What is the Best Star Trek film?

[Kruge]

The Motion Picture

I like big, epic, cerebral movies...I liked the overture...still think the Enterprise has never looked better..the effects stand the test of time, unlike the crap we saw in STIII and V, and even the floating Klingon blood in VI looks terrible today

That being said, I always enjoy watching TWOK after TMP...sit through the cerebral stuff, and then onto the space battles!

 

[Too Much Fun]

After watching "The Wrath of Khan", "The Voyage Home", and "First Contact" again over the past three weeks and giving the question careful consideration as I wrote threads about each, I'm going to go with "Star Trek: First Contact". "The Voyage Home" is more fun, and "The Wrath of Khan" has a better beginning and a more powerful ending, but I think "Star Trek: First Contact" is the most consistent overall. It may have flaws in the writing and performances, but I believe it undeniably has the best special effects and make-up out of all the movies.

 

[Claudia]

ST II

There was a time when FC was a close second, or rather fought with TWOK for first - but in recent years I find too many flaws in FC for it to really be equal to TWOK.

Picard's obsession went way overboard - especially after it was already dealt with in "I, Borg". Not that his reaction isn't understandable, but not within the continuity of the series. And although I like the Ahab-scene itself I also resented the fact that it was Lily who got him to listen and not someone of the crew who just blindly (or at least in Worf's case not so blindly) followed his irrational orders.

I absolutely adored the beginning of FC - the borg attack on Earth, Picard's hearing the collective's voice, the time travel,... but it went downhill when the crew got separated. The plotthreads, while both worked individually, just didn't come together which, quite frankly, is one of the reasons I rarely continue watching FC after the Enterprise loses contact with the away team.

Of course, I still adore the main theme of FC's score, and the first contact-scene with the Vulcans (and its rendition in ENT's "Through a mirror darkly").

Right now, TUC firmly is in 2nd place. Just that mind-meld/rape thing bothers me enormously...

 

[Too Much Fun]

So you liked all the things about the movie that I singled out as flaws and said you lost interest right around the time I thought the movie started to soar and never looked back. Fascinating. I think the same thing that bothers you about "First Contact" bothers me about "The Undiscovered Country". I hated how McCoy and Kirk were separated from the crew, and every time the movie cut back to them, I was annoyed. I just didn't like their plotline and how it played out. Like I said in my thread, a lot of the movies seemed to use the tactic of separating the crew and giving different crew members parallel subplots in order to give each character more screen time. I think it worked well in "The Voyage Home" and "First Contact", but not in "The Undiscovered Country".

 

[Claudia]

Yes, TVH really worked in that respect, each storyline was while separated from the rest, still connected to a common goal - and it gave the characters time to shine.

I no longer see that in FC. The only memorable scene in the Cochrane plot is Troi being drunk - and its only purpose was to give Riker something to do while not distracting from the main character-interaction between Picard and Data (the main interaction in all the TNG-movies, after all). Frankly, I'm missing some kind of reference from the away-team to what might be happening on the Enterprise. They have no contact with their ship, no idea what might be going on - and they don't even mention it? I understand that their main concern was getting the Phoenix back in working order - but some kind of mention of concern about their shipmates (or even just that they're worried how they'd get home without a ship) would have been a nice touch for them not seem so detached to the plot on the Enterprise itself.

About TUC - granted, the scenes on Rura Penthe themselves didn't do much for me, either - but they still contributed to the overall plot (which still remained *one* plot and not 2 subplots like in FC that are connected by just some very loose threads), bought the Enterprise time to remain in the vicinity and search for the real assassins and solve at least part of the mystery.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

Star Trek: The Motion Picture, for me. It is a thoughtful movie that explores the human condition and doesn't rely on explosions and stupid humor to carry the movie.

Star Trek II and First Contact I've watched recently, and by god, the years have made these movies absolute bores to me. I'd personally rather watch Insurrection and The Voyage Home over these two (although, no fault goes to Ricardo Montalban. He's the man as Khan).

 

[Amaris]

I voted for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. It is my absolute favorite and feels the most like The Original Series to me. Sure the other movies have better visual FX and more fans, but this movie feels like home for me.


J.

 

[Caligula]

I voted for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. It is my absolute favorite and feels the most like The Original Series to me. Sure the other movies have better visual FX and more fans, but this movie feels like home for me.

