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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Recommendations for the best Star Trek film?

Discussion in 'Archive: SF&F: Films and Television' started by TheBoogieMan, May 30, 2006.

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  1. Jedi_Reject_Jesse

    Jedi_Reject_Jesse Jedi Grand Master star 7

    Registered:
    Aug 26, 2004
    First Contact, The Motion Picture, and Nemesis. (Hey, I though Nemesis was good.)
     
  2. malkieD2

    malkieD2 Ex-Manager and RSA star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Jun 7, 2002
    dude, that pun is a banable offense
     
  3. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2000
    Sadly enough, I think that was actually intented subtext in the film...
     
  4. Son of the Suns

    Son of the Suns Administrator Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 6, 1999
    My personal favorites are The Wrath of Khan, The Undiscovered Country and First Contact. The worst is Nemesis, although it is still watchable.
     
  5. darth_paul

    darth_paul Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 24, 2000
    The only Trek film there's any reason to seek out is First Contact. Of the others, The Undiscovered Country is probably the best. Avoid The Motion Picture, The Final Frontier, and Insurrection at all costs. The rest you should watch if they're put in front of you and leave alone otherwise.

    -Paul
     
  6. icqfreak

    icqfreak Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Mar 7, 1999
    This is how I'd rank all 10, though some were hard to choose.

    1) First Contact (VIII)
    2) The Wrath of Khan (II)
    3) The Undiscovered Country (VI)
    4) The Voyage Home (IV)
    5) The Search for Spock (III)
    6) Nemesis (X)
    7) Generations (VII)
    8) Insurrection (IX)
    9) The Final Frontier (V)
    10) The Motion Picture (I)
     
  7. KissMeImARebel

    KissMeImARebel Force Ghost star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 25, 2003
    The best IMHO is probably First Contact, though I have a personal soft spot for Wrath of Khan as well.

    I'd break them all into three categories (in no particular order)

    Really Good:

    Wrath of Khan (II) - best villain by far
    Voyage Home (IV) - not a strong story, but the gimmick of seeing the crew in the 1980's is just too fun
    Undiscovered Country (VI) - another great villain, tighly crafted story
    First Contact (VIII) - dark and gutsy, great Picard angst, brilliant story

    OK But Nothing Special:
    Generations (VII) - solid, good villain, creative but a bit weak on plot
    Insurrection (IX) - solid but dull coming after First Contact and not very cinematic
    Nemesis (X) - IMHO not as bad as others have said


    Bloody Awful:
    Motion Picture (I) - actually a good movie IMHO if you fast forward through half of it
    Search for Spock (III) - aside from some Wacky McCoy moments...yeah...bad...too bad it ties in II and IV
    Final Frontier (V) - by far the worst
     
  8. CaptainBinaca

    CaptainBinaca Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jul 15, 2005
    1) Wrath of Khan (II)- Best villian, actually a strong performance from Shatner and one of the best directed space battles ever. They acknowledged the age of the cast which was a nice touch. Kirk's speech in the Genesis cave ("What am I feeling? Old... worn out") one of his best and most self-aware moments as an actor.

    2) Undiscovered Country (VI)- Unique entry in the series, an outer space whodunnit with Spock in the SHerlock Holmes role trying to exonerate Kirk and Mccoy from a crime they didn't commit. A great sendoff for the old crew and a great performance from Chris Plummer as Chang.

    3) Search for Spock (III)- More surprisingly good acting from Shatner and our first real look at the Klingons (post-Original Series) as bigtime bad-asses with a villian almost as good as Khan. Robin Curtis was a more believable Vulcan than Kirstie Alley as Saavik.

    4) First Contact (VIII)- The best of Next Gen on the big screen. The closest thing to full on Action that Star Trek gets. Great f/x, great villian and a lot of excitement, even though they did mess a bit with Original Series canon.

    5) The Motion Picture (I)- Laugh all you want, I know how flawed the film is: Glacial pacing, dull muted pastel coloring, wooden acting and over-reliance on visual effects. But when it comes to actual story, TMP might have the strongest overall theme in the whole series. Yes it was borrowed a bit from an Original Series episode (The Changeling), but it doesn't change the fact that the idea of V'ger and the journey it takes is absolutely compelling as a concept.

