I agree. The probe concept was a redo of v'ger from star trek the motion picture. That concept has always bothered me about the film.

V basically is using some of the same ideas that made it into the motion picture and the ones that did not like Roddenberry's God Thing script.

In Thy Image as written by Alan Dean Foster would have made a nice telemovie to reintroduce star trek but the real problem i have with most of the trek films is they are like extended tv episodes.

Big screen means they should put out all the stops and do as epic a scale as possible and budget allows. The thing the characters usually suffer in a big screen format whereas in a serial tv show they can develop them over time.

Should Shatner have been given a final cut option like Robert Wise?

He could have the effects redone or finished. Shoot the material in the script that was never shot or create it in cgi. He has said he had to compromise quite a bit to get the film made. A lot was changed to not anger the relgious for example. The GOD creature was just an evil alien and in the original script it was Satan himself. The planet finally is revealed to be hell and not heaven.

Though i have always laughed out loud at the notion of a rock man creature. They made fun of this in that tim allen movie if i am not mistaken. Galaxy Quest?

Then you have the fan made mst3k style trek V with the rock man song, lol. Never seen it myself but the concept Shatner came up with is kind of hokey.

A lot of people still to this day that i have spoken to hate Trek VI for the heavy handed politics. A lot of people thought the same about the star wars prequels.

My bro has always said the only action in VI was when Shatner says "fire!"

He of course thinks the action treks are better than the rest. He thinks JJ's Trek is the best followed by First Contact. He does not even remember wrath of khan.