most disappointing Trek movie?

[FederationHistorian]

Generations worked for the first TNG movie. Although they could have gathered as much as the TOS crew as possible for the first scene of the movie.

Insurrection was simply a generic two-part episode from TNG made into a movie. That’s it.

Nemesis - It would have been cool if Shinzon’s crew was composed of Lore, Thomas Riker, Sela and maybe Ro Laren – basically be a mirror counterpart of the Enterprise crew, and let Wesley be a part of the crew one last time. But I don’t think that the film itself was bad as it played out. I don’t think that it should have been cut down for time either. Especially considering all the three hours movies that are in theatres these days.

Star Trek Into Darkness was disappointing to me because there’s this brand-new universe created because of the previous film, meaning they could try something new and different – basically live out “where no one has gone before” – and it was chosen to do something derivative halfway through. TWOK and Nemesis already existed, as did the ENT Augment arc. Why do this again? It felt tired. Beyond was much better and more along the lines of what I expected.

 

[Kirk Prime]

Generations was the most disappointing by far? They couldn't have hurt the franchise worse with how they treated Kirk. Instead of an epic, kick ass, fun adventure with Kirk and Picard, we got some stupid and meaningless death in a poorly written, poorly executed excuse for a film that I think damaged the franchise permanently.

 

[Khan 2.0]

Generations was the most disappointing by far? They couldn't have hurt the franchise worse with how they treated Kirk. Instead of an epic, kick ass, fun adventure with Kirk and Picard, we got some stupid and meaningless death in a poorly written, poorly executed excuse for a film that I think damaged the franchise permanently.

I think you might be right with this as at the time Trek was at its absolute zenith with the conclusion of TNG, 2 new series, cover of TIME magazine, etc so had Trek VII been like another Trek II or even as worthy as FC it could have sent Trek into the stratosphere.. but being the confusing mess that it was moviegoers and fans alike were 'meh' and maybe Trek lost that TIME magazine traction

 

[fireproof78]

Generations. It was built up as this huge crossover epic and it just fizzled.

 

[Gordie]

Generations. I liked Nemesis a little more the second time I saw it, but it's still seriously flawed. But not as bad as Generations. I am one of the few who loved Insurrection. It was more like two part TV episode as opposed to a film. But that didn't bother me.

 

[Vger23]

Nemesis.

The death of Data has been a sucking chest wound for so long. Hopefully ST:P will do something to allow healing to occur.

Never understood why character deaths taint a viewer's entire perception of the value of a film.

Data's death never bothered me in the slightest.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I was disappointed after seeing TMP (although it remains my favorite of the ST films because it has so much in its favor), and NEM was hands down the worst ST film (I knew there would be no more TNG films while I was sitting in the theater watching NEM).

But I voted TFF. Without a doubt, that the most let down I've been after seeing a ST film. It's like the "Spock's Brain" of the TOS films: it has all the right pieces (or most of them anyway; looking at you, STV's VFX), but the way in which the pieces come together is fundamentally off.

 

[fireproof78]

Never understood why character deaths taint a viewer's entire perception of the value of a film.

Data's death never bothered me in the slightest.

Data's death never bothered me either. And I share this confusion at why fictional character deaths impact the view on a whole work.

 

[TimeIsAPredator]

Generations on first watch as I was very young and wanted mostly lasers and explosions but I love it now.

Insurrection for me is the one that still hurts. I don't care about the good or bad guys the stakes are low and suffers by coming right after the highs of FC. Overall felt like a weak away mission based TNG episode. Other movies are worse but didn't disappoint as much as my excitement had lessened alot by the time Nemesis and Kelvin came round

 

[AresB]

For me, the JJ Abrams Treks were the biggest disappointment. I wanted to like them, but there are just too many things in them that I can't stand. And I'm very forgiving when it comes to Trek, I have no problem with TFF, NEM, VOY: Threshold, etc. But these movies felt like parody of Star Trek, and unlike Galaxy Quest, they were a mean parody.

