Star Trek V The Final Frontier Two Disc Special Collectors Edition

Movie critic Roger Ebert summed it up very succinctly: “Of all of the Star Trek movies, this is the worst.” Subsequent films in the popular series have done nothing to disprove this opinion; we can be grateful that they’ve all been significantly better since this film was released in 1989. After Leonard Nimoy scored hits with Star Trek III and IV, William Shatner used his contractual clout (and bruised ego) to assume directorial duties on this mission, in which a rebellious Vulcan (Laurence Luckinbill) kidnaps Federation officials in his overzealous quest for the supreme source of creation. That’s right, you heard it correctly: Star Trek V is about a crazy Vulcan’s search for God. By the time Kirk, Spock, and their Federation cohorts are taken to the Great Barrier of the galaxy, this journey to “the final future” has gone from an embarrassing prologue to an absurd conclusion, with a lot of creaky plotting in between. Of course, die-hard Trekkies will still allow this movie into their video collections; but they’ll only watch it when nobody else is looking. After this humbling experience, Shatner wisely relinquished the director’s chair to Star Trek II’s Nicholas Meyer. –Jeff Shannon

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars You Know, I Don’t See What’s SO Bad…
STAR TREK – THE FINAL FRONTIER is by no means the best STAR TREK movie. It drags on in several places, and the visual effects look like they went through absolutely no post-production. Aside from that, though, there is an engaging story, great acting, and some great moments that make this film memorable.

I enjoy the STAR TREK films just as a casual movie-goer. I’m not a Trekkie in the least, so I have no idea if this film goes against some of their rules. That’s my disclaimer: If you’re a Trekkie, see the film for yourself. However, I read quite a bit about the film before I watched it, and it seemed no one liked it. Even Roger Ebert, whose opinions usually coincide with mine, called it “pretty much a mess”. I could see where fans might not like this one, as it varies from the usual STAR TREK formula, but I enjoyed it.

The plot goes like this: Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are on vacation, but are called back in (with the rest of the crew) when intergalactic consuls are taken hostage in a neutral zone. Sounds okay, right? I kept waiting for something horrible…Back to it. The ENTERPRISE, which is in pieces, flies to the planet, Nimbus 3, to rescue the hostages. While there, however, they are captured by a renegade Vulcan, Sybock, whose quest for the Divine has robbed him of his sanity. He holds the crew as prisoners on their own ship, while piloting it to Sha-Ka-Ree, the fabled Eden of the galaxy, where God is supposedly located. (oh, and there are some angry Klingons in there too, but they’re not important)

Yes, yes, it sounds pretty ridiculous, but not any more than any of the other films (VOYAGE HOME, I’m talking about you). And the crew of the film execute the story pretty well. The acting is great (especially by the two Vulcans, Spock and Sybock), and the script was fine, with some genuinely funny and touching moments. The film picks up speed after the first 15-20 minutes, and it doesn’t slow down all that much. Some of the visuals are awful (take the Klingon ship firing at an old space probe), but they prove not to be a distraction from the film’s real centerpiece, which are the characters. Supporting roles, like Uhura and Scotty, get increased roles in this one.

About the big climax of the movie: I can see where it might be a bit disappointing (and a bit reminiscent of WIZARD OF OZ), but for me it was okay. The end of this film, for me, was quite like the end of THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK: The real climax didn’t come at the big showdown at the end. For me, the best part of the ending was after, when Kirk, Spock, and McCoy speak of what they mean to each other. Sounds corny, but really: moments like that are those that make STAR TREK magic. And, even if no one else agrees, I think this film gets that right.

3 Stars The Final Frontier is Like Pizza…
…it’s good even when it’s bad. As a result, I believe The Final Frontier is severely underrated. There are many flaws with this movie. First, Klingon Commander Klaa is an extremely weak nemesis with equally weak motives. Most of the time, he just comes off as cheesy. Also, the ending is a major let down. But one must remember that Shatner didn’t have the budget to have rock-like creatures attack him.

Even though the special effects are awful, TFF more than makes up for it by having great character interaction. TFF gives ample screen time to Scotty, Sulu, Chekov, and Uhura (even though some of it was cheesy). But most importantly, the movie focused on the Kirk-Spock-McCoy triad. This movie shows the best Kirk-Spock-McCoy interaction of any Star Trek movie. The 2009 Star Trek movie clearly lacked this essential element.

4 Stars Pretty cool in some ways
While this film is nothing like the others, I find it refreshing in that regard. We need a film in the collection where McCoy, Spock, Kirk are sitting around a campfire. After all, Spock pretty much just died, and is trying to get back to his usual self. But beyond that I thought the plot was indeed sketchy to say the least, but still kind of interesting because it was so different. The conversations between the three main guys, are just priceless though.

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Star Trek III The Search for Spock Two Disc Special Collectors Edition

Admiral kirk and his bridge crew risk their careers stealing the decommissioned enterprise to return to the restricted genesis planet to recover spocks body. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 05/01/2007 Starring: William Shatner Phil Morris Run time: 105 minutes Rating: Pg Director: Leonard Nimoy

User Ratings and Reviews

3 Stars Spock Lives Long & Prosper!!!
After Spock dies from radiation and dropped on the Genesis planet, he is slowly reborn! Kirk and the crew are forced to go rogue, and steal the Enterprise in order to go save him. They must deal with greedy Klingons who want to control Genesis. This isn’t one of the best sequels, but it’s pretty good! If you are a Trekkie, you’ll love STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK!!!

5 Stars The most thoughtful of the original Star Trek movies.
An under-rated ST movie in the series.

One of the few movies where the acting is quite natural and understated.

No Kirk yealling: “Khhhaaaaaannnnnn!!!!”

Not as boring/”deep” as ST1,

Not as over-acted/”loud” as ST2

Not a blatant “comedy” episode as ST4

Not as bad as ST5

Not as overly “serious” with a message as ST6

5 Stars Pure Satisfaction
Everyone should watch Star Trek II and then immediately put this in. It becomes very satisfying. I felt very content with the script and the believability of the story, though some may knock it. To me, this is the best of the films. I felt like watching it, I was being sucked into the character’s world and paying attention to their needs. I guess that is what a great film does. I think people don’t give Nimoy the credit he deserved for this movie. I mean seriously, looking back on it who else could have done it? I used to think that II was better film, but now that I am older I really appreciate this movie. I personally think it carries all of the momentum from the The Wrath of Khan over. People who give this movie a bad review, should watch II and then immediately watch this.

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Star Trek Insurrection Two Disc Special Collectors Edition

Picard & his loyal crew revolt against the high command when that ruling bodys scheme to take over a fountain-of-youth-like planet violates starfleets prime directive: non-interference with other civilizations. Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 05/01/2007 Starring: Patrick Stewart Brent Spiner Run time: 102 minutes Rating: Pg

User Ratings and Reviews

4 Stars Star Trek: The Episode
There are several great character moments in this movie, and the pacing does move the story along well enough. However there is a bit too much political posturing for my taste, which, as I see it, is one of the big things contributing to making this movie play out like a big-budget, big-screen episode of the TV show.

Of course, there is also the lack of feel of galactic scope or personal investment in the story. The scope of Star Trek II was narrow: Khan’s revenge. But the audience had personal investment in the characters from the episode “Space Seed”. Star Trek IV had the impending destruction of Earth. VI had galactic peace looming in the horizon. First Contact had the assimilation of Earth by the Borg and Picard’s personal quest to “make them pay”. Here, we have a people on an alien planet facing the possibility of forced relocation. Nobody we’ve met before besides the crew. Nothing that has immediate repercussion for Earth.

To be fair, it was specifically designed to balance out the very dark tone of the previous movie with much more light fare. On that level, it does work. The nature of the Star Trek movies is that they are all different adventures that are placed in the same universe. The tone can change, since it does that on the TV series from episode to episode. But the story still needs to resonate with the audience.

Again, the crew has some nice character moments, and the special effects are actually quite well done, but those are not what Star Trek movies are built around. They’re necessary elements, but the audience wants a ride they care about.

In the end, it is competently made and it is worth watching. Just know that it was, by design, a much lighter fare than First Contact.

1 Star Worst Star Trek Movie
This is by far the worst Star Trek movie ever made. TNG made plenty of bad movies and this one is no exception. First off, this does not even feel like a movie. Instead, it feels like a two-part TNG episode. So instead of watching this disgrace, watch any two-part TNG episode because it will be better. Many minor characters were given lame lines just to give them screen time.

2 Stars Would’ve made a better tv episode
The special effects are acceptable. The acting top notch. The story line is good though the plot somewhat weak. This would have made a much better tv episode or made for tv movie than a theatrical release. I feel this movie doesn’t know what it wants to be–a love story, an action/adventure, a drama, a comedy. It tries its hand on all the elements yet comes up short. It’s a good effort that just doesn’t pay off at the end. It’s one of the weaker movies in the series, but still enjoyable enough to watch on a Saturday night with the family.

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Star Trek First Contact Two Disc Special Collectors Edition

They call themselves the borg – a half-organic half-machine collective and they are headed to earth with a devious plan to alter history. Picards last encounter with the borg almost killed him. Now he wants vengeance. But how far will he go to get it? Studio: Paramount Home Video Release Date: 05/01/2007 Starring: Patrick Stewart Brent Spiner Run time: 111 minutes Rating: Pg13

User Ratings and Reviews

2 Stars Mindless Action
What is wrong with today’s audience? Mindless action flicks like First Contact and Star Trek (2009) are eaten up like nothing else. Save your money and watch the first four Star Trek movies.

5 Stars Excellent movie
I’ll be honest–I’m not a good movie reviewer. Out of the hundreds of films I’ve seen, I can count on one hand those that I felt aren’t good. Motion pictures are an art form, created with many hands to achieve a product that, I believe, is completely subjective.

I’ll also go ahead and say that I have always been an avid fan of Star Trek: The Next Generation, so it follows that I will obviously like their feature films. I’m biased, in other words, so stop reading now if you want an objective review.

Despite how well the movie was received by critics, how much money it made at the box office’s opening weekend, or any other quantitative method for computing a film’s success, I have to say that I enjoyed this movie immensely. Sure, the destruction of the borg ship in the beginning seemed a little too easily handled and the subsequent time travel to the past (and back to the future at the end) also seemed a little too conveniently done. Especially given how difficult it has been in Star Trek’s past to time travel, one is left to wonder why, after discovering how easy it is by the end of this film, Starfleet doesn’t use it all the time, pun intended.

Despite those two plot conveniences, this really is a good action-adventure. Not very much technobabble, for those who hate it in the series and earlier films, and it’s also quite accessible for anyone new to the franchise as a whole. One might argue that watching the episodes “The Best of Both Worlds, Parts I & II” are necessary before seeing this film, but I disagree. Just as seeing “Space Seed” (ST:TOS) isn’t necessary before watching “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” it does, admittedly, offer more flavor and backstory.

Bottom line: Excellent action-adventure movie. Not much meat or drama, but a good romp for anyone who just wants to have a fun time.

5 Stars Great movie, crappy DVD
First Contact isn’t just a good Star Trek movie, but it’s an awesome movie period. Unfortunately, this version of the movie doesn’t have any sort of special feature to speak of, and the menus seem really phoned in. If you’re just looking to pick up the movie to watch every once in a while, as I was, then go for it. If you’re a true Trekkie trying to complete his or her collection, you might be able to find a collector’s edition somewhere else.

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Star Trek Nemesis Two Disc Special Collectors Edition

The sacrifice of a beloved character is just one of many highlights in Nemesis, the 10th feature in the lucrative Star Trek franchise. Enigmatically billed as the beginning of “A Generation’s Final Journey,” this richly plotted Next Generation adventure maintains the “even number rule” regarding Trek’s feature quality, and it’s one of the best in the series. It hits its brisk stride when Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his Enterprise-E crew encounter Shinzon (Tom Hardy), a younger clone of Picard, rejected by the Romulans as the human weapon of an abandoned conspiracy. Raised on the nocturnal Romulan sister planet Remus, Shinzon now plots revenge against Romulus and Earth but needs Picard’s blood to carry out his scheme. A wedding, a childlike “duplicate” Data named B-4 (Brent Spiner), spectacular space battles, and uncommon acts of valor make this a tautly-paced action thriller, poised to pass the franchise (but not quite yet) to a new generation of Starfleet personnel. Die-hard Trekkers will not be disappointed. –Jeff Shannon

User Ratings and Reviews

2 Stars ok
Basically the item came at the last possible moment. Also the item I got was supposed to be a widescreen dvd. That is what the case even said when we got it. … It ended up being a full screen dvd, which was not what we wanted, but its not worth shipping to return it!

5 Stars Great Movie
From start to end, this movie will keep you on the edge of your seat. I purchased it for the PSP, that my son would be interested in something besides whinng across the county. It turns out he watched it so many times that ne hever lost inerest even on thee return trip. An excellent movie, with great action and better dalogue than other ST-TNG movies.

1 Star Yes, it is baaaaad
Yes, it is as bad as all my friends said. I bought it b/c I missed it and it was very cheap.

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