20 Things You Didn't Know About Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
5. The Sad Tale Of The Rock Men That Never Were
The Rock Men have, at various points in the story of Star Trek V, been hailed as potential saviours, but for the Grace of God, or a doomed project from the off. William Shatner had planned a climactic face-off on the surface of Sha Ka Ree with these creatures appearing to fight Kirk, Spock, and McCoy.
They looked ridiculous. Now, a ridiculous suit can be made fantastic in post, so the actually behind-the-scenes footage could have been taken with a pinch of salt, had the finished product paid off. Unfortunately, the Rock Men never saw the light of day - at least not in terms of after-effects.
The suits were clunky, the actors could barely move in them, and they were leaking cigarette smoke from every hole. This had been Shatner's clever idea to by-pass complicated effects - just blow smoke through a tube, so it would seep out of the costumes, painting the image of sizzling heat. But it was not to be. There wasn't enough time in the shooting schedule to pull off the effects that he wanted. In the years that have passed, despite the images that have leaked, both Harve Bennett and Ralph Winter have quashed the idea that it was a budget problem that killed the Rock Men. They had a much simpler explanation.
They just looked bloody stupid.