Star Trek (1-10) Films - help needed

[Hatter]

Nice to see some members showing some love for The Motion Picture. Sure it drags in some places, terrible uniforms and the dialog is wooden, but the movie encompasses what Star Trek is all about.

They're all worth watching and owning in my opinion (though wait for the director's cut of motion picture). I'd say Nemesis is the worse and while I like Final Frontier more than the average trek fan, it still has to rank near the bottom.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by bsweetness

But just keep in mind that if you watch 2 and 4, and skip 3, might be a bit confused by some of 4 (mostly at the beginning). I'm sure you'll figure it out quickly enough, but they are a trilogy of sorts with a thread of a continuing story between them (3 and 4 in particular).

That's the one caveat: 2, 3 and half of 4 was trying to be a closed trilogy; 3 was trying to follow directly on the events of 2, and if you skip it, most of the directly-linked beginning of 4 won't make much sense.
That's the only "Storyline" concern the OP was worried about, but at least 3's not too bad to sit through--More like an extended episode than a big-budget movie, and more of a rental out of necessity.

(Not to mention 2 retroactively being a good followup to the Abrams movie, by first working in the "Kobayashi Maru simulation" Kirk storyline that the Abrams movie picked up on.)

Originally Posted by Petra_Kalbrain

I myself enjoy 2,4,6,7,8,9 the most. Insurrection was a great film that went back to the Next Gen series' ability to tell a good story while focusing on the moral corruption that can plague high ranking officials and could potentially destroy the very fundamental concepts that are the foundation of the United Federation Of Planets.

Actually, the original concept for the film had been for a, quote, "lighter, 4-like romp" in which the planet's atmosphere was causing old romantic urges to break out among the crew--
Paramount decided to hack out most of that entire storyline at the last minute, leaving only the dramatic Salieri subplot about the planet--Which also seemed more like a minor TV episode, and didn't give a clear sense of what the heck was going on.

And heck, let's just save time--The good-one trailers:
2 - Wrath of Khan
3 - Search for Spock
4 - Voyage Home
6 - Undiscovered Country
8 - First Contact

And the stinky ones, for comparison, although they looked better in the trailers, and pretty much gave away all the good scenes:
1 - The Motion Picture
5 - Final Frontier
9 - Insurrection

[arcadeforest]

I guess I'm in the minority here being a fan of Insurrection. As far as the OP goes pick one and give it a try. For the original cast you can't go wrong with Star Trek II.

[Aristide Massaccesi]

I recommend getting the two sets and just watching them all.

There is only one turd and that's Star Trek V. If you're curious, watch it, otherwise you might as well skip it. Insurrection is disappointing after the glorious First Contact, but it's worth a watch.

Here's my ranking:

1. Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country 9/10
2. Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan 9/10
3. Star Trek: First Contact 8/10
4. Star Trek 4: The Voyage Home 8/10
5. Star Trek: The Motion Picture 7.5/10
6. Star Trek: Nemesis 6.5/10
7. Star Trek 3: The Search For Spock 6.5/10
8. Star Trek: Generations 6.5/10
9. Star Trek: Insurrection 6/10
10.Star Trek V: The Final Frontier 3/10

[BouCoupDinkyDau]

The director's cut of TMP shores up a lot of what was wrong with that film, IMHO. A once-hated movie in my own ST lineup, I now consider TMP: DC to be an underrated jewel in the rough. Still have my DVD of it, and to this day it is still (and always has been) my all-time favorite ST movie soundtrack.

I for one am waiting on proper remasters for all of these. I don't like the current incarnations on BluRay. All I own on BD is the 2009 Trek.

[BluBonnet]

I may be in the minority here, but I always had a blast with Star Trek: Generations, and actually watched it 4-5 times when it was first released theatrically - in the biggest screen I could find.

For me, having the casts from both TOS and TNG together was just priceless. Malcolm McDowell is an appropriately hammy villain, second only to Ricardo Montalban's Khan in my book.

