Whether you’re a longtime Trekkie or simply Trek-curious, the Star Trek movies provide a vastly entertaining overview of creator Gene Roddenberry’s groundbreaking sci-fi vision. The original films range from Star Trek: The Motion Picture’s psychedelic retro-futurism to the time-traveling comedy of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), to the engaging morality plays of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991). The ’90s films pick up the pace with a series of thoughtful adventures featuring the stellar Next Generation cast, while the rebooted Millennial Star Trek universe introduces new talent and epic, big-budget action sequences. Is it necessary to watch every single film? Not really. But isn’t it nice to have the option? As indicated, the Star Trek movies can be divided into three different eras. The first six movies are the “Original Series” films, which feature the cast and characters of the original television series (which ran on CBS from 1966 to 1969): William Shatner as James T. Kirk, Leonard Nimoy as Spock, DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard McCoy, James Doohan as Montgomery Scott, Nichelle Nichols as Nyota Uhura, Walter Koenig as Pavel Chekov and George Takei as Hikaru Sulu. The first film premiered 10 years after the television series concluded, and the last premiered 25 years after the series began. The next four movies are “Next Generation” films, featuring characters from Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994). The core cast includes Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, Jonathan Frakes as William Riker, LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge, Michael Dorn as Worf, Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher, Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi, Brent Spiner as Data, and occasionally Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan. Beginning with the transitional Star Trek: Generations (1994), these films premiered while the popular series was still on the air, and continued through 2002 with Star Trek: Nemesis. The most recent cinematic incarnation of Star Trek is known to fans as the “Kelvin Timeline,” and to others as simply the “Reboot.” These feature a young cast playing alternate-timeline versions of Original Series characters: Chris Pine as Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, Karl Urban as McCoy, Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Simon Pegg as Scotty, John Cho as Sulu and the late Anton Yelchin as Chekov. If this era of Star Trek is your favorite, then good news! In March 2022, Pine revealed that a fourth Star Trek “Kelvin” movie was in the hopper for a 2023 release and that the returning cast was “ready” and “excited.” The only thing missing? A finished script. “I’m thrilled. I mean, this is the best gig of all time,” Pine told the AP in a red carpet interview. “[I’m] looking forward to reading a script, looking forward to getting back to work, looking forward to seeing the rest of the gang. Yeah.” In the meantime, the complete list of Star Trek movies in chronological order is as follows:
Star Trek “Original Series” Movies in Order
Star Trek “Next Generation” Movies in Order
Star Trek “Kelvin Timeline” Movies in Order
The films can be watched in combination with the various Star Trek series, or on their own. Since these were all theatrical releases, they’re all meant for anyone to be able to buy a ticket and enjoy the ride. Of course, in some cases, it works better than others. So to help you navigate how to watch the Star Trek films, what follows is a detailed summary of each movie (containing minor spoilers), some commentary (containing major spoilers), and a list of recommended Star Trek episodes or films to watch alongside (or in some cases, instead of) each installment. You can skip the movies that don’t appeal to you and use the summaries to catch up, or use the commentaries as a guide to pick your film slate. Or, you can boldly go and watch them all, using the links in the titles. (Conveniently, nearly every Star Trek movie and television series is available to stream on Paramount Plus.) And with that—engage!
How to watch the Star Trek movies in order
1. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
Several years after the Enterprise’s original five-year mission has concluded, the ship is in the final stages of being retrofitted and is preparing to embark on a new mission under Captain Will Decker (Stephen Collins). Former Captain James. T. Kirk, now an Admiral, has been employed at Starfleet Headquarters for more than two years, but remains obsessed with the Enterprise. When a mysterious, destructive energy cloud is detected approaching Earth, Kirk gets permission to push Decker aside and commandeer the non-quite-ready ship to investigate. Chekov, Uhura, Scotty, and Sulu are still working on the Enterprise, and Kirk orders McCoy back aboard to assist him. (The Doctor now sports a beard and a chest medallion, and he’s not happy about being summoned away from whatever space disco he was grooving in.) There’s also a new navigator, the bald and beautiful Ilia (Persis Khambatta), who has a romantic past with Decker. Spock shows up too, after failing the Vulcan ritual called the kolinahr, which was intended to purge him of all human feelings. Spock has sensed that he may find answers to his half-human, half-Vulcan existential crisis in the energy cloud. As the Enterprise gets closer, the crew struggles to communicate with the cloud, which violently zaps Ilia and uses her as a mouthpiece to speak with Kirk. The cloud calls itself V’ger and demands information about “the creator,” without which it will continue to destroy and assimilate every life form in its path. Kirk, Spock and the crew must figure out how to pacify V’ger and save the galaxy, before it’s too late. Star Trek: The Motion Picture began its life as a pilot for a relaunched Star Trek series called Phase II. Plans for the series were scrapped after the success of Star Wars inspired Paramount to make a movie instead. So if The Motion Picture feels like a 50-minute television episode stretched into a two-hour film, well, there’s a reason for that. Much of the run time is dedicated to the film’s hugely expensive, cutting-edge special effects shots; in the tradition of Star Wars, there’s lots of whimsical orchestral music over shots of super-detailed ship models soaring through space. The downside is that there’s little meaningful character interaction (poor Doctor Chapel, promoted from nurse—doesn’t even get a close-up) and the plot takes an hour to kick in. The upside is that the film looks fantastic. In terms of trippy 1970s visuals, full of fractal images and wild colors, Star Trek: The Motion Picture is hard to top. It’s like the last act of 2001: A Space Odyssey combined with The Monkees’ Head, and it’s so pretty and soothing that you’d be forgiven for taking a mid-movie nap. RECOMMENDED VIEWING: The Original Series episode “The Changeling” (S2 E3) is often cited as an inspiration for the film’s story.
2. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
The Wrath of Khan brings the Enterprise crew into a fateful reunion with a man who has sworn vengeance on Captain Kirk, and a scientific discovery that could either save or destroy the universe. As the film opens, the Enterprise appears to be under the command of a young Vulcan captain, Saavik (Kirstie Alley in her big-screen debut). During a rescue mission, the Federation ship is attacked by Klingons and the entire crew violently perishes. This scene turns out to be a simulation, a notorious test for Starfleet cadets called “the Kobayashi Maru scenario,” designed so that there is no way to win. Saavik and the other cadets are training to serve under Captain Spock on the Enterprise. Admiral Kirk, no longer in command of a ship, is present to oversee the training. On another Starfleet ship, the USS Reliant, Commander Chekov is searching for a lifeless planet on which to test Project Genesis, a revolutionary experiment that can replace a barren environment with a fast-growing new ecosystem. The project is the life’s work of scientist Dr. Carol Marcus (Bibi Besch), who has a history with Kirk. Chekov and Reliant’s Captain Terrell (Paul Winfield) beam aboard a planet called Ceti Alpha VI to verify that no life exists. Instead, they discover the survivors of a ship’s crew that was marooned on the planet 15 years earlier, commanded by an old nemesis of Captain Kirk, Khan (Ricardo Montalban). A genetically-engineered super-genius, Khan has gone mad on Ceti Alpha VI, where he lost his wife and blames Kirk for his ruin. Inserting alien eels into Chekov and Terrell’s brains to control them, Khan commandeers the Reliant and begins to enact his long-awaited revenge on Kirk. The possibility of Project Genesis getting into Khan’s hands accelerates the conflict… one which will have deadly consequences for both sides. A wildly entertaining melodrama and morality tale, The Wrath of Khan is generally considered the best of all Star Trek films. Interestingly, it’s everything that the first movie was not: low-budget and character-driven, crammed with Moby Dick and Charles Dickens references instead of special effects shots. The film ingeniously doubles down on the character relationships and “what if?” concepts that made the original show successful, turning it cinematic by raising the stakes impossibly high. Of course, the real stroke of genius was bringing back Ricardo Montalban as Khan, a role he played in a single Original Series episode. Montalban, a Mexican actor who broke into Hollywood with roles in 1940s musicals, gives an unforgettable performance as the 23rd century’s Captain Ahab, chewing and relishing every line as if it’s a delicious meal. (And yes, that is his real chest.) Even though Khan and Kirk communicate almost exclusively through video screens, Montalban’s performance seems to elevate Shatner, who shows a fuller range of character in this film than we’ve ever seen from Kirk. When he becomes so enraged that all he can do is yell “Khan!” at the top of his lungs, the audience is right there with him. Wrath of Khan balances out all that high drama by drawing us into Kirk’s personal relationships—with Dr. Marcus and her son, with the crew, and especially, with his dear friend and perfect compliment Spock. Foreshadowed throughout the film, Spock’s death nevertheless hits hard, bringing the movie’s themes of death, aging, and no-win scenarios full-circle. RECOMMENDED VIEWING: “Space Seed” (S1 E22) is the origin of the Khan storyline, and the episode that convinced the screenwriters to bring Montalban back.
3. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
The Search for Spock begins with a little recap of Spock’s death in The Wrath of Khan, then cuts to Leonard Nimoy (who makes his directorial debut with this film) reciting the “final frontier” speech from the show’s title sequence. The Enterprise and a devastated Captain Kirk are returning to Earth after their faithful encounter with Khan. The bridge crew reports that someone has forced their way into Spock’s room. Kirk goes to investigate and finds Dr. McCoy, sitting in the dark and pleading to go home in a very un-Bones-like manner. Kirk sends him to get medical attention. Once the ship docs, Captain Kirk declares his intention to return to the Genesis Planet for Spock’s body, but Starfleet refuses; not only is he not allowed to return to the planet, but no one is allowed to speak of it. Also, the twenty-year-old Enterprise is being decommissioned. Into this state of affairs enters Sarek (MarkLenard), Vulcan ambassador to Starfleet and Spock’s father. He reprimands Kirk for not following Spock’s “instructions” for returning to Vulcan. Sarek explains that when a Vulcan dies, he can pass on his living spirit, or katra, to another person via mind meld. Kirk would have been the logical recipient. However, he and Sarek determine that Spock actually passed his not to Kirk, but to McCoy, whom he nerve-pinched before entering the radiation-flooded chamber. With the assistance of his loyal crew, Kirk hijacks the Enterprise and charts a course to the Genesis planet to recover Spock’s body. Unfortunately, things are not so straightforward: a Klingon warrior named Kruge (a post-Taxi, pre-Back to the Future Christopher Lloyd) is actively trying to steal the Genesis technology. Meanwhile, Saavik (now played by Robin Curtis) and Kirk’s son David (still played by Merritt Butrick) are investigating alarming changes on the Genesis planet, including the appearance of a Vulcan child near Spock’s empty casket. The Enterprise crew must defeat Kruge, and figure out how to reunite Spock’s body with his katra before he is lost forever. This is the first Star Trek film to confidently present itself as an installment in a series. Between the opening flashbacks, the “boldy go” monologue, and the final onscreen words “And the adventure continues,” director Nimoy makes it very clear that this is not a standalone film. We’re accustomed to films being part of a larger continuity now, but at the time, this was unusual; no doubt the success of The Empire Strikes Back gave Paramount confidence. This approach does make The Search for Spock feel a little anticlimactic, in comparison to the cinematic Motion Picture and the high-stakes Wrath of Khan. Moments that seem intended to replicate Khan’s strengths, like Kirk cursing the “Klingon bastard” after his son’s murder, don’t have the same impact. Still, it’s a well-paced, engaging adventure, with some great opportunities for crew members other than Kirk to shine. (Uhura puts a snotty young lieutenant in his place with a phaser, Sulu shows some muscle, and Bones delivers a heartfelt monologue about Spock.) If anything, the biggest absence felt in this movie is Spock himself. But Nimoy understands that the ensemble is critical to the success of a Star Trek film (and also necessary to self-destruct a ship, a protocol that will later be referenced in First Contact). It’s a lesson that will serve him well in the next film. RECOMMENDED VIEWING: This movie loses a lot if you watch it without first seeing Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
4. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
Admiral Kirk is in big trouble at the start of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. The Klingons are demanding his extradition for the crimes of Star Trek III (including the Klingon Bird of Prey he stole), and Starfleet is in agreement that he should be court-martialed for his violation of Star Trek regulations (including his illegal rescue of Spock’s remains from the Genesis Planet). The Enterprise crew has been living in exile on Vulcan for three months while Spock recovers his memories, but they now unanimously vote to return to Earth and face court martial. Using the stolen Klingon ship that Scotty has retrofitted with Federation technology (and human snacks), the crew begins their flight to Earth. En route, they receive a distress signal from Starfleet, declaring a planet-wide emergency: a mysterious probe has been draining spaceships of their power, and it is now draining Earth’s sun. Hearing the probe’s signal, Kirk orders an investigation. Spock and Uhura determine that the probe is trying to communicate with humpback whale song, although that species went extinct in the 21st century. Seeing that Earth is out of options, Kirk decides to make a risky attempt at time travel to recover a pair of humpbacks. They slingshot around the sun, draining the Klingon ship’s power but successfully landing in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park circa 1986. With only 24 hours until their ship’s cloaking device stops functioning, the crew must find two humpback whales, turn the ship’s hull into a giant whale tank, obtain a nuclear reactor to repair the power supply, and time-travel back to the 23rd century before Earth is obliterated. Oh, and try to blend in. The Voyage Home was part of the ’80s wave of fish-out-of-water comedies (E.T., Splash, Crocodile Dundee, Coming to America), and is easily the funniest Star Trek film. It’s a very different viewing experience than it was in 1986, when pre-tech San Francisco was an affordable city, phone booths offered copies of the Yellow Pages, and the Cold War made Chekov’s accent appear villainous. Looking at the film’s world through the lens of both the Star Trek future and the actual future can give a person vertigo. That doesn’t take anything away from the character-driven humor, which is gold. Spock learning to use 20th-century swear words, Scotty trying to have a conversation with a computer, Kirk telling everyone to “remember where we parked”—it’s all so much fun. The message about saving the whales was always heavy-handed, but now it’s admirably earnest—a record of a past (and hopefully a future) when it wasn’t so hard to get people to care. RECOMMENDED VIEWING: The funniest Original Series episode, “The Trouble with Tribbles” (S2 E15), is also a good crash course in the show’s character dynamics. Watching Star Trek III: The Search for Spock will help you to follow the Kirk-on-trial scenes, and to understand why Spock lost his memory—but it’s okay to go into this one cold.
5. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier begins in a Mad Max-like desert wasteland, where a man on horseback approaches an impoverished scavenger. The mysterious man, a Vulcan named Sybok (Laurence Luckinbill), cleanses the scavenger of his “pain” using an unknown power, then recruits him on his quest for “ultimate knowledge.” The action then moves to Yosemite National Park—specifically, the rock formation El Capitan, which James T. Kirk is free climbing. He is camping with Spock and McCoy, which involves the doctor making baked beans and Spock contemplating the meaning of the lyrics to “Row Row Row Your Boat.” Meanwhile, on Nimbus III (home of the aforementioned desert wasteland), a Romulan, a human, and a Klingon walk into a bar. The three of them are Federation ambassadors meeting in neutral territory, but their work is interrupted by Sybok and his followers, who take them hostage. The Enterprise is dispatched to help with the situation, putting an early end to the crew’s shore leave. Kirk and company go to Nimbus III and attempt to free the hostages, instead falling directly into Sybok’s trap. The Vulcan, as it turns out, is Spock’s half brother, and was banished from Vulcan for starting a renegade faction that embraced emotion over logic. He is now using his mind-meld powers to force people to face their emotional pain, after which they feel euphoric and blindly follow him. It works on the hostages, and even on members of the Enterprise crew—but not Kirk and Spock, who resist the idea of giving up their pain. Sybok takes control of the Enterprise (without any violence) and announces his plan to go to Sha Ka Ree, a planet in Vulcan mythology that is said to be the home of the divine creator. The Enterprise then sets course for a unique journey to discover whether Sybok’s god exists. Shatner’s feature directorial debut (he previously directed 10 episodes of T.J. Hooker) is a big, preposterous and thoroughly entertaining film. It has a little of everything: Spock wearing rocket boots, Uhura staging an exotic-dance diversion, Scotty declaring “I know this ship like the back of my hand!” before walking straight into a bulkhead, and of course, Kirk and Spock winning a battle of wits against “God.” Despite its supreme silliness (anyone who’s seen Free Solo will find Shatner’s mountain-climb absurd), the film manages to put its characters through the emotional ringer, while lightly touching on questions about the ultimate purpose of pain and the meaning of life. It’s usual stuff for the Trek universe, but for a popcorn film, it may well be the final frontier. RECOMMENDED VIEWING: The Original Series crew originally encountered a supposed god in the episode “Who Mourns for Adonais?” (S2 E2). Any Next Generation episodes involving the omnipotent being Q would also make good companion viewing, particularly “Deja Q” (S3 E13).
6. Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
The crew of the Enterprise (minus Sulu, who is now captain of his own ship, and Spock, who is now a Federation envoy) is preparing for their ship’s retirement in three months. At a Starfleet meeting, Spock shocks Captain Kirk by recommending him to broker peace with the Klingons, whose badly polluted homeworld requires Federation assistance. Kirk pushes back, saying that the Klingons will never be trustworthy. He privately confesses in his Captain’s Log that he has never forgiven the Klingons for the death of his son David (which happened in Star Trek III: The Search or Spock). The bridge crew hosts a diplomatic dinner with the Klingons ambassador and liaisons, including the Shakespeare-obsessed General Chang (Christopher Plummer). It’s a tense and awkward gathering, and the Enterprise officers end up hungover and embarrassed about their own behavior. Before they can make amends, a round of torpedos is fired at the Klingons’ ship, seemingly from the Enterprise. As Captain Kirk tries to figure out what has happened, two masked people in Federation suits invade the gravity-disabled Bird of Prey, assassinating almost everyone on board. Kirk and McCoy beam over, unarmed, to try and help. When McCoy fails to save the ambassador’s life (due in part to his lack of knowledge of Klingon anatomy), Chang orders their arrest and puts them on trial for assassination. During the trial, Kirk’s history of insubordination against Starfleet and McCoy’s alcohol consumption at the dinner are used against them. The officers are sentenced to serve in the mines of Rura Penthe, a fate that few survive. With Spock now at the helm and his Vulcan protege Valeris (Kim Cattrall) assisting, the Enterprise crew must figure out how to rescue their friends and absolve themselves without scuttling the peace negotiations. As for Kirk and McCoy, they meet an attractive alien named Martia (Iman) who may just help them survive the unsurvivable. Nicholas Meyer, who directed Wrath of Khan, returns for another excellent Star Trek film. This one promised to be the last voyage of the original crew, and ends with the actors literally “signing off” over the credits. It feels fitting to end by showing how Star Trek’s universe is still expanding. Kirk and company are forced to confront their own prejudices in the interest of brokering peace with the Federation’s longtime enemy, the Klingons. By the film’s release date, television audiences were five seasons deep in Star Trek: The Next Generation, which features a Klingon crew member aboard the Enterprise (played by Michael Dorn, who makes an appearance in Undiscovered Country as his own grandfather). This film shows how that truce was obtained, and how adamantly it was opposed by many different alien species, all willing to kill to keep the status quo. The message is timely. Plummer, yelling Shakespeare quotes as he faces his doom, gives Montalban a run for his money in the Best Trek Villain category. It’s also fabulous how this film subverts Kirk’s track record of hooking up with any hot alien woman who approaches him. When shapeshifter Martia turns into a Kirk clone and he exclaims, “I can’t believe I kissed you!,” she responds, “Must have been your lifelong ambition.” A character who can deliver such a sick burn deserves to live, which is the one problem with this film: its gender politics suck. Both featured female characters turn out to be evil, and Spock forcing a mind meld on Valeris plays like an assault. At least we have Uhura, who shows her mettle by learning Klingon on the spot—and from paper books, no less. RECOMMENDED VIEWING: If you enjoy the futuristic courtroom drama in Undiscovered Country, there are plenty of great Star Trek episodes involving trials, including The Next Generation’s “The Measure of a Man” (S2 E9), Discovery’s “Unification III” (S3 E7), and Deep Space Nine’s “Dax” (S1 E8).
