Best Star Trek Movie

[topspeed]

With a new Trek movie coming from JJ Abrams and Wrath of Khan on HBO every other minute right now, I thought it would interesting to see what the esteemed members of AR(OK, everyone but maybe GMike and Rich...and maybe Beef :D) thought about the orginals. Is it me, or are the even numbered movies far better than the odd?

BTW, I hesitated to include the Next Gen movies because, well...they sucked. But in fairness, they are there for your amusement.

Pick your fave!

[eisforelectronic]

KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

Although, I did like all the Shakespeare quotes in "Undiscovered Country"

[Worf101]

KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!


Dang it, ya beat me to it!!!

Da Worfster

[Styx]

I went with The Undiscovered Country.....more of a who done it theme. The Wrath of Khan was a very close second.

[kexodusc]

Khan by a mile...I seem to be the only one who really, really enjoyed "Nemesis" and that'd be my #2, but of the originals, #6 and #3 would finish 2nd and 3rd respectively.

[Troy]

I hit the wrong button, sorry.

I accidentally hit "In Search of Spock" (Shoulda been called "In Search of Cash"). Terrible movie. Sappy as hell.

I meant to hit the Whale Movie. Because it's just hilarious. I still say "Well, double dumbass on you!" to people.

[topspeed]

Khan by a mile...I seem to be the only one who really, really enjoyed "Nemesis" and that'd be my #2, but of the originals, #6 and #3 would finish 2nd and 3rd respectively.
Who's on first?

Seriously, Kex, you liked Search for Spock?!?

Man, I dunno....that's like saying you liked Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. They replaced a hot Kirstie Alley (the Cheers version, not the Cheetos version) with some unknown, annoying actress and pulled the script straight out of Nora Roberts novella. You're destroying my image of you, pal!

[bobsticks]

Not even close...Ricardo Montalban and his rich, Corinthian leather Kahn skin all the way.

[3-LockBox]

Kahn by a mile. I actually didn't mind The Search For Spock or The Voyage Home, but every other Trek movie disappointed me. Wrath Of Kahn is still a great movie and its a blast to watch the original TV episode then watch WoK. Montalban's Kahn is among SciFi's best villians ever. Better than Vader.

[Woochifer]

Hey Speedy -

Good to see you dropping by.

I'll go along with the consensus -- Wrath of Khan is a great movie at so many levels. One of the all-time great movie villains in Khan, very deep theme of mortality and the hubris of cheating death that runs throughout the movie, tight direction by Nicholas Meyer, and of course, the all-time great line "KHAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNN!!!!!" (The audience reaction was right on cue when I once caught a midnight showing of Trek II) Definitely the best of the Trek movies, and the one that has held up the best.

The prevailing common wisdom on various Trek fan sites (and judging by reviewers) was that the even-numbered Star Trek movies were the best ones, and I tend to concur with that. Among the original cast movies, I would put The Voyage Home and The Undiscovered Country at #2 and #3. Even with the Next Generation cast, First Contact (Trek 8) and Nemesis (Trek 10) were far superior to Generations (Trek 7) and the gawdawful Insurrection (Trek 9). Doesn't bode well for the Abrams movie, since that one is technically Trek 11.

When The Voyage Home came out, I thought that its more lighthearted and contemporary focus was badly needed, after the more heavy and tragic themes of II and III. Some of the best original series episodes were very much about holding up a mirror to current events, and showing more of the lighthearted interactions with the crew, and The Voyage Home gets back to that. That movie wound up doing very well with audiences that weren't Star Trek or even sci-fi fans. Even to this day, The Voyage Home remains the highest grossing of all the Star Trek movies.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=startrek.htm

[GMichael]

Duh.. Was there really a question?
Nothing beats having a squiggly snail cockroach thing crawl in your ear and take over your brain.
I spit my last breath at thee.

[GMichael]

Hey Speedy -

Good to see you dropping by.

I'll go along with the consensus -- Wrath of Khan is a great movie at so many levels. One of the all-time great movie villains in Khan, very deep theme of mortality and the hubris of cheating death that runs throughout the movie, tight direction by Nicholas Meyer, and of course, the all-time great line "KHAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNN!!!!!" (The audience reaction was right on cue when I once caught a midnight showing of Trek II) Definitely the best of the Trek movies, and the one that has held up the best.

The prevailing common wisdom on various Trek fan sites (and judging by reviewers) was that the even-numbered Star Trek movies were the best ones, and I tend to concur with that. Among the original cast movies, I would put The Voyage Home and The Undiscovered Country at #2 and #3. Even with the Next Generation cast, First Contact (Trek 8) and Nemesis (Trek 10) were far superior to Generations (Trek 7) and the gawdawful Insurrection (Trek 9). Doesn't bode well for the Abrams movie, since that one is technically Trek 11.

