What is the Worst Trek Film?

[Cyke101]

Despite being poor, their plot is firmly in the Trek Universe.

I really don't think searching for God or personal vendettas are firmly Trek plots...

Anyway, I voted for Nemesis. It was just all around mindless. The Final Frontier is bad for sure, but it at least the camaraderie of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy was essential to the plot.

Generations and Insurrection were pretty close to the top of the list as well.

As of this writing, and echoing Cooleddie's post, TSFS still doesn't have any votes. Could it be that mediocre of a film?

The Voyage Home showcased the crew out of their element and without their usual deus ex machina devices, which made for a wonderful story all around.

 

[Cyke101]

-Edit-

 

[cooleddie74]

Maybe TSFS just inspires neutral feelings. Nobody really loves it. But nobody hates it either because of the warm, moving finale and the classy, boffo way the original Enterprise is sacrificed in the film.

 

[Kryton]

TSFS (as I've said elsewhere) is my favorite. Despite its flaws it had the truest vision to what WAS Trek IMO...the illogic of "The needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many" was pure Kirk and his devotion to those he loves and respects the most is clearly evident throughout...so much so the grey lady went down in service to those needs. THAT'S Kirk. Turning death into a fighting chance to live.

 

[Falcor5]

Whats funny about the results so far in this thread is that so far only "Search for Spock" and "TUC" have no votes for being the worst movie, but IMO it is not likely that they would win in a "vote for your Favorite" Trek movie thread.

Because neither of those is the worst Trek film. I quite like those two, actually.

I dont think they are the worst films either I just find it strange that they have no votes and every other movie does. I guess its just a matter of how the question is phrased. I am thinking it is likely that Nemesis and TFF would have the least amount of votes in a "Vote for Your Favorite Movie thread" but I doubt that both TSS and TUC would be in first and second place in that thread (despite having no votes for being the worst movie).

 

[cardinal biggles]

Despite being poor, their plot is firmly in the Trek Universe.
However The Voyage Home despite being a good comedy, can easily be labeled as the worst STAR TREK film ever. When released in Europe and South America, the TVH was given the title The Voyage Home: Star Trek IV.
Star Trek name suddenly came secondary and 80% of the plot is firmly stuck in 1980s. TVH has been call many names f.c. comedy, time travel, parody or whale movie before being called a STAR TREK movie. Wasn't this film, also recently selected as one of the best environment movie.

Trek has done comedy before, it's done time travel before, and it's done environmentalist messages (badly) since then; I don't see what's so terrible about combining them, or perhaps more importantly making a film that will appeal to a wider audience than just the Trekkies.

Is it really that bad a thing for Star Trek to have mass appeal? (You don't have to answer that; it's more of a rhetorical question based on years of posting here, and seeing folks whinge every time Trek tries to reach out beyond the core fanbase.)

It is unlikely you are going to find TVH in the Sci-fi section in your local video store like the other Star Trek films are but rather in the comedy section.

Nope, every video store I've ever been to has had it in the Sci-Fi section, right between Search for Spock and Final Frontier.

 

[SupAJ1M]

final frontier

 

[Ghrakh]

Generations. IMO not technically the worst, but it was just a completely weak story. All the other movies had potential in their stories, and some fell short of that due to implementation, but I could at least see what they were trying for. Generations was just a conceptual nil, despite being pretty well put together.

 

[CoveTom]

^ I think Generations' heart was in the right place, but it suffered from trying to be too many things. They wanted the original cast, but not in a way that overshadowed the TNG cast. They wanted Kirk and Picard to meet, but not through traditional time travel. They wanted to destroy the Enterprise-D to make room for a new ship. They wanted Data to have an important subplot. And so forth.

Instead of coming up with a story idea that worked and that everyone liked, and building the movie from that, they came up with a laundry list of "must haves" and attempted to construct a story around them. That just didn't work well.

 

[Kirk1980]

I wonder if Shatner would be pleased Nemesis has taken the mantle as the crappiest crap Trek's come up with yet.

For me, as limited as 5 was, I'd still watch it before I'd watch Generations, Insurrection and Nemesis.

 

[Ghrakh]

^ I think Generations' heart was in the right place, but it suffered from trying to be too many things. They wanted the original cast, but not in a way that overshadowed the TNG cast. They wanted Kirk and Picard to meet, but not through traditional time travel. They wanted to destroy the Enterprise-D to make room for a new ship. They wanted Data to have an important subplot. And so forth.

Instead of coming up with a story idea that worked and that everyone liked, and building the movie from that, they came up with a laundry list of "must haves" and attempted to construct a story around them. That just didn't work well.

Yes, exactly. :-)

 

[cooleddie74]

TFF could benefit from a new DVD and BluRay release with Remastered effects inserted. The plot would still be creaky and full of endless loopholes, but if the Great Barrier, Sha Ka Ree and the "God Entity" looked a helluva lot better it'd make the movie easier to digest or even enjoy.

