Star Trek V: The Final Frontier has some interesting facts.
You may be wondering why we have two articles about Star Trek V: The Final Frontier back to back. It’s simple, in doing research for one, the other was birthed out of inspiration. It’s really that simple. You don’t deny inspiration as a writer.
So that’s why we’re yet again visiting the controversial Star Trek V: The Final Frontier because inspiration demands it. The film isn’t a very popular one in the annals of Star Trek history with many fans citing this as the worst film ever. Well, we’re working on a comprehensive list of the franchise’s best and worst films so you’ll be able to see for yourself if The Final Frontier is the worst; but that’s not quite ready to get posted.
So instead, we want to share some interesting facts about the film that some fans may not know. While we don’t disagree the film isn’t among the best in the franchise, it’s still Star Trek, so it still deserves to be talked about.
Five interesting facts about Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
William Shatner’s daughter was a Yeomen
In a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo, Star Trek V’s director, William Shatner had his daughter, Melanie, cameo as a Yeomen who gave James Kirk his officer jacket. She was the last of Shatner’s daughters to cameo in Trek, with both Lisabeth and Leslie appearing on the Original Series.
A deleted scene showed a fifth head on Mt. Rushmore
There was a deleted scene where Pavel Chekov and Hikaru Sulu would hike the area in front of Mt. Rushmore and the mountain would have a fifth head adorned to the left side, right next to George Washington.
Sha Ka Ree was taken from Sean Connery
Ever wonder why the god that Spock’s brother Sybock was looking for was named Sha Ka Ree? Well, the alien god-thing was named after British actor, Sean Connery. It’s really that simple sometimes.
Sean Connery was originally going to be Spock’s brother
The decision to go with Laurence Luckinbill as Sybock was a backup plan, as Connery was set to co-star in the film. Apparently, the naming of an alien god after Connery was the only way to get him in the film, as Connery was set to play Sybock before he pulled out due to scheduling conflicts. Connery was filming some movie called Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I wonder if anyone ended up seeing that one…
Some countries only got it on VHS
While the film was released in the United States in the summer, some didn’t get a theatrical cut. The film performed so badly locally, that a good number of foreign outlets only ever got the film on home media. The film bypassed theaters in a lot of countries, only to be released on VHS in that region instead.