The biggest part of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is that we meet Sybok, the Vulcan half-brother to Starfleet officer Spock, played by Leonard Nimoy. In the film, directed by William Shatner (Captain Kirk in the TV and movie franchise), Sybok is played by Laurence Luckinbill, who in a recent interview with StarTrek.com revealed that Nimoy had wanted to appear in the film as both Spock and Sybok.
Luckinbill said that he was told that Nimoy thought it should be a dual role, with Nimoy acting for both characters. Since the characters weren’t twins, Shatner decided against that. Luckinbill said he felt that that decision was taken out on him in the beginning of filming.
[Leonard Nimoy] did not say one word to me for quite a long time, other than “Hello,” because, I found out later, he had really, really pushed hard to have this be a double role, a dual role for him. I don’t know if this is absolutely true. That was the scuttlebutt and I got that from very high up in the food chain of information, that Leonard wanted to play Sybok and play Spock. That would have been a tremendous thing, to do that, but since they weren’t twins, they cast me. I think that Bill wanted a separate actor, and he was right. We were very different people
It all seemed to work out in the end, though.
The best compliment I got was, in the last scenes, 20 or 25 weeks later, Leonard looked at me and said, “You know, you’re terrific in this.” I thought that was a great send-off.
I know that Star Trek V wasn’t the best film of the franchise, but I can’t help but love it — and I’ve gotten a lot of flack for it. If you don’t remember much about the film, this was the one that starts with Kirk climbing a mountain and leades to the crew of the Enterprise following (some reluctantly) Sybok on his quest to find God. (Yes, God.)
By the way, I found the image for this article over at Kessel Junkie (awesome name) in an article called Why I Love Star Trek V, so be sure to check that out.
Honestly, V and VI are my favorites. I was a pre-teen when they were out, at the height of my Trek love. I enjoyed the cheesiness of STV because it reminded me (and still does) of a classic TOS episode. I also loved the shots of Yosemite, and I’m always a fan of shuttle missions.
Nostromo
I love The Final Frontier as well. I, as one who sees his ‘golden years’ looming (or perhaps I am in the midst of them) really get a boost seeing the affection and camaraderie in that film. Laurence Luckinbill’s Sybok is the ‘icing’ on a fine creation.
Nostromo
Mine too. I thoroughly enjoy all six of them, for the camaraderie as I note above, and the ‘crew’ keeps me company if I am alone working in the garage, kitchen or as I’m driving. I run the audio through my vehicle’s sound system. I cringe in thinking that the last Original Cast Star Trek film was released 20 years ago and that there’ll be no more to come.
Students of the Unusual™ comic cover used with permission of 3BoysProductions
The Mercuri Bros.™ comic cover used with permission of Prodigal Son Press