7. Star Trek: Generations (1994)
Star Trek: Generations picks up shortly after the events of The Undiscovered Country, with Kirk, Scotty and Chekhov appearing as guests of honor for the christening of the new Enterprise-B (that’s Enterprise #3, for those keeping score at home). During a ceremonial first space flight, under the command of Captain John Harriman (Alan Ruck, taking only slightly better care of the Enterprise than he did of his dad’s car in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), the Enterprise somehow ends up answering a distress call and rescuing a group of refugees from a deadly energy ribbon, which entangles their own ship. While making modifications to (successfully) save the Enterprise, Kirk disappears, seemingly sucked into space from a hole in the ship. The movie then skips ahead 78 years to the 24th century, where the crew of the Enterprise-D—meaning, the full cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation—is doing an elaborate Holideck party-slash-hazing ceremony to celebrate Worf’s promotion to Lieutenant Commander. The ship receives a distress signal from a Federation space station and Picard beams aboard the survivors of a Romulan attack, including the scientist Dr. Tolian Soran (Malcolm McDowell). Soran is desperate to return to flee the ship and turns against the Enterprise crew, ultimately beaming aboard a Klingon Bird-of-Prey with La Forge as his hostage. Picard learns Soran’s motivation: to return to a place called The Nexus, an energy ribbon where visitors can live in a state of perfect joy, forever. The Captain convinces Soren to do a prisoner exchange and takes La Forge’s place. While the Klingons engage the Enterprise in battle, Soren holds Picard hostage on the planet Veridian III. Soren prepares to launch a missile into the neighboring Veridian IV, killing its 230 million residents in order to re-route the Nexus and return to it. Soren’s plan succeeds, bringing Picard into his greatest joyful fantasy—and then, introducing him for the first time to Captain Kirk, who has been living his own most joyful moment in the Nexus for nearly eight decades. Picard convinces Kirk to join forces in order to go back in time and thwart the destruction of Veridian IV. Meanwhile, damage to the Enterprise forces Commander Riker, as Acting Captain, to make a devastating decision. Generations is the Star Trek films’ big crossover event, intended to bridge the transition from the Original Series films to The Next Generation films. Even so, having Captain Picard literally bury Captain Kirk seems a bit on the nose. Generations feels like a missed opportunity to bring the two Enterprise crews together, through whatever bizarre temporal anomaly the writers could devise. Instead, we get a few minutes with a skeleton Original Series crew (no Spock, Uhura, McCoy or Sulu) at the beginning, a little meet-cute between Kirk and Picard at the end, and a truncated Next Generation movie sandwiched in the middle. Besides Kirk and Picard’s scene (which has a couple of priceless moments, like Kirk ordering Picard to stir his eggs), the most memorable part of the film is a controversial and largely inconsequential subplot about Data test-driving his emotion chip. Fans get to see Data drink alcohol and use expletives, which is enjoyable. Less fun is Data’s new embrace of “humor,” which basically amounts to an endless, grating vaudeville act. There’s also an extraordinary special-effects sequence involving the emergency landing and destruction of the Enterprise-D, which seems to have been accomplished mainly through models and miniatures. (Much later, Star Trek Beyond will do a digital version of this scene that has a fraction of the impact.) The actual theme of the film is pretty half-baked: Picard and Kirk both mourn their decision not to start families, then come to the conclusion that “What we leave behind isn’t as important as how we lived.” Okay then. The Nexus, while a cool concept, is a little confusing in execution: Why can people just wander into each other’s fantasies? Why is adventurer Picard’s greatest dream to be the sleepy patriarch in a Dickensian dinner scene? If part of Guinan is still there, does that mean a part of Picard and Kirk are riding horses in space together for all eternity? Generations does get bonus points for its key appearance from Guinan, a fascinating and underused character. RECOMMENDED VIEWING: The TNG episode Relics (S6 E4), in which an odd sequence of events brings Montgomery Scott aboard the Enterprise-D, is in many ways a more satisfying crossover.
8. Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
Star Trek: First Contact brings the Enterprise crew back into conflict with the galaxy’s most dangerous species, the Borg Collective, while simultaneously undertaking a time-travel mission to assure a key moment in Earth’s history. The film opens with Picard having a nightmare about his assimilation by the Borg five or so years earlier (basically Jean-Luc’s equivalent of that dream where you’re back to high school and have to take a test you never studied for, and also you’re not wearing pants, and also you’ve been subsumed into a half-robot hive mind bent on destroying all free will). Turns out, Picard has psychically sensed that the Borg have begun attacking a Federation outpost, which is our first clue that the Captain still maintains some subconscious connection with his former Borg self, Locutus. Because of Picard’s personal Borg trauma, the Federation has ordered the Enterprise not to get involved in the conflict, an order that the crew unilaterally agrees to defy. (“To hell with our orders,” says Data, who can now activate his chip at will when he wants to experience emotions or use swear words.) With the Enterprise’s help, the Borg ship is destroyed, but manages to create a temporal vortex that allows the Borg to go back in time and assimilate 21st century Earth. (Hey, that’s where we live!) Picard follows the Borg through the vortex, where the crew ends up in April 2063—one day before the human inventor Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell) tests the Earth’s first warp-driven ship, which is how humans achieve first contact with the rest of the galaxy. With the Borg still trying to assimilate all humans, the Enterprise crew gets split up. Picard, Crusher and Worf try to stop a Borg takeover of the Enterprise; Data is held hostage by a newly-evolved member of the Collective, the seductive Borg Queen (Alice Krige); Riker, Troi and La Forge help a reluctant Cochrane to achieve his historic flight; and Lily Sloane (Alfre Woodard), a human soldier beamed aboard the Enterprise for medical attention, becomes the one person who can save Picard from himself. First Contact should be the gold standard for adapting a beloved television show into a faithful film. It plays like a great episode of TNG, amplified to galactic proportions. Every single character gets a moment to shine, whether it’s Picard shouting “Assimilate this!” during a zero-gravity space fight, or Troi getting blasted on tequila to keep Cochrane talking. (“Don’t go criticizing my counseling technique. It’s a primitive culture,” she slurs confidently to Riker.) The Borg are an absolutely terrifying and fascinating villain, able to adapt and evolve with every encounter but unable to detect the presence of anyone without a weapon. (Director Jonathan Frakes makes the most of tense sequences wherein characters must walk directly past Borg soldiers, praying they go unnoticed.) First Contact shows us a new side of the Borg, who are striving to be a perfect hybrid of human and robot. Data feels some kinship with this idea, for obvious reasons, and the Borg attempt to win him over with a reverse-assimilation, giving him human skin and senses. It’s one example of how First Contact challenges the viewer: by asking us to acknowledge uncomfortable similarities between lovable Data and the Borg Collective. Another example is Picard’s descent into violent PTSD, which happens so gradually and organically that by the time we realize how far gone he is, we’re genuinely stunned. The incredible Woodard is so good here, facing off with Picard, that one longs to borrow that Borg sphere, go back in time and give Lily her own spin-off series. But at least she gets a satisfying arc in First Contact, a film that manages to do pretty much everything that Star Trek: The Next Generation does best. The moment when the Earth’s first alien visitors reveal themselves is a perfect pay-off. RECOMMENDED VIEWING: The TNG episodes Best of Both Worlds Part 1 and 2 (S3 E26 and S4 E1), in which Picard is captured by the Borg Collective and becomes Locutus, are necessary viewing to fully understand Picard’s journey in First Contact.
9. Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
In Insurrection, the Enterprise crew defies the Federation and risks everything to save a small alien community from being violently displaced. The film opens on an idyllic, vaguely European-looking village, where everyone is young and pretty and dresses like Medieval Times servers. Suddenly and inexplicably, the peaceful Ba’ku community is under phaser-fire attack… by Data? Panicked Starfleet Admiral Matthew Dougherty (Anthony Zerbe), who has been secretly monitoring the planet with a species the Son’a, asks Picard for a copy of Data’s schematics. Instead, the Captain reroutes the Enterprise to the Ba’ku planet in hopes of diffusing the situation himself. Data attacks the shuttle carrying Worf and Picard, but they manage to distract the android and take him back into custody singing his favorite Gilbert and Sullivan song. (It somehow makes sense in the movie—or at least, just enough sense.) Picard, Troi and Crusher visit the Ba’ku village to try and figure out what’s happening. There, they discover a peaceful community where the residents have all disavowed technology in favor of the simpler life (which seems to consist mainly of growing food, eating food and playing hacky sack). Picard is particularly drawn to one of the leaders, Anij (Donna Murphy). La Forge repairs Data’s damaged brain, and an Enterprise team tries to retrace the android’s steps to find the cause of the malfunction. They discover that part of the Ba’ku planet has been replaced by a holographic replica, disguising a giant ship patrolled by Son’a soldiers. Meanwhile, strange physical and mental changes are happening among the crew members—like Worf going through Klingon puberty. Picard discovers that the planet has a special power, and that the Federation is conspiring with the So’na to remove the Ba’ku people and harness the benefits for themselves. The Enterprise crew decides to take a stand against this blatant violation of the Ba’ku’s rights, risking their own lives—and making a shocking discovery about the So’na in the process. Insurrection takes a heavy-handed story arc about Colonialism and forced relocation, and peppers it with fun, flirty subplots (Anij teaching Picard to stretch time, Riker and Troi getting back together, Data learning to play). It’s a nice attempt at balance, but it’s wobbly. Anij, despite the best efforts of gorgeous Broadway star Murphy (in her first major film role), never becomes an exciting match for Picard. The So’na, with their facelifts and itchy trigger fingers, are one-dimensional villains, though the revelation about their connection to the Ba’ku is a nice twist. Oscar winner F. Murray Abraham, unrecognizable as So’na leader Ruafo, is largely wasted. In many ways, Insurrection is Will Riker’s film. Not only does he end up with Deanna, he gets a climactic moment in the Captain’s chair where he plays chicken with a So’na ship and ignites a deadly gas cloud, a move that La Forge immediately dubs “the Riker maneuver.” RECOMMENDED VIEWING: If you want to see Picard have a much sexier romance on an exotic planet, watch the Next Generation episode “Captain’s Holiday” (S3 E19).
10. Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
The crew is on Earth to celebrate Troi and Riker’s wedding at the beginning of Nemesis, with Picard doing an emotional toast and Data warbling “Blue Skies.” En route to the traditional naked wedding ceremony on Betazed, in which the whole bridge crew is apparently participating (imagine inviting your co-workers to your nude wedding?), the Enterprise stops to investigate a strange signal on a remote planet. An away team beams down and finds that the signal originated with a dismembered android, identical in appearance to Data. Back on the Enterprise, the android reveals himself to be childlike, with few memories and little knowledge of the world; as his cheeky name is B-4, he is likely a prototype of Data. The Enterprise then receives a last-minute order from the Federation (delivered by Voyager’s Captain Janeway) to go on a diplomatic mission to nearby Romulus, where a new Romulan leader, Shinzon, has been installed. When they beam aboard Shinzon’s ship, the Enterprise crew is shocked to discover that Shinzon (Tom Hardy) is not only human, but identical to young Jean-Luc Picard. On the Enterprise, Crusher analyzes the DNA and confirms he is an actual clone. Shinzon tells Picard that he was genetically engineered by the Romulans to secretly replace the Captain, but when a new government abandoned the plan, young Shinzon was left to die in the mines of the subjugated planet Remus. He survived thanks to the protection of the Reman who is now his viceroy (Ron Perlman). Shinzon tells Picard that his sole political objective is to liberate the Remans. Soon, however, other motives come to light—forcing Picard to reckon with his own humanity, bringing B-4’s purpose into focus, and hurling the Enterprise into war. Nemesis was released in the middle of Star Wars prequel fever, and the film has some major George Lucas vibes. Sith-like blasters largely replace phasers, Shinzon’s ship seems to share an interior designer with the Death Star, and the viceroy is basically Emperor Palpatine, right down to his moment of death. The sci-fi franchises share enough DNA that this basically works. Speaking of shared DNA, the Shinzon storyline is a bold, bizarre choice that was reviled by quite a few fans. It actually works a little better two decades later, now that Hardy is a legit and recognizable movie star. In 2002, the English actor was essentially an unknown, with talent and charisma to burn… but lacking the ease and charm of Sir Patrick Stewart. Their scenes together are intriguing where they should be electric, and we’re never fully sold on the idea that this guy is Picard 2.0. The relationship between Data and B-4 is actually more affecting, and it’s a little sad that they’re not more integral to the plot. The low point of the film comes when the viceroy psychically rapes Troi, and when she requests some recovery time, Picard orders her to “endure more of these assaults” to give them a tactical advantage, or something. She gets her revenge on the viceroy later on, but the whole thing is gross (and sadly typical of the kinds of nonsense Troi frequently suffered on the show). Nemesis isn’t an ideal send-off for the TNG crew, but it feels appropriately momentous, especially for Data and his surviving prototype/protege. RECOMMENDED VIEWING: Riker mentions watching Data try to whistle, which happens in the TNG pilot “Encounter at Farpoint.” (The song is “Pop Goes the Weasel.”)
