12: Star Trek V: The Final Frontier: A classic
Star Trek story theme about man's need (or lack thereof) for God, done in by poor execution at virtually every phase of filmmaking, makes this the gold standard for
Trek film suckitude. You know this movie is going to blow when William Shatner calls it
"the quintessential me" and Gene Roddenberry himself disowns it.
11: Star Trek Generations: What should have been a special, iconic event in
Star Trek lore is derailed by a Swiss-cheese plot and a less-than-satisfying climax that sees Kirk and Picard demonstrate their legendary captaining abilities by... chasing Malcolm McDowell across some rock formation in a desert. That the ballyhooed meeting of the two captains gets upstaged by the destruction of the
Enterprise-D pretty much says it all.
10: Star Trek III: The Search for Spock: Another promising idea that could have been executed much better. Christopher Lloyd, in a pre-Doc-Brown role as the Klingon Kruge, is arguably the best thing this movie has going for it - not a good sign when the film's very title makes clear that it was supposed to have been about a different character altogether.
9: Star Trek Insurrection: Basically a TNG TV episode plot written and produced as a feature film. On one hand this made
Insurrection great comfort food for fans still in TNG withdrawal four years after the series ended. On the other hand, the movie has not aged well at all since then (which, given the film's fountain-of-youth premise, is oddly fitting).
8: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home: Kirk and company's voyage to 1980s Earth works as feel-good, lightweight comedy. As a
Star Trek story, not so much.
7: Star Trek Nemesis: Unsatisfying denouement aside, I really liked this movie when it first came out. Alas, it does not stand up to repeat viewings (one of my biggest criteria for evaluating a Trek episode or movie). Nowadays it's most noteworthy for its baddie, a pre-Christopher-Nolan Tom Hardy.
6: Star Trek: The Motion Picture: The subtly re-edited Director's Edition (released on DVD in 2003) improves on the original film's uneven pacing to make it a bit more watchable. The storyline is epic, though not exactly original (not for nothing did fans mock it with the nickname "Where
Nomad Has Gone Before"); even so, it still feels more like a TV pilot - which, of course, it originally was - than a feature film.
5: Star Trek Into Darkness: A whole new story that happens to feature an old, familiar baddie, but also frequently mimics the previous film featuring said old, familiar baddie. (Conceptually, this is basically "Ultimate Marvel" territory). The end result is enjoyable and satisfying in its own right, but doesn't stand out even next to J.J. Abrams's previous film (see below), much less the best films in the series.
4: Star Trek: A pitcher of ice water in the desert for fans frustrated with the mediocrity of the
Trek TV series and films of the early '00s, the first J.J. Abrams movie raised the bar for what to expect from the franchise going forward. (Alas, it also severely hampered the early years of STO by trashing Romulus and Remus.)
3: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan: As great as this movie was, it left too much on the table for me to call it the best. Specifically, this movie's supposed to revolve around Khan's years-old grudge toward Kirk, and yet they never meet face-to-face, much less
mano-a-mano in any sort of final showdown. Instead they both just sit there on their respective bridges while the fates of their ships play out around them. All that said, this movie is a longtime fan favorite for a reason. What it
does have to offer, it pretty much nails.
2: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country: You knew Paramount had to give Kirk and crew a better sendoff than
Star Trek V, and that they did. A grand Roddenberry-esque story about old enemies making peace, a murder mystery, some eye-popping (for its day) visual effects, Sulu commanding the
Excelsior, and Christopher Plummer as a Klingon with a riveted-on eyepatch. What's not to like?
1: Star Trek First Contact: I have personal reasons for this being my favorite (one of my relatives has April 5 as her birthday) but this is a great
Star Trek movie all around. A pivotal moment in
Trek history is fleshed out well, the Borg are given a new, creepy vibe (before
Voyager beat them to death as villains over the next few years), and the
Enterprise-E is quickly established as a more-than-worthy heir to the line.
Comments
system Lord Baal is dead
9. Insurrection Had some nifty concepts, but ruined by the gaping plot holes.The alliance with the Son'a makes no sense of any kind. The Son'a were the only ones who needed the radiation 'right now', there was nothing stopping the Federation from setting up a research base on the other side of the planet and happily studying away for decades. Made even worse by them going out of their way to paint the Son'a as moustache twirling villains (Outlawed weaponry, slavery, conquest etc.). Also Riker demonstrates for the second time why he should never command a ship in combat, though at least this time he doesn't kill the Enterprise. :P
8. The Final Frontier. "What does God need with a starship?" and Uhura fan dancing are basically my only memories of this movie. Well that and the Enterprise having 78 decks. Pretty much nothing else about this movie stands out for me. I actually remember reading somewhere that during filming the rest of the TOS cast would basically stand around laughing with eachother about all the mistakes Shatner was making. Pride goeth before the fall I guess.