The concept of the Nexus is (to me) a very interesting one. If I found my way onto the Nexus, I'd be living in a beautiful house by the lake, with the biggest home theater you've ever, ever seen, and I would have instant access to high-def copies of any movie ever made (or ever to be made). Also, I'd be able to eat all the snacks I wanted, and never gain a pound.

But, I can see why one would eventually get tired of even a personally-tailored "heaven" of the mind, and eventually crave new challenges.

That's what Kirk couldn't stand about the Nexus, imho.

[nascar2010]

Technically speaking, the movies did not really "happen" since the timeline was whacked by JJ Abrams. The entire franchise, with the exception of "Star Trek: Enterprise" (since that occured BEFORE Kirk's time), can be neatly swept under the rug.

[AKORIS]

My ratings (1 to 5 stars rated strictly by STAR TREK standards)


Star Trek: The Motion Picture - 2.5 stars (sorry fans-- it's boring)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn - 5 stars (best of the original movies)
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock - 4 stars (underrated by almost everyone
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home - 3 stars (overrated and silly)
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier - 3 stars ripped by all, really not that bad
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country - 4 stars nice finale for original cast
Star Trek: Generations - 4 stars don't get the hate-- really liked it a lot
Star Trek: First Contact - 5 stars the best of the NG movies
Star Trek: Insurrection - 3 stars plays like a pretty good TV episode
Star Trek: Nemesis - 3 stars same as above but with a pretty cool ending

[BluBonnet]

Originally Posted by AKORIS

My ratings (1 to 5 stars rated strictly by STAR TREK standards)
Star Trek: Generations - 4 stars don't get the hate-- really liked it a lot

Aye, same here (see previous post).

Of course, at the time I first watched it (the day it opened in theaters), TNG was my #1 favorite TV series, there was nothing even remotely close for me.

[bsweetness]

Originally Posted by nascar2010

Technically speaking, the movies did not really "happen" since the timeline was whacked by JJ Abrams. The entire franchise, with the exception of "Star Trek: Enterprise" (since that occured BEFORE Kirk's time), can be neatly swept under the rug.

I thought that what J.J. did is essentially create an alternate universe with the recent movie. The "original" series of events is still ongoing in it's own universe. This was done in an attempt to take things in a new direction without completely disavowing everything else. If they should want to revisit it, they can (not that they will). It's the easy way out for any and everything Trek, but hey, it works.

[Aristide Massaccesi]

Originally Posted by nascar2010

Technically speaking, the movies did not really "happen" since the timeline was whacked by JJ Abrams. The entire franchise, with the exception of "Star Trek: Enterprise" (since that occured BEFORE Kirk's time), can be neatly swept under the rug.

[Trek geek]
I don't know if you're kidding or not, but they (the writers of Trek 09) went out of their way to preserve the original timeline. It was made clear in the movie that the new timeline is "alternate", a parallel universe similar to the Mirror Universe and the many alternate 'multiverse' realities seen in TNG's "Parallels".

Following your logic, certain parts of Star Trek Enterprise 'didn't happen' either because there were a number of references to post-TOS Trek. For example, the First Contact Borg incursion was referred to in "Regeneration", the Constititution-class starship Defiant from TOS "The Tholian Web" turned up in "In a Mirror, Darkly" and a "The Pegasus"-era Enterprise-D complete with Riker and Troi was seen in "These Are The Voyages".[/Trek geek]

[Agent Bond]

The Motion Picture - The cure for insomnia. It didn't help the crew of the Enterprise wore those God awful pajamas as uniforms.

The Wrath of Khan - What more can I say? It has everything you need for a Star Trek movie.

The Search For Spock - Decent although I'll admit I actually liked Robin Curtis better as Saavik than Kirstie Alley.

The Voyage Home - a.k.a. Star Trek IV: Save The Whales, people complain that its too campy, but if you think about it, this film is what Star Trek really was all about.

