Ranking Every "Star Trek" Movie, From Worst to Best

[Triniking1234]

I still haven't seen Star Trek V 'cause SyFy refuses to run it.

For the original movies, for me it's 2 > 3 > 4 > 6 > 1.

For TNG movies it's First Contact > Generations > Nemesis > Insurrection

Into Darkness is probably my 3rd favourite since it'll never beat Wrath of Khan and First Contact (for me).

[Ambaryerno]

The Undiscovered Country could have been a great mystery flick had it not been for one fatal flaw.

Since director Nicholas Meyer couldn't get Kirstie Alley back as Saavik, instead of using Robin Curtis (who'd played the role twice), he chose to cast Kim Cattrall as Valeris. His reasoning was that he created Saavik and if he couldn't get Alley then he'd create another character.

The story would have had much more punch if Spock's already-established (and trusted) protege had been the traitor.

Sorry, but this is wrong. Roddenberry himself personally veto'ed making Saavik the traitor. He and Meyer fought about it as Meyer believed he could do whatever he wanted with a character he created, but Roddenberry won out. And IMO it was the right move. Saavik was a fan-favorite and seeing her turned into a villain/traitor would have pissed off a LOT of people.

[peckinpah]

The Undiscovered Country could have been a great mystery flick had it not been for one fatal flaw.

Since director Nicholas Meyer couldn't get Kirstie Alley back as Saavik, instead of using Robin Curtis (who'd played the role twice), he chose to cast Kim Cattrall as Valeris. His reasoning was that he created Saavik and if he couldn't get Alley then he'd create another character.

The story would have had much more punch if Spock's already-established (and trusted) protege had been the traitor.

You also have to wonder if Spock always has a viridium patch handy, why viridium patches aren't just sewn into Starfleet uniforms, and why prisoners are allowed to wear their own clothes while doing time in a Klingon prison.

[peckinpah]

Sorry, but this is wrong. Roddenberry himself personally veto'ed making Saavik the traitor. He and Meyer fought about it as Meyer believed he could do whatever he wanted with a character he created, but Roddenberry won out. And IMO it was the right move. Saavik was a fan-favorite and seeing her turned into a villain/traitor would have pissed off a LOT of people.

The character was changed because Kirstie Alley couldn't/wouldn't come back, nobody wanted Robin Curtis back, and Kim Cattrall didn't want to be the third person to play the character. Roddenberry's "executive consultant" credit (which is standard nonsense for a TV creator who has been fired from his/her creation; Dan Harmon got similar credit on Season Four of Community, but he had zero involvement in its production) on the last five movies was honorary. He got a meaningless credit and got some cash, but he had no power whatsoever over those movies after Paramount canned him following the release of TMP. He was asked his opinion simply so he wouldn't whine to the press, but the people who made those five movies didn't have to listen to him any more than Disney has to listen to Lucas on Star Wars.

[nx01a]

My ranking...
1. Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
2. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
3. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
4. Star Trek Generations (1994)
5. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
6. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
7. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
8. Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
9. Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
10. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
11. Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
12. Star Trek (2009)

[master of read]

my mom doesn't like star trek. but she will watch "wrath of khan" whenever it comes on. and i agree. it's, bar-none, the best trek film ever for me. "first contact" comes in a close second.

and like many, "search for spock" gets a bad rap. it's good but it does have missteps. the major 2?

1: kirk's losses. like SFdebris mentioned in his review of the movie, he wished that kirk actually let the losses affect him more. he lost his career, lost his ship, and most of all, lost his son. while his initial shock and horror at david's murder (ad-lib'd by shatner), i would have liked to see it affect him more.

2: it came after "wrath of khan". regardless of what it did, there was no way the movie was gonna match the juggernaut that was "wrath of khan".

[Cyke]

For me:

1. The Wrath of Khan -- perhaps the most well made from a production standpoint, but script and theme-wise, there's always something new to dissect

2. The Undiscovered Country -- some plot holes and misfires here and there, but what a great swan song for the TOS crew, esp. given the stern, serious political climate of movies at the time (think Jack Ryan movies, for example)

3. Star Trek XI -- injecting new life while honoring the past. Sure, it took some liberties here and there (to put it nicely), but it learned from the criminal mistakes of the TNG movies. The cast themselves do a fine job of carrying on from their predecessors.

