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The Best Sci-Fi TV Shows and Movies Inspired by Star Trek

From classic space adventures to parodies to stories about loving Star Trek, these are the best TV series and movies inspired by the Final Frontier.

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Star Trek is one of best and most well-known science fiction franchises of all time, so it’s no surprise that it’s had a huge influence on the rest of the genre. From other space-faring adventures to distant worlds to straight up parodies of the Enterprise and its crew, there are plenty of shows and movies that owe a bit to Gene Roddenberry ‘s creation.

This is not a list of every single show or film that has been inspired by Star Trek because that list would cover a pretty good proportion of sci-fi on screen since 1966. But if you want to watch something Star Trek -adjacent, we’ve picked out 10 of our favorite shows and movies that were, to a greater or lesser degree, inspired by Star Trek .

Back in 1998, BBC 2 ran a Red Dwarf Night featuring interviews with celebrity fans, one of whom was Patrick Stewart. Stewart talked about how he was channel hopping (remember that, fellow oldies?) one night around 1993 or 1994 and came across something that, to his own “horror and outrage”, appeared to be a “rip-off” of Star Trek: The Next Generation . He was reaching for the phone to call his lawyer, “when something happened that made me laugh – and it was something that certainly would not have happened on The Next Generation .” Stewart realized the show was a comedy, not a cheap rip-off, started laughing, and became a fan.

Red Dwarf actually started around the same time as Next Gen , both being developed from 1986, though Red Dwarf was delayed in getting to air until 1988 due to an electricians’ strike. Following the misadventures of the last human being alive as he embarks on a 3 million year journey to get back to Earth, the series combines elements of a few different space-set shows and films, including Silent Running and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy , but there is clearly a hefty dose of Star Trek: The Original Series in there. As time went on, more and more Next Generation crept in as well, especially with the addition of android crewmember Kryten as a full time cast member in Series 3.

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Stargate SG-1

Stargate SG-1 was spun off from the 1994 Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich film Stargate , and the basic premise comes directly from that film: a US Air Force team go through a mysterious gate found in Egypt to another planet – or, in the case of the TV show, lots of other planets. When the show was adapted for television, although it did not feature many spaceships until later seasons, it did start to draw on the well-established tropes of Planet of the Week style space opera that Star Trek helped to popularize. The tortured military hero gained a wise-cracking style to suit star Richard Dean Anderson that aligned him more with “always a joke at the end of the episode” Kirk, the typical 1990s-nerdy Egyptologist slowly became more of a respected expert who sneezed less often, and more importantly the team gained a woman who was not sold to the Egyptology nerd in marriage (yes that is really the plot of the movie and yes, she calls him out on it) and a stoic alien.

The addition of Teal’c is where we can really see the influence of Star Trek creeping in because Teal’c is basically the love child of Spock and Worf, in the best way. He is extremely calm and composed – he has very deep emotions, but he keeps them under the surface and meditates frequently. He is also quite fond of a raised eyebrow. The “scientist” position on the team was already taken by Carter, so Teal’c fulfills the “warrior” role. Standing out as a warrior in a military setting is quite the task, but like Worf, Teal’c’s “honorable warrior” approach and fondess for his own culture’s weapons marks him out as a warrior among warriors.

Futurama follows Philip J Fry, who accidentally falls into a cryogenic freezer on New Year’s Day in 2000 and wakes up on December 31, 2999 (and leaves his dog behind, in quite possibly the most traumatic episode of television ever made). Fry finds work with his distant nephew (an elderly man) at a delivery company called Planet Express. Being a science fiction comedy set in a future full of spaceships, there are of course references to Star Trek scattered throughout, and the short-skirted, egotistical, womanizing recurring character Captain Zapp Brannigan clearly has more than a bit of Kirk in him.

Futurama also incorporated Star Trek into its stories more directly on occasion. The show’s very first guest star was Leonard Nimoy as his own cryogenically preserved head, welcoming Fry to the Head Museum (a regular feature on the series). And later there was a whole episode dedicated to Star Trek itself, “Where No Fan Has Gone Before.” In this episode, Fry discovers that Star Trek inspired a whole religion, which led to the Star Trek Wars, which led to the show and everything associated with it being banned. But a powerful alien being has watched the whole show, and has given the preserved heads of most of the original actors new bodies so they can participate in an eternal Star Trek convention. It’s a loving, joyous send-up of the show and features all but one of the then-surviving original cast members plus, inevitably, Jonathan Frakes, because every spin-off of Star Trek in any form must feature Jonathan Frakes in some role. This is the Rule.

Battlestar Galactica (reboot)

Battlestar Galactica 2003/4 – 2009 is a reimagining of the original 1979 series Battlestar Galactica , so needless to say its main point of reference is that show (though the original has some connections with Star Trek as well, as we covered here ). But it was also developed, executive produced, and had many episodes written by Ronald D. Moore, who first earned his stripes as a writer on The Next Generation , Deep Space Nine , and briefly on Voyager before his working relationship with his writing partner Brannon Braga broke down and he left.

While in many ways Battlestar Galactica was deliberately the anti- Star Trek – featuring a somewhat grimmer world view and an even higher body count – it also had many similarities, inevitably, since they are both set on space ships and led by a ship’s Captain or Commander. But Moore also emphasized some of the most interesting themes of 1990s Star Trek in his noughties version of BSG . Having left Voyager after only a couple of episodes, he obviously felt he had more to say about a spaceship on a long journey to get to Earth. And he had done a lot of work on Deep Space Nine , at the time the grittiest Star Trek series (possibly overtaken by Discovery or Picard since then– argue that out in the comments!). DS9 ’s penchant for morally gray characters and storylines and for stories based around a mysterious alien religion is clearly reflected in the themes emphasized by Moore’s reimagining of Battlestar Galactica .

Firefly/Serenity

Firefly (and its follow-up movie Serenity ) is another show that, on the surface, seems to be deliberately doing something different to Star Trek . Set in the future and following the crew of a spaceship, it has a Western-inspired vibe. The ship has a courtesan and a mercenary on board, and the use of Chinese phrases scattered among the English seems to be a reaction against the perceived tendency of Star Trek and other series to make the future look very American (somewhat unfairly, and Uhura’s native language is very specifically established as Swahili in “The Changeling,” although she is admonished and told to speak English which is especially odd as they all have Universal Translators… but we digress).

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But actually, Firefly is very directly inspired by Star Trek , which was famously conceived by Gene Roddenberry as a “wagon train to the stars.” Its even more famous tag line describes space as “the final frontier,” clearly positioning the show as basically a Western in space. Firefly takes that basic idea but goes in a different direction with it. Instead of focusing on the exploration aspect of the movement of immigrants to America ever further west in the 19th century, Firefly picks up on other elements of Westerns and Western tropes – particularly the lawlessness in a frontier environment with minimal law enforcement. It is the yin to Star Trek ’s yang.

WALL-E ’s most obvious and immediate inspirations are the films Silent Running and 2001: A Space Odyssey , but if you look closely, there is a good bit of Star Trek in there as well. It is, of course, largely set on a spaceship and one of the main characters is the ship’s captain – so far, so superficial.

But there are deeper connections to Star Trek here. One of the things that is notable about WALL-E is just how good and well-intentioned all the future human characters are. The present-day human character played by Fred Willard, and by implication all the other present-day humans, are somewhat terrible, but all of the future humans we meet are good people who are open to new experiences when they are exposed to them. Their sedentary, passive lifestyles are simply what they have been taught and brought up with. The simplest and briefest exposure to the world around them, even just by being accidentally toppled out of their mobile chairs, sets them off on a journey of discovery, and the ship’s captain is thrilled and excited to learn more about Earth and about his own ship’s true mission. That attitude is pure Star Trek – a passion for discovery and exploration, even when it is one that ultimately leads back to Earth again.

The Orville

There was a point, around 2017-2019, when The Orville was famous for being more like Star Trek than Star Trek . This is not meant – by us anyway – as a criticism of Star Trek: Discovery , which is a great show. But in its first two seasons, Discovery deliberately leaned away from some of the Star Trek series that had come before, following a disgraced former mutineer instead of a Captain or Commander, featuring a morally dubious Captain who actually turned out to be “evil,” focusing on war and trauma, and using arc-based instead of episodic storytelling. It was pretty similar to Deep Space Nine in many ways, but for fans of the more upbeat, Planet of the Week, episodic storytelling of the Original Series , The Next Generation , or Voyager , it was a bit of a shock ( Star Trek: Enterprise , like Discovery , re-tooled itself somewhat halfway through).

The Orville , on the other hand, basically is Star Trek in the 1990s mold of Next Gen or Voyager . Seven episodes of the show were actually written by Brannon Braga with his new writing partner, former scientific consultant on Star Trek , André Bormanis. And yes, writers are of course capable of writing different things, but although The Orville started out as a Star Trek spoof, pretty much the only difference between the two by season 3 is that people on the Orville sometimes eat pot brownies.

The show also stars Deep Space Nine ’s Penny Johnson Jerald in a regular role as the ship’s doctor, and has guest-starred Next Gen ’s Marina Sirtis, Voyager’ s Robert Picardo and Tim Russ, and Enterprise ’s John Billingsley, and the show’s directors include Star Trek ’s Brannon Braga, Robert Duncan McNeill and, of course, Jonathan Frakes. So it must be Star Trek .

Avenue 5 is a sadly short-lived science fiction comedy that blends elements of Voyager , Red Dwarf , and WALL-E . It takes from Red Dwarf and Voyager the basic plot that a spaceship has ended up a long way from home, and an essential crew member has been killed and must somehow be replaced. It then adds a well-meaning Captain who was only ever intended to be a figurehead, and not to actually run the ship, from WALL-E . Hilarity – and some surprisingly shocking deaths – ensue.

Although the somewhat less than inspirational characters skew closer to Red Dwarf , Battlestar Galactica , or Firefly , Avenue 5 shows its Star Trek side pretty clearly in the hiring of Voyager ’s Ethan Phillips (Neelix) as former astronaut Spike Martin. It also features an entire plot line built around the ability to split the ship into two, a clear reference to one of the Enterprise -D’s most famous (and least used) features.

Avengers: Endgame

This one is probably the biggest surprise on this list. Granted, it does feature spaceships and space travel, but as a big budget superhero film, it does not obviously have much in common with space opera.

What connects the second-highest grossing film of all time with Star Trek is the importance of the ensemble and the relationship between a group and its leader. Kevin Feige has mentioned a couple of times (both times speaking to Entertainment Weekly ) that he loves The Next Generation and that he had its final episode “All Good Things” in mind when developing Avengers: Endgame . “All Good Things” (written by Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore) has some time-hopping going on that is not dissimilar to Endgame , but Feige talked specifically about the very last scene, when Picard finally sits down to play poker with his senior officers. That relationship between the Captain and his crew and them all coming together, just like the shawarma-based post-credits in the first Avengers film, is what Feige really wanted to take from Star Trek and incorporate into the MCU.

The film also takes its title from the final episode of Voyager and directly lifts its closing images featuring the autographs of the actors playing the six main characters from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , the final film focusing on the original Star Trek crew played by their original actors, symbolizing its similar position as a grand ending to the earliest phase of a franchise.

