Rating the 1st Ten

[JeffinOakland]

My ratings for the 10 "original timeline" ST films. 1 being awful. 5 being great.

STTM: 3.5 Visually amazing but poorly paced and a bit dull.

WOK: 5 My favorite ST movie. Great villain. Smart plot. Well acted. Has my favorite moment of all of ST.

SFS: 4 Good villain. Some dry moments. Shatner's best.

VH: 4 Save the whales! Most purely enjoyable as escapist entertainment of the series.

TFF: 1.5 Terrible villain. Incomprehensible "plot". Terrible payoff.

TUC: 3.5 Cliched but entertaining.

GEN: 3.5 Dumb plot. Too much Kirk.

FC: 4.5 My favorite of the NextGen movies. Good action. Smart dialogue. Good use of supporting cast.

INS: 3 Dumb plot. Terrible villain. Cheap looking.

NEM: 1 A silly action flick set in outer space.

 

[Orphalesion]

Hmmm...let's see. Rated 0-10 because that's how I roll. With 10 being a favorite movie and 0 meaning I'd rather get a root canal than watch it.

TMP: 3 - tries somewhat to be "cerebral" science fiction and gets some of the flair right, but never achieves that goal because at the same time it tries to appeal to the fans of the series. Ilia and Decker are interesting, but ultimately underused and killed off.
It's really only the atmosphere of the movie that makes it somewhat enjoyable.

WOK: 5 - Somewhat more enjoyable and Saavik is a cool character but....such hammy acting, even for Shatner. But I'm a fan of a lot of Kristie Alley's serious roles.

SFS: 5 - More Saavik, albeit played by a different actress the Genesis planet was a neat concept. Not a big fan of David's death, the character, like Ilia, Decker and Saavik could have brought more to the other films. It's neat that the plot was so bound to the one of the previous movie, it gave the sense of a story arc and coherence rather than "with what random event are we dealing in this movie"

VH: 1 Cringe worthy plot and we spend most of the movie in the past/present day. Not a fan of time travel stories. And they ditch Saavik, which is unforgivable.

FF: 0 Stupid concept with foregone conclusion, ridiculous plot, poor characterization. Includes the song "Row row row your boat" and superfluous, boring camping scenes.
The only interesting concept to me was Paradise City and it's hardly in the movie, I still think a movie actually centered around this failed "Planet of Galactic Peace" woudl have made a better story.

UC: 8 - The best of the original movies in my opinion, an interesting plot, an intriguing depiction of Klingon culture, interesting supporting characters and locations.
It's really the only ST movie I'd call an enjoyable movie period and not just an enjoyable ST movie.

Gen: 1 - The Nexus was a stupid concept, the Duras sisters show up and are killed off for no apparent reason, the Enterprise D is destroyed for no apparent reason. Stupid scenes in he Nexus and the ridiculous idea that Picard needs Kirk's help to deal with the wimpy villain. Most of the excellent cast of TNG are ignored. The ensemble cast (imho) was one of the areas where TNG was such an improvement over TOS so it was a shame that the movies were pretty much the "Picard and Data show"

FC: 3 - Most of the cast of TNG continue to be ignored, Worf is brought back for audience appeal, but little justification to his presence, some of the actors (Frakes and Sirtis) start here to play themselves rather than their characters. The Borg Queen was a stupid concept imho. I found nothing endearing about the smelly, run-down, seedy interpretation of Cochrane, rather I found him annoying.
On the plus side we saw Picard dealing with his repressed emotions from being assimilated.

INS: 0 - Seriously....what is even going on here? Stupid concept at about the same level as TFF, if not worse, because this time the answer actually IS "it's magic and they really are immortal". The side we are supposed to relate to comes across as self-righteous isolationists and the villains made me confuse them with the Viidians on first viewing. The casts acts like utter imbeciles and Picard's new love interest is uninteresting. Why was there even a conflict here? Why didn't the wrinkly faced guys just move back with the Baku?

