Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!
1. Undiscovered Country
2. Wrath of Khan
3. Voyage Home
4. Insurrection
5. Star Trek 09
6. Into Darkness
7. First Contact
8. Generations
9. Nemesis
10. Search for Spock
11. Motion Picture
12. The Final Frontier
Will see the new one tonight and update my rankings.
The best thing I can say about Into Darkness is that it reminded me just what a really, really great movie Wrath of Khan is and just how much I love it. In fact, I'm going to watch the DVD again tomorrow!
My "gut feeling" about the new movie is that it makes me feel as though Abrams has just punched me in the ribs and stolen my wallet. "JAR JAAAAAAAAAAARRRR!!!!"
Right after viewing I was certain STID was in the top three Trek films. Today, my gut says that STID is the second best Trek film, after TWOK. That could change, of course, on further reflection, but I doubt it'll change radically.
1. The Motion Picture
2. The Wrath of Khan
3. Into Darkness
4. Star Trek (2009)
5. The Undiscovered Country
6. The Voyage Home
7. First Contact
8. The Search For Spock
9. Generations
10. Nemesis
11. The Final Frontier
12. Insurrection
I liked it better than ST09, but I should stipulate that I absolutely loathed ST09. (Nice effects, mostly good performances, but a painfully stupid story.) I wouldn't place STID ahead of any of the original-crew films, except the (again painfully stupid) STV:TFF.
Interestingly, though, I can't agree with the posters (here and in other threads) who are saying that they preferred the first hour of STID but it was downhill from there. I thought much of the first half-hour in particular was a waste of time — when you find yourself checking your watch, you know the film's doing something wrong. The whole Nibiru bit was (yet again) painfully stupid in a whole bunch of ways, and it took a while after that for the story to find its feet. But IMHO the film peaked in the middle, the sequences on the Enterprise, when Kirk was actually learning to think strategically for a change, and consider the implications of his actions, instead of just being an impulsive asshat.
After that, of course, it degenerated again into lot of shoot-'-em-ups and fisticuffs and disaster-movie riffs with very little plot logic... and the word-for-word callouts to STII were unnecessary and overdone, just inviting comparison to a better film... but for a while there in the middle, it almost felt like a real Star Trek story.
Much like my impression. While this film was much better than the awful ST09, it wasn't too smart to try to redo TWOK because it felt wildly lightweight in comparison. There's just no way to have the emotional attachment to these characters that we all had to the characters and stakes in TWOK. Plus, who didn't see
Kirk's resurrection via Khan's blood coming a lightyear away? Which totally stole any emotional signficance from the scene.
That being said - movies were never Trek's strong suit, so as movies go this is better than probably 7 of the previous outings.
Meanwhile, and on a completely different note, I will never understand the love TUC gets. Talk about painfully stupid...
!: The Motion Picture
2: The Search for Spock
3: Into Darkness
4: First Contact
5: The Wrath of Khan
6: 2009
7: The Final Frontier
8: The Undiscovered Country
9: Generations
10: Nemesis
11: The Voyage Home
12: Insurrection
I realize that my list is controversial. I have my reasons for the rankings, believe me. The hardest part was not deciding the first few, but ranking the last two. Dear lord but I think those two wretched things rank high on the list of worst films ever!
I keep going back and forth on my ranking of STID, because while I think it has possibly the dumbest, most nonsensical script of any Star Trek movie ever, I also think it's one of the 3 or 4 best-directed Star Trek films, and easily the most spectacular one. It won't crack my top 5, that much is certain, but I find it hard to rank it against movies like Nemesis and Insurrection, which weren't nearly as well-made, but at least didn't make me roll my eyes at their willful stupidity at every turn. I guess I'll have to watch it again some time...
1. The Undiscovered Country
2. The Wrath of Khan
3. First Contact
4. Trek XI
5. The Voyage Home
6. Generations
7. Search for Spock
8. The Motion Picture
9. Insurrection
10. Final Frontier
11. Into Darkness (Though on direction alone, I'd place it higher.)
12. Nemesis
Opening weekend gut reaction: How does Into Darkness rate vs. other Trek films?
If the film was comprised only of the opening scenes on Niburu, it would rank it ahead of The Voyage Home, The Final Frontier, Generations, First Contact, Insurrection and Nemesis. The full-film blows those films out of the water.
I think it's light years better than Star Trek 2009 and The Search for Spock (and it hurts me to say that about TSFS, a personal favorite).
I still think on first blush that The Wrath of Khan and The Undiscovered Country are better movies (to me) and The Motion Picture is such a different type of film it's hard to compare it to Into Darkness.
1. The Wrath of Khan -- best script, great acting, tense buildup to action, rich themes.
2. The Motion Picture -- Probaby the most original Star Trek movie to-date. Just an ingenius idea.
3. Insurrection -- This is another original story that pits what's right versus what an institution is doing. Shows the TNG crew as more than soldiers.
4. The Undiscovered Country -- I like it, but the Shakespeare references are not well-placed, Chang is over-the-top, and the Klingons are more likely to attack the Enterprise with Kirk, then without him.
