Movie Mondays (or...thursdays): Star Trek

It was inevitable that I would eventually turn to the world, er, galaxy of Star Trek for Movie Monday. And since I have been gone and haven't posted in a long while, I am not going to wait for Monday! So here you have it:


Top 5 Star Trek Films

5. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
After the disaster that was Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, the original Trek cast wanted to do one more film before they retired. Less a sci-fi film and more a political murder mystery, this film is a bit of a departure from the rest of the movies, but is still a nice finale for the original cast. The story involves Klingon diplomats who want to make peace with the Federation, and Kirk has been chosen to make terms with them. The Klingons were responsible for the destruction of the Enterprise and the death of his son, and Kirk has to face his own prejudices and hate in order to make peace. When he is falsely accused of killing the Klingon leader, he realizes that there is more fear and hatred lurking in the Federation than he thought, and Spock has to save Kirk from a death sentence and find the real killer. The film features an interesting cast including the model Iman, Christopher Plummer (yes, the guy from the Sound of Music) and Kim Cattral (yes, from Sex and the City), and while the movie may not be the best of the group, it serves as an excellent final film for the cast.

Highlights: Kirk unknowingly kisses a shape-shifting alien, who then takes his own form. When Kirk is betrayed by the alien he cries, "But I kissed you!” to which she replies, still in Kirk form, “Must have been your greatest ambition.”



4. Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan
Perhaps the most iconic and certainly the most quotable of all Star Trek movies, Wrath of Khan is the reason the rest of the Star Trek movies got made. After Star Trek: The Motion Picture was released, which was mildly successful but totally boring and way over budget, the future of Star Trek was uncertain. However, Wrath of Khan returned to the roots of the show. The special effects weren’t as good as the previous movie, but the film has a charismatic, engaging villain, and a real emotional journey for Kirk. He has been promoted to admiral, but this means he has a dull desk job. He feels his age creep up on him. He is being attacked by a son he never knew he had, and a nemesis he had forgotten. Kirk taking back his life by reclaiming the Enterprise, tackling his family issues, and outsmarting the bad guys is almost a metaphor for the entire Star Trek series, which was coming back to life.

Highlights: KHAN!!!





3. Star Trek: First Contact



“Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.” The only good Next Generation movie might be the best Star Trek action movie of the bunch. With a truly terrifying villain and tons of suspense, there is still a great deal of humor. Patrick Stewart is in great form as Captain Jean-Luc Picard, and he plays a hero with a tortured past brilliantly. The storyline is mostly drawn from what is most definitely the best episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation ever: The Best of Both Worlds. The Borg, an alien race that lives as a collective, is trying to assimilate the galaxy. In the past they assimilated Picard and forced him to kill thousands of his own people. Although he escaped the Borg, he can still feel them, and he follows them as they go back in time to assimilate the planet Earth before First Contact, the day the Vulcans landed on Earth. Somehow simultaneously exciting, funny and terrifying, First Contact gives all the characters time to shine and never sacrifices story or pacing. Resistance is indeed futile!

Highlights: Picard uses the holodeck set to be a 1930’s speakeasy to confuse the Borg.



2. Star Trek (2009)

The inevitable reboot had many long time fans worried. Would the whole thing be a joke? Instead the film manages to pay a loving tribute to the original series without becoming a parody. Captain Kirk’s swagger, cheesy pick up lines, and green lady friend are obviously a wink at William Shatner’s Kirk, but he is a still a character to be taken seriously. The cameo from Leonard Nimoy’s original Spock is a great touch that lends an authentic feel to the movie. The story may have plot holes the size of black holes, but even that feels right. This IS a Star Trek movie after all! While new fans are seduced by the fast paced adventure, old fans get to see the little loving touches like Chekov’s over the top accent, Dr. McCoy’s fear of flight travel, Sulu’s fencing skills and even the appearance of a tribble.

Highlights: Dr. McCoy proves to be just as grumpy as his original counterpart and calls Spock a “pointy eared hoboblin.”


1. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

While not exactly an example of fantastic science fiction, this movie perfectly captures the fun, campy spirit that made the original series so wonderful. The story is completely ridiculous. Going back in time to collect whales to communicate with a mysterious space probe sounds like an awful premise for a movie on paper, but seeing Kirk, Spock and the gang wandering around mid-eighties San Francisco is absolutely priceless. Spock mind-melding with a whale,” Kirk’s fruitless attempts to seduce a crazy whale scientist, Dr. McCoy’s horror at 20th century medicine, Scotty’s inability to use a computer, “Hello computer?” and Chekov’s nuclear “wessels,” are all wonderful. The film never takes itself too seriously, and the end result is a silly, romp through time with actors that are clearly enjoying themselves. The audience enjoys themselves too.


Highlights: Spock denying vehemently that he went to UC Berkley and did too much “LDS.”




And there you have it, the top 5 best Star Trek movies really almost ever.