Recommendations for the best Star Trek film?

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Star Trek III: The Search For SpockSpecial Collector's Edition
Admiral James T. Kirk, finding out he made a mistake by leaving Spock on the Genesis planet, must disobey orders and hijack the hobbled Enterprise to retrieve his best friend. However, a rogue Klingon seeking the secrets of the "Genesis torpedo" puts Kirk's mission as well as the Enterprise, its crew, and Spock himself in jeopardy.

T2Q Comments: Good reintroduction; I love it when sequels pick up immediately after their predecessor and can really explore some of the aftermath and reprecussions (Insurrection, I hate you SOO much). Nice to finally get the Klingons involved in the plot beyond an intro cameo...but why do bad guys always have to have an evil looking pet? (incidently, he shows more emotion over it's death than his lover, ha).

I love the Space Dock station introduced here- gorgeous, wish we'd get to see more of them beyond this movie and a couple subsequent cameos; and I see we get a "You forgot to include me in the good movie" cameo by Rand during the docking sequence as well.

Federation troopers look absolutely ridiculous, like a a football wrapped around their head and an inexplicably white chest piece on the darker uniform- I've seen fanfilms put together more convincing trooper armor designs; though I'm sure the span of time is greater, the mentions of the Klingons suing for peace almost imply a closer timespan between 3 and 6); why...why are the seats on the science vessel...pink?; nice to see Sarek again (I believe this is his reintroduction into the post-series universe).

Reusing footage from TWOK as security cam footage not really convincing, unless 23rd century security cameras are always set for closeups and dramatic editing). I love the one shot during the officer's lounge scene with the Commander where you have Kirk essentially figuring out what he is going to have to do.

And next up we have Trek's sad attempt to do a cantina scene (seriously, just insert McCy's look around with 3PO and you prettty much have the same shot)- but Trek's never been one for style or convincing aliens- but they're all fairly terrible here- from the waitress with makeup that Twisted Sister would find embarassing, to the Quark-meets-Yoda smuggler.

"How many fingers do I have up?" "That's not very damn funny." That's worthy, but the humor with the tall guard and Sulu doesn't make much sense- Sulu didn't do anything to the guard to make him react hostile other than try to make friendly small talk; Sulu is awesome, though- and these troopers still look silly.

I rather enjoy Scotty's constant disdain for the Excelsior, though I do like the ship myself (though the secondary hull looks a bit too fat)- however, I do hate this annoying twerp Uhura's working with; whole stealing of the Enterprise sequence is really a highlight of the whole franchise- just the lovely shots of the Enterprise backing out of the doors and pivoting, and later with the Excelsior looming from beyond the lip of the Space Dock saucer- great stuff.

The new actress playing Saavik is acceptable, though a bit more distant than Kristie- however, what the hell is with Saavik blaming David for all the deaths surrounding Genesis? How does his little science shortcut in any way make him responsible for Khan or Kruge's actions?

So mini-Spock is going through the 7-year Vulcan Horny cycle and Saavik calms it by rubbing fingers together...do i really want to know what that's the equivilent of?. The selfdestruct code sequence, as I noted earlier in the project, is the same one used in a TOS episode, so nice throwback detail there, and the actual destruction of the ship is appropriately big and tragic seeming. I am amused that this particular nook of Genesis (when Spock's face starts changing) looks almost exactly like (an obviously better dressed) the typical rocky planet set in TOS.

"I do not deserve to live." "Fine. I'll kill ya later."

The reaction by Saavik when she

 

That probably would have been better (well, considering how much Insurrection sucked, it definitely would have been better...), but after First Contact's success, though, there was no way ST9 was not gonna be based on the TNG crew.

 

No, I agree- especially because they obviously couldn't find an answer for that, like how they brushed-overr Worf's involvement .

