posted
I got this idea from Matthew's Star Trek episode thread. Which of the movies do you think is the best?
For reference, the movies are:
Star Trek: The Motion Picture Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Star Trek III: The Search for Spock Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home Star Trek V: The Final Frontier Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country Star Trek: Generations Star Trek: First Contact Star Trek: Insurrection Star Trek: Nemesis
[ July 09, 2003, 10:33 AM: Message edited by: Kid Prime ]
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From: Birmingham, AL | Registered: Jul 2003
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Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country Star Trek III: The Search for Spock Star Trek: Generations Star Trek: First Contact Star Trek: The Motion Picture Star Trek: Insurrection Star Trek V: The Final Frontier Star Trek: Nemesis (I only rank Nemesis last as I have yet to see it. Otherwise, The Final Frontier is the real stinker of the group.)
From: Utah | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I wonder if it's fair to rank all of the movies together, since the first six starred the original crew and the remaining movies featured the NG crew? Isn't it kinda like comparing apples to oranges?
-------------------- Some people are like slinkys: not really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when you knock them down a flight of stairs
From: Penthouse atop Levitz Hall, LMBP Plaza, Embassy Row, Legion World | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Same basic universe of plot elements, characters, and motivations, I'd say, whatever the cast.
Favorite to least favorite:
01 Star Trek: The Motion Picture [director's cut DVD or added-footage VHS version] 02 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan 03 Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home 04 Star Trek: Generations 05 Star Trek: Insurrection 06 Star Trek III: The Search for Spock 07 Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country 08 Star Trek: First Contact 09 Star Trek: Nemesis 10 Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Robert Wise was indisputably the best director among all of those on this series, especially as seen in the longer VHS version (part of his rhythms and vision restored) and director's cut DVD (all of it restored) of the first movie.
The rest of the films were not cinema, to me, but extended TV episodes. And those all had their considerable virtues. Except for William Shatner's horrible effort on "Final Frontier," which was incoherent when it wasn't stupid.
I like the cast better from The Original Series ("TMP" to "Generations"), but the cast acts with far more skill in The Next Generation ("Generations" to "Nemesis").
From: Starhaven Consulate, City of Angels | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
All I can say is that I am stunned that anybody would put the first Star Trek picture higher than 10 on this list. Just stunned. That movie bored me to tears.
My order starting with best and ending with worst:
1. Star Trek: First Contact (by far and away my favorite) 2. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (how can you not like the irony of extinct species and Spock's colorful euphimisms) 3. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (good story, effects are a little dated, like the nod to the original series) 4. Star Trek: Nemesis (the best of a so so lot) 5. Star Trek: Generations (barely watchable) 6. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (can't remember it) 6. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (can't remember it) 7. Star Trek: Insurrection (can remember it, yuck) 9. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (the movie equivalent to the word "and". ie: There was a Star Trek 2 AND a Star Trek 4) 10. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (one of my all time least favorite movies. If this movie was a legion character it would be Jamm from the Bloodlines annual)
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From: NOVA by way of NOIN | Registered: Jul 2003
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01 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan 02 Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home 03 Star Trek: First Contact 04 Star Trek: Generations 05 Star Trek III: The Search for Spock 06 Star Trek: The Motion Picture 07 Star Trek: Nemesis 08 Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country 09 Star Trek: Insurrection 10 Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
From: New York, NY | Registered: Jul 2003
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Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Star Trek: First Contact Star Trek III: The Search for Spock Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country Star Trek: Generations Star Trek: Insurrection Star Trek: The Motion Picture Star Trek: Nemesis Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
-------------------- White. A blank page or canvas. His favorite. So... many... possibilities.
From: Birmingham, AL | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Too bad this wasn't a poll -- we'd be able to really tabulate the results ... needless to say, I can already tell that Bill Shatner's efforts were not appreciated (maybe it was the "Row, row, row your boat" sequence >>shudder<<).
From: New York, NY | Registered: Jul 2003
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THE Star Trek Movie. The Death of Spock. Ricardo Montalban. Kirstie Alley. Still a pleasure to watch, lo these many years later.
2. THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK
For a change of pace, the other actors get to shine in Nimoy's near-absence. The Kirk-McCoy relationship deepens, and Sulu delivers the best line: "Don't call me tiny."
