Presented In Shatnervision

This may prove to be the most controversial...and fun, of my Trek movie blogs: Star Trek 5 - The Final Frontier. Generally considered to be the worst of the franchise, the William Shatner directed Trek has a lot of problems..mainly a script that contains more plot hole than a sponge. While there are a few hardcore fans that could imaginatively fill these plot holes, I still have several questions, including;-

1/ Why does vulcan Sybok laugh?
2/ What is going on with Shatner's wig?!
3/ Did Shatner think his 'Go climb a rock' T-shirt was funny?
4/ Does any body think that Uhura & Scotty flirting is anything but creepy?
5/ Pah Pah Pah. Why did they have unconvincing and embarresing Klingon dialogue?
6/ How did Sybok obtain his unique power?
7/ How does 'sharing your pain' brainwash someone or make them obedient, without question?
8/ Why would Sybok fall for the lame 'Captain Chekov' ruse?
9/ Who doesn't want to vomit after Uhura's skanky dune dance?
10/ Why does Kirk enter the bar, at the centre of the villains lair, without a phaser?
11/ How is the cat creature rendered unconscious when lobbed into a shallow paddling pool (table)?
12/ Where do all the terrorists come from, as few are seen to travel on the shuttlecraft to the Enterprise?
13/ When and why does Sybok decide to get a haircut?
14/ Why doesn't Spock fight Sybok, after deciding not to shoot him?
15/ If Scotty is THAT familiar with the Enterprise, why does he knock himself out on the engineering beam?
16/ When did a bright lamp ever replace a landing shuttlecraft at night?
17/ Why are the effects, cheap, fake, flattly lit and unconvincing?
18/ Isn't Chekov intelligent enough to realize his blizzard impression was unconvincing...and not funny?
19/ Why are there 77 decks on the Enterprise (it ain't that big)?
20/ Why do they travel up the elevator shaft out of sequence (deck 65, deck 52, deck 77)?
21/ Why leave Earth, Starfleet central, with less-than-a skeleton crew onboard?
22/ How small is the galaxy if you can travel to its centre in a couple of hours?
23/ When alone with Sybock, why doesn't Kirk & Co overwhelm him?
24/ How can Sybok project people's internal fears externally, so they can be viewed by others?
25/ Why can't a probe fly into the barrier?
26/ If we assume the Enterprise can travel through the great barrier due to Sybok's influence, then how does the Klingon ship penetrate it?
27/ If Kirk can refuse to be brainwashed, why can't anybody else?
28/ Sybok had a vision of Shakari. How did the 'God creature give him that vision?
29/ If the God creature has been there for an eternity, why hasn't it influenced others before Sybok?
30/ Why does it suddenly turn to night on the 'God' planet?

On top of this is some crap dialogue, forced humour, appaling effects, and Shatner's glaring inability to direct himself. It also contains the worst set in a major motion picture (The God Planet Prison).

Despite the flaws, it's not the worst of the franchise. It's got a fast paced hostage plot, the score's great, as is the sleek photography. The desert settings give the movie scope and the remainder of the set design (the new bridge set/ officers quarters) fantastic.

In addition it's got subtext that could be interpreted as controversial; religious terrorists, destroy, kidnap and hijack to spread the word of their one, true God. It shows how evangelicals are deceived by what they perceive to be God, and how they brainwash others into their beliefs. Kirk questions God, promoting free-will, and also suggests God is what you carry inside (it's what the free-thinking individual interprets it as, not what others would tell you).

Despite the dumbness of the script, there's some smarts buried deep in this cheap little romp.