 

Funny- that's actually what I've been doing the past couple years- it started out with a desire to finally sit down and watch DS9, but I figured I might as well start at the beginning and work my way through and up to DS9, as a sort o pay-off for having to endure TOS and early TNG

Insurrection failed on several levels- a lot of the characters were portrayed in an embarrassing manner and given little to work with- especially Crusher. The villain was weak (far weaker than Saron or the Picard-clone), the "Insurrection" was hardly an insurrection, and the film had several embarrassing technical elements- most notably the "did they have the budget to the finish the scene?" blue screen room final showdown and Riker piloting the Enterprise with a microsoft joystick that rises out of the floor on a cardboard box.

The only great moment in the film was the "He wouldn't." "Yes. He would" exchange, which nicely sets up the later moment in Nemesis.

 

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home: Special Collector's Edition
Admiral James T. Kirk is prepared to take the consequences for rescuing Spock and losing the Starship Enterprise, but a new danger has put Earth itself in jeopardy. Kirk and his crew must travel back in time in an old Klingon Bird-of-Prey to right an ancient wrong, in hopes of saving Earthâ??and the Federationâ??from certain doom.

T2Q Comments: The opening challenger dedication is a nice touch, especially considering the shuttle prototype's namesake. Once again "film footage as cam footage" technique used, but at least here it's slightly more plausible. The Klingon prosecutor's rants are good setup for the later events of ST6.

Scotty gets almost all the most quotable lines in this movie. #1: "Damage control- that's easy. Reading Klingon- that's hard."

Nice to see Spock's mom reintroduced as his father was in the last movie- was it the same actress? It certainly looked like it I like the overall visual and audio impact of the probe- it's creepy and otherworldly, yet simple- I was reminded of it's appearance when reading Rendezvous With Rama; also the scale of the thing- particularly the one shot in a few minutes comparing it to the unlit, depowered Spacedock- is quite impressive, Spacedock is seemingly smaller than the glowing tube attached to the ball sensor on the probe.

I must admit that whenever I see Brock Peters , I always recall him from this movie more than anything else (even his turn as Darth Vader). Also a good variety of starfleet commanders- first woman captain, then an indian and also Brock's character. Also love the redesigned Bounty bird of prey- the overall look, design, and the colors- dark green, with the red and yellow lights, I just love the look.

Nice they at least bothered to give a Saavik send-off, and, doing a bit of research, it appears my earlier comments for ST3 were almost correct- there was an unfilmed line implying that the reason Saavik stayed on Vulcan was because she was pregnant with Spock's child from when she tried to alleviate his Pon Farr agony on the Genesis planet. Crazy Vulcans.

One detail I didn't remember was how all the starfleet vessels got trapped in Spacedock when the probe drained power to it with the doors closed- that's gotta suck. A small touch, I also love the audio effects on the president's distress signal- it's very 80's, yet very creepy and powerful. Also, how come low-tech computer graphics used in movies like this and Aliens and the like from the 80's actually seem more advanced than what we have today, despite all our hi-rez, HD, full-color displays?

A blink-and-you'll-miss-it final appearance cameo by Chapel, immediately followed by a Rand cameo as well. The slingshot technqiue is a nice throwback to TOS. Sulu's increasingly tense Warp factor countup is kinda cheesy but is surprisingly effecttve. The timewarp slingshot is portrayed as almost magical with the music and angles chosen- lovely, though the weird 2001 stargate hallucinations sequence is probably a bit over the top, and coulda been trimmed down a bit i think.

There's something about the slight pauses when Spock puts on the headband that I just dig- it's a small touch, but it adds something intangible. Of course, Sulu's from San Francisco... lol. Why do San Francisco trash collecors talk like their from Brooklyn?. Nice touch with Kirk hawking the glasses he got from bones as a gift in the 2nd movie- though doesn't this put the glasses into a time loop? Each time Kirk will get them in the future, they'll have had an additional 300 years of wear and tear and entrophy, which might decrease their vallue when he hawks it...

