star trek 6 the final frontier

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

"The greatest enterprise of all is adventure."

When a renegade Vulcan captures the Federation, Klingon, and Romulan ambassadors on Nimbus III, the so-called "planet of galactic peace," it can only mean one thing: the vacation is over. Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the new Starship Enterprise -A are pressed back into service to come to the rescue. But, when the Vulcan has a prior association with Spock, it allows him to seize control of the Enterprise and put it on course for the center of the galaxy where he and his followers believe they find the place from which creation sprung.

• 1.1 Prologue
• 1.2 Act One
• 1.3 Act Two
• 1.4 Act Three
• 2 Log entries
• 3 Memorable quotes
• 4.2 Characters
• 4.3 Merchandise gallery
• 5 Awards and honors
• 6 Apocrypha
• 7.1.1 Opening credits
• 7.1.2.1 Live Action Effects Unit
• 7.1.2.2 Model Unit
• 7.1.2.3 Optical Unit
• 7.1.2.4 Additional Optical Effects
• 7.2.1 Starfleet Galactic Memory Bank references
• 7.2.2 Meta references
• 7.2.3 Unreferenced material
• 7.3 Related topics
• 7.5 External links

Summary [ ]

Prologue [ ].

" You're a Vulcan! "

On the desert planet Nimbus III , a scavenger named J'onn is digging holes in a field. He stops digging and sees, emerging from the dust in the distance, a man riding towards him on a horse . Dismounting from the horse, this man has a strange power to cleanse people of their emotional "pain," which he uses to join the scavenger to his cause. " What is it you seek? " he asks. The man tells him he seeks what he seeks, what all men have sought since time itself began – the ultimate knowledge. To find it, he notes, they will need a starship . J'onn mentions that Nimbus III has no such vessels, but the mysterious man reveals he may have a way to bring one to them. When J'onn asks how he plans to accomplish this, the man throws back his hood, showing the scavenger his distinct pointed Vulcan ears . He then begins laughing.

Act One [ ]

Just hanging around

The recently- demoted Captain James T. Kirk is back on Earth , spending his shore leave free climbing El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in North America. Halfway up he is greeted by Spock , who has followed him wearing levitation boots . Dr. McCoy is watching with binoculars from a safe distance while cursing Kirk's "irresponsibility" for climbing the mountain. In a moment of distraction, Kirk falls off of El Capitan. Spock dives after him. After a terrifying moment for the captain, he's snatched from certain death by Spock who catches him by grabbing his ankle only mere centimeters from the ground.

Spock saves Kirk at the last minute

Out in the galaxy , three ambassadors from the United Federation of Planets , Romulan Star Empire , and Klingon Empire meet alone in Paradise City on Nimbus III for a private conference. The young Romulan ambassador, Caithlin Dar , rides into Paradise City on a horse, and expresses optimism in Nimbus III, which had been billed as "The Planet of Galactic Peace" at its founding twenty years before . However, the Human and Klingon ambassadors, St. John Talbot and General Korrd , are much more jaded and cynical, and point out that it has rapidly devolved to a barren wasteland rife with corruption and debauchery. Talbot points out that they had forbade weapons, but the settlers began to fashion their own projectile weapons . Korrd, in particular, is a decorated and respected Klingon general who fell out of favor with the Klingon High Command, and has become a bitter, apathetic drunk.

Dar and Talbot taken hostage

Their meeting is interrupted when the city compound is overrun by fanatical followers of the Vulcan who informs the ambassadors that they are his hostages. Caithlin Dar defiantly tells the Vulcan that she doesn't know who he is or what he wants but assures him that their three respective governments will stop at nothing to ensure their safety. The Vulcan retorts " That's exactly what I'm counting on. "

Sitting in the Spacedock One , undergoing repairs and refits, the new USS Enterprise -A sits lifelessly under the care of Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott , who notes in the shakedown cruise report that the new Enterprise must have been the product of a team of monkeys – while the warp drive is up to Scott's exacting standards, he laments that half the doors on the ship won't open and that it's his responsibility to repair them, among other disabled systems aboard the ship, primary of which is the ship's transporter . As Scott repairs the helm/navigation console on the main bridge , Nyota Uhura arrives from a turbolift with his dinner – understanding that the extensive repair schedule will cancel their shared plans for shore leave. At that moment, the Enterprise 's mangled red alert system goes off and a voice from Starfleet announces to Scott and Uhura that they have a priority 7 situation at the Neutral Zone. Scott is incredulous that Starfleet would assign the mission to the Enterprise considering that the ship is currently "in pieces" and has less than a skeleton crew aboard. Uhura asks Starfleet if they are aware of the Enterprise 's current status. Starfleet acknowledges and tells Uhura to stand by to copy operational orders and to recall all key personnel.

" Admit it – we're lost! "

Uhura contacts Hikaru Sulu and Pavel Chekov , who are lost hiking in the woods. Chekov is grateful that they'll soon be rescued but warns Sulu not to tell Uhura that they got lost after she instructs them to return to a set of prearranged coordinates. Sulu and Chekov try to explain they're caught in a blizzard and can't see which way they're going. Uhura, monitoring the weather on the sensors, reads nothing but sunny skies and 70 degree Fahrenheit weather and assures them she won't tell anyone about their embarrassing situation as she sends a shuttlecraft to pick them up. " Uhura, I owe you one. Sulu out, " the Enterprise 's helmsman says as he flips shut his communicator .

Meanwhile, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are sitting around the campfire at Yosemite, where the three discuss their time together and philosophize about life and death around a pot of whiskey -spiked baked beans , roasting " marsh melons ," and singing " Row, Row, Row Your Boat ", although Spock cannot grasp the meaning of the words and thus declines to sing along. McCoy admonishes Kirk for risking his life on crazy stunts, such as falling off El Capitan earlier and McCoy wonders if it crossed Kirk's mind that he should have died when he fell off. Kirk admits it did – but, even as he fell, he knew he would not die. Spock does not understand. Kirk says that he knew he'd survive because the two of them were with him – " I've always known… I'll die alone. " After Kirk's revelation, McCoy offers that the three of them spend so much time together in space, getting on each other's nerves, yet spend their shore leave together. Kirk believes that while other people have families, they don't.

Out in space, the long-lost Earth probe Pioneer 10 is intercepted by a Klingon Bird-of-Prey commanded by the young Klingon warrior Klaa , who easily vaporizes the probe with his disruptors . Klaa tires of shooting space garbage, as he believes it is no test of a warrior's mettle, and wishes for a target that will fight back. The Klingons are soon notified about the hostage situation on Nimbus III as well, which piques Klaa's interest as it is obvious that the Federation will send a ship of their own to deal with the situation and sets his course for Nimbus III.

Back in action

Kirk, Spock, and McCoy's leave is interrupted when Uhura takes the Galileo down to their campsite in Yosemite since the Enterprise 's transporters are inoperative, waking up all three men with the Galileo 's bright landing lights . She informs Kirk of important orders from Starfleet Command . Kirk wonders why she didn't contact him via his communicator but she notes he conveniently forgot it. The Galileo eventually arrives in the Enterprise 's shuttlebay and the problems with the starship are immediately obvious to Kirk as the turbolift malfunctions en route to the bridge, a console shorts out and the viewscreen barely works. Chief of Starfleet Operations Fleet Admiral Bob eventually comes through and orders Kirk to Nimbus III and assess the hostage situation. Kirk tries to decline the mission due to the problems plaguing the ship and suggests another vessel nearby handle the situation. The admiral refuses on the grounds that while there may be other ships out there, none of their captains are as experienced as Jim Kirk. With an " oh, please " dismissal on his lips, Kirk signs off and orders the Enterprise to Nimbus III.

Ghost in the machine

Klaa and his crew discover that the Enterprise has been dispatched to Nimbus III as well. Klaa is well familiar with the Enterprise being Kirk's vessel and wonders what defeating Kirk in battle would do for his reputation. His first officer Vixis marvels that destroying the Enterprise and and defeating Kirk would make Klaa the greatest warrior in the galaxy. Klaa, originally hoping for an engagement with just any Federation starship, is now elated at his chance to fight Kirk and the Enterprise and orders maximum speed. The Enterprise , so plagued with technical problems that Kirk can't even record an entry in the captain's log recorder , finally receives a copy of the hostage tape sent from Nimbus III. In the tape, Dar, Talbot, and Korrd plead with the Federation to send a starship to parlay for their release at once, per the instructions of the leader of the Galactic Army of Light , the Vulcan who enters the frame and begins addressing the Federation. He claims to regret his desperate act and has no desire to harm the hostages but will do so if the Federation does not respond immediately. Spock, taken with the Vulcan, calls up a freeze frame of him on his science station 's monitor and regards it intently. Kirk wonders if Spock is familiar with him. Later, Spock is in solitude in the Enterprise 's observation lounge when Kirk and McCoy join him. Spock recounts for Kirk and McCoy a brief history of Sybok , a gifted Vulcan who at a young age broke with tradition and decided that emotion, not logic, was the key to self-knowledge. According to Spock, Sybok was banished from Vulcan when he attempted to lure other Vulcans to his worldview.

Act Two [ ]

" Imagine that, a passionate Vulcan! "

The Enterprise arrives first at Nimbus III. Paradise City demands to know their intentions but Kirk tells Uhura to respond with static and make them think they are having some difficulties – which is not far from the truth. Kirk tries to simply beam the hostages aboard but Scott tells him that the transporter is still inoperative. The captain realizes they'll have to go down and take them out by force. However, Spock detects the Bird-of-Prey entering the area leaving them 1.9 hours before their weapons come to bear. An assault team consisting of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Sulu, Uhura, and a detail of security personnel head down in the Galileo leaving Chekov in command of the Enterprise . Despite the primitive scanning equipment of the natives of Nimbus III, their sensors are nevertheless effective and it forces the Galileo to land significantly far away from the settlement.

Meanwhile, Chekov hails Paradise City from the Enterprise and poses as the ship's commanding officer with the intention of distracting the enemy from Kirk's actions. The Vulcan responds and is amused by Chekov's posturing, who orders him to release the hostages or suffer the consequences. Chekov, not backing down, informs the Vulcan that a Klingon vessel is on the way. The Vulcan, unmoved, replies that it's likely that they'll be fairly angry. Chekov tries to impress upon him that the Klingons are likely to destroy the whole planet but the Vulcan knows that a Federation starship would not stand idly by and let the Klingons do that. He then instructs Chekov and his first officer to beam down to his coordinates. Chekov tries to stall the Vulcan as Kirk and Spock realize that they don't have enough time to get to Paradise City on foot. The captain notices a stable of horses through his binoculars and has Uhura perform a seductive dance (with a team of armed security guards out of sight) to distract the wranglers while the assault team steals the horses. The ploy works and the assault team rides into Paradise City. Under the cover of nightfall and covered in cloaks, the assault team looks no different than the wranglers. J'onn believes them to be their lookout party and allows them access to Paradise City. However, J'onn soon becomes suspicious as Spock locates the hostages on his tricorder . The Galactic Army of Light begins to open fire on the assault team with their primitive weapons, but they respond with their Starfleet-issue phasers . The Vulcan becomes aware of the commotion outside and Chekov orders him to surrender at once as he is under attack by superior Federation forces. The Vulcan is incensed as bloodshed is the last thing he wanted. Chekov tries to reason with him but he flees. Kirk fights hand to hand with the Galactic Army of Light's warriors and the fight continues. With a clear entrance into the bar where the hostages are being held, Kirk orders Uhura to bring the Galileo down so they can make a quick escape and goes for the captives. After a brief struggle with an exotic alien dancer, Kirk and Spock free the hostages. However, Korrd and Dar turn their weapons on them and hold Kirk and Spock hostage instead.

Outside the bar, the Galactic Army of Light has also captured the Galileo , Uhura, Sulu, McCoy, and the rest of the security detail. As they loudly cheer their victory, the Vulcan suddenly recognizes Spock among the group and joyfully reveals that he is, in fact, Sybok. However, Spock is not cheered by the apparent reunion and informs Sybok that he is under arrest for seventeen violations of the Neutral Zone Treaty . Sybok and the others laugh at the notion – they clearly have the Enterprise team outnumbered. Spock offers Sybok leniency if he surrenders, but Sybok jovially announces he can't surrender as he isn't through violating the treaty and intends for his next crime to be the theft of something " very big " – the Enterprise herself. Kirk finally speaks up and indignantly inquires if Sybok has staged this entire affair just to get his hands on his ship. Sybok, equally indignantly, wonders who Kirk even is. He clarifies that he is the captain of the Enterprise . Sybok realizes that Chekov had been deceiving him and applauds Kirk's clever tactics but moves on and asks Spock if he would like to join him. Kirk is also curious as to what Spock will say but Spock simply states that he is a Starfleet officer. Sybok understands and states he will just take the Enterprise without Spock's help.

Unaware of the serious situation on the planet's surface, Chekov and Scott are faced with another serious situation – the Klingon vessel is closing on their position. Klaa orders their cloaking device engaged in preparation for their attack on the Enterprise . Scott notes the loss of the Bird-of-Prey on sensors and deduces they must have cloaked. Chekov, knowing his first responsibility is to the ship, orders Scott to raise shields . Scott protests that the shuttlecraft is coming up from the surface but Chekov firmly repeats his order and follows it up with an order to go to red alert . Scott obliges and the Enterprise prepares for battle. The Galileo approaches the Enterprise and while Kirk retains his command of his officers, Sybok and his followers have them all under their command. Talbot informs them that once they have seized control of the Enterprise , they will bring up the rest of the Galactic Army of Light. Kirk, in an untenable position, laments that with the Klingons on their way, they will be lucky to even get back to the ship at all.

" Stand by to execute Emergency Landing Plan… B. "

Chekov hails the Galileo , informs them of the situation and recommends they find a safe harbor until the situation is secured. However, Sybok refuses and orders Kirk to bring them aboard. Kirk desperately tries to explain to Sybok that in order to dock the Galileo , the Enterprise will be vulnerable to a Klingon attack as her shields must be down for at least fifteen seconds to enter the shuttlebay. Korrd tells Sybok that Kirk is speaking the truth but Sybok refuses to return to Nimbus III. He allows Kirk to take whatever action is necessary in order to get the Galileo aboard. Kirk tells Chekov that they cannot return to the planet and cryptically tells him to stand by in executing "Emergency Landing Plan B." Chekov and Scott have no idea what Kirk is talking about but get the general idea when Kirk says that "B" stands for "barricade." Kirk intends to forgo the tractor beam and fly the shuttlecraft in manually in order to minimize the time the Enterprise 's shields will be down. Klaa, meanwhile, has been monitoring the communications channel and realizes that Kirk is on the shuttle and alters his attack course to bear down on the Galileo . The Enterprise lowers her shields just as the Bird-of-Prey decloaks. Sulu engages the shuttle's thrusters and makes a hasty course for the shuttlebay. With no tractor beam, the shuttlecraft blasts into the bay, throwing its occupants to the deck and knocking out its systems. The barricade in the shuttlebay flies up to contain the craft before it crashes through the wall and decompresses additional compartments of the ship. The Bird-of-Prey fires at the Enterprise , but Chekov orders immediate warp speed and she streaks away just as the torpedo misses. Klaa is enraged but impressed at Kirk's cunning and orders his officers to track the Enterprise 's course.

" Warp speed now! "

In the Galileo , the Starfleet officers and the outlaws are in various states of unconsciousness from the crash. Sybok recovers as Kirk does and both note a projectile weapon on the deck. They struggle for it but Sybok gets the upper hand and orders Kirk to change course at once. The captain agrees to take Sybok to the bridge but tries to get the weapon away from Sybok as they disembark from the shuttle. The Vulcan easily outmatches Kirk in physical strength and grabs him in a choke hold. Kirk is able to get the weapon away from him and it slides across the deck to the feet of Spock, who picks it up and orders Sybok to surrender. Sybok refuses and bluntly tells Spock he must kill him. Kirk bellows for Spock to " SHOOT HIM! " but Spock cannot and the weapon is confiscated by Sybok, who is relieved as he thought Spock might have actually done it. J'onn takes an injured Dr. McCoy and Kirk to the brig as Sybok asks Spock to accompany him to the bridge but again Spock refuses. Sybok tells him he has no choice but to join his friends in confinement. Korrd, Dar, and Talbot escort Sulu and Uhura out of the Galileo as Sybok requests a moment alone with them in order to release their pain as he had done to the others. From the observation deck , a disturbed Scott watches as the Galactic Army of Light pour out of the Galileo and out to the rest of the ship and goes into hiding.

In the brig, Kirk is cursing Spock for betraying the entire crew. Spock says it's worse than that – he's betrayed Kirk and does not expect the captain to forgive him. Kirk simply cannot believe it – why wouldn't Spock defend his ship and follow orders and just pull the trigger on the weapon he had on Sybok? Spock claims he could not because Kirk ordered him to kill his brother. Kirk is incredulous and claims he knows for a fact that Spock does not have a brother. Spock agrees that Kirk is technically correct – he has a half -brother . Dr. McCoy tries to make sense of it all – that Spock and Sybok have the same father but different mothers. Spock says that Sybok's mother was a Vulcan princess and upon her death, Sybok and he were raised as brothers. Kirk can't believe Spock never mentioned any of this to them before and Spock apologizes for it. Kirk is fuming but McCoy tells him to stop berating Spock as he could no more kill Sybok than he could kill Kirk. More to the point, they have bigger problems to deal with like escaping from the brig. " I'll say one thing, Spock. You never cease to amaze me, " McCoy says. " Nor I myself, " Spock responds. Kirk, sitting on the brig's toilet , shakes his head.

Sybok assumes command

On the bridge, Sulu and Uhura enter with several of Sybok's followers. Chekov wonders where Kirk is but Uhura tells him not to worry about it – Sybok will explain everything. As Sybok's followers begin to take up positions on the bridge, Sulu begins entering commands into the navigation console. Chekov demands to know what he's doing and Sulu answers that he is plotting their new course. Chekov is incredulous as Sulu has no authority to take that action. Sybok arrives on the bridge as Chekov demands an explanation. All Sulu will say is that Chekov simply has to listen to Sybok. The Vulcan tells Chekov that he won't force him into anything but encourages him to share his pain with Sybok as all the others have and gain strength from it. As a result, Chekov can't help but be taken into Sybok's cause like the rest. In the brig, several efforts to escape prove fruitless as Spock has personally tested the new design of the brig and found it to be "escape-proof." Back on the bridge, Sybok has fully assumed command of the Enterprise as they proceed on their new course at warp 7. As they are now underway, Sybok announces his intentions to the rest of the ship. Via the ship's intercom and computer terminals, Sybok asks the crew of the Enterprise to consider the questions of existence – the same questions that man himself has considered ever since he looked up at the stars and dreamed. They dreamed about a place where questions of existence would be answered. Although modern dogma says that place is a myth, Sybok believes it exists and has taken the Enterprise with the intent of making the greatest discovery of all time – the discovery of Sha Ka Ree , which lies beyond the Great Barrier at the center of the galaxy .

Kirk, Spock, and McCoy watch from the brig. Kirk is alarmed as the center of the galaxy cannot be reached – no ship has ever entered the Great Barrier and no probe has ever returned. Suddenly, a mysterious tapping sound is heard coming from the wall of the brig. Kirk and Spock immediately recognize it as Morse code – the taps spelling out the letters: "S," "T," "A," N," "D," "B," "A," C," "K." As they realize what the message wants them to do, the wall explodes outwards and Scott, from the other side, chides them for not recognizing a jail break when they see one. Sybok, Sulu, J'onn, and some followers enter the brig – Sybok still intent on converting Kirk, Spock, and McCoy to join his cause but realizes they have escaped. He orders Sulu and J'onn to find them. Decks below, Scott tells Kirk that the crew is sympathetic to Sybok and they cannot be trusted now. Spock reminds Kirk of the emergency communications transmitter in the observation lounge but they cannot easily access it as it is in the forward section of the ship, far and away from their current position near the bottom of the secondary hull . Scott tells them they may be able to avoid the search parties if they get there by accessing turboshaft 3 as it is closed for repairs, but warns it's a long and dangerous climb. Kirk tells Scott to finish repairing the transporter because they'll need it if they can contact a rescue ship and head for the turboshaft. As they depart, Scott inadvertently smacks his head off a low-clearance bulkhead and falls unconscious just as the red alert goes off – the search parties consisting of Sybok's followers mobilize to find Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. Sulu and J'onn quickly find Scott's unconscious body and rush him to sickbay . As the trio begin their climb, Spock immediately makes a quick and quiet exit – he realizes that using the levitation boots will be much faster than climbing up all those decks. Kirk and McCoy join him, but their added weight is too much for the boots and they begin to descend back to the bottom of the turboshaft where Sulu and a contingent of Sybok's followers have found them. Kirk orders Spock to use the booster rockets on the boots but Spock warns against it. Kirk is insistent and Spock obliges, but the boosters propel them upward at an incredible rate, nearly right into the top of the shaft. Nevertheless, they exit the shaft and head for the observation lounge.

From the lounge, Kirk sends out a distress call on the emergency channel . Starfleet Command responds, and Kirk informs them that they've been hijacked by a hostile force that has put them on a direct course for the Great Barrier and they require immediate assistance. However, the responding voice is not in fact Starfleet Command, it is Vixis aboard the Bird-of-Prey, impersonating a Starfleet officer. After Kirk signs off, Klaa orders them into the Great Barrier as well with the intent of following Kirk wherever he goes. As the three exit the lounge, they are intercepted by Sybok and his armed followers, who trusts that their message has been received. Kirk claims that he can't expect them to sit by and let Sybok take the Enterprise into the Great Barrier. Sybok claims that what Kirk really fears about the Great Barrier is that it is an unknown and cites numerous examples from Earth's history about similar fears – Christopher Columbus proving the Earth was round, Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier , and Zefram Cochrane achieving warp speed. Sybok desperately wants Kirk's respect and understanding and challenges the captain to hear him out. Meanwhile, in sickbay, Scott has recovered and returns to work on repairing the transporter.

