Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Star Trek: The Great Rewatching Marathon Page 11

Star Trek VI: Legerdemain and Intrepidity (Also, Racism)

Kirk and McCoy accidentally kill a Klingon chancellor, except not really, get sent to Canada for punishment. Spock comes to the rescue with the reluctant help of Samantha.

Geoff: I adore this movie. Not only is it one of the best in the series, it’s a brilliant big-screen farewell to the original crew, something TNG never got.

Like IV, VI is a departure from the tone and style of the other movies. Sure, it’s a sci-fi action adventure, but it’s also a murder mystery and jail break movie. Taken as a movie of its time, the political and racial overtones work great.

Taken now, a few decades later, they seem a bit heavy handed. Not the message, mind you, but I feel like a skilled filmmaker in 2016 would handle this a bit more subtly but with greater effect.

Most of all, it’s fun. There’s witty banter, clever twists, great action, and one of the best space battle scenes of the entire series (OMG that torpedo went THROUGH the saucer!).

This is one of the few movies of the series that I feel stands on its own. You could show it to a newcomer without explanation and they’d enjoy it.

I will admit that Beyond is a better movie, just taken as a movie. But my nostalgia won out and I put this one third after the ones that I’m sure you would also rate 1st and 2nd. I am OK with all of these things.

Rank: 3rd

Carolina: Directed by Nicholas Meyer (same director as Wrath of Khan) we return to a thrilling Star Trek movie. From the moment it starts you’re sucked into the plot. We got a mystery on board, the clock is ticking (literally, watch the clocks on the bridge), and they have to use their brains to figure it out. At the same time we get an exciting escape from prison and new characters to enjoy.

The plot in this movie is an allegory about racism, quite obviously. Some sci-fi movies can't really handle such a subject since it could be misused, but it's handled nicely, almost as well as they handled the environmental message in the 4th movie.

This movie is very enjoyable and exciting, I don’t have much to say about it except that this is one movie you can’t skip.

Rank: 4th

COMMENTS
hk2000's picture
Submitted by hk2000 on November 23, 2016 - 12:20am

You cannot lump the so-called reboot with the rest of 'em, so they are last and not necessarily 11th, 12th and 13th, but last to anything based on the original timeline upon which all of the series that followed are based.The so called parallel universe or whatever reasoning they use to change the timeline completely destroyed any chance of those movies to be legitimately considered "Star Trek' movies. So there are 10 movies, really That I would order as follows

10- The Motion Picture- I still don't get it.
9- Final frontier- The idea is ridiculous
8- Generations- A great idea that was wasted- on so many levels.
7- Nemesis- Another great poorly done.
6- The Undiscovered Country- Well made and entertaining, but I sort of agreed with the "Villains"!
5- First Contact- Using the Zefram Cochrane character from "Metamorphosis" just worked.
4- The Search for Spock- The hocus-pocus ending had to happen, I guess!
3- Insurrection- Very entertaining, and dare I say, deep.
2- The Journey Home- Lighthearted entertainment.
1- Wrath of Khan- Probably the best sequel to a TV episode ever.

I won't dignify any of the new movies by ranking them here.

mikem's picture
Submitted by mikem on November 23, 2016 - 9:54am

Only one question. Why on earth would you consciously submit yourself to such a fiasco? If you were able to sit through the worst acting performances ever, Hayden Christionsen being the worst, you are indeed a better than I 'Gunga Din.'

sleepyninja's picture
Submitted by sleepyninja on November 23, 2016 - 12:43pm

'Star Trek: Beyond' at the #2 & #4 position? Really? I found it too action-centric, and the humor, dialog, and aliens uninspired, and would place it along with the Shatner-directed 'Final Frontier' travesty near the bottom of the barrel. With that said, I'm certainly not optimisic for the next installment with Justin Lin at the helm again.

Geoffrey Morrison's picture
Submitted by Geoffrey Morrison on November 23, 2016 - 1:09pm
I think I was still suffering from a Nemesis hangover. The lighter tone was so welcome.
David Vaughn's picture
Submitted by David Vaughn on November 24, 2016 - 9:46am
Geoff, I liked it as well. It's a fun movie and I loved all of the humor.
thehun's picture
Submitted by thehun on November 28, 2016 - 1:11am

I guess I'm the only one who likes S.T. 1 despite it's obvious flaws. The long musical scenes and V'ger's exploration is a clear [to me anyway]"wink" at 2001 ASO,in style not thematically, and how Hollywood used to make "epics". Anyway I never found those scenes boring, and in retrospect it fits for the first movie, and to [re]introduce the entire ST world to larger audiences.
As for Beyond, I agree with it's detractors, that is among the worst the franchise has given us so far.

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larrymartin's picture
Submitted by larrymartin on February 22, 2024 - 9:15pm

Boldly went where no moviegoer has gone before. Your detailed setup for the marathon and the collaborative ranking process make this a fun read. I am curious which one took the bottom spot for you both.
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