Changes: Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Revision as of 08:56, 14 August 2006

For other uses, see the disambiguity page Final Frontier.

Adventure and Imagination Will Meet at the Final Frontier

Spock's half-brother Sybok begins a quest for the mythical planet "Sha Ka Ree".

Summary

Three ambassadors from the Federation, Romulan Empire, and Klingon Empire meet alone in Paradise City on the planet Nimbus III for a private conference. They discuss the planet itself, which had been billed as "The Planet of Galactic Peace" at its founding years before, but has rapidly devolved to a barren wasteland rife with corruption and debauchery.

Their meeting is interrupted when the city-compound is overrun by fanatic followers of Sybok, a Vulcan with an unusually emotional demeanor, and a seemingly supernatural ability to cleanse his followers of emotional "pain." Sybok informs the ambassadors that they are his hostages. His intentions at first are unclear.

Meanwhile, newly-demoted Captain Kirk is wrapping up a shore leave with Spock and McCoy spent in Yosemite National Park. Around the campfire, the three discuss their time together and philosophize about life and death.

Their leave is interrupted when the new Enterprise is summoned by Starfleet to visit Nimbus III and assess the hostage situation. Despite Kirk's and Scotty's protestations that the ship is unready to fly, the Enterprise departs for the planet.

Spock replays the hostage tape that Sybok has sent to the Federation, and zooms in on Sybok's face. Kirk notices Spock's mood, and observes: "You look like you've just seen a ghost". Spock replies, "Perhaps I have". He recounts for Kirk and McCoy a brief history of Sybok, a gifted Vulcan who at a young age broke with Vulcan 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.

Elsewhere, Klaa, a brash young Klingon Bird-of-Prey captain, is assigned by the Klingon Empire to visit Nimbus III as well. Knowing that the Federation will be responding to the threat as well, Klaa displays excitement at the prospect of engaging a Federation starship, and orders his vessel toward Nimbus III.

The Enterprise arrives first at Nimbus III and Kirk wastes no time leading a rescue party to the planet's surface via shuttlecraft for a ground assault on Paradise City. The attack seems at first successful, as the team steals some horses and rides in the gates of the city, initiating a firefight. However Kirk is shocked when the hostages turn on him and deliver him over to Sybok.

As Sybok's followers cheer their victory, Sybok suddenly recognizes Spock among the group, and reacts joyfully; however Spock is not cheered by the apparent reunion, and stands dutifully by his captain. Sybok then reveals his next move; he intends to seize the USS Enterprise itself.

Kirk and company find themselves aboard the shuttlecraft with Sybok and an armed contingent of followers, flying towards the Enterprise, but their approach is interrupted by the approach of the Klingon ship, which immediately moves to attack the Enterprise. Though the Enterprise can't dock a shuttlecraft with the shields up, Kirk improvises a plan to land the craft and immediately send the ship to warp; this plan succeeds, and the shuttlecraft crashes full-speed into the shuttle bay as the Enterprise zips away from the Klingons.

Kirk scuffles briefly with Sybok, and Spock grabs a weapon and has Sybok at gunpoint. To Kirk's surprise, however, Spock refuses to shoot him, and they are taken hostage and thrown with McCoy into a holding cell. At this point Spock reveals his connection to Sybok: they are half-brothers.

Sybok now has complete control of the ship, and reveals to the crew his overall plan: to steer the Enterprise into the center of the galaxy in the expectation of finding Sha Ka Ree, the mythical Vulcan "heaven," and the home of God. Kirk immediately declares this plan to be lunacy, since no ship or probe has ever returned from a trip to the galactic core, and the Enterprise will likely fare no differently.

With the help of Scotty, the three senior officers escape from the holding cell, and they use Spock's levitation boots to elude Sybok's followers and make it to the emergency transmitter, hoping to notify Starfleet of their predicament. However Sybok beats them there, and asks for a fair chance to relieve them of their "pain," as he has been able to do for an increasing number of the Enterprise's crew. The officers agree to Sybok's demonstration.

