SHATNER SUNDAY: The lost "Rockman" of STAR TREK V

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is widely regarded as the worst of the Trek film series. But while that's arguably true (personally I much prefer it to that 2009 JJ Abrams reboot mess) there's no faulting director William Shatner for lack of ambition.

For his lone directorial effort in the Trek franchise, Shatner envisioned a grand tale of friend against friend, man against God, and Kirk against Rockman. He planned for the film to climax with Kirk's spectacular fight against five rock monsters, but they had to be cut to one Rockman for budget reasons and then the sequence ended up getting cut altogether. Too bad. As seen in the screen tests above, this had the potential to be an unforgettable sequence: two glowing eyes suddenly blink to life in the dark rock face, and then a great, jagged shape breaks free from the wall of stone and comes lumbering toward a terrified Kirk, the ground shaking with its every massive footstep. Sure, it would've been goofy as hell, but it would've been goofy in the most awesome, old school Trek way.

Read more by Greg Stacy at GregStacy.com. Got a tip for Monsters and Rockets? Want to contribute to the site? Send us an email.