7.Generations Not a terrible movie, just not all that great. It's passable as a 'passing of the torch' between the two casts, but it mostly just kind of muddles along. The Nexus also kind of saps the tension out of the ending sequence, since it's more or less explicitly stated that Picard had infinite replays to stop Soran. Riker demonstrates that he really meant it in 'Peak Performance' when he said he thought tactics should be a small part of a Captains training. "Fire a single torpedo! Did we win? No? I give up, we're doomed." :P
6 The Search for Spock Probably really tied with Generations, it's not really a bad movie, but nothing really that stood out or drew me into it, other than the :eek: moment at the destruction of the Enterprise.
5 The Motion Picture Honestly, it's been so long since I've seen it that I remember very little about. I peg it at 5 just because I don't remember anything particularly bad that would put it lower, or particularly good to put it higher.
4 First Contact Best of the TNG movies, was all around pretty fun and had good action. Knocked out of the top 3 by virtue of putting the first nail in the Borg's coffin (the Queen), and Picard going all Ahab over the Borg was kind of off, since there had been several episodes where he dealt with his issues about them in TNG.
3 The Voyage Home Just all around fun and light-hearted, with the environmental message thrown in for good measure. Have to love Nuclear Wessels and 'Hello Computer?'
2. The Wrath of Khan It's..Khan. The TOS episode was good, but this movie pretty much establishes him as one of the greatest villains in Trek, beat out only (imo) by pre-FC/VOY Borg. Spock's death, Kirk being forced to confront his mortality and limitations, excellent all around.
1. The Undiscovered Country Pretty much love everything about this movie.I was too young when I first saw it to really get the whole 'America and Soviet Union' allegory, but could still appreciate the idea that pretty much everyone was being forced to re-evaluate the positions after decades of conflict, the trial and Rura Penthe sequence, the 'mystery' aboard the Enterprise, the final standoff with Chang. There's basically nothing I don't like about this movie.
I view the JJverse Trek movies as being a separate category. I won't put them at the bottom of my list because they're better movies than Nemesis or Insurrection, but they don't really "fit" into the list because they're not really connected to anything else in Trek.
12. Star Trek Generations
An interesting idea, but purely for novelty sake. While I do like how a villain's goal is not simply being evil, the answer was bringing a second guy into a fistfight? Not exactly a Trek worthy solution.
11. Star Trek Insurrection
Trek-like message, sure... but its been done before... and better... IN TNG. People say it was just a movie length episode, and it was, for that very reason. Just, THIS time, the goal is out fighting the bad guy... again, not a good Trek solution.
10. Star Trek Nemesis
Okay, I REALLY liked this idea, as it delved into Picard's psyche, and asks us all the question "what would you do, if the situations were different? Would you become the villain?". Some things were just pushed too far, to try and make the big blockbuster, which happened to go up against the wrong movies at the wrong time. Instead of a big battle, this should have been more along the lines of "Chain of Command" (TNG).
9. The Final Frontier
First thing people will ask is how this one isn't dead last. What I see in this movie is more an illustration of the relationship between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, capped off by Kirk's analogy that they are basically brothers. The search for God was never on their minds, it was all Sybok. They give it a chance, but Kirk immediately sees through it.
Furthermore, there was a matter of sabotage on the part of Paramount. From what I understand, the promised budget was split into parts, and Shatner laid out a budget plan and spent what he could as soon as he got it. Then... the last part was cut, with a lot left to do. You can clearly see post-production on a shoe-string, as there was no money left, and entire subplots had to be removed.
8. Star Trek (2009)
Plot holes from the get-go. But I saw this movie for what it was meant to be, a reboot. And I saw a desperate attempt to tie in the main timeline somehow at the fault of angry fanboys who couldn't stand the idea of a simple reboot. So every bit of the Nerada, black hole-called anomaly, and tie-ins with a post-TNG plotline, were all the fault of people who couldn't stand the idea of something different.
As for the movie, it was a lot of fun (something Star Trek had been missing for the last decade), and the characters were faithfully portrayed without being simple look-alikes, or placing big name stars in their spots, just because Hollywood says they have to. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy have always been the heart of Star Trek, and they NAILED IT here, especially McCoy
7. The Motion Picture
SO underrated. The problem with this one is, people strive to compare it to Star Wars (Paramount sure as hell does), or other "more exciting" Star Trek films. The Motion Picture was intended to make audiences think, and to give them a sense of wonder. Paramount, on the other hand, wanted audiences cheering, and I think they've been bitter ever since.