11. Star Trek (2009)
The 2009 Star Trek prequel-slash-reboot takes us back to the beginning—way back to the beginning, as it opens with James T. Kirk’s father George (Chris Hemsworth in his film debut) heroically commandeering a doomed Federation ship at the moment his son is born. The film then skips ahead ten years to see Kirk’s rebellious childhood on Earth (he has a mean stepdad and steals cars!) and Spock’s traumatic childhood on Vulcan (being half-human makes him a pariah). We see that Spock’s supportive human mom, a role originated by old Hollywood star Jane Wyatt, is now Winona Ryder. Again we jump forward in time, to see Spock reject a coveted spot at the Vulcan Science Academy (where he is admitted despite his “disadvantage” of being half-human) in favor of going to Starfleet Academy. And now the film settles into the year 2255, when a drunk young Kirk attempts to pick up Starfleet cadet Uhura at an Iowa bar, and gets into a fistfight with her friends. Their captain, Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood), recognizes Kirk, having been a friend of his father. Pike invites Kirk personally to join Starfleet Academy. On the shuttle to San Francisco, he meets Leonard McCoy, a sarcastic doctor who is joining Starfleet after a ruinous divorce. Moving ahead a few years, we see the reappearance of the Romulan ship Narada and its captain Ayel (Eric Bana), who destroyed George Kirk’s ship back at the start of the film. (Following all this so far?) The film then takes us back to Starfleet Academy, where cadet Kirk has found a way to beat the no-win Kobayashi Maru scenario test. This leads to an official inquiry, in which Kirk testifies against Spock, who created the test. The hearing is interrupted by the announcement that the Federation has received a distress call from Vulcan, and all Starfleet cadets must fly out for an emergency rescue mission. Through a series of chance occurrences and manipulations, most of our familiar crew, including Chekov and Sulu, ends up serving under Pike on the Enterprise. But this first mission will be much more than they bargained for, sending the crew (which eventually includes Montgomery Scott, played by Simon Pegg) on a collision course with black holes, time-traveling enemies, and their own destinies. J.J. Abrams’ film was explicitly designed to reboot the Star Trek films for a young, franchise-hungry audience. Its biggest success lies in the casting of up-and-coming stars Pine, Saldana, Quinto, Urban and Yelchin, who portray their fan-favorite characters with relish. Cho and Pegg were then the biggest stars in the Enterprise crew, and are similarly excellent (although Cho is underused.) For newcomers, this Star Trek provides a satisfying cinematic experience, full of big effects and risky life-or-death missions. For fans, the best thing (besides getting to visit with elder Spock) is seeing each crew member highlighted for their exceptionalism. We know that the Enterprise is Starfleet’s flagship, so what initially made crew members like Uhura, McCoy and Chekov stand out above every cadet at the Academy? The movie gives delightful answers, especially for Uhura, whose communication expertise becomes the study of intergalactic linguistics. Centering Spock and Kirk’s relationship is also a nice touch, with this more spirited Spock realizing that Kirk can help him embrace his humanity. The film’s weakness is its convoluted plot, which uses lots of awkward exposition and a full pretzel’s worth of twists to allow the reboot to exist in a new timeline. Also missing is the kind of philosophical deep-dive that previous Trek movies centered on. These characters are too busy fleeing monsters and firing photon torpedoes to contemplate identity or the meaning of life, let alone quote Moby Dick. But in terms of getting the gang back together and beaming a new audience on board, it’s a rousing success. (Also, this is the only Star Trek film not streaming on Paramount Plus. It’s currently available to rent from most other platforms.) RECOMMENDED VIEWING: You can go into this one cold, but it’s better if you watch Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan first. The film introduces the Kobayashi Maru scenario and is the best illustration of the intense friendship between Kirk and Spock.
12. Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
The second film in the new Star Trek timeline starts in the middle of the action. Kirk and McCoy are on the run from an alien race called the Nibirians, trying not to be seen so as to avoid violating the Prime Directive (the Federation code that forbids interference in other cultures). Nearby on the same planet, the Enterprise is dropping Spock into a volcano so that he can neutralize it and save the Nibirian culture. The plan goes wrong, but rather than let Spock die to preserve the aliens’ innocence, Kirk stages a dramatic rescue in full view of them all. Back at Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco, Kirk and Spock are chewed out by Admiral Pike for their rogue mission (they were apparently just supposed to survey the planet, not neutralize the volcano) and violation of the Prime Directive (which Spock has dutifully reported to his superiors, and Kirk has not). Pike informs Kirk that he has been relieved of his command by higher-ups. Meanwhile in London, a mysterious stranger (Benedict Cumberbatch) uses a vial of his own blood to save the life of a Starfleet officer’s comatose daughter. The officer then goes to work at a Starfleet data archive, sends a message, and promptly detonates the building. In the wake of the sabotage, all Starfleet captains and first officers are summoned by Admiral Marcus (Peter Weller) for a debriefing. They learn that the mysterious Cumberbatch who arranged the attack is a rogue Starfleet officer named John Harrison. Just as Kirk realizes that this meeting is a trap, Harrison attacks, killing Pike and several others from a small ship before beaming away to the Klingon homeworld. Following these events, Kirk is instructed to take the Enterprise on a mission to kill Harrison, whom Marcus fears is trying to start a war with the Klingons. The usual crew is joined by a beautiful science officer who calls herself Dr. Carol Wallace (Alice Eve). Some crew members question the order to kill Harrison without trial, and Scotty resigns in protest. Nevertheless, Kirk and company head into enemy territory to find Harrison, in the process revealing his true identity and discovering dark truths about their mission. Into Darkness is a truly odd mash-up of James-Bond-in-space hijinks and plot elements pulled directly from The Wrath of Khan. This would be fine if the film was fun, or had anything meaningful to say. Instead, it’s pretty dismal, with no message beyond “genocide bad, friendship good.” The story seems designed as a series of rug pulls—look, it was this character all along!—that doesn’t allow us to get to know anyone. Carol Marcus is a cipher, although we do get a good look at her exterior in a stupidly gratuitous underwear scene. Cumberbatch is a fine actor but his Khan is oddly cold, lacking the madman’s zest for revenge that Montalban brought to the part. The emotional climax is a straightforward reversal of the Khan ending, minus the themes and consequences. Why bother? The film’s better moments include the wacky opening sequence, Sulu’s first time in the captain’s chair, Uhura flaunting her Klingon skills, and pretty much everything that Scotty does. RECOMMENDED VIEWING: Seriously, just watch The Wrath of Khan.
13. Star Trek Beyond (2016)
At the start of Beyond, Kirk is attempting a peace negotiation between two alien species, which goes sour when the recipients of the diplomatic gift, an ancient artifact, declare that the gift was stolen. (It only seems irrelevant to the rest of the film!) Kirk, disheartened, returns to the Enterprise, where he records his weariness with the ship’s mission (now on Year 3) in his Captain’s Log. The ship docks at the space colony Yorktown for shore leave and repairs. When Yorktown’s commanding officer receives a distress call from a nearby nebula, Kirk volunteers the Enterprise for the rescue mission. The ship quickly falls under attack from an insect-like swarm of small alien ships. A boarding crew invades the Enterprise, led by the mysterious Krall (Idris Elba, whose expressive face is trapped under a thousand layers of latex). Krall unsuccessfully attempts to recover the artifact from the first scene, draining the life force of assorted cadets along the way. With the Enterprise headed for a fatal crash, the crew abandons ship on escape pods and ends up scattered on a nearby planet. There, McCoy must save Spock from a critical injury; Kirk and Chekov try to figure out Krall’s plan; Uhura and Sulu are trapped in a hostage situation; and Scotty befriends an alien, Jaylah (Sofia Boutella), who may be the key to their survival. Beyond is the best of the third-wave Star Trek films, and sadly, the lowest-performing at the box office. The real tragedy is that it contains one of the final performances of Yelchin, who died in a bizarre accident at the age of 27 just one month before the film’s release. Nimoy also passed away a year before Beyond’s release, at 83. Regardless of whether this cast makes another Trek film, this one marks the end of an era. But let’s not dwell exclusively on the negative. There’s some wonderful old-school Trek storytelling happening in this script (co-written by actor Pegg). Separating the marooned crew on an alien planet is a classic plot device, and it’s thrilling to watch Uhura and Sulu plot to escape, while Kirk and Chekov outsmart a two-faced (and tricky-haired) alien, Scotty forms a surprising bond with Jaylah, and McCoy reluctantly becomes Spock’s caretaker. Jaylah is a fun, interesting character, and it’s a pity we don’t learn more about her race. Krall is less compelling, mostly because his story arc is confusing; however, he does introduce some big philosophical questions about the choice of peace over violence, a welcome element in a Star Trek story. And how can you not forgive everything when an evil alien swarm is fatally redirected using the beats of a Beastie Boys song? The best Star Trek films embrace their goofy side while contemplating the stars, and Beyond was a warp jump in the right direction. RECOMMENDED VIEWING: For another fantastic story about the ship’s crew being separated into unlikely factions during a life-threatening emergency, watch the Next Generation episode “Disaster” (S5 E5). For more Millennial Star Trek, check out the excellent series Discovery on Paramount Plus, which premiered in 2017 (and sneaks in a few familiar characters). Next, We Ranked All Nine Quentin Tarantino Movies, Including Once Upon a Time In Hollywood
