3. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
Bill Shatner’s turn in the director’s chair didn’t quite elicit the same success his predecessor Nimoy had enjoyed with The Search for Spock and The Voyage Home. Shatner also had a hand in the script which saw Spock’s previously unmentioned, empathic half-bother Sybok hijacking the Enterprise for a journey to Shah Ka Ree, a mythical planet at the centre of the universe and purportedly the birthplace of all creation.
Having Kirk’s ever loyal crew turn against him due to Sybok’s telepathic healing of “their pain” left a bad taste in fans’ mouths and an over-reliance on unfunny humour and slapstick didn’t help things either (see video below).
Highlights such as Kirk refusing Sybok’s offer to ease his pain by declaring “I don’t want my pain taken away, I need my pain”, asking the supreme being “What does god need with a star-ship?” and the first of many ‘Trek appearances by David Warner couldn’t make up for The Final Frontier’s failings and low budget ending.
