This Diane Keaton And Liam Neeson Flop Caused Star Trek V To Be Delayed - SlashFilm (2025)

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Trekkies will likely be able to tell you how difficult William Shatner's 1989 film "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" was to make. There was a labor strike early in production, and an attempt to pull a fast one on the Teamsters Union, leading to a mysterious truck explosion (which may or may not have been related). There was also an issue with the film's SFX, as the studio couldn't afford to hire Industrial Light & Magic, forcing them to hire a cheaper replacement at the last minute. It also suffered from a bad script conceived of by Shatner himself. One of the stipulations of his contract dictated that he would take a lower salary on "Star Trek IV" if he got to direct and write a treatment for "Star Trek V." What he came up with, though, wasn't terribly polished.

Then, at the end of all that, the film bombed. It made only $63 million on a $33 million budget (low for a Trek movie), and it was panned by critics; it sports a 23% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 53 reviews. Most Trekkies consider it the worst, or at least one of the worst, movies in the "Star Trek" series. It was a relief that Paramount elected to make a "Star Trek VI" in 1991, otherwise this would have been a very rotten finale to a 25-year-old sci-fi franchise.

Oh yes, and the film was delayed. It seems that Leonard Nimoy, who played Spock in "Star Trek V," couldn't begin filming until he was done with a high-profile directing job. In 1988, Nimoy helmed a film called "The Good Mother," a traditional weepie with Diane Keaton and Liam Neeson, planning to move to Spock thereafter. Perhaps it was part of the "Star Trek V" curse, but "The Good Mother" also tanked. Nimoy talked about "Mother" in a 1988 interview with the Sacramental news station KCRA.

Paramount

Recall: Nimoy had directed "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" and "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home," and both of those films were big hits. In 1987, he guided the ultra-hit "Three Men and a Baby" to a great deal of lucre; it made $240 million on a $15 million budget. He hoped to keep his directorial track record going with "The Good Mother." He revealed back in 1988 that he was approached about appearing in "Star Trek V," but that he couldn't do it right away due to a scheduling conflict. This interview was conducted before shooting on "Star Trek V" had begun, so he didn't yet know that it would be a s***show. About the delay, Nimoy said:

"We were supposed to do this one about six or seven months ago, and they weren't quite ready to move ahead. I was offered this terrific opportunity to direct movie called 'The Good Mother' with Diane Keaton, so I went ahead and did. And by the time I had taken the job, they said 'Oh gee, we're ready to go,' and I said 'I'm sorry I've committed myself.' So they've been waiting for a while but we're going now."

The plot of "The Good Mother" is a little mawkish even for a Hollywood melodrama. Keaton plays the divorced mother of a six-year-old who begins dating a sexually alluring artist (Neeson). She bathes with her daughter still, so when the girl (Asia Vieira) spies on Neeson showering, he allows it. This incident outrages Keaton's ex-husband (James Naughton) who accuses the Neeson character of molesting his daughter. The film also stars Jason Robards and Katey Sagal. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck were extras.

The film also bombed, making less than $5 million on a $14 million budget. Reviews were only lukewarm, and it remains something of an obscurity to this day. It was the bomb that prevented another bomb from coming out on time. Everything about "Star Trek V" was a disaster.