10. Star Trek: Generations
Greatest sin of all: Kirk dies in a shitty way. A legendary character with a lame death. Plus, on paper the film should have been great -- Picard and Kirk finally meet?! Sweet, right? Wrong.
9. Star Trek: Nemesis
Again, on paper, sounds good. The Romulans finally get to be featured as a main villain, and Picard has to fight an evil clone of himself. In practice, though, the thing is just noisy and overblown and ultimately doesn't add up to much. Too bad the Next Generation crew had to go out like this, they deserved better. At least, Picard, Data and Worf did. The other ones can go screw.
8. Star Trek: Insurrection
A film about an ethical dilemma in which the good guys fight for the wrong side of a cause. Check it out:
-- Planet has fountain of youth powers
-- Rest of galaxy wants to harness powers and cure disease/end suffering/etc
-- Small village of people living on planet won't share their powers with anyone
-- Enterprise crew defends their rights to hog the planet since they were there first
-- I want to smack the villagers and tell them to get over themselves, grow up and SHARE
7. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
A.K.A. William Shatner Vs. God, directed by William Shatner. Bad script, bad special effects, and not much budget to work with. On the bright side, it's better than the previous three on the list because it stars Kirk (who doesn't die), Spock and McCoy.
6. Star Trek: The Motion Picture
You know how they say the first one is always best? Sometimes that's right, but not when the first one is a half hour too long and clumsily edited to the point where scenes that should be full of action and suspense plod along at a nap-like pace. Still, it's an epic story with a great score and great special effects, as well as some good character development for the main characters (even if there is a lot of wooden acting interfering).
5. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
Kirk steals AND destroys the Enterprise, then kills an entire ship full of Klingons, all just to find and save his good buddy Spock. Great action and adventure and a good story driven by emotion and character rather than plot. This one also benefits from being a direct sequel to WRATH OF KHAN, tying up loose ends, solving problems, and leading seamlessly into the next film with a nice cliffhanger. Basically, this is the type of stuff the Next Generation films should have done instead of stand alone stories.
4. Star Trek: First Contact
The greatest of the Next Generation movies and easily one of the best STAR TREK films. Picard and crew vs. The Borg, the greatest villainous element from the Next Generation series. This one benefits from some good actors in interesting supporting roles -- James Cromwell and Alfre Woodard. Also, the film has a great score and is built on one good action/suspense sequence after another. I don't love it as much as I once did, but it is firmly in the top half of the Star Trek list.
3. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
This is the one mainstream audiences always remember. "The one with the whales," they call it. Kirk and crew travel back in time to (what was then) contemporary SanFrancisco to bring a couple whales back to the 23rd century and save them (and the planet Earth) from extinction. When I was a kid, this was regarded as one of the best in the series. It's lighthearted and fun, has a message that stands apart from the usual sci-fi babble, and manages to wrap up the story started with parts II and III while also telling a new original story. I think some Star Trek fans who grew up with Voyager and things like that look at this as if it is not "true" Star Trek, but I think it gets right to the heart of what the series is about -- people, not techno-babble.
2. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
This one just gets better and better with age. A cold war parable in which the Klingons and the Federation finally have to make peace after years of hostility. Meanwhile Kirk's framed for a crime, Spock has to save him, and a mystery has to be solved.
1. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
What can I say about this one that hasn't already been said? Pretty much everyone agrees it is the best Star Trek film -- a revenge tale about the attempts of vengeance crazed genetic superman, Khan, and his attempts to destroy Kirk at any cost. This one has everything -- action, adventure, suspense, huge space battles, good character development, and a big, epic sacrifice at the end. Of course, there is also a great supporting cast headed up by Ricardo Montalban, who steals the movie. And, for my money, this is Kirk and William Shatner's finest hour.
Where will the new STAR TREK film land on this list? Well, like SEARCH FOR SPOCK, I think it will break the "odd number" rule and be great. From the clips and trailers I've seen, I'm really optimistic. Time will tell, but I think going back to the original crew (even if they've been recast) is a big step in the right direction. And, it will be sweet to see Leonard Nimoy on the big screen again. It's a nice way to make Kirk's shitty, worthless death NOT the last time we see someone from the original series. Better just to forget about that and pretend it never happened.
Right, William Shatner?
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