Some of the museum speech is a bit too overtly dramatic ("this is mankind's legacy", etc). One thing that's interesting is there's no real villain in the movie- the closest is Bob who seems to be a random **** just for the hell of it, but otherwise it's more of an obstacle-movie than opponent-movie, unlike most of the other Trek films. It's a good way of making a lighter Trek movie

 

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier: Special Collector's Edition
A distress call to a broken, impoverished world brings Captain James T. Kirk and the malfunctioning Starship Enterprise-A face-to-face with Sybok, the half-brother of Spock. Having rejected logic, Sybok seeks to use the Enterprise-A to travel to the center of the galaxy on a quest for the mythical planet Sha-Ka-Ree, in hopes of finding God. Beliefs are called into question as Kirk, Spock and McCoy must put an end to Sybok's quest.

T2Q Comments: And so now we come to the Star Trek movie so bad it wasn't even released theatrically in many countries...

Not the catchiest intro, but not bad either- for the first time in 2 films, we're not picking up threads from the last movie's conclusion (except for the small "shakedown cruise" state of the Enterprise-A). TMP/TNG theme music- I imagine to reintroduce the fact to audiences that the TOS movies came up with it first, not the series that launched in the interim between ST4 and ST5...though is it me, or is the "engine charge up" sound effect from the TNG intro in tehre? Did they actually just straight-up take the exact TNG intro soundtrack and reuse it as-is?

The rock climbing sequenceis amusing, though more an intrdouction/excuse for comedy than character introduction. And once again, Trek just cannot do cantina scenes, they really need to stop trying- the 3-breasted cat stripper? really?.

Oh, David Warner! At least there'll be one performance worth watching here (except he has about 3 lines and 30 seconds of screen time in this movie it turns out- ARG! (though he at least gets one deleted scene)- nice to see they're involving the Romulans at least- though this one isn't a good performance.

Ah, at least I get to see Spacedock again- though they reuse the A's reveal footage from the last movie. The campfire scene is quite good, actually.

Captain Klaa is probably the worst looking Klingon I have ever seen- he feels like he should be in KISS or some 80's metal hair band, and i think his XO chick is in 6, isn't she? Poor Voyager- those probes just don't get any luck in Star Trek, do they? I love the Bird of Prey shots in this movie- very detailed, though lacking some of the grace of the effects in IV

I also like how they actually use the shuttlecraft and bay in this movie, but how the hell does a single lift go from the shuttlebay to the bridge going up?

So far the movie's been pretty surprisngly decent- I like how the klingons and enterprise are being drawn to the same place (if only there were romulan craft involved too), though the Enterprise going out in it's condition and there not being anyone else suitable is a stretch (you'd think they'd just send Kirk to temporarily take control of a fully functional ship in the quadrant).

You know, so far there've been a few "traveling in space" transition shots, but none actually have the Enterprise in them- I suspect budget issues at play here, especially as most of the non-shuttle-related Enterprise-A effects looks subpar in this film.

Captain Chekov and the strike team landing is all fine- cool stuff. Uhura's feather dance...just...just no...ugh. Aassault on Paradise City is kinda cool, actually. Though not necessarily a bad thing just yet, it can't be a good sign that they're using one of the overused plots from TOS- in this case, an alien group stealing the Enterprise.

The shuttle crash landing does make you grimace a bit- ouch!; the Enterprise warping to dodge the klingon attack looks terrible though- but we have one of the only two memorable quotes from this movie- and the only one of those two that is actually memorable in a good way- Chekov's "Warp speed now!"

"Sybock is my brother" "You just made that up!" yes, yes they did. They could have easily made him someone clsoe to Spock but not of his blood.

Not liking the brainwashing ability of Sybock-sorta retreads the parasites from ST2, but stupider. Scotty is actually annoying in this movie- and why is the wall to the brig cell only like cardboard thick? And his "I k

 

Star Trek VI: The UnDiscovered Country: Special Collector's Edition
An interstellar cataclysm cripples the Klingon Empire's homeworld, leading to their Chancellor seeking peace with the Federation. But covert acts attempt to thwart the peace process and, instead, plunge the Federation into interstellar war ? with the Starship Enterprise-A and Captain James T. Kirk caught in the middle. Kirk must clear his name and overcome old prejudices to ensure that the chance for a new era of peace between the Federation and the Klingon Empire does not go to waste.

