The Final Frontier vs. Star Trek XI

[JarodRussell]

Now since we had FC vs. ST XI and TWOK vs. ST XI, I find it would be interesting to see how the allegedly worst TOS movie is compared to ST XI.

 

[Bones2]

What you think is the worst TOS movie. If you wanted to compare the worst TOS movie, you should have put TMP in my opinion.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

ST:TFF just sucked, and recutting the ending with a bunch of CG rock monsters wouldn't do a thing to improve it.

It has remained, over time, the second lowest-grossing Trek movie. This is because so many people declined to pay to watch it (duh).

 

[Harvey]

Star Trek. Anyone who cares more for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is still nursing sour grapes over Abrams' take on the franchise. Shatner's film has laughable special effects, several broad misfires at comedy, and a rickety premise. What it could have been is irrelevant in this case.

 

[swaaye]

What I enjoy most about TFF is the Kirk, Spock and McCoy character exploration. And the soundtrack of course.

XI is also a great movie though IMO.

I try not to polarize with it comes to my Trek movies.

 

[Kegg]

Basically, Nichelle Nichols's fan dance v. Zoe Saldana in her underwear, yes?

It was a close call.

 

[Shazam!]

Final Frontier by virtue of the fact that it at least tries to be a sci-fi film.

The fact that it isn't a glorified mirror universe episode also helps.

 

[Shazam!]

Basically, Nichelle Nichols's fan dance v. Zoe Saldana in her underwear, yes?

It was a close call.

Trek XI also had more 'splosions and LULZ!!1!1

 

[Jeyl]

Against my better judgement, I'm going with Star Trek V here. It may be a lack luster film for sure, but when the acting was good, it was good. I have much more respect towards the villain from this movie than I do towards Nero.

And it also had a cadence. The film never rushed to get somewhere and it wasn't afraid to take a break and have scenes with our characters just talking to each other.

And no gawddang camera shakes or zooms.

 

[Falcor5]

I prefer Trek XI. Although I do like the character moments in Trek V and wish there had been a bit more of them in Trek XI but ultimately I liked Trek XI more so voted for that.

 

[Agenda]

Is this a joke?

 

[Harvey]

Final Frontier by virtue of the fact that it at least tries to be a sci-fi film.

The fact that it isn't a glorified mirror universe episode also helps.

So, an alternate reality story fails to qualify as science fiction...because?

 

[STR]

Shatner's film has laughable special effects

Frankly, I found the effects in STV to be more dynamic than previous films. Yes, you do get the distinct impression of literally watching the effects budget disappear as you go along the movie, but unlike ST11, the special effects are secondary to the characters. So I give kudos to Shatner for ambition, and a middle finger to Paramount for not ponying up the money to give the vision justice.

several broad misfires at comedy

Laying aside the "humor is subjective" crap that settles nothing, I think most of the humor was fine. Except for Scotty, turning him into comic relief was inappropriate. I'd also point the finger at Paramount, who rightly thought comedy was what made ST4 successful, and wrongly thought all future ST movies should have heavily doses of laughing gas.

and a rickety premise.

I liked it. It was the most imaginative and grandiose premise since TMP. If the ambition could have been fulfilled...well we wouldn't be having this discussion. Since it wasn't fulfilled, I can certainly take issue with the execution, specifically how quickly and easily the Enterprise-A crew was "turned."

 

[GhostFaceSaint]

These two films don't compare at all, Star Trek (XI) was very well performed, well rendered, and overall a great film, Star Trek V was a joke in comparison, it insulted the original cast by making an awful parody of them, the special effects were piss poor, and the story was disappointing to say the least. To my fellow Trekker's who like this film I am honestly sorry to insult your film but Harv Bennet should have known better when he was involved in the production of this film.

 

[Kelso]

XI

 

[sovereign]

I won't lie. I wouldn't call myself a fan of Star Trek V, it's near the bottom of my list. That being said, there are many endearing moments and scenes in this film. There's no comparison. I think "Star Trek" XI is a piece of stinking shit that I doubt I will ever see again. By default, I like Star Trek V more. Much much much much much more.

 

[SRFX]

Of course from the out-set, I am going to say STXI is the better film. But I find Star Trek V has a lot going for it.

Star Trek XI:

Pros:
Excellent SFX
Great characterisation
Great soundtrack

Cons:
Stupid Plot
Crappy Villain

Star Trek V:

Pros:
Interesting plot (imo)
Excellent Soundtrack
Great Antagonist
Great cinematography

Cons:
Questionable Characterisation
Awful SFX
Bad Execution - mostly the ending

I guess, the bad things in V are worse than the bad things in XI? I am really not sure how XI is going to mature over time for me though. The terrible plot is going to wear even thinner than it already has over time - and I've only seen it twice so far!

Where as V I can watch as something ambitious, that failed - and appreciate it accordingly.

I guess for now - my vote will go to XI

 

[Harvey]

Shatner's film has laughable special effects

Frankly, I found the effects in STV to be more dynamic than previous films. Yes, you do get the distinct impression of literally watching the effects budget disappear as you go along the movie, but unlike ST11, the special effects are secondary to the characters. So I give kudos to Shatner for ambition, and a middle finger to Paramount for not ponying up the money to give the vision justice.

several broad misfires at comedy

Laying aside the "humor is subjective" crap that settles nothing, I think most of the humor was fine. Except for Scotty, turning him into comic relief was inappropriate. I'd also point the finger at Paramount, who rightly thought comedy was what made ST4 successful, and wrongly thought all future ST movies should have heavily doses of laughing gas.

and a rickety premise.

I liked it. It was the most imaginative and grandiose premise since TMP. If the ambition could have been fulfilled...well we wouldn't be having this discussion. Since it wasn't fulfilled, I can certainly take issue with the execution, specifically how quickly and easily the Enterprise-A crew was "turned."

All fair points, but they're all points that speak to the film that could have been, not the film that was shown in theatres.

Honestly, if the film had been given a major re-write, if the visual effects had been handled with the same level of professionalism as the previous films, and if Paramount properly funded the entire proposition, it could have been great. I understand that two of those problems were unavoidable if they wanted to make the release date--the writer's strike and a dearth of available VFX houses were just plain bad luck. But the last has been an affliction of every Star Trek film outside of TMP and ABrams' film, and Shatner just didn't know how to deal with it.

 

[Aike]

Ok, three things.

1. If Star Trek is barely defeating The Final Frontier, I guess the latter is more popular than the haters think.

2. It probably says a lot of the people coming here, they prefer the old universe movies before the reboot. They may be in majority here now, but seriously most people don´t agree (IMDB ratings, polls on Trekmovie with far more people voting, professional reviews, box-office and so on).

3. I doubt we can take the polls comparing Star Trek to Khan or First Contact seriously because of this poll and reason number two.

 

[Shazam!]

So, an alternate reality story fails to qualify as science fiction...because?

It wasn't a particularly good idea.

'Madman hijacks Enterprise and searches for 'God'' is a brilliant premise.

'Man is accidently sent back in time and decides to blow up planets because his planet was blown up in the future. Oh, and an alternate timeline was created because... it just was' isn't.