The Most Underrated Movie?

[Elder Knight]

Pleasantly surprised to see so much agreement for TSFS.

Where it was hokey or clumsy, it nicely recalled the TV series. It moved along at a nice clip. It almost had a surprise (Nimoy wasn't listed in the opening credeits cast), and the ending had me cheering.

 

[datagal]

Well Back to the OP after some serious thought. I for one enjoyed every Trek film from TOS to TNG. Most of the time I really don't understand various fans reactions to needing to dissect and rip them apart.
Sure there are some that I enjoy more than others, but I never really didn't have the need to the whole "nit-picking " thing.
So in all honesty, I didn't place a vote at all.

I thought I was the only one who felt that way. Can a fan just like a Trek movie because he/she like it?
Maybe I'm not the diehard fan of all things Trek, but I'm still think of myself as a fan.

I think that ST III is the most underrated movie. Second is ST:UC.
As for TNG movies, GEN is most underrated movie. Not as good as FC, but it's still pretty good. I like NEM. (I just like it, sue me). I just wasn't feeling INS. Too wussy for my taste.

 

[Jeyl]

Star Trek III has one of my favorite villain/hero stories in the entire series, even more so than the Wrath of Khan*.

I just liked how in The Search for Spock, there are three stories going on. One with Kirk and crew, one with David and Saavik, and the other with Kruge. The Kruge dynamic is great because this is a villain who knows nothing of Kirk short of being involved with the Genesis Device, and is only going after the Genesis Device for his own personal gain and not for some typical revenge plot. And when Kirk and Kruge finally meet, nothing is the same. Of all the times Kirk has used his diplomacy and authority to get what he wants out of his foes, it's Kruge that pins Kirk down.

And not many fans say this, but I find the destruction of the Enterprise to be a perfect example of Kirk finally accepting what the "No Win" scenario was all about. No matter how good you are, no matter what choices you have, you will always lose something as a result. He never saw it that way because he thought he could save everything like his ship and the Maru, but it wasn't until TWOK where he literally faced the no-win scenario for real. Not in the sense that klingons come in and blow up the Enterprise, but that no choice you made would lead to a good one (leave the maru to die, or try to rescue the maru and die yourself).

*I AM NOT DISSING TWOK! I LOVE TWOK!

 

[22 Stars]

Star Trek III has one of my favorite villain/hero stories in the entire series, even more so than the Wrath of Khan*.

I just liked how in The Search for Spock, there are three stories going on. One with Kirk and crew, one with David and Saavik, and the other with Kruge. The Kruge dynamic is great because this is a villain who knows nothing of Kirk short of being involved with the Genesis Device, and is only going after the Genesis Device for his own personal gain and not for some typical revenge plot. And when Kirk and Kruge finally meet, nothing is the same. Of all the times Kirk has used his diplomacy and authority to get what he wants out of his foes, it's Kruge that pins Kirk down.

And not many fans say this, but I find the destruction of the Enterprise to be a perfect example of Kirk finally accepting what the "No Win" scenario was all about. No matter how good you are, no matter what choices you have, you will always lose something as a result. He never saw it that way because he thought he could save everything like his ship and the Maru, but it wasn't until TWOK where he literally faced the no-win scenario for real. Not in the sense that klingons come in and blow up the Enterprise, but that no choice you made would lead to a good one (leave the maru to die, or try to rescue the maru and die yourself).

*I AM NOT DISSING TWOK! I LOVE TWOK!

Great summary and I agree! I think with higher production values III would be in the pantheon of great Trek films!

 

[sbk1234]

Has anyone touched upon the fact that the only one capable of actually destroying the Enterprise was her captain?

 

[Stardate]

I almost voted for III but chanced my mind and voted for TMP.

 

[Jeyl]

Has anyone touched upon the fact that the only one capable of actually destroying the Enterprise was her captain?

Well, the Romulans destroyed the Enterprise C, and Frasier destroyed the Enterprise D many, many times until the Duras sisters finally put her down.

 

[Jeyl]

As mentioned earlier, Star Trek III really did feel like it was trying to connect to the original series in more ways than just referencing specific moments like Pon Far or the self-destruct sequence. Take a look at the prop department. The weird phaser design from TMP and TWOK are replaced with a more modern take on the TOS phaser, as well as the communicators and tricorders.

 

[sbk1234]

Has anyone touched upon the fact that the only one capable of actually destroying the Enterprise was her captain?

Well, the Romulans destroyed the Enterprise C, and Frasier destroyed the Enterprise D many, many times until the Duras sisters finally put her down.