    6) the Voyage Home (IV)- Silly, stupid PC-Hollywood plot about whales saving the world can be forgiven by some wonderful character moments for everyone in the cast and some pretty good comedy. The opposite of The Motion Picture which was a great story with flawed execution: Voyage Home= moronic story with crisp execution.

    7) Nemesis (X)- Not as horrible as it could have been, some of it is a bit of fun. The space battle was well done and Data's sacrifice was also handled well, but you could see the actors practically having to strain to keep awake. Mediocre stuff.

    8) Generations (VII)- It's basically a crapshoot now. Not a terribly bad film, it's to be admired for trying to take Trek in a darker direction, but it's pretty dull at times and the Nexus sequence is as bad as it gets in any Trek film.

    9) Insurrection (IX)- a few laughs but generally an awful film. Much of the humor just seemed forced. They really dropped the ball with these Next Gen films (outside of First COntact)

    10) The Final Frontier (V)- or: The 2 hour Shatner Ego Trip Through the Stars. Horrible, horrible, horrible.

    Whoa, long post. I guess Trek can lend itself toward verbosity

     
  9. RebelScum77

    RebelScum77 Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 3, 2003
    I fully agree with Everton's list.

    The Undiscovered Country is my favorite to watch however.
     
  10. Juliet316

    Juliet316 Chosen One star 10

    Registered:
    Apr 27, 2005
    Yeah, but will Boogie have time to actually watch a Trek film now that he's back among you mod folk. ;)
     
  11. Master_Jedi80

    Master_Jedi80 Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    May 27, 2005
    If you have never seen a Star Trek Movie, i would start with
    Star Trek II:Wrath Of Khan. it is probablly the best, and is also part of a three film story arc.

    I would watch Star Trek 2, 3 (search for Spock) 4 (Voyage Home)
    and you get a great little 3 part story (although IV takes place in 1980's San Fran- but it has soem great moments and finish the spock tale started at the end of 2)

    If TNG is your thing, i suggest Generations, and First Contact. Nemisis is also good (Insurrection is okay, but more of a long episode then an epic movie in my opinion)

    personally, for trek, i like the TV show TNG...So i like those cast/crew.

    But the Classic Star Trek crew in the movies is awesome.

    If i was gonna rank them, id rank them like this...
    but they are all enjoyable (although i havent seen I in years and years and years)

    -Wrath of Khan (II)
    -Search for Spock (III)
    -Voyage Home (IV)
    -First Contact (VIII)
    -Generations (VII) both TNG and Classic cast/crews
    -Undiscovered Country (VI)
    -Nemisis (X)
    -Insurrection (IX)
    -The Final Fronteir (V)
    -Star Trek The motion Picture (I)


     
  12. TheBoogieMan

    TheBoogieMan Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 14, 2001
    I pretty much watch a new film every night, so I'd say so. ;)
     
  13. PrinceEspaaValorum

    PrinceEspaaValorum Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 30, 2005
    Almost agree entirely. The first grouping should include IV, IMHO. Other than that, we agree.
     
  14. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jan 27, 2000
    Oh, don't get me wrong- I loved IV, but I separate it from the others becuse it's more of a comedy than a drama like the other films.
     
  15. JediPrettyBoy

    JediPrettyBoy Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Jan 10, 2005
    Yeah, four is good, but it's like comparing episodes like "The Trouble with Tribbles" and "Mudd's Women" to episodes like "Space Seed" and "Balance of Terror".
     
  16. sidious618

    sidious618 Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Apr 20, 2003
    My personal favorite is The Undiscovered Country. That movie really felt like classic TOS.
     
  17. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

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    Jan 27, 2000
    So, Boogie, how'd the viewing go?
     
  18. TheBoogieMan

    TheBoogieMan Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Nov 14, 2001
    It's about to happen. I haven't had any time for movie watching between when I posted this and now, but my local DVD shop has all ST DVDs on sale now really cheaply, so I'm going to get a couple and see.
     
