In honor of Star Trek: Discovery finishing its third season, here is every movie from the Star Trek universe ranked.
13. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979): What an abysmal first outing. The original Star Trek movie brings back the crew of the Enterprise as they go on a journey throughout the stars to try and figure out why an energy cloud called V-Ger is causing so much destruction. Often called “The Slow-Motion Picture,” the original Star Trek movie lives up to its nickname by having a dreadfully slow pace, with little action scenes, heavy amounts of dialogue and mainly being set in one location. This movie is the quintessential film to refer to as literal style over substance, except even the style is bland and unappealing.
12. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989): After Leonard Nimoy proved to be an excellent director with his previous two Star Trek movies, it seemed like William Shatner would have the same luck when he directed a Star Trek movie. However, it turns out that this was hardly the case. When Spock’s half-brother Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill) hijacks the Enterprise, the crew is forced to go on a journey through space in order to find the physical embodiment of God. Aside from the bizarre set-up, the film is plagued with embarrassing moments, such as an elderly Nichelle Nichols doing a half-naked dance as Uhura, cringeworthy dialogue such as “What does God need with a starship?” and Kirk, Spock and McCoy (DeForest Kelley) sitting around a campfire singing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.” Aside from a few moments between Spock and his brother, this film has very little to offer. If this movie wanted to be about finding God, it should have found better writers first.
11. Star Trek: Insurrection (1998): After Jonathan Frakes showed himself to be a good director for the Star Trek movies with the exceptional Star Trek: First Contact, it is disappointing to find out that this movie is the weakest of the films starring the cast from Star Trek: The Next Generation. In this movie, Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) must protect a small village of innocent people from his superiors at Starfleet, who want to relocate the villagers so they can strip the town for resources. Like Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the film has very little to offer, with cringeworthy comedy, slow pacing and very little action being provided. However, F. Murray Abraham does make for a good villain even with his embarrassing design. This movie is mainly saved by the acting and not much else, and should only be viewed by extremely dedicated fans of Star Trek.
10. Star Trek Generations (1994): On paper, a movie about Patrick Stewart’s Captain Picard teaming up with William Shatner’s Captain Kirk sounds like an amazing idea. However, the execution of that idea was shown to be extremely lackluster. Star Trek Generations showcases Captain Picard as he attempts to stop a ruthless scientist (Malcolm McDowell) from destroying a planetary system so that he can enter a realm where one’s deepest desires can become a reality. Aside from McDowell’s performance and the opportunity of seeing Kirk and Picard on screen together, Star Trek Generations is not that good of a film, with slow pacing, inconsistent storytelling and the infamous death of Captain Kirk, which might just be one of the most controversial and unwarranted deaths in fiction.
9. Star Trek: Nemisis (2002): Being the last of the Star Trek movies that features the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Nemisis struggles to have this series go out on a high note with it feeling very different from a normal Star Trek movie, and not in a good way. We see Picard go up against a younger clone of himself played by Tom Hardy, as he lures the captain to another planet and tries to kill him. The film suffers from a problem that is similar to Star Trek: The Motion Picture except that it prioritizes the action over the story and never slows down. Aside from the acting, fascinating dynamic between Picard and his younger clone and some of the action, this movie misses the mark.
8. Star Trek Into Darkness (2013): After the success of 2009’s Star Trek, it was clear that a sequel with this new cast was inevitable. We follow Kirk (Chris Pine) as he struggles to be the type of Starfleet captain for what his superiors require him to be. When the iconic villain Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch) kills Kirk’s mentor Pike (Bruce Greenwood) an enraged Kirk must track down the criminal while he also goes up against a corrupt Fleet Admiral (Peter Weller) who intends to start a war with the Kingon Empire. If that sounds like two movie plots wrapped into one, you would be correct because this movie is a mess. Under J.J. Abrams’ direction, the plot his heavily influenced by Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan to the point of it looking like it’s being ripped off from it. Kirk is immensely unlikeable in this as he mistreats several members of his crew and refuses to take responsibility for his actions. Despite its problems, there are several good things about this movie like Cumberbatch as Khan, the performances from the cast from the first movie and the incredible action scenes.
