Wikipedia:Peer review/Star Trek V: The Final Frontier/archive1

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

This peer review discussion has been closed.
As part of my continuing drive to get all the Star Trek films featured, I'm submitting this one for comments, considerations, any possible issues, et al.

Thanks, Der Wohltemperierte Fuchs^(talk) 22:24, 6 April 2011 (UTC)

Some comments by Ruby2010:

• You mention the film's box office performance in the lead, but don't include numbers. Add how much money the film made.
• A final film for the original series cast, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, was developed that received a kinder reception. Awkward phrasing.
• The cast section is a little choppy and has some flow issues (not a fan of the short paragraphs). Also, the second paragraph has no references.
• Perhaps you should mention how the actors are reprising their roles from the TV show in the production section (I know this is probably common knowledge, but it would help expand the section a little more). I'm sure there's some interesting stories out there as to why Shatner and Nimoy returned for the film.
• I like the development section (well-written and interesting)
• Find a suitable wikilink for "tone poem"
• Rodis also had a significant input in developing the the early character and costume designs
• Shatner "cracked" during the filming in 110-degree heat, insulting the head electrician and ignoring Laszlo's request for additional setup time.[52] Interesting tidbit. Perhaps expand (I assume the heat is what made Shatner "crack"?)
• Winter recalled that the production had budgeted $4 million for the film's effects, slightly more than The Voyage Home. "But the first pass, with all the things [Shatner] wanted, was [$5 or $6] million." I assume the quote is attributed to Winter. Make this more clear (i.e. Winter commented, "quote".
• Wikilink Eden
• Identify who John S. Schultes is (author? professor?).
• Winter remained with the production and The Wrath of Khan director Nicholas Meyer returned to direct the original cast's final movie, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, which went on to be better received by audiences and critics. Needs reference.
• Ref # 25 ("'Tek' beams up a bleak future".) Is Trek misspelled, or did the article do that on purpose?

• My closing remarks: most of the article is very well-written and sourced, and will probably face no major opposition at the FA review. However, the cast section is very differently written from the rest of the article (and not in a good way!). Fix that section and the other minor comments I made above to help improve the article. Considering I have never seen this particular film, it was interesting to read. I can tell you've spent a lot of time on it (and the sources look great). Nice work! Also, if you have time, could you take a look at my article (Over There (Fringe)) and leave some comments? I made a request for a peer review recently (note that it has Leonard Nimoy in the episode!) :) Thanks, Ruby2010 comment! 23:12, 8 April 2011 (UTC)

Thanks very much for the review. I'll see about getting to the episode when I have time next week :) Der Wohltemperierte Fuchs^(talk) 20:10, 9 April 2011 (UTC)

Comments by Jappalang

Based on article as of 00:49, 12 April 2011 (UTC):

Lede

• It is the fifth and penultimate feature starring the cast of the original Star Trek science fiction television series.

  Noun plus -ing ambiguity: This can be read as "It is the fifth and penultimate feature, starring the cast of the original Star Trek science fiction television series.", which would mean it is the second last film of the franchise. Suggest: "It is the fifth and penultimate feature (of the franchise) that stars the cast of the original Star Trek science fiction television series." I am not certain if the bracketed phrase is necessary.

Plot

• "Sybok reluctantly declares a truce with Kirk, realizing he needs his leadership experience to navigate Enterprise to Sha Ka Ree."

  It seems to me this sentence implies that before offering healing, Sybok and Kirk were constantly at loggerheads (not mentioned before). Furthermore, the phrase "Sybok ... declares ... with Kirk, realizing he (Sybok/Kirk) needs his (Sybok's/Kirk's) leadership ..." reads to me that a feud with Kirk would hinder Sybok from navigating the Enterprise (which fans would logically exclude from their interpretation but a layman might pause here) or that Sybok's healing would have erased Kirk's abilities (which seems not true). Suggest: "To maintain a cordial relationship with Kirk, Sybok stops pressing his offer, realizing that he needs the experienced captain to help reach Sha Ka Ree." Is the part of Sybok's realization he needs Kirk speculation (hence, it needs a source or be considered OR) or does he admit to it in the movie?