McCoy releases his pain

Sybok continues to speak of Sha Ka Ree to Kirk, Spock, and McCoy – that it is Heaven , an Eden . The Klingons, Romulans, and Andorians all have different names for it but they all have a shared concept of it. For the Enterprise , that concept will soon be a reality. Kirk is less than convinced, however – the only reality he knows is that he is a prisoner aboard his own ship and challenges Sybok about the power he has over the minds of his crew. Sybok retorts that he doesn't control minds – he frees them. McCoy, a bit more inquisitive, wonders how this is accomplished. Sybok explains that he forces people to face their pain and draw strength from it. Once that's the done, he continues, fear cannot stop you. McCoy is less than convinced and compares it to brainwashing . Sybok begins to peer into McCoy's pain, claiming it runs the deepest of the three of them – he can feel it, surely McCoy can. An apparition begins to appear in the corner of the room – an elderly man in a bed, sick and dying, calling out to him. McCoy approaches it and discovers that it is his father, David . McCoy begs Sybok not to put him through this memory but Sybok continues. David weakly begs his son to help him – the pain of the disease that is afflicting him is too much to bear and he wishes to be released . McCoy turns to Sybok and laments that with all his medical knowledge, he can't save his father. Sybok whispers to McCoy that's he's a doctor – he should know the reality of that life. McCoy responds that he's also his father's son and deactivates the life support system sustaining him. He watches as his father dies before his eyes. Sybok questions why McCoy did it, who responds that he did it to preserve his father's dignity. But Sybok knows that the act itself wasn't the pain the McCoy carried with him all these years. McCoy admits that it wasn't – the real sorrow was that not long after he euthanized his father, a cure to the disease was found – had he not killed him, he might have lived. McCoy doesn't know if he did the right thing or not and hasn't been able to answer that question all this time. His pain has been released.

Sybok next turns his attention to Spock, claiming each person's pain is unique. Spock claims to hide no pain but Sybok doesn't believe him. Spock allows Sybok to proceed and another apparition appears. The image of Amanda Grayson giving birth to Spock on Vulcan appears. As Spock is born, the midwife presents the child to Sarek, who coldly regards the infant and dismisses him as being "so Human." Kirk regards Spock who is disquieted by the experience. Sybok claims he has done nothing to either Spock or McCoy and wonders if Kirk knew this about either of them. Kirk claims he did not. Sybok offers to help Kirk learn something about himself but the captain refuses. McCoy tries to tell Kirk to be a bit more open-minded about what Sybok is proposing but Kirk can't believe any of it. He knows what his mistakes are and doesn't need Sybok to point them out to him. McCoy tries to tell Kirk that Sybok took away his pain, but Kirk tries to tell him that being a doctor he should know better than anyone that pain can't be taken away with the wave of a magic wand – the good and bad experiences in one's life are what make us who we are. If one loses that, they lose themselves. Kirk is adamant that he doesn't want his pain taken away, he needs it. At that moment, Uhura's voice comes over the intercom, informing them that the Enterprise is in approach of the Great Barrier. Sybok regrets he couldn't help Kirk but believes he has swayed Spock and McCoy to his cause and asks them to join him on the bridge. McCoy agrees to go but Spock still refuses to join – he belongs right where he is, which is by Kirk's side. Sybok doesn't understand but Spock explains that while Sybok is his brother, he does not know Spock. Since the time he was an outcast boy on Vulcan until now, Spock has found himself and his place and knows who he is and he cannot go with Sybok. This rings true to McCoy, who chooses to stay with Kirk and Spock. Sybok, with a smile, allows them to remain. Kirk is still unconvinced that the Enterprise will survive the trip through the Great Barrier. Sybok challenges Kirk to be convinced that his vision was true if they do survive. Sybok claims his vision came from God , who waits for the Enterprise on the other side of the Great Barrier. Kirk cannot believe his ears and claims that Sybok is mad . Sybok, allowing the possibility to exist, says that they will see.

Act Three [ ]

" Amazing. The land… the sky… just as I knew it would be. "

The Enterprise bears down on the Great Barrier. The bridge crew, along with the three ambassadors, Sybok, and his followers, are awestruck by the swirling vortex of blue and green colored electrical energy discharging before them on the viewscreen. Sulu ominously reminds Sybok that it's been said that no ship can survive the Great Barrier but Sybok disagrees – the danger is an illusion. Chekov cannot get any sensor readings on the phenomena – is it there or isn't it? Sybok is convinced it isn't and orders Sulu to enter the Barrier. The Enterprise engages her impulse engines and breaches the barrier. The journey through is not as dangerous as had been predicted as the starship rather easily completes the journey. As the distortion clears, a planetoid appears through the mist, which looks to be made of pure energy. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy watch from the observation lounge and are awestruck, as is the rest of the crew. Sybok is overjoyed – he believes this planet is Sha Ka Ree. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy return to the bridge. Sybok says the ship needs its captain and returns command to Kirk with no conditions as he believes that even though Kirk didn't believe Sybok before, what they have discovered would seem to indicate he was right and Kirk won't refuse to investigate it. His assumption is correct and Kirk agrees to take a landing party down to the planet via a shuttlecraft and asks that the rest of Sybok's followers remain aboard until he has determined exactly what they have found. " Well, don't just stand there. God's a busy man, " he says just prior to entering the turbolift.

" What does God need with a starship? "

The shuttlecraft Copernicus heads down to the planet carrying Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Sybok. As they descend, Spock discovers that some external force has taken control of the shuttlecraft and lands it for them. Kirk wants to bring a phaser along with him but Sybok recommends he leaves it behind. Kirk agrees and the four make their way down a mountain range. As the crew watches in amazement from the bridge, no one notices on the sensors that Klaa's Bird-of-Prey has entered into sensor range. Sybok calls out to whatever force might be on the planet, saying that they have traveled far but gets no response. With nothing apparently there, Spock attempts to console Sybok but the ground begins to shake. Large pillars explode out of the ground to form a large amphitheater-like enclosure and the sky turns completely dark. As the four move in to investigate, a magnificent blue pillar of light bursts from within the enclosure, far up into the sky and outstretching past the Enterprise in orbit. A booming voice calls out to them. McCoy wonders if it is the voice of God and indeed, a face appears that claims to suit the expectation of such an entity.

The face of God?

The Sha Ka Ree entity in the guise of Sybok

" Why is God angry? "

Sybok is convinced and vindicated. The entity claims that the journey to reach him could not have been an easy one. Sybok agrees that it wasn't – it took a starship to breach the Great Barrier. The entity wonders if this starship could carry his wisdom beyond the barrier. Sybok agrees that it could and the entity makes claim to the Enterprise . Sybok jubilantly calls the vessel his chariot. Kirk, however, is less than convinced. Why would God need a starship? The entity continues to boast what it will do with the Enterprise but Kirk presses on and repeats his question. The entity asks who Kirk is. Again, Kirk is incredulous – wouldn't it know if it really were God? Sybok tells the entity that Kirk simply has his doubts. The entity is outraged that Kirk would have the audacity to doubt it. Kirk simply states he seeks proof but McCoy cautions Kirk not to ask "the Almighty" for identification. The entity answers all of Kirk's questions by blasting him backwards with an electrical charge emanating from its "eyes". Kirk, almost mockingly, asks why "God" is angry? Sybok cannot believe that he would attack Kirk like this. Spock presses Kirk's issue on as the entity has not answered anything and repeats the question – "what does God need with a starship?" The entity attacks Spock as it did Kirk. It then turns its attention to McCoy and dares him to doubt it as well. McCoy claims he would doubt any god who would inflict pain for his own pleasure. Sybok claims to the entity that the God of Sha Ka Ree would not do such things. The entity mocks Sybok's vision of Sha Ka Ree as a vision that Sybok created himself and morphs itself into an image of Sybok and demands that he give him the Enterprise or he will destroy all four of them. It is now apparent that the this is not the God of Sha Ka Ree, Spock says, or any other god but merely a malevolent life form imprisoned on this planet behind the Great Barrier and it needs the Enterprise to escape.

" You must save yourselves. Forgive me, brother. Forgive me. "

Sybok confronts "God"

Sybok turns to Spock and cannot believe any of it. He claims his own vanity and arrogance created this situation and now he must do what he has to do to ensure that Spock, Kirk, and McCoy are protected from the entity. He begs Spock to forgive him and holds up his hand in the Vulcan salute . Spock returns it as Sybok asks the entity about his pain. The entity is caught off-guard by the question. Sybok claims it runs deep and attacks the entity. As they struggle, Kirk, on his communicator, orders Sulu and Chekov on board the Enterprise to fire a photon torpedo at the encompassing entity. Chekov protests as Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are too close but Kirk tells him to fire immediately. The Enterprise opens fire and the torpedo obliterates the amphitheater. Spock laments that Sybok has been lost in the blast, but the entity has not been completely destroyed. Kirk and the others make a hasty escape back to the Copernicus but Spock finds that the thrusters have been rendered inoperative as the entity then violently shakes the shuttlecraft. Kirk flips open his communicator and begs with Scott to tell him that he has finally repaired the transporter. Scott replies that it has partial power and might be able to beam up two of them. Kirk tells Scott to bring up Spock and McCoy, the latter of which protests all the way up. Back aboard, Spock instructs Scott to now bring up the captain, but before he can, Klaa's Bird-of-Prey opens fire on the unshielded Enterprise , severely damaging her. Kirk now finds himself face to face with the entity, who has manifested itself in the cockpit of the Copernicus . The captain takes off running with the entity in pursuit.

Spock and McCoy return to the bridge, which is in a state of disarray. Klaa hails them and claims he hasn't destroyed them yet because he has come for James T. Kirk and promises to spare the lives of the crew if Kirk is handed over. Spock claims that Captain Kirk is not among them, he is on the planet below. Klaa wants his coordinates but Spock has a better idea. He asks General Korrd for his assistance as he is Klaa's superior officer. Korrd is skeptical about what good he can do as, while he might have been a great military leader at one time, he is now a "foolish old man." Spock implores Korrd to at least try and rehails Captain Klaa, stating that someone wishes to speak with him.

" So, it's me you want, you Klingon bastards?! "

On the surface of the planet, Kirk is pursued by the entity. With nowhere to hide from it, Kirk stares down his impending death as the entity closes in for the kill when Klaa's Bird-of-Prey closes in and destroys it with a thunderous blast from its disruptors. Kirk realizes that the Klingons have come for him as they target their disruptors in his direction next, but is surprised when they instead beam him aboard. The captain is escorted to the bridge where, to his great surprise, General Koord has ordered Captain Klaa to apologize to Kirk – the attack on the Enterprise was not authorized by the Klingon Empire. Koord entreats Kirk to meet the new gunner of the Bird-of-Prey. From the gunnery chair, Spock spins around and welcomes Kirk aboard – it was Spock who saved Kirk's life from the entity. Kirk tells him that he thought he was going to die, echoing their earlier conversation around the campfire. Spock, likewise, tells him that it was impossible as the captain was never alone. Kirk, feeling like he wants to hug Spock, moves to do so but Spock advises against it – not in front of the Klingons.

Comrades in arms

Aboard the Enterprise , the Starfleet crew hosts a reception in the observation lounge for the Galactic Army of Light, the three ambassadors and Klaa's crew, reflecting on their voyage to the center of the galaxy. Even Klaa himself offers a sign of respect to Captain Kirk, one warrior to another, which Kirk reciprocates. As McCoy and Spock speculate on whether or not God is actually out there, Kirk postulates that while God might not be out in space, perhaps he goes with them wherever they are in the Human heart. As Spock mourns the death of his brother, Kirk comforts him by relating that he once lost a brother. While McCoy may have thought he was referring to his late brother George Samuel Kirk , the captain adds that he was lucky enough to get that brother back, implying Spock, instead. McCoy challenges Kirk's earlier claim at the campfire that "men like us don't have families," but, Kirk concedes that he was wrong – that both Spock and McCoy are his family, and the three of them resume their trip in Yosemite, this time with Spock singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and playing the song on his Vulcan harp .

Log entries [ ]

Memorable quotes [ ].

" Each man hides a secret pain. It must be exposed and reckoned with. It must be dragged from the darkness and forced into the light. "

" 'You'll have a great time, Bones. You'll enjoy your shore leave. You'll be able to relax.' You call this relaxing? I'm a nervous wreck. If I'm not careful I might end up talking to myself. "

" Captain, I do not think you realize the gravity of your situation. " " On the contrary, gravity is the foremost on my mind! "

" Goddamn irresponsible! Playing games with life! "

" Mind if we drop in for dinner? "

" Borgus frat! 'Let's see what she's got,' said the captain. And then we found out, didn't we?! "

" You really piss me off, Jim! Human life is far too precious to risk on crazy stunts! "

" I've always known I'll die alone. "

" It's a song, you green-blooded… Vulcan. You sing it. The words aren't important. What's important is that you have a good time singing it. " " Oh, I am sorry, doctor. Were we having a good time? " " God, I liked him better before he died! "

" Captain. " " Spock, we're on leave. You can call me Jim. " " Jim. " " Yes, Spock? " " Life is not a dream. " " Go to sleep, Spock. " " Yes, captain. "

" You told me you could get this ship running in two weeks. I gave you three! What happened? " " I think you gave me too much time, captain. "

" I could use a shower. " " Yes. "

" Jim, if you ask me – and you haven't – I think this is a bad idea. We're bound to bump into the Klingons, and they don't exactly like you. " " The feeling's mutual. "

" We'll beat those Klingon devils even if I have to get out and push. "

" I miss my old chair. "

" Imagine that. A passionate Vulcan. "

" Hello, boys. I've always wanted to play to a captive audience. "

" Be one with the horse! "

" Forgive you? I ought to knock you on your goddamn ass! " " If you think it would help. " " You want me to hold him, Jim? "

" I'll say one thing, Spock. You never cease to amaze me. " " Nor I, myself. "

" This person didn't by chance have pointed ears and an unending capacity for getting his shipmates into trouble, did he? " " He did have pointed ears. "

" Spock, my only concern is getting the ship back. When that's done and Sybok isn't here, then you can debate Sha Ka Ree until you're green in the face. "

" What are you standing around for?! Do you not know a jailbreak when you see one?! "

" I know this ship like I know the back of my hand. "

" I'm afraid of nothing. "

" I don't control minds. I free them. "

" I don't want my pain taken away. I need my pain! "

" You are mad. " " Am I? We'll see… "

" Are we dreaming? " " If we are, then life is a dream. "

" Is this the voice of God? " " One voice, many faces. "

" Who is this creature? " " Who am I? Don't you know? Aren't you God? "

" Jim, you don't ask the Almighty for his ID! "

" You have not answered his question! What does God need with a starship? "

" Do you doubt me? " " I doubt any god who inflicts pain for his own pleasure. "

" Stop! The god of Sha Ka Ree would not do this!! " " Sha Ka Ree?! A vision you created. An eternity I've been imprisoned in this place! The ship. I must have the ship! Now… give me what I want! "

" What's wrong? Don't you like this face? I have so many, but this one suits you best. "

" I couldn't help but notice your pain. " " My pain? " " It runs deep. Share it with me! "

" General, I require your assistance. " "My assistance? " " You are his superior officer. " " I am a foolish old man. " " Damn you, sir! You will try! "

" I thought I was going to die. " " Not possible. You were never alone. "

" Please, captain. Not in front of the Klingons. "

" Cosmic thoughts, gentlemen? " " We were, speculating… is God really out there? " " Maybe He's not out there, Bones. Maybe He's right here… the Human heart. "

" I was thinking of Sybok. I have lost a brother. " " Yes. I lost a brother once . But I was lucky, I got him back . "

Background information [ ]

• Co-Writer and Director William Shatner once remarked that he initially intended this movie to be written by thriller and fantasy author Eric Van Lustbader . " My biggest failure [in the making of the film] was I had read some books by Eric Van Lustbader, who had written some wonderful novels about an American in Japan and how out of place he felt. I thought, 'God, that'd be perfect for a Spock movie.' I went to see him and we walked the streets of New York pondering the plot of Star Trek , " Shatner recalled. " He was a fan. I thought, 'God, I've got a bestselling author ready to do a Star Trek .' And then they couldn't agree on the novel rights. So I lost him and my movie was going downhill before it even started. " ( 50 Years of Star Trek , p. 15)
• William Shatner stated in his memoir Star Trek Movie Memories (1995, pp. 278-279) that he came up with the story idea of the search for what turned out to be a false god, while he was watching the at-the-time controversial televangelist couple Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, on television. He became amazed and disgusted by the idea how such vulgar people had the audacity to purport they alone were the harbingers of God and had become rich from donations by their followers.
• Though Paramount Pictures President Frank Mancuso, Sr. was a religious man, he was sympathetic to Shatner's story outline and green-lit the production of the movie when Shatner pitched his story outline to him in person. ( Star Trek Movie Memories , 1995, p. 282)
• Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry had, since Star Trek: The Motion Picture , no formal creative say in the Star Trek films by that time, only the title of "Executive Consultant". All subsequent movies were vehemently resisted by Roddenberry, particularly The Final Frontier . Roddenerry went as far as to have his attorney Leonard Maizlish prepare legal procedures against Shatner. The legal action did not proceed. Roddenberry's position did not allow for this but Roddenberry declared the film "apocryphal". ( Star Trek FAQ 2.0 , chapter 13; Star Trek Movie Memories , 1995, pp. 283-284)
• The Final Frontier approximated Roddenberry's atheist worldview, and was reminiscent of his own 1975 unrealized movie script The God Thing , a reworked version of which became In Thy Image and then, reworked further, the script for The Motion Picture . Richard Arnold , who was working at Roddenberry's office at the time, was present when the first story outline of The Final Frontier was delivered to Roddenberry as an FYI, later explaining to Shatner why Roddenberry reacted as he did, " So when you came along, though it was years later, with very similar themes, Gene was really hurt. I think it hurt Gene's ego that you finally going to tell the story that he wanted to tell ten years earlier. You were about to succeed where he had failed. At the time, Gene's secretary, Susan was making matters worse by walking around the office stating things like 'I can't believe it! He stole your idea. Bill's an asshole. Bill's a bastard.' So that did not help, and additionally, I know there was a fairly legitimate concern on Gene's part that your sense of humor [in regard to the way the secondary cast was eventually portrayed in the movie] was a little different than had ever been visualized before. " While Susan Sackett's reaction might be construed as personally motivated, she actually had, in all fairness, a point; Shatner himself has related how he had stumbled upon Roddenberry ten years earlier when the latter was busy writing The God Thing , and was on that occasion given a beat-for-beat summary of the story. Some of this may have nestled in Shatner's subconscious. ( Star Trek Movie Memories , 1995, pp. 46-49, 289-291) Though Shatner had implied as much in his memoir, Arnold's remarks confirmed that Shatner had neither consulted nor communicated with Roddenberry even once, during the entire production of the movie.
• Co-Writer/Producer Harve Bennett , partly responsible for the three previous successful Star Trek movies, initially did not want to make the film as both his relationship with several key production staffers, in particular with Leonard Nimoy , had started to deteriorate with Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home . He was also fed up with Roddenberry's interloping. Shatner trusted Bennett, but had a hard time convincing him to come aboard. ( Star Trek Movie Memories , 1995, pp. 283-285)
• Star Trek V , released in June 1989, was the last Star Trek movie to be released in the summer months until 2009's Star Trek .
• Star Trek V was the first Star Trek production to be made in tandem with another ( Star Trek: The Next Generation , whose second season was in production during the filming) and one of only two productions to be made during that time period without any involvement from Rick Berman .
• Star Trek V has provoked controversy among fans. Many consider this movie to be the weakest Star Trek film ever made, although financially, the later Star Trek Nemesis performed even worse worldwide, though it was initially the number one film at the box-office on its first weekend of release and grossed a solid US$17 million. It ultimately earned over $52 million in the US and Canada plus over $17 million overseas. [1] It was not as successful as its predecessor, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , which had grossed US$109.7 million in North America alone. ( see also : Star Trek films: Performance summary )
• During the 1988 Writer's Guild of America strike, the film's pre-production and shooting schedule were severely trimmed.
• Paramount decided that Star Trek V would be as comedic as Star Trek IV .
• Star William Shatner made a deal with Paramount that if Star Trek IV was successful, he would be contracted to direct the next film, although according to Star Trek Movie Memories (1995, p. 244), both William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy had what Shatner referred to as "favored nation clauses", in their contracts meaning essentially that what one got, the other got. According to Shatner, it was Nimoy who put the idea of directing Star Trek V in his head during the production of Star Trek IV , telling Shatner that because of their favored nation status, he could successfully demand to direct the next film.
• There was public dissatisfaction with Star Trek: The Next Generation among fans at the time.
• Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) was not contracted to do the effects for the film, due to the unavailability of the company, with the job going to a lesser known company, Associates & Ferren . The result was poor quality, and in some cases, obviously unfinished special effects shots.
• Intense competition during the summer of 1989 with the release of a multitude of blockbusters, including the long awaited Tim Burton Batman film, Lethal Weapon 2 , Ghostbusters 2 , and Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (according to Harve Bennett in Star Trek Movie Memories – 1995, pp. 395-396).
• Principal photography began on 11 October 1988 and ended on 28 December of the same year. The first scene filmed was Harve Bennett's cameo as Rear Admiral " Bob ". Production began shooting at Yosemite National Park , then moved to the Mojave Desert , then back to Paramount Studios, where they filmed next door to Star Trek: The Next Generation . The last scenes filmed were the Kirk-Spock-McCoy trio's campfire singalongs. ( Star Trek V: The Final Frontier DVD special features)
• On 28 December, the last production day (only a few missing special effects shots were filmed that day), a press conference was held on the set to various newspaper, television, and radio reporters. Producers Harve Bennett and Ralph Winter, director William Shatner , and the entire Star Trek main cast participated, answering questions. ( Star Trek V: The Final Frontier DVD special features)
• The Star Trek V novelization also references and shows Sybok showing the crew how to radically adjust the deflector shields in order to be able to pass through the extreme radiation environment of the Great Barrier .
• Another oddity is the Enterprise 's trip to the center of the galaxy, which should have taken decades but seemed to occur in less than a day. In the novelization of Star Trek V , it is mentioned that Sybok's tinkering allows them to decrease their travel time. The Bird-of-Prey scans the Enterprise during their pursuit and is able to duplicate their rate of travel as well as Sybok's shield modifications allowing them to penetrate the Barrier.
• The film was the "winner" of the 1990 Razzie awards for "Worst Picture," "Worst Actor" (Shatner), and "Worst Director" (Shatner). It also received nominations for "Worst Picture of the Decade," "Worst Supporting Actor" (Kelley), and "Worst Screenplay" (Loughery, Shatner, and Bennett). In 2006, former Mystery Science Theater 3000 co-stars and writers Mike Nelson and Kevin Murphy mocked the film in a downloadable audio commentary track for Nelson's RiffTrax service.
• Because of its failure at the US box office, in some countries this film was not distributed in the theaters, but only on VHS.
• In the United Kingdom the film was released theatrically on 20 October 1989 . The Final Frontier was a modest success, opening at the top of the box office and earning £1,451,378 overall. [4]
• Some of the special effects in this movie are markedly different than those featured in previous Star Trek films. Among other changes, photon torpedoes have a different design and color (the torpedo from the Enterprise was a slightly recolored reuse of V'ger 's "whiplash bolt" from The Motion Picture , and a slightly different effect was used when going to warp speed. The release of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , however, marked a return to the effect designs that characterized earlier Trek films.
• ILM, the company which did the special effects for the previous three Star Trek films and TNG : " Encounter at Farpoint ", was unavailable because the company was working on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Ghostbusters II at the time. The result of this is the considerably cheaper-looking effects seen in the film.
• The sequence of "God" chasing Captain Kirk on the Sha Ka Ree planet was originally conceived to be much longer and extensive, but it had to be severely cut as a result of awful-looking special effects.
• In addition, some of the outer space shots are stock footage from the previous films. The shot of the Enterprise in spacedock is from the end of The Voyage Home . Also, a few Klingon Bird-of-Prey shots are reused from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock . The spiraling starfield during Kirk's unfinished log entry is lifted from the opening titles of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan .
• William Shatner's first outline for this film was entitled "An Act of Love" and, according to William Shatner's Star Trek Movie Memories, would have been a much darker tale and would have seen the first true falling out between Kirk and Spock and McCoy. Also, Spock and McCoy would also have joined with Sybok, leaving Kirk alone. This was changed when Nimoy absolutely refused to play that, stating that there was no chance whatsoever that Spock would ever turn on Kirk, especially after what Kirk risked and sacrificed for Spock in Star Trek III . Director Shatner talked to Nimoy, attempting to change his mind, but Nimoy was firm in believing that pain or no pain, brother or no brother, Spock would not betray Captain Kirk. Shatner eventually conceded and had the script adjusted. In the book, Shatner comments that he was aware there was no chance he could know Spock as well as Nimoy would and he certainly couldn't force Nimoy to play the part as written. According to Shatner, on the same day that Nimoy objected, DeForest Kelley also refused, believing that McCoy would not turn against Kirk either and Kelley was as adamant about it as Nimoy was. Shatner said that he didn't know and still doesn't know if changing the script was the right decision to make, but he also conceded that if someone else had come in and written a scenario where Kirk would turn against Spock and McCoy, he too, would "raise the roof" over it. Nevertheless, Shatner said he would still have loved to have seen and been able to play the original version of the scenario.
• The name "Sha Ka Ree" was taken from " Sean Connery ", the actor Star Trek producers originally wanted to play Sybok. Unfortunately, Connery was busy working on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade , and was unavailable to play the part. ( Star Trek Movie Memories 1995, p. 292)