Galaxy Quest

We’re finishing with a film and a show that are not just “inspired by” Star Trek – to all intents and purposes, they are Star Trek , or very nearly. The premise for 1999’s Galaxy Quest is that aliens have been watching a Star Trek -like show and mistaken it for “historical documents,” so when they find themselves facing an enemy they can’t defeat, they crash a convention to ask the “crew” of the NSEA Protector for help. With a cast led by Tim Allen (a perfect Shatner-a-like), Sigourney Weaver (of course), and Alan Rickman (whose sad passing is the reason a proposed TV show never got off the ground), the resulting story is hilarious, heart-warming, and heart-breaking in equal amounts.

Galaxy Quest is perfect. It just is. If you are a Star Trek fan and you haven’t seen it, why not? Go and watch it immediately! You will never be able to watch an episode of Star Trek without quoting a line from Galaxy Quest ever again (especially not the Original Series episode “Arena”). Hear yourself constantly saying, “I’m the guy that dies to show the situation is serious!” “Quick, let’s get out of here before one of those things kills Guy!” “Does the rolling help?” “I see you managed to get your shirt off,” “Whoever wrote this episode should die!” and of course, “That’s not right!” And I know I just spoiled several of the funniest lines, but go and watch it anyway, I promise it’s worth it.

Juliette Harrisson | @ClassicalJG

Juliette Harrisson is a writer and historian, and a lifelong Trekkie whose childhood heroes were JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis. She runs a YouTube channel called…

30 Best Movies Like Star Trek To Watch In 2023 in USA?

• Last updated: 17 May, 2023
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Table of Contents

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

The Empire has been dissolved and is no longer in existence. While Vader’s legacy has been extinguished, the First Order has taken its position in the galaxy and is now trying to solidify its dominance.

However, the First Order is on a mission to discover and destroy Luke Skywalker, the last of the Jedi. Reluctantly, The Resistance dispatches an experienced X-Wing fighter, Poe Dameron, to track down Luke Skywalker.

The First Order and the Resistance are racing against time and oppression to locate the galaxy’s best Jedi. The future of the cosmos is at stake. This is one of the best movies like Star Trek and Star Wars.

Want to see how Luke Skywalker joins forces with a Jedi Knight, a cocky pilot, a Wookiee, and two droids to save the galaxy? Then watch Star Wars movies in order .

Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

After William Riker and Deanna Troi’s wedding, the Enterprise crew discovers Data’s prototype and the positronic signature.

This is the first time the Enterprise has been invited to sign a peace deal with the new Romulan emperor, Praetor Shinzon. Shinzon is revealed to be a Picard clone raised on the slave planet Remus.

As Picard discovers later, the peace accord is a sham since Shinzon relies on Picard for his survival. The Enterprise crew is unaware that Shinzon has other plans, including a weapon that could wipe out an entire world, while they are concentrated on eliminating the planet.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

Movies like Star Trek also have a critical message to go out to the public. During the twenty-third century, an alien probe threatens the Earth by vaporizing the oceans and decimating the weather.

It became necessary for Kirk and his crew to go back in time to 1986 San Francisco in order to save civilization from destruction when they were presented with a planet populated by punk rockers, pizza eaters, and exact-change buses. William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy reprise their roles as Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Commander Spock. Moreover.

There are some who can see Shatner as a betrayal joining Star Wars , particularly as he is mainly responsible for Star Trek’s success.

Star Trek: Of Gods and Men (2007)

This is one of the best star trek movies. The year 2306 has come and gone. Since Captain Kirk was carried away by the Nexus after rescuing the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise-B, thirteen years have passed.

It’s been a long time since the last of the original U.S.S. The Enterprise’s crew dispersed. Captains Pavel Chekov, Nyota Uhura, and Cap.

John Harriman of the Enterprise-B gathers to pay tribute to Captain James T. Kirk’s ship, the Enterprise-B, at a special ceremony. However, after their reunion is cut short by a distress call from a strange planet, they must go on a quest to alter their lives for the rest of their days and nights.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

After the ship’s first voyage went awry, Captain Kirk and his crew placed the Enterprise in Spacedock for repairs. However, an essential task prevents them from relaxing on the beach.

Nimbus III, the Planet of Galactic Peace, is being held captive by a rogue Vulcan called Sybok. An ambitious Klingon commander sets out to chase the Enterprise to make his mark on his homeworld.

The Enterprise is captured by Sybok’s ragtag army and taken to the galaxy’s heart in quest of the Supreme Being.

Star Trek: Generations (1994)

Legendary Star Trek characters including Montgomery Scott, Pavel Chekov, and Captain James T. Kirk are among those who will join Enterprise NCC-1701-B on its first journey in the near future.

In order to rescue two transport ships from an unexplained energy ribbon, the unprepared starship’s maiden journey ends in disaster. Capt. Kirk is killed, but a few of the ship’s passengers are saved by the Enterprise.

Dr. Tolian Soran, a rogue scientist, clashes with the crew of the USS Enterprise seventy-eight years after they first met. Only one person can help Picard stop Soran’s scheme, but that person has been dead for seventy-eight years.

Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)

Amid the tranquillity of the Ba’ku race, Lieutenant Commander Data suddenly shows signs of being on edge. The Ba’ku, who dwell on a planet that receives regenerating radiation, shun technological technology and live in peace with nature.

The Federation, linked to an extraterrestrial civilization called the Son’a, is discreetly studying their planet and culture. Starfleet officers are also interested in regenerating their bodies, which is why the Son’a plan to hold them hostage to conquer the Earth for themselves and the Federation.

Although they were not thought of as such, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew were devoted to the Prime Directive. Paramount Pictures has produced thirteen Star Trek feature films and the list is not over yet. Watch Star Trek movies in order for a complete picture from start to end.

Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome (2012)

Ensign William Adama joins the fleet ten years into the first Cylon conflict. It hurts him to be sent on the freighter for some reason instead of the fighter squadron.

Coker Fasjovic, Fasjovic’s co-pilot, isn’t a fan of having a newbie piloting his plane since he’ll be a civilian in months. Dr. Becca Kelly, a civilian scientist, is the ship’s cargo, but she has fresh instructions and a new destination for them as soon as they depart.

Despite her evasiveness regarding her covert mission, Adama is intrigued, mainly because it entails traveling into Cylon-controlled space. There is, of course, more to the story than meets the eye. Are you a space lover? Then check these best space movies of all time .

Stargate Atlantis (2004)

Dr. Elizabeth Weir and Major Sheppard conducted a research trip to Atlantis, which Stargate Command found in the Pegasus Galaxy.

Once there, the crew discovers that they cannot communicate with Earth and that the Ancients’ worst adversaries, The Wraith, have been reawakened, hungry for this new prey they have discovered.

The Atlantis Team now has new local friends like Teyla Emmagan to assist them in unraveling the mysteries of their new home even as they prepare for battle against the Wraith.

Avatar (2009)

This is one of the movies like Star Trek (2009). Several months after the theft that claimed his brother’s life, paraplegic Marine Jake Sully volunteers to take his place on a mission to Pandora.

In order to profit from the abundant woodlands, a business billionaire called Parker Selfridge seeks to remove the indigenous humanoid “Navi” population.

Quaritch’s military unit, in exchange for Jake’s spinal surgery, acquires knowledge about the Indigenous Race and their Culture as well as an “avatar” persona for infiltrating the Navi people.

Absolute coincidence. Avatar, directed by James Cameron, is a science fiction movie (soon to be series) on the struggles between humans and the natives of an alien planet.

However,  Avatar: The Last Airbender is a very popular fantasy cartoon from Nickelodeon about a kid who is destined to save the world from an evil empire. If you want to compare both then watch Avatar The Last Airbender online in 2023.

Andromeda (2000)

Captain Dylan Hunt and his sentient spaceship Andromeda set out to restore peace and civilization to the known universe after being frozen in time for 300 years.

In his company is the ship crew that rescued Andromeda from a black hole, with profit in mind and without knowing that her captain was still alive. After a bloody struggle, Andromeda took refuge in the black hole and has been there ever since.

He wakes up to find that this fight was the beginning of an epic war and that the great civilization he was protecting, the Commonwealth, had been destroyed. He embarks on a journey to resurrect hope in the galaxy with a group of unusual allies.

Star Trek: Voyager (1995)

The U.S.S. On the trail of a Maquis insurgency, Voyager reaches the Badlands, a deadly space nebula. In the Delta Quadrant, 75,000 light-years out from Federation space, both vessels are carried by a remote space probe.

The powerful and dying Caretaker, the man who built the investigation, kidnaps crew members from Voyager and the Maquis. The Kazons sink the Maquis ship after a fierce fight. Voyager kills the space probe to avert Kazon’s assault against a hapless planet.

Voyager’s return to Federation space will take 75 years if the investigation is not used. Due to time and the separation of space, their distinctions have become meaningless.

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Peter Quill, kidnapped by aliens when he was a child, now wanders the cosmos retrieving everything of worth for resale and reselling it. However, when he comes upon a silver orb, he discovers that he has gotten more than he anticipated.

The globe is covered by many, but none more so than Ronan, who has it in his possession. As soon as Ronan has it, Peter and his newfound pals, Gamora, Drax, Groot, and Rocket, must work together to prevent him from completing his mission.

Jupiter Ascending (2015)

Astrologers predicted that due to the constellations in Jupiter Jones’ birth chart, she would achieve tremendous success in her career. In spite of the fact that as a grown-up Jupiter still fantasizes about soaring to the heavens, his job cleaning other people’s houses and a never-ending run of bad luck keep him stuck.

Her destiny has been patiently waiting for her the whole time. Her unique genetic code indicates that she is the next in line to acquire a unique gift that has the power to alter the fabric of space and time. Caine Wise, a genetically modified ex-military hunter, comes to Earth to locate Jupiter and reveals her destiny.

The Fifth Element (1997)

In the year 2103, the universe is in jeopardy because of the forces of evil. Humanity’s only hope is the four stones of fire, water, earth, and air until the Fifth Element comes every five thousand years.

A Mondoshawan spacecraft returning to Earth with The Fifth Element is smashed by the Mangalores. Leeloo, a perfect human being, has been resurrected thanks to scientists who exploited the Fifth Element’s DNA, which had been fractured, to their advantage.

When she breaks out of the lab, former special commando Major Korben Dallas, who is now a taxi driver, helps her get away from the cops. Having completed her mission, Leelao tells him that she has to contact Father Vito Cornelius in order to do so.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

The year is 2300—a two-week cadet tour aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise, an instructional ship now, doesn’t make Admiral James T. Kirk feels younger as a teacher at Starfleet Academy.

In The Star Trek movies Khan Noonien Singh, the late 20th century Earth conqueror Khan Noonien Singh reappears after a long exile on a training tour.

Khan subsequently reported that Ceti Alpha VI erupted, shifting the fifth planet’s orbit to create a haven similar to Mars. He starts stealing Project Genesis, a top-secret device that holds the power of creation itself, and plots the destruction of Kirk.

Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

As a precaution against the Borg’s intrusion, the Federation has assigned the crew of the U.S.S . Enterprise to police the Romulan Neutral Zone. Captain Jean-Luc Picard assumes command of the fleet after the fight is lost and defies orders to do so.

On the other hand, the Borg aims to use a vortex to go back in time to prevent Earth from making its first encounter with an extraterrestrial civilization (the Vulcans).

After the Borg sphere, Picard and his crew discover that they have seized control of the Enterprise to complete their task. Zefram Cochrane’s famed faster-than-light passage to the stars is their last hope of defeating the Borg and their beguiling Queen.

Star Trek: Phase II (2004)

The following are the new journeys that the spacecraft Enterprise will go upon. An all-new cast of characters takes up where the original 5-year mission left off to continue the adventures of this famed crew: to boldly journey where no human has ever gone before and to seek new life forms across the cosmos.

