The fifth Star Trek film, The Final Frontier, is widely considered to be the worst of the original six and a contender for worst of all eleven entries in the franchise. That is a distinction this production doesn't deserve. Certainly, this story about the Enterprise being hijacked in the search for "God," has its faults. But it's nowhere near the unwatchable mess some people will claim. While it is true the visual effects are substandard for a Trek feature and the humor reeks of the writers trying too hard AND some of the devices used to get the Enterprise on its way are circumspect, this outing retains one of the most important parts of the previous entry: the focus on the relationship between Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and McCoy (DeForest Kelley).
With a story by Shatner, Harve Bennett and David Loughery, Star Trek V tries to replicate the success of Star Trek IV by taking a lighter, more laid back approach to the material. This is often cited as one of the main downfalls of the movie. Whereas the interplay between the characters in 1986 San Francisco felt organic to the storyline of the film, it's gratuitous, forced and demeaning to everyone involved. In the open, Kirk is freeclimbing El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. At one point, Spock begins a conversation with him while using booster boots. When Kirk falls, Spock does his best Superman impression to catch him, including raising his arms above his head before diving. Moments later, Kirk jokes about dropping in for dinner. While the original series always had a playful dynamic between Spock and McCoy, it was very rarely humorous for the sake of humor. That ends up being the biggest problem with the finished product.
But that's not to say its the only problem. Various critics have pointed to Laurence Luckinbill's Sybok as partly to blame for the perceived failure of the film. He does the best he can with the limited role the script gives him. No one-specifically Shatner, Bennett and Loughery-gives much thought to explaining how he makes people confront their darkest secrets or why this makes them devote themselves to the cause. It just happens, making the rest of the crew turn on Kirk. This Sybok isn't a stereotypical bad guy like Khan; rather, he is the catalyst for the story. The real adversary comes in the form of Klingon Captain Klaa (Todd Bryant), a character so misbegotten and one note he shouldn't be given a second thought. (Hint: Kirk's actions in Star Trek III continue to haunt him.)
It's impossible to imagine how this script ever got approved, let alone into production. From beginning to end the crew is treated as second rate buffoons all because someone feels it would be funny and provide the audience a laugh. When this happens, no one is actually laughing with the characters. We're laughing AT them which has the effect of simultaneously demeaning the 20 plus of development the actors have put into them. A host of other, ancillary characters might as well be thrown out the airlock: Sybok takes three diplomats hostage and, combined, they have about three useful lines in the entire film. None are given anything especially meaningful to do and, therefore, are maddening to see standing around with nothing to do.
(A word about the special effects. Things like phaser blasts and transporter beams are just fine. It's the outer space effects which leave much to be desired. Color schemes appear to be all wrong with the Enterprise almost glowing. And for anyone paying attention, it's not hard to imagine the models being filmed on a soundstage. That's how fake they look.)
The real issue with the entire Sybok story isn't even a revelation which seemingly comes out of left field. No, it's more basic than that. The finale doesn't work in any way, shape or form. Whatever the reasons, it is far too perfunctory without a sense of real tension. Most certainly the lack of a main "bad guy" doesn't help The Final Frontier at all. Kirk is forced to fight against non-corporeal entity with no personality in a battle that lasts an whopping three minutes. Each of the successful Trek movies has an adversary the audience can root against, someone the hero can physically fight against. Here, Kirk is hopelessly outmatched and only really prevails on accident.
Trek V continues the trend of giving each of the main characters something to do other than punch buttons and follow orders. In the open, Sulu and Chekov (George Takei, Walter Koenig) are shown to take shore leave together while, at the same time, Uhura and Scotty (Nichelle Nichols, James Doohan) share a couple quality moments on the bridge. Mind you, Trek IV did a much better job in this area. And because the characters get small moments to themselves, the movie ends up feeling more well rounded. There's also a rousing score by Jerry Goldsmith. But then, that's to be expected.
Come to think of it...maybe this is the worst of the original six movies.