Star Trek V: The Final Frontier [Blu-ray]

I got super baked and had no idea what the hell was going on during this movie. All I remember is Spock jumping into the whale pool and being like 'Kirk my friemd I am talk with the wale and he sais-' and that is all. Great movie.

great movie

I’ve been marathoning the classic Trek movies, and I’ve been dreading Final Frontier because I’ve read so many reviews ranking it as the absolute, irredeemably worst Trek movie. After watching it for myself, I’m forced to disagree. It’s no Voyage Home, but it’s entertaining and occasionally touching. Sure, the tone is uneven, and some details are pretty terrible. Triple-breasted cat-person stripper? Horrifying. Uhura’s sexy distraction dance? Inexplicable. Budding romance between Uhura and Scotty? Weird. But the chemistry between the cast, especially the Golden Trinity, is at its best here. Finally, we get to see the Enterprise crew just hanging out, being sassy, throwing zingers as freely as Kirk’s signature karate punches. This connection, more than anything else, is the heart of Trek, at least to me, and we get plenty of it in Final Frontier. And in addition to the legitimately touching and sweet conversations between the Trinity, there are countless really funny moments that, silly as they are, genuinely made me laugh. Spock toasting traditional “marshmelons”? Delightful. Spock’s jet boots? Hilarious. Bones trying to teach Spock “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”? Classic. Kirk raising hand and politely saying “excuse me?” to God? Incredible. And let’s not forget the best line in the film, “What does God need with a starship?” Outstanding.Now to the overall arc of the movie. It seems like most people hate this movie because of the villain and the premise. Sure, I admit the antagonist’s pain-leeching brainwashing trick isn’t fully explained. Sure, what a strange time to reveal that Spock has a half-brother. Sure, the attempt to explore religious fanaticism is a bit clunky.But who cares? So Trek tried to tackle the un-tacklable issue of religion, and its reach slightly exceeded its grasp. Isn’t that also classic Trek? Show me one episode of TOS that is any less bizarre, silly, and over-earnest about an in-your-face cultural issue. Isn’t that part of why we love it?So yes, The Final Frontier might not be the best film in the franchise. But it’s far from the worst. I’m not sure, but maybe it has such a bad rap because it came after Voyage Home, and who can live up to those whales? And it might sacrifice a bit of narrative strength, but it makes up for that lack with the chemistry between its most beloved characters. To me, it seems pretty undeserving of all the flak it gets. There’s really plenty to like about it. And it feels familiar, like we’re back on solid campy but ambitious Trek ground.At the very least, it’s a hell of a lot more compelling than watching the crew watch a cloud for two and a half hours.

I understand why people dislike this film, especially when viewed as part of the movie series. That said, it does at least FEEL like Star Trek when you watch it. I tried to like the Kelvin timeline material, and I did enjoy Star Trek 2009 when I watched it the first time, but one glaring difference between Kelvin and Prime timelines is repeat viewing.I can't rewatch anything J.J. Abrams did, and like it. That includes his Star Wars movies. His media almost feels designed to stun you into liking it upon first viewing, but almost immediately upon rewatching, the holes start to show.I agree Star Trek V is the weakest of the original movies, with IV being very close behind it, but even so, I can enjoy it to this day.I just can't say the same for any new TrekAnd bty, for people that complain that Serak would scorn is son for being, "So human" upon Spock's birth, it does help to explain why Spock tries so hard to suppress his humanity. It's been made obvious that Spock has father/son issues, not least of which, being part human, in light of some of Serak's comments and his general attitude toward human beings.Either that, or perhaps Spock's mother is just an annoying representation of them. Who knows, but I better not give Bad Robot any script ideas, or one day, we'll see a series about how badly she suffered as Serak's wife, inside the evil Vulcan patriarchy. I so hope we get to see Spock undergo gender reasignment, and start a love triangle with Kirk and Bones. I suppose there's always Star Trek Discovery.Anyway, in light of the new material, I find even IV and V to both be welcome in my digital library, and I am glad they are still available.