What you need to understand is TMP was originally written as the 2-part premiere of the Star Trek Phase II TV series that never happened. And then, as if to counter Star Wars, Paramount threw an almost unlimited budget at it. Now, I think the visuals are amazing and beautiful (especially the cloud segment), but that's me being an animator and amateur filmmaker/storywriter.
from this point, the difference between 6th place and 1st place is only a point or two. 6th-4th are tied for 2nd, and 3rd-1st are tied for 1st, practically.
6. Star Trek First Contact
First a negative point... find the book "Federation" and you will get a MUCH better scenario around Cochrane's first Warp flight. And, to my knowledge, Gene himself endorsed this original story, so it feels like a horribly missed opportunity.
Now... this is very un-Trek, but it was refreshing to see an action-focused Star Trek, which we haven't really seen, to that point. New starships, uniforms, technology, it all looked great on screen, and the Borg makeover was awesome. The relevant message of how vengenace can destroy a person is in the spirit of Star Trek as well, and it was a lingering plot throughout the latter half of TNG that finally reached its conclusion.
... I really wish they didn't do the Borg Queen the way they did though. She was every bit the individual that Hugh was... and wasn't that supposed to destroy the Borg? Now, if she were an emotionless Cyberleader (reference Doctor Who) it would have worked so much better... but they had to get Data laid again, I guess. Hell, even Vulcans get it more often than he does, lol.
5. The Wrath of Khan
Many call this the best, but the nearest reason I can find for that is the battles. This doesn't scream "Star Trek" to me. Now, I love the idea of the moral implications behind the Genesis Planet... but the movie's action plotline has absolutely nothing to do with that, except the fact that Khan now has this "weapon"... and why does he even want it?
I don't know... this just felt the least "Trek" to me, as if Star Trek was just the setting, rather than the intention. Yes, Genesis was a very profound statement, but the overall plot of the movie itself... I didn't really get any such feelings. It just feels like this was Gene throwing up his hands saying "okay Paramount, here's the action movie you wanted"
4. Into Darkness
Yes, I put this ABOVE Wrath of Khan. ST 2 tried too hard to be dark and somber, where Into Darkness still kept things fun and entertaining. Instead of feeling sorry for the characters we've grown to love, we are given more reasons to love them, even in this dire situation.
And, Into Darkness returns to the formula of using Star Trek to relay relevant social commentary. Something that had been all but completely forgotten in Voyager and Enterprise... but we can thank Rick Berman for that mess.
Into Darkness was exciting, while remaining thought-provoking. Dangerous and somber, while remaining witty and uplifting. It was the first time in years I had been willing to spend my hard-earned money to see a movie TWICE.
3. Undiscovered Country
Easily the darkest of all the Trek films, but also the most relevant. The entire global landscape changed at the end of the Cold War, leaving everyone with questions of "what now?" as many of us had been defined by that conflict... and without it, have no conflict to give us reason to strive for better. Just like when a company buys its competition, and thus loses all incentive to grow.
This is exactly what happened to Kirk, and much of the Federation. All they had known was the Federation-Klingon conflict, and with that ending, they had nothing left to justify themselves with. Kirk learns that there are greater things to strive for, and I think this is where he finally comes of age (even north of 60) and realizes what the future means, rather than being afraid of it.
And I can honestly say, the battle over Khitomer was one of the biggest nail-biting moments I had experienced, up to that point.
2. Search for Spock
Now, first let me say, this movie is the source of the biggest canon-breaking retcon fail of the franchise. Stolen Romulan Bird-of-Prey turns into "Klingon Bird-of-Prey" and... oh yeah, they had a cloaking device and neutral zone this whole time... sorry, but NO. Conversation for another time.
The overall package of Search for Spock was an epic operatic tale, a Greek Tragedy, if you will. It asks the question, what would you be willing to risk for your loyalty and love of your best friend? Sometimes the risk is more than you intended, but that is never a reason to give up on your goal, because friendship means more to you than simply following orders and being a good little officer.
To this day, the death of the Enterprise is every bit as emotional as Spock's death, especially the close up of NCC-1701 melting away. The Enterprise had been a character we loved, every bit as much as Kirk, Spock and McCoy. Kirks subtle "What have I done?" drives this point home even further. Then, the sweeping moment of Genesis' destruction. The epic throws of death of this once beautiful planet, all for giving life to the friend Kirk had risked everything for. While, yes, that is not why Genesis was made, what I see on screen is the planet sacrificing itself so Spock could live, giving its life for him.
