The Star Trek Movies (Discussion Thread)

Brian in Mesa

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Since Star Trek into Darkness will be the 12th film in this series, I thought there would be plenty of opinions on the previous 11 films.

:grabs:

Here are the films including quick recaps (thanks to Wikipedia) in case your name is not Cardinals.Ken. :D

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

A massive energy cloud advances toward Earth, leaving destruction in its wake, and the Enterprise must intercept it to determine what lies within, and what its intent might be.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Khan Noonian Singh (Ricardo Montalban), whom Kirk thwarted in his attempt to seize control of the Enterprise fifteen years earlier ("Space Seed"), seeks his revenge and lays a cunning and sinister trap.

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

When McCoy begins acting irrationally, Kirk learns that Spock, in his final moments, transferred his katra, his living spirit, to the doctor. In order to save McCoy from emotional ruin, Kirk and crew must steal the Enterprise and violate the quarantine of the Genesis planet to retrieve Spock's body from the rapidly dying planet, in the hopes that body and soul can be rejoined. Bent on obtaining the secret of Genesis for themselves, however, a rogue Klingon (Christopher Lloyd) and his crew interfere, with deadly consequences.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

While returning to stand court-martial for their actions in rescuing Spock, Kirk and crew learn that Earth is under siege by a giant probe that is transmitting a destructive signal. The signal is intended for the long-extinct species of humpback whales. To save the planet, the crew must time-travel back to the 20th century to obtain a mating pair of these whales, and a marine biologist (Catherine Hicks) to care for them.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Spock's half-brother believes he is summoned by God, and hijacks the brand-new (and problem-ridden) Enterprise-A to take it through the Great Barrier, at the center of the Milky Way, beyond which he believes his maker waits for him. Meanwhile, an ambitious young Klingon captain, seeking vengeance for the deaths of the Klingon crewmen at Genesis, sets his sights on Kirk.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

After their homeworld is wracked by an environmental disaster, the Klingons attempt to make peace with the Federation. When the Klingon Chancellor (David Warner) is assassinated, the crew of the Enterprise must uncover a massive conspiracy against the peace process with members in both factions, led by Klingon General Chang (Christopher Plummer).

Star Trek: Generations

Picard enlists the services of Kirk, who is presumed long dead but flourishes in an extradimensional realm, to prevent a madman (Malcolm McDowell) from destroying a star and its planetary system in an attempt to enter that realm.

Star Trek: First Contact

The Borg travel back in time to enslave humanity in the past, before First Contact between Humans and Vulcans. Picard must confront the demons that have haunted him since his assimilation into the Borg Collective, and lead the Enterprise-E back in time to ensure the success of Zefrem Cochrane's (James Cromwell) first warp drive test-flight and humankind's subsequent first contact with extraterrestrials.

Star Trek: Insurrection

The crew of the Enterprise launch a rebellion on the Baku homeworld against Picard’s superior officer (Anthony Zerbe) and his ally (F. Murray Abraham), who want to relocate the Baku and gain possession of the medicinal cosmic radiation that floods their planet.

Star Trek: Nemesis

Picard and company must thwart Picard's clone (Tom Hardy) who has become ruler of Romulus and is intent on Picard's death and the Federation's destruction.

Star Trek

When Vulcan is destroyed by Romulans from the future, Starfleet cadets Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) must set aside their differences to prevent Earth from suffering the same fate.

And just for good measure:

Star Trek into Darkness

The upcoming sci-fi action film directed by J. J. Abrams is a sequel to the 2009 film. The film's title will have a subtitle with no number following the series title, following the titling pattern of the Next Generation films. The story will follow the alternate time line. Scheduled to open in the USA on May 17th, 2013
 

AzStevenCal

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I like the series generally and loved the reboot. I'm definitely looking forward to the the new one.

The way I'd rank them would probably get me kicked out of any Trek fan club, fortunately I'm not in one.

Star Trek (reboot)
First Contact
Insurrection
Wrath of Khan
Voyage Home
Search For Spock
Generations
Undiscovered Country
Final Frontier
ST the Motion Picture
Nemesis

Steve
 

Gaddabout

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I don't consider myself much of a Trekkie -- or a Trekker -- but this is how I rank them:

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Khan Noonian Singh (Ricardo Montalban), whom Kirk thwarted in his attempt to seize control of the Enterprise fifteen years earlier ("Space Seed"), seeks his revenge and lays a cunning and sinister trap.