When The Voyage Home came out, I thought that its more lighthearted and contemporary focus was badly needed, after the more heavy and tragic themes of II and III. Some of the best original series episodes were very much about holding up a mirror to current events, and showing more of the lighthearted interactions with the crew, and The Voyage Home gets back to that. That movie wound up doing very well with audiences that weren't Star Trek or even sci-fi fans. Even to this day, The Voyage Home remains the highest grossing of all the Star Trek movies.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=startrek.htm

I don't think I'll ever be able to see Kirk the same way after watching him fart on cue while being hand-cuffed on Boston Legal the other night.

[topspeed]

I don't think I'll ever be able to see Kirk the same way after watching him fart on cue while being hand-cuffed on Boston Legal the other night.

Denny Crane!

I love Boston Legal! Denny is one of the best characters on TV because he's so honest. What you see is what you get. No PC. No BS. You have to admire that. Apparently Spader and Shatner are good friends off the set as well.

But I digress...

I never knew IV was the top grossing, but remember that in the middle of the Cold War it was a welcome relief from the strain. You're absolutely right, Wooch, about how the series was known to challenge the social and political environments at the times. Maybe the new one will focus on the collapse of the traditional economic model, eh? Believe it or not, Boston Legal makes it a point to address current socioeconomic events on their show as well...between Denny's flatulence of course :).

BTW, Search for Spock was on Universal HD last night so, in the spirit on honoring Kex's opinions, I sat throught it and watched it for the first time in years.






Yep, it still stunk on ice.

[Woochifer]

I never knew IV was the top grossing, but remember that in the middle of the Cold War it was a welcome relief from the strain. You're absolutely right, Wooch, about how the series was known to challenge the social and political environments at the times. Maybe the new one will focus on the collapse of the traditional economic model, eh?

That's the beauty of sci-fi -- you can make a point about and even make fun of how we live without getting preachy or too overt about it. Something as simple as Spock saying "Judging by the pollution content in the atmosphere, I believe we've landed somewhere in the late 20th century," or the crew getting flipped off and cussed out while jaywalking in North Beach. The original series was particularly groundbreaking in how it put together an interracial cast (including the first interracial kiss ever shown on network TV).

The Voyage Home is a little dated now, but it brilliantly managed to depict 20th century America as some barbaric foreign planet to Kirk & co. (I recall the movie posters reading something like "Join the Enterprise crew as they explore the strangest world of all ... ours")

If you'll recall, the economic model had already collapsed by the 23rd century Star Trek world. There's that scene where Kirk has that lunch date with the whale biologist trying to convince her that he's from the future, and when it came time to pay the bill she blurted "I guess you don't have money in the 23rd century either?" and Kirk replies "We don't!"

The movie did well at the box office because you didn't have to follow Star Trek to get it.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Okay. I voted for #1 BECAUSE... I was a fan way back when the first one was released; it set the stage and the pace for each one that followed and I, along with my brothers and friends, watched all three seasons on my family's first RCA color TV when the show ran from '66 to '68. I was nine when it started and I can still remember watching episodes in my pajamas (I can't remember which night the TV show was on so eat me! :mad: ) and eating my snacks on a paper plate while sitting on the floor in front of the TV. I even remember the style and pattern of the wall-to-wall carpet I was sitting on...

Huh?

Multiple choice would be I, II & III. :yesnod:

[Feanor]

....

The Voyage Home is a little dated now, but it brilliantly managed to depict 20th century America as some barbaric foreign planet to Kirk & co. (I recall the movie posters reading something like "Join the Enterprise crew as they explore the strangest world of all ... ours")

If you'll recall, the economic model had already collapsed by the 23rd century Star Trek world. There's that scene where Kirk has that lunch date with the whale biologist trying to convince her that he's from the future, and when it came time to pay the bill she blurted "I guess you don't have money in the 23rd century either?" and Kirk replies "We don't!"

The movie did well at the box office because you didn't have to follow Star Trek to get it.

The Voyage Home was my favorite by a pretty fair margin. It didn't seem to take itself as seriously as the rest. But none of the Star Trek movies were great, IMO.

[Rich-n-Texas]

You're not from around here anyway so who cares?:prrr:

[Smokey]

I, along with my brothers and friends, watched all three seasons on my family's first RCA color TV when the show ran from '66 to '68. I was nine when it started.

