Trolling #17: Star Trek V RULES!

The old joke doesn’t really hold true anymore, but it’s still widely (playfully) agreed that the odd-numbered Star Trek films are the bad ones, while the even-numbered ones are the good ones. I would argue that Star Trek III: The Search for Spock is a perfectly decent movie, while Star Trek Into Darkness, the 12th film in the franchise (or the second in the “volume 2” franchise, depending on what you prefer), is actually one of the worst.

But most people often agree on one thing: Star Trek V: The Final Frontier – directed by William Shatner and released in 1989 to worldwide indifference – is easily the worst in the series. People saw it as cheap, hokey, and possessed of a dumb premise; to remind you, Star Trek V was the one where Capt. Kirk and Co. meet God face-to-face. “Star Trek” has never been one to shy away from the occasionally hokey plot that rubs elbows with notions of the infinite, but meeting up with Himself seemed to be one toke over the line for even the most dyed-in-the-wool Trekkies.

Well, seeing as this is CraveOnline‘s Trolling, a weekly series devoted to deliberately contradicting fanboys everywhere, we are going to openly and happily and confidently declare that Star Trek V is not the bad film it is reputed to be. Indeed, we’re going to argue that Star Trek V RULES. Here are a few reasons why you’re wrong and we’re right:  

The film was, sadly, hampered by a low budget, and, yes, actually confronting the physical manifestation of an evil alien claiming to be God (not a god, mind you, but THE God) is a pretty cheesy story conceit. But Star Trek V is more thoughtful and skilled and gregarious than it often given credit for. In many ways, it’s one of the more thoughtful films in the series.  


Witney Seibold is a featured contributor on the CraveOnline Film Channel, and co-host of The B-Movies Podcast. You can read his weekly articles Trolling, Free Film School and The Series Project, and follow him on “Twitter” at @WitneySeibold, where he is slowly losing his mind. 

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