Star Trek Film Rankings (UPDATED FOR STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS)

‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ has been out for at least two weeks and in that time, I was working on where this film would place in my overall list that would rank all of the Star Trek films. So, here’s that updated list, which now includes the latest film. I won’t go into these films too much because I’ve already done that in my last four Star Trek posts. For my full opinions on each of the Star Trek films, here are the links to my Film Series Retrospective, my full reviews of the 2009 Star Trek film and ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’, and my Spoiler Post for the latter…

Film Series Retrospective: http://rimoviecorner.blogspot.com/2013/05/trek-week-star-trek-film-series.html

 

Star Trek 2009 Review: http://rimoviecorner.blogspot.com/2013/05/trek-week-star-trek-2009-review.html

 

Star Trek Into Darkness Review: http://rimoviecorner.blogspot.com/2013/05/star-trek-into-darkness-2013-review.html

 

Into Darkness Spoiler Post: http://rimoviecorner.blogspot.com/2013/05/star-trek-into-darkness-spoiler-post.html

 

‘Shall We Begin?’

12. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

 



The film that nearly killed the franchise

11. Star Trek: The Motion Picture

A dull and very boring start to the ‘Star Trek’ films

10. Star Trek Insurrection

 

Same problem as ‘Motion Picture’

9. Star Trek Generations

 

An uneven first film for ‘Next Generation’ that shoehorns in a few members of the original cast

8. Star Trek Nemesis

 

Seriously, this one’s actually not that bad

7. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

 

It’s a bit of a copout following its predecessor, but still entertaining.

6. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

 

A darker and much more satisfying conclusion to the Original Cast’s run.

5. Star Trek First Contact

 

The best Next Generation film and another well-handled darker ‘Star Trek’ film

4. Star Trek Into Darkness

 

And here’s where I put the latest Trek film. I can’t say that it’s better than the previous Trek film because while Into Darkness has a superior villain in Benedict Cumberbatch’s interpretation of Khan, there were some certain elements of the film that were kind of underdeveloped, namely a second villain with no clear motivation. As for the ending that has attracted the most controversy, I’m not so critical on it but I will admit it does feel kind of rushed. Still, ‘Into Darkness’ is a rock-solid follow-up to its predecessor.

3. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

 

A well-done ‘fish out of water’ adventure for the crew of the Enterprise with great humor despite a very strange plot.

2. Star Trek (2009)

 

The film that brought the franchise back to prominence that succeeded even when taking the risky move of creating a whole new alternate reality.

1. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

 

Really, what other film was going to take this spot anyway?

That should be the last ‘Star Trek’ related post I’ll do for a while, most likely until the next Trek film (unless I do a review of one of the Trek TV Series). Until then, ‘Live Long and Prosper!’