The "Rock Man" in the deleted scene

• In the original script, Kirk was attacked by ten large "rockmen" emerging from the rock faces of Sha Ka Ree. Unfortunately, with an extremely limited budget (which was responsible for other "high budget" items being removed from the final script, as well as for the use of cheaper effects for the space scenes), only one animatronic " Rock Man ", portrayed by stuntman Tom Morga , was created. The single rockman was filmed attacking Kirk, but the scene was thought too poor to include in the film, although an extremely brief (a few frames) glimpse of the creature occurs in the final print during the scene where "God" fires energy blasts at Captain Kirk. Some test footage of the creature is available in the Special Edition two-disc DVD release. The idea did make it to theaters in the Star Trek parody Galaxy Quest . A few images of Morga as the rockman were later released in the special feature "Tom Morga: Alien Stuntman" on the 2009 box release Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection (DVD) .
• Closeups of the El Capitan climbing scenes were filmed on a fake wall made of fiberglass. The real mountain can be seen at distance.
• Closeups of Kirk's fall were actually shot horizontally, then flipped so that they appeared vertical.
• When Kirk returns to the bridge of his ship for the first time, he is given his uniform jacket by a yeoman . The yeoman is played by Shatner's youngest daughter, actress Melanie Shatner , and had been credited for it as such. Incidentally, her two older sisters, Lisabeth and Leslie , had already had uncredited cameo appearances as two of the Only girls in Star Trek: The Original Series episode " Miri ". Upon the conclusion of the movie, daughter Lisabeth wrote a book on her father's experiences making the movie, Captain's Log: William Shatner's Personal Account of the Making of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier .
• Several deleted scenes are available on the Special Edition DVD, including one of Sulu and Chekov visiting the Mount Rushmore monument, with the added face of an African-American woman.
• The novelization has some additional dialogue about Spock and McCoy speculating that the great barrier might not have been meant to keep them out, but to keep "God" in, prompting Spock to say that they may have yet to reach the final frontier.
• As had been the case with Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , this film sports a rare instance of Trek product placement . Kirk and McCoy wear Levi's blue jeans for the first half-hour of the film, and Levi Strauss & Co. gets a credit at the end of the film.

Kraft Marshmallow Dispenser

• Spock makes an uncharacteristic mistake when he calls "marshmallows" by the name "marsh melons". The novelization shows that McCoy, knowing Spock would want to study what the ship had in the library computer about camping out before going out, paid a computer tech to change all references in the Enterprise computer about marshmallows to "marsh melons." The novel also includes characterizations of McCoy's and Kirk's reactions and McCoy having a silent laugh at Spock's error. In the final picture, McCoy simply stumbles over the pronunciation to continue the joke. Later, in the levitation boots scene on the Enterprise (mentioned below), Kirk again mentions "marsh melons", which some have thought to be the mistake, but is evidence he also recognized Spock's error. When they return to the camp site at the end of the novel, Spock has since then detected McCoy's activity and has had his misinformation corrected.
• The entire movie was filmed on such a tight schedule that many of the shots were set up in a matter of minutes, instead of hours.
• According to Shatner, the campfire scenes had to be shot in closer angles, because time and budget constraints prevented the production team from building the top of the trees on the set.
• The cloak with the numerous medals that Ambassador Korrd wore appeared again in Star Trek: The Next Generation as the cloak worn by the Klingon chancellor . The first chancellor to be seen, K'mpec (who first appeared in TNG : " Sins of The Father "), was also played by Charles Cooper .
• During location shooting, locals were hired to portray Sybok's "army" during his raid on Nimbus III . Because of the severe budget cuts and not enough number of these extras, many of them were re-used in different shots, running through the gates over and over again.
• One of Kirk's famous lines in this film is his prediction that he "will die alone." In the movie Star Trek Generations , Kirk dies after emerging from the Nexus in the 24th century . Although he dies apart from his closest friends (Spock and McCoy), Jean-Luc Picard is with him at his passing.
• Near the end of the film when Spock mentions that he lost his brother, Sybok, Kirk retorts, " Yes. I lost a brother once. I was lucky I got him back. " While Kirk's biological brother, George Samuel Kirk , died in TOS : " Operation -- Annihilate! ", he was clearly making a reference to Spock, who died in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and was resurrected in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock . (However, Spock and McCoy look visibly surprised when Kirk mentions having lost a brother, creating a potential continuity error as both were present when George died.) This is the second time that Kirk refers to Spock as his "brother". The first time occurred in TOS : " Whom Gods Destroy ". The Star Trek V: The Final Frontier comic book adaptation had Kirk say " I've lost two brothers, but I was lucky to get one of them back. "
• After the Bird-of-Prey destroys "God", Kirk says, " So, it's me you want you Klingon bastards? ", a reference to a scene in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock in which Kirk calls them the same thing after Kruge kills his son, David Marcus .
• Shatner originally wanted Sybok's horse to be a unicorn, adding a more "mythical" approach to the character, but Gene Roddenberry disapproved of it, saying that it would turn Star Trek into a space fantasy instead of science fiction. ( citation needed • edit )
• This is the first Star Trek movie not to be nominated for a Hugo Award for "Best Dramatic Presentation".
• In an interview for the book Captains' Logs , Harve Bennett blamed the movie's failure on Star Trek: The Next Generation .
• Shatner had been so impressed with Production Designer Herman Zimmerman 's work on The Next Generation , that he hired Zimmerman to upgrade the Enterprise interiors for the film. Hence, the upgraded bridge from the movie resembles the bright atmosphere portrayed in The Next Generation . Decades later Zimmerman later jokingly commented after seeing the film, considered so flawed by many, " After the show was over, I was pretty sure I would never do another! " ( The Art of Star Trek , p. 249; Star Trek: 45 Years of Designing the Future )
• The Enterprise -A corridors are from The Next Generation . Except for the turbolift, they were not changed for the movie.
• The Enterprise -A bridge is mostly a new set, except for the turbolifts, Sulu and Chekov's helm console, the handrails, and some of the platforms on which the portions of the bridge stood. According to the Collector's Edition DVD text commentary, a new bridge set was necessary due to the original movie bridge set being mostly damaged by a sudden windstorm while in temporary storage at the Paramount studio parking lot (other sources have the reason for the new bridge set's construction as being because it had been extensively modified for use on TNG to the point that it could not be converted back), and only those few pieces used on the Enterprise -A bridge were salvaged from the original set. Captain Kirk would thus seem to briefly break character when he muses, " I miss my old chair. " The decoration from the salvaged set was also used for the Stargazer bridge and for the battle bridge in TNG.
• Another all-new set was the forward observation lounge where several dramatic scenes take place. According to Michael Okuda , this room was located on the forward-center edge of the saucer section (much like Ten Forward on the Enterprise -D). However, when looking at the exterior of the Enterprise -A, there are no windows which match the location of this room. The plan was to update the filming miniature with the three larger windows, however time and budget constraints forced the producers to omit this change as it was believed they would be unnoticed due to their small size. ( citation needed • edit )
• Nichelle Nichols, an accomplished singer and dancer, provided an authentic performance of the "fan dance" routine in this film; she was outraged when her vocals in the scene were later overdubbed in editing without her approval.

Unreleased Star Trek V: The Final Frontier video game

• A Bandai Nintendo Entertainment System action game was slated to be released in 1989 along with the movie. The game was canceled following the failure of the film at the box office. A prototype has surfaced and is circling the net as a ROM. It is notable for its many basic spelling errors (example: at one point Scotty is named "Scotto") and lack of an ending (the game may have been incomplete at the time it was scrapped).
• This film marked the return of Jerry Goldsmith to the Star Trek franchise. He returned again to compose the music for Star Trek: First Contact , Star Trek: Insurrection , and Star Trek Nemesis , and to compose the theme for Star Trek: Voyager . An attempt was made to bring Goldsmith on to compose for Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country after James Horner turned it down. However, Goldsmith also refused, citing the poor results of Final Frontier .
• Among the items featured in this film which were sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay were a Starfleet Field Duty Commando division strip [5] and the stunt costume for David Richard Ellis . [6] The rock climbing costume worn by Shatner was also auctioned off. [7] The costume had "Boreal"-brand shoes.
• This is the only one of the first six Star Trek films not to feature any scenes based in and around Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco .
• The otherwise very Star Trek friendly magazine Cinefantastique has made no mention whatsoever of this production in their publications.
• A draft version of the film's script was submitted on 29 February 1988 . [8]
• This is the first Star Trek film to use the 1986-2002 Paramount Pictures logo.
• CBS aired its one and only Star Trek movie network TV premiere with Star Trek V: The Final Frontier on December 3, 1991, a good three days ahead of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country opening in cinemas nationwide.

Star Trek V continues the story of the previous film only a short time after its ending, where the Enterprise -A departs for its shakedown cruise. This film begins with the Enterprise back in spacedock and Scott filing in his shakedown cruise report. The previous film, Star Trek IV , is dated to 2286 , when Gillian from 1986 mentions that she has three hundred years of catching up to do, suggesting this film takes place in 2286, or at the latest in 2287 .

In the film, Caithlin Dar makes a reference that Nimbus III was established as a planet of galactic peace 20 years ago, when the Federation and the Klingon and Romulan Empires attempted unsuccessfully to usher into a new era of peace and co-operation. While not explicitly stated, these are references to the Organian Peace Treaty of 2267 at the end of " Errand of Mercy " and the Romulan-Klingon Alliance some time in or before 2268 based on references from " The Enterprise Incident " and " Reunion " These references give Star Trek V a timeframe from 2286 to 2288 .

In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode " Evolution " (broadcast as the third-season premiere), it is mentioned by Lt. Commander Data that " [there] has not been a systems-wide technological failure on a starship in seventy-nine years. " The episode was the very first filmed TNG installment to air following the June 1989 theatrical release of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (in September 1989), and this line of dialogue was very likely written by Michael Piller as a "nod" to the events of the most-recent movie, placing the events of the film in the year 2287 (seventy-nine years prior to the year 2366 ).

Another complicating factor is that the film itself makes it quite clear that it picks up just a few weeks after the events of Star Trek IV given how Kirk points out that Scotty said he could have the Enterprise ready in two weeks and Kirk gave him three. Additionally, we are told in Kirk's log entry at the start of Star Trek IV that the movie takes place three months after the end of Star Trek III which in turn picks up immediately where Star Trek II leaves off at. Kirk's birthday, which was celebrated in Star Trek II , was established as March 22 by an okudagram from ENT : " In a Mirror, Darkly, Part II ". Due to these factors, assuming Star Trek II takes place on March 22, 2285, Star Trek III is likely set in April 2285, Star Trek IV is likely set in July 2285, and Star Trek V is likely set in August 2285.

StarTrek.com , Star Trek Chronology , and Star Trek Encyclopedia , 3rd ed., p. 691 use the year 2287, or twenty years after the Organian Peace Treaty. Memory Alpha uses this year, as well.

Characters [ ]

During production of The Original Series , James Doohan took pains to conceal his right hand from the camera, due to it missing a finger as the result of an injury the actor suffered in the Second World War, and when close-ups of Scott's hands were required a body double was used. Thus, Scott canonically was not missing any fingers during the TOS timeframe. In this film, Doohan's injured hand is clearly visible in one scene, ( citation needed • edit ) establishing in canon that, at some point between TOS and Star Trek V , Scott lost a finger, for reasons as yet unrevealed.

Merchandise gallery [ ]

Awards and honors [ ]

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier received the following awards and honors.

Apocrypha [ ]

The novel The Fire and the Rose shows that as Spock began to regret undertaking the Kolinahr , that he remembered what Kirk had told Sybok about how the regrets and the pain one carries with them is part of what makes them who they are and it does help in Spock's decision to reverse the Kolinahr .

The Sha Ka Ree entity is identified in The Q Continuum trilogy as The One, a being that was drawn into this universe through the Guardian of Forever by the entity known as 0 , subsequently being defeated in a confrontation with the Q Continuum and locked away in the galactic center – having been reduced to only a head – until His repentance or the heat death of the universe, "whichever comes first."

Vonda McIntyre 's novelizations of Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan , Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home had Hikaru Sulu 's rank at captain (based on cut material from Star Trek II ) for sake of continuity within the novels. When J.M. Dillard wrote novelization of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier , she included a reference that Sulu had taken a temporary reduction in rank back down to commander in order to serve on the Enterprise , a decision which, when Kirk found out, made him furious at Sulu for not thinking of his own career first, and after giving Sulu hell about that decision, Kirk thanked him afterward.

According to the novel The Sorrows of Empire , McCoy's mirror universe counterpart was also responsible for his father's death, though under dramatically different circumstances: he tortured him to death on the orders of the Terran Empire .

The massively-multiplayer online video game Star Trek Online features Nimbus III as a location players can travel to, including Paradise City and its featured bar. There are other adventures players can partake in out in the neighboring desert wasteland, including one of the first introductions of the Elachi race to non-Romulan players.

Links and references [ ]

Credits [ ], opening credits [ ].

• William Shatner
• Leonard Nimoy
• DeForest Kelley
• James Doohan
• Walter Koenig
• Nichelle Nichols
• George Takei
• David Warner
• Laurence Luckinbill as Sybok
• Gene Roddenberry
• Jerry Goldsmith
• Nilo Rodis-Jamero
• Peter Berger , ACE
• Herman Zimmerman
• Andrew Laszlo , ASC
• Ralph Winter
• William Shatner & Harve Bennett & David Loughery
• David Loughery
• Harve Bennett

Closing credits [ ]

• Kirk – William Shatner
• Spock – Leonard Nimoy
• McCoy – DeForest Kelley
• Scotty – James Doohan
• Chekov – Walter Koenig
• Uhura – Nichelle Nichols
• Sulu – George Takei
• St. John Talbot – David Warner
• Sybok – Laurence Luckinbill
• Korrd – Charles Cooper
• Caithlin Dar – Cynthia Gouw
• Captain Klaa – Todd Bryant
• Vixis – Spice Williams
• J'onn – Rex Holman
• " God " – George Murdock
• Young Sarek – Jonathan Simpson
• High Priestess – Beverly Hart
• Pitchman – Steve Susskind
• Starfleet Chief of Staff – Harve Bennett
• Amanda – Cynthia Blaise
• McCoy's Father – Bill Quinn
• Yeoman – Melanie Shatner
• Glenn R. Wilder
• Don Pulford
• Greg Barnett
• David Burton
• David Richard Ellis (stunt double for Laurence Luckinbill )
• Linda Fetters ( Feline bar dancer )
• James M. Halty (stunt double for George Takei )
• Freddie Hice (stunt double for DeForest Kelley )
• Thomas Huff (stunt double for DeForest Kelley)
• Joyce L. McNeal
• Tom Morga ( Starfleet field security crewman / Rock Man ( deleted scene ))
• Frank Orsatti
• Air Randall
• Bruce Wayne Randall
• R.A. Rondell
• Tom Wetterman
• Scott Wilder ( Starfleet field security crewman )
• Douglas E. Wise
• Burt "Skip" Burnam
• George Fortmuller
• Brooke Breton
• Bill Shepard , CSA
• Bran Ferren
• Keith Peterman
• Phil Caplan
• Kenneth Nishino
• Dick Meinardus
• Dennis B. Seawright
• Jeffrey S. Thorin
• David Ronne , CAS
• John Schuyler
• Stewart D. McDonald, Jr.
• Michael L. Wood
• Mike Edmonson
• Dodie Shepard
• John D. Bronson
• Raymond A. Phelps
• Joseph R. Markham
• Donna Barrett Gilbert
• Hazel Catmull
• Kenny Myers
• Michael Mills
• Jan Alexander
• Edouard Henriques III
• Katalin Elek
• Rolf John Keppler
• Ellis Burman
• Marion Tumen
• Donald O. Nygren
• Richard Hartley
• Carmon H. Howell
• Burton Lindemoen
• Jon A. Falkengren
• John M. Dwyer
• Anthony Brockliss
• Sandy L. Veneziano
• Ronald R. Wilkinson
• Richard Frank McKenzie
• Andrew Neskoromny
• Antoinette Gordon
• Michael Okuda
• Cari Thomas
• Rick Sternbach
• Barton M. Susman
• Kurt V. Hulett
• Richard J. Bayard
• John Matheson
• Gary A. Clark
• James H. Betts
• Linda Miller
• Jeff McGrath
• Michael Mann
• Raymond A. McLaughlin
• Gaston Veilleux
• Corky Randall
• Thomas B. Jones
• Terry Erdmann
• Bruce Birmelin
• George C. Villaseñor
• John A. Haggar
• Christopher E. Bennett
• Reel People, Inc.
• Mark Mangini
• Alan Howarth
• Michael J. Benavente
• Warren Hamilton, Jr. , MPSE
• David A. Whittaker , MPSE
• Wayne Allwine , MPSE
• David Spence
• Ron Bartlett
• Solange Schwalbe Boisseau
• Kenneth Dufva
• Gregory J. Curda
• Andrew Patterson
• Bill Voigtlander
• Sonny Pettijohn
• Destiny Borden
• Angie Luckey
• Ken Johnson
• David Moreno
• Chris Jenkins
• Gary Alexander
• D.M. Hemphill
• Scott Austin
• Marc Okrand
• Arthur Morton
• Bruce Botnick
• Record Plant Scoring
• Valerie Mickaelian Kucera
• Tony Criscione
• Marie Elder
• Paul F. Schlichting
• Eva Marie Friedrick
• Mary Jo Fernandez
• Charlene Bergman
• Kimberly Boyle
• Rebeca R. Brookshire
• Susan Sackett
• Wendell Johnson
• Deborah L. Campbell
• James Collins
• Barbara Harris
• Denali Productions, Inc.
• Robert Carmichael
• Stephen J. Ross
• Susan McCrae
• Rob Sweeney
• Michael Weis
• John McCloud
• Bernie Pock
• Paul Sibley
• Werner Braun
• Jim Bridwell
• Bill Russell
• Sean Plunkett
• Steven Haire
• Nadim Melkonian
• Troy Johnson
• Walter Shipley
• Dean Miller
• Joe Valentine
• Bill Killey
• Bob Stradling
• Associates & Ferren
• Eric Angelson
• James Shelly
• Patricia Barry
• Susan Le Ber
• Susan Coursey

Live Action Effects Unit [ ]

• Frost Wilkinson
• Phil Gosiewski
• Bruce Vaughn
• Phil Cullum
• Paul Jordan
• Seth Nathanson
• Bob Francis
• Miles Ambrose
• Otto Leichliter
• Ron Webster
• Chester Hartwell
• Kinnereth Ellentuck
• Alan D. Webb

Model Unit [ ]

• Peter Wallach
• Edward Lee Rapp
• Michael Sullivan
• Jack Riedel
• Robert Lyons
• Michael Faerman
• Rachel A. Drapkin
• Peterson Tooke
• Paul Michael Clemente
• David V. Mei
• Michael Tabacco
• Valentine Vignes
• Daniel Nauke
• Michael Gerzevitz
• Michael Kellough
• Thomas Quinn
• Noel Sheinberg
• Susan Tremblay
• David Drapkin
• David Bruce
• Maria Konwicka
• Veronica E. Lesser
• Gregory Jein, Inc.