The Final Frontier - They actually had a good idea with this, but unfortunately giving Shatner a low budget to work with ruined the film. If they could pull a George Lucas and update the special effects, I think it will improve the movie.

The Undiscovered Country - People say TWOK is THE Star Trek film, but I've always enjoyed Part VI the best. Chang was such an awesome villain.

Generations - I enjoyed it although I'm still pissed at Paramount for the misleading trailer where they made it look like Shatner was on board the Enterprise helping Picard fight the Klingon sisters!

First Contact - The best TNG movie according to some, but I've always hated the idea of a Borg queen.

Insurrection - This should've been about The Enterprise participating in The Dominion War, not about them saving 600 people on some remote planet. Truly a great missed opportunity.

Nemesis - I'm probably one of the few people who actually enjoyed Nemesis. I just wish they would release an extended version with all the deleted scene as it brought more life to the film. My only regret is Johnathan Frakes didn't direct this to give the TNG crew a true farewell.

Might've been interesting, if it hadn't had its plot removed by the studio at the last minute

First time I've heard of this, what was removed?

[erikilla]

I like all of them! Except for the first one, maybe, it feels way too serious for a Star Trek story. 4, 6, 8 and 9 are my personal favorites, though; I don't know why many people hate Insurrection so much. I like the 2009 version as well, but I have a few problems with it... I'll probably get killed around here for saying that, but that's the truth.

I'll buy all the movies on blu as soon as I get paid, hehe.

[Duffy12]

Originally Posted by AKORIS

My ratings (1 to 5 stars rated strictly by STAR TREK standards)


Star Trek: The Motion Picture - 2.5 stars (sorry fans-- it's boring)
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn - 5 stars (best of the original movies)
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock - 4 stars (underrated by almost everyone
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home - 3 stars (overrated and silly)
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier - 3 stars ripped by all, really not that bad
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country - 4 stars nice finale for original cast
Star Trek: Generations - 4 stars don't get the hate-- really liked it a lot
Star Trek: First Contact - 5 stars the best of the NG movies
Star Trek: Insurrection - 3 stars plays like a pretty good TV episode
Star Trek: Nemesis - 3 stars same as above but with a pretty cool ending

I pretty much agree with everything that you mentioned.

And that saying that- "The even ones are the good ones, and the odd ones are not." I do not agree with at all. It's like somebody came up with some cute saying about the odd/even thing and everybody just jumped on board because it sounds neat.

For instance, has anybody even watched 'Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home' lately? It has not aged very well at all, and has become close to being unwatchable to me. (Ugh) Very, very overrated. I even prefer Star Trek V: The Final Frontier over it by quite a bit.

Now for the final two Next-Gen movies I would probably rate them 2 and 1 stars respectively, and most likely will never watch them again as I have tried many times, but feel that there is just nothing interesting there for those last two.

But, that's just me.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by erikilla

I like all of them! Except for the first one, maybe, it feels way too serious for a Star Trek story. 4, 6, 8 and 9 are my personal favorites, though; I don't know why many people hate Insurrection so much. I like the 2009 version as well, but I have a few problems with it... I'll probably get killed around here for saying that, but that's the truth.

I'll buy all the movies on blu as soon as I get paid, hehe.

Totally disagree with you since First Contact is easily the best of the TNG crew with Nemesis right behind it.

[reanimator]

Andy, did you ever get around to watching these?

Asking for advice on STAR TREK leads to information overload. So in that spirit…

You enjoyed the JJ Abrams STAR TREK. So did I. However, the Abrams film has much more in common with STAR WARS than any of the previous TREK films. Abrams-TREK was a high-octane, action-packed special-effects extravaganza. You will not find this matched by any of the older TREK films.

Original STAR TREK is low-budget, using science-fiction as a way to explore the human experience. Substance over style. When it works, it works brilliantly.

My recommendation would be to watch them all, and watch them in order.