5. The Search for Spock -- This film undoes everything that was great about Khan. It proves that Kirk has a different philosophy of life than Spock. It's the movie (friendship, sacrfice, Kirk hating Klingons) that has defined the Original series, for better and for worse.
6. Nemesis -- I think Shinzon is an interesting character, conflicted between being human and being Reman. That redeems a lot of the action in this movie.
7. Star Trek Into Darkness --
The first post-September 11th Star Trek movie. Vengeance is at least a topic, if they don't fully flesh it out.
8. Star Trek (2009) -- This is purely from an entertainment standpoint. There's really nothing here that makes it Star Trek.
9. Generations -- Rich themes, but the acting and script are terrible. It's the caricature of TNG, the preachiness.
10. The Voyage Home -- Oh, the humor grates on me. Nice setup, I love the first act, but I hate everything after they time-travel. And Kirk. Nice punishment.
11. First Contact -- Zombie Star Trek movie isn't redeemed by talking to the Borg and learning what makes them tick. They tell Cochrane who he will be and that's like tell George Washington what becomes of the United States before the Constitutional Convention. Takes all the fun out of living. Hate it with a passion.
12. The Final Frontier -- The humor of Voyage home, the caricature of the Klingons, the story about God from Motion Picture, and some really bad acting and story ideas. Just a mess.
I have to say that the new movies rank so high because the movies behind them stink. Personally, give me the first three on that list, and I would be okay, I don't need any more.
1. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (still the best)
2. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (sentimental favorite)
3. Star Trek Into Darkness
4. Star Trek (2009)
5. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (very underrated)
6. Star Trek: First Contact
7. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
8. Star Trek: The Motion Picture
9. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
10. Star Trek: Nemesis
11. Star Trek: Generations
12. Star Trek: Insurrection (uuuggghhh, why?)
I first saw it on Thursday and my gut reaction was disappointment. I didn't like the rehashing of stuff that's come before. I just watched it again today to see if my opinion of the movie would get better. I didn't dislike it as much the second time, but I'm not sure if that's because the film was actually better than I thought it was or that my expectations had already been lowered and I knew what to expect. I guess the things that I had liked about it the first time I also liked the second time and the stuff I didn't like I don't detest now, though I still wish they had gone another route.
My Trek film rankings:
1. The Undiscovered Country
2. The Wrath of Khan
3. First Contact
4. Star Trek 2009
5. Generations
6. The Search for Spock
7. The Voyage Home
8. The Final Frontier
9. Insurrection
10. Into Darkness
11. Nemesis
12. The Motion Picture
Putting this list together was harder than I thought. Once I got past #3 it wasn't so clear to me. And even though I got Into Darkness pretty low right now I think it had some of the best action sequences and FX of any of Trek film. It also had solid performances throughout. But the lack of creativity hurt it. While many other films emulated Khan, Into Darkness darn near remade it.
The Wrath of Khan
Star Trek (2009)
First Contact
The Voyage Home
Into Darkness
The Undiscovered Country
The Search For Spock
Generations
Nemesis
Insurrection
The Final Frontier
The Motion Picture
Into Darkness is #5 on my list, but that doesn't mean I didn't like it. Quite the contrary, I enjoyed it. I just feel that the films I listed above it are superior. That said, Into Darkness is a great film; I'd give it a solid B+ or a low A grade.
After seeing ID a second time, I'm changing my ranking.
Best to Worst
The Wrath of Khan
Star Trek (2009) Into Darkness
First Contact
The Voyage Home
The Undiscovered Country
The Search For Spock
Generations
Nemesis
Insurrection
The Final Frontier
The Motion Picture
My gut reaction as I was walking out of the theater was that I enjoyed STID quite a bit. I responded to a friend's tweet a little later that day that I enjoyed it "without reservation," which was a big step up from the previous film. The '09 film was one in which I found many things to like (the opening with the Kelvin, as an obvious example) but many things that I didn't like or just found problematic enough to make my opinion on the film mixed. But I had nearly no problems with Into Darkness. I saw it in 2D, but am considering giving an IMAX 3D screening a chance for a second, guaranteed viewing - which is an unusual decision for me, as I usually only the 3D version for films that were shot in 3D, not ones that were converted.
Since so many other people have shared their personal rankings of the Trek movies to date, I'll share the list I put together on Letterboxd:
Three times viewed I think I can now make a more educated list...
1. The Motion Picture
2. The Undiscovered Country
3. Star Trek Into Darkness
4. The Search for Spock
5. The Wrath of Khan
6. Star Trek 2009
7. The Final Frontier
8. Nemesis
9. The Voyage Home
10. Generations
11. First Contact
12. Insurrection
My ranking goes something like this. It's in no way concrete and can shift a little depending on my state of mind at the moment:
1. Wrath of Khan
2. First Contact
3. Star Trek (2009)
4. Into Darkness
5. The Undiscovered Country
6. The Voyage Home
7. The Search For Spock
8. The Motion Picture
9. Generations
10. Insurrection
11. Nemesis
12. The Final Frontier
