Gut Reaction: How Does STID Rate?

Countdown list. I'm also ranking each film on a scale of 1-10

The Inferior
12. Insurrection - 4.5
11. Nemesis - 5
10. The Final Frontier - 5.5
9. Generations - 6.25

The Good
8. The Voyage Home - 7
7. Star Trek (2009) - 7.25
6. The Search For Spock - 7.5
5. Into Darkness - 7.75

The Very Good
4. The Undiscovered Country - 8.5

The Fantastic
3. The Motion Picture - 9.25
2. First Contact - 9.5
1. The Wrath of Kahn - 9.75

 

1. The Wrath of Khan
2. Into Darkness
3. The Search for Spock
4. The Undiscovered Country
5. First Contact
6. The Motion Picture
7. Star Trek (2009)
8. The Voyage Home
9. The Final Frontier
10. Insurrection
11. Generations
12. Nemesis

 

1. Star Trek: Into Darkness *****
2. Star Trek 09*****
3. Wrath of Khan*****
4. First Contact****
5. Voyage Home****
6. Nemesis****
7. STMP-DE***1/2
8. Search for Spock***1/2
9. Undiscovered Country***
10. Insurrection***
11. Generations**
12. Final frontier1/2

 

Glad to know I'm not alone on this one. As for TUC, perhaps I'm being overly generous, because it did have some quirks (Valeris? Barracks-style bunks on the Enterprise? Pink blooded Klingons?), but it also had a lot going for it. It brought Nick Meyer, and thus a credibly serious tone, back to the franchise after the comedy of STIV and the utter disaster of STV. It was topically relevant in a way that applied both in-universe (explaining the beginning of rapprochement with the Klingons) and in reality (reflecting the end of the Cold War). It was (IMHO) suspenseful and not overburdened with egregious plot holes. And of course there's affectionate nostalgia simply because it was the swan song for the original crew.

And my overall ranking... because what the heck, everyone's doing it!... but with annotations, because otherwise it's just another list for everyone's eyes to glaze over... would probably be like this:

1. STV:TWOK - Head and shoulders above the rest. Poignant, suspenseful, and exciting. Revived Trek for a new generation while simultaneously paying respect to the original. A film that stands up to multiple repeat viewings.
2. STVI:TUC - For the reasons just described above.
3. STIII:TSFS - IMHO unjustly derided by many fans, perhaps because TWOK was a hard act to follow. I think it was a compelling action story with an interesting twist (the whole Katra thing), and Kirk's decision to sacrifice the Enterprise still stands as an incredible (and unexpected) dramatic moment.
4. STIV:TVH - Suffers from the lack of an Enterprise and the too-casual approach to time travel, but the fish-out-of-water aspects were well-played and genuinely amusing.
5. ST:TMP - Perhaps the franchise's most genuine attempt at serious science fiction, but hampered by uneven pacing, bland visuals, and obvious similarities to "The Changeling." Still, the way in which Spock finally integrated his human and Vulcan sides into a satisfying whole was an important step forward for the character.
6. ST8:FC - Best of the TNG movies, for whatever that's worth, although its handling both of the Borg and of time travel seemed a bit slapdash.
7. ST7:Gen - An awkward mishmash of old and new, with lots of plot elements that just didn't make sense, and an unsatisfying end for Kirk.
8. ST9:Ins - Not really memorable in any way.
9. ST10:Nem - Memorable for being the *worst* outing of the TNG crew, with some pretty blatant callbacks to TWOK.
10. STID - As described earlier. I have no affection for the Abramsverse, but this at least handled it a little better than the first outing.
11. STV:TFF - Mostly cringe-inducing, with mediocre FX, bad characterization, and an even worse plot, but still had occasional moments of value shining through.
12. ST09 - Worst of the worst. Willfully stupid in almost every way, a desecration of what Trek once stood for.

Out of the 12, I'd say only the first six on my list really stand up as watchable in their own right, without having to bend over backward to make excuses for them.

 

Probably going to burn for this:

1. Into Darkness (everything I ever wanted Star Trek to be)
2. Wrath of Khan (sentimentality)
3. ST09 (dumb villain, labored coincidences but funny and fun to watch)

Everything else because the rest of the movies were like nails on a chalkboard for me.

 

1. TUC
2. FC
3. TVH
4. STID
5. NEM
6. TWOK
7. 2009
Why are there 4 versions of the same movie? TWOK-NEM-2009-STID
8. TSFS
9. INS
10. TMP
11. GEN
12. TFF

 

It's not often for me that I want to go see a movie after watching it again, but Into Darkness is one of them that compels me to do so.

As far as Trek films go I feel more invested, hopeful, and excited for the reboot series than I have in the previous films. Trek 2-4 +6 will always be there, but Star Trek (pre-Abrams) is never going to return to that era or style. Trek 1 was an interesting experiment, and the TNG movies in my brain are just footnotes to an era I wasn't particularly interested in. Trek 5 well... still at the bottom of the scrappy pile. Sorry Shatner.