Nem: 5 - some rather bizarre scenes (that damn dune buggy) and an unnecessary character death notwithstanding, this is the movie I felt that got closest to TNG enjoyment levels (still nowhere the same level, but closer than the others imho).
Unlike the previous three TNG movies, there are some good scenes for everyone and I liked Shizon as a villain. Several of the concepts and characters here I actually wish they had already thought up in time for the series proper rather than in this movie (Shinzon, the Remans, a proper Romulan storyline, Troi using her mental abilities to discover cloaked ships etc.)
However the battle scene was waaaaaaaaay too long and again the concept fails to make complete sense. And there's the damn buggy scene.

 

[Lance]

Rated from 1 to 5:

The Motion Picture 4/5 - A strong opener, although I admit it's tone is one of those 'like it or hate it' things. Personally I quite like it.

The Wrath of Khan 5/5 - Hard to beat, for all the reasons you all each know already. I will admit to finding it harder to watch these days without losing interest, but I *think* a lot of that is down to overfamiliarity, rather than an inherant problem with the movie.

The Search For Spock 3/5 - It's got some issues, Nimoy being a first time film director is kinda obvious in places and some of the editing of scenes is a bit iffy (I can see why they did it the way they did, but it does confuse the timeline of events somewhat). But it's a solid enough effort I s'pose.

The Voyage Home 3/5 - I appreciate the chemistry between the cast and some of the jokes do hit the mark, but for me it's only just a pass. I can understand why it works as one of the most 'populist' Star Trek movies though.

The Final Frontier 2/5 - I really want to like it, I appreciate it's ambition and the story is textbook TOS. But the execution falls far short of the ideals, unfortunately (mostly for reasons that are not Shatner's fault I must say; his direction is generally pretty good).

The Undiscovered Country 5/5 - A fitting finale for the old crew, and a nice tying up of various threads, some of them going all the way back to TOS.

Generations 2/5 - TNG's first outing is a movie of mixed messages. The first 30 minutes aboard the Enterprise-B are fantastic, the subsequent section with the TNG crew is superb and fittingly captures the tone of their TV adventures, but it all starts to fall apart, specifically at the moment where 1701-D gets it's ass handed to it in battle for some random reason while Picard fails to stop Soran, leading to a muddled climax that fails to adequately give anyone their due. Disappointing.

First Contact 5/5 - I can't fault this. Maybe some of the Cochrane stuff grates, but this one barely puts a foot wrong for its entire running time. This is the movie they should have led the TNG features with.

Insurrection 1/5 - In my mind, the Star Trek feature film's lowest ebb. The plot is scrubby and full of holes, the humor falls flat (Troi and Crusher's firm boobs; Worf's klingon acne; Picard, Worf and Data singing Gilbert & Sullivan ), and despite having a budget bigger than First Contact, the extensive location shooting still doesn't look better than any average planet-of-the-week shot on the backlot from the series. I find it borderline unwatchable.

Nemesis 3/5 - I actually think it's better than Insurrection, I like a lot of the ideas and the best executed parts of the movie are at the very least well done. I've impressed more than a few non-fans I've shown it to by simple virtue of Tom Hardy being the villain; definitely one of those things that enhances the movie in hindsight. I don't think it deserved the bad box office it got. It's not a spectacular end to TNG's adventures, but personally IMO it's satisfying enough, and certainly more entertaining than Generations, Insurrection or The Final Frontier. YMMV.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

453 423 342 1

 

[kirkfan]

TMP: 2- The slow motion picture would have been a more appropriate title in my opinion.

TWK: 5- Moby-Dick with Kahn as Ahab and Kirk... as the whale.

Great movie.


TSFS: 3- Entertaining, good Klingons, great scene when Kirk learns of the death of his son. But otherwise so so.

TVH: 4- stupid plot(everything about it), but camp and good camp at that, so it doesn't matter.

TFF: 0- stupid plot, stupid everything.


TUC: 4.5 loved it. Almost as good as TWK.


GEN: 1- Picard's dream life made me want to stick a finger down my throat. It looked like a scene from a B-movie from the 40s.

FC: 3- barely above average.