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)

Taking place in the twenty-fourth century, seven to eight decades after the events of the original Star Trek series, this new series is the long-awaited continuation of the TV shows like Star Trek.

The all-new Enterprise N.C.C. 1701-D , under the leadership of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, begins his quest for knowledge by traveling to far-flung planets in search of new life and new discoveries.

Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)

Movies like Star Trek and Star Wars are the best must-watch movies of their time. A farm on Tatooine is Luke Skywalker’s home base, where he lives with his aunt and uncle.

While he longs to join his pals at the Academy, his uncle wants him to help with the harvest. During this time, a wicked ruler seized control of the galaxy and built an enormous “Death Star” capable of annihilating whole worlds. Princess Leia, a prominent member of the resistance, obtains the Death Star blueprints and entrusts them to the droid R2-D2, which she then directs to track out Obi-wan Kenobi.

Unfortunately, R2-D2 and C-3PO end up on the farm of the Skywalkers before R2-D2 is found. While Luke is pursuing R2-D2 into the desert, they come to find Obi-Wan. How long will the Emperor reign if the Death Star cannot be destroyed by Luke, Obi-Wan, and the two droids?

Star Trek (2009)

When James T. Kirk is born on Vulcan, a mining spaceship seeking Ambassador Spock, and his father dies in a desperate battle against the vessel onboard his disabled starship. James T. Kirk, a young troublemaker, has evolved into a 25-year-old James T. Kirk, a mature troublemaker.

Teachers like Commander Spock are annoyed when Captain Christopher Pike pushes him to reach his best potential in Starfleet. A Vulcan exigency finally arises, and Leonard McCoy uses medical deception to enable the newly-commissioned USS Enterprise to crew potential cadets such as Hikaru Sulu, Nyota Uhura, and Pavel Chekov. This crew will go on a journey that will rewrite the history books and usher in a new era in the final frontier.

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

As per PBS , movies like Star Trek into darkness leave Earth in peril, and the Enterprise crew returns home following an act of terrorism inside Starfleet and all it stands for. Capt. James T. Kirk sets his team on a covert mission, a one-person weapon of mass devastation, to settle a personal score, plunging them into an epic survival struggle.

First, an endangered species must be saved from a restricted area in space by the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise. To find a W.M.D., Captain Kirk and his team go to a planet in turmoil.

Star Trek Beyond (2016)

The Enterprise is forced to crash-land on an unknown planet after being targeted by a surprise strike in deep space. Krall, a lizard-like tyrant who obtains his energy by draining the life out of his victims, launches the attack on the city.

The police killed Krall. Krall is in desperate need of an old and priceless relic that is believed to be on board the severely damaged spacecraft. Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the Enterprise crew are stuck in a harsh wilderness, where they must now face a terrible alien species while attempting to discover a way out of their hazardous home planet.

Following an assault by tyrant Krall and a swarm of drones, the Enterprise is forced to crash into a hostile world. Kirk, Spock, and the team must find a way off the planet and kill Krall before he can bring the Federation crashing down around them.

Star Trek (1966)

Enterprise (U.S.S. Enterprise) is a starship that travels across space to investigate and protect the United Federation of Planets. It is set in the twenty-third century.

We will encounter new and intriguing life forms on other worlds during our journey across the galaxy aboard the Federation starship Enterprise. It is the twenty-third century, and the crew of the Federation spaceship Enterprise will accompany us.

It is now considered a cult classic, with followers all over the globe who remember the eighty-episode television series, which aired between 1966 and 1969.

Star Trek: Enterprise (2001)

The Vulcans, who invented the fusion drive and made initial contact with the Humans more than a century ago but still cannot travel into space to explore, need to be freed. Fortunately, under the leadership of Captain Jonathan Archer, the Enterprise makes its first trip into warp space thanks to an odd encounter with the Taliban.

After his first expedition, Captain Archer faces several trials in his desire for more discoveries. However, due to his experiences in combat with extraterrestrial vessels, superhuman beings, parallel worlds, and time travel, he earns respect and admiration from his crew, including program director Hoshi, chief engineer Trip, armory officer Malcolm, ensign Travis, and alien doctor Phlox.

Time travel is a sexy and romantic idea that appeals to the physicist as much as it appeals to every teenager. Science says time travel is not possible in the near possible but it was possible if you watch the best Time Travel movies of all time.

Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

The action and adventure continue in this “Star Wars” space movie. A surprise assault by Imperial troops and AT-AT runners on the ice floe Hoth puts Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Chewbacca in peril.

The Millennium Falcon is being used to transport Han and Leia away from the planet, while Luke is on his way to Dagobah pursuing Yoda.

However, if Luke is to make it through the final fight with Darth Vader, he will only be able to do it with the assistance of the Jedi master himself.

Dark Lord Darth Vader is hell-bent on converting Luke Skywalker to the evil side. So while Luke and his pals attempt to repel the Imperial fleet, Master Yoda is training them to become Jedi Knights.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017)

Special agents Valerian and Laureline collaborate to preserve order across the human lands in the 28th century. An assignment to Alpha, an ever-expanding city where many species congregate to exchange knowledge and culture, is assigned to the pair by the minister of defense.

But, when a dark force threatens the tranquillity of the city, Valerian and Laureline must rush against the clock to uncover the danger, which threatens the destiny of the whole cosmos.

Farscape (1999)

It’s the story of NASA astronaut John Crichton, who takes part in an experimental solo space trip and ends up in another galaxy using a wormhole.

As the quadrant’s enforcement agencies, the Peacekeepers, a race that resembles humans and many fugitives onboard a living ship, are all at odds with one other; he is thrust into its center. The storyline somewhat resembles the tv shows like Star Trek.

The crew of the runaway ship brings Crichton on board, and he becomes a member of the team as they travel through the stars, dodging the Security forces (including one who has vowed revenge for his deceased brother), fighting and meeting numerous others along the way.

The Avengers (2012)

In response to Thor’s wicked brother, Loki, gaining access to the Tesseract, Nick Fury, head of S.H.I.E.L.D., launches a heroic recruiting drive to confront the unprecedented danger to the planet. Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, Thor, the Black Widow, and Hawkeye are among the Marvel superheroes who have joined Fury’s “dream squad.”

However, when Loki presents a danger to the planet Earth, Nick Fury is obliged to form the Avengers Initiative on his initiative. His superhero team came up with a plan to complete the mission by pooling their resources.

This is one of the best sci-fi movies and similar to movies like Star trek. However, in a piece of recent news, Kevin Feige Reveals Avengers Endgame is the final Avengers movie .

Wrapping Up

Our future is depicted in sci-fi films that carry us beyond galaxies and onto exotic islands home to giant dinosaurs. For a good reason, science fiction is amongst the most popular genres.

It may either entertain us or reflect on our place in the universe, which makes it tough to narrow down the best sci-fi movies to just a few.

Total Film, SFX , and GamesRadar+ put a lot of time and effort into compiling this comprehensive list of the greatest sci-fi films ever made. Above mentioned recommendations are the best sci-fi movies of all time, similar to movies like Star trek.

In the same vein as “Star Trek,” you are likely to be interested in futuristic, exciting, and humorous films that deal with or feature spaceships, space travel, space warfare, space and aliens, heroic missions, space opera, and adventure themes that are set in the United States or Germany , and that are part of the Action, Adventure, and Science-Fiction genres. In the list above, you may find your next favorite movie and comparable movies.

Joshua calls himself nerd+geek who is also passionate about rugby. He enjoys comics, animes, and science fiction. He finds his comfort in writing about suspense, thrillers and science fiction shows and movies.

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Star Trek has had an unusual road to its fandom. It began as a short-lived television series, and yet it’s a highly influential and long lasting franchise that has spawned four sequel series and thirteen motion pictures. These two formats can be incredibly different, both in terms of tenor and tone, despite taking place in the same universe with the same casts. It is, to quote Mr. Spock, “fascinating.”

Some make the case that this is a story that deserves to be told on a cinematic canvas, while others argue that Trek is best served as an episodic series. Some pay great homage to the feeling of the original series, while others feel like they should have aired on television. It’s a rich, diverse film franchise where even the failures are intriguing.

So let us boldly go, and start with the weakest entry in the series thus far:

13.) Star Trek Into Darkness

I must politely disagree with my colleague Chris Cabin on the merits of Star Trek Into Darkness . While it’s not as bad on a second viewing, it’s still suffering the growing pains of not knowing what Star Trek really is.

That’s the conundrum with the J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek movies: if you want to take them as simple action movies, they’re serviceable enough, but that’s a waste of a world and disrespectful of what Trek is about. If you’re not a Trek fan, I doubt you’ll care, but imagine if someone made a Star Wars movie and tried to take the mystical force and turn it into something scientifically measurable (oh wait). It’s fine to update Trek with new uniforms, a new ship design, a new score, etc. That’s the artistry, but that’s not the core of what makes Star Trek tick.

Star Trek is about science fiction, and J.J. Abrams isn’t interested in that. He’s interested in making Space Adventure! and he does a poor job of telling the story. It may stimulate the lizard parts of your brain with the bright colors, canted angles, lens flares, and set pieces, but it’s bad storytelling that tries to steal from a far superior picture.

I understand that for Kirk, this is a learning experience film for him, and he has to overcome his cockiness and irresponsibility (you wonder how someone who responds to breaking the Prime Directive with “Big deal,” should ever be a captain in Starfleet -- assuming you care about Starfleet), but it’s such a drag, and the character is so deeply unlikable that you’re almost rooting for him to fail. It also fails as a friendship tale, as there’s little chemistry between Pine and Quinto, so the big “Khan!” moment comes off as laughably terrible.

Rather than boldly build a new world, Into Darkness steals from the old one, and does so poorly. For some it may pass as mindless entertainment, but it’s mindless to waste Trek in such a vicious, vacuous manner.

12.) Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Someone give William Shatner a participation trophy. Watching Star Trek V , it’s like Shatner saw the lighthearted success of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and wanted to redo it for his directorial contribution to the franchise. Unfortunately, Star Trek V is constantly silly and nonsensical rather than fun and upbeat. It starts out from a promising position, but quickly falls into lethargy, and missing the point of what makes a Trek movie with The Original Series cast work so well.

When it comes to movies with the TOS cast, the best thing to do is keep the focus on the cast. Unless you have a villain like Khan ( Richardo Montalban ), a villain who is rooted in the old show and who’s utterly captivating on his own merits, then your greatest strength is the camaraderie of the old cast working together.

Unfortunately, Final Frontier shortchanges the original cast on two fronts. First, it invests far too much in its villain Sybok ( Laurence Luckinbill ). While I like that Sybok isn’t an outright evil person, he comes off like an overly familiar camp counselor. He’s not creepy so much as he’s irritating, and then there’s his whole spiel about tapping into a person’s pain, which then in turn somehow brainwashes that person into being completely loyal to him.

That leads to the film’s second major failing: separating Kirk ( William Shatner ) from his crew. If that’s the route they were going to take, then they really should have carried more major stakes with it. Instead, it feels like a cheap shortcut that in turn deprives supporting characters like Uhura ( Nichelle Nichols ), Sulu ( George Takei ), and Chekov ( Walter Koenig ) of character arcs and motivations. The movie also had an opportunity to delve into Spock’s loyalty to Sybok, but that plays more as ambivalence than a source of real conflict between the characters.

