I actually liked the militarism, personally. STVI is still my favorite of the movies. And what parts of those movies was really flash over substance?
I kinda liked it too in both ST II and VI although it seems un-TOS and unnecessary. Because it looks cool.
The new uniforms were cool, it was cool when the BOP attack made those cadets fly out of their bunk-beds,
it was cool when that dumbass Scotty carried wounded Peter Preston's body through half the ship so we could have a shocking surprise on the bridge.
Heck even the blinking lights were cool (although they made Regula one look like some christmas lights shop).
It worked. It was effective. It was a good watch.
After the motionless picture they took a few lessons from Star Wars, hired ILM and made a movie with lots of action, fast-paced and with an overly melodramatic score.
Did TWOK have that much substance? Yeah Kirk was getting old and his son showed up (I'm sure this movie has similar stuff)
Genesis- this huuuge moral dilemma of possibly turning it into a weapon, a guy seeking revenge...come on! It was a "flashy" movie for its time.