I fear that Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) is a middling mess. I could deduce no clear themes, although we dance about questions concerning family, God, and emotion. Spock’s unmentioned brother, the brilliant and personally powerful Sybok, seeks control of the Enterprise in order to seek after the primordial divine origin of all life, on a planet behind the energy barrier supposedly surrounding the Galactic Center. Sadly, the movie and its alleged plot is beset by a tsunami of questions.
- Why would God need a planet for a dwelling? So why seek God there?
- Why is there an energy barrier at the Galactic Center?
- Shatner proclaims they’ll investigate this dwelling of God “by the book”, and then promptly takes Sybok, Spock, and McCoy down to the planet without a sensor sweep or use of their uncrewed probes. Not even a red-shirt in sight!
- Why is a Captain leading a simple raid on a rebellious planet?
- So why is God imprisoned on that planet? My goodness, why don’t you investigate further? Hell, why didn’t the crew break into a rendition of “Row, Row, Row your Boat” and exorcise the damn thing?
- Blah, blah, blah….
It’s a tidal wave of twaddle, to be perfectly honest, and I only tolerated it as a duty to review the movie, and as I am in the midst of recovering from a mild case of food poisoning, it was easier to watch than change the channel.
