Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Star Trek: The Great Rewatching Marathon Page 15

Thoughts and Conclusions

Carolina's Rankings and Final Thoughts

II
Beyond
IV
VI
ST’09
First Contact
Into Darkness
Insurrection
III
V
Generations
Nemesis
I

This was a very interesting marathon. I found that the rumor of the even number films being good and the odd number movies being bad were mostly true, with some exceptions.

The biggest merit this franchise has is that the acting is never bad. Everyone knows their characters well enough that even with a bad script they will try their best to deliver lines in the best way possible, and are always willing to sprinkle in their charisma, I never saw a movie and thought “god that was some bad acting”. I can see why people love these characters, they make you want to go on a starship and explore the galaxy with them.

There are terrible movies in this franchise that should be avoided. However, there are also fantastic movies that I know I’ll be revisiting a few times in the future. They’re just good sci-fi features.

Personally, I came into this universe only knowing basic things and watching a few episodes and three movies. In general, I came here with fresh eyes, no bias, just a geeky filmmaker wanting to see great sci-fi. Now that this marathon is over I consider myself a fan. I'll be watching the new show coming up next year.

Geoff’s Rankings and Final Thoughts

II
IV
VI
Beyond
First Contact
ST’09
Insurrection
Into Darkness
Generations
III
V
Nemesis
I

I hadn’t really focused on how much Star Trek has shaped not just my taste in fiction, but my entire worldview. Hope for the future, strength in diversity, belief that science can and will solve our myriad problems… it’d be easy to make a case these stem directly from all the Star Trek I watched as a kid.

We’re all shaped by the world around us. Not just our friends and family, but the world we’re born into and the media with which we choose to entertain ourselves. I was a nerdy, only child. The characters on TNG were my friends. As a kid I got to watch them every week, glued to my family’s 19-inch Sony. As a young adult, I watched reruns every night and frequently devoured the movies on VHS over and over.

In many ways, it’s our choice how to interact with the world. It’s our choice how to spend time in it. Some use that time to spew hatred. Some use that time to make the people around them feel worse. Maybe this is why, right now, it’s IV that I most connect with. No hate, lots of humor. An idealized universe where a group of multicultural and multi-talented friends work together to save the world. To make the future better. I still have hope that will be our future too.

We’re not there yet, Gene, but maybe someday.

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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