Just watched Star Trek V The Final Frontier

[The Old Mixer]

Well, if you would take the time to actually read my post, you'll see that I pointed out that the ideas might seem weighty to the general summer movie audience, not "go over their heads." Nor did I say that the ideas were "profound".

Ah, semantical quibbling...my biggest turn-off on the Net.

This is not 'semantical quibbling'. This is a case of different words having different meanings. You, however, have twisted the meaning of a word (semantics) to describe something other than its own definition. You have played the semantics game, and therefore are your own biggest turn-off on the net. How's it feel?

Ah, indignant, pseudo-intellectual necro-posting...my new biggest turn-off on the Net.

It's pure luck that I even noticed this post from the main page, I probably haven't been on this forum since around when this thread died. Was that post really only two months ago? Feels like at least six....Ward Fowler took it in stride...give it a rest.

 

[Maurice]

I remember reading an interview (possibly with Nimoy), and he said that the effects were shoddy because there was some kind of strike/job action going on with the FX people, and they had to make too many compromises in order to get the film to a completed state.

There was no strike that affected the visual effects crews specifically. The shoddy effects were due to the fact that ILM was too busy to take on the project and Paramount gave the gig to Brian Ferren who didn't have a shop already set up to do the kinds of motion control photography required. Add a short schedule and you've got a recipe for crap.

 

[DWF]

Good points, but remember that the earliest Sybok versions had him carrying off a bloody attack, not a casualty-free one, and THEN they started turning him into less of a Khan-type.

As for the laughing ... If they'd cast Max Von Sydow as Sybok (which I think was an early intention), I think he'd have put across the oddness of a vulcan laugh (he can make almost anything effortless, but if you look at his King in CONAN, when that guy laughs it rings false, though that may be the work ethic faltering under the size of the paycheck.)

Klaus Maria Brandauer was I believe another early choice, and while he is awesome in MEPHISTO and keeps NEVER SAY NEVER from disintegrating completely, I don't know that his dimensions would have put across a Vulcan (a Luckinbill problem as well.)

Luckinbill has one moment that works for me (it is the key one) ... when Kirk calls him mad and he reflects a moment ... luckinbill really channels Sean Connery there, and it is unfortunate in a way because it always makes me see how it could have worked with Connery, because Connery is a good actor with star charisma, whereas Luckinbill is a good actor without it, playing onscreen against western world icons.

They meant the role for Sean Connery they even named the planet of Sha Ka Ree was supposedly taken from his name.

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Star_Trek_V:_The_Final_Frontier#Background_Information

The name "Sha Ka Ree" was taken from "Sean Connery", the actor Star Trek producers originally wanted to play Sybok.

 

[ncc-1017-e]

I love the captains chair in trek 5

 

[dave_R_treker]

Overall Star Trek V wasn't a bad movie, it has its problems.
One thing that I didn't like was when Kirk, Spock and McCoy were in the turpo lift shaft. They appeared to be on the lowest deck. But it was saying Deck 1. This can't be so since Deck 1 is the highest deck not the lowest. Another thing that bothered me was during the same scene where the three of them accelerate upwards. They climb many decks reaching all the way to the top of the deck. This really could not happen. It would be impossible to get from the lowest deck to the highest deck without going horizontal down on of the turpolift shafts first.

 

[Kronos]

I've always thought there was a turbo shaft that ran from the engineering hull straight up the dorsal into the saucer.

Certainly not 78 decks though.

 

[FalTorPan]

The Trekkie Techie in me loathes the turbolift scene, but I can understand its comedic intent. The idea of the deck numbers increasing as you ascend was probably a deliberate decision on Shatner's part, with the rationalization that most theater-goers don't know about the reversed deck numbering scheme used aboard ships.

 

[ncc-1017-e]

Overall Star Trek V wasn't a bad movie, it has its problems.
One thing that I didn't like was when Kirk, Spock and McCoy were in the turpo lift shaft. They appeared to be on the lowest deck. But it was saying Deck 1. This can't be so since Deck 1 is the highest deck not the lowest. Another thing that bothered me was during the same scene where the three of them accelerate upwards. They climb many decks reaching all the way to the top of the deck. This really could not happen. It would be impossible to get from the lowest deck to the highest deck without going horizontal down on of the turpolift shafts first.

So true but on real ocean going vessels deck 1 is the lowest deck on the ship! Just a thought! It builds from deck 1 and goes up!

 

[Peach Wookiee]

I watched TFF the other night and I remembered why I love this movie. It was fun.

 

[RobertScorpio]

I watched TFF the other night and I remembered why I love this movie. It was fun.

You just nailed it, Wookie...It was "FUN". Can anyone say the same of INSURRECTION or NEMESIS? I have Nemesis on DVD but I haven't watched it once. I don't want to waste two hours of my life watching it again..twice in the movies was torture enough...

But, every few months or so, I'll break out STAR TREK V for the family, and we all like it because it is...fun. And I don't care what anyone else says, I think Lukinbill nailed it as Sybok because he doesn't seem like a Vulcan...at all...Which is, to me, the point of his character...