Optical Unit [ ]

• Dick Swanek
• Robert Rowohlt
• John Alagna
• Mitch Wilson
• Robert Schulze
• Tom Snowden
• Louis Goold
• Michael Ventresco
• Gregory Harker
• Valerie Baiardi
• Eddie Stewart
• Stewart Brown

Additional Optical Effects [ ]

• Barry Hyman
• Peter Kiran
• Illusion Arts, Inc.
• Marc Sawicki
• Industrial Light & Magic
• Epic Records, Cassettes and Compact Discs
• Music by: Jerry Goldsmith
• Lyric by: John Bettis
• Performed by: Hiroshima
• Produced by: Dan Kuramoto
• Hiroshima courtesy of Epic Records
• Music by: Alexander Courage
• Dr. Charles A. Beichman , Infrared Processing and Analysis Center Jet Propulsion Lab, Pasadena
• Robert Parker
• Jack Morehead , Superintendent
• Bureau of Land Management
• California Film Commission
• State of California, State Lands Commission
• Madera County Film Commission
• Jet Propulsion Laboratory , Pasadena
• Reebok International, Ltd.
• Jack Daniel's
• Apple Computers
• Monster Cable ®
• International Scientific Instruments, Inc.
• Denton Vacuum, Inc.
• Princeton Gamma-Tech
• Carl Zeiss, Inc.
• de Graf/Wahrman, Inc.
• Base Gamma Electronic Systems
• Kraft, Inc.
• Levi Strauss & Co.
• Todd A-O/Glen Glenn Studios
• Technicolor ®
• Panavision ®
• Charles Bazaldua ( The Loop Group )
• Gene Cross as Sybok's follower
• David Dewitt
• Steven Johnson as Starfleet field security crewman
• Carlyle King (The Loop Group)
• Kevin Lindsay as alien bar patron
• Patrick Michael as Enterprise -A crewman
• Richard Penn (The Loop Group)
• Paige Pollack (The Loop Group)
• Susan Savage
• Gary Schwartz (The Loop Group)
• Carey Scott as voice of a teenage Spock ( deleted scene )
• Mike Smithson as Klingon helmsman
• Nimbus III bar patron
• " Wrinkles "
• Rhoda Williams as alien vocals
• Ilona Wilson as Nimbus III bar patron
• " Ape Face "
• " Bone Head "
• " Dark Eyes "
• " Leather Face "
• " Long Face "
• " Lost Soul "
• " Round Eyes "
• Nimbus III lookout party
• Alien sentry
• Klingon commander
• Seven Starfleet field security officers
• Four followers of Sybok
• Three Nimbus III bar patrons
• Terry Jackson
• David Wendler as stunt double for William Shatner (horse stunts)
• Tom Boyd – Musician: Oboe
• Cogswell Video Services, Inc. – Visual Effects Unit Video Assist Company
• Lynette Eklund – prison alien anatomy pieces artist
• Christopher Gilman and Global Effects, Inc. – Creator and provider of the cool suits
• Karen Hulett – Costume design
• Stuart Land – Prosthetics
• Lisa Logan – Cutter/Fitter
• David Nicksay – Executive Producer

References [ ]

2267 ; adventure ; alcohol ; Almighty ; amusement ; ancestor ; Andorian language ; angry ; animal ; arrest ; arrival ; arrogance ; ass ; attack ; attack course ; attack range ; attention ; audience ; authority ; backpack ; banishment ; barricade ; bath ; bay doors ; bean ; bearing ; betrayal ; belief ; birth ; blizzard ; blowscreen ; binoculars ; bipodal seeds ; brig ; boat ; " Bones "; booster rocket ; bourbon ; bowl ; brainwashing ; brig ; " by the book "; cadet ; campfire ; camping ; " Camptown Races "; capital city ; charge ; chariot ; choice ; cloaking device ; Columbus, Christopher ; command chair ; commander ; commercial ; communicator ; companion ; compliment ; computer library ; confrontation ; con man ; conn ; conspiring ; consul ; contact ; coordinates ; Copernicus ; course ; creature ; cricket ; culture ; cure ; custom ; danger ; darkness ; data ; David McCoy's condition ; death ; degree ; designer ; destination ; devil ; dinner ; disaster ; discovery ; distress signal ; dignity ; doctor ; dogma ; door ; dream ; ear ; Earth ; Eden ; El Capitan ; emergency assistance ; emergency channel ; Emergency Landing Plan B ; emergency sending apparatus ; emotion ; Enterprise -A, USS ; Enterprise -A dedication plaque ; estimate ; eternity ; Excelsior , USS ; Excelsior -class ; existence ; experience ; expression ; face ; faith ; family ; fan dance ; fantasy ; fear ; Federation ; Federation Federal ; feeling ; financing ; fishing ; flat ; flat Earth ; flattery ; flavoring ; footspeed ; forward observation room ; free-climbing ; French language ; friend ; Galactic Army of Light ; galactic core ; Galileo ; Galileo -type shuttlecraft ; garbage ; gate ; generation ; " get a grip on yourself "; ghost ; ghost town ; God ; government ; gravity ; Grayson, Amanda ; Great Barrier ; Great Horned Owl ; green ; guilt ; gunner ; hailing frequency ; half-brother (brother); hand ; heart ; heart attack ; Heaven ; " hello "; high priestess ; " hit the brakes "; hole ; horse ; hostage ; hostage tape ; hour ; Human ; humor ; hydro vent ; ID ; idea ; illusion ; immortal ; impulse power ; information ; ingredient ; intellect ; intelligence ; intention ; intention ; Iowa ; jailbreak ; jet boots ; job ; journey ; junior officer ; kellicam ; Klaa's Bird-of-Prey ; Klingons ; Klingon Bird-of-Prey ; Klingon Empire ; Klingon High Command ; Klingon language ; knowledge ; land ; landing bay ; leader ; letter ; levitation boots ; Levi's ; life support system ; light (artificial); light (natural); logic ; lookout party ; Luna ; lyric ; " macho "; " made love "; madman ; magic wand ; marshmallow ; Masefield, John ; maximum speed ; meaning ; melon ; Melville, Herman ; message ; metabolism ; Milky Way Galaxy ; mind ; miracle ; mister ; mood ; " Moon over Rigel VII "; " Moon's a Window to Heaven, The "; monkey ; Morse code ; mount ; mountain ; muscle ; mystery ; myth ; naked ; " neck of the woods "; " nervous wreck "; Neutral Zone ; Neutral Zone Treaty ; Nimbus III ; Nimbus III moons ; Nimbosian horse ; noise ; " oh my God "; " on board "; " on course "; " on leave "; online ; orbital shuttle ( unnamed orbital shuttle ); Orbital shuttle 5 ; Orbital shuttle 7 ; order ; " out of favor "; outcast ; " Pack Up Your Troubles "; pagan ; pain ; Paradise City ; Paradise Inn ; passion ; person ; phaser ; photon torpedo ; Pioneer 10 ; " piss me off "; place ; pleasure ; pool ; power source ; priority 7 ; princess ; prisoner ; probe ; problem ; pronunciation ; proof ; protective custody ; " put me out to pasture "; quadrant ; quest ; question ; Qui'Tu ; reality ; reason ; record time ; red alert ; renegade ; repairs ; representative ; rescue ship ; research ; respect ; revolutionary ; Rigel VII ; ritual ; rock ; Romulans ; Romulan ale ; Romulan language ; room ; round ; " Row, Row, Row Your Boat " ( rowboat ); San Francisco Fleet Yards ; scholar ; scope ; scotch whiskey ; Scots language ; " Sea-Fever "; second ; secret ; sense of humor ; settlement ; settler ; Sha Ka Ree ; Sha Ka Ree (planet); Shakedown cruise report, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A) ; shield ; shipmate ; shore leave ; shower ; sincerity ; sing-along ; skeleton crew ; sky ; sleep ; Sol ; soldier ; son ; song ; song title ; soul ; sound ; sound barrier ; Source, The ; Southern baked beans ; space ; Spacedock One ; speculation ; speech ; speed ; standard orbit ; standard orbital approach ; " stand by "; star ; Starfleet ; Starfleet Charter ; Starfleet Com Net ; Starfleet Command ; Starfleet Galactic Memory Bank ; Starfleet Operations ; starship ; status ; status report ; stream ; strength ; strike team ; student ; success ; superior officer ; surrender ; tall ship ; target ; Tennessee whiskey ; termite ; Terran ; terrorist ; " thank God "; thing ; thousand ; threat ; thruster ; time ; toilet ; tour ; tractor beam ; transmission ; transmitter ; transporter ; transporter beam ; transporter lock ; transporter room ; trash ; treasure ; triangle ; trick ; trigger ; truth ; tunnel ; turboshaft number three ; " under arrest "; understanding ; understatement ; Valhalla ; value ; vanity ; viewscreen ; voice ; violation ; Vorta Vor ; Vulcans ; Vulcan ; Vulcan language ; Vulcan lute ; Vulcan nerve pinch ; Vulcan princess ; warp engine ; warp speed ; warrior ; Watering Hole, The ; weapon ; " wee "; week ; weight ; " whip her into shape "; wildlife ; wisdom ; word ; workout ; year ; Yosemite National Park ; youth

Starfleet Galactic Memory Bank references [ ]

Feira incident ; field commander ; Klingon Imperial Command ; K'Rebeca sector ; Orion ; Shepard sector ; Starfleet Intelligence

Meta references [ ]

Unreferenced material [ ].

Mount Rushmore National Memorial ; Nimbosian ; Rock Man

Related topics [ ]

• Vulcan mythology
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (Special Edition)
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (soundtrack)

External links [ ]

• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier at StarTrek.com
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier at Wikipedia
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier at the Internet Movie Database
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier script  at Star Trek Minutiae
• " Star Trek V: The Final Frontier " at MissionLogPodcast.com , a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast
• 1 Daniels (Crewman)

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, black writers week, star trek v: the final frontier.

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There was a moment in "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" - only one, and a brief one, but a genuine one - when I felt the promise of awe. The Starship Enterprise was indeed going where no man had gone before, through the fabled Great Barrier, which represents the end of the finite universe. What would lie beyond? Would it be an endless void, or a black hole, or some kind of singularity of space and time that would turn the voyagers inside out and deposit them in another universe? Or would the Barrier even reveal, as one of the characters believes, the place where life began? The place called by the name of Eden and countless other words? As the Enterprise approached the Barrier, I found my attention gathering. The movie had been slow and boring until then, with an interminable, utterly inconsequential first act and a plot that seemed to exist in a space-time singularity all its own. But now, at last, the fifth " Star Trek " movie seemed to be remembering what was best about the fictional world of "Star Trek": those moments when man and his ideas are challenged by the limitless possibilities of creation.

As I've said, my awe was real. It was also brief. Once the Enterprise crew members (and the Vulcan who was holding them hostage) landed on the world beyond the Barrier, the possibilities of god or Eden or whatever quickly disintegrated into an anticlimactic special effects show with a touch of " The Wizard of Oz " thrown in for good measure. I do not want to give away important elements in the plot, but after you've seen the movie, ask yourself these questions: 1) How was it known that the voyagers would go beyond the Barrier; 2) what was the motivation behind what they found there; 3) how was it known that they would come to stand at exactly the point where the stone pillars came up from the Earth; 4) In a version of a question asked by Capt. Kirk, why would any entity capable of staging such a show need its own starship; and 5) is the Great Barrier indeed real, or simply a deceptive stage setting for what was found behind it? (What I'm really complaining about, I think, is that "Star Trek V" allows itself enormous latitude in the logic beneath its plot. If the Barrier is real, what exactly are we to make of the use to which it is put?) Before we get to ask those questions, "Star Trek V" spends much of its time meandering through some of the goofiest scenes in the entire series. The movie opens with the taking of three hostages on a desert planet, who have been captured for the sole purpose of luring Capt. Kirk and his starship to the planet so that the ship can be commandeered for the voyage through the Barrier. I have explained these plot details in one sentence. The movie takes endless scenes, during which the key crew members of the Enterprise need to be summoned back to their ship in the middle of a shore leave. And that process, in turn, requires interminable scenes of Kirk, Spock and Bones on a camping trip in Yosemite, during which they attempt to sing "Row, row, row your boat" and nearly succeed in sinking the entire movie. If there is a sillier and more awkwardly written scene in the entire "Star Trek" saga than this one, I've missed it.

After the pointless opening scenes, the movie begins to develop a plot of sorts, but it is so confused and inadequately explained that there are times when we simply give up and wait for what's next. That was particularly the case during the inexplicable closing scenes, where the humans and the Klingons seem to join sides after an off-camera speech by a former Klingon leader who had been put out to pasture. Since this leader is identified as having been badly treated by the Klingons in his retirement, how did he suddenly regain the authority to negotiate a truce? And do we really want to see the mighty Klingons reduced to the status of guests at a cocktail party? One of the trademarks of the "Star Trek" saga has been the way the supporting characters are kept alive in little subplots. In "Star Trek V," the Enterprise starts its voyage while the shop is suffering a series of mechanical failures, and that involves countless brief scenes in which Scotty, the chief engineer, emerges from beneath a piece of equipment, brandishes his wrench and says he'll have things fixed in a moment. Two or three of these scenes might have been enough.

Another irritation is the way in which we meet apparently major characters, including those played by David Warner , Laurence Luckinbill and Cynthia Gouw, who are introduced with fanfares of dialogue and then never developed or given anything to do. The entire movie seems crowded with loose ends, overlooked developments and forgotten characters, and there are little snatches of dialogue where some of these minor characters seem to be soldiering on in their original subplots as if unaware that they've been cut from the movie.

"Star Trek V" is pretty much of a mess - a movie that betrays all the signs of having gone into production at a point where the script doctoring should have begun in earnest. There is no clear line from the beginning of the movie to the end, not much danger, no characters to really care about, little suspense, uninteresting or incomprehensible villains, and a great deal of small talk and pointless dead ends. Of all of the "Star Trek" movies, this is the worst.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

108 minutes

William Shatner as Capt. Kirk

Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock

James Doohan as Montgomery Scott

Walter Koenig as Pavel Chekov

George Takei as Sulu

Deforest Kelley as Dr. McCoy

Nichelle Nichols as Cmdr. Uhura

Photography by

• Andrew Laszlo
• Peter Berger
• David Loughery From

From A Story by

Produced by.

• Harve Bennett

Directed by

• William Shatner
• Jerry Goldsmith

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Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Where to watch.

Watch Star Trek V: The Final Frontier with a subscription on Max, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

What to Know

Filled with dull action sequences and an underdeveloped storyline, this fifth Trek movie is probably the worst of the series.

Critics Reviews

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

William Shatner

Captain James T. Kirk

Leonard Nimoy

Captain Spock

DeForest Kelley

Commander Leonard H. McCoy, M.D.

James Doohan

Captain Montgomery Scott

Walter Koenig

Commander Pavel Andreievich Chekov

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Fantasy & Sci-Fi

Star trek v: the final frontier (hbo).

: A renegade Vulcan mystic hijacks the Enterprise to go on a quest for God in this thrilling fifth Star Trek movie.

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Fantasy & Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure, Space & Beyond

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Rating information, about this movie.

A renegade Vulcan mystic hijacks the Enterprise to go on a quest for God in this thrilling fifth Star Trek movie.

Cast and Crew

Starring: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , James Doohan , Walter Koenig , Nichelle Nichols , George Takei , David Warner , Laurence Luckinbill

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Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

"What does God need with a starship?" — Captain Kirk

The one where Spock’s ''never-before seen or mentioned'' Vulcan half-brother hijacks the Enterprise to look for God ...(?)

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is the fifth movie in the Star Trek film series, released in 1989. They've stared at V'Ger , defeated the vengeful Khan , found Spock , and rescued the whales . But can the Enterprise crew survive their greatest challenge yet? William Shatner ... in ... The director's seat!

Tropes seen in The Final Frontier include:

• Agent Mulder : Sybok is convinced that God is real and lives in the center of the galaxy, despite modern society having deemed that a myth. note  While several characters have mulled over the meaning of God , particularly Kirk, no one ever thought that He was somewhere waiting to be found.
• Agent Scully : Kirk refuses to believe, first because Sybok appears crazy and then because "God" doesn't seem as powerful as advertised. McCoy goes from Scully to Mulder when they meet "God" and back to Scully when "God" starts being a dick .
• The Alcatraz : Spock proclaims the brig to be escape-proof. As in all things, however, rare is the Alcatraz that can stop escape attempts from both ends.
• The Alcoholic : Korrd is Drowning My Sorrows , though he's snapped out of it by Spock.
• The Alleged Car : Kirk is nonplussed by his squeaky chair, dodgy transporters, and the defective Log transcriber (which keeps popping open with ridiculous SPRONNG! noises). Bennett: Now, I know Enterprise is not exactly up to specs. Kirk: With All Due Respect , the Enterprise is a disaster .
• The novelization by J.M. Dillard adds considerable backstory to Sybok and his mother, and explains that "God" had telepathically sent Sybok a formula for configuring a starship's deflector shields to penetrate the Barrier. After Sybok orders Scotty to set up the Enterprise ' s shields in this way, Klaa's Bird-of-Prey copies the same shield configuration in order to follow the Enterprise .
• The book makes it clear that Kirk is trying to make this movie a Breather Episode for himself and failing, distracting himself by mountain climbing, feeling like he’s ruined his own life and trying to see how close he can get to Dying Alone .
• The Blu-Ray releases include the Library Computer, an interactive database that will appear on screen as the movie plays offering entries on characters, ships, places, etc. with additional information on them. There is one case of the movie defying the Library's logic; the entry on Deck 78 (on a 21-deck starship) simply reads, "Don't ask us!"
• Amazonian Beauty : Vixis. As Chekov put it: "She has vonderful muscles" (by which he meant gluteus maximus ).
• Anti-Villain : Sybok is the villain of the movie, but he really isn't a bad guy, just misguided and a little nutty. Klaa could qualify as well, as by Klingon standards he isn't malicious, just bored.
• Arc Words : Sybok: Each man hides a secret pain.
• Armor-Piercing Question : "What does God need with a starship?" Easily one of the most famous examples of this trope.
• Artistic License – History : Sybok claims that Columbus proved the Earth was round, which is incorrect. The Ancient Greeks determined the Earth was round, and even accurately measured its circumference. Columbus meant to find a faster sea route to Asia and got into the Caribbean because he miscalculated the circumference.
• Artists Are Not Architects : In one scene, the Enterprise is shown to have about twice as many decks as it could possibly contain, and they are numbered in reverse order for some reason. Somewhat explained in the Alternate Universe Star Trek: Myriad Universes story "The Chimes at Midnight"; Kirk was at one point forced to climb the turbolift-shafts and to count the decks as he passed them, "for they were not labeled on the interior of the shaft, although he noted with annoyance that the designers had elected to number the numerous individual turbolift landing decks—each level having several turbolift stops along its breadth—as he passed a sign misleadingly indicating 'Deck 52.'"
• "Ass" in Ambassador : Inverted, unusually for Star Trek . St. John Talbot and Korrd are not unreasonable people (just incredibly jaded), and Caithlin Dar is downright nice (a rarity for Romulans, actually...). This may be precisely why they are where they are (particularly Korrd, who is both disgraced and disgraceful in his drink): the planet is a dumping ground for anyone in the diplomatic corps of the three powers that the leadership wants to be rid of in a non-permanent way. If they hadn't gotten along, they would have died.
• Attack Pattern Alpha : Played with: Kirk: Stand by to execute Emergency Landing Plan ... B. [ Confused looks from everyone on the shuttle ] Chekov: What's Emergency Landing Plan B? Scotty: I don't have a clue. Kirk: "B," as in ... "barricade." Scotty: He can't be serious!
• Author Appeal : Why approach the hostage situation on horseback? Because Shatner is an avid equestrian.
• Bad Liar : Onshore leave, Sulu and Chekov try to extend their hike by saying they've been caught in a blizzard at Yosemite ... when Uhura reports "clear skies and seventy degrees" there. They give up the charade immediately.
• Behind the Black : Scotty, after claiming to know the ship like the back of his hand, concusses himself on a bit of bulkhead that sticks out from the wall. Whilst unseen by the audience before impact, Scotty was walking towards the bulkhead and, in fact, was looking right at it when he hit it.
• Beta Couple : St. John Talbot and Caithlin Dar. One Meaningful Background Event has them sadly comforting each other in a loving embrace.
• Big Bad Ensemble : Sybok and Klaa are an unusual examples in that Sybok isn't evil per se, and for the most part Klaa is more of an annoyance than anything else. "God" eventually turns out to be the film's Greater-Scope Villain , but doesn't show up until the very end.
• Big Damn Gunship : Spock, commanding a Klingon Bird of Prey, opens fire on "God" in order to rescue Kirk.
• Big Ego, Hidden Depths : Sybok. Cruelly invoked by "God", who takes the form of Sybok and mocks, "What's the matter? Don't you like this face? I have so many, but this one suits you best."
• Book Ends : Camping at Yosemite National Park with the Power Trio .
• Kirk states in the opening that men like himself, Bones, and Spock had no families. He later admits he was wrong.
• His premonition that he'll die alone (and is, therefore, safe while Spock and McCoy are there) is also mentioned again.
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture had opened with a Klingon fleet getting destroyed by V'Ger , which is revealed to be the (fictitious) 20th-century space probe Voyager 6 . In this film, we're introduced to the Klingon captain Klaa destroying the 20th-century space probe Pioneer 10 .
• While flying to the Enterprise from shore leave, Kirk quotes John Masefield's line "All I ask is a tall ship, and a star to steer her by", as in the TOS episode "The Ultimate Computer" .
• When Kirk gives a captain's log, his log breaks down and reads "Good morning, Captain", instead, like how in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock , the Excelsior 's computer read "Good morning, Captain" when it broke down.
• Cannot Tell a Lie : What Spock claims as proof that Kirk was not aboard the Enterprise . He was lying about not being able to lie, though he was telling the truth about Kirk's location.
• It's still technically part of the canon, but the events have never been directly referenced in another canonical Star Trek work again. Rumor has it the writers are specifically told not to as a matter of course. Gene Roddenberry said he considered invoked some elements of the movie "apocryphal, at best", but he apparently never told anyone which ones. note  Some have contended the main one was the reveal that Sarek had a child with a woman before Amanda Grayson, particularly since D.C. Fontana had gone out of her way to establishing that Spock had no siblings whatsoever, in order to ensure that they weren't deluged with scripts where said siblings showed up. However, as the Vaka Rangi review notes, "nobody at Paramount cared about what D.C. Fontana wanted by this point." Ronald D. Moore , who was working on Star Trek: The Next Generation at the time, has said that while the show's writers accepted the film as canon, they considered it such an embarrassment to the franchise as a whole that they agreed among themselves that they would never cite or reference its events on the show, to the extent that they heavily rewrote the ending of " The Nth Degree " simply because they didn't want it to have anything in common with this film.
• The novels, which are now vetted more thoroughly than they used to be, have featured Sybok exactly twice, both in the Myriad Universe novels, which take place entirely in alternate universes.
• The TOS novel "Child of Two Worlds" had Spock mentioning the existence of his half-brother, but not Sybok's name to a Cyprian teenager named Merata - who was raised by Klingons - in 2255. Spock told Merata that he had not seen his brother in almost a decade and wasn't even sure if Sybok was still alive or not.
• The novels have also mentioned the God-like creature at the center of the Great Barrier; in the Q Continuum trilogy of novels, He referred to Himself as "The One", and was a contemporary of 0 , the Beta XIII-A entity, and Gorgon. The four of them were responsible for the destruction of the Tkon Empire. It is mentioned that pretending to be God and then using the resulting influence to drive civilizations to self-destruction is his entire schtick. In fact, he was imprisoned in the center of the galaxy by the Q for his crimes, while 0 was punished by being thrown out of the galaxy (which was the reason for the galactic barrier as seen in the second TOS pilot).
• The only real survivor, at least according to the Okudas in the Star Trek Encyclopedia , is Captain Klaa, who was apparently demoted for his actions and assigned as a courtroom translator in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country . This was due to the coincidence that Todd Bryant played the translator.
• The first time the film got so much as an indirect reference from any other canon Star Trek material didn't come until Star Trek Beyond , and even then didn't go any further than the Kelvin timeline's Spock looking at a photograph of the crew on this film's Enterprise -A bridge. note  It was likely only chosen because pictures from any of the other original cast films would have left casual moviegoers wondering who Decker, Ilia or Saavik were, why Spock was missing , why the crew was on the bridge of a Klingon Bird-of-Prey , or why Sulu was missing .
• Kirk's autobiography says it's an in-universe movie made on Magna Roma , and gives credit to the trio (him, Bones and Spock ) being spot on, but nothing else.
• The Star Trek: Lower Decks episode " Crisis Point " had a ton of references, both subtle and overt, to all the Star Trek films to have been released until that point... except for this one, which was the only film in the series to be completely ignored. However, the following season's " wej Duj " would finally make the franchise's first explicit on-screen reference to this film, after a whole thirty-two years .
• Star Trek: Discovery shows Spock's family in detail including his Remember the New Guy? sister being the protagonist but there's no mention of them having a brother.
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , though set well before the events of the films, acknowledges Sybok's existence as Spock's half-brother.
• Scotty records a "shakedown cruise report" for the Enterprise -A. "I think this new ship was put together by monkeys. Oh, she's got a fine engine, but half the doors won't open, and guess whose job it is to make it right."
• Defied by the log recorder itself when it conks out. "GOOD MORNING, CAPTAIN."
• Card-Carrying Villain : Klaa does what he does because ... he's bored.
• Catch a Falling Star : Spock grabs Kirk by the ankle after he falls off El Capitan without so much as causing him a bruise.
• Cat Girl : With three breasts. Defeated by Kirk when he throws her into a literal pool table .
• Cerebus Syndrome : The alleged comedy disappears and the movie becomes much more serious once they begin their trip to the Great Barrier.
• Early in the film, Spock appears using Jet Boots to fly. Later in the film, when he, Kirk, and McCoy need to travel up a long turbolift shaft he dons the same boots and uses them to fly the whole group up to the top of the shaft.
• Klingon Captain Klaa shoots an old Earth space probe with one of the cannons of his Bird of Prey. Late in the movie, Spock uses the same weapon to shoot "God" and save Captain Kirk from an early grave.
• Chewing the Scenery : In-universe, Chekov seemed to have a little too much fun pretending to be captain of the Enterprise to distract Sybok while Kirk and Spock are attempting to rescue the hostages.
• Circle of Standing Stones : The meeting with "God" takes place in a circle of stones that rise out of the ground as Kirk and company approach.
• Climb, Slip, Hang, Climb : In the rock-climbing scene.
• Clueless Aesop : Contemplation of God's existence, or otherwise, would have been interesting were it not so overshadowed by slapstick comedy.
• Comic-Book Adaptation : Written by Peter David and published by DC Comics , the adaptation served as a launching point for DC's second Star Trek monthly series.
• Coming in Hot : " Plan B ... as in Barricade !"
• The last line in Star Trek IV was Kirk saying, "Let's see what she's (the Enterprise-A ) got." Scotty's opening log in this movie says as he complains about the shape the new ship is in, "The captain said, 'Let's see what she's got, and we found out, now, didn't we!"
• When Kirk, Spock, and Bones are back at the campsite at the end of the movie, Spock can be seen playing a Vulcan harp, a nod to the original series where he played the instrument in several episodes.
• This isn't the first time McCoy has expressed concern to himself that he may end up talking to himself .
• Captain Klaa refers to Kirk as the "great renegade", echoing the Klingon Ambassador's beliefs that Kirk was escaping justice for his killing of Klingons in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock . The death of Kirk's son David at the hands of a Klingon, though not explicitly referenced, is also alluded to when Kirk is reminded that the Klingons don't like him and he responds, "Well, the feeling's mutual."
• Contrived Coincidence : Kirk and company in the shuttlecraft just happen to land near horses when they arrive on Nimbus III. (It's clear they expected to have to walk to Paradise City because on the planet itself Spock refers to taking "1.2 hours" to walk there.)
• Crapsack World : "The Planet of Galactic Peace." Nimbus III neatly scuttles Roddenberry's tenets regarding the future: the planet set aside for the cooperation of three powers has fallen into anarchy, the technology of the future has turned to rusted crap , and poverty is still rampant. Ironically, one could argue that it succeeded in establishing galactic peace ... as the various ambassadors are either too drunk to bother fighting each other or have grown united in their shared hatred for their own governments for assigning them there!
• Creator Cameo : Harve Bennett sends Kirk off to investigate.
• Critical Staffing Shortage : That the Enterprise has "less than a skeleton crew" is just one of her problems.
• Cultural Rebel : Sybok, who is definitely the most emotional Vulcan we've ever seen.
• Custom Uniform : Each of the Power Trio is given an alternative uniform, which looks a bit like a grey pullover/sweatshirt. Captain Kirk is also seen in a "Captain's Jacket" at one point, underneath which he wears a white T-shirt bearing the slogan "Go climb a rock."
• Danger in the Galactic Core : The galactic core is an area of intense radiation that makes life unlikely. The planet of Sha Ka Ree located there is also the prison of a powerful alien that lured Sybok and the Enterprise there in an effort to escape.
• Shatner wanted to depict an edgier future, so we got a desolate city named "Paradise" , a malfunctioning Enterprise , and the Star Trek universe's first fart joke.
• Shatner was also (reportedly) never thrilled with Roddenberry's idea of a utopian future, so he introduced those elements to show a more "realistic" future.
• Not having the same “this must have slapstick” restriction the movie did, the book does this genuinely, having Kirk confirmed as a Death Seeker after… everything (where the film could only imply it), more angst with Sybok and Spock, Uhura being a Stepford Smiler even before being brainwashed, and Sulu’s pain including a terrorist attack as a child.
• Deadpan Snarker : McCoy is running on all cylinders in this film. For instance, he scoffs at Kirk's tirade at Spock being unable to shoot his own brother, and states that if he's that upset, he should toss Spock in the brig (stated while the three of them are already in the brig) — Kirk takes his point.
• Death from Above : Kirk calls down some Close Air Support from the Enterprise to try to cover his escape from "God". While a photon torpedo should have been quite a bit more powerful than shown, it was still cool.
• Demoted to Extra : Shatner has handwaved criticisms from his co-stars in the past, dismissing it as actors' egos run amok (“ there was nothing to nick ”), but scripting like this doesn't help his case much. Indeed, one section of the commentary has Shatner passive-aggressively blame his co-stars for the movie’s dodgy appearance ( "A disproportionate amount of money is spent on talent as against production..." ). Not only are the characters in the film betraying Captain Kirk, but the actors in the film are also sabotaging Bill Shatner. It’s worth noting that his original outline for the film had both McCoy and Spock turning against Kirk — which would have left Kirk the only hero of the film. Both Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley simply refused to participate in a storyline where Spock and Bones respectively would betray Kirk, for which most people who've seen the film have probably thanked them.
• Depth of Field : The scene where Kirk clings to the El Capitán's face is shot with large depth-of-field to create the illusion of height.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu? : Or, in this case, shoot a Sufficiently Advanced Alien posing as a deity with a torpedo and then a disruptor cannon. Yes, Spock did.
• Distracted by the Sexy : In-universe, anyway; clearly someone failed to point out that viewers might not see it the same. Uhura does her infamous nude fan dance to distract some mooks so the Starfleet team can capture them and steal their alien horses. (It was in the dark, they spotted her from a distance, and the planet has very few women, so it could be excusable in that context.)
• Don't Call Me "Sir" : During the camping trip, Kirk asks Spock to call him Jim instead of Captain, reminding him that they're off duty.
• Door Jam : In the finale, the transporter has just enough power to beam up Spock and McCoy , leaving Kirk to face off with a vengeful god alone.
• Dramatic Sit-Down : When Spock reveals who the loony Sybok is... Spock: Sybok also is a son of Sarek. Kirk: You mean he's your brother brother? [ Beat ] You made that up. Spock: I did not . Kirk: You did too. Sybok couldn't possibly be your brother because I happen to know for a fact you don't have a brother. Spock: Technically, you are correct. I do not have a brother . Kirk: There, you see? You see? Spock: I have a half -brother. Kirk: [ Beat ] I gotta sit down.
• Eldritch Abomination : It's never stated precisely what not- God is, but it's clearly an example of this trope.
• Epiphany Therapy : Sybok uses this as part of his brainwashing, making people face their greatest pain.
• Everyone Knows Morse : Justified, as Starfleet is one part military, and Morse Code could be part of their training. Still, it's clearly not used often as both Kirk and Spock are very rusty with it.
• The Exact Center of Everything : Spock's long lost half-brother Sybok commandeers the Enterprise and makes the crew set a course for the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, where Sybok believes God is waiting.
• Eye Beams : After Captain Kirk and Spock question the authenticity of "God", he fires beams of energy out of his eyes at them. He does it again while pursuing Kirk later.
• Fake Static : Done twice: once for laughs when Chekov pretends he and Sulu have been caught in a blizzard to avoid admitting he's lost, and once for drama when the Enterprise broadcasts static to delay talking to Sybok. Uhura: Is there a problem, gentlemen? Sulu: Um, yes. We've been caught in a... we've been caught in a blizzard . (Chekov has a brief " You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me! " look on his face before blowing into the communicator) Chekov: (while blowing) And we can't see a thing! Request you direct us to the coordinates! (continues blowing) Uhura: My visual says sunny skies and 70 degrees note  in Fahrenheit instead of Celsius, oddly enough . Chekov: (stops blowing) Sulu, look. The sun has come out. It's a miracle.
• False Innocence Trick : The Enterprise passes through the barrier around the heart of the galaxy and finds the legendary planet Sha Ka Ree, believed to be the home of God. The protagonists do find an entity claiming to be God who is apparently imprisoned there and it tries to trick the crew into helping it escape. It's a subversion because Kirk figures out there's something funny going on and manages to get "God" to reveal its true evil nature before it gets away.
• Famous, Famous, Fictional : Sybok tries to spin his quest to Kirk as another attempt to do the impossible among the many Earth has achieved, such as proving the world is round (incorrectly credited to Columbus ), breaking the sound barrier, and flying at warp speed. Sybok: The people of your planet once believed their world was flat. Columbus proved it was round. They said the sound barrier could never be broken! It was broken. They said warp-speed could not be achieved.
• Fan Disservice : Fifty-seven-year-old Nichelle Nichols doing a nude fan dance. And bizarrely, all evidence is that Shatner genuinely thought this would be plain old Fanservice . To be fair, Nichelle Nichols looks very good for 57.
• First-Name Basis : Harve Bennett cameos as a Starfleet Admiral who Kirk knows well enough to address by his first name, Bob.
• The novelization, for instance, has Sybok using his knowledge of engineering and spatial anomalies to make the trip to the galactic core possible.
• The comic book written by Peter David adds a subplot that implies Kirk has never really gotten over the death of his elder brother Sam (one of the film's most glaring continuity errors is the implication that Kirk never had a brother), and also has Sybok's attempt at Epiphany Therapy on Spock fail because he'd already resolved the conflict between his Human and Vulcan halves.
• Kirk's autobiography says the movie never happened and was just an in-universe movie made on a planet that the Enterprise visited.
• Foreshadowing : A subtle one. When Kirk tells Sybok he's crazy for hearing God's voice beckoning him, Sybok gives a long take before saying "We'll see". Sybok is unsure himself whether God is really communicating with him.
• A Form You Are Comfortable With : When they meet God, God cycles through depictions of deities, eventually settling on bearded God as something he believes they'll be comfortable with. After his true nature is revealed, he takes the form of Sybok to mock him.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus : When Sybok's forces break into Paradise City, you can see that someone has painted "LOST" next to "PARADISE".
• Fridge Logic : Invoked in-universe when Kirk asks, "What does God need with a starship?"
• As pointed out in the commentaries, when Kirk first reaches the bridge, he hands off his jacket to an unnamed yeoman portrayed by Shatner's daughter Melanie. Over the course of the scene the yeoman wanders in and out of frame, looking for a place to put the jacket.
• Additionally, during scenes at the bar, the TV screen/emergency communicator tends to display a Shady Real Estate Agent trying to describe the beauty and wonder of Nimbus III , complete with cheesy and obviously bluescreened exotic vistas, in order to scam people into buying land on the useless planet.
• Garden of Eden : The Garden of Eden, along with the Klingon Qui'Tu , the Romulan Vorta Vor , and whatever the unpronounceable Andorian equivalent would be, is conflated with the Vulcan creation myth of Sha-Ka-Ree , a location from which all life originates and where man's questions could be answered.
• Gave Up Too Soon : McCoy's greatest regret is reluctantly assisting the suicide of his father, who was suffering from an incurable disease and wanted to die. Mere months later, a cure was found.
• Getting Smilies Painted on Your Soul : Sybok's telepathy, which makes everyone he "treats" euphoric and immediately ready to join his cause.
• A God Am I : "One voice, many faces."
• God Is Evil : Well, it's not really our God as we know it but it's certainly evil.
• God Test : Kirk asks why God would have need of a starship. "God" zaps him and then Spock to prove his power but abandons the pretense when this fails to sway them. Also serves to demonstrate McCoy 's bravery: he's the oldest of himself, Spock and Kirk, and has just seen his two closest friends felled by energy blasts that were (judging from Kirk's reaction) incredibly painful, yet he faces "God" down without hesitation. "God": Do you doubt me too? Bones: I doubt any god who inflicts pain for his own pleasure!
• Glowing Eyes of Doom : "God" has these when it's angry.
• Heroic Sacrifice : Sybok, when he tries to mind meld with "God" so Kirk, Spock, and McCoy can escape.
• Horse of a Different Color : The alien horses on Nimbus III have horns on their heads.
• Hurricane of Puns : "I do not believe you realize the gravity of your situation," "Mind if we drop in for dinner?", "I've always wanted to play to a captive audience," etc.
• Hyperspeed Escape : Enterprise warps away from Nimbus III a half-second before a Klingon torpedo would have hit her.
• I Have Many Names : As the alien claims "One voice, many faces". The planet is supposedly a location common to all mythologies as well.
• I Need a Freaking Drink : When Sybok and his army storm Paradise City and Talbot tries to send a Distress Call , Korrd heads straight for the bar.
• Informed Attribute : The planet Sha-Ka-Ree is conflated with the creation myths of all species in the galaxy, and referred to in tones that suggest it to be a paradise. What the Enterprise crew find is a completely barren desert.
• Inventional Wisdom : The "System Failure" light on Kirk's logbook.
• I Owe You My Life : J'onn, after Sybok relieves him of the pain in his soul. J'onn: It's ... as if a weight has been lifted from my heart! How can I repay you for this miracle ? Sybok: Join my quest.
• It's All My Fault : Invoked verbatim by Sybok, leading to his Heroic Sacrifice .
• Jet Pack : Spock has rocket boots which allow him to hover or fly rapidly with booster rockets, the latter lacking fine control.
• Kick the Dog : Klaa shoots down Earth's first deep space probe. Although, considering what happened with Voyager 6 , Nomad , Friendship One , etc., it could be argued that he was performing a public service to the galaxy!
• Kill Him Already! : Kirk pulls this on Spock with Sybok, until he finds out that the two are half-brothers.
• Know When to Fold 'Em : Surprisingly enough, after failing repeatedly to regain control of the ship, and having already arrived where Sybok was taking them anyway, Kirk basically gives up and willingly assists him in the last stage of his plan, taking him down to the surface of "Eden".
• The Last Title : The second part of the title.
• The Friendship Theme, introduced in "The Mountain".
• The infamous Klingon theme from Star Trek: The Motion Picture is generously applied as well.
• Let Me Get This Straight... : McCoy : Let me get this straight ... you and Sybok have the same father, but different mothers? Spock: Exactly. That is correct.
• Living Prop : The Space Marines during the rescue attempt.
• Long-Lost Relative : Sybok. Spock doesn't like to speak of his past.
• Low Clearance : Scotty: I know this ship like the back of my hand. [ Bangs his head and falls over, unconscious. ]
• Man Hug : Subverted. After Spock saves him from a Sufficiently Advanced Alien , Kirk is about to hug him when Spock says quietly, "Please, Captain, not in front of the Klingons."
• Mathematician's Answer : McCoy : What do you do after we toast the marsh - er, marsh melons? Spock: We consume them.
• Meaningful Appearance : Sybok wears a white robe, obviously intended to evoke Jesus .
• Meaningful Background Event : While Sybok treats McCoy and Spock, and speaks about his plan, you can see the Great Barrier growing closer thought the ship's windows.
• Mercy Kill : Bones relives one of his most painful moments, where his father is dying and suffering from an incurable disease. He begs Bones to stop treatment so that he can finally die. Bones does so, and mere months later a cure for David McCoy 's disease was discovered.
• Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot : A routine hostage situation turns out to be an attempt to hijack a starship.
• Misery Builds Character : Discussed by Kirk when he refuses Sybok's treatment, as he believes such traumatic experiences are integral to a person's being.
• Mood Whiplash : Executive Meddling invoked insisted that the film include more comedy after that worked so well in the previous film. Unfortunately, the story here is rather less appropriate for it, resulting in the mood careening wildly between Big Important Events and broad slapstick.
• More than Mind Control : Anyone who is "helped" by Sybok tends to follow him around like a puppet.
• Multiboobage : The Cat Dancer .
• Mundane Made Awesome : Only an actor of Leonard Nimoy 's caliber could turn the line "Damn you, sir; you will try" from a fairly standard Precision F-Strike into one of Spock's greatest lines in the franchise. Guess he got the hang of those " colorful metaphors " after all.
• My God, What Have I Done? : Sybok.
• Mythology Gag : The shuttle's name Galileo as well the script it is written by on the ship.
• Nobody Poops : Averted, at very least whenever the Enterprise is not in spacedock.
• Noodle Incident : Spock's briefing on Korrd reveals the General's fallen out of favor with Klingon High Command. What exactly Kordd did or didn't do to end up on their shit list isn't revealed (though a careful look at the briefing graphic indicates it may have been an Orion Pirates-related event dubbed the Feira Incident).
• Ordered Apology : He elicits one of these from Klaa over his attack on Kirk.
• No Infantile Amnesia : Spock remembers his own birth. The novels explain that this is a product of a mind meld with his father, who let slip the memory by mistake. note  In " Unification 2 ", however, Spock tells Picard that he never mind-melded with his father.
• No One Gets Left Behind : Kirk orders McCoy and Spock to beam out first when the transporter conveniently can only beam up two at a time. McCoy calls BS on this mid-beam.
• The Nose Knows / Stink Snub : In the turbolift as Kirk and crew return from their camping trip. Kirk: I could use a shower. Spock: Yes.
• No-Sell : When Sybok tries to take away Spock's pain, Spock calmly explains that he has already dealt with that pain, so Sybok cannot use it against him. Kirk simply refuses, while Bones holds greater loyalty to his friends than Sybok even after Sybok does it to him.
• No Such Thing as Space Jesus : Kirk quickly debunks "God" as a fraud. After all, God should be all-knowing and all-powerful, yet this one is neither.
• Not the Fall That Kills You… : Kirk falls several thousand feet down El Capitan only for Spock to catch him about a foot away from the ground. Cue to Kirk humorously trying to shield himself with his hands against the rocks that are mere inches below him.
• In the Everyone Knows Morse scene, the protagonists realize what's going to happen just in time. "Stand back?" [ Beat ] "Stand back!" [ BOOM ]
• Bones, when Sybok forces him to relive his worst memory. "Father? Oh my God, don't do this to me !"
• The Only One : Kirk is supposedly the best person to send in for hostage negotiations. It is acknowledged that there are other available ships , but Admiral Bennett doesn't think their captains can handle the negotiations.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business : When Sybok - a member of the typically emotionless Vulcan race - starts laughing gleefully in the prologue, we know that this is a disturbingly wrong Vulcan.
• Ordered Apology : Just after "God" has been destroyed and Kirk beamed aboard the Bird of Prey, Korrd makes Klaa apologize to him for attacking the Enterprise . Korrd: Kirk, my junior officer has something he wants to say to you. [Turns to Klaa] yIjatlh ! ["Speak!"] Klaa: [Sheepishly] I ... apologize. [Kirk looks absolutely stunned.] Korrd: maj. 'ej...? ["Good. And...?"] Klaa: [still sheepish] The attack upon your vessel was not authorized by my government.
• Path of Inspiration : Sybok's offer of internal peace.
• Pillar of Light : How "God" first appears.
• Sending a barely functioning, untested ship with "less than a skeleton crew" into a hostage situation when it doesn't even have functioning transporters. This is so the Enterprise -A doesn't simply beam up the hostages and end the movie in five minutes. A hand wave was attempted by saying other ships were around, but only Kirk had the experience. By that logic, they could have just sent a working ship to meet Kirk. (Even an inexperienced captain could have beamed the ambassadors out, for that matter, given the absence of defences worthy of the name on Nimbus III.) Starfleet could have simply assumed that a hostage situation wouldn't need a fully functional ship, but as the admiral giving the assignment admits, the Klingons are likely to send their troops, too. They consider Kirk their mortal enemy and, as it turns out, Klaa is going there solely so he can start a fight with a Federation ship . Even Kirk thinks the reasoning is bullshit.
• Likewise, Sybok's plan is to get a starship. It wouldn't have worked at all if not for Starfleet's incompetence. He even tries to call Chekov's bluff by inviting him to beam down, having apparently expected Starfleet would have sent a ship with functional transporters but not realizing this would have ruined his plan in a flash. This one can be excused by his limited options: Sybok and everyone else is stuck on Nimbus III. There are no ships and only a few settlements. He'd likely been living on the planet for some time (given he's a Technical Pacifist , he may have gone there when it was first made a "neutral planet" that was supposed to unite the Romulans, Klingons, and Federation), and he only started having his visions from "God" after he was already stuck there. So, since getting off the planet would be just as tricky as getting an advanced ship, he might as well kill two birds with one stone.
• The Pollyanna : You just get that vibe from Caithlin Dar. She's young, sweet-natured, and extremely naive. She contrasts her Federation and Klingon counterparts, who are older, more cynical, and really stopped caring.
• The Power of Friendship : McCoy refuses to desert Kirk even though he's been brainwashed by Sybok. Likewise for Spock, who just flat-out rejects the attempt.
• Power Trio : Kirk, Spock, and McCoy , obviously. Notable as, while an important part of all the movies and the show, this movie focuses on them as a trio more than any of the other movies, albeit (in most viewers' eyes) despite Shatner's intentions.
• Pragmatic Adaptation : The comic book cuts several of the more embarrassing moments from the storyline.
• For all that the movie gets wrong, it pulls one of the best of these in the franchise's history. One of the only times that Spock gets genuinely angry (even if only momentarily), it also goes to show the depth of his feelings toward Kirk. (And one of the few times that he uses a " colorful metaphor " correctly.) Spock: General, I require your assistance. General Korrd: My assistance? Spock: You are his superior officer. Korrd: I am a foolish old man. Spock: Damn you, sir. You will try.
• McCoy on his greatest pain: McCoy : Not long after, they found a cure. A GODDAMN CURE !
• Pulled from Your Day Off : The opening has the main characters called back from their vacation in order to deal with a hostage situation on another planet.
• Reassigned to Antarctica : The three ambassadors on Nimbus III. The reasons for this are noted in the novelization — St. John Talbot severely screwed up while trying to negotiate an Andorian hostage situation, which rapidly turned into a massacre; Korrd fell out of favor with the Klingon High Command (Spock exposits only that much in the movie proper) after he advocated pursuing peace with the Federation, and Caithlin Dar couldn't get an any better position than Nimbus III due to her facing discrimination for having a human grandfather .
• Redemption Equals Death : Sybok 's remaining lifespan falls to about fifteen seconds once he realizes the error of his ways .
• Renegade Splinter Faction : Captain Klaa and his crew are just flying around looking for a fight under no orders of any sort. He decides to go to Nimbus III not to save the hostages but to fight the rescue ship the Federation is sending . When he learns it's Kirk being sent, it only makes him more eager to attack. It's only when General Korrd steps in that Klaa apologizes for his unauthorized aggression.
• Repeated for Emphasis : After viewing Sybok's hostage demands, Kirk sees the look on Spock's face. Kirk: What is it? You look like you've just seen a ghost. Spock: Perhaps I have, Captain. Perhaps I have.
• Retired Badass : Kirk is in awe of Korrd. Unfortunately, these days he's Drowning His Sorrows .
• Retcon : At the end of the previous film, the Enterprise -A is bright and clean and in 100% working order. When we see her in this one, she's falling apart and most of the systems are barely functioning or offline, and the implication is that immediately after we see her warp away, she just turned to garbage.
• Sarcasm Mode : Talbot introduces Korrd as his "charming companion". Korrd is at that moment draining the contents of his ale mug, and his first "line" is a belch.
• At least they had the foresight to downscale Shatner's original idea of going to the center of the universe .
• Near the beginning of the film, Klaa shoots up Pioneer 10 probe. Provided it has been drifting through space normally, this is happening only about 1/100th of a light-year from Earth.
• The photon torpedo that Chekov fires at "God" should have caused a much bigger explosion, since ... you know ... antimatter .
• Scotty Time : Inverted . When Kirk beams up to an Enterprise falling apart, Scotty says, "You may have given me too much time, Captain."
• Sealed Evil in a Can : "God" . It claimed to have been imprisoned on the planet in the center of the galaxy and wanted to "join" with the Enterprise so it could escape.
• Secret Ingredient : Tennessee whiskey, for the McCoy family beans.
• Seeking the Intangible : Sybok, the main Anti-Villain of the film, is searching for God , whom he believes resides on a mythical planet within the center of the Milky Way galaxy.
• She Cleans Up Nicely : After arriving at Sha-Ka-Ree prior to leaving the Enterprise Sybok has his hair cut, has his beard trimmed, and changes into a fresh set of clothes to be presentable for meeting "God." Kirk, Spock, and McCoy also make a stop on the way to the shuttlecraft in order to change into dress uniforms and make themselves presentable as well.
• Sexy Cat Person : A female feline humanoid of some kind turns up as a stripper in a couple of scenes.

