Star Trek V The Final Frontier,W oh, you poor dear. The main reason why William Shatner never got a shot at the director's chair again. The reason Trek fans breathed such a huge sigh of relief when Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country rocked the house as suicide stats probably would have creeped up amongst Trekkies had you been the swansong of the original crew. And you know what? I was right there along with them, piling derision and scorn upon your sad, sad head. It has been a long time. The only thing that has kept me coming back to you time and again is twofold. First, you are Trek, and apparent blemishes aside, those of us who love this universe and these characters as much as we do, we often can find something worthy in the most dire of outings to the Final Frontier. Also, we want to figure out why you are such a mixed bag of goods. You should be better.
What if...you actually are and most of us have not noticed?
I recently watched this film again after purchasing it on Blu Ray. The Star Trek film blu rays are available here at the PX for cheaps and all my DVDs are locked up in storage at Ft Benning, they have been since I deployed to Afghanistan. So, I've been picking them up, including the "unwanted step children".
Well, looking over you again...I saw you in a way that I never have before. You introduced us to Nimbus III, the Planet of Galactic Peace, a combined galactic government in social engineering conducted by the United Federation of Planets, the Romulan Star Empire and the Klingon Empire that has seemingly utterly failed. Your population is composed of rejects and dregs that no one wants. Your "settlements" are dirt farmers out digging holes in sterile soil and your one town is crime filled shanty. But it apparently is prime recruiting ground for a Vulcan who laughs.
The ambassadors of the three governments, also rejects of one sort or another (the Fed and Klingon ambassadors are burnouts staggering drunkenly to retirement, the Romulan is a wide eyed naïve noob) send out messages to their governments. The Enterprise gets there first, but the Klingon captain, Klaugh, and his first officer, a brawny female named Vixis (played by the lovely Spice Williams) are spoiling to take Kirk on. So, when Kirk and company are taken prisoner in a hostage rescue that goes bad, the Klingons come gunning. And they are ready to follow the Enterprise wherever it goes to get their shot at Kirk, including through the Great Barrier. Why are they going there? Sybok, the Vulcan leading this cult, is a spiritual leader with a vision. God is waiting on the other side of the Barrier. For them. For him. And he wants to share in the revelation.
So the story goes. I hated this film. Why? Oh, count the reasons. Since Star Trek IV The Voyage Home was a hit, the script writers though, hey, they like jokes, let's give them jokes. But "jokes" they though did it were slapsticky pratfalls. No, guys, that's not it. CHEAP looking SFX, no ILM in the credits at all in this one. Improbable things like the 1701-A Enterprise being such a lemon THEN being sent into action. There is more, but that's the stuff that STILL stands out as bad. But the good that also still stands...
First, Kirk, Spock and McCoy, taking shore leave together. The buddy chemistry and the adopted family/brotherhood still stands out. Those scenes hit from the first and still bring it home for those of us who know and love these characters. The other characters also have moments that work, as they usually do in these films. In fact, this team, this family coming together is what brings you back to perhaps reconsider other elements. Now, what seemingly didn't work before, reconsidered...
First, Sybok. Yes, Spock having this half brother is quite out of the blue. But...consider that Vulcans are very close mouthed about deep emotional matters, especially that which is scandalous or embarrassing. We have to remember that Vulcans, for all their emphasis on IDIC, are a very closed and conservative society. They aren't mean or hostile about it, but the social pressure they can bring to conform is crushing. Sybok was rebelling against all that, the control of emotion, the rule of logic and yes, the pursuit of spirituality and mysticism and meaning beyond rigid logic. He even had the hypocrisy and contraditions of his own people to look back on. For Vulcans, even though they have rejected their gods of old, still cling to ceremony, ritual, and even mystic traditions that have real world effects, such as the phenomenon of katra and the like. Sybok wanted to pursue spirituality far more boldly, far more fully. He ended up way off the reservation. But this is certainly not without real world precedence.
Second, the MacGuffin, "God". Many thought that was a silly trope. I disagree. Spirituality has a confused place in the Star Trek universe. For example, humanity is said to have established a certain utopia in the Star Trek universe, with material want mostly gone, crime well under control and politics extremely stable. The culture among 23rd century humanity is very humanistic and materialistic and it is assumed that that is the inevitable future trend among some in real life. However, religious and spiritual references abound and it is made clear that not all humans, never mind extraterrestrial civilizations see things this way. That spiritual yearning is about transcendence, reaching for something that deep down, we know is there, and we are meant to seek for it. That the meeting of material needs does not even begin to quench this most profound of desires. Sybok manifests this need. But, this quest of his went off the rails and opened him up to one of the most common temptations amongst those who seek spiritual connection. If one is not careful, the ego can slip in the way of the spirit, and what one seeks can take on the cast of...yourself, without you even knowing it. It becomes a quest to obtain, to control, to make some part of the world more like what you think it should be, to put your face on it. "God" at the end drives this point home.
Finally, the scene where Spock surrenders the ship to Sybok. This bothered me greatly. Spock is defined by duty and loyalty. He will most willingly sacrifice to see that his friends, comrades and ship are safe. But...would he sacrifice family? If it is one fault the movie had, and as you can see in one of the cut scenes they tried to establish, they didn't show just how deep Spock's tie to Sybok went. Spock has always been the perennial outsider, the guy out on his own, and you can point to many instances with him identifying with other outsiders. He sympathizes with underdogs. Further, he'll be the first one to tell you that conformity to the dominant culture isn't necessarily a virtue. He sympathizes with Sybok and his quest. And part of him even believes that he may have indeed discovered something. And he knows that Sybok is no killer or bloodthirsty bastard. He is just an extremely deterrmined Seeker willing to go to great lengths short of bloodshed to achieve his quest. He won't kill for it, intentionally. He will die for it, though. Could Spock have shot to wound in that scene where Kirk orders him to shoot? Even with those crappy guns, probably. But...Spock knew that surrendering to Sybok would not get anyone killed, that to fight at that point might necessitate his killing Sybok, and...deep down, he wanted to help see Sybok's quest through. And Nimoy did portray this conflict in Spock wonderfully. I also loved Shatner's portrayal of Kirk feeling fundamentally betrayed. Also, DeForest Kelley's portrayal of McCoy and that part of him wanted to understand what Spock did. Well done on all their parts.
Star Trek V The Final Frontier is a very flawed movie. But it is flawed movie with a huge heart and wonderful intent. And if one allows, it is intent that actually payed off.
Just took me a couple decades to see it.
I think I owe William Shatner an apology.
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