Most Over-Appreciated Trek Film

[Vger23]

There's a nice discussion and poll going on about the "Most Underrated Trek Film" here in the forum. I think it would be interesting to have the same discussion going the other way.

Remember- this is NOT about which film is your "least favorite." It's not about a film you think "is bad." It's about a film that you think gets a lot of praise / love from critics, audiences and fans, but isn't necessarily deserving of it.

You can vote for 2 films if you want.

Be constructive, and explain your vote if you can!

Happy voting!

 

[Vger23]

So, to start, I voted for two films:

TVH- This was a fun, engaging movie...no doubt. But, for me, this film has the lowest re-watch value of the entire franchise (maybe with the exception of INS). And, as entertaining as it can be, it is also massively sloppy and hokey, a sin which Trek fans are typically VERY unforgiving of. Somehow, TVH seems to get a pass in a lot of these areas. I also think it's missing the fun "space adventure" elements of the films that came before.

TUC- I've been outspoken about my feelings about TUC. Again, it's CERTAINLY not a bad film. I just think it's wildly over-rated by fans with rose-colored glasses. From my perspective, TUC is deeply flawed (perhaps just as much as TFF) from a character and story standpoint. It's also very cheap and sloppy, and the story has a rushed / under-baked feeling that I can never get past. Good movie, but not a classic like people view it as.

 

[DeepSpaceYorks]

I went for WOK, not because it's a bad film (it's brilliant) but it's pushed over the other films so much that it assumes a significance far beyond what it deserves to. I'm an evangelist for TMP so I would say that but the hard on that Paramount have for WOK is, frankly, a little embarrassing. Where's that deluxe super duper edition of TMP on Blu Ray? You know, the one with all three versions of the film.

 

[Smellmet]

I voted first contact. I think TWOK largely deserves the accolades it gets, whereas FC, whilst a decent film in it's own right, seems to be almost put on the same pedestal, and I don't think it deserves to be.

 

[F. King Daniel]

I voted STVI. It's drab, alters the characters/makes them incompetent for the sake of plot (Kirk's a racist, McCoy and Uhura are useless), has the most corny villain ever (the nerds will think he's deep if he quotes Shakespeare!) and the horrible, horrible scene where Spock mind-rapes Valaris in front of everyone and they just watch and do nothing.

 

[KyleRaynous]

TMP: Not that it's bad movie or anything like it, but it always seemed to me a lot of fans put it on a pedestal. I found it a pale imitation of 2001 (and I'm not exactly a fan of Kubrick's work), but forgetting that it is a Star Trek movie. Considering the budget it had (3 times 2001, 5 times Star Wars), some visual effects fell short, even for the time (Spock's spacewalk). The plot was not as deep as it pretended to be, and stretched too long for the movies' total runtime. The romance between Decker and Ilia was not convincing, especially considering the importance it had in the plot. And the orgy of the refit Enterprise debut was... excessive.

 

[Hey Missy]

I voted Into Darkness. Maybe it's not over-appreciated by the fans, but definitely by critics. I just never saw the appeal in it - the non-stop action scenes are nauseating, the look and feel of the movie tries too hard to emulate contemporary films, characters spout too many witty quips and catchphrases from the 1960's, the plot is a clusterf**k, and the 9/11 undertones/parallels had been done to death at that point. It's as if they were trying to "trick" audiences who would normally see superhero movies or Mission: Impossible into seeing a Trek flick. They even shrunk the "Star Trek" name significantly in relation to the "Into Darkness" subtitle on every advertisement, which had been done before to the "we don't want people thinking this is Star Trek" films - TVH and Nemesis.

My next vote goes to The Undiscovered Country. Not that I think it's bad - but it is a bit overrated. For a final TOS adventure it gets pretty dull and plodding, especially once Kirk and Bones are sentenced to prison. The actors whisper their lines instead of speaking them, and of course the aforementioned mind meld scene was... uncomfortable...

 

[Vger23]

TMP: Not that it's bad movie or anything like it, but it always seemed to me a lot of fans put it on a pedestal. I found it a pale imitation of 2001 (and I'm not exactly a fan of Kubrick's work), but forgetting that it is a Star Trek movie. Considering the budget it had (3 times 2001, 5 times Star Wars), some visual effects fell short, even for the time (Spock's spacewalk). The plot was not as deep as it pretended to be, and stretched too long for the movies' total runtime. The romance between Decker and Ilia was not convincing, especially considering the importance it had in the plot. And the orgy of the refit Enterprise debut was... excessive.

You lost me at "not a fan of Kubrick's work."

 

[KyleRaynous]

You lost me at "not a fan of Kubrick's work."