7. Star Trek Beyond (2016): After the mixed reception from Star Trek Into Darkness, Justin Lin took over as director and brought us a satisfying but also familiar addition to the Star Trek film series. We follow the crew of the Enterprise as they are hunted down by a mutated Starfleet captain (Idris Elba) whose crew was abandoned by the Starfleet Academy. With the members of the Enterprise crew split up, this film offers a different dynamic for the characters and allows for an interesting experience overall. While Elba is not that interesting as the villain, he still manages to stand out with his performance. It also showcases a great final performance for Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov who sadly passed away before the film was released. Aside from the film being too slow at points and the bland villain, this film is an overall success.
6. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984): Leonard Nimoy’s direction brought this movie great success, as Star Trek III: The Search for Spock proves to be a worthy successor to the previous outing. We follow Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise as they go against Starfleet’s orders and go on a quest to rescue their deceased friend Spock and bring him back to life. On their journey, they must contend with a ruthless Klingon commander (Christopher Lloyd) as he desires the secret of the Genesis Planet in which Spock is located on. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock proves to be quite the thrilling adventure, as we see Kirk’s anguish at the death of his best friend after previous movie and his hatred for the Klingon commander who proves to be one of the most despicable villains from the entire film series. Aside from some inconsistent writing and Nichelle Nichols having to sit out for the majority of the film as Uhura due to unexplained reasons, the movie is quite enjoyable.
5. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991): After the abysmal previous film, the original Star Trek cast managed to go out on a high note with Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. In a reference to the end of the Cold War, we follow Kirk struggle to get over for his hatred of Klingons after Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, as he and Dr. McCoy are taken prisoner by a manipulative Klingon Colonel (Christopher Plummer) after he frames Kirk for murder. In order to prevent a war, Kirk must put aside his hatred of Klingons and stop a faction of Klingon and Starfleet soldiers who want to continue their conflict with each-other. A fitting farewell for the original cast, this movie has great social commentary and performances, particularly from Plummer who is an enjoyable main villain.
4. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986): Completing the trilogy that started with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home sees the crew of the Enterprise travel back in time to the 1980s to save a group of humpback whales in order to please a powerful probe. The comedy is at its best in this movie, with many amusing fish out of water gags regarding the cast in the 1980s. While the animal rights message might seem silly on paper, it manages to be very effective under Nimoy’s direction. The film also manages to stand out as a more light-hearted entry after the more emotional films that came before it. Corny as it might sound, this entry in the franchise is a whale of a movie.
3. Star Trek (2009): With a brand new cast playing younger versions of the original characters and J.J. Abrams’ direction, Star Trek manages to be a creative prequel as well as a reboot, and a terrific entry for newcomers. We follow a young Kirk (Chris Pine) as he makes his personal journey into becoming a captain with his new colleague Dr. McCoy (Karl Urban) and his rival turned best friend Spock (Zachary Quinto) as they go up against a cruel time traveling Romulan named Nero (Eric Bana). The film stars a great younger cast and is a spectacle, with terrific dialogue and exciting action for modern audiences.
2. Star Trek: First Contact (1996): Under Jonathan Frakes’ direction, the second entry in the Next Generation film series manages to be its best, as we see Picard go on an obsessed rampage in order to destroy the Borg after he was turned into one of them during the show. Meanwhile, Commander Riker travels back in time and attempts to boost the confidence of a washed-up scientist (James Cromwell) so he can make the first contact with alien life. Arguably the darkest Star Trek movie, Star Trek: First Contact offers a terrific performance from Patrick Stewart who shows a ruthless and tortured side to Picard, something which we have not seen before. An exhilarating ride from beginning to end, Star Trek: First Contact is a must-see for fans of the franchise and a terrific movie overall.
1. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982): Without question, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is the best movie from the series. We follow Kirk as he struggles to gain the spark he once had as a captain now that he is an Admiral. When the iconic villain Khan (Ricardo Montalbán) returns from exile and tries to get revenge on Kirk, the Enterprise must go up against their greatest enemy and his crew in a game of both wits and physical power as they each make their final stand. This film is a triumph in the Star Trek franchise, with it not only showing itself to be a massive improvement over the previous movie and bringing in Montalbán’s Khan from the original series, a character who most fans now consider to be the best Star Trek villain of all time. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is a masterpiece and arguably one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time.
