Most Popular Trek Films According to TrekBBS Denizens

[Lord Garth]

I'm surprised at all the people putting it below Nemesis!

By the way, if anyone's wondering about whether it'll make it easier to eventually count up the results if they stick to the exact format used in the original post, the answer's 'yes'.

A lot of the negativity surrounding Nemesis had to do with things surrounding it. I can only speak for myself, but this was my train of thought back in 2002: Rick Berman needed to go, Insurrection halted any momentum First Contact built up for the TNG Movies, I stopped watching Star Trek three years earlier, and I was more interested in seeing the new James Bond, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings movies that month. "Oh, yeah, and then there's Nemesis... " So I went in not expecting much and my opinion was pretty much a foregone conclusion. Then the film tanked so badly, it put and end to the Star Trek movies. And I thought to myself, "Even though TNG isn't my favorite Star Trek series, it deserved to go out better than this!" I didn't bother to watch the movie again until 2010. I treated Nemesis like the Batman & Robin of Star Trek. So when the 2009 Film came around, I was hoping it would like like Star Trek's Batman Begins. I know I'm not the only one here who saw things that way.

Fast forward to today and none of those external things matter anymore. Rick Berman's gone. Those other franchises I've mentioned have ended or moved on. Star Trek is back. TNG got another shot. And now, when I watch it, it's more like, "Ehh, it's just another Star Trek movie." Which is better than "This is the one that ended it all!"

With Into Darkness, Kirk's really immature, which is part of his character arc but doesn't mean I love it, we've got a Khan who doesn't feel like Khan, a lot of constant non-stop action, over-emotional Spock, they kept doing callbacks to TWOK which didn't make Into Darkness look favorable in comparison, and Admiral Marcus does nothing for me. What I don't like about Into Darkness has to do with the film itself. What I didn't like about Nemesis had to do with external factors that have nothing to do with the actual film itself, but things surrounding it.

By the way, having once been a "Hater" myself during the waning days of the Berman Era, I can call "Haters" today on what they're doing with Kurtzman Trek. I know how they think, because I used to be one of them. If you go in not wanting to like something, or not expecting to, you're not going in with an open mind, and you'll end up with a self-fulfilling prophecy of thinking, "This sucks!"

 

[fireproof78]

I'm surprised at all the people putting it below Nemesis!

I'm not. The comparisons against TWOK will do it no favors. The Khan in the film is nothing like Montalban's Khan in TWOK. Kirk's sacrifice is dumb, and don't even get me started on the magic blood.

Yeah, ID suffers from a lot of flak it has taken over the years. In my opinion it is a good film, and a decent Star Trek film. Not the best, but certainly not the worst. I would rate all the TNG films beneath it. And I like Nemesis.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

We each get a chance to present our rankings.

No ranking is wrong, if you truly believe it.

 

[Seven of Five]

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

 

[Trelane_Squire_of_Gothos]

I'm not. The comparisons against TWOK will do it no favors. The Khan in the film is nothing like Montalban's Khan in TWOK. Kirk's sacrifice is dumb, and don't even get me started on the magic blood.

Yeah, ID suffers from a lot of flak it has taken over the years. In my opinion it is a good film, and a decent Star Trek film. Not the best, but certainly not the worst. I would rate all the TNG films beneath it. And I like Nemesis.

Exactly.

 

[fireproof78]

Exactly.

Glad someone else likes ID.

 

[Trelane_Squire_of_Gothos]

Glad someone else likes ID.

Sorry, let me better clarify...

The Khan in the film is nothing like Montalban's Khan in TWOK. Kirk's sacrifice is dumb, and don't even get me started on the magic blood.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

If a person goes nitpicking, it stands to reason they will find nits.

I’ll never understand those who focus in on minutiae at the expense of seeing the larger picture.

 

[Rahul]

13 points- TUC
12 points- FC
11 points- TVH
10 points- TWOK
9 points- TSFS
8 points- TFF
7 points- 2009
6 points- TMP
5 points- INS
4 points- GEN
3 points- BEY
2 points- NEM
1 point- ID

 

[fireproof78]

Sorry, let me better clarify...

Ah. Well, I don't agree with those points. That is just reasons why people don't like the film.

For me, the film works if you are willing to leave TWOK behind.

 

[at Quark's]

Ah. Well, I don't agree with those points. That is just reasons why people don't like the film.

For me, the film works if you are willing to leave TWOK behind.