Got you! That means you are older than me :ciappa:

I agree that movie #1 hold a special place for Star Trek fans who grow up watching TV show as it was a big event when it premiered. Now they could see their heroes on giant screen with dolby sound :)

[Rich-n-Texas]

DAM! I said 9 didn't I?:incazzato: :blush2:

[topspeed]

Geez, Rich, you're old! :lol:

I undestand the sentimentality of going with ST I. Being a sci fi fan, I remember going to see that in the theater as I had always enjoyed both the series and the cartoon. The problem was that it was 3 years after Star Wars came out, a movie that didn't raise the bar for sci fi movies as much as it threw it in the bushes forcing the competition to find it. IMO, it wasn't until Wrath came out that the series found it mojo and deftly blended story with action.

[Kam]

i voted for 6. 1 was a close second for the nostalgia factor, along with Wrath of Khan for my emotional involvement and love for Khan. but overall i thought 6 was the best story and movie, AND was worth is just to hear christopher plummer say: "Cry _____, and ___ slip ___ Dogs __ War." (carry over joke from the other thread)

[Woochifer]

Okay. I voted for #1 BECAUSE... I was a fan way back when the first one was released; it set the stage and the pace for each one that followed and I, along with my brothers and friends, watched all three seasons on my family's first RCA color TV when the show ran from '66 to '68. I was nine when it started and I can still remember watching episodes in my pajamas (I can't remember which night the TV show was on so eat me! :mad: ) and eating my snacks on a paper plate while sitting on the floor in front of the TV. I even remember the style and pattern of the wall-to-wall carpet I was sitting on...

The first Trek flick was definitely the most ambitious production, and had the most lavish budget of all the Trek movies (the budget was at least 5X greater than Wrath of Khan). Problem I had with the first movie was that it seemed way too enamored with its own massiveness. The throwback of showing a blank screen while the music overture plays at the beginning was a cool homage to the old big screen epics.

But, so many other parts in the movie just dragged out -- case in point, the scene where Kirk flies out to the Enterprise for the first time is EIGHT MINUTES long! (Friends of mine who worked as sci-fi and entertainment writers have actually timed that scene, and they liken it to fanboy/geek porn) I understand that the effects in that movie are top notch and very expensive to produce, but that kind of wow factor can only carry a movie so far.

The most critical mistake was dragging out the V'GER punchline all the way to the end. No coincidence that William Shatner always considered the first Trek movie his favorite, and made the exact same mistake when he directed The Final Frontier and dragged out the whole "Let's meet God!" premise to the end.


i voted for 6. 1 was a close second for the nostalgia factor, along with Wrath of Khan for my emotional involvement and love for Khan. but overall i thought 6 was the best story and movie, AND was worth is just to hear christopher plummer say: "Cry _____, and ___ slip ___ Dogs __ War." (carry over joke from the other thread)

Gotta love it when a Shakespeare fan like Nicholas Meyer gets to direct two of the best movies in the series. Plummer and Montablan got some of the best lines ever written for a sci-fi villain.

The Undiscovered Country was more like a murder mystery in space, but very well done. Makes me wonder if any of the Next Generation movies would have been any better had they called Meyer in to do the directing and script doctoring.


I undestand the sentimentality of going with ST I. Being a sci fi fan, I remember going to see that in the theater as I had always enjoyed both the series and the cartoon. The problem was that it was 3 years after Star Wars came out, a movie that didn't raise the bar for sci fi movies as much as it threw it in the bushes forcing the competition to find it. IMO, it wasn't until Wrath came out that the series found it mojo and deftly blended story with action.

I think the first Trek movie might have been a lot better had it made more of a deliberate effort to channel Star Wars. Instead, they brought in Robert Wise and tried to make a widescreen epic (a la Lawrence of Arabia) in space.

Wrath of Khan was actually a very low budget movie, but the key that made that movie work was going back to the original series and bringing back arguably the best villain.

[Smokey]

Gotta love it when a Shakespeare fan like Nicholas Meyer gets to direct two of the best movies in the series. Plummer and Montablan got some of the best lines ever written for a sci-fi villain.

If you watch the xtras on Wrath of Khan DVD, the original story line was that Spock would die at end with no resurrection. But Nimoy and producer changed their mind about the ending and had to argue with Nicholos Meyer to reshoot the ending- as Meyer said he would have non of that. He said in the interview that story call for Spok to die for good and we should have left it that way.

[canuckle]

The Motion Picture - was ironically the best scifi of all of them. Sadly, it just wasn't great Star Trek. Good ideas, pretty visuals, and an intriguing Spock get it a lot of points though. 7/10 Roddenberry medallions.

