# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/21 "2009-01-23T15:17:23Z")
From best to worst: Wrath of Khan The Voyage Home Undiscovered Country First Contact The Search for Spock The Motion Picture The Final Frontier Nemesis Generations Insurrection I just loathe Insurrection. Generations was kind of dull, like Star Trek : The Motionless Picture. And yes, I rank Star Trek V above three of the NextGen movies. It’s unspeakably silly, but it has some great performances by the actors and funny, quotable lines. If I am flipping channels, and I see it on TV, I will stop and watch. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/22 "2009-01-23T15:20:58Z")
My personal ranking: 1. The Wrath of Khan 2. The Motion Picture (fondness left over from my childhood) 3. The Voyage Home 4. First Contact 5. The Search for Spock 6. Generations Then it gets a little fuzzy as to which of these is worse: The Undiscovered Country The Final Frontier Insurrection And then there’s Nemesis, which I have almost succeeded in blocking out of my memory. ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/23 "2009-01-23T15:31:10Z")
[ol] [li]II: The Wrath of Khan[/li][li]IV: The Voyage Home[/li][li]VI: The Undiscovered Country[/li][li]First Contact[/li][li]III: The Search for Spock[/li][li]Insurrection[/li][li]Generations[/li][li]The Motion Picture[/li][li]Nemesis[/li][li]V: The Undiscovered Country[/li][/ol] Boy, it’s really a close race between Nemesis and V for the worst of the list. There is an awful lot of suck in each one. The ordering of numbers 2-4 kind of depends on what day of the week it is. I’m going to make a plea for reconsideration of Insurrection as a somewhat better movie than everyone thinks it is. There is a little too much outright silliness for my taste (Worf singing Gilbert & Sullivan, and the utterly ridiculous joystick that pops out of the deck), but I thought it was a nice throwback to some of the more lighthearted Trek that never really made it to the movies, _a la_ “The Trouble With Tribbles.” There’s just no excuse for Nemesis and V, though. ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/24 "2009-01-23T15:55:22Z")
1.) First Contact 2.) II: Wrath of Khan 3.) IV: The Voyage Home Giant drop off 4.) VI: The Undiscovered Country 5.) Generations 6.) Insurrection 7.) III: Search for Spock Moderate drop off: 8.) The Motion Picture Moderate drop off. 9.) Star Trek V: No, It Doesn’t Exist 10.) Nemesis 1, 2, and 3 are really, really close. First Contact gets a boost, though, 'cause it was the thing that made me actually pay attention to Star Trek. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/25 "2009-01-23T16:17:51Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > 😃 > > 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. Me too. I’m an extra in the scene where “Chekov” runs across the hangar bay. (Short guy, second rank, in dungarees, nearest camaera. Did you blink? If you do, you miss me.) ---
**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, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/26 "2009-01-23T16:22:19Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > Me too. I’m an extra in the scene where “Chekov” runs across the hangar bay. (Short guy, second rank, in dungarees, nearest camaera. Did you blink? If you do, you miss me.) Hey I was also a short guy wearing dungarees though I wasn’t near the camera and I can’t even figure out which Dixie cup wearing squid I am. You would think it would be easy to pick us out, there were only a few hundred of us dressed identically and without a close-up. Did you get any autographs? I got Walter’s at least. ---
**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, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/27 "2009-01-23T16:24:45Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > At the top. Guy Fleegman: “Did you guys ever watch the show?!?” Try to make a rudimentary lathe… > [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > 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). I found it close. But II wins simply because it’s fun watching Shatner and Montalban chew up the screen like a couple of Hungry Hungry Hippos. KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHNNNN!!! ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/28 "2009-01-23T16:27:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*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 thing that I liked about the battle was that it showed the ships fighting like slow majestic battleships, and not swooping about like starfighters. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/29 "2009-01-23T16:32:52Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Hey I was also a short guy wearing dungarees though I wasn’t near the camera and I can’t even figure out which Dixie cup wearing squid I am. > You would think it would be easy to pick us out, there were only a few hundred of us dressed identically and without a close-up. > > Did you get any autographs? I got Walter’s at least. No. I waited around to get Nimoy’s sig, and ambushed him (I was with a coworker) in the parking lot, while he was headed for his trailer. He looked so old and tired, I didn’t have the heart to “bother” him with my “silly” request. (My coworker remained hardhearted. 🙂 ) ---
**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, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/30 "2009-01-23T16:41:04Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > The thing that I liked about the battle was that it showed the ships fighting like slow majestic battleships, and not swooping about like starfighters. I thought they were more like submarines, but the pace of the battle was nice. It’s easy to swamp the screen with lots of small ships and overwhelm the viewer (George Lucas, take note.) ---
**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, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/31 "2009-01-23T16:53:58Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > The thing that I liked about the battle was that it showed the ships fighting like slow majestic battleships, and not swooping about like starfighters. The movie always reminded me of \*Run Silent, Run Deep \*and the submarine battle scenes. I loved it. > [@mlees](#): > > No. > > I waited around to get Nimoy’s sig, and ambushed him (I was with a coworker) in the parking lot, while he was headed for his trailer. > > He looked so old and tired, I didn’t have the heart to “bother” him with my “silly” request. (My coworker remained hardhearted. 