Best Star Trek Movie

[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/franchi...d=startrek.htm

[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/franchi...d=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.

[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.