The "Star Trek" movies: Rank 'em!
I'm pumped up about the new Star Trek movie, though the opinions of my colleagues are mixed ("J.J. Abrams hasn't done me wrong yet" vs. "No way. The guy in the lead role looks awful."). I'm an old fan of Star Trek, going back to the days when my mom and I would watch syndicated episodes in the late afternoons. My dad would come home right at the resolution of each episode and try to greet us only to get shusshed (sorry, Dad!). And I watched the animated episodes when they were on Saturday mornings. But over the years I missed out on most of the TV series (I caught up with them later on DVD) while keeping up with the movies. Here's how I myself would rank them in terms of watchability, but really it's all about the top four--I can shuffle them around depending on my mood, but those stand far above the others. How would you rank them? --David
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan: Totally classic Trek, a great villain, and space dogfights I can watch over and over again.
- Star Trek: First Contact: Obviously the best TNG movie, and one of the best in the series because of the thrilling action and its place in Federation history (future series played off this movie a number of times).
- Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country: I like the mystery aspect of this one.
- Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home: I know many people would rank this first for its character and humor. I do enjoy it, but i just don't rewatch it that often.
- Star Trek: Nemesis: Just a solid, enjoyable movie, but again not one I tend to rewatch.
- Star Trek III: The Search for Spock: It's important to see following Wrath of Khan, but it was so cheaply done in comparison that it was a disappointment.
- Star Trek: Generations: This was an OK jumping-off point for the TNG movies and the farewell to a classic character.
- Star Trek: The Motion Picture: The director's cut saves it from being ranked lower, but a disappointment for those of us who had been waiting years for new Star Trek.
- Star Trek V: The Final Frontier: I actually didn't mind this when I saw it in theaters, but yeah, it doesn't hold up.
- Star Trek: Insurrection: It's often criticized as an extended episode, and the worst thing I can say is I just don't remember it, other than Data singing Gilbert & Sullivan and some people hiking into the mountains.
Orion on May 06, 2009 at 04:36 PM
Arguably, ST:TMP was the "truest" to the original series of the films. TOS wasn't so much about space battles as it was exploring what it means to be human. It was slow and ponderous (even the director's cut) because of all the fanservice shots that got left in. As for the others:
Wrath of Khan, best action flick of the series.
First Contact: TIME TRAVEL!!! BORG!!! DATA GETS ASSIMILATED!!! ARRRGGHH!!!
The Search for Spock: ST tropism: "The death of a major character is never permanent."
Voyage Home: They had to clean up the loose ends from Wrath of Khan and Search for Spock, didn't they? When I think of this one I always picture the Enterprise sailing away with a big "SAVE THE WHALES" bumper sticker slapped across her aft shuttlebay doors.
Final Frontier: Never. Ever. Let Shatner direct.
Generations: Dreck. Unwatchable.
Nemesis: They jumped the shark.
Insurrection: Just in case you missed the early show, they jumped the shark AGAIN. Backwards. In high heels.
anonymous on May 06, 2009 at 04:53 PM
"Nemesis" is the only Star Trek movie I never saw.
But I've heard that this Pictorial Plot Synopsis sums it up pretty well:
http://www.stardestroyer.net/Nemesis/Pictorial-1.html
shirgall on May 06, 2009 at 04:54 PM
Wouldn't Nemesis have to be dead last for a plot holes you could drive an interstellar cruiser through and a total disregard for the Prime Directive so we can recover the body of yet another long lost Data clone and have a car chase in the desert? You scored Nemesis higher than Insurrection, and Insurrection STARTED with an interstellar incident over a Prime Directive violation.
Todd on May 06, 2009 at 05:00 PM
II, III, VI, VII, IV, IX, I, VIII, X, ..... (V ? what V) I could move the middle ones around a bit, but the bottom ones are there for a reason.
The Motionless Picture I can forgive because, as mentioned above it was pretty to look at and was supposed to be a pilot.
First Contact...a Borg Queen? Wait I thought they were a collective?!
Nemesis..Picard's Romulan clone? Oh, please.
Final Frontier...the horror! the horror!
Dick Eagleson on May 06, 2009 at 05:12 PM
Brian's right. The combat stuff in ST-II is thrilling, but it isn't dogfighting. What it is, is naval combat between capital ships - think "The Enemy Below" or "Sink the Bismarck."
I've seen all the Treks, but even the best of them have their problems. I'll cite some difficulties with what I take to be the concensus top two among other commenters here.
ST-II has the aforementioned problem of the Shatner/Montalban all-you-can-eat scenery buffet. It also has the luckless Bibi Besch, woefully miscast as Kirk's significant-ex. Besch was a competent actress, but utterly lacked the va-va-voom factor essential to render credible any woman playing a part that pivotal along Capt. Kirk's backtrail. Merritt Butrick was no help as the whiny brat son either.
'First Contact' was badly flawed by making Zefram Cochrane a comic figure. Also, the gangly and scarecrowish James Cromwell was the wrong physical type to play the part - given that we have already established, via a TOS episode, that the young (rejuvenated) Cochrane looks exactly like Glenn Corbett. Losing the unfunny "funny" stuff and casting someone like William Heard or Harry Hamlin would have improved matters greatly.
