Gut Reaction: How Does STID Rate?

[BillJ]

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.

 

[Wowbagger]

First blush:

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

Notably, my feelings about Into Darkness are actually impacting my feelings about Star Trek '09. As of yesterday, I probably would have rated ST09 one or two places higher, but STID squandered so much of the potential '09 set up. It stings.

Still, it's hardly the worst Trek movie I've ever seen.

I quite agree with you that the Nibiru sequence -- and, indeed, the first forty minutes or so -- are excellent, intriguing, emotionally engaged filmmaking, worthy of the best of Trek. After Harrison's first brig scene, where he mentions conscience (the high point of the movie for me), it starts to go downhill pretty fast.

 

[brandnewfan]

Best to Worst

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.

 

[tomalak301]

First time ranking the movies since ID came out, from Best to Least Favorite:

The Undiscovered Country
The Voyage Home
The Wrath of Khan
First Contact
Star Trek (2009)
Generations
Into Darkness
The Search for Spock
The Final Frontier
Insurrection
The Motion Picture
Nemesis

 

[Amaris]

Current Ranking (always subject to change):

Star Trek: Into Darkness
Star Trek (2009)
Star Trek: The Voyage Home
Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: The Final Frontier
Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country
Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
Star Trek: The Search for Spock
Star Trek: Generations
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek: Insurrection
Star Trek: Nemesis

 

[Flake]

Khan A+
Chang A
Kruge A
V'Ger A-
Nero A-
Whale Probe A-
Borg Queen B+
John Harrison B
Soran B-
Sybok C+
Ru'Afo C
Shinzon C

 

[DavidLeeRoth]

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

Like a lot of the films, the plot was lacking, IMHO. It was another case of style over substance. Compare Into Darkness with the first several episodes of season 6 of DS9 where the Federation loses and retakes the station. In terms of story-telling it blows most of the films out of the water, IMHO. Still, ID was a fun film.

TUC and FC were big-budget films, but also had great stories, IMHO and were the best films.

 

[Obiwansolo18]

It was a fun movie to be sure.

1. First contact
2. Insurrection
3. Generations
4. Underscovered country
5. Into darkness
6. The voyage home
7. Warth of khan
8. Search for spock
9. Star trek (09)
10. The motion picture
11. Final fronter
12. Nemesis

 

[I am not Spock]

I liked it better than 09

My rankings:

The Wrath of Khan
First Contact
The Voyage Home
The Undiscovered Country
Into Darkness
Star Trek (2009)
The Search for Spock
Generations
The Motion Picture
Insurrection
The Final Frontier
Nemesis

 

[Lucky]

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

I've got it ranked at #4, but it was a real debate over whether to place it above The Undiscovered Country. In the end I did, but I could see that changing depending on my mood. It might shift a little in subsequent viewings, after I've had time to sit on it. I really liked it a lot though, and right now I feel it was superior to the last film.

 

[Mr Awe]

Gut reaction: I really enjoyed. I enjoyed it more than Star Trek '09 by quite a bit. However, given the large number of comparisons to STWOK, I couldn't help but notice that STID pale in comparison. I'd place STID in the top 3 or 4 Trek films. It's a good one. But not quite as good as STWOK, First Contact, STTUC.

Really good though!

 

[R. Star]

I might tweak this once I see it again but it was better than the 09 flick, but still towards the middle of the pack.

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

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I'm sentimentally attached to TWOK. It may be a better film than Into Darkness, or maybe not.

Those are the top two Star Trek films now, as far as I'm concerned.

 

[AvBaur]

My current ranking:

01) The Wrath of Khan
02) The Undiscovered Country
03) First Contact
04) Star Trek '09
05) The Voyage Home
06) The Motion Picture (DC)
07) The Search for Spock
08) Insurrection
09) Nemesis
10) Into Darkness
11) The Final Frontier
12) Generations

 

[lawman]

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.

 

[Erehwonnz24]

My rankings will likely seem a tad unusual. I enjoy all of these films, don't get me wrong, but if I think of each entry purely as a film, I come up with the following:

1. First Contact
2. Wrath of Kahn
3. Into Darkness

These ones, to me, are the best of the series. I'd argue that STID is a functional, carefully constructed film, and that only knowledge of past Trek moments-rather than any fault of the film itself--can make STID feel jarring. I'm over that at this point. (FC wins the race on the basis of the performances and the deft screenplay, though.)

4. The Motion Picture
5. The Undiscovered Country
6. Star Trek

These ones are all relatively comparable, all very good films.

7. The Search for Spock
8. Generations
9. Insurrection

The middling entries, all with redeeming features but overarching structural and tonal issues.

10. The Voyage Home
11. Nemesis
12. The Final Frontier

The absolutely unwatchable stuff that hasn't aged well. I know, I put TVH here--don't hurt me. It simply doesn't work for me as a film.

Into Darkness is, and probably will continue to be, divisive. But the more I think about it the more I am impressed by the subtle character work and the careful reinvention of the Trek mythos. Very little of past work (especially THAT scene) is actually reused, and the scripting of key reinvented moments differs so much in terms of characterization that the film works perfectly well for me.

 

[Tracer Bullet]

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

 

[Vasquez Rocks]

1. First Contact
2. The Voyage Home
3. The Wrath of Khan
4. The Undiscovered Country
5. Nemesis
6. Generations
7. Star Trek '09
8. Into Darkness
9. Insurrection
10. The Search for Spock
11. The Final Frontier
12. The Motion Picture

 

[Xaios]

I like Erehwonnz' approach of dividing things into tiers instead of ranking every movie against each other. I'd say this is how it looks:

Tier 1
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Star Trek Into Darkness

Tier 2
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Star Trek

Tier 3
Star Trek: First Contact

Tier 4
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

Tier 5
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek: Generations

Tier 6
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Star Trek: Insurrection
Star Trek: Nemesis

 

[Dart]

I could easily change all these positions tomorrow. It's only now I realise how hard a task it is to order them.

1. The Wrath of Khan
2. Into Darkness
3. Star Trek '09
4. First Contact
5. The Undiscovered Country
6. Generations
7. The Search for Spock
8. The Voyage Home
9. Insurrection
10. Nemesis
11. The Final Frontier
12. The Motion Picture