  19. DarthAJ

    DarthAJ Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 9, 2004
    You guys are way too hard on poor TMP. Although I've only seen it once and I fast-forwarded the five minute frame-freeze of the Enterprise entrance. :p


    See them all Boogie, it's worth it to see the Enterprise crew go throught their adventures in movies I-VI. I can't speak for The Next Generations though...
     
  20. Jedi Merkurian

    Jedi Merkurian Future Films Rumor Naysayer star 7 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    May 25, 2000
    Star Trek - the Motion Picture is good (IMHO) but not big on action, and not necessary to understand any of the other films. The only "big things" are the introduction of the refitted Enterprise "new Klingons," and Kirk's promotion to Admiral. The soundtrack is bloody brilliant as well.

    the Wrath of Khan, the Search for Spock, and the Voyage Home all form a story arc, albeit Voyage Home is only loosely related to the others. Wrath of Khan is pretty much the best of the lot. It's a fine blending of action & acting. IMHO, Wrath of Khan, Undiscovered Country, and First Contact form the Holy Trinity of Star Trek Excellence.

    Trek V's title escapes me. The movie had an intriguing intro (a laughing Vulcan? :eek:) and Kirk, Spock, and McCoy camping was comedy gold. However, the movie went straight down the tupbes from there.

    Undiscovered Country as I already said is in the top three as far as overall quality. In true Trek tradition, the story is a wonderful allegory pertaining to current events, in this case, the fall of the Soviet Union (Chernobyl and all) and the end of the Cold War.

    Generations was decent enough, especially with Picard exploring his own mentality, and Data his humanity. Still, with the exception of TNG cast making their jump to the big screen, Data getting his "emotion chip," and the destruction of the Enterprise D, the "Next Gen" movies are largely stand-alones.

    First Contact rocks! It also sets up for the (forgettable) Enterprise series.

    Insurrection and Nemesis were not so great.
     
  21. The2ndQuest

    The2ndQuest Tri-Mod With a Mouth star 10 Staff Member Manager

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    Jan 27, 2000
    Nemesis was a lot better than Insurrection- it may have been Wrath of Kahn Redux, but, originality aside, it's still pretty entertaining and fun to watch, and is far less cringe-inducing than Insurrecion was.
     
  22. sidious618

    sidious618 Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Apr 20, 2003
    I was never all that impressed by First Contact. Perhaps I need to watch it again. I liked Nemesis, though.
     
  23. General Kenobi

    General Kenobi Administrator Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Dec 31, 1998
    The Motion Picture is "The Changeling" meets 2001: A Space Odyssey. A few great scenes. Jerry Goldsmith wrote one of the all-time great film scores for this. That alone makes it worth seeing once.

    Wrath Of Khan is probably the best of them all. Search For Spock falls off a bit, but I'd call it good instead of great.

    The Voyage Home - I like the analogy with "The Trouble With Tribbles". The story is not the strong point here; the character interplay and humor make this a great film.

    The Final Frontier - I'd rank it as the worst, though it does have a few decent scenes, mostly in Yosemite. And a good score. The antagonist and the story - blech.

    The Undiscovered Country - Excellent film. Great story, action, tie-ins. I love the Cliff Eidelman score.

    Generations - The whole Nexus thing drags it down, but that was the plot device needed to bring Kirk into the climax. Could it have been better? Oh yeah. But there are some great moments in this film too.

    First Contact - The best TNG film. Ranks up there with WoK.

    Insurrection - Even as a glorified TNG episode, it's weak. At least two or three dozen regular episodes blow this out of the water.

    Nemesis - I liked it in general. Very good, not great. I didn't really like how Picard came out of character a bit near the climax.
     
  24. ObiWan506

    ObiWan506 Former Head Admin star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

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    Aug 5, 2003
    I remember when that came out and my Dad took me and my brother to see that. It was awesome. It's my favorite film sentimentally and also just because it's a damn good film.
     
  25. JediPriestess

    JediPriestess Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 28, 2004
    Agreed 100%
     
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