1. The Voyage Home
The most Star Trek of any Star Trek film, taking us back to the traditions of TOS in is purest form. We have the interactions between the characters in a pure and lighthearted way. We have the relevant social commentary and moral lesson as blatant as the half-black half-white race, oppressing others because they are black on the wrong side. And, for the first time in the Trek film franchise, we have a fun adventure, without the need of fighting, warfare, explosions... there isn't even a "villain", so to speak. It is a staple of truly great filmmaking when a movie without "action" can become the most successful, and oftentimes most beloved, film of the franchise. It is a movie you can take your children to, while at the same time, watch as an adult of any age and feel the full range of emotions, from inspiration to outrage.
The only negative is when people try to label it as "oh, its just Greenpeace shoved in our face". And what, you're in favor of annihilating a species to extinction for profit?
Now, granted, I may have some bias toward Voyage Home, as it was the first Trek I had ever seen (at five years old, popping in the VHS cassette), but it is the very thing that got me interested in Star Trek, and I have been a faithful fan of the entire span of the franchise history because of it. I was drawn to Star Trek for the fun, the adventure, the characters, and the messages it portrays.... not the action, combat and vengeance. And I feel I'm the better for it.
... lol, I said I was going to be brief... but my fingers just started flying and I couldn't stop them :P
*Star Trek Insurrection- So dull and relies on the 'good guys' basically helping the Dominion by helping the guys that make the 'white'.
*Star Trek The Motion Picture- So dull, I saw a fanedit once where it was turned into a TOS two parter and it was still only average.
*Star Trek The Search for Spock- Just okay it wasn't bad it was just not good.
*Star Trek Generations- on par with the last one (SFS)
*Star Trek Nemesis- Suffered from silly bits and parts that made you shut you're brain down for a bit but still a great film.
*Star Trek The Voyage Home- A really funny film.
*Star Trek The Wrath of Khan- :eek: Not the best it was fantastic just not as good as the next few.
*Star Trek First Contact- A really good engaging film that made you forget the obvious question never asked or answered "Just replicate some damn machine guns already".
*Star Trek The Future Begins- (I saw this subtitle somewhere so hey) with background on Nero from Countdown, Nero, and deleted scenes the film really works.
*Star Trek Into Darkness- Really fantastic with tiny flaws that would take seconds to explain away unless you were just predisposed to hate this film regardless.
*Star Trek The Undiscovered Country- A perfect bridge between TOS and TNG and a really engaging story.
Norway and Yeager dammit... I still want my Typhoon and Jupiter though.
JJ Trek The Kelvin Timeline is just Trek and it's fully canon... get over it. But I still prefer TAR.
#TASforSTO
'...I can tell you that we're not in the military and that we intend no harm to the whales.' Kirk: The Voyage Home
'Starfleet is not a military organisation. Its purpose is exploration.' Picard: Peak Performance
'This is clearly a military operation. Is that what we are now? Because I thought we were explorers!' Scotty: Into Darkness
'...The Federation. Starfleet. We're not a military agency.' Scotty: Beyond
'I'm not a soldier anymore. I'm an engineer.' Miles O'Brien: Empok Nor
'...Starfleet could use you... It's a peacekeeping and humanitarian armada...' Admiral Pike: Star Trek
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Only because it the re-boot. Oh WTF, this film has made me cry because of how poor and insulting it is to us Trekkies. It is worthy to be buried in a cemetery being crushed by a giant ant (not possible because of squared cube law). And do not get me started on plot-hole and how it is not star trek
11) The final frontier
A tiny little piece of my dies when I see this ... I think ... Why oh why did they make this? Funny, but continuity and plotlines was ... pfttt at best. FARRRRR better than the 2009 film though
10) Insurrection
Plot holes: Need I say anymore. Only redeeming features were :TNG cast, interesting story and ideas, which I personally would have loved if it was done properly.
9)(This is hard choice, which I personally am not happy about) The Motion Picture
Roddenberry had a massive optinity (such as an epic Doomsday device eske episode :cool:) and blew it on a almost boring adventure with an anti-climatic ending.
8) The Search for Spock: Found myself a little bored, not usual for a Star Trek film ... seriously. Good-ish ideas , just cannot put my finger on what is not very good about it.
7) The Voyage Home: I actually really like this one, but as it is getting close, I will simply have to put it here. Funny to watch, like the storyline, nice to see something different from a Star Trek film
Joint 5 :
Generations
andNemesis
Both have epic action (and favourite) for me, I do like the concept and ideas of each of the films, but what does detract, is that favourite characters die in each. These films are the most I enjoy watching, but go down a score because of the (sometimes) unnecessary movie parts and dieing characters.
4) The Undiscovered Country
This narrowly misses into Darkness ... or really is should be join 2nd LOL . Epic story, nice bout of action at the end, nice (if such things are nice) send off to the TOS veterans!
3) Star Trek into Darkness:
Redeems the 2009 film ... slightly ... but reason it is not 4th is because it has loads of good space action for me and I loved the storyline ... but most importantly, the first Star Trek on the big screen for me (Can't blame me, but my age )
Joint first place:
The Wrath of Khan and First contact
What can I say. Absolutely fantastic works of art!
