Star Trek icon William Shatner he made his feature film directorial debut in 1989 Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. The film was a bit of a disaster and wasn’t received very well by fans.
The story follows the crew of the USS Enterprise as they embark on a mission to rescue hostages held by a renegade Vulcan named Sybok. Sybok, claiming to be on a spiritual quest, seeks out the mythical planet Sha Ka Ree, said to be the birthplace of creation itself. Along the way, Captain Kirk and his crew face personal demons, including Spock’s half-brother, whose influence tests their beliefs and loyalties. During their journey, they discover the true nature of Sybok’s mission and confront the powerful entity lurking on Sha Ka Ree.
As for reviews, some praised the film for its exploration of philosophical themes and character development, while others criticized it for its story, uneven pacing, and disappointing visual effects. During an interview with THR, Shatner talked about the film, what went wrong and his regrets.
“I wish I had had the support and courage to do the things I felt I had to do. My concept was, “Star Trek goes in search of God,” and management said, “Well, who is God?” We will turn away the unbeliever, so no, we cannot play God.’ And then someone said, “How about an alien who thinks he’s God?” Then there was a series of my inability to deal with management and budgeting. I could not. In my mind, I failed horribly. When I’m asked, “What do you regret most?”, I regret not having been emotionally prepared to tackle a large-scale film. So, in the absence of my power, the power vacuum was filled with people who didn’t make the decisions I would have made.”
Over the course of production the script underwent multiple rewrites, the 1988 WGA strike disrupted pre-production, and there were budget cuts on visual effects. Yes, this was one of those troubled Hollywood productions. Shatner takes full responsibility for his failure and goes on to explain:
“It’s up to me. [In the finale,] I wanted granite [rock creatures] explode from the mountain. The special effects guy said, “I can make you a suit that burns and smoke comes out.” I said, ‘Great, how much is this going to cost?’ They said, “$250,000 a dress.” Can you make 10 dresses? He said, “Yes.” That’s $2.5 million. You have a budget of $30 million. Are you sure you want to spend [it on that]? These are the practical decisions. Well, wait a minute, how about a dress? And I will photograph it everywhere [to look like 10].”
Yes, The final frontier it wasn’t the best Star Trek movie, but it’s not horrible. I actually liked the concept behind it, it just wasn’t executed as well as it could have been. What do you think about the movie?
by Joey Paur
Source: Geek Tyrant
Lloyd Grunewald is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. He is a talented writer who focuses on bringing the latest entertainment-related news to his readers. With a deep understanding of the entertainment industry and a passion for writing, Lloyd delivers engaging articles that keep his readers informed and entertained.
