Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and the Secret Pain Disillusionment

< Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and Finding Your Better Self | Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country >

You know that pain and guilt can’t be taken away with a wave of a magic wand. They’re the things we carry with us, the things that make us who we are. If we lose them, we lose ourselves.

I freely admit, I’ve been dreading this one. If you’re expecting my usual thousand-plus word exploration of the themes of this film, please keep your expectations in check — that’s what the next film is for. As far as Final Frontier is concerned, I’m jumping in, gathering the few tiny pearls of wisdom within, and moving on. The key to writing is to never let obstacles grow so large they seem insurmountable, and despite its best efforts, I refuse to let this film stand in the way of the goodness beyond.

“Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” and Finding Your Better Self

< Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and Minding the Gaps of Life | Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and the Secret Pain Disillusionment  >

---

Is that the logical thing to do?
No, but it is the human thing to do. 

There’s never been another Star Trek film like Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, which is in my opinion one of the most fun films ever made. There’s a reason it absolutely destroyed the box office when it came out in 1986 — it was actually released on my birthday — and really wouldn’t be rivaled until the 2009 J.J. Abrams reboot. The movie is purely enjoyable on a pure visceral level, smart enough to keep the audience engaged, intensely gripping when the stakes are high, yet loose enough to where you can relax and have a good time.

This is the part where I briefly touch on the negatives. Voyage Home is, by nature of being a comedy, going to have some drawbacks. There are a ton of plot-holes and nitpicks, none of which I care to go into because they don’t bother me. Some don’t like the art film-style time travel scenes… I personally like them quite a bit. To me the biggest issue, though, is the soundtrack. This is likely because I’m spoiled. I’ve got James Horner on one side and Jerry Goldsmith on the other — two of the most celebrated composers of all time. I feel Star Trek IV goes way overboard (puns always intended) in it’s pursuit of comedic musical tone. I have a fantastic idea: let’s recut Voyage Home with Final Frontier’s incredible music.

*listens to Star Trek V soundtrack while typing this*
Perfect!

“Star Trek III: The Search for Spock” and Minding the Gaps of Life

< Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Keeping On When All Goes Wrong | Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and Finding Your Better Self  >

---

Enterprise feels like a house with all the children gone. No, more empty even then that. The death of Spock is like an open wound. It seem that I have left the most noblest part of myself back there on that newborn planet.

One of my favorite moments in this film is actually in the opening credits at the beginning of a film. This was a time when most films, instead of jumping right into the action, ramped up the spectacle by featuring the primary actors, writers, composers, directors, and so on in very large text. After a flashback recap, the viewer is greeted with the opening credits as normal, but then something unique happens. After seeing “Starring William Shatner,” you instinctively expect to see Leonard Nimoy’s name, as is the case for both of the previous two movies. But this time, after Shatner’s name disappears, there is… nothing. For an noticeably long time nothing appears — just a gap — before proceeding to DeForest Kelley’s name. The audience, still reeling from the death of Spock, is forced right off the bat into a moment where the character’s absence is noticed.

Such then is life, where opportunities come up, one after another, to notice when something is missing. And that’s the genius of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, the darkest and most underrated of the Original Series films.