Summary
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier’s Laurence Luckinbill shares how he sees Sybok and credits director William Shatner for helping him realize his vision. Shatner cast Luckinbill as the villain of the fifthStar Trekmovie after seeing the lauded stage actor’s performance as President Lyndon B. Johnson inLyndon. As Sybok, Luckinbill played a holy man who was the Vulcan half-brother of Spock (Leonard Nimoy). However,Sybok was no mere heavy, and the emotional Vulcan was unlike previousStar Trekmovie villains.
Laurence Luckinbill appeared onAll Access Star Trek - A TrekMovie.com Podcasthosted by Anthony Pascale and Laurie Ulster to promote his memoir, “Affective Memories,” and to mark the 35th anniversary ofStar Trek V: The Final Frontier.When Pascale asked Luckinbill how he saw Sybok as the actor portraying the Vulcan, Laurence gave a fascinating response. Listen to the podcast in the link above and read Luckinbill’s quote below:
It was written a bit like a villain, except there was this search for God. Well, we’re all searching for God, aren’t we? In some way… After I accepted the role, [I met with William Shatner] and he asked, ‘How do you see the character?’ And I said, ‘Lenin.’ Vladimir Ilyich Lenin… Lenin had a great dream that he could free Russia. He could make it all good and better for the people. But as he gradually got into it, and he felt the obstacles rushing against him, he gradually turned into a dictator.
And that’s where Sybok was headed because he made that choice. And then he stole the Enterprise. And that was the first big action, which was a theft. And gradually, as the [movie] moved along, and we got to that last scene where I exchange hands with Leonard, with Spock, my brother, and then sacrifice myself to save him, to this evil god. Which was, to me, Shakespearean. It was tragic, and I played it that way.
RegardingSybok originally being armed with rock guns or weaponsinStar Trek V’s script, Luckinbill said no and explained his reasoning to William Shatner:
I said I don’t want to because I am the human part of Spock. I am a peaceful person. Sybok is a peaceful person. He is looking for God. He is looking for help. He’s looking to relieve pain. Why would he carry a gun around? So Bill eventually said, ‘Well, we’ll fix that.’ And he did. We were able to do a big fight, and the gun wasn’t important. I actually love Bill Shatner. So he was a good director for me. Other people complained about him. I don’t.
To Me, William Shatner’s Movie Star Trek V Is Great Comfort Food
William Shatner’s Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is a comforting watch with enjoyable banter, a compelling villain in Sybok, and good intentions.
Sybok Is Unlike Other Star Trek Movie Villains
There hasn’t been a villain like Sybok before or since
AmongStar Trek’s movie villains, Sybok is unique and stands apart.MostStar Trekmovie villains follow the mold of Khan Noonien Singh(Ricardo Montalban) inStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The vengeance-lusting, scenery-chewing Khan set the standard forStar Trekmovie villains, and the films have tried to replicate Montalban’s iconic heavy, without the same success.Star Trek’s cinematic Big Bads like Kruge (Christopher Lloyd) inStar Trek III: The Search for Spock, Shinzon (Tom Hardy) inStar Trek: Nemesis, Nero (Eric Bana) inStar Trek(2009), and Krall (Idris Elba) inStar Trek Beyondhave all tried to be Khan’s second coming.
Khan literally had a second coming inStar Trek Into Darkness, with Benedict Cumberbatch playing Khan inStar Trek’s alternate Kelvin Timeline.
As Laurence Luckinbill explained toTrekMovie, Sybok is cut from a different cloth than Khan. Sybok is not driven by revenge or a lust for power.Sybok is a Vulcan holy man, a believer who seeks God and the answer to the universe’s greatest questions.Sybok’s folly is that he was manipulated by amalevolent alien posing as God (George Murdock). But when he realizes his grave error, Sybok saves his brother, Spock, and sacrifices himself at the end ofStar Trek V: The Final Frontier. Sybok is tragic in a Shakespearean sense, just as Laurence Luckibill played him.