• Show Some Leg : Uhura doing the previously mentioned fan dance.
• Space Clothes : Still Averted by Starfleet and not just because of the "monster maroon" uniforms. During the attack on Paradise City, they wear darker uniforms that are more practical for nighttime and desert operations. And while on shore leave, they wear civilian clothes that wouldn't raise any late-20th- or early-21st-century eyebrows.
• Space Marine : A squad is seen on the shuttle. They do nothing and say nothing.
• Stealth Pun : During the infamous Cat Girl bar scene, a Klingon, a Romulan and a Human walk into a bar...
• The establishing shot of the Enterprise -A in spacedock is taken from the previous film.
• Several shots of the Enterprise and the Klingon Bird-of-Prey are taken from the previous film (and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock in the case of the latter), and they're rather jarring when compared to the generally poor new effects shots in this film.
• Sufficiently Advanced Alien : The being they meet on the other side of the barrier.
• Surprise Vehicle : On the planet where "God" is imprisoned, the Klingon Bird-of-Prey rises up from behind a hill to rescue Kirk.
• Taken Off Life Support : When Doctor McCoy 's father developed a illness that caused intense pain and begged McCoy to stop the pain by letting him die, McCoy turned off his father's life support system, killing him. It still haunts him that a cure for his father's illness was found shortly thereafter.
• That Was Not a Dream : "I dreamt that a madman had taken over the Enterprise !"
• They Don't Make Them Like They Used To : Scotty says of Enterprise -A.
• Thinking Out Loud : Bones while on shore leave. Bones: (watching Kirk through his binoculars) You'll have a great time, Bones. You'll enjoy your shore leave. You'll...you'll be able to relax. (lowers his binoculars) You call this "relaxing"? I'm a nervous wreck! If I'm not careful, I'll end up talking to myself.
• Time for Plan B : The normal docking procedure is a no go, so it's time for plan B: barricade. Like a crash landing on an aircraft carrier, Sulu flies the shuttle at full speed into the docking bay, where a net is thrown up to stop them from slamming into the wall.
• Trashcan Bonfire : During the Federation attack on Paradise City, several oil drums with flames inside can be seen on the city's streets, providing light and heat.
• Traveling at the Speed of Plot : We're told that no ship can survive the journey through the barrier, which lies at the center of the galaxy. Not that the laws of physics apply to ships with awesome names, like Enterprise .
• Trial by Friendly Fire : Kirk orders Chekov to fire a torpedo at "God" despite standing only a few meters away. Kirk: Enterprise , are you ready? Sulu: In firing position. Torpedo armed. Chekov: But, sir, we're firing directly on your position! Kirk: Send it down, Mr. Chekov! Now!
• Truce Zone : Nimbus III is supposed to be this. It's proven to be a failure.
• True Companions : Kirk , Spock , and McCoy , are this, naturally, but the movie takes it up to eleven. A redeeming quality of the movie is the focus on this trope and the bond between these three. McCoy : I thought you said men like us didn't have families. Kirk: I was wrong.
• Understatement : Sybok: I imagine the Klingons will be quite angry. Chekov: You are a master of understatement. They are likely to destroy the planet !
• Undying Loyalty : Even after Sybok has performed his pain removal technique on McCoy , he refuses to part ways with Kirk and Spock when they refuse to go along with Sybok's plan.
• Unfinished, Untested, Used Anyway : The Enterprise -A is sent into action to investigate a Hostage Situation despite being barely operational and manned with "Less than a skeleton crew" .
• The Unpronounceable : According to Sybok, the Andorian name for Sha Ka Ree can't be pronounced by humans or Vulcans.
• Unresolved Sexual Tension : Implied to be between Uhura and Scotty.
• Villain Ball : You staged all this to get your hands on my ship? If Starfleet had sent literally any other ship with a working transporter then Sybok's plan would have failed immediately as the hostages would have just been beamed aboard the moment they entered orbit. The plan itself doesn't even seem all that necessary anyway as with his mind manipulation powers he could easily have found a far more direct way to get hold of a ship than this.
• Villain Opening Scene : An Anti-Villain variant, where on Nimbus III Sybok approaches J'onn, a man who is digging "a field of empty holes" for no apparent reason.
• Villainous Breakdown : After having been blasted with a photon torpedo, "God" comes out of it as a rather goofy invoked distorted face exclaiming " YOOOOOUUUUU! " while floating after Kirk. This is because the ending had to be radically changed, and they couldn't afford to get the actor, George Murdock, back to record any new material.
• Walk into Mordor : Its said that the Great Barrier surrounding the core of Milky Way Galaxy was extremely dangerous to enter as "no ship has ever entered and no probe has ever returned.", yet the Enterprise breaches it with virtually no trouble note  perhaps because, unlike others, it actually has the power to get in/out like the entity desires .
• Well-Intentioned Extremist : Probably the saddest thing about Sybok is that he's sincere. He honestly wants to help people, he honestly wants to do good, and he stands up to what he believes is God to demand to know why he's hurting his "friends". He also avoids taking lives if possible and (in his own estimation) helps others by making them confront their pain. And while he is endangering lives, he doesn't realize that and tries to minimize damage where he can.
• What the Hell, Hero? : McCoy , of all people, defends Spock when Kirk chews him out for not shooting Sybok. This, of course, comes after he jokingly offers to "hold him" when Kirk threatens to knock him on his ass.
• What Other Galaxies? : The Great Barrier was planned to be located at the center of the universe but is changed to be placed at the Milky Way Galaxy's center instead. Beyond the Great Barrier is Sha Ka Ree, where creation is said to have begun as if the center of the Milky Way Galaxy were the center of the universe.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist : Caithlin Dar truly wants to realize the dream of the Planet of Galactic Peace. A year or two there probably would have left her as jaded as her counterparts.
• Klaa feels this way about Kirk, since of course Kirk's battles with the Klingon Empire are legendary. He's not even vindictive about it. He's more excited at facing off against such a foe. When Kirk outsmarts him by getting the shuttle into the Enterprise and then it going to warp right under Klaa's nose, after giving the order to track the ship, a wide-eyed Klaa murmurs "He's good ."
• Likewise, Kirk around Korrd. He acts like a military cadet discovering General Rommel is slinging drinks in some backwater.
• Wretched Hive : Nimbus III is a godawful hellhole.
• You Are Not Alone : During the campfire scene, Kirk tells Spock and McCoy that he knows he'll die alone, leading to the following heartwarming moment near the end of the film. Kirk: Spock? I thought I was going to die. Spock: Not possible. You were never alone.
• You're Insane! : Kirk tells this to Sybok, when Sybok says God told him to traverse the Great Barrier. Sybok actually seems to consider it. Kirk: You are mad. Sybok: Am I? [ Long Beat ] We shall see.
• Your Worst Memory : Sybok's power lies in his ability to target the "secret pain" of individuals and eliminate it; eventually, he goes after Bones and Spock, both of them reliving the moments that first imbued them with said "secret pain."
• Spock holds Sybok at gunpoint once they reach the Enterprise , but Sybok refuses to surrender, instead just walking up and taking the gun. He does admit to being worried that Spock might have done it, though.
• J’onn aims a rifle at Sybok when he doesn’t know what the approaching stranger wants. Sybok continues to approach and says, “I can’t believe you’d kill me for a field full of empty holes.”

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What does God need with a starship?

Example of: God Test

Alternative Title(s): Star Trek V

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Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Cast & crew.

William Shatner

James T. Kirk

Leonard Nimoy

DeForest Kelley

Leonard "Bones" McCoy

James Doohan

Walter Koenig

Worst in series; some tricky religious content.

• Average 3.9

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© 1989 Paramount Pictures

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Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

In this classic movie spin off from the TV series, Captain Kirk and his crew must deal with Spock's long-lost half-brother who hijacks the Enterprise for an obsessive search for God at the center of the galaxy. Stars William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. more

In this classic movie spin off from the TV series, Captain Kirk a ... More

Starring: William Shatner Leonard Nimoy DeForest Kelley

Director: William Shatner

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In this classic movie spin off from the TV series, Captain Kirk and his crew must deal with Spock's long-lost half-brother who hijacks the Enterprise for an obsessive search for God at the center of the galaxy. Stars William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy.

Starring: William Shatner Leonard Nimoy DeForest Kelley James Doohan Walter Koenig

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Product Description

Includes: Star Trek 5: The Final Frontier and Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country.

Product details

• Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
• MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 3.2 ounces
• Item model number ‏ : ‎ 2517
• Media Format ‏ : ‎ Multiple Formats, Color, NTSC, Widescreen
• Run time ‏ : ‎ 219 minutes
• Release date ‏ : ‎ September 10, 2013
• Actors ‏ : ‎ Shatner, William
• Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English, French, Spanish
• Studio ‏ : ‎ PARAMOUNT
• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00DB97LY0
• Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA
• Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 2
• #18,220 in DVD

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Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

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Podcast: All Access Shares Its Pain With Laurence Luckinbill From ‘Star Trek V: The Final Frontier’

| June 14, 2024 | By: All Access Star Trek Pod Team 106 comments so far

[Laurence Luckinbill interview starts at 22:07]

Anthony and Laurie are celebrating the 35th anniversary of  Star Trek V: The Final Frontier by chatting with Laurence Luckinbill, who played Spock’s half-brother Sybok. But first, they cover the news: the latest on who may or may not be buying Paramount, the addition of Paul Giamatti to the  Starfleet Academy cast, Alex Kurtzman’s thoughts on the future of the franchise, the upcoming release of  Prodigy  on Netflix, excitement from one of the stars of Section 31 , the Discovery box sets coming our way, Star Trek at the Peabody Awards, and the new podcast coming from  Enterprise ‘s Connor Trinneer and Dominic Keating.

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The role of Sybok (especially as Spock’s never heard-of half-brother) was misconceived, but Luckinbill took what he was given and ran with it. He was absolutely one of the best things about that movie.

He was great in the part and I loved the dynamic between him and Nimoy. There’s a lot to explore here.

The script was not developed properly due to a writers strike at the time

Given that fact, it could have ended up a lot worse without an actor of Luckinbill’s caliber in the role.

‘You are mad!’

‘Am I….we’ll see…’

That’s the moment when he delivers for me a genuine Connery-level performance. It is just like something Sean did in MAN WHO WOULD BE KING in the middle of the film, when they depart from Kipling with a caravan. I have a feeling Luckinbill would be even better than he is if the film hadn’t been so rushed, that he probably would have found more moments to deliver nuance.

Definitely.

I get that but wow. We’re searching for God. In our galaxy because we are so conceited that we think God must live in our galaxy instead of the billions of others? And the center of the galaxy where there is a supermassive back hole and no planet? I mean I know this is SciFi but I expect better from Trek than that.

It written during time of the rise of the TV evangelicals, mega churches and not about ‘finding God’

Searching for God is one thing, But the sheer lack of science in that movie took me right out of it practically before it even started.

It certainly didn’t help anything. They should have gotten TNG’s science advisor to look through their script.

Also, the depiction of the Enterprise was just messed up. They had too many levels in the turbolift scene and I hated how they just reused the TNG sets almost totally unmodified for STV.

I get why they had too. Just about all the movie Enterprise’s sets were used and redressed for TNG and they just didn’t want to spend money converting them back or building new sets. It really took me out of the film for both STV and STVI, where the dining room is a redress of TNG’s briefing room, including windows that obviously aren’t on the Enterprise-A model. And the observation lounge in STV, while a very handsome set, has windows that aren’t on the model either.

This didn’t really happen when the movie Enterprise sets were created for TMP. I believe I read that Andrew Probert worked with Michaelson, the production designer and the other artists to properly integrate the sets into the space allowed for in the Enterprise. The designers for TNG gave the Ent-D the same loving care. In STV and STVI, however, the reuse of the now Ent-D sets is just so blatant.

Agreed. The “mess hall/conference rom and ESP Engineering were glaringly obv. In the case of the latter, they didn’t even try to change anything. I kept expecting Geordi to show up and kick Scotty out like he did in TNG (JERK!!!)

Yeah, I was kind of bummed by that. I think they figured that as long as they didn’t dwell on those shots, it would just be ignored.

The engineering set just isn’t as generic as, say, the sickbay set. Both those sets, of course, were originally the engineering and sickbay sets used in ST I to III. They were repainted and redressed to be the Enterprise D’s for TNG, so that when the original cast showed up for ST V, all they had was a badly damaged bridge set left. All the other sets were used for Enterprise D.

Compare that with the Enterprise E getting all new bridge, conference room, corridor, and Engineering sets for ST: First Contact. I believe they got more money than the TOS films did besides TMP where those original sets were created.

So, yeah, it was kind of a bummer to see the D sets (originally the original Enterprise sets) just used with little or no redress for the final two TOS films, STV and STVI.

it sucks that they lost the engineering room after ‘khan’

The theme of the movie was fine, it’s ultimately the story and screenplay that hurt it badly. Nimoy even said that “Bill was riding a bad script.” He really questioned Shatner whether he really wanted to direct from that story/screenplay. Nimoy and Harve Bennett both could see that it was a bad script.

