Okay, I’m gonna admit it here. I’m a little low on idea’s an inspiration for original posts. A chat with my friend the other day inspired me to write a countdown of my favourite Star Trek movies going from the one I like the least to the my favourite. Yes, I know very unoriginal! But In my mind it had to be done. If you want you can comment and list your favourites!
This list is going to be of every Star Trek movie ever made, not just the Original Series cast films or the Next Generation films… All of them. So let’s get started!
12. Star Trek – The Motion Picture
If you haven’t seen Star Trek before and think it is a good idea to start by watching this film…. Don’t. This is one of my least favourite films of all time. I don’t think I’ve ever watched it all the way through. It is slow, dull and boring. It fails across all nearly all aspects of film – I mean, the costumes look terrible, the script is awful and it takes ages to even figure out what is even going on… A lot of of people might say that the pace and story are more “Star Trek” and “You just don’t get it” but as A film I just think it is unwatchable.
11. The Final Frontier
Shatner’s Trek film. keeping firmly with Simon Pegg’s rule the “every oddly numbered Star Trek is shit” (Spaced) This film is much more watchable than The Motion Picture. However the script and the basic plot of this film is what let it down. It was just too weird and farfetched. Too much of a leap, more of a fantasy set in space than a science fiction film and it really lost its way because of it. It does have some kind of redeeming features however, like where Spock, Kirk and Bones all have visions which really expose their characters. This was a nice touch but, again, it was waaay too metaphoric, deliberate and weird.
10. Generations
Generations was the film in which the famous moment happened where Kirk met Picard… And this is my problem, you can see exactly why it was a great idea. Having two captains together, the banter and stuff would have (could have) been brilliant. Yes there are moments which I enjoy. But the problem I have with this film is the fact that it promises to be EPIC, but it really isn’t. (Spoiler Alert) Kirk dies, crushed by a falling bridge saving a planet the audience really doesn’t care about. This is not the way such a character should have died. If he was saving the Earth or something which we actually gave a shit about it would have been a really good film. There’s a bit where they’re riding horses… I dunno. This film was just an overall disappointment. The only reason it’s number ten is because I don’t like the Motion Picture and the Final Frontier more!
9. Insurrection
I think I may have mentioned this film in an older post. Oh yeah, when I was talking about Into Darkness feeling more like a massive, feature length episode, rather than a stand alone film. This is the exact problem with Insurrection. It doesn’t feel like a movie. Yes, the story is sound and I guess the effects aren’t bad, the acting is okay too. I feel that it just didn’t really deserve to be a film if you get what I mean. It would have been better as a two parter in a series rather than a full film. Also, Riker taking control of the Enterprise using a gamers joystick………
8. Nemesis
A lot of people really despise this film. I kinda liked it. It was a fun film to watch. It may not have kept with some aspects of Star Trek that fans recognise but it had a good story and the bad guy was pretty cool. (Spoiler Alert) Data dying at the end is quite an emotional turn. I just thought it was a cool movie. This is where I start enjoying Star Trek films and not complaining about them by the way.
7. The Undiscovered Country
I think I may have only seen this once, years ago, so I don’t really remember what happens. It is definitely not my go to Star Trek film but it is very epic and feels like a film. It is the end of the Original Series Era and is a good way for it to go out.
6. The Search for Spock
I see the search for Spock more as a bridge in between Star Trek 2 and 4, there was a kind of trilogy in the 6 original movies and this was number 2. It has some really fun moments, like when Scotty sabotages the Excelsior and helps the Enterprise escape from earth. And Christopher Lloyd as the bad guy! I don’t know, The Search for Spock really didn’t stand out above the others that continue this list. I feel like it was the fact that it had bits that I kinda didn’t like the look of. For example, the Klingon dog that Lloyd’s character has is a tad disgusting… but then again he’s a Klingon.
5. Star Trek: Into Darkness
There’s an entire post I’ve written about why this is not higher up. I’m just gonna paraphrase… It felt more like an episode or TV mini-series rather than a film event. Some bits were a tad unnecessary. BlahBlahBlah. Still great acting from the cast and good to see an updated reboot of the Star Trek Universe fleshed out a little more.
4. The Wrath of Khan
I’m guessing this is a number 1 on many peoples lists of Star Trek films. It is possibly the most heard of (and most quoted) original series Star Trek film (“KHAAANNN!!”) The Wrath of Khan is a fantastic space adventure with brilliant ideas and themes. Not to mention brilliant performances from everyone and an amazingly tense space battle! It may not be as fast and furious as the space battles in the updates but it still kind of stands the test of time. It has a fantastic plot and ends on a very emotional, sombre tone. You can definitely tell why it is regarded as the best among the Trekkie community. However good it may be, it is no my favourite.
3 and 2 – First Contact and The Voyage home
Right, these two I love equally. They are very similar films in terms of the time travel plot and the use of humour. Both films see the Enterprise crew go to a past Earth to change the future. In a way both of these concepts are ridiculous but this is kind of the reason I love them. The humour comes from both the characters interaction with the then present human beings. (Shatner shouting the line “Well, double dumbass on you!” is just priceless!) These are both equally enjoyable Star Trek films and are just a joy to watch.
1. Star Trek (2009)
Okay, this is showing that I’m not a real die-hard Trek fan. But seriously this is the film that, like with most people I’m guessing, got me into Star Trek. There was something so, dare I say it, “Bold” about this film. It wasn’t a parody, it took the whole concept of Star Trek seriously, it had a fantastic cast and a fantastic director. The whole thing just looked and felt great to watch. I was never a Star Trek fan before because I had never heard of the philosophy behind it. When this film was released in cinemas I was very depressed and down and what not. This film gave me a whole different look on life and stuff so yeah. That’s why it’s my favourite.
If you’ve got these films in a different order why not comment and list them in the way you like them. I love discussions and stuff like this! Anyways….
Apologies for the Spelling and Grammar…… and the long post!
Related articles
- The STAR TREK Movies, As Ranked By STAR TREK Con-Goers (badassdigest.com)
- Andy Greene is right… and oh so wrong (drunkgeekblog.com)
- Original STAR TREK Cast Morphed with New Cast (geektyrant.com)
- Forget Odds Vs. Evens: Bad Star Trek Movies Can Be Detected By Their Subtitle (tor.com)
- Do ‘Star Trek’ fans have it all wrong? (timesunion.com)
In between that and Into Darkness I watched all of the original series and next generation films, and a lot of the series episodes. I just fell in love with the characters and the optimistic vision Gene Roddenberry had created. Abrams had made Star Trek accessible and fun. A kind of way into this amazing sci-fi universe and I want to thank him for that.
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