I can’t remember enough to do an accurate ranking right now, but I figured I’d watch all of them again.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture was so slow moving.
Star Trek: Wrath of Khan was outstanding. I’ve seen it so many times that the film is more familiar than the Space Seed episode itself.
I don’t remember anything about Star Trek III.
Star Trek IV was a fun movie. A little too preachy at times, but overall it works.
After that, it gets a bit fuzzy. Generations was the one which had both crews. There were some weird time travel things going on.
So, how would those more knowledgeable than I rank the Star Trek movies?
The Wrath of Khan
First Contact
The Undiscovered Country
The Voyage Home
Generations
The Search for Spock
The Motion Picture
Insurrection
The Final Frontier
Forrest Gump
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
While You Were Sleeping
The Godfather Part III
What About Bob?
Nemesis
II: The Wrath of KHAAAAAN!
IV: The Voyage Home, in which there be whales here.
VI: The Undiscovered Country, starring Captain Sulu. Also, intrigue!
III: The Search for Spock, guest-starring John Larroquette as Mulch the Pensive Klingon.
First Contact, featuring the Enterprise-E and Dwight Schultz.
Generations, in which Picard meets Whoopi Goldberg in heaven.
The Motion Picture: new Enterprise, a bald woman, drab footie PJs. Also we learn that you can still scream while melting in mid-transport.
Insurrection: something about a hummingbird.
Nemesis: Picard and Data go off-roadin’. Also, both encounter idiot relatives.
V: The Final Frontier: God wants a starship. Also, Spock encounters an idiot relative. The only Star Trek movie to not exist.
It used to be the rule that the even-numbered Trek films were the better ones. Looking at the above list, it now seems that a better rule of thumb might be the presence of “The” in the movie titles… although clearly this is not an absolute indicator by any means. TNG just needed more “The’s,” or more references to classical literature, or something.
What Exit?: I blink a lot. Were you the guy on the bus with the radio?
No, I had a much shorter moment. On the USS Enterprise CVN-61 as they pan through the hangar bay I am one of the faceless sailors in a Dixie Cap. If you check the credits you’ll see the USS Ranger CV-61 stood in for the Big “E” and I was on board for the filming. One of my friends got to be the ships liason Electrician Mate. He wasn’t even a Trekkie. At least I got to meet Walter Koenig and watch Nimoy direct from two excellent positions. I barely saw Nichelle Nichols though.
At the top. Guy Fleegman: “Did you guys ever watch the show?!?”
I may be the only person in the world who prefers Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country to Wrath of Khan, which I found only mildly entertaining (and that only because of Ricardo Montalban, who chewed up the screen like it was angel food cake). VI has Christopher Plummer screaming Shakespeare: “Cry havoc, and let loose the dogs of war!” I think a movie with the exploits of General Chang would have been better than any subsequent films. My only complaint is that they should have killed Kirk as originally scripted, instead of the pathetic and ignominious end he received in the pointless Generations.
All other ST films are various levels of suck, though Star Trek: The Motion Picture at least gets points for impressive (for the day) set design.
ST IV: The Voyage Home. *Completely agree with RealityChuck here: “The most fun and entertaining of them all.”
ST: First Contact - by far the best TNG movie
ST VI: The Undiscovered Country
ST II: The Wrath of Khan - **good, but overrated (it tops most people’s lists)
ST: TMP
ST: Generations
ST III: The Search for Spock
ST: Nemesis
9 ST: Insurrection
ST V: The Final Frontier
*Having grown up watching TOS reruns on TV, the first Trek movie I ever saw was IV: The Voyage Home (when it was released in theaters). I thought it was great–action, drama, humor, mystery, romance. Sure, it was lighter in tone than most Trek movies, but it worked! The characters seem more real and more human to me in that movie than in any of the others. I eventually watched the previous (and subsequent) movies, hoping each time to see that “spark” again, but I’ve been mostly disappointed.
**Spock’s sacrifice and death and Kirk’s reaction is a great moment, but the final battle with Khan is laughable. It was an unimaginative 20th century screenwriter who failed to realize that 3-dimensional tactics would be 2nd nature among space-faring people like Khan and Kirk. To make it seem like a clever realization by Spock and Kirk (and a fatal flaw in Khan) is just ridiculous and it almost ruins the movie.
The best;
TVH - Fun and most definitely Trek.
TWOK - Great move to bring back the late Ricardo Montalban.
TUC - First one I saw on the big screen, a nice send off for the crew (Generations notwithstanding)
TSFS - Not more than the sum of it’s parts, but those parts were entertaining. Another great guest star too.
First Contact - Fun, good to see the Borg onscreen, even if from then on the race went into decline on the small screen.
Yellow alert;
TMP - It’s Trek Jim, but not entirely as we know it.
Generations - As TSFS, but a little less so. Still felt like the crew (Stewart aside) was finding it’s way on the big screen a little.
Red alert;
TFF - Shatner reckons it would have been awesome if his fire breathing rock men were in it, but then what movie wouldn’t be?
Insurrection - I barely remember what happened, save some sort of singing Data and Picard getting it on with a lovely lady.
Hull breach!
Nemesis - My copy of the DVD is still wrapped in cellophane.
With all respect, that was because Khan turned out to be an unimaginative 20th century man himself. His spacefaring was limited to being shot off in a sleeper ship (while, of course, asleep), hijacking the Enterprise, then hijacking the Reliant. Sure he could read the manuals, but he lacked experience.
I’m sure he realised that the ship could go up and down but his rage overcame his wisdom. His no. 2 did advise him against pursuing Kirk when he got the Genesis device. But what sort of a movie would it be if, at that point, he just ran off with it and held the Federation to ransom?
but his rage overcame his wisdom. His no. 2 did advise him against pursuing Kirk when he got the Genesis device. But what sort of a movie would it be if, at that point, he just ran off with it and held the Federation to ransom?