STAR TREK V: I like it. Am I alone?

This movie's original idea was fine, it was just implemented poorly. Shatner took a beating for it, but it is primarily a function of a rushed script (IMHO) than bad directing.

I think if they had more time to get the script a bit "smoother", even without better effects it would have been more enjoyable. As more of these actors leave us, we will appreciate this movie more.

 

I too love the interaction among the big three in STV. Sybok and the rest of the plot, I could do without.

 

Steve- Yes. You are alone, sad and alone.
I never have liked V. I love 4 and 6, which I own, and 2 is great. 3 is good and 1 is ok to watch every now and then. I dont remember the last several, I guess that tells you something. The last movie (10?) was great, but maybe I was just expecting so little that it seemed better than it was. 5 and 1 are my least favorite of the old crew. To each his own though.
R

 

I like his delivery: What does...God...need with....a star ship."

No body does better pauses than Shatner.

Star Trek 5 had all of the right elements: humor, the easy familiar dynamics between the main characters, giving a number of the main characters a dramatic scene, etc. All good ideas. But somehow it fell completely flat.

It also has a "silly" villian. Khan was great. Christopher Llyod's Klingon in III was as well. Christopher Plummer's Klingon in six - magnificent. But "God" in five....just silly.

I don't buy the odd number theory as I think III is great.

BTW - 7 of 9 - mmmmmmmmm.

-BZync

 

Amen. That's what I was trying to say, only you did it more succinctly.
Thanks.

 

I've always thought "STV" was pretty good. Not the best "Trek", but nowhere near the worst. "ST:TMP" takes that "honor", and I'd put the lame comedy of "STIV" second from the bottom - it's easily the most overrated "Trek" flick. "STV" has some groan-inducing moments, but it includes more thought-provoking elements than normal and tosses in some good action too.

Here's my full review:

http://www.dvdmg.com/startrek5se.shtml

 

Steve,

I may be echoing several opinions here...but....I first loved Star Trek IV, but now the whole whale thing...sick of that. I'll put that movie dead last. Star Trek V has grown on me. As has been stated already, I love the chemistry between Spock, McCoy and Kirk. Adds a needed dimension there which you don't find that often. The ending was underdeveloped. But to rank them...it would be II, VI, III, V, I and IV.

Brian

 

Steve,

I like it. It's one of my favorites.

IMO, the first one with Veeger, or however it's spelled, is the worst.

 

Star Trek V is what happens when you let Shatner write and direct.

I've got a soft spot for anything Star Trek, but STV is a dog. I like my sc-fi to make at least some sense scientifically. One of the cool things about Voyager was the idea that the galaxy is so vast, it would take them hundreds of years to get back to the Alpha Quadrant, even at top warp speed. In STV, the Enterprise gets to the galactic core in no time at all. And after all that talk about a barrier at the core that no ship has ever penetrated, the Enterprise and the Klingons sail right through. (Barrier at the core, barrier at the edge (Kelvins episode)--man, we live in one insular galaxy!) Anti-gravity boots? What a convenient (and previously unheard-of) plot device. I remember Shatner on the Tonight Show explaining that the Vulcan name for heaven, "Shakaree," was a contraction of "Sean Connery," in an attempt to convince Connery to play Sybok (The Laughing Vulcan--cringe!). So instead they get...Lawrence Luckinbill??? Yikes! And don't get me started on Uhuru's fan dance.

Kirk: "You never told me you had a brother."
Spock: "You never asked."

 

Nimoy's I Am Spock is also a good read if you enjoy the films.

There is a one-on-one candid DVD with both Nimoy and Shatner talking about recollections and other things. Anyone see that one yet? It was for sale on Shatner's site.

http://store.yahoo.net/shatner-store/minmelsecbeh1.html

 

Yeah, it could have been a much bigger disaster. Seriously, would you trust Shatner with money? I love Shatner, he's a much better actor than he gets credit for, but a writer/director he is not.

 

Yes, I have it. It's a must see (for those who read I Am Spock, at least ). Very interesting conversation between the two of them.

 

Is that the one where Shatner farts?

 

"Leonard! I need....some...Beano."

 

Yeah. Trying to save stupid other lifeforms - so 80's!!! Where's the Exxon Valdez when you need it?

My current list of favorites is IV, VI, II, and First Contact. V is okay. More tolerable than TMP and certainly not the worst movie I've seen by a long shot.

 

CORRECT-O-MUNDO!!!


I basically like Shatner because he can make fun of himself like on SNL and those PriceLine commercials. I am also a huge ST original series fan. Having said that the guy is a bad actor, writes bad poetry, and obviously can't direct. He was an OK actor before he was a star, but by the time the ST movies were being made he couldn't light a candle without overacting. I still say the original formula for ST is the best and they should continue it with new actors to play the charactors.

 

My evaluation:

1. ST:TMP: Not that bad, very businesslike. Too many minutes of screen time to marvel at the special effects.
2. ST II: liked at first, then got sick of the sentimentality, now like it again. But Kirk's roar of "Khaaaaaaaaaaan!" makes me cringe.
3. ST III: A transitional movie, too bad it didn't have Kirstie Alley again.
4. ST IV - Fun at the time, but very dated now. Female lead is quite bland. Immortal lines: Chekhov: Excuse me, where are the nuclear wessels? Scotty to computer, with that big smile on his face: Hello, computer!
5. ST V- One of my faves. It jus seems more comedic, with the crew more at ease with each other.
6. ST VI- Seems a bit distant, but I like it better now on the double DVD.
7. Generations-Too long since I've seen it.
8. First Contact-Best of all of them, first rate adventure with none of the sentimentality of the first six movies.
9. Insurrection- Hated at first, sort of like it now.
10. Nemesis- Not bad, a little weak.

 

She wanted WAY too much money to appear in III. (I don't know the figure, but Nimoy mentions it in his book.) Hence, Robin Curtis.

 

Kirk beating up God is a bit pretentious. Even for Kirk.

 

They were gonna have her appear as Saavik in Trek 6, but again, too much money involved.

Evan

 

No, he doesn't - at least not if you mean "I Am Spock". He refers to "a price so far beyond our reach that it left me slack-jawed". (Spock the Slack-Jawed Vulcan?) He also mentions the price was higher than what they planned to pay DeForest Kelley!

 

But it wasn't God in the movie - it was a guy who faked it. Very clear the movie made no claims they met the real Big G...

 

I sort of figured it wasn't a dollar amount...but I did get the feeling it was an order of magnitude more than what she was paid in the first film when she was a relative unknown.

Exactly. At the end, they seem to be not quite sure WHO (or WHAT) they had met!

 

Hence the Kim Cattrall character...would have made a bit more sense to have someone (Robyn Curtis wasn't available?) play Saavik, as well as lend a bit more emotional resonance to her betrayal.

 

Sorry, I can't go there with you. I still think that Shatner's acting in III where Kirk learns of the death of his son is a fine piece of acting. Very moving.

-BZync