T2Q Comments: Great intro- nice to see the Excelsior up and running, even cooler to see Sulu in command and how he uses his navigation background in that role. Also another Rand cameo. She's really popped up in these movies more than I had realized prior to this- though time has not been as good to her as the rest of the crew. The Praxis effect is still neat even after all this time (did this do the effect first or was it Stargate? I forget offhand)...how come we never got The Sulu Show?

Nice to see Brock Peters one more time. Kirk's hardline anti-Klingon stance seems odd given the end of the last movie, though. I spacedock. Supposedly there was originally a storyboarded shot of the HMS Bounty in spacedock being dissassembled- would have loved that touch.

The sound-board-like flight controls for the A actually make a lot of sense, pitty they weren't always there . And at least the A's effects look solid once again (even though they reused the A-reveal shot again!). Nice that they brought back the Battlecruiser after all the Bird of Prey love, though I still prefer the Bird of Prey.

David Warner's back! yay! Obviously a "we're soo damn sorry about that" role- but does Trek have some kind of "David Warner Cannot Be in More Than 3 Scenes" limit? Also, people moving in mid transport always creeps me out- THEY ARE RECONSTRUCTING YOUR DAMN MOLECULES- STAND STILL! Christopher Plummer, also very good. They do an excellent job of creating the tension at the dinner table- the Hitler joke hits the right note in the tension. The surprise attack sequence is quite effective.

It's Draal as a Klingon! (i now in retrospect realize it's the same character from ST4, and though he seemed familiar then, I didn't recognize him till now since it's about the same time he was on B5). If only the Earth president could call someone a dumbass...oh, and Odo's here as well. Obviously that whole Organian thing isn't a factor to these Federation guys anymore. "Those men have literally saved this planet.", very nice moment there.

Kim Catrall pole entrance is fun- were those always there? "Does this pole still work? Wow, this place is great! You guys gotta try this pole!" . Granddaddy Worf a nice little back and forth with TNG. Bones enjoying the single laugh his joke gets is probably my favorite bit here.

"...was the last, best hope (in the universe) for peace"
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Nice that the Kirk demotion from 4, a good thing then, is brought back up to haunt him here- really enhances the "epilogue to 3 & 4" feel this movie has. Sulu rules. And another Rand cameo that you'd completely miss (or wonder why she gets a closeup reaction to the verdict) unless you really know your Trek. "An ancestor of mine once said..." So...Spock is a descendant of Sherlock Holmes (or at least Doyle)? Ha!

Soul Hunter Warden. Inmates not quite a cantina, not quite Jabba's Palace...comes off better than past attempts, but some aliens still don't work well- love the bug-eyed green dude though.

I see the starfleet trooper has mysteriously misplaced his silly football helmet..i wonder why..oh, because it's silly looking. Kim Catrall always looks like she's really having fun with this role- makes me glad they didn't make the character Saavik like originally planned (though now the character sorta just dissapears in the franchise after 4, with a might-have-Spock's-love-child deleted moment.

"What is is with you

 

I can't see his sexual orientation being an issue- IIRC, he didn't come out until only a few years ago.

Briefly played Star Trek: Shattered Universe for PS2 yesterday, not knowing anything about it- was pleasantly surprised to see it was set on the Excelsior, with Takei voicing Sulu. They even remade the TOS opening with the Excelsior and Sulu's newer narration and such (starts about 2:50 into this video. Also had Walter voicing Chekov. Kinda neat- from the early gameplay, it had a SW Starfighter kind of feel to things, with you piloting a Terran Empire Wraith fighter- was fun to straffe the Mirror Universe Enterprise-A