• "The others doubt God who would inflict harm on people for pleasure;"

  "The others doubt a God who would inflict harm on people for pleasure" or "The others doubt that their God would inflict harm on people for pleasure"?

• "... uses his telepathic powers in an effort to combat the entity."

  I think "in an effort" is redundant.

• "Kirk orders Enterprise to fire a photon torpedo at their location, wounding it."

  Not too keen to watch the film again, does Kirk specifically say "our location" and every one accepts dying with the being in the process? Or is it done in the hope that it hits the being?

• "Kirk is beamed aboard the ship, where Spock and the Klingon hostage force Klaa to stand down and apologize."

  "The ship" refers to Klaa's ship or the Enterprise? If the former, why is Spock there? Furthermore, what hostage (nowhere earlier did it state they took a hostage along)? It is also a bit inconceivable to a layman that an ordinary hostage would have rank to force a captain "to stand down and apologize."

Cast

• Nimoy's paragraph is entirely unsourced.

• "... is a play of words from the actor's name."

  "... is a play on words of the actor's name." or "... is a word play of the actor's name."? This also seems to have been repeated in Development (which seems to me to have phrased the idea better).

• "... his choices to Shatner. Shatner and ..."

  Double Shatner

• "Bryant was playing ping pong at a beach party when a casting director approached him for the role."

  I think this is pretty much irrelevant to the article.

• "Williams-Crosby thought Vixis was Kirk's girlfriend when she arrived for her audience, but recalled that it was "fun" to play a villain."

  I do not see a contradiction ("but") between the fun of playing a villain and mistaking Vixis for Kirk's girlfriend (ST VI's shape-changer, who was supposed to be a "interest" for Kirk, was a villain, and several films have their lead's interests as secret baddies).

• "Producer Harve Bennett makes a cameo as a Starfleet admiral."

  Unsourced

• I agree with Ruby2010 that the flow of this section should be improved on; the information here seems a bit random in placement.

Development

• "Shatner and Nimoy's lawyers had drafted what Shatner termed a "favored nations clause", ..."

  When did this happen? Prior to ST I, II, III, or IV? Or during the original TV series? Or when ST V was being planned?

• "... Shatner recalled. Shatner was intrigued ..."

  Either one of these "Shatner"s can be rephrased to "he" to break up a repetition.

• "The televangelists became the character "Zar", later "Sybok";"

  "Shatner personified his perception of the televangelists into the character "Zar", which later became "Sybok";"

• "... Spock, McCoy and the rest of the Enterprise crew come to believe in Zar's divinity through mind-control."

  "Under mind-control"?

• "... to the God planet, ..."

  I read that sentence to mean that the God is a celestial object. "... to the supposed planet of God, ..." or "... to the supposed God's planet, ..."?

• "... that he had been mistreated by Nimoy."

  This mention of mistreatment is quite vague and should best be clarified.

• "Bennett found a script by David Loughery and showed his work to Shatner, who agreed that he would be a good fit for the plot."

  "[Loughery] would be a good fit for the plot": I think something is wrong here... Is "a good choice to write the script for ST V" the intent?

• "One of Roddenberry's employees also suggested some of the animosity towards the story was that it tread on ground that Roddenberry had wanted to approach with Star Trek: The Motion Picture, but Paramount had rejected his ideas."

  "One of Roddenberry's employees suggested some of his employer's animosity towards the story stemmed back to Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Roddenberry had wanted to approach that film with similar ideas that investigated the nature of God but was rejected by Paramount."

• "... Sha Ka Ree—a play on "Sean Connery" ..."

  "... Sha Ka Ree—a wordplay on "Sean Connery" ..."

Design

• "Shatner sought a grittier and more realistic feel to the Star Trek universe. Art director and Star Trek feature veteran Nilo Rodis worked with Shatner in visualizing the film from start to finish."

  These two sentences feel disconnected to me.

  I suggest rewording the entire paragraph as follows: "Nilo Rodis, who had worked on several Star Trek features, was appointed the art director for The Final Frontier. He and Shatner worked together to establish the visual designs for the entire film. Shatner wanted a grittier and more realistic feel to the Star Trek universe, and took a day to explain his visualization of the story to Rodis. The art director went home and sketched every scene in the script. The designs pleased Shatner, especially those scenes that he wanted to be epic."