One of the most memorable villains, and it really turned Kirk into a 3-dimensional character. He wasn't just a macho douche do-gooder in a jumpsuit. It also produced one of the most memorable scenes in all of Star Trek, Spock's heroic death and funeral.

Star Trek

When Vulcan is destroyed by Romulans from the future, Starfleet cadets Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) must set aside their differences to prevent Earth from suffering the same fate.

I think a lot of this movie's appeal was ditching the 90s-era sensitive men spiel and returning Kirk and the gang to the more traditional dynamic. So maybe I like it just a little bit more because of that, but it was still so much fun. It also helped that the actors stuck closely to the traditional portrayals without doing out-and-out impersonations.

Star Trek: First Contact

The Borg travel back in time to enslave humanity in the past, before First Contact between Humans and Vulcans. Picard must confront the demons that have haunted him since his assimilation into the Borg Collective, and lead the Enterprise-E back in time to ensure the success of Zefrem Cochrane's (James Cromwell) first warp drive test-flight and humankind's subsequent first contact with extraterrestrials.

The Borg were clearly stolen from Hitchhiker Guide's Vogons, but they're still awesome in Star Trek's context. Using them as a device to retell Moby Dick -- and Patrick Stewart was BORN to play Captain Ahab -- was brilliant. It's the most complete movie, IMO. It relied more on storytelling and acting rather than characters or caricatures. I can't rank it higher because the Zefram Cochran character was really annoying, and I could never shake James Cromwell's character from Night Court out of my head while watching him. Too bad for me, because he's a great actor.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

A massive energy cloud advances toward Earth, leaving destruction in its wake, and the Enterprise must intercept it to determine what lies within, and what its intent might be.

Put it here just because I thought it was clever, if not truly awesome. And it was the first when I was still a kid. Emotional attachment here.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

After their homeworld is wracked by an environmental disaster, the Klingons attempt to make peace with the Federation. When the Klingon Chancellor (David Warner) is assassinated, the crew of the Enterprise must uncover a massive conspiracy against the peace process with members in both factions, led by Klingon General Chang (Christopher Plummer).

Pretty decent and fun movie. Every Star Trek movie involving Kirk demands he be pushed out of his captain's chair, run up a tree, and thrown rocks at. This one did a really good job of that. And it also did a nice job mocking Kirk's lady charms.

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

When McCoy begins acting irrationally, Kirk learns that Spock, in his final moments, transferred his katra, his living spirit, to the doctor. In order to save McCoy from emotional ruin, Kirk and crew must steal the Enterprise and violate the quarantine of the Genesis planet to retrieve Spock's body from the rapidly dying planet, in the hopes that body and soul can be rejoined. Bent on obtaining the secret of Genesis for themselves, however, a rogue Klingon (Christopher Lloyd) and his crew interfere, with deadly consequences.

This one was hard to watch because it was pretty clear they didn't have a direction after killing Spock. This was the beginning of the decline of the movie franchise, though not for promising efforts.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

While returning to stand court-martial for their actions in rescuing Spock, Kirk and crew learn that Earth is under siege by a giant probe that is transmitting a destructive signal. The signal is intended for the long-extinct species of humpback whales. To save the planet, the crew must time-travel back to the 20th century to obtain a mating pair of these whales, and a marine biologist (Catherine Hicks) to care for them.

Yes, there were some funny moments, but it sometimes felt more like a satire on what an anachronism Star Trek had become (ironically) rather than a Star Trek movie. Catherine Hicks in the lead female part and the uber-hippie, preachy save-the-whales message made this almost unwatchable for me. Even in 1986, this movie felt about 5 years too late.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Spock's half-brother believes he is summoned by God, and hijacks the brand-new (and problem-ridden) Enterprise-A to take it through the Great Barrier, at the center of the Milky Way, beyond which he believes his maker waits for him. Meanwhile, an ambitious young Klingon captain, seeking vengeance for the deaths of the Klingon crewmen at Genesis, sets his sights on Kirk.

This one was so over-the-top, I haven't even revisited it since watching it the first time.

Star Trek: Generations

Picard enlists the services of Kirk, who is presumed long dead but flourishes in an extradimensional realm, to prevent a madman (Malcolm McDowell) from destroying a star and its planetary system in an attempt to enter that realm.

