Anticlimax is one way to define the alleged climax of "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier." A face-to-face encounter with God or some grand, titanic otherworldly presence should be glorious and spiritual and out-of-this-world. The Trek crew always travelled where no man has gone before but it seems rock pillars and some giant, flashy hologram is all we get. This would have been acceptable in the TV series but in a theatrical film, it should be an awesome sight to bewilder us.
"Star Trek V" is still somewhat fun for the first hour or so. The camaraderie between Captain Kirk, Dr. Bones and Spock alone should've merited something far more of a kick-in-the-pants cosmic adventure. The sheer dynamic charisma of these three actors is a joy to witness - there is also a ring of welcome to see the usual gang aboard the Enterprise. No less interesting and dynamic is the presence of Laurence Luckinbill as the renegade Sybok, the half-human and half-Vulcan who is wishing to cross the Great Barrier where no starship dared to go and meet God. Sybok may sound insane but Spock seems to recognize him, a plot point I will leave for you to discover. This Sybok, who has his emotions and a contagious laugh, can also channel a person's deepest recesses of painful memories and either erase them or make them feel better about themselves - I was a little lost in understanding his supernatural abilities. It does leave for one of the film's finest scenes where Sybok attempts to channel Bones, Spock and the reluctant Kirk.
Despite a rather tepid introduction of three different potential characters such as Caithlin Dar from the Romulan Empire (Cynthia Gouw), a wasted David Warner as St. John Talbot, a Federation official, and a burping Klingon, the movie never quite takes off the ground until we get to the actual mission to reach the Great Barrier and a desert planet. We have two desert planets in the movie, two Tattoines (sorry, had to say it), and that includes the opening section with Nimbus III where Sybok has taken the Federation officer, a Romulan, and a drunk Klingon hostage. Apparently, this is a trick to lure the Enterprise. None of this should have made it to the script level at all. Skip all that, start with our Enterprise crew and maybe Sybok could take command of the Klingon ship, the Bird of Prey with a cloaking device seen in the last two sequels. Just a thought.
Thanks to William Shatner's decent directing debut in the Trek universe,"Star Trek V" has some vivid scenes that recall the philosophical angle of "Star Trek III" and some pretty good comical action scenes (Kirk, at first, stays on the planet to try to fight God?) I love Scotty's complaints about the ship's malfunctions ("I know this ship like the back of my hand") and it is great, albeit short-lived, fun to see Sulu and Chekov again not to mention Lt. Uhura performing a backlit dance that is at odds with the Trek universe. There is also a fascinating glimpse into Spock and Sybok's previous encounters. But the movie has a couple of missed opportunities with the God-like (?) apparition or something, and it just felt underwhelming. I really wanted the crew to go where no man has gone before. At times, it felt like we had already been there.
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