Caught between a weak villain and ignoring its greatest asset, you have a film that’s trying so hard to be goofy and constantly missing the mark. While it’s endearing in the odd way that Shatner is trying so hard to please his audience, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s missing the mark, and comes up with jokes like Scotty ( James Doohan ) hitting his head after saying he knows the ship like the back of his hand. So when we finally come to the comical “Why would God need a spaceship?” it’s just the summation of all of the film’s flaws rather than its final error.

11.) Star Trek: Insurrection

On the one hand, I can respect that the Star Trek: The Next Generation movies were in a difficult position. Unlike the TOS movies, which were set in the 23rd century and didn’t have to worry about how their events would affect the TV shows, TNG was right in the prime of other Trek on television even though their own show had ended. Rather than be audacious and tie into what was happing in the TV series (which, granted, is a big ask for any movie), the TNG films were largely content to tell standalone stories that only briefly acknowledge the larger Trek universe.

That’s how we get something as tepid and forgettable as Insurrection , a movie that could have delved deep into its interesting premise, and instead looks like a cheap, two-parter that went unaired because it’s the cure for insomnia. Insurrection had the opportunity to take on an interesting question: what happens when the Federation is wrong? It’s an issue that had popped up repeatedly during the series, but Insurrection could have tackled it on a massive scale, and even incorporated the weakened Federation brought low by Deep Space Nine ’s Dominion War.

Instead, rather than question what the Federation means and how important it is to the crew of the Enterprise (a crew that always agrees, which is nice, but doesn’t invite conflict), the plot to remove the peaceful Ba’ku (who look like they were pulled out of an L.L. Bean catalog) to profit the greedy Son’a and the Federation is the work of a couple of bad apples rather than something endemic to Starfleet. The lines are clearly drawn from the beginning, and rather than challenge the audience to question Starfleet and the loyalty of the Enterprise crew, the characters ditch their uniforms without much fuss and go help the Ba’ku.

10.) Star Trek: Nemesis

Again, it starts out from an interesting place—nature versus nurture, and who would Picard be if his life had been one of torment rather than one in Starfleet? Unfortunately, the film is so hard up to make its villain, Shinzon ( Tom Hardy ), unequivocally evil that there’s no dramatic pull. It’s not simply enough for Picard to see a dark mirror that reaffirms his righteousness. The film also doesn’t challenge Shinzon to find the good in himself. Had they pushed Shinzon in that direction, it would have made him a more tragic figure rather than the moustache-twirling villain who wants to destroy Starfleet with a super-weapon.

Nemesis also suffers from the same problem as all of the TNG films in that in cannot get enough Data. For some reason, even though you have a rich, diverse case with Next Generation , the movies treat Picard and Data as the main characters and ignore everyone else. This kind of thinking is how you get to disgusting things like Shinzon mind-raping Troi ( Marina Sirtis ) just because, and then doing nothing with that assault other than using it later for a plot device to let her empathically guide the photon torpedoes.

The movie also wants to get away with killing Data, but not having any of the emotional impact of actually killing Data. Data has to live, so his “sacrifice” is rendered meaningless because he has B-4 back on the Enterprise as a backup.

9.) Star Trek: Generations

This film seems to exist so it can pass a torch that never needed passing. Looking back on Star Trek: Generations , it’s a story that seems more suited to fan fiction than something that actually serves Star Trek of any generation. The original series cast had already gotten a great send-off with Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , and it’s a bit of a bummer to see an incomplete cast some back for a second encore. Additionally, the Next Generation cast was already well-established and had a full series under their belt. The producers should have trusted them to carry their own story.

Instead, the movie tries to play to two audiences and ends up serving neither. Buried beneath all the dreck and talk of the Nexus and Data obnoxiously showing off his new emotion chip, there’s actually a compelling story about the cost of duty to Starfleet. Kirk and Picard are united by what they’ve personally sacrificed for Starfleet—and how they lost out on having families because they chose to be explorers instead. If you must have Kirk and Picard share the screen (and you really don’t), then this is solid thematic ground to walk.

But Generations bungles it completely with how tonally scattershot it is and the atrocious structure of the narrative. It’s a movie where you kill off Captain Kirk, an incredibly beloved and revered character, and then your next scene is the crew of the Enterprise-D playing dress up on the holodeck. They then keep Kirk out of the film until the third act, so there’s no real time for Picard and Kirk to build a bond before they have to take down Soran ( Malcolm McDowell ). And then Kirk gets killed by a bridge.

8.) Star Trek: The Motion Picture

The biggest problem with The Motion Picture is that it lost Star Trek ’s sense of identity. The film is trying to ape 2001: A Space Odyssey , and so it thinks that what the audience wants it a slow, meditative motion picture, and while there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, it loses Trek ’s greatest strength. It’s the opposite end of the spectrum from Star Trek Into Darkness —it’s not that Star Trek needs to be a non-stop action thrill ride, but it also shouldn’t be something understandably derided as “The Motionless Picture.”

There’s no good reason why the docking sequence should take as long as it does, and it feels like half of this movie is just people looking at the view screen. While I understand Star Trek taking a chance and going with something unexpected, The Motion Picture doesn’t play to the strengths of the original series or its cast.

It’s particularly frustrating that the movie pushes The Original Series crew to the background to play up new characters Decker ( Stephen Collins ) and Ilia ( Persis Khambatta ) to the point where it feels like The Motion Picture is their story that just happens to include The Original Series cast along for the ride. It doesn’t move the characters we know forward, and while the V-ger reveal is kind of neat, it elicits more of a shrug than any contemplation.

7.) Star Trek Beyond

I both kind of love and kind of dislike Star Trek Beyond . On the one hand, I knew I had a fun time while I was watching it. It felt like it was embracing classic Trek in a way we hadn’t really seen since Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country . But that being said, it’s almost impossible to remember this movie because beyond showing its love of classic Trek , it doesn’t have much in the way of a personality.

The plot of Star Trek Beyond finds the gang stranded on an alien planet (The Enterprise is destroyed. Again.) where the natives are ruled by a mysterious leader Krall ( Idris Elba ) who wants to unleash a powerful weapon against the Federation. This crash-landing allows the group to pair off in ways that hadn’t really been done before and allows for unique pairings like Spock and Bones that give the movie a lot of its power. The strongest asset of the new Trek movies has been the casting, and that really gets to shine here.

Unfortunately, the film fails to leave much of an impact because it never makes any bold choices. You can feel that this is a movie caught in a post Star Wars world where as the first two rebooted Trek movies could simply be Star Wars substitute, Beyond is wrestling with what it means to try and get out from under the shadow of the mammoth sci-fi franchise. Sadly, it never really finds an answer to that question, so while it makes for a fun, enjoyable picture with a better script than 2009’s Star Trek , it also lacks the necessary punch to make it more than disposable summer fare.

6.) Star Trek

J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek is a movie I really enjoyed when I first saw, but it has not held up well on repeat viewings. On a surface level, it’s really shiny and fun, and Abrams has the wherewithal to give his Trek an interesting new aesthetic (lens flares and shaky camera aside). It’s a fun compromise between the iconography of the original (they use communicators instead of com-badges) and an energetic, clean art design that sucks you into this new world.

The problem with Trek 2009 is that its story falls apart if you so much as glance at it the wrong way. For starters, like Into Darkness , it could not care less about what makes Star Trek special. It’s a movie where a suspended cadet gets promoted all the way to first office because the captain likes the cut of his jib. It’s a movie that doesn’t have a sci-fi bone in its body beyond trying to make sure that the original continuity remains intact while also forging an alternate reality. It’s a movie where they build the Enterprise on land rather than in space just so there can be a shot of Kirk looking at it in Iowa.

But even if those Trek concerns don’t bother you, there are still the larger story problems. For example, Spock strands Kirk on a planet where Kirk could easily die, but it’s okay because Kirk conveniently runs into Spock Prime ( Leonard Nimoy ) and Scotty ( Simon Pegg ), the only two people who can help get him back to the Enterprise. Or there’s the moment when Kirk confronts Nero ( Eric Bana ), and there’s no emotional baggage to it even though this is the man responsible for the death of Kirk’s father.

The success of Star Trek is that you don’t really notice its myriad of problems until you start looking for them, because Abrams made such a tight, lighthearted action flick that keeps barreling forward at breakneck speed. At the time, it felt promising because you would think that with four years between Star Trek and its sequel, there would be time to really nail down the story, and Abrams’ direction would remain intact. Oh well.

5.) Star Trek: First Contact

Star Trek: First Contact is an odd sort of movie. It’s the first time the Next Generation crew is really on their own, and they’re pulling from one of the strongest elements they ever contributed to Star Trek lore, the Borg. It’s a good setup and it also rewards those who saw the Next Generation series while not being so esoteric that it would alienate those who never saw the show.

And yet it’s still not quite Star Trek . It’s not a movie about anything. Say what you will about Generations , Insurrection , and Nemesis , but for all their faults, at least they’re about something (legacy, duty, and destiny, respectively). First Contact is an action-horror film, which is something you wouldn’t necessarily expect a Star Trek movie to be, but director Jonathan Frakes makes it work within the context of a new genre.

It’s just unfortunate that there’s no consideration of anything beyond Picard facing his old demons. Once again, outside of Picard, only Data really gets to shine, but at least they give Worf ( Michael Dorn ) more to do than Insurrection , which literally makes the character go through puberty because that’s the best they could come up with. The Borg are a compelling villain, and while you may have to cringe a bit with lines like “Assimilate this,” at least First Contact is fun, which is more than you can say than the other TNG films.

4.) Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

This is where on this list that Star Trek actually starts to feel like Star Trek . One of the great things The Original Series did was to tell narratives that reflected real-world tensions. Out of all of the Star Trek movies, The Undiscovered Country is the only one to mirror real world events. In this case, the script cleverly draws a parallel to the closing of the Cold War with the coming peace treaty between the Federation and the Klingons because the Klingon Empire is about to go bankrupt.

It’s also a story that’s rooted in the films that came before, as Kirk must wrestle with making peace with the people he holds responsible for the death of his son. It’s an issue that hadn’t been dealt with since The Voyage Home , but it adds personal stakes rather than keeping the issue nebulous. It also makes The Undiscovered Country a personal journey for Kirk, where he has to learn the importance of not only forgiveness, but also accepting a new status quo where the Klingons and the Federation can live in peace.

Undiscovered Country also gives almost everyone something to do. Kirk ( William Shatner ) and Bones ( DeForest Kelley ) are on trial on Kronos and are part of a prison break while everyone else (minus Sulu, who gets the short shrift in this picture despite finally becoming a captain) is busy playing detective up on the Enterprise. It’s a well-balanced story, and while the film tries too hard to turn Chang ( Christopher Plummer ) into the next Khan (the climactic battle has Chang shouting like he really wants to get his Shakespeare Quote-a-Day calendar out of his system), it’s still a fun dynamic that actually feels like a Star Trek story at its core.

3.) Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

There’s shorthand that claims that every even-numbered Star Trek is good and every odd-numbered Star Trek is bad. That’s a claim that should have been thrown out the window at Star Trek III , a film whose greatest flaw is following the classic Wrath of Khan . This is a movie that does nothing wrong, perfectly builds on what came before, and is a true test of the friendship among the Enterprise crew.

It would seem at first glance that a movie dedicated to undoing Spock’s sacrifice would be an ill-conceived idea, but director Leonard Nimoy absolutely makes it work by making this all about how the Enterprise crew works together outside the bounds of Starfleet. It turns them into a crew on the run, and they in turn sacrifice everything to save their fallen crewman. That’s a great story, and one worthy of Trek .