I hope STO get's better ...
12. Star Trek V
You have to work really hard to be worse than my 10 and 11, but this one goes that extra mile. Despite the ranking, I would still enjoy watching this more than my next two picks simply due to it being the original cast. But objectively I know it's baaaad.
(11. Into Darkness)
Have not seen, provisional ranking is based on my next entry, the things I've read about it, and the title, which automatically makes it worse.
10. Star Trek XI
A generic action movie with huge plot holes and no idea of what Star Trek is supposed to be about. Redeeming features: the guy who played Bones?
9. Nemesis
8. Insurrection
This and #7 are the movies that I don't have any really strong opinions on one way or the other.
7. Star Trek III
6. Generations
5. Star Trek II
4. Star Trek VI
3. First Contact
2. Star Trek IV
I have to admit I love some classic Star Trek campiness, and this one delivers that along with the rest of the movie.
1. TMP
Don't ask why, it just is. I can tell you I am a sucker for the extended '70s special effects scenes, though.
Ann Manistee Traverse - Human Science ~~ Oken Miquat - Saurian Tactical
Exin Jor - Joined Trill Engineer ~~ Vartox - Romulan Science
Dn'Dok, son of Ladok - Klingon/Romulan Engineer ~~ Mosa M'ren-faa - Ferasan Tactical
Krushan Twinn - Orion Science
1. TUC
Has a great dinner scene with the Klingons.
2. Nemesis
The wedding is an amusing dinner scene. Worf gets a hangover.
3. ST (2009)
Technically not a dinner scene but there is a bar scene where James Kirk gets scorned by Uhura and beaten by Starfleet cadets.
4. I cannot recall any other dinner scenes in Star Trek films
Parallels: my second mission for Fed aligned Romulans.
Generations: Two scenes of epic not-eating. Papa, come to the table! Oh, I'll be along in a minute, Renee. Oops, gotta go find Jim. Hey Jim, you cooking eggs? Yep, gonna take 'em up to--oh look, horses! Never mind!
Deanna should have had a dinner scene in First Contact. Nothing like talking to Zephram Cochrane on an empty stomach.
Ann Manistee Traverse - Human Science ~~ Oken Miquat - Saurian Tactical
Exin Jor - Joined Trill Engineer ~~ Vartox - Romulan Science
Dn'Dok, son of Ladok - Klingon/Romulan Engineer ~~ Mosa M'ren-faa - Ferasan Tactical
Krushan Twinn - Orion Science
IV: Oh man. The hospital scene. Bones being Bones and crapping all over our terrible medical establishment while fixing the infirm. Bones giving that nice old lady a kidney was epic. It sounds like the inquisition! Him pawning the broken glasses, Alameda, and the Scotty Plexicorp scene just all wrap that together amazing. I love how the sins of the 20th century come back to haunt them in the future. Great Nimoy storytelling.
VIII: Zephram Cochran. Worf meleeing Borg apart. Drunken Troi, predator LaForge, Lily, Bob Pinciotii, Data almost becoming Android 17...just so much great stuff.
V: Honestly...Nimbus III, Row your boat, Bones family recipe, because it is there, and excuse me, what does God need with a starship?
II: Kirstie Alley, the beautiful scene where Kirk gives Spocks eulogy, Khan being such a boss, the prefix code and that poor guy who died on the Defiant who tried to help Khan.
X: Seeing Riker kick that Reman's teeth in for harassing his ole lady. Excellent. The Scimitar was cool, Shinzon, Donatra and Picard showing he is a real hard baller by crashing into the Scimitar.
III: GENESIS?!?! The general mutiny against the smug Starfleet establishment. Matlh! jol yIchu'! Maltz was very endeared to me in The Genesis Wave books.
Abrams Trek: The Maru scene, him crashing that car off the cliff, the bar fight, Roldie stepping his game up and meleeing the Romulans, the final fight on Nero's ship. And HI CHRIS! I'm Nero.
VII: Actually this is where I get mean somewhat. Leave Kirk alone, he more than earned his retirement in the Nexus. Simple as that. Though I understand Shatner resurrected Kirk so that is cool. Data with the chip was great, and I liked the return of the Klingon sisters. Also Malcolm McDowell.
IX: Eh...
I: Glory shots of the new Enterprise for 65 minutes.
Not seen Into Darkness sadly. Theaters just kinda suck IMO.
Most of the other movies are pretty forgettable. I really dislike TNG movies. The tone of the series wasnt kept for the movies and seemed to be a little more jokey than the series. Worf who was the badass of the show becomes a a joke in all the movies. He's drunk, he's in puberty...
