"Star Trek: The Final Frontier" digs deeper into its characters, finally confronting them with the ultimate question: the existence of God. But it also explores the deep friendship between Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy, and logical science officer Spock, subtly suggesting it offers its own form of fellowship.

Besides directing the movie, William Shatner conceived its story about grappling for meaning in life. The film opens with a strange comedic scene in which Captain Kirk is seen rock-climbing in Yosemite. Suddenly Mr. Spock is hovering behind him, propelled into the air by futuristic rocket shoes. Kirk topples from the cliff-side, but Spock rockets down and catches him. Kirk later confides that he knew he couldn't die, because Dr. McCoy wasn't there. He's always believed that he'll die together with his friends.

Soon the film finds a way to include intense scenes showing the back story of its familiar characters. The Enterprise encounters a strange renegade Vulcan named Sybok, the emotional half-brother of Mr. Spock. With a genuinely mystical power to heal pain, Sybok seeks to fulfill his vision that a god waits beyond a spectacular energy barrier - by seizing a starship and crashing to the other side. Using his healing powers, Sybok confronts the crewmembers with their deepest pain. Dr. McCoy remembers performing the mercy killing of his own father, while Mr. Spock remembers being rejected by his own Vulcan father.

A fascinating tension develops as Captain Kirk resists the mystic's healing and his promise of a beyond-the-barrier god. It's especially interesting knowing that William Shatner himself wrote the movie's original story, as his character insists that working through pain is a part of life. Individuals deal with their decisions themselves, Kirk argues, even when they realize that they "turned left when they should've turned right."
But there's no time for a debate, since his starship Enterprise has been commandeered for Sybok's flight beyond the great barrier.

There's spectacular music and special effects as the starship delivers his crew to what is truly "the final frontier." DeForrest Kelley gives a great performance as Dr. McCoy, the ship's kindly surgeon, who's become a true believer while Captain Kirk remains skeptical. ("Jim, you don't ask the Almighty for his i.d.!" McCoy says at one point.) Standing with Kirk, Spock, and Sybok, Captain Kirk still objects to relinquishing the Starship Enterprise. Does the moment call for faith or skepticism? Captain Kirk has an even better question. Why does god need a starship?

"The Final Frontier" would be the second to last movie in which the entire cast appeared, and though the banter is sometimes unconvincing, they tapped into the warm sentiments of their fans. Dr. McCoy sees a very real human magic at work, and delivers the film's ultimate message: that maybe god is in our hearts.

Learn more about this author, Moe Zilla.
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