Sybok then speaks to Spock and McCoy in turn, causing each of them to relive hurtful experiences in their past. They are each impacted by the experiences, but Kirk refuses the same treatment, protesting that he needs his pain in order to live his life. His objection quickly proves moot, however, as the Enterprise arrives at the galactic core's boundary and encounters a strange-looking planet never before seen.

Sybok and many of his followers believe they have found heaven, and Sybok takes a shuttle down to the planet's surface with Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. There they encounter a mystical being who introduces himself as God, and asks them to bring their starship closer to him so that he can "join" with it. Though Sybok is convinced, Kirk immediately smells a rat: "Excuse me, what does God need with a starship?" The being is enraged at Kirk's refusal to cooperate, and Sybok wrestles with it while the Enterprise officers flee the site and race back to the shuttle. Unable to take off, Kirk orders Spock and McCoy beamed back to the Enterprise, and is left alone with the being. Though he is trapped by it, Klaa's Bird-of-Prey suddenly appears and destroys the being with a single shot. Kirk is then beamed up to safety.

The Klingon ambassador orders Klaa to apologize for his aggression, and both ships turn back toward home. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy again speak broadly about God, life, and death; Kirk posits, "I don't think he's out there; I think he's in here - the human heart."

The film concludes with the three friends back around the campfire, singing "Row Row Row Your Boat" in a round.

Memorable Quotes

"Excuse me... Excuse me... I just wanted to ask a question. What does God need with a starship?"

- Kirk

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

- Kirk

"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."

- Sybok and "God"

"I seek proof."
"Jim, you don't ask the Almighty for his I.D.!"
"Then here is the proof you seek."

- Kirk, McCoy, and "God"

Background Information

Star Trek V has provoked strong controversy among fans, many of whom consider this movie to be the weakest of the Trek films. In fact, Gene Roddenberry has stated that certain plot elements were "apocryphal", although it's not known to exactly which elements he was referring. Subsequent Star Trek writers have avoided referencing events from the movie for the most part. One of the rare exceptions is the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "Fusion", which features a group of Vulcans who express their emotions freely, an element seen in this film in the form of Sybok. Next Generation writer Joe Menosky has also suggested that the "God" alien in this film is a renegade from the race of inquisitive aliens seen at the end of the episode TNG: "The Nth Degree".
The film was the "winner" of the 1989 Razzie award for "Worst Picture."
Because of its flop, in some countries this film was not distributed in the theatres, but only on VHS.
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 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 the effect designs that characterized earlier Trek films.
William Shatner's first outline for this film was entitled An Act of Love.
The name "Sha Ka Ree" was taken from "Sean Connery", the actor Star Trek producers originally wanted to play Sybok.
After the campfire scene, Kirk, Spock and McCoy say "good-night" to each other in a way that is clearly a parody of the "good-night" in the television show "The Waltons".
In the original script, Kirk was attacked by ten large "rockmen" emerging from the rockfaces 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 "rockman" 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.
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.
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 entire movie was filmed on such a tight schedule that many of the shots were set up in matter of minutes, instead of hours.
The cloak with the numerous medals that Ambassador Korrd wore would appear 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.
One of Kirk's famous lines in this film is 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 resurrected in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. This is the second time that Kirk refers to Spock as his "brother". The first time occurred in TOS: "Whom Gods Destroy."

