The Single Biggest Mistake Each Star Trek Movie Has Made
9. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier - Are They Brainwashed Or Not?
The Mistake: The rules of Sybok's control are extremely wooly and make it look like the crew were just looking for a reason to betray Starfleet.
Why?: Throughout the film, the audience witnesses Sybok use his telepathic abilities to help people deal with their inner pain. Although sometimes presented in a melodratic way, it is actually one of the strongest elements to the character. He is a spiritual leader, even though he is moulded from cult personalities.
Once he boards the Enterprise-A, he takes over the ship in about twenty seconds. It is assumed that he uses his healing powers on every member of the crew, a number we can assume to be between 200 and 400 people. Fair play to the Vulcan, that's quick work. When we see him use his powers on McCoy and Spock, they are able to choose not to turn against Kirk.
This implies that Uhura, Chekov and Sulu all chose to support Sybok, with Scotty opting out. While it is perhaps slightly understandable that Sulu would betray Kirk at the first opportunity, it stretches belief to breaking to assume that the entire crew would turn so quickly.