INS: 1- It's not a good sign when the "villains" are the ones actually making sense.


NEM: 0- someone hates the franchise and tried to hurt it by making this movie... mission accomplished.

 

[BillJ]

4's:

The Motion Picture
The Undiscovered Country

3's:

The Wrath of Khan
The Search for Spock

2's:

The Voyage Home
The Final Frontier
Generations
Nemesis

1's:

First Contact
Insurrection

 

[Viper78]

Rating 1 being the worst and 5 the best.

TMP: 2 - Slow but not a bad opener.

TWK: 5 - Great story, great battle scenes and a great villain.

SFS: 4 - Interesting story, again great villain, I liked the Excelsior/Bird of Prey intro and the Enterprise destruction.

TVH: 3 - Enjoyable film although didn't think much of the plot.

TFF: 0 - Terrible!

TUC: 5 - Loved this film! Great plot and fitting ending to what should have been the final appearance for all the original cast.

GEN: 2 - Big let down after such a brilliant series, didn't see the need for a crossover. Great scene's on the Enterprise B however this film had a disjointed plot. I was totally gutted they destroyed the Enterprise D for no good reason!!!

FC: 5 - Best TNG film, remeber seing the trailer and being really excited, was't let down when I went to see it. I think they missed a trick in not keeping the Ent-D, would have loved seeing the borg trying to assimilate the ship we were all familiar with.

INS: 2 - Seemed more like an average TV episode rather than a big budget movie. For some reason the CGI just looked poor compared to FC.

NEM: 3 - Not a good ending for TNG. The premise of the plot was good although I didn't see the need to introduce the Remans. Would have been better to have Commander Sela involved as part of the Romulan plot of cloning Picard. Good battle scenes and CGI.

 

[EnriqueH]

These change once in a while, but right now:

TMP: 8.5
TWOK-9.5
TSFS-9.5
TVH-10
TFF-6
TUC-7
GEN-5.5
FC-9
INS-5.0
NEM-5.0
ST09-8.5
STID-8.5

 

[Trimm]

I wouldn't rate any Trek flick as a 5 out of 5, as they all have their flaws. TMP has pacing and editing issues, TWOK has some real dead time in it, TSFS has very pedestrian cinematography, TVH is the closest but I can quible with the humor and the pacing. TFF is deeply flawed obviously. TUC has the silly whodunit with Valeris. GEN is the most ambitious of the TNG flicks, but it has a very weak final act. FC is a competent action flick, but that's about it. INS has real tone problems. NEM is horrendously edited and conceptually flawed with far too much emphasis on Picard/Data.

I'd say TWOK, TVH, and TUC are 4s, TMP, TSFS, FC are 3's, GEN and INS are 2's, TFF is a 1, and NEM is a 0.

 

[2takesfrakes]

THE SEARCH for SPOCK is a very strong entry and probably influenced the rest of STAR TREK, ever after, as any movie could, without meaning to. The first time a regular cast member directs, the first time we see the Klingon triple-bladed knife and bird of prey, the Excelsior class, the Grissom class, and the first time we see the Enterprise blow-up. All of these things became so common after STAR TREK III, that it's hard to believe that it was ever a big deal, any of it - especially Nimoy directing. But what Nimoy did with the Vulcans in this movie, with such a restricted budget was amazing. It never looked better, the people were never more beautifully attired and exotic looking. When they land on Vulcan, I believed ... I mean ... it was unmistakable that this is how everything about it should be represented. Unfortunately, this level of exquisite detail never resurfaced again. In -ENTERPRISE- the CGI looks as cheap and lame as the wigs the Vulcans have on ... and that's a shame, considering what came before it.

THE MOTION PICTURE is artistry in motion on every level: The costumes, the models, the props, the aliens, interiors and FX. Just stunningly beautiful, even now, many decades later.

FIRST CONTACT is just incredible. Amazing. Amazingly amazing! And Jonathan Frakes' style is all up in it.

