The 5th installment in the original Star Trek cinematic universe is generally considered as the weakest of the 6 films, one of those “odd numbered Trek films” that’s ultimately forgettable. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, directed by William Shatner, is probably no one’s favorite of the film collection, but there are a few fascinating facts about its production that earn it a second look.
A deleted scene features a changed Mount Rushmore
A viewing of this film makes it obvious that Chekov and Sulu didn’t have much of a presence. The film’s story seems to pull away from the crew and, unfortunately, this wastes Chekov’s and Sulu’s characters.
An extra deleted scene (likely cut for running time) features Chekov and Sulu at Mount Rushmore, but the iconic landmark featured an extra carving: that of an African-American woman president. The novelization by J.M. Dillard includes this sequence, as it does several other scenes cut from the screenplay.
The movie was inspired by television evangelists
What do Jimmy Swaggart, Tammy Faye Bakker, and televangelism have in common? They all inspired William Shatner’s original vision for Star Trek V. According to Shatner’s daughter, he wanted the Enterprise crew to meet God, only for the being to reveal he’s actually the Devil.
If this sounds, shall we say, unique, it gets only more so, as Shatner’s original story has poor Dr. McCoy dragged into the underworld ala Persephone! The writers having Spock say, “He’s dead, Jim,” in the aftermath might have been worth this scattershot version of the film!
Shatner’s stuntman set a record while filming
Near the start of the film, Kirk is free-climbing El Capitan when he loses his footing and falls. While some shots use special effects, Stuntman, Kenny Bates, achieved a falling stunt at the locale that equaled falling 45 stories! This earned him the record for highest free-fall stunt at that time.
While Star Trek V: The Final Frontier isn’t an especially memorable film in the franchise, the story of its conception and filming is an interesting one. What do you think about this film? Visit our social media pages and let us know!