I wonder: were movies like Final Frontier, Nemesis and Insurrection victims of fan boredom or fan rage? How meaningful a distinction is that?
As a brand new Trek fan in December 1979 - I
loved the movie - the fan anger I kept meeting in my early days of fandom was very disturbing. While many were welcoming of brand new members, there was still scathing criticism of ST:TMP and it always felt directed at me.
"You can't call yourself a Star Trek fan if you haven't see the good stuff that came before. And if you'd been there at the beginning, you'd agree with us that TMP is terrible."
As a well-travelled fan by the time of ST V, we followed the rumours throughout production and ran a "special sealed section" in our regular newsletter. On opening night we had little choice than to take the film more as a satire. We had a great time, but it was at Shatner's expense.
But yes, some new and much older fans loved this film and said it was closer to the Trek of old.
IDIC.