Voyage of the Starship Adequate

In some ways, The Final Frontier is a step down from its predecessors in terms of production. Its special effects are certainly less striking—the visual representation of God, for example, is cheesy even by '80s standards. And that's saying something.

According to Shatner, the explanation for this is simple: as a first-time film director, he ran out of money before it was time to add the special effects. Whoops. The film's producers were unable to hire industry leaders Industrial Light & Magic, as they had for previous films in the series.

The film doesn't exactly innovate. Camera shots are standards, visuals are mined from previous Star Trek films, and the overall stylistic approach is heavily influenced by Star Wars. Paradise City is basically an off-brand Mos Eisley. That being said, the film does feature more action than previous Star Trek films, which is a definite production choice made by Shatner.