It felt like they crammed some other sci-fi story (that MAY have actually been decent) into a Star Trek template. They also clearly wanted an excuse to bring back Kirk, but it was so ... boring. I hated this movie so much, I almost gave up on star Trek.

Star Trek: Insurrection

The crew of the Enterprise launch a rebellion on the Baku homeworld against Picard’s superior officer (Anthony Zerbe) and his ally (F. Murray Abraham), who want to relocate the Baku and gain possession of the medicinal cosmic radiation that floods their planet.

This was just like every episode of TNG, just longer. I've watched it a couple of times since then, and I still can't figure out what they thought might be dramatic about it. Patrick Stewart was NOT born to play Geronimo.

Star Trek: Nemesis

Picard and company must thwart Picard's clone (Tom Hardy) who has become ruler of Romulus and is intent on Picard's death and the Federation's destruction.

I never saw this. I refuse to see it.
 
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coyoteshockeyfan

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The Voyage Home doesn't require a synopsis other than "the one with the whales."
 

Gaddabout

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BTW, Brent Spiner (Data) was also on Night Court in a similar role as Cromwell.

 

Cardinals.Ken

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BTW, Brent Spiner (Data) was also on Night Court in a similar role as Cromwell.

Just as similar as Dan Fielding was to Maltz (ST:III)?

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mojorizen7

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Great thread BIM.


"Old school trek dude i am."(see...i like both Trek AND Star Wars) ;)

I'm probably the only soul in here who liked "Generations." Not my favorite but solid. Many fans had a problem with the ribbon of time and the nexus concept...it was a little confusing yeah? ....yet they praised the black hole/red matter timeline concept in the reboot? Okay.

I think ST:TMP was also solid....another film that catches grief for its snail pace. The writing and special effects were very good though...

Wrath of Kahn was obviously the perfect storm of Trek films ....but i also like how they basically turned II/III and IV into a trilogy. Good stuff. I see these films as one piece,and it's cool to get 3 subsequent flims that literally tie in together.

ST:V was interesting to me...it had some moments of genuine old school humor,and some interesting things(the shuttle craft made an appearance!)...but ultimately it felt cheaply thrown together to me. Spocks brother? Huh?....and Shatner's directing was a step down from Nimoy. Pretty uninteresting as a whole IMO.

Really liked ST:VI The Undiscovered country,again the writing was better than i'd seen in awhile and Nick Mayer nailed the project for the most part.
Social commentary was a little thick...but a well done film considering it was #6 :shock:

I was a follower of TNG series. First Contact was very good. The Data character translated very well onto the big screen. Picard? Ehhh....

Don't get me wrong,Abrams Trek reboot was a very good film....but the casting director should get a TON of credit for its success. Brilliant choices.
I still think the timeline aspect of the story to "help" future writing was unnecessary, lazy and convolutedly contrived....but it was damn good as a whole. Pace,action,acting,directing,music,...very cool. It could've been a masterpiece though.

Into Darkness.
Just hoping that this film keeps the story grounded in terms of just being a legit sci-fi story that surrounds these great young actors,but doesn't feel the need to use action hero gimmicks or put a stupid twist on anything.
 

Cheesebeef

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BTW, Brent Spiner (Data) was also on Night Court in a similar role as Cromwell.


man... that show was REALLY funny. There were like 5 jokes per page in that three and half a minute clip and most them were actually funny. great casting, great casting and really good writing.

"we ate the nekko wafers"... classic.
 

Dr. Jones

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Loved night court.

Loved Voyage Home

Loved Khan

Loved The reboot.
 

Stout

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man... that show was REALLY funny. There were like 5 jokes per page in that three and half a minute clip and most them were actually funny. great casting, great casting and really good writing.

"we ate the nekko wafers"... classic.

Those guys were all huge...like, 6'4 and above. Great, great comedy...one of the best sitcoms ever made.
 

ozzfloyd

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For me:

Wrath of Khan
Undiscovered Country
Voyage Home
Search For Spock
Star Trek (2009)
First Contact
Generations
The Motion Picture
Nemesis
Final Frontier
Insurrection
 

puckhead

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Sticking with the even numbered releases works pretty well for ST movies.

Night Court on the other hand, never lets you down.
 
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