INSURRECTION is entertaining popcorn fare. Not as strong an entry as FC, but it does show Frakes' range in how differently he approaches each project. And, once again, the cast looks fantastic! Frakes knows to flatter his cast with the best cinematography available and he delivers. Some of his direction, like how the camera revolves around Picard, Data and Anij in the holoship, when they first discover it is so typical of Jonathan Frakes' style. I can't say enough good about his contributions to the STAR TREK movies and to the franchise in general. He's an outstanding artist and entertainer and I'm very glad that TNG got him.

VOYAGE HOME & FINAL FRONTIER are both bottom tier, artistically bankrupt garbage ... and the rest of the movies are really take 'em or leave 'em, as far as I'd be concerned.

 

[tharpdevenport]

Well, with 1 being the worst and 10 being the best, my ratings:

ST: TMP: ****.5 (4.5)
It's needlessly slow. A movie can be slow and be good, but this isn't such a case. And while I give it props for being in line with the original series plot wise, I don't feel it was movie material.

TWoK: ******** (8)
And I'm speaking of the longer cut here. What keeps it from achieving a full ten stars, in my view: the fact Chekov didn't see Khan before. The dumb inclusion of a son. That it's more of a revenge film than a thought-provoking narrative on people and ideas; I love the film for what it is, but for a TOS movie, it could have been more.

TSfS: ****** (6)
It's been over a decade since I've seen the whole film, so I have to go by my memory of it.

TVH: ******* (7)
For what it is, it was fun and had good interactions and quotes. However, the plot was just stupid.

TFF: *****.5 (5.5)
I don't hate this movie as much as others. And the humor and even the camping scenes, don't bother me. I apprecaite it's idea more in line with the original series, but it certainly could have been told better.

TUC: *******.5 (7.5)
It was a good send off and I liked the parrallels to events in the real world. But as a whole it wasn't as fun as TWoK.

Generations: ********.5 (8.5)
Say what you want about the plot holes and use of Kirk, but this film was far more in line with TNG then those other terrible sequel films.

I: ***.5 (3.5)
The plot idea of abuse of a people for the benefit of others was in the spirit of the TOS series, but the whole film is just bad. Well, Goldsmith's score is very good.

FC: *** (3)
Just a terrible movie.

Nemesis: *
Fucking awful. What's disgraceful is this is the TNG send off. Fuck you very much, Berman and Paramount. I STILL want my money back. The only Trek film I wanted to walk out of. And the only one I left without remembering a note of the score; Jerry should have done themes and cues and let his son handle this. It's so bad I'm tempted to pull a movie-wave.net and give it "NO STARS".

 

[eyeresist]

I don't think my ratings have really changed since the last thread of this type:


TMP: 2/5 - Some nice things about this, but lame 70s design and badly needs a pacier edit.

TWOK: 4.5/5 - Not perfect but so very very solid, with some classic cinema moments.

TSFS: 3/5 - Creaky direction as the plot connects dots back to original continuity, but some good drama too, and beautiful work from ILM.

TVH: 1.5/5 - These days I find the comedy very lame, and romantic Shatner is always Shat at his worst.

TFF: 3/5 - Ignore the huge plot holes and Uhura's fan-dance, and just enjoy the Trekness.

TUC: 1/5 - The set-up is intriguing, but everything from Rura Penthe on is just embarrassing.

GEN: 3.5/5 - Looks good, starts well, but falls into plot holes, most notably the Nexus.

FC : 3/5 - Palls on repeated viewing. Not sure why yet.

INS: 0.5/5 - Unwatchable. I think the "boobs" are the best thing in it.

NEM: 3/5 - Looks good, gives every character some good "moments", Romulan setting interesting. Big battle is tedious and Tom Hardy doesn't quite convince as clone.

 

[cardinal biggles]

TMP: 3.5/5
TWOK: 5/5
TSFS: 3.5/5
TVH: 4.5/5
TFF: 2.5/5
TUC: 3.5/5
GEN: 2/5
FC: 3.5/5
INS: 2.5/5
NEM: 0.5/5

 

[Mjolnir2000]

TMP - 2: Poorly paced, but a neat idea.

WoK - 5: Do I really need to explain?