But those aren't THE Enterprise.

 

[JaxsBrokenHeart]

Definitely SFS. After seeing a bittersweet deconstruction of the series in Wrath of Khan, it was a good followup to see an installment that overtly celebrated it in Search for Spock.

I've also grown to really like the villain over time, specifically because the writers were smart enough to differentiate him from Khan. Singh was a highly intelligent independent man ultimately driven to irrational maneuvers by his obsessions, getting suckered in several times because of his need for revenge on Kirk.

By contrast Kruge is a practical, albeit ruthless agent of the Empire who's motives are by some extent a logical and understandable desire for self-preservation and strength for his people. While the genetic superman's life became defined by the necessity for vengeance and the stroking of his ego, he was one Klingon looking at a much bigger picture. Unlike Khan he regards Kirk as little more than an enemy obstacle and perhaps because of that is able to see through his bluff.

It all comes together in the climax where circumstances eventually force Kirk, like Spock in the previous film, to make a huge sacrifice in order to save the people he cares about. Its a nice follow-up of his story (which in WOK was him shaking off his feeling of being old and outdated) with him finally letting go of the Enterprise and once again realizing the great value of his friends (a theme continued to some degree in the following two films).

 

[Lonemagpie]

Insurrection, which is great fun with a great score, and TFF second (which works better on a home screen than in cinemas)

Conversely, TVH is by far the most overrated...

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Insurrection, which is great fun with a great score, and TFF second (which works better on a home screen than in cinemas)

Conversely, TVH is by far the most overrated...

I agree with this completely -- Insurrection and The Final Frontier are better than their reputations and Voyage Home is vastly overrated -- but I'm not sure if Voyage Home or First Contact is the most overrated of the films.

Fandom loves First Contact, and I've never understood why. The story is schizophrenic (you have intense action-horror sequences sandwiched next to a fish-out-of-water comedy), and Frakes direction is lackluster. (His direction on Insurrection is much better, but First Contact direction is static and television-scale.) There's no ambition to the film.

 

[Xhiandra]

I'm one of those unspeakable ones that voted Nemesis.

It seems most of the hatred Nemesis generates comes from minor canon violations, rather than anything else.
It can't have the worst plot, that's The Voyage Home by roughly 70000 light years.
It can't have the worst pace, that's The Motion Picture.
It can't have the worst visuals, that has to be The Final Frontier.
It can't be the most boring, that's The Search for Spock/The Motion Picture.
It does have the worst costuming. I don't know what was up with the Reman/Shinzon's purple PVC outfits, but that's downright ridiculous.

It's not the best Trek movie, but come on: TMP, TSFS, TFF; TVH, Generations and Insurrection are all worse.

 

[Anticitizen]

I've never felt that The Search for Spock was 'underrated', because I always assumed everyone liked it. I don't really ever see people bashing the film. I just hear that idiotic meme about 'odd numbered films being bad', but when it comes to it, most people don't have many gripes about ST3.

I voted for The Final Frontier. It just feels like TOS to me. Probably the film that is most evocative of the series. And not just because of the lousy special effects.

But we all love TOS, and half the spaceships in that show were fuzzy blobs of light, so I don't see why questionable special effects are such a black mark.

 

[Kirby]

Another vote for TSFS. It always feels to me like it's the movie that was just there to bridge the gap between TWOK and TVH, with no love or hate for it.
I enjoyed the Enterprise heist, and the idea behind Spock's resurrection. Aside from only seeing him as Reverand Jim from Taxi, I liked Kruge.

 

[BruntFCA]

I went with INS as I don`t think it's nearly as bad as some people say, it was just that it felt like after FC it was a step back instead of a step forward.

 

[Steve Gennarelli]

I'd also vote for "Star Trek III". Heck, even on "Seinfeld" they mentioned that it was a great movie...and they weren't being sarcastic.

 

[RColtrane]

I voted for ST-TMP because:

1) Wrath Of Khan is waaay too overrated!
2) TSFS to me was never underrated, just a regular picture in the series.
3) TFF is just an ok movie at best and the most part of the effects were really subpar, so it deserves its reputation.
4) TMP is the more unique and ambitious of the entries and is the only one which has a true epic feel to it. All other TOS movies look like TOS 'bigger episodes' after TMP.
5) It has Will Decker, son of the most memorable TOS character represented here by my awesome avatar on the left

 

[Tesophius]

I was shocked to learn that TMP is not consistently rated as the best Trek movie. Therefore, TMP.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I was shocked to learn that TMP is not consistently rated as the best Trek movie. Therefore, TMP.

It was from 1979-82