Star Trek V’s villain’s take on Sybok will change your view of Spock’s brother

Star Trek: V – The Final FrontierLaurence Luckinbill tells how he sees Sybok and thanks director William Shatner for helping him realize his vision. Shatner cast Luckinbill as the villain of the fifth Star Trek Film after he portrayed the celebrated stage actor as President Lyndon B. Johnson in LyndonAs Sybok, Luckinbill played a holy man who was the Vulcan half-brother of Spock (Leonard Nimoy). Sybok was no mere heavyweight, and the emotional Vulcan was different from the previous Star Trek Movie villains.

Laurence Luckinbill appeared on All Access Star Trek – A TrekMovie.com Podcast hosted by Anthony Pascale and Laurie Ulster to promote his memoir “Affective Memories” and to mark the 35th anniversary of Star Trek: V – The Final Frontier. When Pascale Luckinbill asked how he imagined Sybok as the actor who would portray the Vulcan, Laurence gave a fascinating answer. Listen to the podcast at the link above and read Luckinbill’s quote below:

It was written a little bit like a villain, except there was this search for God. Well, we’re all searching for God, aren’t we? In a way… After I took the role (I met with William Shatner) he asked, “How do you see the character?” And I said, “Lenin.” Vladimir Ilyich Lenin… Lenin had a big dream that he could liberate Russia. He could make everything good and better for the people. But as he gradually grew into the role and the obstacles came at him, he gradually became a dictator.

And that’s where Sybok was headed because he made that decision. And then he stole the Enterprise. And that was the first big action, a theft. And gradually, as the (film) progressed, we got to that final scene where I exchange hands with Leonard, with Spock, my brother, and then sacrifice myself to save him, this evil god. That was Shakespearean to me. It was tragic, and that’s how I played it.

Regarding Sybok was originally armed with stone guns or weapons In Star Trek: V – The Incredible JourneyLuckinbill said no and explained his reasons to William Shatner:

I said I don’t want to because I’m the human part of Spock. I’m a peaceful person. Sybok is a peaceful person. He’s looking for God. He’s looking for help. He’s looking for pain relief. Why would he carry a gun around with him? So Bill finally said, “Well, we’ll work it out.” And he did. We could do a big fight and the gun wasn’t important. I actually like Bill Shatner. So he was a good director to me. Other people complained about him. I didn’t.

Related

For me, William Shatner’s film “Star Trek V” is a great comfort meal

William Shatner’s Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is a soothing film with entertaining dialogue, a compelling villain in Sybok, and good intentions.

Sybok is different from other villains in the Star Trek films

There has never been a villain like Sybok before or since

Under Star TrekSybok is one of the villains in the films and is unique and stands out. The most Star Trek Movie villains follow the example of Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban) in Star Trek II: The Wrath of KhanThe vengeful, brilliant Khan set the standard for Star Trek The films attempted to copy Montalban’s iconic villain, but without the same success. Star Trek‘s cinematic Big Bads like Kruge (Christopher Lloyd) in Star Trek III: The Search for SpockShinzon (Tom Hardy) in Star Trek: NemesisNero (Eric Bana) in Star Trek (2009) and Krall (Idris Elba) in Star Trek: Beyond – Journey into the Past have all tried to be Khan’s second coming.

As Laurence Luckinbill told TrekMovieSybok is cut from a different cloth than Khan. Sybok is neither driven by revenge nor by a lust for power. Sybok is a holy man from Vulcan, a believer who searches for God and the answers to the universe’s greatest questions. Sybok’s folly is that he has been manipulated by a malevolent alien posing as a god (George Murdock). But when he realizes his grave error, Sybok saves his brother Spock and sacrifices himself at the end of Star Trek: V – The Final Frontier. Sybok is tragic in the Shakespearean sense, just as Laurence Luckibill played him.

Source: All Access Star Trek – A TrekMovie.com Podcast

Release date

June 9, 1989

Studio(s)

Outstanding

Authors

Gene Roddenberry, William Shatner, Harve Bennett, David Loughry

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