TSFS - 3: Good humor and general plot, but didn't care for the new Saavik and the bits on Genesis didn't work that well for me.

TVH - 4: So much fun.

TFF - 2: Meh.

TUC - 5: Probably my favorite. A wonderful sendoff for the TOS crew.

Gen - 3: Enjoyable enough, though the whole Geordi visor thing wasn't a satisfying way of destroying the big E.

FC - 5: Borg on the big screen. What's not to love?

Ins - 4: Very Next Generation. I like The Next Generation. Not sure why people think it's bad that a movie should feel like an episode.

Nem - 1: The worst of the worst. I have no plans to ever watch this film again.

 

[politikirk]

1. Star Trek: The Motion Picture - 2.5/5
I have very few problems with the story itself, but I felt that the pacing was inappropriate for the material. The film would have been rated higher, for me, had the film been... 90 minutes, say, and one did not have to dwell on certain shots for longer than necessary.
2. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - 5/5
I really don't feel like this film needs defending. It's great! Definitely my favourite of the films... yeah, I don't think there's anything I can say that has not been said by others.
3. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock - 3.5/5
I think this film is kind of overlooked. It's rarely hated by fans... but it rarely gets the praise (I feel) it deserves. Some of it is shot rather beautifully, by Leonard Nimoy. And, look, if they're going to go back on their previous film, and resurrect Spock, at least they built an entire movie around it.
4. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home - 5/5
Hilarious movie. Throwing Star Trek characters into Earth's past (and our present) is always easy comedy, and it works perfectly in IV. I love this movie so much I cry.
5. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier - 2/5
Truly an awful film, but not completely unwatchable... it can be entertaining in a bad-movie way, if you're in the right mood.
6. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country - 4.5/5
My only criticism of this movie, really, is Valeris. I like Kim Cattrell, as an actress generally, but I feel like she had no idea how to play a her character in this film. I understand that not everyone can deliver Star Trek "technobabble", (and I also understand that some of the blame therefore rests on Nicholas Meyer) but her performance is still a detriment to me. Also, it's painfully obvious that that character was supposed to be Saavik.
7. Star Trek: Generations - 1.5/5
Ehk. Bland. Forgettable. Largely inoffensive. Dull.
8. Star Trek: First Contact - 4.5/5
Really great movie, the best of the Next Gen outings on the big screen. I have minor issues with the plot, but I give it some leeway because the film is so much fun to watch, and it managed to find a balance between being a modern action movie and being a Star Trek movie.
9. Star Trek: Insurrection - 3/5
I think this is the most underrated of the Trek films. I think it's a fun movie. It's not grand or particularly epic, but I enjoy watching it. I understand the criticism that it doesn't really feel like a movie... and it's not great... maybe it doesn't technically deserve a 3... but I like it.
10. Star Trek: Nemesis - 1/5
The worst of the original 10, in my opinion. It's dull and depressing and the plot isn't half as clever as I think the creators thought it was. Kind of a sad ending to the crew's adventures.

 

[kirkfan]

The more I think about it the more I want to move Generations to the bottom of the list. It's so full of annoying details, it's like the movie is nothing but a giant booger.

 

[Vger23]

TMP- 8/10: some of the criticism is fair, but it is a beautiful film, epic in scope, with a tremendous score and a great character-defining Spock story. The DC is the best version, but they all have some merit. Production design is insanely good as well

TWOK- 10/10: A modern classic. No need for deep explanation.

TSFS- 9/10: A wonderful, well-paced follow up. Suffers somewhat due to the obvious outcome, but this film perfectly captured the "family" aspect of the cast amidst a tense and unique storyline (crew gone rogue, destroying the Enterprise, etc)

TVH- 5/10: Some great light-hearted moments don't mask the fact that there is very little going on here. Of all the TOS films, this one has the least re-watch value.

TFF- 7.5/10: I like this one waaaaaay more than the average fan. To me, this was closest In tone and feel to TOS. I enjoyed the characters and the exploration of the Trinity. The ending was disappointing, but the build-up was almost worth it.

