Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Before recently re-watching Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, I only had the vaguest recollections of it. I remembered watching it with my father when it was first released on video and I think I saw it one more time after that. I remember not liking it very much which is probably why I haven't re-watched it since. So, I was curious to revisit it now and see if it indeed was as bad as I remembered it being. 

James Kirk (played by William Shatner) is on shore leave in Yosemite National Park (which the film feels the need to inform us is on Planet Earth) with Dr. McCoy (played by DeForest Kelley) and Spock (played by Leonard Nimoy). Kirk is using the time to do some mountain climbing while McCoy anxiously watches from the ground below and Spock uses some fancy rocket boots to catch up with Kirk and inquire why he feels the need to embark on such a dangerous activity. Later that night, their vacation is ruined when they learn their shore leave has been cancelled due to a hostage crisis on planet Nimbus III. They want Kirk and his crew to go in with the newly commissioned (but not yet fully functional) Enterprise to rescue the hostages. Upon their arrival though, they find out it was all a ruse led by the Vulcan Sybok (played by Laurence Luckinbill), who used the hostage situation to lure in a starship. He proceeds to take Kirk and the rest of the crew hostage and use the Enterprise to fly into the center of the Galaxy to the planet of Sha Ka Ree, which is said to be the source of all of creation, and perhaps find God himself.

Star Trek V was directed by William Shatner, who also contributed to the story of the film. I have the distinct feeling that Shatner had watched Nimoy direct the previous two films and thought to himself, "By golly, I can do that too!" While Shatner has a nice eye for cinematography, especially in the opening and closing scenes at Yosemite, storytelling may not be his strongest suit. In the right hands, the crew of the Enterprise going on a spiritual journey could be an intriguing and interesting entry into the series. However, the film is a bit muddled narratively. The opening scenes try to recapture the charm and silliness of The Voyage Home as Kirk, Spock and McCoy sit around the campfire and Kirk and McCoy attempt to teach Spock the song "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" to Spock's befuddlement. It's an awkward scene that almost sinks the entire movie right there. There is also a cutaway to Sulu (played by George Takei) and Chekov (played by Walter Koenig) lost in the woods trying to get assistance from Uhura as to where they are without actually admitting they are lost. Are they camping with Kirk, Spock and McCoy in Yosemite? The movie never makes this clear and neither Kirk, Spock or McCoy wonders where they are. 

Then there are the three hostages, including one played by David Warner, that are introduced at the beginning of the movie and then left adrift with little to no further development. The movie is slow and boring for long stretches of it's run time, futilely trying to punch things up with such bits of "humor" as Scotty (played by James Doohan) hitting his head on a girder and knocking himself unconscious. As the film finally reaches it's climax, it teases us that there might actually be something awe inspiring or incredible to be discovered by the crew, but alas the ending is an anti-climactic cop out. The film had the potential to go for something deep and potently spiritual but just falls apart instead.  

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier isn't the worst in the series, there's a couple I would rank lower, but it's also far from the best. It has a muddled narrative with dropped or unresolved plotlines, thematically it's all over the place and the ending is a complete cop out when it could have gone for something much more meaningful instead. There was potential in the storyline, but the execution was all wrong.