It also feels like Star Trek without feeling like an extended Star Trek episode. While other great Star Trek movies would echo what the series did at its best—whether it be traveling to unique locations, creating parables to real-world conflicts, or recreating the feel of a naval battles— Search for Spock is unique by building off Wrath of Khan , putting the crew of the Enterprise at odds with their duty to Starfleet, and plunging them into uncharted territory. And, Kirk has to make the ultimate sacrifice when he loses his son at the hands of the Klingons. How anyone could see Search for Spock as inferior Trek is beyond me.

2.) Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

This movie is just pure joy from start to finish. I’m sure it may have been tempting to try and do more of the same: send Kirk and the crew out on an interstellar mission to fight some intergalactic foe with some destructive weapon on the line. Instead, they go back in time to save the whales. It’s a plotline that sounds so silly that it shouldn’t work, and yet it does. This could have been, on a smaller scale, an episode of The Original Series , but it carries that charm and successfully transfers it to the big screen.

Voyage Home almost plays more like a sci-fi comedy (a dispiritingly rare hybrid) and watching the crew of the Enterprise as fish-out-of-water is constantly entertaining. The Original Series gave us the crew as outsiders on a fairly regular basis, and The Voyage Home harkens back to that feeling while still giving the audience the comfort of being more familiar with the world the characters are seeing.

It’s also got a good message! Yes, it’s a bumper sticker message to save the whales, but how many blockbusters give a crap about endangered species? It equates saving the whales with saving the world, and that’s a fine sentiment to have. Additionally, it helps bring the crew together and creates the stakes that could get the crew reinstated after stealing and destroying the Enterprise. It’s both a palette cleanser and a bold direction for the franchise.

1.) Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Is it the obvious choice? Yes, but it’s also the right one. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan isn’t just great Star Trek . It’s great filmmaking period. It’s everything someone could want from a summer blockbuster while also staying true to what makes Star Trek unique, especially from the original Enterprise cast. It’s a movie with deep thematic resonance, high emotional stakes, and a rewarding experience for those who had been Star Trek fans for decades.

It was a stroke of genius to make Khan the villain, not because he’s a lifelong nemesis for Kirk (Khan only appears in the episode “Space Seed”), but because he represents the sins of the past. Khan is a bad guy, but he’s not wrong that Kirk basically just abandoned Khan’s people on a planet and never bothered to check up on them afterwards. For a film about a man struggling with getting old, it’s important to take time to check on what Kirk did wrong as a young man, whether it’s stranding Khan on Ceti Alpha V or refusing the learn the lesson of the Kobayashi Maru. Wrath of Khan puts Kirk through a crucible of his past follies and makes him pay for it.

The movie also earns its emotional climax following a rousing space battle that would never happen today because it’s too “slow” (it’s basically a naval battle in space, which is what TOS would do sometimes). “I have been, and always shall be, your friend,” is a gut-wrenching line because you feel the history behind it. It doesn’t betray Spock’s Vulcan-side, nor does it lean too heavily on his human side. It’s a profound, honest moment where we see Kirk, finally faced with a no-win situation, lose his dearest friend. It’s a moment that only Star Trek could pull off, and it elevates Wrath of Khan beyond where most blockbusters have gone before.

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All Star Trek Movies Ranked by Tomatometer

Star Trek (2009) celebrates its 15th anniversary!

We’re boldly ranking the Star Trek movies by Tomatometer, from the original film series (1979’s The Motion Picture to The Undiscovered Country ), into the handoff to films featuring the Next Generation cast ( Generations to Nemesis ), and through to the reboot series (2009’s Trek to Beyond ).

Star Trek (2009) 94%

Star Trek: First Contact (1996) 93%

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) 87%

Star Trek Beyond (2016) 86%

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) 84%

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) 83%

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) 82%

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) 79%

Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) 55%

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) 53%

Star Trek Generations (1994) 48%

Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) 38%

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) 23%

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All 13 ‘Star Trek’ Movies Ranked From Worst To Best

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'Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan,' 'Star Trek: Generations,' 'Star Trek: First Contact' and 'Star Trek'

Today marks the 30th anniversary of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country . The Nicolas Meyer-directed political mystery thriller was intended to both rejuvenate the franchise after the underwhelming Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and give the original cast an honorable send-off before what everyone (correctly) assumed would be new movies starring the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation . Since then, we got four Next Generation -specific movies from 1994 to 2002, and then the Bad Robot-produced “reboot” trilogy in 2009, 2013 and 2016.

This past September marked the 55th anniversary of the first televised episode of Star Trek . That means it’s been five years since we all argued that Paramount should have held off on releasing Star Trek Beyond until September 2016 (instead of late-July 2016) to capitalize on that anniversary. It’s been five years since the last theatrical Star Trek movie and five years of false starts and bluffs concerning a theoretical Star Trek 4 (or Star Trek 14 if you count them as one continuity). Anyway, to mark the occasion, I’ll eventually use the usual science, math and dark magic to rank the movies (again, because I’ve never done so before).

As always, these rankings will not be your rankings because what fun would that be?

1998 Brent Spiner, Donna Murphy, Patrick Stewart Star In The New Movie "Star Trek: Insurrection." (Photo By Getty Images)

Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)

Budget: $70 million

Domestic Box Office: $70.2 million

Worldwide Box Office: $117.8 million

Inflation-Adjusted Domestic Box Office: $135.3 million

The core dilemma of this glorified two-part Next Generation episode is an intriguing one, essentially “prime directive” versus “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” However, the circumstances of the specific plot, 600 members of a small community essentially hording science that could eradicate illness and premature death for everyone, don’t work as a parable for colonialism. The film holds up Picard’s righteous absolutism as unquestionably heroic, even while a measured compromise would be ideal. Beyond that, there’s a kind of lackadaisical attitude and what feels like the cast getting a wish list (Geordi gets to see with his own eyes, Riker and Troi get horny again, Picard gets a love interest, etc.). Insurrection plays like late-2000’s Adam Sandler where everyone gets to vacation on the studio’s dime.

Star Trek Nemesis

Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

Budget: $60 million

Domestic Box Office: $43.25 million

Worldwide Box Office: $67.3 million

Inflation-Adjusted Domestic Box Office: $67.9 million

Stuart Baird’s late 2002 release was a Star Trek movie for folks who think Star Trek isn’t cool. Alas, the generically action-packed and occasionally patronizing (Troi gets “mind-raped” just so Riker can righteously kill Ron Perlman’s secondary bad guy) Nemesis turned off Trekkers and didn’t work for general audiences who were saving their money for The Two Towers opening just five days later. That it’s not the “worst” Star Trek movie is mostly because it wears its $60 million budget on its sleeve and it’s never boring. The nature-versus-nurture stuff (concerning a young clone of Picard played by a very skinny Tom Hardy) is intriguing, but it’s oft-charted territory for this franchise, and the film pulls a “Disney death” with Data. All in all, the Next Generation crew deserved a much grander farewell.

American actors Merritt Butrick and Robin Curtis on the set of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, directed by Leonard Nimoy. (Photo by Paramount Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)

Star Trek III: The Search For Spock (1984)

Budget: $18 million

Domestic Box Office: $76.4 million

Worldwide Box Office: $87 million

Inflation-Adjusted Domestic Box Office: $208.5 million

It’s not boring and it’s not “bad,” but the entire film exists just to walk back the shocking finale of its immediate predecessor. Oh, and it also walks back one of the more interesting developments of The Wrath of Khan , arbitrarily killing off Kirk’s just-discovered son and negating that bit of character development. That said, the first third has a certain creepy mind-horror vibe, but once Kirk and friends steal the Enterprise and head off to the (dying) Genesis-created planet to fetch Spock’s body it becomes a two-fisted action flick, closer to the whole Stagecoach in space pitch that was probably intended. Christopher Lloyd makes a fine Klingon baddie, and the production values are beyond reproach, but The Search For Spock is one of the more generic Star Trek adventures.

Star Trek (2009)

Budget: $140 million

Domestic Box Office: $257.7 million

Worldwide Box Office: $386.8 million

Inflation-Adjusted Domestic Box Office: $314.8 million

There’s a lot to appreciate in this unapologetic “ Star Trek as Star Wars ” time-rewriting reboot, and it’s no secret as to why it became a monster domestic smash in summer 2009. J.J. Abrams directs the hell out of this movie, the camera almost never stops, and the new cast is instantly iconic despite playing characters previously defined by an established cast. Alas, the film never slows down, while the whole “things must play out as we know they must” mentality turns this Star Trek origin story into a kind of manifest destiny propaganda. Cheer as Chris Pine’s unqualified, hotheaded cowboy Kirk usurps the command in a glorified coup from Zachary Quinto’s experienced, cautious egghead Spock just because the franchise as we know it demands it. Intentional or not, this admittedly rip-snorting and crowd-pleasing action-adventure played like a skewed endorsement of the 2000 presidential election.

Canadian actor William Shatner and American Leonard Nimoy on the set of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (Photo by Paramount Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

Budget: $30 million

Domestic Box Office: $52.2 million

Worldwide Box Office: $70.2 million

Inflation-Adjusted Domestic Box Office: $119.9 million

I’m not pretend that William Shatner’s infamous box office bomb is “good, actually.” But, especially after almost 35 years of “Kirk stops a bad guy and saves the Earth” plots, there’s a lot to admire in this unapologetic head trip of a sequel. This intimate odyssey, with Kirk, Spock and McCoy kidnapped by Spock’s half-brother who wants to pilot a starship to essentially meet God, revels in the interior pain and personal pathos of its three leading men. The ensuing conflict, a rebel Klingon ship attempting to take out Kirk for glory notwithstanding, is more about a battle for the souls of our Star Trek heroes, one that counteracts the myth of Kirk as a glorified he-man cowboy. Final Frontier is not good (unfinished effects don’t help), but it’s an interesting bad movie.

Star Trek Beyond

Star Trek Beyond (2016)

Budget: $185 million

Domestic Box Office: $158.8 million

Worldwide Box Office: $335.6 million

Inflation-Adjusted Domestic Box Office: $168.2 million

The first half-hour of Justin Lin’s Star Trek Beyond are so damn good, so concerned with the shared humanity of our newly established cast (including Kirk burning out as he turns the same age his father died at), that it’s heartbreaking when the action takes over and the picture goes on autopilot. The Enterprise goes down in flames, and the crew is split up in a forest planet, but only the begrudging friendship between Spock and McCoy registers. Still, the action is beyond reproach, and the final 20 minutes snap back into gear as the core bad guy (a mostly disguised-in-makeup Idris Elba) shows his humanity and Kirk realizes the error of his thinking. The warm-hearted epilogue works as what could be a fond farewell to this newer iteration of the original crew.

DECEMBER 7: Actors George Takei, James Doohan, Grace Lee Whitney, Nichelle Nichols, Stephen Collins, DeForest Kelley, Majel Barrett, William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Persis Khambatta, Walter Koenig pose for a portrait during the filming of the movie "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" which was released December 27, 1979 in the United States. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

Budget: $35 million

Domestic Box Office: $82.2 million

Worldwide Box Office: $139 million

Inflation-Adjusted Domestic Box Office: $300.2 million

Robert Wise’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture remains an oddity. Its existence, 10.5 years after the show ended, was clearly inspired by the success of George Lucas’ Star Wars and Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind , yet its narrative and visual template is obviously fashioned more from Stanley Kubrick’s slow-burn mind-melter 2001: A Space Odyssey . The film was among the most expensive ever, and you can see that in every widescreen moment of this long (especially if you watch the superior 143-minute director’s cut) sci-fi epic. My fondness for it lies with its heady and grandiose ambition, in terms of raw cinema and in terms of big sci-fi ideas before the film franchise became (mostly) about killing the bad guy and saving the day. It puts the Trek in Star Trek .

