Back Trek
The new Star Trek film opens tomorrow so now's as good a time as any to look back at the first ten Trek films. And that's what they've done over at Armchair Commentary. Here's the list:
1. Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan
2. Star Trek: First Contact
3. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
4. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
5. Star Trek: Nemesis
6. Star Trek III: The Search For Spock
7. Star Trek: Generations
8. Star Trek: The Motion Picture
9. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
10. Star Trek: Insurrection.
I have serious problems with this list. My personal favorite is Voyage Home, and while I can't complain that Khan is first, Home shouldn't be any lower than second.
Then there's the question of TNG films. While I agree First Contact is the best, I don't think it's better than any of the original cast films except their worst.
Undiscovered Country isn't bad, but it's ranked way too high--it may not even deserve to be above The Search For Spock.
I'd rank Generations even lower, just for the way they have Kirk die like a punk.
As to the worst of the original cast, I'd probably rank first even lower than fifth, since it goes off in all sorts of bad directions.
posted by LAGuy @ 12:02 AM
7 Comments:
I vaguely remember enjoying the TNG movies but for the life of me can't really recall the plot of any of them.
Meanwhile all of the original cast movies are very memorable even the bad ones.
Can't see how you could really compare the two
I think I've mentioned that I personally find Voyage Home a little too campy - to many situations set up just to get off a good joke.
And I also have to say, after originally feeling it had to many long, boring sequences, ST: The Motion Picture has grown on me. perhaps I like it for the ambiance it creates. I would definitely move it up ahead of Search for Spock.
I agree, I would move Undiscovered Country below Search for Spock. I would also move Generations up Nemesis.
I'm seeing the new film this Fri at 7;30 - first opening night I've been to in at least a decade.
The opening of ST:TMP, up to the point that the plot starts, is wonderful. All our old friends, getting back together. But the rest of the movie ruins it.
ST V's opening, with Kirk, Spock, and McCoy in Yosemite, is pure indulgence. (And since Shatner ran that movie, it's pure self-indulgence.) But it's great. The rest of the movie is horrifyingly bad.
When ST4 came out, I initially resented the fact that all the non-Trekkies loved it, so I continued to identify ST2 as the best. But eventually, time (and maybe LAGuy) convinced me that ST4 might be better. At the very least, the Kirk-Spock interaction in ST4 is the best that there ever was, even better than in "A Piece of the Action".
(Of course, LAGuy is probably partial to this because it has Kirk-Spock interaction devoid of McCoy. The biggest difference between LAGuy and me vis-a-vis Star Trek is my love for McCoy.)
I resisted Next Generation when it first came out, but by the time of season 4 or 5, I became a fan, and went back and watched most if it. I thought I liked it a lot (until Babylon 5 came out and showed me what a real science fiction TV show could be). Some of their best episodes were their two-parters: Picard as a Borg, Data's head being found under San Francisco, and the big finale. What made the ST:TNG movies such a letdown is that they never even came close to the quality of the best ST:TNG television episodes, including these ones.
Another highlight of ST:TNG was the Worf arc: his family honor, his brother, his revenge murder, the Klingon civil war. These episodes were written by Ron Moore! A great writer, from his days on ST:TNG all the way though Season Two of Battlestar Galactica. Too bad he lost it two years too soon....
My list would look like this:
II
IV
VI
First Contact
III
V
Generations
TMP
Insurrection
Nemesis
Rightly or wrongly, III will always be marked down in my book because there's no Spock for most of the movie and because it lacked the hotness of Kirstie Alley.
Also, I'm just finishing up Shatner's Star Trek Movie Memories and, with all the crazy back-stories behind the movies, it's amazing they ever got made, much less were any good.
Finally, two quick stories: I was actually in Yosemite when they were filming those scenes for V and I remember driving by the "fake" rock wall that they'd built for Kirk to climb. Second, my favorite line about ST came from someone I worked with when I was managing a movie theater back in the early 90's. He said he couldn't wait for Star Trek VI: The Apology.
"I think I've mentioned that I personally find Voyage Home a little too campy - to many situations set up just to get off a good joke."
But that's the point--they're GOOD jokes. Star Trek tried a lot of things, but the episodes that lean toward comedy (even Tribbles and Mudd) have pretty lame jokes. To see the cast doing top-notch material is worth something.
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