Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is widely regarded as the weakest of the big screen franchise installments, but it's not quite as terrible as some fans would remember. The story about a renegade Vulcan commandeering the Enterprise in order to seek out God may have served audiences better as a television episode, but it had its moments.
Nevertheless, the film tends to get panned due to its oddball story and a paper-thin plot. Amidst this drop in quality compared to previous films is the glaring amount of nonsensical plot holes strewn throughout the script. The following are things that simply don't add up about Star Trek V, which may have contributed to its less-than-stellar status.
10 Sybok's Powers
The opening act of the film shows the revolutionary Vulcan Sybok on a desolate alien planet where he is accosted and held at gunpoint. He proceeds to tell the man that he carries a great pain inside that requires release if he wishes to move on to a better life. It's unclear why Sybok possesses this power, or how he's able to use it to affect people on such a great scale.
The film never reveals whether this power is manipulative, benevolent, or a combination of both. The novelization goes into slightly greater detail which suggests it was indeed a form of psychological manipulation. That doesn't explain why Kirk, Spock and McCoy were able to see each other's memories, though it could have something to do with the bond of friendship between all three.
9 Spock's Jet Boots
Captain Kirk's infamous mountain climbing scene is the stuff of legend, and responsible for countless memes and jokes.
The film version of the scene is pretty straightforward and culminates with Kirk slipping and plunging to what should be his death. He's saved seconds before impact by Spock, who is wearing a pair of jet boots. Unfortunately, it's never explained how the boots manage to keep Spock in the air while he's rotated on his side, which is puzzling.
8 The State Of The Enterprise
The final act of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home gave audiences a glimpse of a brand spankin' new Enterprise - the first of its name to feature a letter designation at the end of its NCC-1701 registry number. This was the first sign that the movie franchise would continue with Kirk and the crew embarking on brand new adventures.
What a pity then, that the Enterprise-A featured in The Final Frontier was a dud on arrival. Why Starfleet would allow such a legendary ship as the Enterprise to have so many bugs, glitches and problems is anyone's guess. It's almost as if they were attempting to snub its legacy by giving Scotty a bonafide lemon.
7 Why Does Sybok Need The Enterprise?
Sybok's grand plan is to infiltrate Nimbus III and take control of three key Federation delegates, which will trigger a response from Starfleet. His goal was to lure the Enterprise to the planet and facilitate its capture so that he could make the journey to the Great Barrier and discover what lay beyond.
From a logical standpoint, this makes no sense, whatsoever. Sybok's telepathic powers were capable of influencing even the strongest minds, which means all he'd need to do is take control of the Romulan, Federation and Klingon diplomats to have his pick of any ship within their respective fleets. Better yet, if Sybok believed the Barrier posed no threat, why not use any old ship?
6 Why Doesn't The Enterprise Crew Retaliate?
Besides the main characters, the crew of the Enterprise in each of the Star Trek films act more like foot soldiers than Starfleet officers. This became a real conundrum in The Final Frontier, especially after Sybok takes control of the Enterprise and sets a course for the Great Barrier.
It would have been impossible for Sybok to comb through the ship and manipulate the minds of every crew member, regardless of the size of its compliment. Any Starfleet officer worth his or her salt would have realized that a hostile force had taken over the ship, and taken steps to retake it. Yet, they seem blissful about taking orders from Sybok, and show no signs of resistance.
5 The Great Barrier Paradox
The concept of the Great Barrier in the film creates a plot hole that clashes with the animated television series that predated it. The episode "The Magicks of Megas-Tu" established that the Enterprise had already traveled to the center of the galaxy in an attempt to gather research data on a point in creation.
Presumably, they would have come into contact with the Great Barrier already, and learned something of its makeup. While it's hard to classify the animated series as official canon, it is worth noting on top of the fact that Starfleet seems to know about the Barrier's existence in The Final Frontier.
4 The Prison
The imposter God entity that attacks Kirk and his companions in the final act is a vicious creature imprisoned on the planet beyond the Great Barrier, who wishes to escape. The Q Continuum novels directly reference this being as "The One," a malevolent entity imprisoned by the Q for his role in a civil war that decimated the Tkon Empire.
It isn't known how the Great Barrier manages to keep The One imprisoned, especially given the ease through which the Enterprise-A passed through unharmed. It seems odd that the Q would take such a huge risk in allowing a bold spacefaring vessel to pass beyond the Barrier, and inadvertently free such a dangerous being.
3 Sybok & "God"
Sybok's telepathic power is widely considered to be the main cinematic Macguffin of The Final Frontier, seeing as how it is never fully explained. It exists solely to drive the narrative by giving Sybok an easy method by which to subvert followers to his will. However, that doesn't explain his connection to the imposter God entity, or his motivations.
In order for Sybok to have formed a subconscious connection with The One, he would have had to possess extraordinary telepathic powers that allowed him to pick up the being's thoughts. Vulcan telepathy is rather basic, which means it's highly unlikely Sybok would have attuned himself to The One, while other races (notably the Betazoids) would not.
2 The Torpedo
The weapons of the Star Trek universe are incredibly powerful and destructive in nature. After all, they're designed to blow up entire ships, defend against strange alien forces and galactic threats, and wage open war if the situation called for it. Yet, Captain Kirk sees nothing wrong with ordering Sulu to rain one down right on their position in order to knock out The One.
Sure, he grabs Spock and McCoy and tells them to run (at the last minute, no less), but the resulting impact from the torpedo would have reduced everything within a mile's radius to atoms - including them. Surely a phaser blast would have worked better.
1 No Court Martials
Although Sybok's telepathic powers are incredible, they do not suggest that those who fall under his spell are entirely incapable of resisting. It seems as if Sybok's numbing of their internal pain (whether permanent or not) inspires them to look at life in a new way, and follow him towards a greater goal.
Proof is seen when both Spock and McCoy refuse to join Sybok on the bridge, remaining loyal to Kirk instead. What about the other crew members? Surely if they were capable of resisting Sybok's influence and remembering their duties as Starfleet officers, they'd be on the hook for a court-martial.
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