At the other end of the consensus regard scale, Insurrection is notable for the casting of the awesomely yummy - and talented - Donna Murphy as Picard's love interest. Murphy ranks right up there with the best of the Trek women from all of the TV shows and other movies.
Nemesis, even allowing for the Max Schrek-ian Remans and other plot improbabilities, still features some of the best work of the peerless Brent Spiner as he writes coda to the most original of the TNG characters with a piece of simultaneously coldly logical and wildly romantic self-destructive heroics that certainly deserved the Federation Medal of Honor. This was a splendidly symmetrical end. Tasha Yar went willingly to her certain doom to save the Federation in the "Yesterday's Enterprise" episode of TNG. In Nemesis, Data, years later, does the same. Quite epic, really.
Chris Hafner on May 06, 2009 at 05:15 PM
I'm shocked, *shocked* at the level of disrespect given to ST III: The Search for Spock. It's one of my all-time favorite Treks - it's not as epic a movie as The Wrath of Khan, not as great an action movie as First Contact, nor as true Sci Fi as The Motion Picture; but it's a fantastic story driven completely off the characters and their relationships.
Let me repeat. It has everything that was lost in late Treks episodes and movies - excellent intelligent writing around characters and their relationships. You can feel Kirk's anguish - his two friends lost, one dead, one slowly going mad, and the realization that he failed Spock. His determination to go to the Genesis Planet was completely believable. The stealing of the Enterprise was completely within character.
I'll grant that the Christopher Lloyd character was cheesy and redundant, and the actress change in the role of Saavik was odd, but STIII contained some of the great Trek moments of all time.
- The stealing of the Enterprise (this still gives me chills)
- Sulu whupping the big security guard
- Uhura finally showing a mean streak
- The completely gripping Kirk/Sarek scene
- the death of Kirk's son and Kirk's reaction
- the destruction of the Enterprise
- the decision to destroy the Enterprise, and the sad moments contemplating its descent into the atmosphere
- "Good shooting, Mr. Scott!"
- The reunion with Spock
- "The cost would have been my very soul."
This movie is criminally underrated. And rating Nemesis above it--a movie that I could only bring myself to see once--well, that's almost criminal. For shame, David.
Chris Hafner on May 06, 2009 at 05:29 PM
Nerd alert!
My list:
1. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Comment: Trek at its absolute best - great action, drama, dialogue, character development, classic moments ... Khan had it all.
2. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
Comment: See my opus above.
3. Star Trek: First Contact
Easily the best TNG movie - it excised the cheese and kept things taut. The best action movie of the bunch, although TWOK is close.
(small gap)
4. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Funny and true to the characters - a little light-weight, but memorable. And my wife will watch it! :-)
5. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
My brain wants to like it better than my heart does. Some great moments, but I didn't like the whole as much as others did.
"Target that explosion and FIRE!"
(small gap)
6. Star Trek: The Motion Picture
An odd movie, clearly out of sync with the TV series and the rest of the series in set, tone, dialogue, etc. Not particularly *fun* to watch, but good, thought-provoking sci-fi that was a little too proud of its special effects. Director: "Okay, everybody stare forward and look awed for the next 15 minutes."
(big gap)
7. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Not a good movie, but a movie with some good moments. Definitely much less than the sum of its parts. This was a movie that was made to be watched in clips on YouTube.
(big, massive gap)
8. Star Trek: Generations
I hate this movie. I think everything about it was sloppy and casual and banal and just a means to an end. I thought it was an awful movie introduction for the TNG crew and a terrible send off for the classic crew. It's only this high because it was sorta neat to see the Ent-B.
9. Star Trek: Nemesis
I have seen virtually every Trek movie many, many times. I have never once felt the urge to see it again. Totally throwaway, but at least there were a few moments of entertainment, which is more than I can say of ...
10. Star Trek: Insurrection
Bland. Dull. Pointless. Like Nemesis, I've seen it once and don't care to see it again. If it was a single episode of TNG, it would be among my least favorites.
It's criminal that TNG, a series that was (for the most part) so well-written, inventive, and characterized has had such awful movies.
Vader on May 06, 2009 at 05:39 PM
Wrath of Khan is the obvious, only choice for #1. It's the closest the franchise ever got to producing magnificent science fiction.
Everything after that is a matter of taste, though I find your #2 choice as good as any.
Joseph White on May 06, 2009 at 06:15 PM
The J.J. Abrams Star Trek will not be good. This is because it is the 11th Star Trek film, and therefore falls under the latter half of the "Even-numbered films good, odd-numbered films bad" paradigm.
Stretch on May 06, 2009 at 06:23 PM
As one who knows exactly where he was 8 Sept. 1966 I am biased towards any of the OS movies over the NG ones. OK, Picard using a Thompson to down a Borg to get the transmitting device is damn cool. ST, The Movie provided one of the most emotional moments for die hard Trekkies; the arrive of The Crew at dry dock and the lights coming on the new Enterprise. Tears my friends. Warm, happy tears. Made the rest of the movie all the more depressing.