I know what you mean. The Kirk/Spock/McCoy friendship.... the heart of TOS.... got the most attention in that one.

Still, as far as the best story, I HAVE to give it to my second favorite film of all-time: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. If you'd told me that, at least to this point, the only film in the franchise that would have not as much as a single vote would be The Search for Spock, I wouldn't have believed it. I'd have counted on it being either The Final Frontier or Nemesis. Instead, my second favorite Trek film is the one with no votes. Fascinating....

 

[Praetor]

Yeah, I think I'd have voted for TSFS had I known. I can't believe it's no one's favorite.

 

[BriGuy]

Results of this are not very surprising at all.

May be a strong TOS-fan base presence, evidenced by TMP and TUC topping FC by as of this writing, which sees:

1. TWOK
2. TMP
3. TUC
4. FC

Interesting that TSFS has not a single vote, while commonly ridiculed films TFF, Ins and Nem have one vote each.

Why each of the high-ranking films is so isn't hard to see... TMP was the first, the grand return; TWOK had Khan and action; TUC was the swan song and great recovery from TFF; and FC was the first true TNG film that brought the Borg to the big screen.

Also interesting to note that perhaps the most publicly popular Trek film, TVH, rates low with "die-hard" fans.

 

[Leandar]

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country gets my vote.

I voted for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. It is my absolute favorite and feels the most like The Original Series to me. Sure the other movies have better visual FX and more fans, but this movie feels like home for me.

While Star Trek V isn't my favorite, I can certainly understand where you're coming from with that old series feel with this movie. My best friend and I have marveled for years now as how Star Trek V could have so many wonderful moments all throughout the movie, and still overall be such a weak film. That said, I still like Star Trek V and enjoy it every time I see it, weak points and all.

 

[Praetor]

As far as I'm concerned, there have been no 'true' TNG films.

 

[Argus Skyhawk]

Interesting that TSFS has not a single vote, while commonly ridiculed films TFF, Ins and Nem have one vote each.

TSFS also hasn't received any votes for Worst Movie either. Everyone seems to agree that it is neither the best nor the worst, as opposed to TMP which has received a lot of votes in both polls.

 

[DiSiLLUSiON]

Uhm, the topic starter forgot to include the new movie in that poll.

 

[Angel4576]

Surprised to see TVH doing so poorly. Thought that would win hands-down.

For me, it could have been any of TWOK, TVH, TUC and FC.

Edit: Which practical jokers have cast votes for TFF and NEM? FFS.....

 

[AxelFoley]

Uhm, the topic starter forgot to include the new movie in that poll.

Uhm, that movie hadn't been released yet, so that would be stupid since a lot of people may have wanted to change their vote just a month later.

 

[Argus Skyhawk]

Uhm, the topic starter forgot to include the new movie in that poll.

The new movie wasn't out yet when I started this topic a month ago, and I wanted this poll to correspond with the previously-existing Worst Movie Poll. Besides, including extremely recent movies in a poll like this tends to throw things off because, thanks to the hype surrounding the film, people are much more likely to get excited and declare that it was either the best or the worst of the lot. I'd rather wait a year or so before asking how the new film compares to previous ones.

 

[Falcor5]

Interesting that TSFS has not a single vote, while commonly ridiculed films TFF, Ins and Nem have one vote each.

TSFS also hasn't received any votes for Worst Movie either. Everyone seems to agree that it is neither the best nor the worst, as opposed to TMP which has received a lot of votes in both polls.

Ya its really weird! Its like its stuck in its own between world! Not one fan who voted considers it the best or the worst! But some fans do consider First Contact or the Wrath of Khan to be the worst movies and Nemesis or TFF to be the best! So strange!

 

[Anji]

I don't understand how anyone could think TWOK was the worst TOS movie made? Ricardo Montalban's performance was chilling as the hell-bent-for-revenge Khan. The nebula battle scenes (especially the "drop their shields" sequence) had people on their feet in the movie theater cheering. And I can tell you from experience Spock's death scene had everyone in that theater crying...and that includes the men.

 

[SantaEddie74]

I don't understand how anyone could think TWOK was the worst TOS movie made?

Agreed. You could probably fit all the people who think along those lines into a phone booth. And an undersized one at that.