It's how I tend to view those new films too. It's in a new timeline, so the characters will be (slightly) different too, which is a nice excuse for a re-interpretation of several of the same narrative themes. So what if Spock is more emotional than in the older films? He's not Spock Prime. Or that Kirk isn't the mature commander yet we know from TOS? At this point in time, he really is much younger.

It also means that I don't have to compare the movies against those older movies, only with them. (By that I mean I can appreciate the 'permutations and reversals' of some themes between those older and newer movies, without feeling the need to give a value judgement ('I think X is better than Y', or 'Y deviates from X and that should not happen' ).

 

[Richard S. Ta]

I was a Kelvin hater back in '09. Pew pew, JJ should be working on Star Wars, why aren't they building the Enterprise in orbit, what's with all the lens flare etc.

Minutiae in other words.

Now I'm older and my critical faculties are more developed (and that's not a dig at anyone other than myself) I find there's a lot to appreciate in the Kelvin movies. Overall audacity, risk taking, emotional resonance between characters... ie: the bigger picture.

I can see how and why someone might dislike the three of them, but they stand head and shoulders above all the others for me, all of which seem to somehow revolve around the notion of "wouldn't it be neat to put these guys from TV into a movie" with varying results.

I would argue that the Kelvin movies are the only Star Trek movies that aspire to be something other than 'big' versions of what we got on TV. They were conceived as bold cinematic experiences from the ground up.

That's just my take.

 

[Jesse1066]

13 points- TUC
12 points- TWOK
11 points- TVH
10 points- FC
9 points- TMP
8 points- GEN
7 points- BEY
6 points- TFF
5 points- NEM
4 points- TSFS
3 points- 2009
2 points- INS
1 point- ID

 

[SithHappens]

13 Points Gen
12 Points TSFS
11 Points TUC
10 Points TVH
9 Points FC
8 Points TWOK
7 Points Ins
6 Points TFF
5 Points Nem
4 Points Beyond
3 Points 09
2 Points TMP
1 point ID

 

[STEPhon IT]

(this is mine)
13 points - THE VOYAGE HOME
12 points - THE WRATH OF KHAN
11 points - STAR TREK
10 points - INTO DARKNESS
9 points - THE MOTION PICTURE
8 points - THE FINAL FRONTIER
7 points - THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY
6 points - GENERATIONS
5 points - INSURRECTION
4 points - NEMESIS
3 points - FIRST CONTACT
2 points - BEYOND
1 point - THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK

 

[plynch]

13 pts TWOK: Truly great movie
12 pts Voyage Home: fun
11 pts TMP: cool, beautiful sf “film,” almost realistic sf before the comic bookish takes back over with TWOK
10 pts TFF: stupid fun, very TOS ish
9 pts FC, fun and epic
8 pts TSFS, pretty good movie overall
7 INS, moral dilemma, I get that for many it’s not blockbuster enough
6 pts TUC, just don’t like it
5 Generations, big mess, trying to do too much
4 BEY, don’t like JJ Trek,
3 Trek ‘09, ditto
2 NEM, horrible movie, and I knew nothing of the background
1 STID, just shite

 

[Annorax849]

Into Darkness has a very unusual consensus. General audiences mostly liked it, but among fans it seems to be bottom tier.

 

[Vger23]

For me, it’s all relative. I like STID…I just like it less than 11 of the other films.

 

[donners22]

13 points- TUC
12 points- FC
11 points- BEY
10 points- TVH
9 points- 2009
8 points- ID
7 points- TWOK
6 points- GEN
5 points- NEM
4 points- TSFS
3 points- TFF
2 points- TMP
1 point- INS

 

[donners22]

It's kind of a cheap knock off of TWOK.

It's really not. The themes, plot, characterisation and motivations are different. It (foolishly) rips off one scene, but that does not amount to being a knockoff.

And NEMESIS didn't magically cure radiation poisoning with Augment blood.

Or have a starship hide in an ocean.

INTO DARKNESS isn't just a terrible STAR TREK movie. It's a terrible film, period.

Nemesis had an utterly nonsensical plot at its core and Picard hooning around in a dune buggy blasting random aliens.

ID is a long way from a terrible film. It was well reviewed by critics and general audience alike and did at least moderately well at the box office. It mostly just riled up the fandom by daring to tread on the sacred turf of WoK.

Speaking of which, it's hilarious that people still get so upset about the "magic blood" while lauding a film built around a magic torpedo which terraforms and creates vast and diverse life across a planet in mere seconds.