Links and References

Cast

William Shatner as James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy as Spock
DeForest Kelley as Leonard McCoy
James Doohan as Montgomery Scott
Walter Koenig as Pavel Chekov
Nichelle Nichols as Uhura
George Takei as Hikaru Sulu
David Warner as St. John Talbot
Laurence Luckinbill as Sybok
Charles Cooper as General Korrd
Cynthia Gouw as Caithlin Dar
Todd Bryant as Captain Klaa
Spice Williams as Vixis
Rex Holman as J'onn
George Murdock as "God"
Jonathan Simpson as Young Sarek
Beverly Hart as High Priestess
Steve Susskind as Pitchman
Harve Bennett as Starfleet Chief of Staff
Cynthia Blaise as Amanda
Bill Quinn as McCoy's Father
Melanie Shatner as Yeoman
Carey Scott as Young Spock (uncredited)
Mike Smithson as Klingon helmsman (uncredited)

Stunts

Gregory J. Barnett as Stunt Double for Leonard Nimoy (Spock)

References

Andorian God; bath; brig; camping out; "Camptown Races"; commercial; Consul; Earth; El Capitan; Enterprise-A, USS; Excelsior, USS; galactic core; Galileo; God; Great Barrier; Iowa; jet boots; kellicam; Klingons; Klingon Bird-of-Prey; marshmallow; Milky Way Galaxy; "Moon over Rigel VII"; Mount Rushmore National Memorial; Neutral Zone Treaty; Nimbus III; Nimbus system; Orbital shuttle; "Pack Up Your Troubles"; Paradise City; Paradise Inn; Pioneer 10; pool; Priority 7; Rigel VII; Romulans; Romulan ale; Romulan language; "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"; scotch whiskey; Sha Ka Ree; sing-along; Southern baked beans; Starfleet Com Net; Starfleet Command; Starfleet Galactic Memory Bank; Starfleet Operations; termite; waste extraction; Tennessee whiskey; type-6 shuttlecraft; Valhalla; Vulcan; Vulcans; Yosemite National Park

External Links

Previous Movie:
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Star Trek Movies

Next Movie:
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

@@ Line 91: / Line 91: @@
 *''Star Trek V'' has provoked strong controversy among fans, many of whom consider this movie to be the weakest of the ''Trek'' films. In fact, [[Gene Roddenberry]] has stated that certain plot elements were "apocryphal", although it's not known to exactly which elements he was referring. Subsequent ''Star Trek'' writers have avoided referencing events from the movie for the most part. One of the rare exceptions is the ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise]]'' episode "[[Fusion]]", which features a group of [[Vulcan]]s who express their emotions freely, an element seen in this film in the form of [[Sybok]]. ''Next Generation'' writer [[Joe Menosky]] has also suggested that the "God" alien in this film is a renegade from the race of inquisitive aliens seen at the end of the episode [[TNG]]: "[[The Nth Degree]]".
 * The film was the "winner" of the 1989 Razzie award for "Worst Picture."
-* Because of its flop, in some countries this film was not distributed in the theatres, but only in VHS.
+* Because of its flop, in some countries this film was not distributed in the theatres, but only on VHS.
 * 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 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 the effect designs that characterized earlier ''Trek'' films.
 * William Shatner's first outline for this film was entitled ''An Act of Love''.
 * The name "[[Sha Ka Ree]]" was taken from "Sean Connery", the actor ''Star Trek'' producers originally wanted to play [[Sybok]].
 * After the campfire scene, Kirk, Spock and McCoy say "good-night" to each other in a way that is clearly a parody of the "good-night" in the television show "The Waltons".
-* In the original script, Kirk was attacked by ten large "rockmen" emerging from the rockfaces of Sha-Ka-Ree. Unfortunately, with an extremely limited budget (which was responsible for other "high budget" items to be removed from the final script, as well as using cheaper effects for the space scenes), only one animatronic "rockman" 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 [[Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (Special Edition)|Special Edition]] two-disc DVD release.
+* In the original script, Kirk was attacked by ten large "rockmen" emerging from the rockfaces 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 "rockman" 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 [[Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (Special Edition)|Special Edition]] two-disc DVD release.
 * 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.


Series:	TOS
US Release:	9 June 1989
Prod. #:	005
Date:	September 2287
Stardate:	8454.1
Director:	William Shatner
Story:	William Shatner & Harve Bennett & David Loughery
Screenplay:	David Loughery
Producer:	Harve Bennett