4. First Contact -- two movies in one, which sometimes work, sometimes don't. I'd give it a higher rating if the direction was just a bit more dynamic like the other movies on the list, but the principal actors put in a lot of good work.

5. The Motion Picture -- the most cosmic of the movies, and the most ambitious. Yes, the pace could've been picked up just a bit more. Aside from the pajamas, the effects are top notch, the cinematography is gorgeous, and it really cemented the serious dangers of space exploration more than the TV show, but that those dangers were worth it

6. The Voyage Home -- attempting to cash in on the Back to the Future craze, but reversing it: how would people from the future react in our world? Cute with a touch of whimsy, never takes itself too seriously

7. The Search for Spock -- A decent Sunday afternoon flick in its own right, featuring Kirk with perhaps his riskiest gamble ever, but it never quite gels together as well as TWOK or TVH

8. Into Darkness -- Pros: the indictment and evolution of cocky Kirk to responsible captain. Cons: Khan. Less can be more.

9. Generations -- So much potential, only to be squandered with a sluggish Act 2 and a very timid Act 3.

10. The Final Frontier -- has the most heart of all of them, but it's not enough to overcome so many faults

Now, with the list above, if I'm channel surfing and I come across them, I'll probably stay on that channel. For the last two movies, though, I'm going to change the channel, easy.

11. Nemesis -- too much of a rehash (how many duplicates do we need? how much revenge do we need? another villain with a one-track mind?), pretty low stakes for an intergalactic conflict, and a space battle that, while long, was just too boring (shields are down to X%! X-point-5%!). I'll never understand people who complain that the JJ movies are too full of mindless action, and yet here we are with a space battle that's longer than anything in the JJ movies, but just drones on and on to become explosion-filled molasses.

12. Insurrection -- the crime of being just flat out boring. The crew vs. Starfleet plot was far better done in Into Darkness, and *that* movie was a muddled mess. Clearer motivations both for and against, stronger conviction, and make Starfleet the true enemy would've made for a far stronger movie. Even if this movie were reduced to a 2 hour TNG episode, it'd be one of the weaker entries.

[Sighphi]

CBR, can you not make these list posts have just one entry per page?

It's really annoying having to load up a new page per entry.

Anyway, Undiscovered Country is the best! And why Voyage Home so high? Come on.

[Gray Lensman]

CBR, can you not make these list posts have just one entry per page?

It's really annoying having to load up a new page per entry.

Anyway, Undiscovered Country is the best! And why Voyage Home so high? Come on.

The films with the original cast wouldn't have felt right without at least one of them having a deliberate comedic take. I consider it a nod to the classic series episodes of I, Mudd, The Trouble With Tribbles, and A Piece of the Action.

[ollieno]

the 5 first are the 5 best ...

but

for me best are in that order (from the way i like to see them again and again and ... )

1 Undiscovered Country
2 First Contact
3 Home
4 JJ Abrams
5 Khan

Generations and then
Search, Lloyd is far from his role in BTTF... but the film still remains just above insurection, and Final Frontier

only saw into darkness 2 times..and its only a popcorn movie, not a star trek film... and i never got into star trek the movie.
I would place nemesis on the same rank as into darkness.

[blackbolt396]

Khan , what more too say.

[Gray Lensman]

Khan , what more too say.

You need to say it louder....

This guy gets it...

[JediMindTrick]

I've noticed lately that CBR is experimenting with clickbait articles like this one. Why?

[Lexor7]

Pretty much the order I would rate them. I still can't watch TMP all the way through without some serious fast forwarding. I do really enjoy watching the first hour or so trying to put myself in the headspace of a Star Trek fan from the 60s seeing their beloved show back on the screen with all the original cast. Then I shut it off before I have to relive their disappointment when it turns into a slow special effects drag-o-rama.

[Holt]

Matches my feelings on Into Darkness rather well. On its own, it's a very solid action movie with some wonderful performances. As a Star Trek movie, it completely misses the mark of what the franchise is about, and worse, completely rehashes a much better movie we've already seen. It's a shame because had they had Cumberbatch play a new villain, I would've liked it a lot more.