3. THE VOYAGE HOME
For many years, this was my favorite, but the jaunt through '80s San Francisco seems dated now. Still a classic: As fun as it was funny.
4. THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY
A few scenes that were played strictly for laughs and a bare-bones plot hampered what should have been a soaring send-off to the original crew. A good movie, but not a great one.
5. GENERATIONS
Same as the above. The much bally-hooed meeting between Kirk and Picard lacked any real pizzazz. Both actors seemed to be doing a job. Spock's last words were, "I am and always will be your friend." Kirk's last words? "Oh my." Oh, really?
6. FIRST CONTACT
A good movie, but it just hasn't worn well with me. I don't think the Next Gen cast really made a smooth transition to the big screen. They seem far too mundane and passive most of the time.
7. THE MOTION PICTURE
The movie is overly long and pretentious, but let's not forget how great it was to have Star Trek back after a 10-year absence. There is genuine warmth in the performances, and everyone seems happy to be back. That makes up for the attempts to be deeply relevant, a la 2001: A Space Odyssey.
8. NEMESIS
The latest and, likely, last of the Next Gen franchise. It was just a so-so movie with a lame plot overshadowed by video game effects. As with the death of Spock, they left a trap door out of the death of another character. Trouble is, a trap door should be hidden.
9. FINAL FRONTIER
For all the reasons mentioned by others. Bill Shatner had a "friendly nations" clause in his contract, which means he got to direct because Nimoy got to direct. Someone should have stipulated that talent be part of that package deal.
10. INSURRECTION
I remember almost nothing about this movie. That's not a good sign.
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by He Who Wanders: 4. THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY A few scenes that were played strictly for laughs and a bare-bones plot hampered what should have been a soaring send-off to the original crew. A good movie, but not a great one.
Now that you mention it, you're right -- it could've been so much better. I loved the idea that Kirk's warrior mantality was a hinderance to the peace process and that he couldn't overcome his hatred for his decades long enemy (though Shatner doesn't posess the acting chops to really make it compelling -- compare him to Stewart's feelings about the Borg in "First Contact"). But the film got sidetracked by the whole ice-prison planet thing and an annoying supporting role for Iman.
From: New York, NY | Registered: Jul 2003
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quote:Originally posted by DrakeB3003: I loved the idea that Kirk's warrior mantality was a hinderance to the peace process and that he couldn't overcome his hatred for his decades long enemy
UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY had a lot going for it, that angle being one of my favorites, too. It was unusual, and a bit uncomfortable, to see Kirk as a bigot ("The only good Klingon is a dead Klingon") -- but movies should be a little uncomfortable to make us think. (And Kirk had a very human reason for feeling that way: a Klingon murdered his son.)
But there were other parts of the movie which were blatant attempts to make it as funny as THE VOYAGE HOME. One scene, though very minor, stands out for its stupidity:
Chekov is leading the investigation aboard the Enterprise. Someone finds the anti-grav boots one of the killers used. The boots happen to be tucked away in the quarters of a young crewman. Chekov confronts the crewman with Poirot-esque flair and drops the boots at the crewman's feet -- only then realizing that the young man's alien feet couldn't possibly fit into the boots.
C'mon. Isn't there a crew manifest aboard the Enterprise? Wouldn't Security Chief Chekov know going into the room what race its occupant was?
-------------------- The Semi-Great Gildersleeve - writing, super-heroes, and this 'n' that
From: The Stasis Zone | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Christian Slater's cameo in "Undiscovered Country" was ill-advised, as well, at least for me. His perpetual smirk yanked the setting back to a current-day soundstage, from the distant era of the Federation.
Not that I have anything against Slater -- he was marvelous and perfectly cast in "Pump Up the Volume" and any number of other films. He just didn't belong on the Enterprise, no matter how much he was a fan.
From: Starhaven Consulate, City of Angels | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Christain Slater having a cameo in a Star Trek film I can take. Whoopi Goldberg with a landing strip on her head tending bar on TNG (and "Generations") talking like a sci-fi Mr. Miyagi made me want to shoot my television.
From: New York, NY | Registered: Jul 2003
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