Plinkett's Star Trek V Audio Commentary

[M]

Have you guys seen that RedLetterMedia has just posted a full audio commentary track for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier here? It's a good listen, if not as funny as the Star Wars ones. He presents some interesting thoughts on why this movie works, why it doesn't work and how the "I need my pain" scene is the actual climax of the movie.

EDIT: Aww crap, I hadn't seen the other thread on that topic before posting.

[JarodRussell]

Wait a sec, I have to BUY this opinion?

[M]

JarodRussell wrote:

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Wait a sec, I have to BUY this opinion?

No, you don't. Just click play and listen through the whole thing.

[Anduril]

That guy's voice is too annoying for me. No way I can listen to that for a whole movie.

[Warped9]

I don't really need to hear this rehashed again.

There are moments I like in TFF, but they're too few and far between. At the heart of the film is a worthy story, but it's just po0rly executed. I daresay more poorly than "Spock's Brain."

There are just too many things thrown into this that are extraneous and don't belong.

- making the new Enterprise a lemon.
- skeleton crew (yet again).
- inappropriate slapstick humour done over the top (rather than more subtle and contextual).
- poor continuity (this time with Nimbus III).
- a cheesy Romulan (couldn't they have done better?)
- rushed and mediocre looking f/x.
- another Great Barrier but in the wrong place.
- a bad looking full-size hangar deck set and ditto the shuttlecraft interior. Indeed all the Enterprise interiors looked poor including the bridge (I hated that beige colour scheme).

What it needed was a good rewrite to massage the basic story into something more reasonable before going to camera. And I think Shatner's enthusiasm needed to be reined in some. It also needed to have spent its f/x money more wisely.

[HaventGotALife]

I don't like the humor in it. From Yosemite to "Please, Captain, not infront of the Klingons." I like the idea of someone seeing God in their own image, especially around the time of the rise of the televangelist. I the scene reviewing Spock and Bones' pain. I like hearing about who Sybok is, how somber Spock is in that scene. I don't like all the humor, especially on Nimbus III. It just makes it seem like Sybok isn't all that threatening. It makes fun of trying to make peace, instead of simply showing its failure to do so on Nimbus III. There's a levity to the performance of Sybok, he's not obsessed. He's at peace. That's good for portions of his performance, but I think it would've been better if we saw a bit of the dark side of him as well. He's too likable.

[James T. Vader]

Love me some RLM

[Lance]

HaventGotALife wrote:

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I don't like the humor in it. From Yosemite to "Please, Captain, not infront of the Klingons."

Have to agree. The humor was mandated by the studio after Trek IV proved to be so successful, but I think TFF would have benefited from a more serious take.

HaventGotALife wrote:

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I like the idea of someone seeing God in their own image, especially around the time of the rise of the televangelist. I the scene reviewing Spock and Bones' pain. I like hearing about who Sybok is, how somber Spock is in that scene. I don't like all the humor, especially on Nimbus III. It just makes it seem like Sybok isn't all that threatening. It makes fun of trying to make peace, instead of simply showing its failure to do so on Nimbus III. There's a levity to the performance of Sybok, he's not obsessed. He's at peace. That's good for portions of his performance, but I think it would've been better if we saw a bit of the dark side of him as well. He's too likable.

Shatner's original brief was to as you say make Sybok a 'televangelist' type, somebody who manages to convince otherwise rational people to follow him. I think it might have been more interesting to play that for real, instead of giving him some mystical power that lets him release a person's inner pain. It might have been more real to have seen Sybok charm his way across the galaxy, manage to convince (with words) people to his cause simply through his own belief. It would have made him a more powerful (and tragic) character. Kudos goes to Lawrence Luckinbill, who does a terrific job playing Sybok. But the character as written is a bit half-baked.

[Triskelion]

^ Good points, Lance! It would be interesting to see a dangerous side to Sybok emerge in a crunch from having renounced logic. Showing the consequences of emotionally liberating the Vulcan psyche - and why Logic was such a "good idea." Would have been fascinating to observe Spock's learning experience from it.