TFF - The Good

[Timby]

True. Uhura's shuttlecraft piloting and tactical air support skills are legendary within the Trek canon, while this apparent ability to sing comes out of nowhere.

I recall her singing several times during TOS.

--Sran

Whoosh.

 

[GalaxyX]

TFF also had a sort of Indiana Jones thing going on - 'Indiana Kirk and the Quest for God' - a mystical quest movie, a 'great unknown' mcguffin that tapped into the imagination with plenty of action along the way. Like Indy in Raiders, Kirk gets roped into the whole thing by an outside force (Nazis/Sybok) searching for something incredible (Ark/Sha-Ka-Ree)...gets captured/locked up/escapes...eventually gives in when the quest is completed as the lure of the unknown is too great ("This IS history"/"You too must know...") it even had a similar end (Demonic Angels/False God - killing the main villain). if itd been a bit grander with better FX - it mightve worked very well. maybe if Sybok had been on a quest for something mystical and god releated (but not the actual almighty) it mightve worked better? like what Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade was doing the same summer (with Sean Connery - the original choice for Sybok and apparently who 'Sha-Ka-Ree' was named after)....​

So Trek V isnt all bad...in terms of best to worst, id put before the Avatar like Insurrection and Khan like Nemesis...but after the Kubrickian Motion Picture and Inception like Generations[]​

I agree. I've made the comparison to Indiana Jones a few times myself.

I think they could have solved some of the issues by having Sha Ka Ree be assumed to be a mystical place were, if you were intelligent and courageous to overcome the Barrier, you could have an "audience" with God as opposed to it being God's actual residence. It turns out that this is a Vulcan legend from long ago, and Sybok, being an emotional guy, firmly believes in that legend and wishes to commune with the Almighty.

A lot of the lack of believability is "why would God exist at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy?" I mean, we all know that God wasn't there...but why would the Vulcans (or even just Sybok as an individual) believe that would be reasonable? I think if you make the belief around Sha Ka Ree more about a "hero's trial"- meaning something that only the most intelligent, resourceful, and "pure faithed" can achieve...it becomes a more believable quest.

Then, it turns out that this was all a manipulation. The being who is imprisoned there reached out and planted the "vision" in Sybok's mind when it found that he was open and passionate about the idea. It's really a lure that this evil creature has created to attempt to escape.

I don't know...seems like that could have fixed some things up.

Then, you leverage the Sybok "back story" of being an extremely gifted intellect (in much the same way the novelization does) to explain some of the other stuff: Sybok has spent a lifetime attempting to perfect a wormhole effect that would allow a starship to traverse the distance relatively quickly. He has also spent a lifetime designing deflector shield modifications that would withstand the intense radiation and gravitation of the Barrier. You then have the Klingons following the Enterprise (cloaked) into the wormhole and appropriating the deflector shield frequency by hacking them.

If you jettison the Uhura fan dance, Sulu and Checkov getting "lost" and the silly Kirk fighting the 3-breasted cat sequences...you probably have enough time to get these story point in, and it's a much stronger script as a result.

Holy. Mother. Fuck.

Boiinnng!!!!

Someone write the novel based on this outline!!!

 

[Mario de Monti]

True. Uhura's shuttlecraft piloting and tactical air support skills are legendary within the Trek canon, while this apparent ability to sing comes out of nowhere.

I recall her singing several times during TOS.

--Sran

Yes. Her song about Charlie in Charlie X and the love song she sings for Riley in Conscience of the King come to mind.

 

[starburst]

Well Uhura did fly the Shuttle to pick up Kirk, Spock and McCoy as well as into Paradise City at the end of the assault... It would be hard for her to fly air support in anything other than a recon mode as the Shuttles are generally accepted to be unarmed and it seemed they were worried that it could be damaged or shot down.

I have said this before but really there is some great character and production design elements which make this film for me...

My thoughts...

• Pretty much every word spoken between Kirk, Spock and McCoy
• Scotty's "this ship must have been put together by monkeys..." and "they dont make them like they used to" lines
• The Bridge, one of my all time favourites (up there with the Defiant) which influence can not only be found with the Enterprise and Excelsior in the next film but also the Equinox and Prometheus a century later along with I would argue the Enterprise E.
• The Captains Chair, ok so its a part of the above point but I like it enough to mention again, this chair I loved since I first saw it and would love to own this in the STV or Excelsior colours.
• The 'Klingon' music which was later used as the 'Worf' theme for TNG movies
• Making the Klingon Bridge a little less Starfleet - removing theforward consoles help to make it stand out and the periscope was a great feature to allow a true warrior to take control and put the ships weapons literally at his or her fingertips
• The new shuttles, these were my number 1 but have been pushed aside by the ones from Into Darkness (blasphemy I know)
• Shield animation/indicator - conceptually so much better than its predecessor 'blips'
• The Phasers not much needs saying here, really hope DST produce these with removable power packs after their upcoming STIII Phaser.