NOTE: Prior to its DVD release, this VIDEO CD (VCD) was the original and only compact disc format available. VCDs will work on dedicated VCD players, most DVD units, PCs, and some game consoles. They're stil very popular in Asia..My all time favorite Star Trek film is #5, aka "The Final Frontier" (1989).In this one, Spock's half-brother is on a quest to see the face of God. OK, a bit weird.The real reason I so love this movie is the easy camaraderie among its three principals, established early in the story when Kirk, Bones and Spock are on shore leave and our impetuous captain attempts to scale the Matterhorn. Spock saves him from a sure death fall and later that night they sit comfortably around a campfire, chow on some of McCoy's beans, flavored with bourbon that all drink their fill of. Later Kirk and McCoy playfully tease Spock because he doesn't know the song "Row, Row, Row Your Boat," a bit of foreshadowing to a most warm finale that seemed at the time it was filmed, permanent.A new Star Trek series was on TV and the original crew was getting too old to continue the movie franchise, and yet, there was one great last Star Trek adventure in all their futures..Some trivia here--Harve Bennett, writer and producer of Star Treks two through five, was the voice of a flight recorder n the 3rd movie and in #5 Bennett had a bit role as Starfleet Chief of Staff. He died in February of 2015, just two days before Leonard Nimoy also left us.Also, Bill Quinn, who portrayed McCoy's father is a very moving scene, made his last film appearance here. Quinn was a long-time character actor who is remembered for the role of Mr. Van Ranseleer on TV's  ARCHIE BUNKER'S PLACE  and as Eddie the mailman on  THE BOB NEWHART SHOW . Quinn was Newhart's real-life father-in-law.

Yes, the remastered picture quality from the 4K scan work makes ‘The Final Frontier’ look really quite good in many places……but it’s still the worst of the films with the original cast.As a remote planet is hijacked by a mysterious stranger, Captain Kirk and the starship Enterprise are drawn into an adventure that will take them to the heart of the galaxy….Poorly conceived from a story perspective, and suffering from the poorest visual effects work by far in a Star Trek film (still, ever) the stalwart cast get it through, but all it really proved was William Shatner could not necessarily do what Leonard Nimoy twice could - direct a good ‘Star Trek’ film.However, as with all previous individuals original film Blu-ray’s you get hours of bonus material - two commentaries, deleted scenes, promotional material, and production documentaries and featurettes covering aspects of the film. Good value for what you get, but the movie itself remains as weak as it was in 1989.

The picture on this DVD seems dark to me. I'm sure the original movie was quite well lit so it must be the DVD. I notice that there is a more expensive (remastered?) version available so I assume that this issue has been resolved for that release. The film itself is a serviceable story albeit one that finished Shatner's directing career in the Star Trek series. There's nothing stand out about the film apart from Scotty and Uhura being an item which came as a bit of a surprise. I got the DVD to complete my collection. It's an OK movie but not one I would go back to repeatedly like Wrath of Khan or The Undiscovered Country. This disc is a stripped down edition with little in the way of extras beyond a couple of trailers. Sound quality is OK, like the film, nothing out of the ordinary.

The plot is collander-like, the special effects are the poorest in the series and the jibby humour in the face of death and destruction wears a little thin, but it's still a corking great film! Apart from the ever-growing charm of the relationships between the main characters, I think this is mainly down to Star Trek constantly asking the BIG questions. The storyline manages to incorporate the concept of Eden, the nature of consciousness, psycho-traumatic healing, the moral questions of Euthanasia... and even God makes an appearance (well, sort of). Most especially, the scene with McCoy and his dying father is an incredibly moving piece of the film and beautifully acted. This isn't the best Star Trek film, but it's still brilliant.

This has got to be the worst of all of the Star Trek films - self indulgent, hammy, campy, sickenly dull. I understand this would be added to a collectors collection, but really if you want to sit through 90 mins of dross....I am a fan but this is def not something I would ever reach for on an evening to entertain - as the producer said 'this film almost killed the franchise' - yes I really believe that - even at £6 it cost too much!! Steer clear - I would rather buy a duplicate copy of another Star Trek film than sit through this again.

Not the best star trek movie, but worth seeing.