Kirk being an obnoxious apple-chomping jerk. Rising from Cadet to Captain in a day. The oversized, clunky, downright ugly Enterprise. Lens flares. Brewery Engineering with built-in deathtrap waterpark. Beaming from Earth to Qo'noS - who needs starships any more? Khan's plan. Giant killer starships with one man crew. Kirk's death, Spock's "KHAAAN!", and then curing death with Augment blood. Beastie Boys as weapon of mass destruction. And countless other nuisances.

There were also good scenes and at times the actors channeled the characters quite well. Admittedly they were enjoyable roller coaster rides in the first viewing (except the latter half of Beyond, that was a cringe fest), but the more I thought about them afterwards, the less I liked them.

 

[fireproof78]

Wow...I cannot believe after ten years the same arguments over the Abrams films are still being thrown out there.

I appreciate they are not for everyone, so I won't point by point discuss each one. But, seeing those arguments was a blast to the past for me.

 

[Thomas Elliot]

Nemesis - It would have been cool if Shinzon’s crew was composed of Lore, Thomas Riker, Sela and maybe Ro Laren – basically be a mirror counterpart of the Enterprise crew

I like this, but what would be the reason that Thomas Riker, Sela and Ro Laren would take Shinzon's side?

Never understood why character deaths taint a viewer's entire perception of the value of a film.

Data's death never bothered me in the slightest.

Probably because Data's death was as a significant part of the final act of the film, and the story foreshadowed and built up to it.
I didn't like Data's death either because 1) it felt like they were just trying to mimic Spock's death in the Wrath of Khan, complete with the retcon of Data and Picard now being BFFs, just like Kirk and Spock. And 2) it felt unnecessary. Outside of Data's death and the novelty of evil, young Picard the movie didn't have anything else going for it.

 

[AresB]

Wow...I cannot believe after ten years the same arguments over the Abrams films are still being thrown out there.

I appreciate they are not for everyone, so I won't point by point discuss each one. But, seeing those arguments was a blast to the past for me.

I'm not making argument either, just speaking my own personal feelings in answer to the topic. And I don't actively hate the movies either. I'm just disappointed with the way they handled so many things, like I was already ten years ago.

 

[Khan 2.0]

the JJ films (for me/imho) were "blockbuster Trek" (more so that any of the previous films although maybe FC came closest in tone) like the 90s big screen versions of Lost in Space, Fugitive, M:I, Avengers, and the 2008 Incredible Hulk etc taking the concept/characters/familiar elements/visuals/various plots/villains from the TV shows and blowing it up for the big screen/rebooting it with latest FX/stars etc with a new cast as the familiar characters (with the odd cameo from the old cast) ok it wasn't a reboot Iike those other films but it kind of was in Trek terminology.. so if you're a die hard trekkie if you think of them in that way maybe it becomes easier to 'accept' in terms of canon/continuity and the overall 'bigness' etc and makes sense stuff like Khan got revisited

 

[fireproof78]

I'm not making argument either, just speaking my own personal feelings in answer to the topic. And I don't actively hate the movies either. I'm just disappointed with the way they handled so many things, like I was already ten years ago.

That's fair. I just had a flashback

 

[FederationHistorian]

I like this, but what would be the reason that Thomas Riker, Sela and Ro Laren would take Shinzon's side?

Thomas Riker - Abandoned by the Federation (and Kira) to be a Cardassian prisoner and was rescued by Shinzon or Sela; intended to replace Commander Riker, much like Shinzon was intended to replace Picard, and Lore to replace Commander Data.

Sela - Relieved of duty by the post-war Romulan government that desires better relations with the Federation and the Klingons, leading to sympathies towards Shinzon and the Remans

Ro Laren – Fugitive charged with treason for being a part of the Maquis

 

[JamesRye]

Star Trek TNG was a cultural phenomenon, that ranked with The X-Files at it's peak circa 1994. It had the potential to be a huge franchise to rival Star Wars, but Generations was such a weak ass film. It looked cheap, it was cheap and the plot was full of holes. Even the center piece of the movie - the saucer crash - was a rather out-dated bit of model work. Shatner played Shatner rather than Kirk and was over-indulged. Since when did Kirk ride horses and dogs? who the hell was Antonia. Then we have a whimpy Picard and everyone was talking in whispers? Yuk.

I remember how gutted I was coming out of the theatre having seen Generations. For sure the series rallied with First Contact, but then the other two movies were appalling.

