Rank the Star Trek TOS movies

[aco175]

I never cared for the first one spending the first 20 minutes of the movie showing how cool the ship is.

 

[beta-ray]

II
VI
IV
III
TMP
V

 

[MGibster]

We don't all agree on what's #1 but we all seem to agree with what's #6. Poor, poor Shatner.

 

[Vael]

The top two I find interchangeable. Both excellent for different reasons.
1. Wrath of Khan
2. Voyage Home
3. Undiscovered Country ... tbh, the main reason I can't put this up for first or second is the mind meld scene is bad and I didn't care for the prison bits. The rest is gold though.
4. Motion Picture ... This is more interesting in abstract, several philosophy courses I've taken have referenced it, and I've meant to watch the remastered director's cut. But it's still a plodding movie.
5. Search for Spock ... Just not my favourite.
6. Final Frontier

 

[JEB]

We don't all agree on what's #1 but we all seem to agree with what's #6. Poor, poor Shatner.

Shatner has apparently hoped to do a director's cut of Trek V, as they did for Wrath of Khan and even TMP, but Paramount apparently isn't on board.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

II
VI
IV
III
TMP
V

This is the correct answer. Lock the thread, please.

 

[MarkB]

It always surprises me how well The Undiscovered Country is rated. It looks fine, but the script grates on me - I have no problem with Cold War allegories, but this isn't just allegory, it feels like half the dialogue is lifted verbatim from political speeches of the time. Given that much of the remaining dialogue consists of gratuitous Shakespeare quotes, that really doesn't leave much room for the cast to be actually speaking in-character as themselves.

And the final space battle is just dreary. There's no constant evasive maneuvers to make the Enterprise a harder target ("Back up, back up!" does not count), no speculative sweeps of phaser fire to try to get a lucky hit (phasers on starships don't exist in this movie), and once the Excelsior arrives there's no tactical coordination between the two vessels. It's basically just them sitting around getting shot at until Spock has his gas epiphany. Say what you like about Nemesis, they knew how to do an exciting battle against a cloaked ship.

 

[Yora]

Wrath of Khan
The Undiscovered Country
The Search for Spock
whatever...

 

[Morrus]

It always surprises me how well The Undiscovered Country is rated. It looks fine, but the script grates on me - I have no problem with Cold War allegories, but this isn't just allegory, it feels like half the dialogue is lifted verbatim from political speeches of the time. Given that much of the remaining dialogue consists of gratuitous Shakespeare quotes, that really doesn't leave much room for the cast to be actually speaking in-character as themselves.

And the final space battle is just dreary. There's no constant evasive maneuvers to make the Enterprise a harder target ("Back up, back up!" does not count), no speculative sweeps of phaser fire to try to get a lucky hit (phasers on starships don't exist in this movie), and once the Excelsior arrives there's no tactical coordination between the two vessels. It's basically just them sitting around getting shot at until Spock has his gas epiphany. Say what you like about Nemesis, they knew how to do an exciting battle against a cloaked ship.

I actually prefer that. I like it when they treat the vessels as ships (or even submarines) rather than aircraft. When capital ships start ducking and weaving, it feels off to me. But then I very much like the II and VI naval feel that Nicholas Meyer brings to the franchise.

 

[MarkB]

I actually prefer that. I like it when they treat the vessels as ships (or even submarines) rather than aircraft. When capital ships start ducking and weaving, it feels off to me. But then I very much like the II and VI naval feel that Nicholas Meyer brings to the franchise.

It works for me in II, because Kirk is actually being tactical in the battles. In VI, it's just a one-sided slugging match up until they invent a new torpedo.