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  • Thoughts on Star Trek Films (short blurbs)

  • Your favorite band sucks, and you have terrible taste in movies.
Your favorite band sucks, and you have terrible taste in movies.
 #171542  by Julius Seeker
 Mon Jul 22, 2019 4:13 pm
Because I feel like it.

I'm going to separate the films into 4 tiers:
1. Favourites
2. Near Favourites
3. Films I'll watch when on
4. Films I'll watch pieces of, but generally dislike.
5. Star Trek 5 (Either I haven't seen it or don't remember it)

1. The Motion Picture - I've yet to watch this one all the way through. Some of the concepts seem interesting. Tier 5, but only because I haven't taken the time.
2. Wrath of Khan - I like certain scenes, but not the film as a whole (I'm about one of the 4 or 5 Star Trek fans who didn't dig this film). Tier 4.
3. Search For Spock - I like the film, but it's kind of like Beyond and Generations, I'll always agree to watch it, but won't go out of my way to do so. Tier 3.
4. The Voyage Home - In my top three, easily. I love the shift in tone to something a little more optimistic (despite the fact humanity wiped out the whales). I love the comedy and the environmentalism in it. It's also the only Star Trek film that I could get girls to watch and enjoy all the way through during University. This is Tier 2.
5. Star Trek 5: The search of God - I have probably seen this before, but not since childhood, and I don't remember it at all; I think it's about a search for God, and I made up the title in this post because I don't remember what it actually is... actually, it's The Final Frontier, but I choose not to fix it. Tier 5.
6. The Undiscovered Country - my undisputed favourite: Chang is my favourite villain, and the climax is my favourite climax. The film as a whole is enjoyable from cover to cover. Tier 1 (the only Tier 1).
7. Generations - Again, I love the villain and generally the whole film, but generally this is a Search for Spock level film for me. Tier 3.
8. First Contact - This and Star Trek 09 are the most solid blockbuster Star Trek films, and despite their formulaic nature, I love them both and feel Star Trek needs one of these every decade. Tier 2.
9. Insurrection - This one is more of a throwback to the episode-style sci-fi stories which focus on a social and ethical conflict rather than the "They're gonna blow up the Enterprise/Earth/Galaxy" type blockbuster films. It also brings back the goofy Voyage Home style humour. So I enjoy it, probably least among the tier 2 or most among tier 3. Let's call it Tier 2.5.
10. Nemesis - This is like a mashup remake of Insurrection and The Undiscovered Country all smashed into a textbook blockbuster formula. But somehow all the charm and enjoyable aspects of Undiscovered Country and Insurrection are stripped away. I LOVE the idea of mashing up those two films, I hate how they did it. I don't enjoy it very much and it is probably my least favourite film. Tier 4.
11. Star Trek 09 - A very good origin story film, and also a far better blockbuster film than Nemesis. Though when looking at it from a sci-fi point of view, while it has some interesting concepts they are fairly ridiculous/fantastical. Tier 2.
12. Into Darkness - It's a bit of a reverse Wrath of Khan. In Wrath of Khan I loved the third act but didn't like most of the first two acts. With Into Darkness I like the first two acts (mostly, there are several nonsense scenes) but despise the final act (which is something like 40 minutes long)... And it JUST dawned on me that this is a Wrath of Khan rehash in several respects. Tier 4.
13. Beyond - It's one of those films that I won't go out of my way to watch, but I always enjoy it quite a bit more than I think I will (of the three times I've seen it). Unfortunately, it doesn't have much to make it really stand out. It has elements of Insurrection in it, particularly with the villain who is actually a different species than you think, and brings back a lot of the feeling of Star Trek 09. Tier 3.