🙂 ) They had the chairs set up on the Hanger Bay for a while one day and I missed Nichelle as she was there briefly. Nimoy I understand never came over to sign autographs. Walter Koenig was there for an extended period and probably signed hundreds of things in a short time period. He got a laugh at mine as I had a Star Trek Role-Playing rule book with his picture in it to sign. (Why yes, I am a Trekkie and a Geek.) ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/32 "2009-01-23T17:14:31Z")
/jealous 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DoubleJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@DoubleJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoubleJ)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/33 "2009-01-23T17:39:25Z")
II: The Wrath of Khan VIII: First Contact III: The Search for Spock VI: The Undiscovered Country IV: The Voyage Home I: The Motion Picture VII: Generations X: Nemesis IX: Insurrection Yep, that’s all of 'em. TSfS doesn’t get enough love, IMO. Once you accept the fact that Spock just isn’t allowed to die for good, it’s a good story about loyalty to one’s friends and the sacrifices involved. Minus points for swapping out Saaviks, but sometimes that can’t be helped. And yes, the whole “proto-matter” thing was ridiculous. The premise of the Genesis device was ridiculous too! If you can hand-wave the ability to _build an entire star system from scratch out of a nebula, a process that takes millions of years, using a giant frigging explosion,_ it shouldn’t be too hard to imagine that it might not work as planned 🙂 TVH, on the other hand, hasn’t aged so well. I used to think it was a good movie, and funny. Now I think I’m partially biased against time-travel stories and the whole movie boils down to “look at everybody react to the weirdness of the 80s”. Sorry, it just ain’t that good any more. Still some great lines though, especially in the hospital. The last four were hard to rate: Is the lamefest that was Generations better or worse than the navel-gazing two-hour effects shot that was TMP? I give an edge to TMP just due to its scale being larger. The Next Generation movies, even the good one, all felt like two-part episodes. And except for FC, they were all mediocre seventh-season episodes. Nemesis tried so hard to be TWoK, and failed even harder. Insurrection is the big loser, just on principle. Between the evil face-stretching aliens on a 70s-reject couch, the boob jokes and the utterly cardboard woman that Picard was supposed to have fallen for, it simply has no redeeming qualities save the only _Song of the South_ reference I’ve seen in a movie for a good 20 years. For some reason they skipped V and went straight to VI. When Netscape tried the same scam years later it didn’t work out as well for them as it did for Star Trek. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/34 "2009-01-23T17:51:42Z")
> [@](#): > > TVH, on the other hand, hasn’t aged so well. I used to think it was a good movie, and funny. Now I think I’m partially biased against time-travel stories and the whole movie boils down to “look at everybody react to the weirdness of the 80s”. Sorry, it just ain’t that good any more. Still some great lines though, especially in the hospital. It seems to me that it was around this time that Star Trek seemed to move from “adventure” to “preachy”. All these Starfleet types looking down their noses at us 20th century types. I got your morals hanging right here, _Admiral_. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/35 "2009-01-23T18:03:51Z")
The Wrath of Khan First Contact The Voyage Home The Undiscovered Country The Search for Spock Generations The Motion Picture Nemesis Insurrection The Undiscovered Country ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/36 "2009-01-23T18:26:35Z")
**ArchiveGuy** , you have _The Undiscovered Country_ twice. I’d say: _The Wrath of Khan First Contact The Voyage Home The Search for Spock The Undiscovered Country The Motion Picture Generations Nemesis Insurrection The Final Frontier_ How cool, **mlees** and **What Exit?** , for you to both have that _Ranger_ connection! ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/37 "2009-01-23T18:34:54Z")
Wrath of Khan The Undiscovered Country The Voyage Home. In the past I would have switched the last 2…but having seen these within the past couple years (again) I like the order above. There were other Star Trek movies? You sure y’all didn’t dream them up? ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/38 "2009-01-23T18:38:53Z")
I just want to say something about KKKKKKHHHHHAAAAAANNNNNNN! I was not a big fan of original Star Trek. I liked it and all but thought it lacked. I remember thinking…the background story universe is great! Why do the writers suck so bad? The first Star Trek movie was gawd awful. Then KKKKKKHHHHHHAAAAAANNNNNN! came. That was a fun movie! KKKKKHHHHHAAAAANNNNNN! came out and was the first time I truely enjoyed Star Trek. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/39 "2009-01-23T18:39:42Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > How cool, **mlees** and **What Exit?** , for you to both have that _Ranger_ connection! I used to think the “six degrees of separation from Kevin Bacon” stuff was a bunch of hooey, but now I’m not so sure. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551/40 "2009-01-23T18:44:33Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > **ArchiveGuy** , you have _The Undiscovered Country_ twice. Whoops! Guess I didn’t even want to admit Part V existed. 😛 The Wrath of Khan First Contact The Voyage Home The Undiscovered Country The Search for Spock Generations The Motion Picture Nemesis Insurrection The Final Frontier I’m fully expecting that Part XI will place somewhere in the #3-5 spot (making it the best of all the odd-numbered installments). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rank-the-star-trek-movies-from-best-to-worst/482551.md?page=3)