Not exactly. I like The Shinning, especially for its clever use of subtleties in certain shots that help explaining various elements of the movie (something characteristic of Kubrick, that attention to detail). My problem with 2001 is that it goes against everything I enjoy in a movie: its heart. Not that I don't want my movies to be smart, but i found that film a bit too cold. Nor do I look for the opposite. A film like Furious 7 has a heart, sure, but it spills too much brain matter in the process.

 

[fireproof78]

I voted TWOK, primarily because it gets used as the bench mark for all other Trek films, and Khan is cited as the best villain, constantly, even though he shows very little dimension beyond "Revenge!"

 

[dahj]

It's about a film that you think gets a lot of praise / love from critics, audiences and fans, but isn't necessarily deserving of it.

I really don't think any movie fits this criteria.

Other than TWoK, every ST film has a sizeable chunk of detractors.

 

[Kor]

TWOK, without a doubt.

Kor

 

[suarezguy]

I think The Voyage Home, mostly because it feels a little too self-impressed and so feels all the more cheap ... too much un-doing the previous movie (TSfS did that to a greater extent but it gets a lot more criticism for doing so) and too much and desperately going for a really different tone from TWoK and TSfS.
Some or a lot of the humor is fine in itself but most still feels overdone, especially overall.

 

[Devilpogostick]

I voted TWOK, primarily because it gets used as the bench mark for all other Trek films, and Khan is cited as the best villain, constantly, even though he shows very little dimension beyond "Revenge!"

I have to agree. The film is good and deserves some praise...But it kinda became ridiculous when people make it out to be the film above all and expects future films to top it.

Lord knows how Nemesis would have been if it wasn't trying to be TNG's TWOK. I mean I still doubt it wouldn't bomb but it wouldn't be a massive trainwreck.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I'm going with NEM. I don't understand how anybody could see anything in this film.

 

[CorporalClegg]

TUC. Easily.

I see people praise it to no end all the time. I could never understand why. It's shit.

 

[Mojochi]

I voted TVH. TWoK is probably going to win this poll here, since it is the most widely praised, & generally people don't see why anymore, even though it's pretty damn good, and a real turning point for Star Trek. Whether it should be lauded as a benchmark is debatable. Certainly some of the dramatic flavor used in it was something that really brought new life to Star Trek, and that much of it should be praised, but it's surely not the best Star Trek story ever told, even if it still remains my favorite, because of how pitch perfect it plays

I picked TVH because it gets a lot of praise too, but it's mostly because it's baseline entertainment that has lowest common denominator appeal. The truth is, even though I find it amusing in hindsight, all these years later, when I saw it in theaters, I was actually pretty disappointed. Cheesy time travel story, done mostly for yucks, none of the exceptional character growth that the previous 2 films had brought to the table. Instead, taking advantage of all that wonderful growth. I had a very "Jumped the shark" impression after seeing it the 1st time. It was clearly just a cheap trip back to the well, and added nothing to the franchise beyond comic gags. It actually robbed the TOS film franchise of some of its majesty, & I don't think they ever fully recovered it, even though they tried to recapture the TWoK recipe with TUC

As boring as some people might find TMP, it's staggering to think that it & TVH are even the same series. As fun as it is, there's absolutely nothing as substantial about that movie as either the stunning visual mastery of TMP, nor the powerhouse emotional character dynamics of TWoK or TSFS, imho. It's not the worst Trek movie by any means. Some of them are downright abysmal, but they are properly credited as such, by my account.

 

[Jetboogieman]

TWOK.

Superb film but I have to agree with others that it's used as THE benchmark to which all other Trek films are compared and I don't see that as fair.

Personally, I think TUC is the superior film and a better use of the source material to allegorize our own history in an extremely competent way.

But that's just me.

 

[Jetboogieman]

TUC. Easily.

I see people praise it to no end all the time. I could never understand why. It's shit.

Well not everyone knows a good film when they see it.

Take my dad for example, he can sit through Jack and Jill (Adam Sandler) and find it mildly entertaining but falls asleep watching Guardians of the Galaxy.

(Just twistin yah leg bud )

 

[CaptainMurdock]

TMP. I can see why it gets the appreciation it gets for it being the first Star Trek movie and I can certainly respect it's technical achievements in the special effects world but to me the film just doesn't hold up. It tries to hard to be 2001 and that's my problem with it. I think it does a good job world building and it's nice to see the original series cast again. But for me the story and characters are the weakest part for me. For one, it's a big budget remake of The Changeling with V'ger being Nomad except bigger. I won't go into everything I find wrong with TMP. but I think it's very overrated.