TUC- 6/10: I like this one far less than the average fan. A few Cool action sequences and some nice intimate character moments don't make up for a thin, hole-filled plot and a horribly rushed and cheap-looking production.

GEN- 4/10: I've grown to like this a little more in recent years. It has a classic TNG theme, some good action/adventure, and looks beautiful even by today's standards. It was also a huge mess and a wasted opportunity, unfortunately.

FC- 7/10: Lots of fun! 3 expertly interwoven plots are handled well here, the Borg are great adversaries, and Patrick Stewart owns every scene he is in. Great direction by Frakes and a wonderful guest cast make up for some script inconsistencies.

INS- 1/10: Too many fingers in the pie resulted in a tepid, unremarkable, script with corny humor, badly-played action scenes, a Swiss-cheese plot and no memorable sequences whatsoever. I've seen first-season TNG episodes that are far better than this film, and that is the true crime.

NEM- 6/10: I've always kind of enjoyed Nemesis. It's not good by a long-shot, but compared to the other TNG films,no think its second-best (which is not saying a lot). I thought it had some great (albeit nonsensical) action, good visuals, and some nice moments for some of the characters. Data's death did not play well.

 

[kirkfan]

Between TFF and NEM, I have a hard time deciding which one I hate the most, so I rate them both zero. Seriously, I can't think of a single thing I like in either of these movies.

 

[Ssosmcin]

Well, let's see, keeping in mind that I don't consider a single Star Trek film to be "bad..."

Out of 5 stars, the highest

TMP: 4 stars. Awesome beginning of the series. Some slow spots, but Jerry Goldsmith makes them worth the trip.

TWOK: 4.5 - pretty much influenced every film following in one way or another (even in "how we don't want a villain this time" sort of thing). Great story and performances. Amazing score by Horner.

TFSF: 1000 stars. Best film of the series. Really shows how close these people are. Awesome spectacle, great performance by Shatner (his best in the films and his last great work for Star Trek) and an utterly beautiful score by Horner on his way out the door. The ending always makes me misty. I love that it's only barely resolved, Empire Strikes Back style.

TVH: 2.5 - crushing disappointment after the greatness of the previous chapter. I don't like Trek comedies and this, while very funny in 1986, doesn't hold up to repeat viewing. The Leonard Rosenman score it turgid and leaden. The Academy Award nomination is unwarranted. Dull. Catherine Hicks is awful.

TFF: 3.5 - FUN! Stupid in a lot of ways and Shatner cannot direct himself, but a good time. I like the overall seriousness of the premise, but could have used fewer force, slapstick jokes. Great scenes for Dee Kelley, his best work for the series. Goldsmith returns and it's beautiful.

TUC: 3 - overrated and kind of dull in spots. The extended video edition is awful, but the theatrical edition is much better. The racist crew is annoying and the score is not very exciting. Great final battle, though. Special mention for the final trailer: the most exciting preview reel ever assembled for a classic Trek movie (not talking about the cheesy "join our friends for one last adventure" thing). Excellent!!!

GEN: 4 - Love this movie. It has massive plot holes, but the effects are wonderful, the tone is grim and the music by Dennis McCarthy is beautiful. Great performances all around. The crash sequence is stunning. Patrick Stewart is in top form here. Love the lighting.

FC: 3 - disappointing, small scale film. Good action, but Stewart chews scenery in his rant that gets WAY overpraised. Fine score by Jerry and Joel Goldsmith.

INS: 2.5 - even smaller scale, a massive two part episode. It's not a bad plot, but the Planet of the White People isn't very gripping. However, Frakes makes it exciting and fun and, again, Goldsmith does wonderful work.

NEM: 4 - love this movie. Yeah, I like the films nobody else does. Great fun, very exciting, amazing effects, good performances. Goldsmith's final Trek score, and almost his final work entirely, is well above average and a great way to go out.

 

[kirkfan]

Please don't take it personal but your assessment is the one I disagree the most with among all the ones I read in this thread.

Well, it could have been worse mind you, but not by much.