Good fun...and for that I rate it above NEMESIS and INSURRECTION

Rob
scorpio

 

[gomtuu20]

If you ignore the childish, insultingly stupid script, the half-brother who magically appears, fire extinguisher anti-gravity boots, bad acting, cheesy fx (just how far can a shuttle slide while going 2mph?), a loyal crew that immediately muntinied just because someone helped them with a little bit of their psychic pain (last time they were at least under the influence of spores), a fat woman in her sixties supposedly seducing with a fan dance (did she just happen to have a pair of fans in her cabin?) and Spock camping then this is a great movie. Several years ago I asked Tekei if Paramount had ever considered doing an Area 51-style cover up and pretend the movie didn't exist. He said that V:FF shows how Paramount thought they could put any cheap piece of garbage out and still make money from it if they stamped "Star Trek" on it. This was not only the worst of all the Trek movies, it was one of the worst movies ever made. Of any genre. It's like the Uncle that takes his pants off when you have a group of friends over. It's embarrassing when it is aired and people know you're a Trekker. It was just such a disapointment.

 

[Lowdarzz]

While TFF is not my favorite Trek film I still enjoy it immensely because it is one of the best character pieces that Trek has produced.

On the other hand I really wish paramount had give Shatner the money to do his directors cut back when the special edition came out. Surprisingly the effects are the only thing in the film that really bug me.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

Those were palm leaves, gomtuu20 and Uhura is not fat.

 

[Nebusj]

This was not only the worst of all the Trek movies, it was one of the worst movies ever made. Of any genre.

I know that the Internet is a high-capacity means of transmitting outrage from one person to another, but, could we have the hyperbole trimmed down to merely absurdly excessive, please? It's not even in the bottom quartile of movies; if you think it is, you need to watch more movies.

 

[FalTorPan]

Star Trek V is better than Insurrection and Nemesis.

 

[cardinal biggles]

This was not only the worst of all the Trek movies, it was one of the worst movies ever made. Of any genre.

I know that the Internet is a high-capacity means of transmitting outrage from one person to another, but, could we have the hyperbole trimmed down to merely absurdly excessive, please? It's not even in the bottom quartile of movies; if you think it is, you need to watch more movies.

At least he didn't accuse Shatner and Bennett of raping his childhood. That really would have been the cherry on the hyperbole sundae.

 

[Kronos]

Star Trek V is better than Insurrection and Nemesis.

I'll throw Generations and The Search For Spock in there as well.

 

[Kirk1980]

It also never ceased to amaze me as I read up on it...just how much BAD timing befell that film.

Writers' Strike results in a script not handled by the writers Shatner wanted....

Teamsters' Strike results in a movie pressed for time and comfort on the part of cast and crew.

The combined forces of Indiana Jones and Batman sapping ILM's manpower and Trek getting the shit end of the stick effects-wise....

Paramount deciding that the ONLY reason TVH made tons of money was because it was funny and thus forcing Shatner to insert the dumb out of character scenes.

Paramount deciding Shatner's original idea was too 'out there' to work and dumbing it down.

Sooooooooo much went wrong.

So much.

 

[cardinal biggles]

It also never ceased to amaze me as I read up on it...just how much BAD timing befell that film.

Writers' Strike results in a script not handled by the writers Shatner wanted....

Teamsters' Strike results in a movie pressed for time and comfort on the part of cast and crew.

The combined forces of Indiana Jones and Batman sapping ILM's manpower and Trek getting the shit end of the stick effects-wise....

ILM didn't work on Batman. Looking at their filmography, it would seem that they were busy with Indy 3, Ghostbusters 2, and The Abyss (and maybe also the Back to the Future sequels) at the time.

Even if ILM could only give TFF their third-stringers, they still would have been better than that schmuck Bran Ferren. Or, for that matter, what was John Dykstra doing in '88-'89? He was a known quantity from back on The Motion Picture (and whatever that film's faults, the special effects weren't one of them).

Perhaps more importantly, though, shame on Shatner for being suckered in by Ferren's "ink in the water tank" routine, which though very pretty, said nothing about his ability to deliver complicated motion-control shots in a timely manner, or if he even had the equipment to do so (he didn't). And shame on Bennett and Ralph Winter for either allowing Shatner to be suckered, or for being suckered themselves.

Paramount deciding that the ONLY reason TVH made tons of money was because it was funny and thus forcing Shatner to insert the dumb out of character scenes.

Paramount deciding Shatner's original idea was too 'out there' to work and dumbing it down.

These likely would have happened anyway, and don't really speak to the other problems with bad luck and bad timing as far as job strikes and ILM's workload.

Well, it does tie into the WGA strike — perhaps if there hadn't been a strike, Shatner could have found a better writer than David Loughery, or at least found someone (e.g. Nick Meyer) to polish Loughery's turd of a script and write some decent jokes.

 

[T'Cal]

Not the worst movie ever, but the worst of the franchise IMHO. It is painful to watch for me. Once in a while, a cable channel will air it and I'll think, "It can't be as bad as I remember," and I'll turn it on. Moments into it I'll realize, "No, it's worse!" and shut it off. I have it on DVD only because I'm a completist when it comes to Trek.

OTOH, I enjoy INS more every time I watch it. It is the most episode-like of TNG series, and that's not a bad thing at all. I loved the series and found the attempts to make TNG epic somewhat tiresome. I thoroughly enjoyed FC but GEN gets worse everytime I view it - way too many plot holes. It's not awful, just disappointing. Watching NEM some years later, I see it as not as bad as I remember it being on first viewing. It's not great by any means, but there are a handful of great moments that were handled very well. Still, there are more that were handled very poorly. Pity. I place it as 2nd worst of the entire 10 film series right below TFF. I found that film to have virtually no redeeming value to the franchise. If it were never made, Trek would be just fine, maybe better.