So my gut reaction to finishing Into Darkness? I want more.

 

1. The Undiscovered Country
2. First Contact
3. The Wrath of Khan
4. The Voyage Home
5. Generations
6. The Search for Spock
7. Insurrection
8. Star Trek (2009)
9. The Final Frontier
10. Nemesis
11. The Motion Picture
12. Into Darkness

I hated Into Darkness and feel pretty comfortable about disowning it. It's an insult to my intelligence as well as to the franchise at large. While I had personal issues with the alternate timeline stuff from the 2009 movie, it still held together as a movie. Into Darkness is just a lot of noise.

 

Would watch any time, anywhere:
1. The Wrath of Khan
2. First Contact
3. The Undiscovered Country
4. Star Trek Into Darkness
5. The Search for Spock
6. The Voyage Home (Probably deserves to be higher on the list, but it got played so often on TV when I was a kid that I'm a little sick of it)

Would sit through if I had to:
7. Final Frontier
8. Star Trek
9. Nemesis

Oh god oh god make it stop:
10. The Motion Picture
11. Insurrection
12. Generations

 

Hard to say right now. I saw STID last week, and really enjoyed it. I also paid very little attention to pre-film hype, although arguably there wasn't much. I don't even think STID received its own Entertainment Weekly cover?

It's still a little hard for me to integrate Abrams' Star Trek into the original stuff. But this second movie has helped. I really enjoyed all of the references to original Trek, WOK, and all the other stuff. I would probably rank STID as one of the better films.

In my mind, the TOS television series really had a different feel from the movies, 1-6. Abrams' Star Trek feels a lot like the TOS tv series, more so than the TOS films. I really want to see STID again, but it's hard for me to get away these days.

I would probably put STID up with Wrath of Khan, Voyage Home, Undiscovered Country, First Contact and Search for Spock, aka among my favorite Trek films. In other words, I would put STID in the top half of the Trek movies thus far. It was very well done and a lot of fun.

 

1. Wrath of Khan
2. Undiscovered Country
3. Star Trek 2009
4. Voyage Home
5. First Contact
6. Into Darkness
7. Motion Picture
8. Search for Spock
9. Final Frontier
10. Insurrection
11. Generations
12. Nemesis

Though the more and more I think of how truly stupid the plot was, the more it falls risk to dropping below Motion Picture. I already dropped it below First Contact which had a pretty stupid plot.

 

In short: It's better than most of the bad movies, but it's nowhere near as good as the greatest.

 

Gut reaction...

1. Into Darkness
2. Star Trek
3. First Contact
4. TUC
5. TWOK
6. TMP
7. TVH
8. TSFS
9. TFF
10. Inssurrection
11. Nemesis
12. Generations

I'm a huge fan of what Star Trek has become at the box office. Still appreciate the older films though.

 

Wow. Could opinion be any more split on Into Darkness? Love it or hate it, apparently.

 

It's like someone doing a cover version of a Beatles song. You can't go in expecting the cover to be better than the original, and only one artist (Joe Cocker) has ever managed it. That, of course, is just my opinion.

Same is true in this case. There was very little chance that Star Trek Into Darkness could match or even top The Wrath of Khan. All the right elements had to be in place, and if any one was missing, it was doomed to fall short. Perhaps one day, someone will make a Star Trek movie that surpasses all that has come before, but that time is not now. Even so, on its own, Star Trek Into Darkness stands in my mind as one of the truly great Star Trek movies.

 

Its the other way around to me, by comparison, the moviemaking of the pre 09 films seems to be small scale, inadequate and sometimes inept. As a real, solid universe and it's complexity, the new films simply outclass the old. They almost can't even be compared on the same level. Then you add the feel of adventure of TOS, with more character development, as well as kinetic action and superior pace and you have yourselves the best Trek movies yet.

RAMA

 

Exactly how I feel. I can watch these last movies over and over again. Most of the old ones I could barely sit through except for TWOK, and the only reason I can is because I liked the end. Just my personal feelings on the subject.

 

It's the only film I've ever been climbing the walls to see only a week after the first time I saw it, and it was just as amazing the second time.

 

You have to appreciate the new universe Trek as creatures of their own. They're a different take and understanding from Star Trek as we've understood it from the 1960s-2005. It's a new approach to the old formula, starting from the beginning, and changing some key things like pacing.

We'll always have and enjoy TWoK and the rest of that movie trilogy (3,4,6). But New Trek is taking a bold, refreshing tread on the old formula and I for one find it exciting. I can't wait for the next installment!

 

I neither love nor hate it. I thought it was OK. It had its moments both good and bad.

1) The Undiscovered Country
2) The Wrath of Khan
3) The Motion Picture
4) The Voyage Home
5) First Contact
6) Generations
7) XI
8) The Search for Spock
9) Into Darkness (just saw it today, might change after I see it again)
10) Insurrection
11) Nemesis
12) The Final Frontier