Picard acts as Kirk-lite
Let us explore it... together. Each man hides a secret pain. It must be exposed and reckoned with. It must be dragged from the darkness and forced into the light. Share your pain. Share your pain with me... and gain strength from the sharing.
11. ST 5 : Final Frontier
10. Into the Darkness
9. ST 1 : Motion Picture
8. ST 10 : Nemesis
7. ST 9 : Insurrection
6. ST 7 : Generations
5. ST 3 : Search for Spock
4. ST 4 : Voyage Home
3. ST 2 : Wrath of Khan
2. ST 8 : First Contact
1. ST 6 : Undiscovered Country
Undiscovered Country
Voyage Home
Generations
Khan
Motion Picture
ST 09
Nemesis
Into Darkness
Search for Spock
Insurrection
Yup, pretty sure that was all they ever made. . .
Voyage Home
First Contact
Generations
Khan
Insurrection
Search for Spock
Motion Picture
Nemesis
Final Frontier...
...
...
...
...
"Star Trek" (2009)
I've never seen "Star Trek" Into Darkness, and currently I do not plan to.
STOWiki admin.
Wrath of Khan (11.0)
Undiscovered Country (10.3)
First Contact (9.0)
Into Darkness (9.0)
Voyage Home (8.0)
Star Trek (7.0)
Search for Spock (5.3)
Insurrection (5.3)
The Motion Picture (4.0)
Nemesis (3.7)
Generations (3.0)
Final Frontier (2.0)
2. First Contact
3. Voyage Home
4. Undiscovered Country
5. Generations
6. Search for Spock
7. ST 2009
8. The Motion Picture
9. Insurrection
10. Nemesis
11. Into Darkness
12. The Final Frontier
However, I don't hate any any of these. even the worst Trek is better than a lot of stuff out there. There are just some I like more than others.
You missed ST V, unless that was intentional.
2) Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
3) Star Trek (2009)
4) Star Trek: The Motion Picture (The Director's Cut version NOT the theatrical version)
5) Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
6) Star Trek: First Contact
7) Star Trek III" The Search For Spock
8) Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
9) Star Trek: Nemesis
10) Star Trek: Insurrection
11) Star Trek: Generations
12) Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
(And yes, while I am primarily a TOS fan, STV:TFF was a complete waste of a film; and honestly should never have been greenlit.:D Also, except for ST:FC, I honestly find the TNG films unwatchable for the most part. They come across as really bad TV episode scripts made with a feature film budget. I'm amazed they let Berman and Braga do another TNG feature film after Star Trek: Insurrection. I actually only rate Nemesis as high as I do because the visuals are nice to look at. YMMV. )
PWE ARC Drone says: "Your STO forum community as you have known it is ended...Display names are irrelevant...Any further sense of community is irrelevant...Resistance is futile...You will be assimilated..."
Into Darkness - Drawing inspiration from a great movie didn't make this a good movie.
Nemesis - Picard clone was bad
2009 - Good special effects
Insurrection - Cute flying alien pet, wish I can get it in STO
Generations - At least real Kirk's in it
The Search for Spock - Middle of the pack
First Contact - This far and no farther!
The Motion Picture - Lovely montage of the Enterprise in space dock
The Voyage Home - Transparent aluminium and Nuclear wessels
The Undiscovered Country - Iconic representation of that era
The Wrath of Khan - How to live, how to die, how to cheat death, how to cheat against a superior human augment
I've never seen the Director's Cut. What, if anything, does it improve over the theatrical version?
11: Star Trek The Motionless Picture: The First ST film but just seemed like a really long episode and although it does have some saving grace it seems to be a reboot of the nomad episode and took to long to get through the plot.
10: Star Trek Into Darkness: I have seen this film once and really wished I had went to see GI Joe instead the plot seemed to be a cross with WOK and Search for Spock. It could have been a lot higher but these reasons below explain why.
Khan: Benedict Cumbernatch is a brilliant actor I give him that. But this guy is meant to be Khan Noonian Singh. So why on Earth is he not indian which canon specify he is. Nero did not change the time before the Botany Bay launched so there is no way they can explain that.
Spock yelling KHAAAAAAN: Please what was a great moment in WOK was wasted in this moment and quite frankly spoilt the scene. I saw this and though how cheesy.