Mike on May 06, 2009 at 07:36 PM
I'm finishing my 7th decade in this vale of tears, watched, with glee, original ST series in my late 20's.
ST movie "Khan" is the best of the theater series, yet, because of the opening audio/visual sequence, I'll always love "ST:The Movie" the best!
Mike
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwLrEcwtFM4&feature=related
dsh on May 06, 2009 at 07:40 PM
Wow, reading this list really brings home just how many of the Trek movies were stinking piles of crap. Nos 1-4 were good, the rest should just be tied at #10.
dsh on May 06, 2009 at 07:45 PM
I mean Nos. 1-4 in his rankings...
Portones on May 06, 2009 at 08:14 PM
How about a ranking of the series favorites? Although such a ranking is well covered and endlessly discussed in the Trekkie community, I'd like to see a short ranking here.
My votes for first:
TOS -- The Trouble with Tribbles
TNG -- A Fist Full of Datas
GK on May 06, 2009 at 08:45 PM
"And, okay, I admit it, it so put me off the Star Trek movie franchise I haven't seen any of the others."
For anyone who is not a Star Trek fan, First Contact (1996) is a great standalone movie. You can enjoy it even if you only have the most minimal knowledge of what a 'Borg' even is.
Plus, it portrayed humanity's first contact with alien life in an interesting way.
GK on May 06, 2009 at 08:47 PM
What is sad is that Nemesis was actually a remake of Wrath of Khan in many ways.
Yet it managed to be incomparably worse, despite years to work on it (there was no movie in 2000).
GK on May 06, 2009 at 08:54 PM
"TNG -- A Fist Full of Datas"
What???
So no Locutus, Q, alternate timelines, Klingon Empire, Spock, or Picard episodes are as good as a 'Fist Full of Datas'? Insane...
Progressive on May 06, 2009 at 08:55 PM
I do not approve of TOS. It was too right-wing and racist.
ST:Voyager was the best, most progressive series.
Chris of Rights on May 07, 2009 at 06:44 AM
They alternate better to worse and tend toward the mean as time goes by.
So, in order:
II: The Wrath of Khan
IV: The Voyage Home
VI: The Undiscovered Country
First Contact (8)
Nemesis (10)
Insurrection (9)
Generations (7)
V: The Final Frontier
III: The Search for Spock
I: The Motion Picture
I expect the new film to land squarely between Nemesis and Insurrection, i.e. completely forgettable.
David Colborne on May 07, 2009 at 09:39 AM
I'm sorry, but I have to jump on the Nemesis bandwagon hate. Honestly, I'd sooner re-watch V than that pile of dreck. V just had Spock's "brother" and "Why does God need a starship?" Yes, it was pointless, but at least it was mildly humorous at times. Nemesis, meanwhile, was just the worst kind of self-gratifying fanfic, with pointless aliens, an impossibly powerful starship (Good to see the Romulan Empire is doing so well that somebody can secretly build a dreadnought without anyone noticing), Picard jumping around in an ATV for no apparent reason... ugh. V was silly. Nemesis was just insulting.
If I had to rank them, I'd probably go with...
II: The Wrath of Khan
- Does it have to be COMPLETELY lifeless...?
VI: The Undiscovered Country
- Highly underrated. There's actual legitimate drama and it even ties into modern day events (Chernobyl and the fall of the USSR) like every good Star Trek should.
IV: The Voyage Home
- Like every ordinary TOS episode, it's a little campy and moralistic. Heck, it even includes time travel. I'd say this one comes the closest to meeting the spirit of TOS of all of the movies; the two above it are far more serious than the TOS ever could be.
First Contact
- Easily the best TNG-based movie, bar none. That's not setting the bar terribly high, though.
III: The Search for Spock
- I'd rank it higher but it makes almost no sense on its own. It's basically the second half of II, which is both good and bad.
Insurrection
- Some will say that it was just a long TNG episode. Well, IV was just a long TOS episode and that worked out just fine. Trouble is, Insurrection was a long TNG Season 1 episode, which is not a step in the right direction. Troi was absolutely cougarrific in this one, though, so it gets some points there.
I: The Motion Picture
- Hey, it's Nomad meets 2001: Space Odyssey! The best part is that the special effects were good enough to reuse over and over again in II.
Generations
- Now we're starting to veer into "Dear God, what is that thing?!" territory. I guess Kirk had to be sent out somehow and, as Hafner already pointed out, it was fun seeing Enterprise-B. Past that, though, this was pretty bad.
V: The Final Frontier
- I consider this tied with Generations, honestly. They're both bad, just for different reasons. Between the pop psychology and the sudden incompetence of the entire Enterprise officer corps, it's just too jarring. "Why does God need a starship" indeed.
Nemesis
- NEVER HAPPENED. I'm sorry, you can't convince me otherwise. LALALALAICANTHEARYOU... ugh. This is what happens when you let a 14-year-old write movie scripts.
Cookie the Dog's Owner on May 07, 2009 at 12:53 PM
I loved Wrath of Kahn when it came out--it was the Trek we'd all been waiting for.
Of all the Treks, my absolute favorites are two DS9 episodes: "Duet" and "The Visitor."
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