It would take a clever, incisive and quite daring reboot in 2009 to make Star Trek viable again. A divisive movie only among Trekkies, this film should have the start of a huge success for Star Trek. But the series lost momentum and whilst Into Darkness was well received (again by the masses) and did quite well, it was too late to capitalise on ST09's popularity. You have to remember that around the time of ST09, Star Wars was all but dead, with the prequels leaving a nasty taste. ST09 was and is, one of the best selling blu-rays of all time, it was a bit of a sleeper hit.

But Paramounts mis-management and faliure to let JJ fully take the reigns doomed the series. So JJ went off to make billions for the house of the mouse instead. And then Beyond came out, by far the weakest installment in the new franchise, it was blandly average and it sealed the end of the reboot franchise. As unpopular as it might seem, it will take a bold director, one who who will take risks and not be afraid of the fan reaction to revitalise the movie franchise once again.

All just my take of course, I know many would have a different interpretation.

 

[Khan 2.0]

Star Trek TNG was a cultural phenomenon, that ranked with The X-Files at it's peak circa 1994. It had the potential to be a huge franchise to rival Star Wars, but Generations was such a weak ass film. It looked cheap, it was cheap and the plot was full of holes. Even the center piece of the movie - the saucer crash - was a rather out-dated bit of model work. Shatner played Shatner rather than Kirk and was over-indulged. Since when did Kirk ride horses and dogs? who the hell was Antonia. Then we have a whimpy Picard and everyone was talking in whispers? Yuk.

I remember how gutted I was coming out of the theatre having seen Generations. For sure the series rallied with First Contact, but then the other two movies were appalling.

It would take a clever, incisive and quite daring reboot in 2009 to make Star Trek viable again. A divisive movie only among Trekkies, this film should have the start of a huge success for Star Trek. But the series lost momentum and whilst Into Darkness was well received (again by the masses) and did quite well, it was too late to capitalise on ST09's popularity. You have to remember that around the time of ST09, Star Wars was all but dead, with the prequels leaving a nasty taste. ST09 was and is, one of the best selling blu-rays of all time, it was a bit of a sleeper hit.

But Paramounts mis-management and faliure to let JJ fully take the reigns doomed the series. So JJ went off to make billions for the house of the mouse instead. And then Beyond came out, by far the weakest installment in the new franchise, it was blandly average and it sealed the end of the reboot franchise. As unpopular as it might seem, it will take a bold director, one who who will take risks and not be afraid of the fan reaction to revitalise the movie franchise once again.

All just my take of course, I know many would have a different interpretation.

Hard to disagree with anything there . for me would say Generations, Insurrection and Beyond are my top 3 most disappointing (Generations being #1 as it was the most anticipated, more so than the other 2 ). But funnily enough Gen isn't my worst film and like some stuff in it (worst Trek film imo would have to be Insurrection)

 

[EnriqueH]

Yeah I can remember thinking they took too long between ST09 and Into Darkness. They lost a lot of momentum.

Ooof, that Star Trek Beyond trailer with the Beastie Boys was embarrassing. They played that trailer opening weekend of The Force Awakens. When it was over, there was a 2 second silence followed by the sound of a guy yelling a quick “Booo.” The audience erupted with laughter.

 

[Khan 2.0]

Ooof, that Star Trek Beyond trailer with the Beastie Boys was embarrassing. They played that trailer opening weekend of The Force Awakens. When it was over, there was a 2 second silence followed by the sound of a guy yelling a quick “Booo.” The audience erupted with laughter.

yes. instead there could've been a trailer that encompassed a brief acknowledgment of the 50th anniversary (maybe a quick Marvel style intro logo showing glimpses of Treks 50y history on a Starfleet 'A' - bit like the Trek VI teaser) then 1minute of images of Pine and Co confronting the Doomsaday Machine & romulans/klingons ...or a Nimoy voice over and brief flashbacks to nero/kelvin, ship battles & trippy timetravel/alt realties stuff, (maybe even the Guardian) and ending on Shatner in a kelvinverse style TMP Admiral uniform taking the chair to a brief blast of Alexander Courage.. (cue 'Holy S**T!' ...'that's awesome!'.. cry reaction vids etc)