Per Rotten Tomatoes, both Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Section 31 registers 22 percent on the RT Tomatometer. The annoying part is that both films had some promise and potential. Instead, though, both became total train wrecks for different reasons. So which one is truly the worst?
The Final Frontier isn’t that awful
The Final Frontier is a messy movie, there’s no denying that. The backstory of its nightmare production isn't a secret. A writer’s strike, a slashed budget, and more contributed to its problems. William Shatner has also acknowledged he wasn’t ready to direct a film himself, and his ego seems on full display.
There are so many wince-inducing moments in this film that almost feel like parody: Chekov and Sulu lost in the woods, Uhura doing a sultry dance as a distraction to guards, Scotty literally knocking himself out, the marshmallow talk, it’s just awful.
The entire “Search for God” feels like an extended TOS episode and not in a good way. Sybok had promise as a character, but introducing Spock’s secret half-brother was too much of a soap opera twist. The ending is pretty anticlimactic, so it’s little wonder this film has become so loathed.
Despite all that, there are some good bits to this tale. The Kirk/Spock/McCoy chemistry is as strong as ever and given more pathos with their advancing ages. Kirk scaling a mountain on his own may be ego-stroking by Shatner, but it perfectly fits Kirk’s adventurous spirit and refusal to accept his inevitable death. Kirk's line on how he knew he would be okay as long as his friends were there speaks volumes to the trio’s bond.
The action isn’t too bad, even with the obviously limited budget and poor FX. Maybe Shatner didn’t get the big climax he wanted with demons and rock monsters. But we do get the surprisingly effective scene where Shatner cuts through the BS with, “What does God need with a starship?”
While Sybok may be a rough character, Laurence Luckinbill clearly has fun in the role. A Vulcan who laughs and has a wild aura is a different direction, and how Sybok really believes he’s in the right helps. Sybok's final scene is also well done. Sybok faces his mistakes, and Luckinbill's character is better than written.
Most importantly, there’s a sense that despite all the chaos, everyone involved was trying to make something good. They weren’t there for a paycheck or phoning it in, they made an effort to give good performances and instill the Trek magic. It didn’t work, yet its heart was in the right place. As an old saying goes, a bad movie made with good intentions is still better than a competently made movie that’s emotionally empty.
Section 31 is truly the worst Star Trek movie
Section 31 sounded great to be sure especially with the Oscar-winning Michelle Yeoh reprising her role as Emperor Philippa Georgiou of the Mirror Universe. How could this fail?
Well, the supporting crew was a mess, but Georgiou worked in small doses with Yeoh clearly enjoying the role. Putting her front and center in this film made the character too much for viewers, though, which wasn't helped by Yeoh seemingly just in it for a paycheck and without the same wicked drive she’d shown before in Star Trek: Discovery. Yeoh seems to know this is a bad movie, and it carries into her performance. It doesn't help that we don't get to see Georgiou embrace her past glory.
The action is stunningly bad, more so given that this is a film with a living legend of action cinema. The plot doesn’t make much sense, trying to be a caper film, a Mission: Impossible-style thriller, and cram in Georgiou’s complicated backstory and guilt to boot. There are set pieces clearly meant to carry an episode, like being caught on an alien world with a mole on the team, that can be seen coming from a mile away. There’s way too many plates up in the air to handle.
This barely feels like a Star Trek movie. We get references to the Federation and such, but you could replace that with any generic sci-fi franchise and get the same story. There’s nothing for either hardcore fans to enjoy or for newbies to feel what the franchise is like. That, more than anything, is the cardinal reason Section 31 fails as an action flick and as a Star Trek movie.
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