 

[QuasarVM]

That's what I'm talkin bout!

What is it going to take for Paramount to give Shatner back the reigns to remaster this film and fix it?!

It's freakin starting to tick me off that they won't let him fix this movie before he roaches off and goes to meet God for REAL!

They should let him fix this movie -- godspeed! Right now, they are just wasting valuable time. I wouldn't trust anyone but The Shat to restore it to HIS original vision!

Even Warner Brothers let Richard Donner restore Superman II to his original vision. The Shat deserves no less!

I mean...damn...

Enough's enough. Let the man fix his film! Why keep this blight on Star Trek's reputation as it is?

 

[S'kai]

final frontier. boring boring boring.only shining moment uhura's fan dance

That was sort of silly, IMHO. BUT . . . .

Best

shuttlecraft

landing

ever.


<except for the netting at the end>.

Re-mastering would not fix the problems with this film, many of which came from the writer's strike. It would have to be done over completely. Still, I enjoyed watching it, even the 2nd time.

Nemesis still the worst. Couldn't have done a better job of trying to kill the franchise forever.

 

[Ensign_Redshirt]

Voted "Nemesis". And to tell you the truth, I never thought of "The Final Frontier" as a particularly bad movie until I first read on the Internet that many fans consider it to be the worst Trek movie. Must be nostalgia, since it was the first Trek movie I ever saw when I was still a kid.


As a Trek fan, I would also say that I can stand to watch all of these movies. And for me, each movie has at least one positive quality.

The good thing about Nemesis: Despite the fact that his character is some sort of Khan rip-off, I happen to like Tom Hardy's Shinzon. And the space battle at the end is kind of cool.

The bad thing about Nemesis: Almost everything else. Mainly that the director had no clue whatsoever about Star Trek or the characters... hell, the director had probably no clue how to direct a movie, considering that he had only directed two films prior to Nemesis and those had been second-rate action flicks.

 

[WisTrekFan]

I voted for Final Frontier. Although it had its moments, overall I cringe whenever I watch it. I have always felt the story was very disrespectful towards Scotty. He was made to appear buffonish and the relationship between him and Uhura came out of nowhere. The on part of the movie I do like is the campfire scenes. I thought they captured the Kirk, Spock, McCoy nicely.

 

[Starbreaker]

Ahh... the hive mentality strikes again.

 

[LutherSloan]

My reverse rankings (worst to best):

1. Final Frontier (total mess except for the campfire scene)
2. Nemesis (a big mess, plus they friggin killed DATA)
3. TMP (too slow and pondering)
4. Insurrection (feels like a bad TNG 2-part episode)
5. Generations (average at best, needed a lot of things cut-out, lousy death of the Enterprise-D, and the Duras Sisters SUCK.)
6. The Voyage Home (a little above average, but rarely felt like a ST movie. the movie also comes off way too dated, unlike the others)
7. The Search for Spock (great drama, good fight scenes, Kirk sacrificing the Enterprise, very few problems. not totally sold on Kruge as much of a villain, however...)
8. The Undiscovered Country (great ending battle, good drama, conspiracy, Chang, Sulu with his own ship, some peeking into what the galactic situation looks like during TNG era, a strong sendoff for the TOS cast, better than GEN)
9. The Wrath of Khan (great fight scenes, great villain, classic death sequence, strong plot)
10. First Contact (The Borg, Picard's demons, plus great fight scenes, great opening battle sequence, ACTION, suspense, humanity's first warp flight, lots of Picard + Data)

 

[Ssosmcin]

Maybe TSFS just inspires neutral feelings. Nobody really loves it.

BZZZT! I do, always did. It's my personal favorite of the Trek films. I number of people I know love it, and thinks it really nails the feeling of family the characters had by this time.

I also remember that TSFS had a better overall reception when it premiered than TWOK did. People were singing the praises of Leonard Nimoy, saying that "it took Spock to get it right." I still have the print reviews in a binder for both films, praising Khan in comparison to TMP, but still calling it "an overblown TV show" which "pads rather than fills the wide screen." TSFS, however, was called "the best yet" and a full 3 stars where Khan got 2. Granted, it's only an opinion, but isn't this whole thread nothing but?

Trek III also got unfairly placed in the "odd numbered Trek films suck" category, which was created when Shatner belched out his film. What it does, however, is suffer from "middle child syndrome." TWOK confounded expectations andand put Trek on the map again. It was a really great film and killed Spock, so it got major press. TVH was an overall popular blockbuster and a major victory.

TSFS was the guy in the middle. It didn't justify Trekkie faith, nor did it bring new fans to the theaters. It simply built on what was there and continued the quality.

Anyway, my least favorite is TVH, but I still love them all.

 

[cooleddie74]

TSFS is one of those movies that gets lost in the shuffle. It's between KHAN and the blockbuster whale movie, which makes it the least memorable of the three in most fans' eyes.