Star Trek Into Darkness

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

Budget: $190 million

Domestic Box Office: $228.7 million

Worldwide Box Office: $467.4 million

Inflation-Adjusted Domestic Box Office: $257.7 million

No, it’s not the worst Star Trek movie ever made and it’s actually pretty great for most of its runtime. J.J. Abrams’ second Star Trek delivers Benedict Cumberbatch as a new-universe Khan and overdoses on nostalgia in the final reel, but the film still does the work to make the climactic events make sense to the characters as they exist in this story. Kirk keeps his ego in check, or at least he uses it mostly to help others this time out, and he refreshingly realizes the grief-driven error of his “vengeance > due process” thinking well before the finale. Big, pulpy and generally exciting, the film works as both an obvious post-9/11 “drones and militarized governments are bad” parable and a “why old exploratory Trek is better than new blockbuster Trek ” metaphor.

Canadian actor William Shatner with actor and director Leonard Nimoy on the set of his movie Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. (Photo by Paramount Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

Budget: $24 million

Domestic Box Office: $109.7 million

Worldwide Box Office: $133 million

Inflation-Adjusted Domestic Box Office: $267.7 million

Maybe director Leonard Nimoy and friends agreed with my above-noted thoughts on Star Trek III , because they did a 180 next time out.

Leonard Nimoy’s deliciously goofy fish-out-of-water comedy, a 180-degree turn from Nimoy’s Search For Spock , blends the tropes of movie- Star Trek (the Earth is in peril and only the Enterprise can save the day) and Gene Roddenberry’s aspirational notions (the world can only be saved by a creative and non-violent scientific solution). The crew goes back in time to 1987 San Francisco to literally save the whales, and the result is a quirky, funny and just plain delightful. It also works as a “20 years of Star Trek ” memorium. It was sold (and embraced) as a Star Trek movie for novices, but the action-lite and violence-free adventure only works because it’s such fun seeing these specific actors (especially co-stars James Doohan, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nicols and George Takei) playing these specific characters in this ridiculous situation.

'Star Trek: Generations'

Star Trek: Generations (1994)

Budget: $38 million

Domestic Box Office: $75.7 million

Worldwide Box Office: $20 million

Inflation-Adjusted Domestic Box Office: $169.3 million

David Carson’s frankly underrated effort is a successful blend of “stop the bad guy” (Malcom McDowell’s going to blow up a planet!)  and “explore existential sci-fi/fantasy concepts” (Could you willingly escape a Nexus whereby you lived out the best moments of your life?). The prologue is a terrifying and tragic event whereby Captain Kirk dies saving lives (rather than having to live with taking them), and that he “comes back” in the Nexus doing battle alongside Captain Jean-Luc Picard before dying again doesn’t negate the impact of the initial in-universe demise. The rest of the film is a warmly humanist adventure with the Next Generation crew dealing with the fallout of said Nexus and working as a grand adventure for die-hard fans and merely periodic viewers. It’s my favorite “odd-numbered Trek .”

Mexican actor Ricardo Montalban on the set of Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, directed by Nicholas Meyer. (Photo by Paramount Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

Budget: $12 million

Domestic Box Office: $78.9 million

Worldwide Box Office: $95.8 million

Inflation-Adjusted Domestic Box Office: $245.9 million

Nicholas Meyer’s metaphorical U-boat actioner, using old sets from The Motion Picture and coming it at 1/3 the cost, set the template (in terms of tone, production design, costumes and action-centric plots) for the cinematic franchise. I do find irony in many of the folks decrying the blockbuster-ization of the Bad Robot reboots holding up this clear “action spectacular” course correction from The Motion Picture as the definitive Star Trek . That said, this is still a spectacularly entertaining grudge match, with Ricardo Montalbán reprising from a first-season episode and turning Khan into the most iconic pre- Die Hard action movie villain this side of Darth Vader or Goldfinger. The Moby Dick parables aren’t subtle, but they make a surprisingly small-scale and intimate outer-space chess match feel like the biggest adventure ever told.

1996 Patrick Stewart stars in the new movie "Star Trek: First Contact".

Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

Budget: $46 million

Domestic Box Office: $92 million

Worldwide Box Office: $150 million

Inflation-Adjusted Domestic Box Office: $190.5 million

Jonathan Frakes’ kick-ass actioner opened 25 years ago when the Star Trek brand was at its peak mainstream popularity . Picard gets his own Ahab-like quest to destroy the Borg at all costs. That gives way to terrific action scenes and “acting with a capital A” moments for Stewart (and co-star Alfre Woodard) while Data (Brent Spiner) finds himself captured by the Borg Queen (Alice Krige). Meanwhile, much of the cast is on Earth in the days before first contact, trying to convince a now-skeptical pioneer (James Cromwell) to take his recorded place in history. This plot offers both comic relief and plenty of time on concepts more aspirational than vengeance and the ends not justifying the means. First Contact is probably the biggest Star Trek movie that still feels like a Star Trek movie.   

FILM 'STAR TREK VI: THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY' (Photo by Ronald Siemoneit/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images)

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

Budget: $27 million

Domestic Box Office: $74.9 million

Worldwide Box Office: $96.9 million

Inflation-Adjusted Domestic Box Office: $163.1 million

The Undiscovered Country ended the original franchise arguing that victory lay not in total destruction of a given side but in a brokered peace and mutually-assured survival. It offered the seemingly easy-to-digest (and all-too-logical) notion that the biggest obstacles to peace weren’t one side or another but elements in both sides benefiting from continual conflict no matter the collateral cost. It ended the initial adventures of Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the crew on the idea that Kirk’s most heroic act wasn’t discovering uncharted worlds or stopping an evil plot but forgiving those whose “kind” had murdered his own son and shaking hands with the enemy. The undiscovered country is technically (so says Shakespeare) death, but this optimistic adventure posits that it’s merely genuine, authentic peace and between worlds and the salvation it would bring.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country remains my favorite Star Trek film. It’s a jolting of-the-moment political drama, using the war between Klingons and humans as a metaphor for the end of the Cold War and the consequences of institutional racism without relying on a yellow highlighter. Heck, it was the first of many big blockbusters ( GoldenEye and Mission: Impossible come to mind) dealing with the legacy of career “action heroes” when the lifelong enemy turned overnight into a reluctant ally. This Nicolas Meyer-directed installment is also a crackling closed-room murder mystery with several dynamite action sequences (including the initial homicides, shockingly bloody for a PG movie, and the climactic showdown against Christopher Plummer’s cloaked Bird of Prey). And the epilogue, including Kirk’s final course heading, still brings a tear to my eye.

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Looking for more shows like Star Trek: Picard ? We’ve compiled this list of movies and TV shows similar to Star Trek: Picard , the 2020 sci-fi drama starring Patrick Stewart as the titular USS Enterprise captain post-retirement. 

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Vote up the best movies and shows like Star Trek: Picard , so other fans know what to watch next. Thanks to streaming services, like Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Disney Plus, and Prime Video, you can start streaming these movies and shows right now.

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Every Star Trek Movie Ranked

One of the most beloved and influential science-fiction franchises of our time, the Star Trek universe continues to captivate audiences and expand into new worlds – from the Original Series, to the Next Generation, to the J.J. Abrams -led reboots, to the plethora of live-action and animated Enterprise outings on the small screen in recent years.

To mark the 40th anniversary of the all-time classic and many a Trekkie’s favourite, Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan , we’re boldly going where many have gone before, and wrangling the 13 big-screen Star Trek adventures into a definitive order of quality. Here’s Empire’s list of the best Star Trek movies, ranked from worst to best:

13. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

After two films directed by Nimoy, Shatner stepped up for Star Trek V , but it was a troubled production, beset by rewrites, re-shoots and industrial action. The results are, let's say, uneven: a collision of separate stories that don't really mesh, with some jarring tonal shifts. On one level this is a classic Roddenberry concept about exploring the universe and investigating its creation, but that sits alongside Klingon-Romulan-Human politicking and moments of comedy: Kirk and Bones ribbing Spock round a campfire, or Scotty knocking himself unconscious because he doesn't know his way around the new Enterprise. An impressive Dune -like desert sequence gives way to a knock-off Mos Eisley bar scene. Spock suddenly has a renegade brother we've never heard of before. And yet, while the separate parts might not add up to a cohesive whole, there's enough going on that some of it works. Fundamentally, this is a film where Captain Kirk meets God and is unimpressed . That might just be the ultimate Kirk moment, and getting there is worth a couple of hours of janky runaround.

12. Star Trek: Nemesis

A fairly catastrophic failure both critically and commercially, Nemesis did what no Trek film had done before: killed the franchise stone dead for almost a decade. It's still fun to hang out with the Next Generation crew, but that cozy familiarity aside, this is a disappointing experience. It's visually murky, bogs itself down with a leaden plot about Romulan intrigue, has its limelight hogged by Brent Spiner, and suffers from one of the weakest villains in the series: Tom Hardy 's Reman rebel leader Shinzon. This was one of Hardy's earliest roles, and it probably isn't his fault, but he's less than stellar in it and looks borderline ridiculous, sporting a prosthetic nose. His introduction is set up as a huge reveal moment - "Oh my God, it's Picard !" – except he looks nothing like Picard, and the only visual clue that he's Picard's clone is that he's bald. The action periodically delivers and Data's sacrifice – while not a patch on Spock's – gives it a little heart, but as the Next Gen crew's last hurrah, this one saw Picard and the gang go out with a whimper, not a bang.

11. Star Trek Into Darkness

The continuing mission of the rebooted Enterprise has all the pleasure of the 2009 film in its interplay between the principals, and some great San Francisco spectacle. But Into Darkness ' great weakness is its villain: in this instance, Benedict Cumberbatch inheriting the role of Khan from Ricardo Montalban. The problem is exactly the same one that Spectre had with Blofeld: Khan only means something to the audience. He doesn't mean anything to the characters on screen. This Enterprise hasn't even met him in Space Seed. So, the films whole agenda – it's a remixed Star Trek II with another Khan, hold on to your hats! – doesn't work. This Khan is just another bad guy doing generic bad guy stuff. His being Khan is ultimately neither here nor there. "I'm not Harrison, I'm Khan." – are you? Who's that then? If you need a Zoom call with your future self to explain the stakes, you've got more problems than you realise.

10. Star Trek: The Motion Picture

The frequent goofiness of the Original Series sometimes obscured the fact that it was often dealing in strong sci-fi concepts and attempting serious philosophical musing. There was even a high-falutin' pretension to some of the episode titles, like season 3's 'For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky'. So, while in a post- Star Wars world, a straight-up space adventure might have seemed the no-brainer way to approach a Star Trek movie, you can see how Gene Roddenberry would have been more attracted to trying to do Kubrick's 2001 . Years in development, and at one point conceived as a new TV series before flipping back to film again, Robert Wise's film has been dubbed the Slow-Motion Picture by wags, and there's no denying its ponderousness. But where it achieves what it's aiming for is in the sequences designed to inspire absolute awe in the viewer – the early reveal of the new Enterprise in space dock, or Spock's solo float through the unbelievably vast V-Ger ship. It isn't to everyone's taste, it arguably doesn't make the best use of its cast, there's not much action and the new uniforms look awful. But there's a tone and ambition to The Motion Picture that's unique in Trek.