Khans Magic Blood: WTF this just happened to be the only way they could bring Kirk back seriously
Injecting the Tribble: Why on Earth did MCCoy do this when he had no reason to plus he's a doctor not a vet. And surely it's not hygenic to have one of those things in sickbay
Carol Marcus: No point in her except for that underwear scene which was pointless
Kronos: Don't get me started on the spelling
There was some good points but they are few for the latest ST film I found it dissapointing and one of the worst
9: Star Trek Insurrection: A TNG episode is all this was a good idea about a unseen enemy trying to steal a planet from the Baku. But as soon as you found the Sona were sons of the Baku and the Picard love story it went downhill
8: Star Trek Generations: The Two captains meet in what should have been the best ST movie ever made. But with Kirks death Picard in the Nexus and Soran the film was a disappointment the best bit was the beginning when Kirk is saving the Enterprise B
7: Star Trek Nemesis: Picard but not Picard, Remans attacking Earth who have never heard of them until Shinzon took over because there grievance was with Romulus. Again the decent bit was at the beginning when the Thaloron radiation was let loose. And the Argos terrain Viechle puts it above Generations
6: Star Trek 2009:JJ Abrams first film was Ok not really worth 6th place but it was better than the other films. Nero creates alternate universe killing kirks father and giving him a different upbringing making him more a rebellious teenager rather than the captain we know from TOS. there was still holes in the plot for example why was r2d2 in the debris field and why does the eneterpirse bridge look like a Apple Store. But a Ok film
5: Star Trek IV The Voyage Home:A decent Time Travel film but a bit to comical in places. If Star Trek has a sponsor for films in those days Save the Whales would have been it.
4: Star Trek III: The Search for Spock: A good idea on how to restore Spock to the land of the living a planet breaking up and the Enterprise taking on Christopher lloyd as a Klingon. GREAT SCOTT.
A good movie and worth it's place in my top 4
3: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country: A brilliant idea a conspiracy in Starfleet a ship that can fire while cloaked Kirk charged with Mccoy for murder. one of my favourite film and would be in my top two if it wasn't for....
2: Star Trek First Contact: Picard squaring off against the borg mano et Queeno. the race against time to meet first contact and using a holographic tommy gun to kill Borg. Also the only time you have ever seen a battle on the hull of a star ship.
1: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
He tasks me. He tasks me and I shall have him! I'll chase him 'round the moons of Nibia and 'round the Antares Maelstrom and 'round perdition's flames before I give him up! and To the last, I will grapple with thee... from Hell's heart, I stab at thee! For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee!
Although he is quoting the original Khan from Space Seed is more than a match for Kirk and only because vengeance has blinded him did he fail to destroy Kirk. The Death Scene was very touching showing the depth of friendship between the two (which just looked silly in Into the Darkness as they were not really friends) Also Carol Marcus had a purpose in this one as it introduced Kirks son which gives Kirk is personal grudge with klingons for the later films. No need for a underwear scene from her as she was also the creator of genesis so had a purpose. The best ST film IMO and after so many films has never left the top spot. I think I shall watch that tomorrow.
Vice Admiral Volmack ISS Thundermole
Brigadier General Jokag IKS Gorkan
Centurion Kares RRW Tomalak
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
basically:
1) Improved visuals (the theatrical version released with some planned effects shots missing or changed from what was planned (no time to complete them back in the day as they had a hard release date.) Example: The Vulcan backdrop actually matches the live action footage.
2) More tightly edited (and the 1701 flyover and V'Ger fly through sequences are shorter.) IMO, in general it improves the flow of the story and pacing of the film overall.
3) Small change (very noticeable and welcome though) where there's no longer the male computer voice saying "Red Alert" in those scenes - you just have a klaxon sound effect and the "Red Alet" ghraphic, etc.
PWE ARC Drone says: "Your STO forum community as you have known it is ended...Display names are irrelevant...Any further sense of community is irrelevant...Resistance is futile...You will be assimilated..."
11: Star Trek 2009
10: Star Trek Insurrection
9: Star Trek Generations
8: Star Trek Nemesis
7: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
6: Star Trek: First Contact
5: Star Trek: The Motion Picture
4: Star Trek: The Final Frontier (I watched it again last night and every time I watch it I like it better than the previous time)
3: Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
2: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
1: Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan
2. Star Trek First Contact
3. Star Trek IV Voyage Home
4. Star Trek VI The Undiscovered Country
5. Star Trek III The Search for Spock
6. Star Trek (2009) - Now to quell why it is the middle one of this list. I did not loathe this movie but I do have issues with it. Especially in the writing department for the villain and plot holes.
7. Star Trek Generations- Now this one is disappointing and infuriating for me. One, they had a good concept but when hardly anyone of the original cast wanted to return it should have been a cue to drop it. Though Kirk's segment has some stuff wrong but him being in the Nexus was not a terrible idea unless they left him alone... Enterprise D being destroyed.
