time and gets to show off some impressive physical prowess. It's hard not to think that there's a degree of ego-stroking on Shatner's part going on here.
The plot initially focuses on the planet of Nimbus III. I found the production design of the planet to be pretty excellent, with a dusty desert look reminiscent of the Mad Max series. In this location at least the limited budget is stretched very well, with the rusty outpost ironically named Paradise City boasting a certain visual authenticity that makes it a compelling setting. The renegade Vulcan, Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill), who takes control of Paradise City in an early action scene before setting up an elaborate ruse to lure the Enterprise to the planet, makes for a interesting antagonist too; he doesn't seem to be evil at all, just deceptive in order to achieve his goals. It's unfortunate that his Jedi-like powers of persuasion are never elaborated upon: does he actually have the capacity for mind control, or is he just a great salesman?
The film just lacks much drive, and despite being one of the shorter Treks (102 minutes), feels sluggish. Its conclusion is slightly dubious too. Sybok is actually looking for God himself and there is a sequence in which a god-like entity appears and talks to Sybok, Kirk, Spock and Bones when they explore the planet beyond the Great Barrier. The implication is that it's not God and is instead an illusion, but there's an infuriating reluctance to elaborate on just what's going on, and I found myself left slightly bewildered, and not in a good 2001 sense.
To my great delight, Jerry Goldsmith returned to scoring duties, and he brings all of his brilliant themes from TMP with him. When his iconic theme kicked in with the opening credits, it really hit home how much I've missed his music in the intervening films, despite the worthy contributions from James Horner and Leonard Rosenman (the latter in The Voyage Home). Goldsmith was given the opportunity to employ his excellent Klingon theme much more extensively here than in TMP, as the Enterprise is pursued by a Klingon captain in search of a worthy opponent. The subplot adds a much-needed dose of suspense to the sometimes uncertain narrative.
Overall I must admit I quite liked the rather cheap 'n' cheerful nature of The Final Frontier. The budget was clearly limited, the effects relatively poor (ILM this time were not available), and the story sometimes confused and far less profound than I feel it was intended to be. Yet its good points - including the production design of Nimbus III, the idea of the Enterprise being commandeered by a villain, the always enjoyable repartee between the crewmembers, and, of course, the music - definitely outweighed the bad. In fact, I suspect this is as close to an Original Series episode as the movies get.
And that campfire scene? I actually found it quite endearing.
3 out of 5
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