9. Star Trek: Generations

The long-heralded meeting of the generations kind of delivers on its promise, but instead of being great, it's only… fine. Part of the problem with Generations is its set-up, which shunts Kirk off into the time-defying Nexus. The plot device that gets him across the generations leaves all his own crew behind, meaning that the Original Series cast get cameos at best. Nimoy isn't in it at all. So, it's essentially a Next Generation movie with Shatner in it – less Enterprise meets Enterprise, more Picard meets Kirk. There are some Klingon shenanigans (hello TNG stalwarts Lursa and B'Etor), a wry Malcom McDowell is a solid principal villain, and the Enterprise is destroyed (again). But it never feels like the event it should, and Kirk's death, which ought to have been momentous, is badly fumbled; compare it to Spock's death in Wrath Of Khan and it's simply a shrug. Shatner was miffed enough that he brought Kirk back from the dead in a series of novels.

8. Star Trek: Insurrection

Of all the Star Trek films, Insurrection feels the most like a standard episode of the TV series (in this case, the Next Generation). The budget is obviously bigger, the screen wider, the effects more impressive, but strip those elements away and the story would barely have played any differently on the small screen. It's much lighter in tone than its immediate predecessor, First Contact , and therefore feels less consequential. But still enjoyable for all that. Largely a character piece focused on Data – as the Next Gen films increasingly were – it involves the Enterprise crew accidentally breaking Star Fleet's sacred Prime Directive of non-interference while on an observation mission on the peaceful backwoods planet Ba'Ku. The consequences draw the attention of the Son'A: Clive Barker-ish mummified aliens who keep themselves alive with frequent transplant surgery and are led by an unrecognisable F. Murray Abraham . The stakes are on the low side, but the set-pieces deliver. And you get to see Riker and Troi in the bath, if that's your thing.

7. Star Trek III: The Search For Spock

Star Trek III can't help but feel smaller and less urgent than the extraordinary Wrath of Khan , and while clearly we want Spock back, this does feel like an entire film in the service of undoing Star Trek II 's most unforgettable moment. It's less flat-out and simply less fun than its predecessor, and that seems to be a deliberate choice: while not at Motion Picture levels of heaviness, it still seems to be aiming for more weight again. Leonard Nimoy directs – the first of many Trek cast members to make the transition to the other side of the camera – and he's clearly great at getting performances, but less sure-footed with pacing and action. And there's a lot of spoken exposition. The villains, too, don't seem as threatening, just a brigade of ornery Klingons, led, rather oddly, by comic actor Christopher Lloyd. You can argue that he wasn't Doc Brown yet, but he was the Reverend Jim. Even the destruction of the Enterprise doesn't quite have the impact that's intended (although maybe that's a function of our having seen it destroyed again so many times in the years since). Still, it's never less than enjoyable, particularly in the Bones Behaving Oddly strand that largely drives the story. This is amiable, watchable Trek , and sometimes that's enough.

6. Star Trek Beyond

After the misfire of Into Darkness , the clear mission here was simple: forget fan-pleasing that pleases no one, and deliver a straight ahead brand new Star Trek adventure with the characters we know and love, untethered from any weight of continuity or dour intertextual engagement with past glories. Beyond is a breath of fresh air and, creatively, a huge success, benefitting from the gonzo energy of multiple Fast & Furious movie director Justin Lin . Simon Pegg 's Scotty emerges as perhaps the film's MVP (odd that, considering he co-wrote it), and is given an amusing double-act with newcomer alien scavenger Sofia Boutella ("Beats and shouting!"). And Idris Elba is a solid villain, although you might wish the new series would play a different bad guy card than 'grudge against Starfleet'. Still, it's all such a blast that it's hard to mind too much, especially during the air-punching callback to the 2009 film's use of the Beastie Boys' 'Sabotage'.

5. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Aka 'the one with the whales'. A family-friendly, fish-out-of-water comedy adventure, almost entirely set on (at the time) present-day Earth, intent on delivering an environmental message and with no real villain to speak of. An Enterprise crew who don't even have an Enterprise… Star Trek IV shouldn't work, but somehow it's one of the best, and certainly most beloved, films of the series. Maybe that's about its accessibility: it's Trek enough for fans, but un-Trekky enough to tempt the unconvinced. The comedy is great (particularly thanks to the revived Spock, whose befuddled weirdness goes barely remarked in 20th century San Francisco); the extended cast all get decent stuff to do (think Chekov's side-mission to find a 'nuclear wessel'); and Shatner gets a love interest that doesn't play as creepy. The whole film is like a warm hug. Is it Star Trek ? It seems from this evidence that Star Trek is whatever Star Trek says it is.

4. Star Trek (2009)

Star Trek 's big comeback was a reboot and an origin story, re-casting the Original Series crew and telling the story of their first mission aboard the Enterprise, not long out of Star Fleet Academy. The surprise is the extent to which it's also Star Trek 11 : smartly setting up a branching timeline that allows it to remain canonical even as it contradicts the Trek that's gone before. It has its gagh and eats it too. Leonard Nimoy cameos as the Spock we already know, and the new cast ( Chris Pine , Zachary Quinto , Karl Urban , Zoe Saldana , Simon Pegg) do a great job at making their iconic roles feel both familiar and fresh. It's an energetic, colourful, pacy film, revelling in joyful nostalgia and a deep love for these characters. It's just a pity that, with the focus on building the team, Eric Bana 's villain ends up a bit sidelined. Even while he's destroying planets, he's somehow no Khan.

3. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

The near-disaster of Star Trek V almost killed the franchise, so VI was returned to the safe hands of Nicholas Meyer, who'd previously snatched The Wrath Of Khan from the jaws of The Motion Picture . It doesn't quite hit Khan levels of excellence, but it does give the series its best villain since Montalban, in Christopher Plummer 's raging, Shakespeare-quoting Klingon general: a monomaniacal Ahab whose white whale is Kirk. Epic in scale, taking place across multiple ships and planets, the film's main plot hook is nevertheless a more intimate murder mystery, so there's room for character moments and effective storytelling. The obvious advancing age of the principals is explicitly acknowledged (adorably, the climax of the film genuinely rests on whether a portly old man can run up some stairs). And the wider context of peace negotiations between the Federation and the Klingon Empire serves to bridge the gap between The Original Series and the just-starting Next Generation , making this arguably a more effective handover than Generations. While some of the principal cast would return for guest appearances, either in subsequent films or on the small-screen Next Generation and Deep Space Nine , The Undiscovered Country feels valedictory, the last true hurrah of the original Enterprise crew.

2. Star Trek: First Contact

With the Borg the stand-out villains of The Next Generation – they even assimilated Picard in a fantastic end-of-season cliffhanger – their progression to a big-screen face-off was almost inevitable. The results in First Contact make it one of Trek 's nailed-on classics. The implacable Borg's Giger-ish design and body-horror vibe don't necessarily quite gel with the Star Trek ethos, but the film balances those elements with some wide-eyed Roddenberry-ish wonder in a plot about humankind reaching for the stars: specifically the first Warp flight. Some have questioned the introduction of the Borg Queen – they were a terrifying hive mind but now they've got a leader? – but logic aside, she's an undeniably great character, played with insidious relish by the otherworldly Alice Krige. The scenes where she's tempting Data are hugely compelling, circling around one of those big sci-fi ideas that Trek loves and addresses so well: an android choosing to be human.

1. Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan

The film that ensured Star Trek 's future. A major regrouping and rethinking following The Motion Picture , it's thrilling, breathlessly action-packed, and emotionally hefty. The Motion Picture really only had a mystery, but The Wrath of Khan gives the Enterprise crew a truly credible – even frightening – adversary in Ricardo Montalban's aggrieved superhuman, and there's no greater illustration of how genuinely high the stakes of this film are than one of the main cast having to die: the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few. It's a straight-up, knock-down brawl across the galaxy, weaving in lore from deep Star Trek cuts but never alienating a non-expert audience (it's a sequel to a season 1 episode, but you don't really need to have seen 'Space Seed' to get immediately on board). There are new crew members - notably Kirstie Alley's Vulcan Saavik - but The Wrath of Khan proves that the legacy players are far from done, even as the film sweetly acknowledges their lengthening teeth (and faltering eyesight). And there is, of course, that Shatner moment ("KHAAAAAAAAN!"), reminding us that, while there are other space adventure franchises, there are some things that are just uniquely, gloriously Trek . Of all the films we have encountered in our Star Trek travels, this was the most… human.

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Star Trek movies, ranked

See where all 13 films fall on the franchise list.

13. Star Trek Generations (1994)

Every Star Trek movie has problems. There are nonsense villains, unconvincing pseudo-science, lead-actor ego-stroking, and aimless plotting. There is the shockingly frequent feeling that Starfleet, that great galactic exploratory organization uniting all the cosmos in common cause, is a curiously underfunded goon squad whose security apparatus depends solely on the presence of one Enterprise or another. But only Generations is truly inessential — and only Generations squanders both Captain Kirk ( William Shatner ) and Captain Picard ( Patrick Stewart ), opting to stage the meeting of two pop culture icons as an opportunity for tragically literal horseplay. At least Generations coughs up the impressive Enterprise-D crash scene, one last cool model effect before the franchise (and Hollywood) went full CGI.

Read the full deep dive into Generations here .

12. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)

Spock ( Leonard Nimoy ) dies in Wrath of Khan , and that death scene gets replayed four different ways in the sequel — a recognition of just how powerful the scene was, but also an admission that nothing in Search for Spock comes halfway close to measuring up. This is by far the busiest original-cast Trek film, with several different story threads — the Enterprise heist, Spock-ified McCoy ( DeForest Kelley ), the demise of the Genesis Planet, whatever Christopher Lloyd 's Klingon is supposed to be doing, the sidelong assertion that Starfleet has been entirely taken over by douchebag jocks — and there's a world-buildy attention to unnecessary detail, including an in-depth exploration of Vulcan mysticism at its most Fellini-esque (and least convincing). It's not a movie — it's a bunch of Wikipedia articles, strung together with atrocious outfits and the worst hero-villain climactic fight scene in a franchise full of awful hero-villain climactic fight scenes.

Read the full deep dive into Search for Spock here .

11. Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)

There was always a goofy generosity of spirit powering The Next Generation , a sensibility that fell by the wayside in the cast's first two big-screen outings. Insurrection tries to transfer that lighthearted spirit to the big screen. Picard dances to mambo; Riker ( Jonathan Frakes ) flirts Troi ( Marina Sirtis ) into a bathtub; Worf ( Michael Dorn ) grows a zit; Data (Brent Spiner) goes bad, but gets distracted into a Gilbert & Sullivan singalong with Picard. It's a soft-touch comedy. But Insurrection is held back by its central conceit — a New Age-inflected "Fountain of Youth" planet populated by hippie-artisan white people — and its back half becomes an unconvincing guerilla-action romp.

Read the full deep dive into Insurrection here .

10. Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

The fan outrage over J.J. Abrams ' reboot-sequel has overshadowed what is, ultimately, a very expensive-looking not-terrible action movie, with a borderline-surreal plot full of un-shocking "twists" and bizarre exposition. (If you can follow the thread about the Klingon Empire, you've probably given this film more attention than it deserves.) The reduction of Zoe Saldaña 's Uhura to frustrated girlfriend status is actually more disturbing than the film's shameless trailer-baiting "Carol Marcus Strips For No Reason" moment, and the whole Starfleet-Conspiracy angle was much better covered in The Undiscovered Country . But at least this most expensive Star Trek movie is pretty to look at.

