# Rank the Star Trek movies from best to worst. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 23, 2009, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551 "2009-01-23T00:38:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/1 "2009-01-23T00:38:28Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/2 "2009-01-23T00:40:26Z")
I’d say WOK, Undiscovered Country, Voyage Home, Search for Spock, TMP and I heard rumours about a Star Trek V, but I can’t verify them. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/3 "2009-01-23T00:41:08Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > I’d say WOK, Undiscovered Country, Voyage Home, Search for Spock, TMP and I heard rumours about a Star Trek V, but I can’t verify them. I concur. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/4 "2009-01-23T00:52:50Z")
1. ST IV: The Voyage Home. The most fun and entertaining of them all. 2. ST II: The Wrath of Khan 3. ST VI: The Undiscovered Country 4. ST III: The Search for Spock 5. ST: First Contact 6. ST: Nemesis 7. ST: Generations 8. ST: TMP 9 ST: Insurrection 9. ST V: The Final Frontier Note that only the first four can conceivably be called good movies. The rest just have various degrees of suckage. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/5 "2009-01-23T00:58:50Z")
1. ST II: The Wrath of Khan …then ten empty slots… 1. ST IV: The Voyage Home. … then five empty slots… 1. ST VI: The Undiscovered Country 2. ST III: The Search for Spock 3. ST: First Contact 4. ST: TMP … then five empty slots… 1. ST: Generations 2. ST: Nemesis … then 15 empty slots… 1. ST V: The Final Frontier … then 50 empty slots… 1. ST: Insurrection ---
**Author:** ![Khan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3ab097/32.png) [@Khan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khan)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/6 "2009-01-23T01:45:02Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/7 "2009-01-23T01:57:21Z")
Great Movies: IV: The Voyage Home _(I’m in it unless you blink)_ II: The Wrath of Khan Big drop off to: III: The Search for Spock VIII: First Contact VI: The Undiscovered Country I: The Motion Picture VII: Generations Bad movies: V: The Final Frontier IX: Insurrection X: Nemesis ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/8 "2009-01-23T03:09:14Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/9 "2009-01-23T03:30:19Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > **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. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/10 "2009-01-23T03:32:41Z")
Wow, that’s pretty awesome. You’re canonical! ---
**Author:** ![Telcontar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Telcontar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telcontar)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/11 "2009-01-23T03:39:12Z")
VI then IV. Then II. Then III. It’s odd. You’d think from the numbers that there were more. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/12 "2009-01-23T03:39:50Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > Wow, that’s pretty awesome. You’re canonical! No I was an Electricians Mate not a Gunner’s Mate. Sorry, very bad joke. I love whales, I love original Trek, I love the humor of the movie and I was briefly in the movie, so of course it is my favorite. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/13 "2009-01-23T04:05:14Z")
The Good: II: The Wrath of Khan VI: The Undiscovered Country III: The Search for Spock The Bad: I: The Motion Picture IV: The Voyage Home The Ugly: V: The Final Frontier Haven’t seen any of the later ones. I’ve also never understood the love for IV. I guess I’m just weird … ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/14 "2009-01-23T04:27:15Z")
IMHO 1. ST II: The Wrath of Khan Acadamy Award for Awesomeness Winning Movie 2. ST VI: The Undiscovered Country Matrix: Revolutions 3. ST: First Contact 4. ST IV: The Voyage Home 5. ST III: The Search for Spock 6. ST: TMP Typical Star Trek Episode 7. ST: Generations 8. ST: Nemesis 9 ST: Insurrection Battlefield: Earth 9. ST V: The Final Frontier ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/15 "2009-01-23T04:54:28Z")
Where does Galaxy Quest belong in this ranking? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/16 "2009-01-23T05:07:41Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > Where does Galaxy Quest belong in this ranking? 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. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/17 "2009-01-23T06:36:10Z")
1. ST IV: The Voyage Home. \*Completely agree with RealityChuck here: “The most fun and entertaining of them all.” 2. ST: First Contact - by far the best TNG movie 3. ST VI: The Undiscovered Country 4. ST II: The Wrath of Khan - \*\*good, but overrated (it tops most people’s lists) 5. ST: TMP 6. ST: Generations 7. ST III: The Search for Spock 8. ST: Nemesis 9 ST: Insurrection 9. 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. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/18 "2009-01-23T13:28:11Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/19 "2009-01-23T13:37:31Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > 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 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? ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/20 "2009-01-23T13:44:23Z")
II: Wrath of Khan VI: Undiscovered Country ------gap------------------------ V: Final Frontier (not a typo:p) VIII: First Contact X: Nemesis VII: Generations IV: Voyage Home I: Motion Picture III: Search for Spock . . . . . . . . . . . IX: Insurrection [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551.md?page=2)