Come to think of it all the movie titles are pretty lame. I don't care if titles are hard, people are being paid millions of dollars, they can hire some ideas guys for better titles. The series had lots and lots of episodes which were mostly better titled.
See, but episode titles don't matter. Many shows don't even show them. A movie title is a different animal because, ideally, it should sell you on the movie without any other information. No one tuned in to Star Trek because the episode title grabbed their fancy.
calling the 2009 movie 'star trek' made all kinds of sense: -hadnt been used for a movie before (they were lucky TMP wasnt just called 'Star Trek') -its a big budget reboot (& prequel) of the original series that was also called 'Star Trek' (like the way the first Mission Impossible movie was called 'Mission Impossible', same for the 'Lost In Space' movie, 'The Fugitive' etc) -let audiences know that it wasnt just another Trek sequel with a subtitle -it was kind of an all encompassing Trek movie (sequel/prequel/reboot) incorperating elements of TOS, the movies, and TNG and its spin offs.
Star Trek has always shown its episode titles onscreen (with the sole exception of the original pilot). And I've heard it said that TOS was one of the first television series whose fans referred to its episodes by their titles, rather than just "The one with the salt vampire" or "The one with Joan Collins" or whatever. Although that was most likely because the constant reruns, and the relatively small size of the syndication package, meant that the titles got drilled into viewers' minds by repetition, like so much else about TOS. In recent years, the trend in movie titles seems to be toward brevity and simplicity -- the extreme example being that the second X-Men movie was titled simply X2, although the subtitle X-Men United was tacked on at the last minute. A number of revivals and remakes these days are just given the basic series title and nothing more, like the 2008 Rambo. There also seems to be a trend away from using numbers in sequel titles. Trek movie titles in recent years reflect the industry trends.
The Movie subtitles are a bit like your friends' children, even the ones you initially think are a bit odd and/or a bad idea eventually grow on you and after the little sprogs have been around a while you can't imagine them being called anything else. Of the weaker ones though, I think The Search for Spock is just a bit too much "What it says on the tin", all the other TOS titles (apart from the first of course which only needed the brand name and the clarification it was a film) at least tried to work on more than one level. I do like Christopher's notion that Picard is actually the Nemesis of Nemesis which would actually make it a very clever, subversive title. Unfortunately, I can't quite believe anyone was thinking that when they named the film.
I've always thought the TOS films would have been better without the numerals. I never cared for them with any film and I'm glad the fad has (mostly) died.
TWOK was originally released without the "II" in its onscreen title. The novelization omitted it as well. But the numeral was used in the film's posters, soundtrack album, photonovel, making-of book, etc., and was added to the film on re-release.
Of course, The Search for Spock is a spoiler, but it's clearly intentionnal. I rembember when I was a kid in the late nineties. Some Quebec's trekkies had been invited at a TV show and the hostess asked if Spock would be in the incoming movie (Insurrection). When my parents rented First Contact, my mother asked if the Vulcan at the end was "captain Spock". For the general public, Star Trek = Spock, so, for the producers, Spock = $pock. French translation of titles are generally good for Star Trek movies, except the fourth were they missed the thing. Retour sur Terre, it's litterally Return on Earth and we finally discover that the home was an Enterprise commanded by Kirk. Final Frontier is not an innapropriate name, but it could have been the title of the sixth. What's the biggest deal, the most extreme thing that Kirk could have done? Finding God or making peace with Klingons? I suggest "Star Trek V: The Secret Half-Bro Who Turned Charismatic" or "Camping, Horse Riding and Stripping". Oh, and for Nemesis, I would have chosen something more linked to Romulus and Remus as mythological figures or about the rage of a bald cybergoth dragqueen who becames the dictator of the people he hates so much.
Regarding "The Search for Spock," we should remember that, at the time that movie was in the works, Nimoy was hosting a TV show called "In Search of . . ." so I always figured that was part of the inspiration for the movie title. True story: Nimoy visited my college campus around that time. I still remember the poor guy trying to plug "In Search of . . . " to an audience that just wanted to ask him questions about STAR TREK. It was like something out of GALAXY QUEST. Nimoy would talk for fifteen minutes about "In Search Of," then ask "Any questions?" "Is Spock really dead?" "What can you tell us about the next STAR TREK movie?" "What's your favorite STAR TREK episode?" I don't recall anybody asking a single question about "In Search of" that entire evening, despite Nimoy's best efforts.
I thought "Star Trek" was a fine standalone title for JJ Abrams' 2009 film. I thought "Star Trek Into Darkness" was fine as well, if a bit awkward the first time I heard/saw it. The rest have their merit and their flaws. First Contact was originally called "Resurrection," Insurrection was originally called "Nemesis" ... Rick Berman was an odd duck when it came to titles. He didn't like recycling titles they'd used already, but made exceptions (First Contact, Nemesis). So long as we never get something along the lines of 2 Star 2 Trek, I generally don't think I'll have any problems with the titles.
The only Star Trek movie title that made me scratch my head a bit was Star Trek: First Contact. I'd remembered there was a Next Generation episode by that title, it just seemed like a weird choice. Functionally, it's not too different from an original crew film called Star Trek: The Mark of Gideon.
Honestly, that didn't bother me. "First Contact" is an old scifi term that predates Star Trek. I didn't even think of the TNG episode when I heard the movie title. And the average moviegoer was never going to make that association.
But if you're referring to it (especially here) you have to add a additional identifier so people will know which movie you're taking about. Star Trek Eleven, or Star Trek '09, or the one before the last one. Otherwise the people you're taking to won't know right off which movie you're referring to. Even you had to add "JJ Abrams' 2009 film." At some point George Lucas added "A New Hope" to the title of Star Wars. While I don't really except it, maybe one day Mr. Abrams will add a official something to Star Trek Eleven. If only for the convenience of the fans.
I don't have a problem with the TOS film titles. However, the TNG films are another story. Generations: Obviously this works in the context of the film, as it's about both the Next Generation crew and the bridge between the generations of TOS and TNG. First Contact: Well, there is a first contact at the end of the film, but the movie really isn't about the first contact, it's about the Borg traveling back through time and the Enterprise crew trying to stop them. Insurrection: A highly presumptuous title for what actually happens in the movie. Granted this film was originally envisioned to be very different. Nemesis: Yet again, this title makes the film out to be much more intriguing than it really was.
That's right. Its most famous usage, probably the one that enshrined the term in the science fiction lexicon, was as the title of a 1945 short story by Murray Leinster (which is also possibly the first depiction of a universal translator). Its earliest documented use was also by Leinster in a 1935 story, "Proxima Centauri." Leinster's heirs actually sued Paramount over their use of the title First Contact, but the court ruled that it had become a generic term, too commonly used to be uniquely associated with Leinster's story.
The main goal of the Borg is to avoid this first contact. Insurrection: In fact, if you're Jean-Dork Picard, it's an insurrection. Fighting against a corrupt admiral in the name of Prime Directive....it's so cute.