If you don’t have time, it is true that STAR TREK 1 and STAR TREK 5 are basically “stand alone” stories, whereas 2,3,4, and 6 all sort of work together.

STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE – Will test your patience. STAR TREK meets 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. Best aspect is gorgeous musical score by Jerry Goldsmith.

STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN – action and drama mixed with heavy themes of life and death. Thoughtful and emotional. The JJ Abrams movie references scenes from this film.

STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK – basically the exact same film as part 2, but with better special effects.

STAR TREK IV: THE VOYAGE HOME – Humor and fun take center stage. This was the highest grossing TREK film until Abrams-TREK (which echoes scenes from this film too).

STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER – a pothole in the series. Excellent interplay between the main characters is upstaged by lame story and awful special effects.

STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY – excellent return to form, which mixes the best elements of 2 and 4. This last TREK is the best of them all. (watch the theatrical cut on bluray, as other home versions include some awful deleted material).

With the NEXT GENERATION film series (ST7-11), each one is “stand alone,” where none of the other films rely on the others. Pick and choose at your own discretion – although FIRST CONTACT (ST8) for some reason is regarded as being much better than the others.

[BouCoupDinkyDau]

Next Gen Trek films choke for the most part.

Generations is decent. Had the script been tighter, it could have been better.
First Contact is pretty good, but it watered down the Borg with the inclusion of a queen-led hive structure (they were better when they were just enigmatic cyber-zombies).
Insurrection is decent, but just barely.
Nemesis is just plain dumb...for a lot of reasons.

[BouCoupDinkyDau]

Originally Posted by Lope de Aguirre

5. Star Trek: Voyager (02/10)
This show was dated storytelling-wise and was bad even when it premiered.
The characters are bland and the stories boring. It looks decent but that does not change that this is a completley missed opportunity (the premise was very good but never explored).

Yep, it was pure trash. I tried to like it, but I quit after the ridiculous two-part season cliffhanger where Janeway and crew face off in 1990's LA against the most fearsome villan of all time:

ED F***KIN' BEGLEY JR!!!

Battlestar Galatica made up for all of it though, giving us a way better "lost in space and trying to find our home" show. Thank God for BSG!

[phatrat1982]

I will go ahead and provide my perspective if it helps at all. I am one who grew up HATING Star Trek it bored me to no end. (I was all Star Wars) I hated the shows, every episode was boring and nearly put me to sleep. (I was born in '82 so there movies were new but the series was long done)

So I grew up hating Star Trek but as a child of the 80's and huge Sci-Fi fan (whose parents are Trekkies) I ended up being basically forced to watch every movie as they were available. My parents had the entire massive boxed set.


Now when Next Generation came on TV I got hooked and decided I could live without the original series I just liked the new series so I sorta started with that.



Having said that here is how I see the films (take what you will)

Even though as a series I liked The Next Generation alright the movies were not that good. I really liked First Contact but could not really get into the other two.


As for the original series films, I found that I always liked Wrath of Kahn and "the one with the whales" sorry I am not a big fan so forget the name. I always knew the two were connected and I always knew part three would fill in the blanks missing from 4 but after years latter going back and watching 3 I found I enjoyed 4 a lot more before I had ever seen part 3.

I then proceeded to watch the series one at a time as time went buy and I think the one were they go meet God was lame, the first one was BORING more so than the show ever was, and the one where Kirk is on trial and ends up underground was well forgetable.

I have seen all what is it 11 films on more than one occasion. Personally I can only stomach 2, 4, and First Contact, the rest even minutes after watching I will forget what happened.


BUT I loved the new one and was like many non-fans driven to go back and watch what I had missed. So as someone who is in that sorta situation I can say that start with 2, 4, and First Contact cuz fans and non fans obviously have different opinions but personally those are the only three I can ever remember what happened except I can remember 1 always puts me to sleep and 3 always makes me question my parents sanity.