It’s a real shame. Like a couple of other films (e.g. the horrifically bad Batman and Robin and the just lackluster Green Lantern), I left STV feeling just, underwhelmed. I had a similar feeling with ST: Insurrection and ST: Generations, that feeling that the film should’ve been much much better and more consequential. It sucks when that happens, when you’ve been looking forward to something as good as, in this case, STIV and you get STV. : (

The main character has a major theological epiphany (even if “God” was an alien masquerading as such). We also see a hint of the basis for TNG’s Klingon peace — that’s pretty darn consequential.

In 2010, the transformation of Jupiter into a second sun gives the USA and USSR, on the brink of war, reason to stand down. TFF and the God planet reminded me of that. The excellent cinematography and transcendent music (“The Mountain”) underscored this point.

IIRC, the novelization of TUC also states that Korrd, having found a new purpose after TFF, provided important political support to Gorkon in his decision to reach out to the Federation.

The script was incomplete due to that year writers strike so they had to go with what they had at the time

That’s what you get when you listen to your science advistor.

What dumb ass science advisor did they have??

Charles Beichman. The original script had it that ‘God’ was at the center of the universe, but Beichman said that was well beyond even the Enterprise range-wise, and I think he suggested center of galaxy on the basis of how it might look, which he also advised them on. This is all in that MAKING OF TFF book I mentioned.

Surely we can interpret “center of the galaxy” somewhat metaphorically — as in “center of theological thought” or even “vaguely nearer to the inner part of the galaxy than the fringes.”

If you look at a population density map of Earth, the population center tends to be near the Persian/Arabian Gulf. That explains the success of airlines like Emirates and Qatar in connecting passengers from Europe to points east. But it doesn’t mean that the population center is literally at Dubai Airport (DXB).

I also don’t get why people can accept superbeings like Q, or the Metrons, or Sunad’s species — or indeed perhaps more relevantly the “Nth Degree” aliens — but they have a problem with “God” in Star Trek V.

Science advisors don’t write scripts

Not that I was endorsing his views in the least, but I think sometimes they do. Naren was the tng Sci advisorwhile he started writing for the show and I think kip Thorne got a writing credit on interstellar

Yeah, the ‘center of the universe’ IS quite beyond the capacity of Enterprise, range-wise, seeing as such a location does not exist. The center of the *observable* universe just happens to be wherever you are, very Buckaroo Bonzai. Hollywood, sheesh.

He was very good in the role, but I think everyone here knows that they originally wanted Sean Connery for the part but he couldn’t commit because of the Indiana Jones flick and they ended up naming the planet ShaKaRee in his honor.

Apparently casting Connery was never an option, as he just wasn’t interested in the role. It must be interesting, to have lived a life so blessed by fame and goodwill that people go out of their way to honor you even when you turn them down.

Luckinbill was absolutely superb in the role — one of the most underrated performances in all of Star Trek, if you ask me.

And Star Trek V is hands-down the most underrated Star Trek film. It was the first to introduce the concept of (modern) Vulcans that reject logic. It explores themes such as the nature of revolutions, exile, and religious belief. It gives us actual character development. I also love the set design, particularly the bar with its ship’s wheel centerpiece.

And even if some of the film’s criticisms are justified, many are not. The humor sticks out like a sore thumb? Perhaps, but it’s not even approaching the way it does in LOWER DECKS or SNW. And a lot of that humor is bantering between friends (Kirk-Spock-McCoy, but also Sulu-Chekhov, for instance), which makes the context important — note that they instant they return to duty, they drop the banter (or in the case of McCoy, use it, Hawkeye-Pierce style, as black humor to diffuse a grim situation in the turbolift). (And “too many decks” notwithstanding, that turbolift is more realistic than the fantasy we saw on DISCO.)

Korrd was unrealistic? Hate to say it, but I’ve met my share of local politicos who display exactly the same kind of ennui that Korrd did. They often keep getting elected somehow, even if young reformers — Caitlin Dar! — try to shake things up.

The journey to the center of the galaxy was unrealistic? No more so than the Caretaker or “The Nth Degree” aliens, of which “God” might have even been one.

The Klingons may not have featured the finest actors we’ve ever seen playing Klingons, but I thought the concept of a young, headstrong, almost adolescent captain with a chip on his shoulder learning something was still a worthwhile theme.

Yes, I’d like to see better special effects. But special effects have never been the hallmark of Star Trek. Indeed, all the FX in the world couldn’t rescue the Abramsverse films.

I’m glad you enjoyed the film. I honestly can’t agree with many of your defenses of it, but at the same time have never felt it was entirely without value.

That’s how I feel too. There is some good stuff in STV, even if it is the worst. First, it’s got the holy trinity of ST, Kirk, Spock, and Bones, and they’re written well and we see their bond probably better than any other film. Second, it’s got Luckinbill’s Sybok. Third, I thought Shatner’s action shots on Nimbus III and some of his camera work were well done. And the new bridge looked great. Also the shots of the Enterprise going through the barrier and the planet Sha-Ka-Ree. The more practical fluid sfx there worked well.

And…that’s about it. It’s at the bottom of just about every ranking of ST films and it belongs there.

I also agree with the point about the much-maligned FX of the Enterprise going through the barrier. I thought it actually looked somewhat other-worldly, and much better than the FX of Discovery going through the galactic barrier in S4. (It’s the same as the FX of Krypton in Superman I-II and MAN OF STEEL: the latter may have been more technically sophisticated, but the former was much more memorable and other-worldy).

In CAPTAIN’S LOG, I recall some text saying Shatner wanted a Dantesque “descent into hell” scene in which Shatner is surrounded by seraphim and cherubim that transform into hellish gargolyes. I’d have liked to see that. But Star Trek V was never going to get the budget that TMP did. I so often see it asserted that people would rather have a good, character-driven story than FX. I also see it asserted that they would prefer a villain-less story, or at least a three-dimensional villain than the moustache-twirler we’ve gotten lately. Well, that is TFF on both counts!

I agree that the film would have been better with the humor toned down. The studio was wrong to insist on including it so that “TVH didn’t stand out like a sore thumb.”

I’ll say this much for the film. The Yosemite scenes with the trio were the best the three ever had in movies or TV.

I still think the best ‘trio’ stuff is them in THE EMPATH (and some choice bits in BREAD AND CIRCUSES), but rate TFF right behind that.

Now, B and C is my idea of truly underrated Trek. Not a great episode by any stretch, but the script features some moments of genuine wit and great use of the Big 3; the take on 20th Century American television is as savage as Trek’s satire ever got; plus no one is going to convince me that Logan Ramsey wasn’t having a total blast playing one of TOS’ most memorable villains. The script was the sole joint writing credit of the two Genes, and given that Coon departed shortly thereafter I’m guessing the collaboration wasn’t a happy one. But as much fun as I find this outing, I wish there had been more.

I can see that too

I’ve maintained the biggest problem with the movie was editing. Another editing pass and redone VFX would improve it immeasurably.

Even as is, I prefer it to the whale one.

The Bran Ferren special effects didn’t kill STF for me. It was mostly the story/script. Better sfx couldn’t keep that film from being the worst ST film ever.

He really was one of the best things about STV. I really liked his character, even though, of course, his existence as Spock’s sibling was something of a retcon (though Michael Burnham’s was far worse in that regard). I didn’t know who the heck Luckenbill was, but by gosh, he gave a really charismatic and interesting portrayal of Sybok. He had a lot of humor and wit and I appreciated his rebelliousness as a Vulcan outlier. It makes sense. Not every Vulcan is going to cater to a godless, logic filled, philosophy. In a way, both of Sarek’s sons rebelled against his wishes, and, honestly, of the two, I think it’s evident that Sarek was more angered by Sybok than Spock. Also, Spock never embarrassed Sarek the way Sybok must have.

It’s kind of awesome that with Luckinbill’s casting, all the characters of the Sarek family, were played by really strong actors with Mark Lenard as Sarek, Lawrence Luckinbill as Sybok, and Leonard Nimoy as Spock.

You know what I really wanted to see actually: Mark Lenard as Sarek, Leonard Nimoy as Spock and Laurence Luckinbill as Sybok all doing a scene together. I’d especially want to see how Sarek would react to both of his “disappointing” sons. Come to think of it Sarek was just an all around terrible father.

100% the missing scene was Sarek and Sybok face-to-face. (And yes to Sarek being a terrible dad.)

For some reason they seem to be always missing potential scenes with Sarek. A Sarek and Spock scene was also needed in the Unification two parter in my opinion. I mean if you could get both Mark Lenard and Leonard Nimoy involved in the same episode but can’t put them together in a scene, it just seems useless to me. Also I felt like they could have done more with the Sarek character in Discovery.

 A Sarek and Spock scene was also needed in the Unification two parter in my opinion.

I must thoroughly disagree with this view; the lack of a Sarek-Spock scene, and their inability to reconcile prior to the former’s death, spoke to alienation in a way that no pairing ever could.

Personally, I don’t feel at all that the Burnham retcon was worse. She was a live-in salvage project for Sarek and Amanda during Spock’s childhood, not a half-sibling Sarek fathered on a “Vulcan princess” (ugh!) who then conveniently died to make way for Amanda. A black-sheep distant cousin Sybok would have sufficed, thanks.

Great interview, Luckinbill brought one of the greatest Trek characters to life. Star Trek V is a great movie for all its flaws. This is great Trek

Fantastic show, as always! I felt absolutely NO pain listening to your fun interview with Mr. Luckinbill.

Loved the interview Laurie.

Luckinbill is so well spoken, and I was genuinely surprised to hear how highly he thought of Shatner as a director (a rare opinion indeed).

I must say, while Prodigy’s imminent return brings me joy, the looming end of Lower Decks causes me great pain.

He had such a good take on Shatner. Acknowledged his ego, appreciates him anyway!

I might be wrong but I think I heard a lot of ST V was not what Shatner wanted and the Studio or *someone* over rided his decisions??/

If you dig up a copy of CAPTAIN’S LOG, which is the making of TREK V, you can get some idea of what happened behind the scenes, from a teamster’s strike to the writer’s strike and the studio’s obsession with matching TVH’s humor quotient, as well as their concern over the whole God business (can you imagine if Barry Diller had still been running things at Paramount? He’s the guy who took one look at THE GOD THING and killed it.) There are various other stories, too, including how Ralph Winter has admitted that the production team let Shatner down in certain ways. I talked with the physical fx supervisor, Mike Wood (not a vfx guy!), and he said that Shatner was having to deal with shortcomings and limitations every day in a way he hadn’t seen on a major movie (and this was a guy who had done POLTERGEIST and INNERSPACE and would later do a killer job on ALWAYS!) If you read CINEFEX 42 (the one with a TREMORS cover), you can get a pretty good idea about what happened with Bran Ferren’s VFX, though the American Cinematographer mag on the film is also a good source of info on this and other aspects of the shoot. Personally, I still have a lot of unanswered questions about the production. Like how and why, after doing what looked like the world’s coolest transporter beam effect in ALTERED STATES, couldn’t Ferren reproduce his work a decade later for TFF? The transporter effects were not done by Ferren at all, but farmed out to VCE, which also did the hand phaser animation (VCE did the TWOK phaser stuff and similar work on TUC as well.) I understand the studio not wanting to throw good money after bad once the writing was on the wall after shooting wrapped. But I really do not understand why they were so hell-bent on releasing the movie into a summer that was probably as competitive as the summer of 1982, one that saw Karate Kid and Bond both tanking and Trek taking a bashing as well. If they’d eaten a bit of interest cost and held it over to winter (which is when the original TREK movies did their best, going by TMP and TVH), it would have had less to deal with at the box office, plus the film could have been tinkered with in the meantime. Maybe they could have gotten a young excellent company in to redo some of the ship and God VFX, like DreamQuest or the Skotak Brothers. Also (and I got this from a serious trek scholar, somebody who knows more about TMP than most of the people who worked on it), there was another writer on that ‘making of TFF’ book who basically got paid off to abandon it, and it was hastily rewritten and credited to Shatner’s daughter. Now I think the book is pretty fair in showing mistakes made on all sides, but it does make me wonder if there was worse stuff that got suppressed. One last point: Shatner’s inexperience in dealing with studio higher-ups hurt the final product. I like to point out that when Nicholas Meyer needed to reshoot an explosion on TWOK (I think it was the part when the bridge gets blitzed during Khan’s first attack), the studio refused to pay (300K?) for it, so Meyer said to take it out of his director’s fee. Chagrined and maybe ashamed, the studio caved and ate the cost of the reshoot. That took balls and savvy on Meyer’s part. Compare that with early 1989, when Shatner needs more money to throw at the VFX, which are being funneled through a narrow pipeline at Ferren’s setup where there is only one optical printer. He asked for more $, didn’t get … and then didn’t throw a tantrum or issue an ultimatum over it. What if he had? Might he have gotten something more out of the studio, like Meyer did? He certainly had more of his own money to spend on it than Meyer did, if he had chosen to do so (and this is true years later as well, when he pestered the studio to spend $ to fix TFF for homevid … he could have spent the money from his chump-change at that point.) Now that I finally got a decent modern TV, I guess I gotta buy TFF on UHD 4K. All this keyboarding has got me fired up to watch it for what, the 65th time (that’s a low estimate, from years of watching laserdisc, dvd and bluray, plus several in-theater viewings.) I really only love three of the trek movies: TMP, TWOK and TFF. All have their failings, but these are the ones I will always dig in spite of …  Read more »

Wow. Just W.O.W.!!! That was WAY more than I ever knew and thank you for the information!!!

I know I had paragraph breaks all through that, not sure why it printed as one long hard to read graph, sorry.

If you click on “Read more” the paragraph breaks return.

No worries at all

Instead of supporting follow up to a hit like ‘voyage home’, Paramount penny pinched on the budget for TFF and went with an incomplete script

Yet TFF ultimately wound up costing more than any of the TOS sequel films (the revised and possibly final budget I saw on tbbs was 33 mil, and the VFX actually cost more than any of the ILM films!

The short version that I heard was that Shatner actually wanted to do a Directors version of the film for home video like they did with TMP but was overturned by Paramount who apparently didn’t want to spend anymore money on the film. We should probably do a releasetheshatner cut hashtag of this :))

OMG let’s do it! If Snyder can get one anyone can lol. And Trek fans are way more vocal!

An actor I like listening to despite playing a character I can’t stand. I’ve grown to appreciate STV over the years because of the Kirk-Spock-McCoy aspect and the “I need my pain” bit is so perfectly Kirk that it’s almost a shame that it’s in *this* movie.

Please no more pain. Enough of that in the real world these days.

This pain has poisoned your soul for a long time

To be fair the pain of this world in the last few decades has hurt a lot of ppl. And I am not speaking of Trek per se.

The movie is about overcoming pain, not pretending it doesn’t exist, and not wallowing in it. I daresay Jonathan Haidt would approve.

I personally agree with the overall concept just not the execution.

As flawed as the movie was, it has some of the best Kirk-Spock-McCoy scenes. Especially around the campfire. The movie felt like an episode of TOS and not a big screen movie. But that was okay for me. After several viewings over the years, I have become quite fond of the movie. I didn’t mind the Sybok character, and I didn’t mind that Spock didn’t tell anyone about him. The only REAL issue I had was in the shuttle bay when Kirk screamed at Spock to shoot Sybok. I found that to be out of character for Kirk. But definitely not one of the worst Trek films out there when you have Into Darkness filling that role.

Yes, the Yosemite scenes are great fun. They really “got” the Kirk/Spock/McCoy dynamic. Whenever I rewatch the TOS films they kinda blur together for me (probably because I always watched them in order as a kid) and it still catches me off guard that this film starts so strongly.

Agreed, I saw it when it came out in theaters, and came away a bit let down. Sybok kind of came out of nowhere, and even as a young guy I thought the ‘long lost sibling’ choice to be bad and lazy writing, just like I did with Burnham). However, to me, the film has become a nice swan song for the Kirk/Spock/McCoy trio/friendship arc, the type of which we’ll never see again (no doubt someone will try, though). 🙄. I still watch TFF about once a year, and enjoy it.

(And will never watch STID again). Cheers.

Make that “half sibling.” Sybok was older than Spock, and it’s unclear how long they lived together, if at all.

Also, as I observed with Burnham, Spock just doesn’t talk about his family that much — as far bac as “Journey to Babel,” Kirk didn’t even know that Sarek, a famous diplomat, was Spock’s father, and his closest family weren’t even mentioned at the wedding scene in “Amok Time.” TFF is absolutely consistent with TOS in that regard.

The movie felt like an episode of TOS and not a big screen movie.

In some ways, it did indeed. But with the exception of TMP, it was also the most high-concept of the TOS films.

Delicious Interview!

I absolutely loved Sybok. He was truly mesmorizing. I had the privilege of telling Luckingbill on YouTube years ago how much I loved the character. He was like wouldnt it be great to revisit? I was like Hell yeah! And then Strange New Worlds hasn’t revisited that plot beyond a back head shot! Smh lol.

But SNW gave us musicals, hijinx, and Tawny Awesome. Ain’t life grand?

Oh, the pain, the pain of it all! 😂

I’m hoping S3 will revisit that

Me too, bro!

I mean, why even give the tiny hint if you are not planning to, right?

As always, a pain free listening experience. I rewatched STV recently and was surprised how much I enjoyed it, and Sybok really is a standout.

If nothing else, Sybok’s final line always sticks with me, “I couldn’t help but notice your pain… It runs deep, share it with me!!”

Yeah, even the late rapper Tupac put that in the beginning of his song, “Pain.” Loved it!

Terrific interview, y’all! Mr. Luckinbill has always deserved all the kudos he gets for that role; he’s magnificent in the movie (which is a mess but a very fun one).

This interview made my Friday! I’m now convinced Star Trek needs a crossover event featuring Sybok, Michael Burnham, and any other as-yet-unmentioned Spock siblings all getting together for a family reunion.

And we can call it ‘The Sarek Bunch’

I would love to see them all together at least once. Somehow.

Listening to this interview definitely took the emotional pain of watching Star Trek V away.

(this is a joke, I actually don’t hate this movie, so therefore I do indeed need my pain)

I’ve never hated STV. I still watch it and I can enjoy it, despite its many flaws. It’s like what Harve Bennett said about TOS. Some were great episodes, some were ok, and some weren’t good. But even the ones that weren’t that good had the characters and they carried a weak story. STV is in the same vein. Kirk, Spock, Bones, and, yeah, Lukenbill’s Sybok carry that movie.

And, y’know, STV isn’t alone in that category. I’d put ST Generations as a letdown too thanks to a muddled plot that didn’t nearly exploit the pairing of Captains Kirk and Picard as well as it should’ve been. Both Ron Moore and Brannon Braga admit that they blew the script, but Berman deserves blame too, since he put conditions on the use of Kirk, Spock, and Bones in the film (of course Nimoy and Kelly turned down their roles in the film leading to Scotty and Chekov being substituted for them). They had some bad and dumb constraints and they tried to write a satisfying movie with a set amount of action set pieces. They ended up with something that was muddled, contrived, and didn’t exploit the Kirk-Picard teamup, let alone Kirk’s death, well at all.

No more pain. No more suffering. Sybok should take away all our pain.

Your podcast relieves my paid every week.

STV was an epic movie! The sets, the music, the actors all pretty terrific. VFX were clearly unfinished and Shatner & the producers thought they were temp shots NOT the final product with no time to fix them!

Great interview, his performance has grown on me over the years, what a guy.

V;’s best bits Yosemite, the music, the trio and the god cave,

Oh I almost forgot, the DVD gave us the press conference

And it all led onto the best Star Trek VI

Spock: Sybok. Sybok: This is my doing! This is my arrogance, my vanity… Spock: Sybok, we must find a way… Sybok: No! Save yourselves! Forgive me, brother. Forgive me. I couldn’t help but notice your pain. God: My pain? Sybok: It runs deep. Share it with me.

Exactly. Sybok is very much in the vein of the classic Greek hero. (I kinda regret not taking Nagy’s course as an undergrad and writing a term paper on the subject!)

How about a quote? It has been said that time heals all wounds. I don’t agree. The wounds remain. Time – the mind, protecting its sanity – covers them with some scar tissue and the pain lessens, but it is never gone. Rose Kennedy

Thank you for these pragmatic/practical/realistic quotations. The older I become, the more I tend to accept the validity/realism of this approach over idealism.

I was in great pain watching The Final Frontier during its initial theatrical release. But I’ve enjoyed hearing the behind-the-scenes stories over the years. In a mirror universe, it’d be fun to see the film Shatner intended to make without all the compromises.

The topic of pain does come up rather often in the context of Vulcans, even in TOS.

A wonderful interview with an amazing man and actor!

Pain (in honor of Sybok)

Great interview guys! I’m looking forward to reading his book

I’m surprised no one as offered up on Mr. Luckinbill’s question on what would fans want to see in a one person show. Let’s see:

• Some insight on the duality of a spiritual Vulcan?
• SNW’s was hinting that Sybok might have been a ward of the Vulcan state, because of his non-logical pursuits. Seems custom made to tell a Fahrenheit 451 type story there.
• After the events of ST5, Sybock rediscovers his spiritual self.

Anyway, it’s a beginning. And I suppose you need to know your audience. The character is deep, not sure a convention is a place where a one person show on self reflection would be received well.

Listening to the pod – especially the end, wasn’t a pain at all! ;-)

I like and respect Larry as an actor and he gave the character his all. He seems like a great guy.

