Star Trek V : The Final Frontier, which is, as the title says, the 5th of the Star Trek movie series and 5th with the Original Series cast members. I haven’t seen the one that comes just before Final Frontier, Star Trek IV : The Voyage Home. So that movie and the very first one are now the only two that I haven’t seen of the series. The cast includes William Shatner as Admiral James T. Kirk, Leonard Nimoy as Captain Spock, DeForest Kelley as Commander (Dr.) Leonard McCoy, James Doohan as Commander/Captain Montgomery Scott, George Takei as Commander Hikaru Sulu, Walter Koenig as Commander Pavel Chekov & Nichelle Nichols as Commander Uhura. Guest starring are Laurence Luckinbill as Sybok, David Warner as John Talbot, Todd Bryant as the Klingon Klaa, Spice Williams-Crosby as Vixis & Cynthia Gouw as Caithlin Dar. The movie stars on the desolate planet Nimbus III, where Sybok, the half-brother of Spock and a renegade Vulcan who had embraced his emotions as the path to true knowledge leads his gang to capture Klingon, Federation & Romulan representatives, who are based on the planet.

Kirk, McCoy & Spock are on shore leave in Yosemite National Park and their vacation is cut short as they are called on to mount a rescue mission. Uhura & Scotty were in charge of repairs of the Enterprise, which weren’t completed when they get the orders for the mission. Upon arriving at Nimbus III, Kirk, Spock & McCoy mount a rescue operatio of the hostages, but they learn that it was only a ploy by Sybok to take control of a Federation spaceship. Sybok uses his unique ability to share with and help conquer a person’s greatest emotional trauma to gain the trust of most of the crew. McCoy accepts the experience, reliving his father’s death (he euthanised his father to end his pain, but learned afterwards that a cure had been developed a short time later). Spock also accepts the experience, reliving his birth (being half bred of Vulcan and Human, he was never fully accepted by his father). However, Kirk denies Sybok, telling him that the pain experience is what makes them Human. Klaa follows the Enterprise in his Klingon bird of prey.

Sybok takes control of the ship and heads it to the Great Barrier, an energy field, to reach a mythical planet called Sha Ka Ree, where a mysterious God-like entity awaits. Giving back the command of the ship to Kirk, Sybok leads the Enterprise through the barrier and to a planet. Sybok, Spock, Kirk & McCoy head to the surface on a shuttle and approach on foot on the barren planet until an entity appears in front of them. The entity asks them how they got there and when told of the Enterprise, it demands that the ship be brought closer to it, so it can spread its wisdom throughout the galaxy. When the skeptical Kirk questions the entity’s motivation (“What does God need with a starship?”), it turns malevolent, harming Kirk. McCoy and Spock rush to his rescue, and even Spock has to ask for an answer to the question. Sybok then realizes that the alien entity is actually the manifestation of his own arrogance, seeking to escape the Great Barrier.

I liked that a lot, God=Arrogance

Realizing his mistake, Sybok sacrifices himself to delay the evil being long enough for Enterprise to launch a torpedo. However, while Sybok was killed, the entity wasn’t, and the Enterprise had enough power to beam up two people. Kirk tells Scotty to take Spock and McCoy, leaving himself on the surface of the planet with the entity. Spock was able convince the Klingon ambassador to order Klaa (who followed the Enterprise into the Barrier and to the planet) to rescue Kirk rather than kill him. Klaa’s Bird-of-Prey suddenly de-cloaks and destroys the alien with a phaser blast. Kirk is beamed aboard, where he receives an apology from Klaa himself, who admits that his attack on the Enterprise was not authorized by the Klingon government. The crews of both vessels and Sybok’s captives enjoy a peaceful celebration of their newfound détente. The film ends with Kirk, Bones, and Spock resuming their vacation in Yosemite National Park.