First-Time Watch – Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Welcome to another episode of the To Baldly Go Podcast, in which I – a newbie to the Star Trek universe – am watching through Star Trek from the beginning, in release order, and discussing with some of my long-time Trekkie friends.
This time, we get:
A movie that might have worked better as an episode
A strange but interesting central premise
A few strong emotional and character scenes
A lot of ambition that never fully comes together
We covered:
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
A movie with big ideas and mixed execution
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is a fascinating movie to talk about because it is not completely without merit. In fact, it has some genuinely strong scenes and a few ideas that feel very “Star Trek.” But as a full movie, it never quite comes together. The overall feeling from this discussion was that the movie reaches for something grand and philosophical, but misses the mark often enough that the good parts cannot fully carry it.
One of the recurring ideas in our conversation was that this might have made a fine episode of television, but not a great movie. There is an episode-level premise buried in here somewhere: a charismatic figure, a spiritual mystery, and the Enterprise crew pulled into a dangerous search beyond known space. That concept is workable. But the film version tries to scale it up into something epic without having the effects, pacing, or storytelling strength to match the ambition.
Different perspectives, same conclusion
One fun part of the conversation was that we came at the movie from different directions but landed in basically the same place. That alone says a lot about The Final Frontier. Whether you focus on the writing, the visuals, the tone, or the missed potential, the result is still a movie that feels uneven and undercooked.
That consensus showed up in the ratings too: 5s across the board. Not a total disaster, not entirely without value, but firmly in the middle-lower tier. There are enough interesting moments to talk about, but not enough to save the whole thing.
The memorable bits
Despite the film’s overall mediocrity, there are still plenty of memorable moments and discussion points. Spock’s boots somehow became part of the fun. The movie’s reputation as “the one where they go to hell” came up. Kirk’s refusal to surrender the Enterprise is exactly the kind of heroic Kirk beat you want in a Star Trek film, even if the surrounding movie does not always deserve it.
There are also some scenes here that actually work. That is part of what makes the movie frustrating rather than merely boring. You can see glimpses of a stronger version of this story. There are emotional beats and character moments that remind you why this crew works so well together. The problem is that the movie around those moments is not nearly as strong.
Style over substance… and missing the mark
We also talked about how the film seems to be aiming for something bold and mythic, but winds up feeling hollow. It wants grandeur. It wants scale. It wants to be visually and spiritually significant. But too often it feels like it is chasing the appearance of importance rather than earning it.
That led to some comparisons outside Star Trek too, including Thor: Love and Thunder, Tatooine, and Dune, as we tried to pin down the movie’s visual and tonal ambitions. The ideas are big, but the execution keeps falling short. The result is something that feels more assembled than fully realized.
The Great Barrier and the spoiled reveal
The Great Barrier at the center of the galaxy - or the edge of the galaxy - has been tackled before, so it felt a bit redundant. And we had another scenario in which the Paramount+ synopsis spoiled the big reveal.
Plus: trivia, scores, and directors’ cuts
Beyond the main review, we also got into Rotten Tomatoes scores, quiz and trivia discussion, and the broader question of whether a director’s cut can actually improve a movie like this. That led to a fun side conversation about the pros and cons of directors’ cuts in general: when they reveal the “real” movie, and when they just give you more of something that was already not working.
Final thoughts
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is not a good movie, but it is an interesting movie to talk about. It has flashes of something better, and that may actually make it more frustrating than a straightforward failure. There are pieces here that work. There are ideas here that feel worthy of Star Trek. But the final product never pulls those pieces together into a satisfying whole.
It may be the movie where they go looking for God, but for us, it was mostly a search for the version of this story that could have been much better.
As always, remember – Never give up! Never surrender!
Listen to this episode of the To Baldly Go Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
Where we are on our Trek:
Last week we covered:
Next week we will continue with:
TBG Episode 047 - Star Trek TNG S02E19-22 Manhunt, The Emissary, Peak Performance, Shades of Gray – “Aaron Hates Star Trek” | First Time Reaction
If you want to see my journey from the very beginning, start here:
Also, be sure to check out Nate’s and my other podcast – The In Lap with Aaron and Nate – to listen to us discuss all things Formula 1 on race weekends, wherever you listen to your podcasts.