William Shatner’s spatial epic in 1989 “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier” is still, to date, quoted as one of the worst “Star Trek” films. The film’s big budget of $ 30 million in the film has probably gone mainly to its distribution, because its visual effects are seriously lacking and the sets seem of poor quality and inexpensive. Likewise, the scenes featuring the planet Nimbus III and his paradise city were very clearly fired in the Mojave desert, and there were composits for the many clichés of view of the film, forcing Shatner to shoot real projection screens. (It doesn’t look good.)
“The Final Frontier” was also assaulted by a myriad of production problems. Just at the start of the shooting, there was a strike of the team union, forcing paramount to seek non -unionized drivers in a movement which was, of course, to invite reprisals of the teams. (It may not be linked, but one of the trucks was exploded in a parking lot shortly before a set of location.) In addition, the studio could not afford its usual team of sorcerers at Industrial Light & Magic, so he had to hire a team of technicians much cheaper at the last minute. All of this was in addition to shasting to make dubious director decisions throughout, at least according to producer Harve Bennett (who spoke very frankly about the failure of the film).
Admittedly, the premise of the film is a large swing, because it involves a terrorist named Sybok (Laurence Luckingbill) divert the USS company and take it to the center of the galaxy, where he believes that God (!) Lives. The film even culminates with Sybok and the crew of the Enterprise in the face of a being that could potentially be the physical manifestation of the Almighty. “Star Trek” has always been interested in asking great philosophical questions about the nature of the universe, but facing God head on seemed a little silly, even for long -standing trekks.
In the end, “The Final Frontier” bombed at the box office, a little impressive of $ 70.2 million (compared to the $ 133 million as “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” by Leonard Nimoy did). For a while, it seemed that the series of “Star Trek” films was over.
Star Trek V was almost the last border of Star Trek
In 1989, the subtitle “The Final Frontier” implied that, yes, it would indeed be the last film “Star Trek”. It was also a reference to the Shastner’s opening narration of the original television series “Star Trek”, bringing everything in a loop. More than that, her premise was so vast that she really looked like, well, the last border of human consciousness. The space can be easily crossed in “Star Trek”, but the infinite of the human soul remains largely unexplored. Shatner was authorized to present the premise of the film itself, because a dispute on the set of “The Voyage Home” allowed him to make certain contractual requests. It was stipulated that Shatner could not only direct “Star Trek V”, but he could also assemble script treatments. As such, it was his idea to see the film to meet God face to face.
After the film, however, it was not clear where the franchise would go. Bennett started working on a restart of the property, which was to present Kirk and Spock as young men to the Starfleet Academy. They were to be played by new actors, and the series of films would be allowed to start again. Unfortunately, Bennett’s “prequel” idea was abandoned after a change of diet in Paramount, and the new management rejected its concept. A 1991 issue of Cinefantastique magazine also quoted Bennett saying that, at one point, he worked on a film “Star Trek” strongly inspired by Michael Curtiz Western of 1940 “Santa Fe Trail”, but this was also rejected in the middle of the management exchange. The concept of Bennett to restart the property with a new casting of new cast would, of course, ultimately used in 2009 for “Star Trek” by JJ Abrams.
In the end, however, the new Paramount diet estimated that “Star Trek” should be bought and decided to bring together the last time in the original series for an appropriate “frontier final”.
Star Trek VI road: the unknown country
Bennett moved away as a producer because his projects were killed, but it was very possible, for a few sparkling moments, that “Star Trek” could have been restarted in 1990. It was at this point that “Star Trek: The Next Generation” was already in the air. The franchise would have restarted seriously, and Kirk and Co. – At least as we had known them – would have been put to rest. It would have been a daring decision – the one that Paramount would not have the CHUTZPAH to withdraw for 19 years.
The new Paramount diet in 1990, however, was more concerned with recovering what the property already had rather than falling into the restarting trap. The studio hired Nicholas Meyer, the writer / director of the hit “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” and a crucial contributor to the script of “The Voyage Home”, to manage a whole new production with the original distribution of “Star Trek”. Meyer has set up “Star Trek VI: the unknown country”, an allegory of post-war period which was staged as a political thriller. It was the fall of the Klingon Empire, meant a clear parallel to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1988. This configuration was more opportune than that of “The Final Frontier”, in addition to being more intimate from the point of view of character. Some people think that “the unknown country” could even be one of the best “Star Trek” films of all time. It was certainly a good end, much better for the original cast of “Star Trek” than “The Final Frontier”.
The next “Star Trek” film after that, “Star Trek Generations” from 1994, was a film inspired by the “next generation” which featured Shatner in a support role. Meanwhile, Bennett continued to create the Time Time Time Time TV series “Time Trax” in 1993 and even worked with Steven Spielberg to develop the animated series little discussed “Invasion America” in 1998.
