Inspired by the best Trek Captain thread, I thought I’d ask, what is the best “Captain’s moment” in all of the Trek series? There’s a lot of good ones, Kirk sacrificing Enterprise to beat Kruge, Riker, acting as Captain, ordering an attack that he thinks will obliterate the Borg and kill Picard without blinking…To me though, the best Captain’s moment came in ST VI. Sulu is racing to Khitomer to fight Chang and save Kirk and the Klingon Chancelor when his helmsman worriedly tells him “She’ll fly apart!”, refering to the speed at which Excelsior is moving. Sulu’s terse, demanding, “Well, fly her apart then!” has always been, to me, the penultimate Captains moment on Trek, and everything a Captain is supposed to be. What do y’all think?
“KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNN!”
When Kirk beams back up to the Enterprise after two hours of being in the Genesis planet while explaining about no uncoded messages when transmissions are being monitored.
Also Sisko and his conspiracy to get the Rommies into the Dominion War. I can’t imagine any other Captain trying that.
“There are FOUR lights!”
Picard, when released from the Cardassians.
Captain Spock: “I never went through the Kobayashi Maru scenario. What do you think of my solution?”
Still makes me tear up thinking about it.
I’m with galen. That’s the first thing I thought of.
Technically not a Kirk moment, but…
William Shatner, on the Star Trek edition of The Weakest Link, kissing the hostess full on the lips after being asked what Captain Kirk was most noted for.
First time I’ve ever seen that British lady speechless.
I think Weirddave’s choice of Sulu’s moment in The Undiscovered Country really is one of the great ones. I always liked that part too.
Ben Sisko’s command in the last battle of the Dominion War, when the Cardassians turned and the Federation fleet broke through the Dominion line, will always be one of my favorite captain’s moments. His command throughout the battle is just perfect, calm yet aggressive, he knew what needed to be done and did it. Now that’s a captain.
In a non-command capacity, Picard’s final line in the last episode of TNG – “Nothing wild, and the sky’s the limit.” – was one of the greatest moments in any Trek series. Simple, yet eloquent.
I really liked when Kirk had the Gorn at his mercy and chose not to kill him. The whole episode Kirk is really pissed at these guys and really wants to kill them all but ultimately he realizes that he may be wrong about the Gorn.
The was a STNG episode when DATA had command of a different ship and a crisis came up with certain decks being flooded with radiation and the ‘first officer’ wanted to counter Data’s orders but Data was proven right.
Kirk again,
After disabling the M5 he does not raise his shields but leaves the Enterprise open. Later when Spock asks him why he tells him “I gambled on his (the opposing captain) humanity.”
One of my favorite acting moments, and a captain moment, is from The Doomsday Machine.
“But Commodore, there is no fourth planet.”
“Don’t you think I know that?!?”
Mark Lenord as the Romulan Commander in The Enemy Below 
both he and Kirk shine as Captains in that episode.
That was mine as well.
Second place was Riker ordering Worf to fire on the Borg cube.
Ooooh, good one! “The Doomsday Machine” is one of my favorite episodes of the original series.
Another very good one. One of Kirk’s few really strong moments as a captain to me.
KIRK:The name of the game is called… Fizzbin.
Picard cozying up to Vash.
Several of those already noted are very good ones – and ones which I wouldn’t have thought of on my own. However, here are a few in no particular order…
I like Captain Picard in Nemesis. He makes his reflective log entry, than gets on the ship speakers – “All Hands. Battle Stations.” He just sounds calm and collected in the face of the inevitable battle.
Another one with Picard – In First Contact, when he listens to the progressing battle over subspace, and then makes his decision: “Screw Starfleet orders! I’m the guy that can win this.”
Captain Kirk in Star Trek III, as already mentioned, when he ordered the self destruct of the Enterprise - a ship he loved nearly as much as life itself. As I mentioned in the other thread, one of my favorite lines is Star Trek history is:
“My God, Bones. What have I done?”
“What you had to do. What you always do. Turned death into a fighting chance to live.”
-Admiral Kirk and Doctor McCoy as they watch the USS Enterprise break aprt in the atmosphere.
Picard and Janeway ordered ship self destructs quite often, in my opinion, and never actually carried though. Especially in the Star Trek movies, Picard overused the self destruct far too much. Does he have a death wish? I mean he tried to use it twice in two movies, both times staying on board. Sheesh! Kirk used it once in six movies, and actually had the balls to carry through.
Also as already mentioned, Captain Sulu and his “Fly her apart, then!”
Another one that’s already mentioned, Kirk beaming up to the Enterprise after everyone (including Khan) thinking the ship was crippled. The trapped people are saying how they’ll be trapped there forever, and he gets asked how he beat the Kobayashi Maru test. He confsses that he reprogrammed the scenario to win. Lt. Saavik accuses him of cheating, and he merely says “I redefined the scenario. I don’t like to lose.” A few minutes later, he contacts the Enterprise and orders them all beamed up. As Saavik looks at him in astonishment, he sort of shrugs and says “I told you – I don’t like to lose.”
And while perhaps not what the OP had in mind, I already mentioned one of my favorite lines from Trek in the other thread…
“It is possible that we two, you and I, have grown so old and so inflexible that we have outlived our usefullness?”
-Captain Spock to Captain Kirk, Star Trek VI.
These two old space dogs are realizing that they really are past their prime and perhaps it is time to let a new generation take the helm - Sulu’s daughter, for example, would be an excellent Captain, I suspect. Spock could still be in Starfleet in the time of Picard, commanding a ship or a fleet, but he realizes his time is past. Part of being the leader is knowing when to step aside.
-Psi Cop
From Star Trek VI: “Kirk. Enterprise.” 
Picard’s altercation with Worf in First Contact, and his subsequent handling of the dilemma at hand. Also standing up to Dougherty in Insurrection. Ah heck, he’s got too many.
I was gonna say Sisko and the Romulans, but I was beat to it.
Other great ones:
character oriented:
Kirk holding back McCoy from saving Edith Keeler in City on the Edge of Forever.
Picard playing the flute after the events of The Inner Light.
Captain oriented:
Picard, regarding Hugh, “Perhaps the moral thing to do was not the right thing to do.”
Captain Rachel Garrett leading the Enterprise C back to certain doom.
Boneheaded, but brave:
Worf: “Perhaps today is a good day to die. RAMMING SPEED!”
As much as I hate to say this, but Janeway did order and carryout a self-destruction, which ended the Year of Hell and hit the giant reset button.
Unless you mean an actual self-destruct sequence, or a self-destruction that was both successful and final (i.e. didn’t reset time).
Okay, I had forgotten about Year of Hell. But on the other hand, I don’t think it really counts, given that it pressed the reset button. I was more referring to all the times she threatened to blow up the ship for reason X, Y, or Z. How many times did Kirk threaten self destruct, for a counterexample? I think I can remember once or twice from the series, but I may be mistaken. Anyone else know? Either way, he actually carried through.
Oh, here’s another good moment… Captain Garret of the Enterprise C, from “Yesterday’s Enterprise.” She took her ship and crew back to certain death for the good of the Federation.
-Psi Cop
gonzoron beat you to Capt. Garrett, Psi Cop. (I was going to use that one until I saw his post).
I’m always too late to these parties. But I see nobody mentioned this one yet - huzzah!
I give you: Data as commander of the Sutherland in Redemption, Part II.
A nitpick: The TOS show that featured Mark Lenard as a Romulan commander was “Balance of Terror.”
My vote for the best “Captain’s Moment” was Kirk bluffing through “The Corbomite Maneuver.”