• "After being disappointed by the costume designers they approached to realize Rodis' ideas, Shatner suggested to Bennett that Rodis become the costume designer as well."

  This sentence seems to leave a question hanging: was Rodis appointed as the costume designer?

• What are "high-quality "A" makeups" and "mid-range masks"?

• "Shatner had rehired Richard Snell as makeup supervisor, ..."

  This sentence implies that Shatner had hired Snell before, then either fired him or let him go. There is no mention of such previous employment.

• "... make each Klingon forehead more distinctive."

  Is the sentence's intent that every Klingon forehead was unique, or that all the Klingon foreheads were made to stand out more?

• "Art department head Michael Okuda used his LCARS style of backlit controls on the Klingon ship and Enterprise."

  I think it should be "implemented" instead of "used"; the latter term could be interpreted as using the system to create the starships (rather than a set of circuits that is a part of the models).

• "Because of practical considerations, he looked for a location that could stand in for three different venues without the production having to change hotels or move unnecessarily: the film's opening scene between J'onn and Sybok; the God planet's establishing shots; and the Nimbus III Paradise City."

  I think the colon is incorrectly used here (a rephrase would be required if I am right).

• "... so he took photos based on sketches Rodis had provided of what the locations might look like."

  This sentence might frame it as that Downs photographed Rodis's sketches of "what the locations might look like." Suggest: "... so he took photographs of locations he believed would fit Rodis's designs."

Filming

• "With deadlines looming on production, Shatner and the rest of the production searched out non-union drivers despite the threat that the Teamsters might retaliate, sabotaging equipment or, as some Hollywood unions had done in the past, fly airplanes above the production to ruin any production audio."

  A bit lengthy, suggest: "With deadlines looming, the production searched for non-union drivers despite the threat that the Teamsters might retaliate by sabotaging eqipment or flying airplanes above the filming to ruin audio recordings."

• "... that was positioned with the real mountains visible ..."

  "... that was positioned in front of the cameras with the real mountains visible ..."

• What is an "American descender fall", and is "highest" supposed to describe it?

• "... the God planet location ..."

  Same issue raised in Development

• "Spock's catch of the falling Kirk off Yosemite was replicated by creating a set of the forest floor, rotated ninety degrees."

  I think this is wrongly phrased. Creating a set of the forest floor and rotating it ninety degrees would not result in Spock's catching of Kirk. It would be more correct to say that the scene was filmed against such a set (but the imagery makes me wonder how did Kirk "fall" sideways?).

• "The cast celebrated the end of filming the last week of December 1988."

  I think "in" is missing?

• "... after principal photography wrapped ..."

  "had wrapped"?

Effects

• "During the Writers Strike, Winter confronted ..."

  Who is Winter?

• "... technicians were busy working Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and ..."

  I believed an "on" is missing.

• "... hiring the New York-based studio made The Final Frontier the first film in the series produced on the east and west coasts."

  Unclear meaning: hiring the studio made this film the first in a series produced on both coasts?

• "... the total budget climbed ..."

  For the film or just for the effects?

• "Designer Lynda Weinman used a Mac II to create animatics the producers cut into the film until the finished effects were added."

  "Until the effects were completed and added, animatics (sequences of still images) created by Lynda Weinman were spliced into the film as temporary placeholders."

• "The Rockman climax of the film was ultimately dropped due to difficulties during filming."

  "Technical difficulties forced the crew to drop the idea of having a rock monster (Rockman) as Kirk's opponent for the film's climax."

• "Effects personnel smoked cigarettes and blew smoke into the suit's tubing, loading it with smoke that it would slowly emit, obscuring some of the suit's obvious rubber parts."

  "Effects personnel smoked cigarettes and blew smoke into the suit's tubing. The stored smoke is slowly emitted by the suit, obscuring the costume's rubbery nature."

• "The visuals took weeks before they were ready to be shown after the completion of principal photography."

  The timeline here seems confusing to me.