The Wrath of Khan - was the best Trek film. Not by a huge margin, but it beats out IV by virtue of being scifi more than comedy. 10/10 Roddenberry medallions.

The Search for Spock - wasn't as bad as most people here seem to think. Robin Curtis was so much better than Kirstie Alley - my god, who could stand Kirstie Alley?? Christopher Lloyd was cool. The destruction of the Enterprise made us all cry... go on, admit it! 6/10 Roddenberry medallions.

The Voyage Home - it's #2. Very well-written and executed. It strayed from what Star Trek was, but it did it in a very good way. 9/10 Roddenberry medallions.

The Undiscovered Country - a great Star Trek adventure with fun characters. The glaring plot holes like the pots and pans galley, the Klingon translation scene, and a hundred other things forced Trekkies to look the other way and that was a big drawback. But the sentimentality of it all was a plus. 8/10 Roddenberry medallions.

The other movies really aren't worth mentioning. Maybe First Contact, but everything else was at best a mediocre episode. And mediocre episodes belong on Saturday afternoon television, not on my DVD shelf!

[topspeed]

If you watch the xtras on Wrath of Khan DVD, the original story line was that Spock would die at end with no resurrection. But Nimoy and producer changed their mind about the ending and had to argue with Nicholos Meyer to reshoot the ending- as Meyer said he would have non of that. He said in the interview that story call for Spok to die for good and we should have left it that way.
There must be some kind of unwritten rule in moviedom that states a lead character must die in the sequel. Harrison Ford was very reluctant to do Return of the Jedi and felt that Han Solo should have died at the end of Empire, which was the original idea. It took a fair amount of convincing from Lucas and others to get him on board, and considering how sappy that one was, he probably should have listened to his conscious.

[Woochifer]

If you watch the xtras on Wrath of Khan DVD, the original story line was that Spock would die at end with no resurrection. But Nimoy and producer changed their mind about the ending and had to argue with Nicholos Meyer to reshoot the ending- as Meyer said he would have non of that. He said in the interview that story call for Spok to die for good and we should have left it that way.

That's because Meyer came into the production with no history with the Star Trek franchise. The final story (which Meyer did all the script doctoring on) centered around mortality and the hubris of cheating death. Having Spock die at the end would have played into that theme more consistently.

Actually, my understanding is that Nimoy originally WANTED Spock to die (the Wikipedia entry says that Nimoy only agreed to reprise the Spock role if the character would die at the end). It was only when the bean counters wanted another sequel (and Nimoy changed his mind) that they reshot the death scene to make it more open-ended. Nimoy only agreed to continue with the Star Trek franchise when he was offered the director's chair (he directed III and IV, and produced VI with Meyer again directing).

I recall Meyer objecting to the revised ending, but after he still got called back to direct The Undiscovered Country -- a movie that probably wouldn't have been made if he had his way with Wrath of Khan.

[emesbee]

In my opinion, The Undiscovered Country is the best star trek movie by far. It had the best plot, and mixed in the humourous aspects rather more successfully than most of the others. (I really like the dining scene with the Klingons.) I found it the most entertaining of the movies.

[3-LockBox]

Okay. I voted for #1 BECAUSE... I was a fan way back when the first one was released; it set the stage and the pace for each one that followed and I, along with my brothers and friends, watched all three seasons on my family's first RCA color TV when the show ran from '66 to '68.

I was around 2 or 3 when the TV show first aired, but I had an older brother who was a fan. I can actually remember my brother arguing with one of my sisters about which show to watch, Star Trek or Gomer Pyle. I did catch every episode in syndication and was a major fan. Then, while our family was at the theater for a showing Superman:The Movie, we saw a preview for Star Trek:The Motion Picture, and I was floored - all those 'fly-by' sequences outside the Enterprise just enthralled me. I begged my parents on the spot to take me when it came out. But gawd, what a boring movie. Great plot idea, but executed by people who apparently didn't care for the original, or hadn't seen it. They tried to make it look like 2001:Space Odyssey, but the pacing and cinematography was clumsy (in hindsight). The video version was even clumsier. Clearly a case of someone trying to fix something that wasn't broke.

[Feanor]

... Then, while our family was at the theater for a showing Superman:The Movie, we saw a preview for Star Trek:The Motion Picture, and I was floored - all those 'fly-by' sequences outside the Enterprise just enthralled me. I begged my parents on the spot to take me when it came out. But gawd, what a boring movie. ...

Yes, it would have made a great hour TV episode but it was a tedious 2.5 hour movie.

[eisforelectronic]

The Motion Picture was basically a movie starring the Enterprise, everything else was a supporting role.