Read the full deep dive into Star Trek Into Darkness here .

9. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

Barely finished and tonally inconsistent, the only film directed by William Shatner is a fascinating curio, by turns a goofball Marx Brothers-ish farce and a freshman-year theological inquisition. The dissonance is outrageous — in a typical chunk of time, the film forces McCoy to face the death of his father, recreates the birth of Spock, and then sends them both rocketing through the Enterprise with help from some jet boots. The cosmography feels like it was sketched on a whiteboard — the Great Barrier at the Center of the Universe! — but Final Frontier is some kind of magnum opus for Shatner. I challenge you to find a better Captain Kirk line than this: "I've always known I'll die alone." Wait, here it is: "What does God need with a starship?"

Read the full deep dive into The Final Frontier here .

8. Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

The best villain in the whole franchise is Alice Krige's Borg Queen, a seductive tyrant who swans through the best scenes in First Contact , tempting Data to the dark side. She's a blast of fresh air in a movie that tries hard to add '90s thrills into the franchise, with decidedly mixed results. This is the first true action movie in the series, and the Borg invasion of the Enterprise-E produces some nifty set pieces. But, no matter how cool the Borg look, they're monotone villains from a technophobic era, and they haven't aged well — and neither have the comedic stylings of James Cromwell, Irascible Rockstar Explorer Scientist.

Read the full deep dive into First Contact here .

7. Star Trek (2009)

The first scene of J.J. Abrams' Trek reboot is a colorful blast of in medias res action, inventing Chris Hemsworth out of thin air in a burst of funny-sad self-sacrifice. Then the film begins…and a l-o-o-o-o-o-ong origin-story first act brings everything to a screeching halt. The new cast is game for anything, and Abrams pushes them into everything , with Chris Pine giving what amounts to an Olympic-level athletic performance as a roguish Kirk and Zachary Quinto practically Hulk-ing out as an unrepressed and romanticized Spock. Like First Contact , 2009's Star Trek has some eye-popping set pieces (that space jump!), but the film dead-ends into an oddly plotty final act. Bless Eric Bana , who seems to be having lots of fun playing a different villain every time he shows up.

Read the full deep dive into Star Trek '09 here .

6. Star Trek Beyond (2016)

Here's a big idea for a Star Trek movie: Make it feel like a midseason episode of a Star Trek TV show. That's the thinking behind the first act of Beyond , which finds Kirk and Co. in year three of a five-year mission. For the first time in the film franchise, the rhythms of life onboard don't feel unnecessarily magnified. The crew has an easy rapport, their missions have an intriguing regularity, and things are beginning to feel a bit, well, episodic. They visit the Yorktown space colony, one of the niftiest future locations in any space movie of the 2010s. Director Justin Lin has better action chops than any previous Trek director, and it shows in the first Enterprise assault, a clever hive-mind attack that cuts the starship off at the head. Then the crew crash-lands — and the film crashes with it, descending into a muddled second act. New baddie Krall is all-but-ruined by a curious plot decision that forces Idris Elba to play "vaguely-defined evil" until nearly the end of the film. Beyond wants to ask tough questions about the franchise — but it settles for all the easy answers, descending into precisely the kind of referentiality that everyone loathed in Star Trek Into Darkness .

5. Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

Cut to the bone by a filmmaker who barely seemed to know what Star Trek was, the final film to feature the Next Generation cast is a frustratingly non-final final act for a crew that deserved (and still deserves) a true send-off. (And that Troi brain-rape scene is the lowest point in the franchise.) But there are ghoulish delights in this vampiric B-minus B-movie. A very young Tom Hardy gnashes on scenery as Shinzon, the Picard clone with a whisper-scream. This is Patrick Stewart's finest performance in any of the Star Trek movies, shaded with wonder and sadness — and it's a heartbreaking showcase for Brent Spiner, who double-roles as Data and the loopy android B-4. It all ends with the finest ship-to-ship showdown in the series, an outer-space brawl-smash between the Enterprise-E and Shinzon's flagship.

Read the full deep dive into Nemesis here .

4. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

Slow as hell, beige as dad-khakis, the first Star Trek film is also an intermittently eye-popping gonzo cosmic ride. Special effects maestro Douglas Trumbull worked on the movie practically out of spite — he wanted out of his Paramount contract — but his team oversaw some of the wooziest visuals to ever appear in the Star Trek franchise, with the interior of mega-ship V'Ger rendered as a Freudian techno-organic trip to the cosmic beyond. Characters, psh. Everyone looks bored (besides DeForest Kelley, rocking a memorable beard and then the kind of deep V-neck that got outlawed after 1979). What The Motion Picture very much lacks in character and story, it makes up for with pure sound and image: Jerry Goldsmith's glorious score; the trippy special effects; the pajama uniforms; the sheer volume of extras this runaway production could afford. If you think Star Trek needs to be a fast-paced action movie, this is probably your least favorite film. But, at the risk of sounding like the kind of goofball hippie The Motion Picture seems built for, there are some very groovy chill vibes in this very silly movie.

Read the full deep dive into The Motion Picture .

3. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

Okay, but now let's start talking about awesome movies. Nicholas Meyer steered right into the skid of flagrant topicality with his second Trek directorial effort, rendering the end of the Cold War via onscreen diplomatic negotiations between Starfleet and the Klingon Empire. Meyer always had a cockeyed perspective on Kirk — his films flavor Kirk's heroism with melancholy and rage — and the film springs off the idea of William Shatner playing an aging soldier, watching the times pass him by. Shatner and the whole original Enterprise crew are all giving career-best work here, the dinner scene being a showcase for everyone involved. What's even more impressive — coming from the man who made Wrath of Khan — is that this is still the only Trek film that doesn't try to cough up one single super-bad-guy villain. Undiscovered Country 's Klingons are clever, witty Shakespeare scholars — some good, some nefarious — and even the bad Klingons are only as bad as their Starfleet co-conspirators. The film gets less ambitious as it goes along, but it wraps up with a heartwarming epilogue, sending off the original Star Trek cast on a humane high note.

Read the full deep dive into The Undiscovered Country here .

2. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

KHAAAAAANNNN! Nicholas Meyer's hotblooded debut as a Star Trek filmmaker ignores The Motion Picture and reconceives the utopian series with a naval inflection. It also gives Kirk an identity crisis: Middle-aged and shipless, the Admiral looks a little lost. The film reactivates Kirk by bringing back an old nemesis: Khan, Moby Dick -quoting barbarian genius played with muscular relish by Ricardo Montalban . Montalban gives an ecstatic performance, and his spirit pervades the filmmaking: Meyer stages the ship-to-ship combats with shadowy space-submarine tension and cleverly shoots his tiny sets with a depth of field that makes Khan feel like an epic in miniature. "I feel old," Kirk says at the beginning. "I feel young," he says at the end. You know how he feels.

Read the full deep dive into The Wrath of Khan here .

1. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

A delightfully unserious film about deeply serious things, Leonard Nimoy's masterpiece is a light-footed character comedy. There's a mysterious alien intelligence destroying the Earth — saving the future means saving the whales. The crew travels back in time, and then something quite lovely happens: They go exploring. Shot partially on location in San Francisco, Voyage Home reimagines its space heroes as a comedy team, with Kirk as a hilariously out-of-his-depth "expert" ("Double dumbass on you!") and Spock as a holy-fool Harpo who's not above going for a swim with a humpback whale. The peculiar magic of The Voyage Home is difficult to graph. Co-writer Nicholas Meyer crafted some of the funniest dialogue in the series, and one-off guest-star Catherine Hicks is an energetic addition to the main cast.

And the supporting cast! McCoy gives an older lady a new kidney; Scotty (James Doohan) talks to a computer; Uhura ( Nichelle Nichols ) begs onlookers to point her toward Alameda; Chekov (Walter Koenig) pronounces "vessels" funny. Lighthearted, leisurely-paced, with nary a gun fired or a photon torpedo exploded: There may never be another franchise movie like this — hell, there may never be another movie like this — which makes the blithe miracle of The Voyage Home all the more impressive.

Read the full deep dive into The Voyage Home here .

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Captain James T. Kirk, better known around these parts as William Shatner, turns 90 years old on March 22. The actor, director, producer and writer has had a seven decade careers, with a community of devoted fans that revere not just his place as a figure in the universe but the entire canon of “Star Trek” and its various entities in film and television.

We’ve seen multiple starship captains and leaders over the decades, including Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), Philippa Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh), three Pikes (Jeffrey Hunter, Bruce Greenwood and Anson Mount), Jonathan Archer (Scott Bakula), Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks), a rebooted James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and the ultimate badass Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), arguably the best of them all.

The entire franchise has spawned seven spin-off television series, 13 feature films and two animated series. The original series ran from 1966 to 1969 on NBC and was canceled just after three seasons. After which, we moved to an animated series (1973-1974), “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (1987-1994), “Deep Space Nine” (1993-1999), “Voyager” (1995-2001). “Enterprise” (2001-2005), and the three still ongoing “Discovery” (2017), “Picard” (2020) and “Lower Decks” (2020).

In the film sector, the original series delivered six films — “The Motion Picture” (1979), “The Wrath of Khan” (1982), “The Search for Spock” (1984), “The Voyage Home” (1986), “The Final Frontier” (1989) and “The Undiscovered Country” (1991). “The Next Generation” provided four – “Generations” (1994), “First Contact” (1996), “Insurrection” (1998) and “Nemesis” (2002) while “The Kelvin Timeline” or rebooted version has given three “Star Trek” (2009), “Star Trek Into Darkness” (2013) and “Star Trek Beyond” (2016), with all three having the highest box-office grosses of any film in the whole franchise. The 2009 film is also the only one to win an Academy Award for best makeup (Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow), along with “The Voyage Home,” garnering the most nominations at four.

There are still more in development under Paramount Plus and on the studio side. “Star Trek: Prodigy,” an animated series co-written and created by Dan Hageman and Kevin Hageman that focuses on a group of teenagers who get onto an abandoned starship, is set to drop later in 2021. From creators Akiva Goldsman, Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet, “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds” is a spin-off of “Discovery” and a prequel to the original series, following Captain Christopher Pike (Ansel Mount) and the crew of the USS Enterprise. Rebecca Romijn and Ethan Peck will also reprise their roles as Number One and Spock. Still yet to be confirmed, there is reportedly a Khan Noonien Singh limited series on the table, which explores the storyline from “The Wrath of Khan,” tentatively titled “Ceti Alpha V.”

Live long and prosper, Mr. Shatner.

Check out the full ranked list.

Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

Released : November 22, 1996 Written by : Brannon Braga, Ronald D. Moore (screenplay by and story by) and Rick Berman (story by)

Cast : Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden. Marina Sirtis, Alfre Woodard, James Cromwell, Alice Krige

Defining moments : “Jean-Luc blow up the damn ship” and Data saying “resistance is futile.”

“The Next Generation” struggled the most when translating from television to the big screen. Of the four features, “First Contact” was the most enjoyable, assembling interesting set pieces and a few memorable one-liners. Deservingly picking up an Oscar nomination for best makeup for Michael Westmore, Scott Wheeler and Jake Garber (losing to “The Nutty Professor”), it’s Jonathan Frakes’ (First Officer William T. Riker) first outing as a feature director. What makes the film a success is it abandons the notion that all roads have to involve James T. Kirk, which is one of the main reasons “Generations” really missteps.

Deep Space Nine (1993-1999)

Series run : January 1993 to June 1999 Created by : Rick Berman and Michael Piller

Cast : Avery Brooks, René Auberjonois, