Star Trek V: The Final Frontier - Reception - Critical Response

Critical Response

Early in the morning following opening night, Nimoy woke Shatner to report that the Los Angeles Times had given The Final Frontier a positive review. Soon after a local television reporter also gave the film a good review, and Shatner recalled that he incorrectly "began sensing a trend". Critics generally gave The Final Frontier mixed or poor reviews. Rob Lowing of The Sun Herald called the film "likeable but average". The Chicago Sun-Times' Roger Ebert and The Washington Post's Rita Kempley gave the film negative reviews, calling the film "a mess" and "a shambles", respectively.

The New York Times's Caryn James considered the film to be disappointing to fans and non-fans alike, while Chris Hicks of the Deseret News disagreed, feeling that the film approached issues in the same vein as the television series and that fans would enjoy it. Ansen and Lowing considered Shatner's direction during action sequences weak, with Lowing adding that the second half of the film felt directionless. Hicks wrote that the film's broad humor gave the film an inconsistent tone. In contrast, Chris Dafoe of The Globe and Mail called the film "the most intentionally funny" episode of the film series. Christian Science Monitor's David Sterritt stated that at its best, The Final Frontier showed "flashes" of the humor that propelled The Voyage Home, and Lowing deemed Shatner's direction at its best during comedic moments.

Critics such as Newsweek's David Ansen judged the principal characters' performances satisfactory; "these veterans know each other's moves so well they've found a neat comic shorthand that gets more laughs out of the lines than they deserve", Ansen wrote. Stan James of The Advertiser wrote that Warner was wasted in his role and most characters lacked any "driver and motivation". In comparison, Luckinbill's Sybok received praise from critics such as USA Today's Mike Clark, who wrote that "he has the voice and stature of the golden screen's most scintillating intellectual villains", although he felt that he never seemed very threatening or suspenseful. James considered Sybok the most "distinctive, compelling villain" of the series since Khan Noonien Singh in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

The special effects were generally considered poor. Murphy wrote that the film fell apart after the arrival at Sha Ka Ree, where the "great special effects that graced parts I through IV are nowhere to be seen". Ebert's review agreed, saying that the visuals managed to inspire awe ever so briefly before dissolving into "an anticlimatic special effects show with a touch of The Wizard of Oz thrown in for good measure". Kempley wrote the Enterprise's objective was "to pass through an impenetrable (Ha!) swirl of what appears to be cosmic Windex, beyond which is the planet Shockara, home of God, or perhaps California shot through a purple filter."

Bennett blamed part of The Final Frontier's failure on the change from a traditional Thanksgiving-season Star Trek opening, to the sequel-stuffed summer release period, and the diffusion of Star Trek fan viewership following the premiere of The Next Generation. Winter felt they should have recognized the film's plot was too reminiscent of V'ger from Star Trek: The Motion Picture and that the search for God was a mistake; while he felt many parts of the film were good, they "smoked own press releases" and nearly killed the franchise. Shatner agreed that the film nearly ended the film series, and looking back on the film called it a "failed but glorious attempt" at a thought-provoking film that did not come together. Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry considered elements of this film to be "apocryphal at best", and particularly disliked the idea that Sarek had fathered a child (Sybok) with a Vulcan before Amanda. Nevertheless the film is considered canon.

Considered a critical and commercial failure, the poor performance of The Final Frontier jeopardized the production of further Star Trek features. Bennett was given the go-ahead to begin work on his own prequel concept that would have cast new actors to play the main cast at Starfleet Academy. Loughery worked with Bennett on a story inspired by Sante Fe Trail. When Paramount president Ned Tanen resigned, support for Bennett's prequel idea evaporated. Paramount instead wanted another film with the original cast, and Bennett decided to leave the franchise. Winter remained with the production and The Wrath of Khan director Nicholas Meyer returned to direct the original cast's final movie, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

It was the winner of three Golden Raspberry Awards including Worst Picture, Worst Actor (William Shatner) and Worst Director (also Shatner). It also earned nominations for Worst Screenplay, Worst Supporting Actor (DeForest Kelley) and Worst Picture of the Decade in 1990.