8. Star Trek Into Darkness- Now this movie I was disappointed by it... I am of the opinion that Khan should have been left alone and done something else leading to Khan or something else. Not saying Benedict did a bad job he didn't.. he was the show stealer...The writing just seemed to hype up a particular villain and did not execute it well. I won't speak on the ending while it did not TRIBBLE me off entirely it just bugs me that they ripped that part off. another film. Don't hate the film just don't care too much for it and hope to god the next movie gets a new writing team and perhaps Director. I will say the emotional core is there finally..
9. Star Trek The Motion Picture- Boring as hell movie... Do I remember it? If that was my dream then TRIBBLE...
10. Star Trek Insurrection- Why in God's name was this made?
11. Star Trek V Final Frontier- Should be 12b for amount of suck this film is.
12. Star Trek Nemesis- 12A for how I keep finding flaws even 10 years past its original release. *facepalm*
The Wrath of Khan
Generations
First Contact
The Undiscovered Country
Insurrection
The Voyage Home
The Motion Picture
Nemesis
Star Trek
The Search for Spock
Into Darkness
Final Frontier
"Sometimes you have to do things that you hate, so you can survive to fight another day."
First Contact [best Borg-*anything* ever created]
Undiscovered Country [best of the TMP movies, only those Shakespeare quotes were a big minus.]
ST 2009 [TRIBBLE you i like lens flares! i hated the brewery... too much time with Kid Kirk/Spock, not enough with Nero and they totally should have made the Countdown Comics the first half hour of the Movie. Overall, this could have gone a LOT worse *points at SWEP1*]
Nemesis [best Trek Ship combat, Story was a bit over-constructed though, and slowed down too often for talking stuff... but hey i can skip those boring parts... they also tried to hard to make the story work and ended up with a lot of uncanny valley, or plot-holes]
Into Darkness [i liked it a lot, but i don't think it will be very memorable long term, and "Khan" was just a casting error, good Actor, solid Job, but he just is not THE KHAN for me.
Also extra minus points for the USS Vengeance, we REALLY had enough BIG BLACK SHIPS now, i mean come on the 1701 didn't even shoot back... those were the most pathetic battle scenes in a Trek Movie ever.
The saving grace for the Story is Admiral Robocop... Muphy... eh Marcus, he is the real bad guy in all of this, it is all his fault/idea/plan, Khan just has his own Agenda of course, is a bit extreme about it but understandably so, he just doesn't seem too evil at any time.
If it was just Khanberbatch i had rated it lower. Oh and not enough Bones!]
The Motion Picture [pure TOS oozing out of this one, if you watch TOS, then TMP, then TNG Season 1 + 2 you totally get that it is all the same *art style* used.
In a way this was the most TOS movie ever. And all those visuals with NO CGI, all those years ago, that is just wow!]
Wrath of Khan / Search for Spock / The Voyage Home [that is basically one big movie for me, while WoK was pretty cool and certainly better than TMP, and it gets extra points for continuity, the other 2 were only good, dragging the overall score down a bit... and again Khan with the stupid Shakespeare quoting... seriously whats up with that?]
Insurrection [the stupid kid + data without emotion chip, that just killed the movie... it was fun and a good TNG episode, but sadly not much more]
The Final Frontier [some good ideas in there, but really really bad MOVIE.]
1. Undiscovered country :a really good send off for the original crew. Great villain
2. Into darkness : a worthy remake of a great story giving it a slight edge over the original. I love the new khan and dont get hung up on canon issues. Khan maybe english here but he was spanish then, no one complains he's not indian in wok lol.
3. Wrath of khan : was my favorite for a long time, rewatching it showed its flaws and lack of depth which dropped it a few ranks
4. Star trek : a great reboot introducing new fans to my favorite sifi series. Weak villains kept this from being great
5. The voyage home : a thoroughly entertaining fun story that didn't need a villain to be a good story. Something that's been missing from star trek recently
6. First contact : the best of the tng movies and the only one that doesn't suffer from glorified episode syndrome.
7. The search for spock : decent movie, great villain underutilized
8. The final frontier : i think i rate this higher because i read the book first. The story and villain are great in the book, but horrible in movie. A lot of wasted potential, but still better than...
9. Nemesis : this almost was higher. The silliness with b4 and the 4x4, when shuttles and hover cars so readily available. Not to forget a whinier villain then anakin. Finally turning remans into nosferatu.
10. Insurrection : a mildly entertaining episode where some of the actual episodes would of been better movies.
11. The motion picture : ponderous movie that at least introduced us to the new klingons
12. Generations : not even worthy of episode status. Useless villain. Stupidest reason to bring in an old character and then kill him off in a stupid way. Utter waste of talents
3-5 are very, very close in my mind
The bottom half - things start to go downhill from here...
...Oh, baby, you know, I've really got to leave you / Oh, I can hear it callin 'me / I said don't you hear it callin' me the way it used to do?...
- Anne Bredon