Star Trek IV and Star Trek V

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home 1986
★★★★ 

The best full-length feature film adaptation of “Whale Wars” I’ve ever seen.

I watched this years ago, before I had seen almost any Star Trek. I hated it. I thought the tone was completely stupid, I had no clue really what was going on plot-wise (or with Spock for that matter), and I was annoyed that the Star Trek movie was only in 1980s San Francisco.

BUT, today, with the context of the first three movies, this is hilarious, and it’s actually a really fun buddy/fish-out-of-water caper movie. It’s great to see Kirk and Spock becoming friends again. The rest of the crew gets their own great moments in the plot as well.

Now, this is the part where I list all the great one liners.

Remember where we parked.
Well, double dumbass on you!
They’re still using money.
The hell they did!
Riches beyond all avarice.
Admiral, thar be whales here!

I can’t wait for us to get some of that transparent aluminum.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier 1989
★★½ 

It’s not a good sign when the movie opens up with a 50+ year old guy climbing the sheer face of a huge rock formation. This sort of thing seemed gratuitous in Tom Cruise’s MI:2, when he was undeniably a sex symbol and in his prime. Here, it just comes off as vanity. A lot of these movies are about the original crew accepting and facing their age and mortality, but this just felt tone-deaf. All the action comes off pretty flat and boring, and nothing looks half as good as the space action in the first three movies.

That’s not to say everything is bad. This is still a pretty decent movie. It just stands out as a cut below the rest of the original cast movies. Shatner does have an eye for the wondrous scenes and images of the movie. As Spock’s half-brother guides them beyond the center of the galaxy to parts and beings unknown, he is able to show a great sense of wonder and excitement. The climactic showdown with “God” is classic Star Trek stuff, with the iconic line “Why does God need a starship?” earning its status. It’s not so bad that this is often the only thing remembered about this movie. “It’s a SONG, you green-blooded Vulcan!” deserves a place right next to it. The camping sequence is pretty good silly fun, much like The Voyage Home, but it’s too little too early.

I’m not a fan of the “odd movies bad / even movies good” Star Trek movie crap, but this is a mess. Shatner makes this way more of a vanity project than Nimoy’s prior movie. Lots of scenes and sequences just fall completely flat. And the action stuff looks flatter than any Trek movie to date. A couple good moments stand out, but this is unfortunately the most forgettable Trek movie.