I remember opening day 1989 in Boston, tickets for the first show had sold out so we were seeing the second — and as the people filed out, they were just walking out. No laughter, no excitement, no conversation about the film — just leaving. And I thought, “Oh, no.”

I was SO underwhelmed with V (and I’d finished the novel over the weekend).

Unlike ST4 which I saw in the theater 11 times (really) and countless times since on WHS/DVD, I saw the movie one or two more times. And less tha 10 on VHS or DVD.

I remember thinking, it just wasn’t good. Then or now.

Captain’s log really covers very well what happened, as does Shatner’s movie memories. Shatner and Harve correctly stated that the writer’s strike hurt the project, and there was SO much competition (especially Batman) and they should have released in December.

The relationship of Kirk, McCoy and Spock is awesome in the film.

But Nimoy said it best in “I am Spock:” “You’re riding a bad script.”

The writing, the script, I’m sorry, it’s terrible. And even if they had gone with Shatner’s ORIGINAL idea, still terrible.

For me Trek V is like Superman III — I love the actors, I love the characters, love th efranchise, but this movie is one where I look for the good where I can and ignore the rest.

I was at a Trek convention in Boston before ST6 in 91, and Nimoy said he wanted to call VI “Star Trek The Apology,” and added, “Unlike Five, my movie has a beginning, middle and end and all three make sense.”

Bad script. Actors gave it their all but a complete re-master with ILM level effects can’t save the bad script.

Must be all those marshmelons :)

Preaching to the choir, Linus. I agree with everything you said about V, 100%.

It all goes back to the script. Better SFX and even better production wouldn’t have saved it (although they would’ve helped the ending a bit).

I don’t really know what Shatner’s original aspirations were for the story. I believe I read that he wanted the Enterprise to find God. He wanted a story where that happened, but Bennett said that whatever Shatner’s conception of God was, that it wasn’t going to jibe with everyone, so they

steered the story into finding a being pretending to be God.

It just seems that there was a clear line on exactly how to tackle that original idea in the context of Star Trek and I really wonder what Shatner intended or even if he had a clear idea of what the story should really be.

It’s just a bummer, but, as I said above, Generations and Insurrection left me underwhelmed too. Generations had a muddled script (that Nimoy was right about again when he rejected directing it after reading the script) that didn’t exploit the Kirk-Picard team up to the fullest. Insurrection was ok. The problem with Insurrection was that it just seemed like a longer TNG episode with better SFX and, honestly, I liked just about every single TNG two-parter more than INS’s story.

Oh, btw, your Superman III analogy is a really good one.

Sat in the cinema waiting for a 40th anniversary screening of Star Trek 3.

In my house, my kids think marshmallows are marshmellons!

Star Trek III TSFS is far superior to TFF.

And marshmellons are quite tasty!

What a great interview! He sounds like such a delightful person. Sybok is such an interesting character. His mind melds are better than all the CC’s of Inaprovaline for your pain relief needs! Here’s hoping we see a return of the character on a Strange New Worlds and that the original Sybok approves and enjoys it.

Screen Rant

“i love bill shatner”: how star trek v’s villain actor sees sybok will change how you see spock’s brother.

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To Me, William Shatner’s Movie Star Trek V Is Great Comfort Food

Edge of tomorrow 2 gets exciting update from tom cruise movie director after years of stalls, a quiet place movies in order.

• Laurence Luckinbill saw his character, Sybok, as a complex figure searching for God, resembling Lenin's transformation into a dictator.
• Luckinbill refused to have Sybok armed with weapons, wanting to portray him as a peaceful seeker, which director William Shatner supported.
• Despite mixed reviews, Luckinbill praised Shatner's directing, valuing the opportunity to play the tragic and Shakespearean role of Sybok.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier 's Laurence Luckinbill shares how he sees Sybok and credits director William Shatner for helping him realize his vision. Shatner cast Luckinbill as the villain of the fifth Star Trek movie after seeing the lauded stage actor's performance as President Lyndon B. Johnson in Lyndon . As Sybok, Luckinbill played a holy man who was the Vulcan half-brother of Spock (Leonard Nimoy). However, Sybok was no mere heavy, and the emotional Vulcan was unlike previous Star Trek movie villains.

Laurence Luckinbill appeared on All Access Star Trek - A TrekMovie.com Podcast hosted by Anthony Pascale and Laurie Ulster to promote his memoir, "Affective Memories," and to mark the 35th anniversary of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier . When Pascale asked Luckinbill how he saw Sybok as the actor portraying the Vulcan, Laurence gave a fascinating response . Listen to the podcast in the link above and read Luckinbill's quote below:

It was written a bit like a villain, except there was this search for God. Well, we’re all searching for God, aren’t we? In some way… After I accepted the role, [I met with William Shatner] and he asked, ‘How do you see the character?’ And I said, ‘Lenin.’ Vladimir Ilyich Lenin… Lenin had a great dream that he could free Russia. He could make it all good and better for the people. But as he gradually got into it, and he felt the obstacles rushing against him, he gradually turned into a dictator. And that’s where Sybok was headed because he made that choice. And then he stole the Enterprise. And that was the first big action, which was a theft. And gradually, as the [movie] moved along, and we got to that last scene where I exchange hands with Leonard, with Spock, my brother, and then sacrifice myself to save him, to this evil god. Which was, to me, Shakespearean. It was tragic, and I played it that way.

Regarding Sybok originally being armed with rock guns or weapons in Star Trek V 's script, Luckinbill said no and explained his reasoning to William Shatner:

I said I don’t want to because I am the human part of Spock. I am a peaceful person. Sybok is a peaceful person. He is looking for God. He is looking for help. He’s looking to relieve pain. Why would he carry a gun around? So Bill eventually said, ‘Well, we’ll fix that.’ And he did. We were able to do a big fight, and the gun wasn’t important. I actually love Bill Shatner. So he was a good director for me. Other people complained about him. I don’t.

William Shatner's Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is a comforting watch with enjoyable banter, a compelling villain in Sybok, and good intentions.

Sybok Is Unlike Other Star Trek Movie Villains

There hasn't been a villain like sybok before or since.

Among Star Trek 's movie villains , Sybok is unique and stands apart. Most Star Trek movie villains follow the mold of Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban) in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan . The vengeance-lusting, scenery-chewing Khan set the standard for Star Trek movie villains, and the films have tried to replicate Montalban's iconic heavy, without the same success. Star Trek 's cinematic Big Bads like Kruge (Christopher Lloyd) in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock , Shinzon (Tom Hardy) in Star Trek: Nemesis , Nero (Eric Bana) in Star Trek (2009), and Krall (Idris Elba) in Star Trek Beyond have all tried to be Khan's second coming.

Khan literally had a second coming in Star Trek Into Darkness , with Benedict Cumberbatch playing Khan in Star Trek 's alternate Kelvin Timeline.

As Laurence Luckinbill explained to TrekMovie , Sybok is cut from a different cloth than Khan. Sybok is not driven by revenge or a lust for power. Sybok is a Vulcan holy man, a believer who seeks God and the answer to the universe's greatest questions. Sybok's folly is that he was manipulated by a malevolent alien posing as God (George Murdock) . But when he realizes his grave error, Sybok saves his brother, Spock, and sacrifices himself at the end of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier . Sybok is tragic in a Shakespearean sense, just as Laurence Luckibill played him.

Source: All Access Star Trek - A TrekMovie.com Podcast

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Captain Janeways Star Trek: Voyager Coffee Obsession Explained (& Why She Switched To Tea)

• Star Trek: Voyager's Captain Janeway loves coffee like other Star Trek captains have their beverage of choice.
• Janeway's love for coffee runs deep, helping her stay alert and focused as she leads her crew.
• Admiral Janeway switches to tea in Star Trek: Prodigy for health reasons, but returns to coffee for her love of it.

There's no doubt that Star Trek: Voyager 's Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) loves coffee. Other Star Trek captains also have beverages of choice to fuel their exploration of the final frontier. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) famously sips on "Tea, Earl Grey, hot," on Star Trek: The Next Generation , Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) enjoys a raktajino now and again on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , and Star Trek: Enterprise 's Captain Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula) likes sweet tea. Like them, Captain Janeway has been inextricably linked with her favorite drink: coffee, black .

Captain Janeway's love for coffee was established fairly early in Star Trek: Voyager . When the USS Voyager crew was trying to conserve energy by offering replicator rations in Star Trek: Voyager season 1, episode 6, "The Cloud", Neelix (Ethan Phillips) helpfully created an "even better than coffee substitute" that poured like motor oil and probably tasted about as good. Janeway's struggle between leading by example and reserving replicator rations seemed solved when a nebula contained omicron particles that could top up Voyager's energy reserves, leading Janeway to proclaim, "There's coffee in that nebula." From there, the association stuck. But why does Janeway love coffee so much?

10 Best Captain Janeway Episodes Of Star Trek: Voyager & Prodigy

Captain Janeway was a determined, selfless Starfleet captain who would do anything for her crew, as seen in her best Voyager and Prodigy episodes.

Captain Janeways Coffee Obsession In Star Trek: Voyager Explained

"coffee: the finest organic suspension ever devised.".

Captain Janeway's obsession with coffee in Star Trek: Voyager runs deep. In her own words, Janeway explains in Voyager season 4, episode 15, "Hunters", that coffee "got me through the worst of the last three years," and adds, "I beat the Borg with it." In the Delta Quadrant, lack of contact with Starfleet Command means all decisions on the USS Voyager naturally fall to Captain Janeway, so coffee keeps Janeway alert and ready to take action . Instead of strictly replicating individual cups, Janeway sometimes pours coffee from a set, like a personal ritual connected to Earth that keeps Kathryn grounded and focused on Voyager's return to the Alpha Quadrant .

Coffee keeps you going, whether it's through the night or through the Delta Quadrant.

Coffee as a choice of beverage says a lot about who Captain Kathryn Janeway is as a person. Like Janeway, black coffee is strong and assertive. The right roast is bold. The lack of cream and sugar is straightforward. For those who share Janeway's passion for the brew, morning coffee is non-negotiable, and Captain Janeway is similarly unlikely to be swayed once her mind is made up . Coffee keeps you going, whether it's through the night or through the Delta Quadrant, and it's easy to believe that with enough coffee, the Borg really can be defeated. A delicate tea like Picard's Earl Grey just wouldn't be the same. And yet ...

Why Admiral Janeway Switched To Tea In Star Trek: Prodigy

"admiral, you're not drinking coffee".

In Star Trek: Prodigy season 1, episode 12, "Let Sleeping Borg Lie", Admiral Janeway cites "doctor's orders" as the reason for requesting black tea from the USS Dauntless' replicator instead of her usual coffee, but tells Ensign Ascencia (Jameela Jamil) she needs "a second opinion". Over time, the high amount of caffeine in Janeway's coffee habit would have increased the side effects of stress , leading to an elevated heart rate and sleepless nights. Black tea has about half the caffeine as the same amount of coffee, so it's a smart move for Janeway to drink tea instead when the life of a Starfleet Admiral is already pretty stressful.

Admiral Janeway from the alternate future in Star Trek: Voyager 's series finale, "Endgame", has also given up coffee in favor of tea -- also on doctor's orders -- but goes back to coffee after going back in time.

In Star Trek: Prodigy season 2's trailer , Admiral Janeway is briefly seen pouring herself a warm, dark beverage, as the Doctor (Robert Picardo) looks on. It doesn't appear to be tea at all, and looks more like the black coffee that Kathryn Janeway is known for loving. Knowing that Janeway needs coffee to function, the Doctor might have been able to provide the second opinion that Janeway wanted in Star Trek: Prodigy season 1. A brief stint with tea to reduce overall caffeine intake would prevent withdrawal symptoms like irritability, and prepare Admiral Janeway to reunite with her true love from Star Trek: Voyager : coffee. (Now in decaf!)

Star Trek: Voyager

Cast Jennifer Lien, Garrett Wang, Tim Russ, Robert Duncan McNeill, Roxann Dawson, Robert Beltran, Kate Mulgrew, Jeri Ryan, Ethan Phillips, Robert Picardo

Release Date May 23, 1995

Writers Kenneth Biller, Jeri Taylor, Michael Piller, Brannon Braga

Showrunner Kenneth Biller, Jeri Taylor, Michael Piller, Brannon Braga

Star Trek: Prodigy

Cast Robert Beltran, Kate Mulgrew, John Noble, Jason Mantzoukas, Brett Gray, Angus Imrie, Jameela Jamil, Robert Picardo, Jimmi Simpson, Ella Purnell, Dee Bradley Baker

Release Date October 28, 2021

Writers Kevin Hageman, Dan Hageman

Showrunner Kevin Hageman, Dan Hageman

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Published Oct 11, 2021

10 Fun Facts About Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

"What does God need with a starship?"

StarTrek.com

Let’s just say it: Star Trek V is not always considered one of Trek ’s finest moments by some fans. Audiences were shocked to learn that Spock had a brother they’d never heard of — there would be similar indignance at the arrival of Michael Burnham 28 years later — and underwhelmed by the visual effects as well as the overall story. But despite its flaws, the movie has a lot of highly entertaining moments as well as its own special charm. What Kirk-Spock-McCoy fan can resist those campfire scenes? And what does God need with a starship?

To celebrate the film’s 32nd anniversary, here are some fun facts you may not be aware of.

The original story was going to be about meeting God… for real

William Shatner says he got the inspiration for the movie after watching people like Jimmy Swaggart and Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker on TV. This was during the heyday of televised evangelism, when people were forking over all of their money to already-rich TV celebs claiming to have a direct connection to God. In his original plan for the movie, detailed by his daughter Lisabeth in her book Captain's Log: William Shatner's Personal Account of the Making of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier , the Enterprise crew was actually going to find God, only to have him turn out to be the Devil. There was even a scene where McCoy was dragged to Hell by furies, resulting in Kirk and Spock making like Orpheus to get him back.

Sybok wasn’t originally Spock’s brother

As other elements of the story shifted, so did its central antagonist. Originally named Zar, he was going to be a zealot similar to the Ayatollah Khomeini, who had become the supreme religious leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979. As the story shifted, the character changed along with it, until he was less like the Ayatollah and more like professor-turned-LSD-advocate Timothy Leary.

The story called for Spock and the Enterprise crew to temporarily betray Kirk and follow Sybok. The creative team was struggling to find a way to make that seem plausible, and then producer Harve Bennett “lit up” (says Shatner in his Movie Memories book) and shouted that he had the solution: Sybok would be Spock’s brother. Shatner hated the idea but was convinced to let Bennett map out the story, and he ended up liking it.

Of course, when Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley heard that their characters were supposed to betray their captain, they each put a foot down; they knew their characters better than anyone, and they would never turn on Jim Kirk. They insisted that the story be changed, and ultimately, it was.

There were supposed to be all these Rock Men…

As William Shatner and writer David Loughery describe it, the movie’s original ending was huge in scope and highly cinematic, but every time the budget got whittled down, another key element disappeared; they chipped away at the ending until there was very little left of it.

The script called for the Furies to transform into Rock Men who’d explode from the dust, breathing fire and granite. It would feel like Dante’s Inferno ! The plan was to have ten Rock Men, until they learned the cost would be $350,000 each—which meant three and a half million dollars just for the ending. The studio told Shatner he could afford one Rock Man, so he came up with a plan for exactly how he’d film it to make his one Rock Man look like ten. Small problem: The costume wouldn’t be ready until the day before filming. When they finally saw the stuntman in the suit for the first time, it was nothing like Shatner had pictured; he said it just looked like a guy with pieces of slate stuck to him. There also wasn’t a way for the costume to breathe fire without harming the stuntman inside. They did a camera test (which is a well worth watching special feature on the Blu-ray), then dumped the whole idea.

There were familiar faces from both Trek ’s past and its future

In addition to our beloved Original Series cast members, there were other familiar faces in the cast that popped up more than once in the Star Trek franchise, including two Klingon Chancellors.

David Warner, who played St. John Talbot in The Final Frontier , would play both Chancellor Gorkon in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , and Gul Madred, the Cardassian who tortured Picard in TNG’s “Chain of Command.”

Charles Cooper, Klingon General Korrd, would go on to play Chancellor K’mpec in two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation — in the same cloak he’d worn in the movie. Another memorable TNG guest star, George Murdock, aka “God,” would play Admiral Hanson in the TNG two-parter (and season 3 cliffhanger) “Best of Both Worlds.”

Rex Holman (J’onn, the very first person you see in the movie), has some old school Trek cred: He played Morgan Earp in the Original Series third season episode “Spectre of the Gun.”

And there are more! Look up Todd Bryant and Spice Williams next time you’re on a Trek trivia mission.

The movie would’ve shown an addition to Mount Rushmore

With the focus on the Kirk-Spock-McCoy trinity, Sulu and Chekov didn’t get a whole lot to do in this movie. (Walter Koenig even told the authors of The 50-Year Mission: The First 25 Years that he only worked on it for eight days.) They did have another scene together that was cut, which took place in front of Mount Rushmore.

“You’ve seen one national park, you’ve seen them all,” says Chekov, but in this case, he’s wrong. In the future — at least in the future of Star Trek V — there’s a fifth head there, and it belongs to a Black female president, named Sarah Susan Eckert in Dillard’s novelization.

That fan dance was more controversial than you think

For better or for worse, there’s a strange scene in the movie where  Uhura must do a sensual “fan dance” in order to distract Sybok’s soldiers. Screenwriter David Loughery suggested it as a joke and was shocked when they loved the idea. “Nichelle has great gams, so anybody would stop and take a look, and that’s all we needed,” said Shatner in the DVD extras.

Nichelle Nichols was happy to do it. She was an accomplished singer and dancer who had toured with Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton,and was looking forward to having more of her singing in Star Trek. Shatner and Bennett told her that the final decision on what vocals would be used was Jerry Goldmsith’s, but they’d let her know what he decided, and then… they didn’t. She wrote in her book Beyond Uhura that she showed up for a looping session and Shatner, assuming she’d been filled in, said it was too bad “about the music,” and that he knew she “would have done just as good a job.” The song would be performed by a group called Hiroshima. Nichols was crushed, and ultimately disappointed by the scene in the final film.

For those wondering about Nichols fan dance costume, she revealed during a fan Q&A that “I was wearing… me. And, of course, I had a G-string on.”

The key to the film’s distinctive look: location, location, location

The locations were challenging, but worth the effort. The climbing scenes were done at Yosemite National Park. Shatner loved free climbing and was in his element, but the famous giant rock formation El Capitan presented a problem for the crew, who couldn’t get close enough to do closeups. A wall was built in a parking lot for those shots. But that free fall was really performed by stuntman Kenny Bates, earning him the credit for the highest descender fall in the United States at that time.

The Nimbus III scenes were filmed in Owens Dry Lake in the Mojave Desert. The location was also used in the movie Tremors, starring Kevin Bacon. Six degrees achieved!

As for Ska Ka Ree, that was filmed at the Trona Pinnacles in central California. This unique geological formation was a popular location, also seen in movies like Battlestar Galactic a and the original Planet of the Apes , as well as the video for Rihanna’s “Sledgehammer,” released to promote the movie Star Trek Beyond .

The campfire scenes were the last ones filmed

To make those scenes feel special, it was the final sequence on the schedule. With all of the dust-ridden deserts and giant cliffs already behind them, the last days of production were spent around the campfire, on a set on the Paramount lot. There wasn’t time to put tops on the trees, so Shatner had to keep the shots tighter than he would’ve liked, but he’s still happy with how everything turned out. They had a small celebration with champagne and cake after the last shot was done.

There’s a backstory to Spock’s “marsh melons” mistake

About those campfire scene marshmallows…  they came from Kraft, as did Spock’s dispenser. A tie-in product was created so fans could have their very own marshmallow dispensers (via mail order; this was 1989). And yes, you can still find them on eBay.

But here’s the real question: Why does Spock mistakenly call them “marsh melons”? In J.M. Dillard’s novelization of the movie, McCoy knows that Spock is going to do extensive pre-camping research, so he pranks him by getting a computer tech to change “marshmallows” to “marsh melons” everywhere they’re referenced. That’s also why he gets such a kick out of watching Spock say it.

They made a few mistakes

This wasn’t the first movie with an onscreen blunder, and it won’t be the last. There’s one right at the beginning, when Kirk falls off El Capitan and is rescued by Spock (in his awesome levitation boots) just before hitting the ground. When he starts his fall, he has a scruffy face you’d expect from someone on a camping vacation, but by the time he gets to the bottom, he’s clean-shaven. (Even in the future, that seems like an unlikely shaving method.)

Another one happens when Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are on the run from Sybok’s followers and (once again with help from Spock’s levitation books), they zoom up the turboshaft together. They pass deck 52 twice (oops), then go all the way to 78 when Star Trek lore tells us that the ship only has 23 decks. Not only that, the lowest number is traditionally the highest deck; the bridge atop the saucer section is deck 1. But like the shaving mistake, it doesn’t really affect the story… and wasn’t it worth it just to hear McCoy tell Kirk and Spock, ‘You two go ahead, I’ll wait for the next car”?

And finally…

The movie suffered from budget cuts and numerous setbacks, but those who worked on it still had fun, with “exuberance” being the word most used to describe its enthusiastic director. Shatner took a lot of flak for the film, but he sums up his experience beautifully in the behind-the-scenes doc:

“I was in a joyful act of creation all the time, whether it was working or not… We just had a joyful time making a film.”

(And for another fascinating look at Star Trek V , check out Trek V Wrapped Filming 30 Years Ago by Maria Jose and John Tenuto.)

Laurie Ulster (she/her) is a freelance writer and a TV producer who somehow survived her very confusing adolescence as the lone female Star Trek fan in middle school. She's a writer/editor and was the Supervising Producer on After Trek.

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