Editing

• "... not considering end credits or the opticals, which Paramount considered too long."

  Not considering the scenes with optical effects as well, which Paramount considered to be too long?

• "Shatner was horrified with Bennett's edits, ..."

  "Horrified" seems a word needed to be attributed (who said it?), or reduced in effect.

• "Of the first test audience, only a small portion considered the film "excellent", ..."

  The opening phrase is a bit weird and "only" can come across as biased wording. Suggestion: "A large portion of the first test audience did not consider the film "excellent", ..."

• "Five minutes of footage were excised to improving the film's pacing, then shot an additional scene on the Bird-of-Prey to make the circumstances of Kirk's rescue clearer."

  Mismatched tenses (passive, active) results in a missing subject: who shot the additional scene?

Music

• "... the God planet ..."

  Same issue raised in Development

• "Goldsmith also added a crying ram's horn."

  Added a what?

• "The breadth of The Final Frontier's locations ..."

  This can be ambiguous: does it refer to their sizes or their overall unity of artistic effect?

• "Sybok is introduced with a synthesized motif in the opening scene of the film, while when Kirk and Spock discuss him en route to Nimbus III it is rendered in a more mysterious fashion."

  "While when" reads awkwardly to me, and "it" feels to be referring to the motif in the opening scene, which does not synchronize with the discussion (i.e. different scenes). Suggestion: "Sybok is introduced with a synthesized motif in the opening scene of the film. His motif plays again during Kirk and Spock's discussion of him en route to Nimbus, albeit in a more mysterious fashion."

• "The Sybok theme ..."

  "Sybok's theme ..."?

• "Arriving at Sha-ka-ree, the planet's five-note theme bears resemblance to Goldsmith's unicorn theme from Legend;"

  "Sha-ka-ree" or "Sha Ka Ree"? This sentence should also be rephrased; the current structure makes it seem to state that the five-note theme arrives at the fictional place.

• What are "glissandos"?

• "... the more aggressive Sybok theme ..."

  "More aggresive" as when compared to the standard character theme or the score for God?

• "On Tuesday November 30, ..."

  I think "Tuesday" is irrelevant.

Sound effects

• "... creating continuity within Star Trek' sounds ..."

  What is with the apostrophe?

• "Mangini collaborated with Shatner to work out how the new effects would sound."

  Coming after "he decided to reuse many effects rather than create new and different-sounding ones himself", the way this sentence is phrased raises a surprise of the use of "the new effects".

Themes

• File:Cole Thomas The Garden of Eden 1828.jpg: No source

• "... dubbed the film part of an ..."

  I think it would flow better with "as" inserted between "film" and "part".

Release

• "The Final Frontier was expected to make nearly $200 million."

  Expected by who?

• "In its first week, The Final Frontier was number one at the domestic box office, its roughly $17.4 million opening on 2,202 screens beating the $16.8 million total of The Voyage Home and making it the best Star Trek opening weekend thus far."

  Long run-on sentence: it can be split into two, with the second rephrased.

• "... beating the $16.8 million total ..."

  It strikes me that using "beat", as "be better than",[1] with an inanimate object (box office earning) might be informal (unsuitable for encyclopaedia).

• "The Voyage Home, however, had played in only 1,349 theaters at a time with lower ticket prices. In its second week it tumbled 58% to make $7.1 million; its third week it grossed only $3.7 million. It had a wide release of ten weeks, shorter than any Star Trek film before it."

  Do the "it"s in the later sentences refer to The Voyage Home or The Final Frontier?

• Boxofficemojo does not strike me to be that reliable a source; I know several media outlets have cited figures from them, but the site itself does not state where it derives its figures from. I would advise sourcing from Variety (Rentrak) instead.

Overall, the content is there to be developed into an FA. A prose brush-up and resolution of the above issues should do much of the job. Jappalang (talk) 00:54, 12 April 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for the thorough review, as always, Jappa. Der Wohltemperierte Fuchs^(talk) 02:20, 12 April 2011 (UTC)

No problems, good luck on a ST films FT. Jappalang (talk) 02:37, 12 April 2011 (UTC)