The Best Star Trek Movie Since...

[Too Much Fun]

When critics want to praise a film in a series or within a director's filmography, it's common for them to use expressions like, "best movie since...". For example, when Martin Scorsese's "The Departed" came out in 2006, a lot of people were calling it "his best movie since Goodfellas". This wasn't meant to imply that all the movies he'd made between that one and the newest one were bad...just that the new one was a truly great movie, and "Goodfellas" was his last one that was unanimously considered worthy of such a distinction.

So this got me wondering - if the new Star Trek movie turns out to be very good (and early buzz says it will be) and since it's pretty much inevitable that it's at least going to be better than the last few, how far back would you go to compare it to the last great Star Trek movie? This isn't simply a question of what was the last Star Trek movie you liked, but more, which one do you think was the last one so excellent that you believe it would be a huge compliment to say "Star Trek" is the best Star Trek movie since that one?

Would you go as far back as The Wrath of Khan? The Undiscovered Country? Or something more recent? I know nobody is going to say the best since Insurrection or Nemesis since that would be quite faint praise, but it's debatable which one is more worthy among contenders like First Contact and The Voyage Home. If I were writing a glowing review of the new movie as a newspaper critic, I would probably compare it to The Wrath of Khan for dramatic effect, but going by my personal preference, I think name dropping First Contact would be high praise as well. How's about the rest of you?

 

[apenpaap]

I would say it's the best movie since Generations, since I really like that one.

 

[Eddie Roth]

My favorite has always been TVH. Comparing a truly entertaining and well-made new film to it would mean high praise from me. And it would also eschew the cliché of saying "best since Khan" that I have now read at least 4 times already.

You know, I love TWOK, I truly do. But with all this singling out of it, you would think that the movie series hasn't produced anything of value since 1982, which is simply not true.

I liked it when somebody in another thread, someone who's seen the new film, said that Star Trek (2009) is to STII: The Wrath of Khan what Casino Royale is to Goldfinger. I like that. And it puts into perspective that different films were made in different times for different people.

 

[BriGuy]

First Contact was the last most popular, most successful Trek movie.

 

[Alrik]

Although I really enjoy FC, TUC is probably the last really, really good Trek film IMHO.

 

[Ghrakh]

Best ST movie since Nemesis.

 

[miraclefan]

The Undiscoverd Country.(to be honest I could have said FC since both are amazing pieces of work)

 

[LadyPenelope]

I went with best since Wrath of Khan, because everyone usually says that's the best one.

But just from the trailers, and the fact that three of my favourite actors are in it, the new Star Trek looks like the best Trek movie EVER! yay

 

[Myasishchev]

I'm not sure how this is different in substance from the regular "Which Trek movie is your favorite?" polls.

 

[Too Much Fun]

Because it's about a hypothetical situation where if you're asked to praise the new Star Trek movie by comparing it to a previous one, which one would you pick? It's not simply a question of which one do you think is the best. Also, even though I put "Galaxy Quest" up there as a joke option, I do seriously think it was better than the last two Star Trek movies and, therefore, pretty much the last good Star Trek movie, even though it technically isn't one. And I could totally see a critic trying to be clever by saying the new movie is "The best Star Trek movie since Galaxy Quest".

 

[Starbreaker]

Hypothetically... since FC.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

That's a hypothetical I can agree with.

 

[CoveTom]

Well, I suppose you could say it's the best Star Trek movie since Nemesis, since it's the ONLY Star Trek movie since Nemesis, but I know that's not what you meant...

My expectations for this new movie's quality are, unfortunately, not as high as those of some here. However, if it turns out to be a top-notch Trek feature, it could still leave several viable options. For example, it could be the best film since First Contact, but not as good as Khan.

I still think Khan is the gold standard of Trek movies, so if you wanna say this will be a new gold standard, then I'd say since Khan. If you just wanna say this is gonna be a good, entertaining Trek film then I'd say since First Contact.

 

[Phlox's Tongue]

KHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNN!

 

[cooleddie74]

Just an early stab and guess, but it might be the best since TUC.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Honestly, I think Master and Commander is probably one of the best Trek films since Galaxy Quest, but that's just my humble opinion.

 

[cooleddie74]

Never give up...never out-reference!

 

[cardinal biggles]

Honestly, I think Master and Commander is probably one of the best Trek films since Galaxy Quest, but that's just my humble opinion.

I think it's sad that a tongue-in-cheek tribute film and an adventure film set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic War were both better Star Trek films than most, if not all of the actual Star Trek films.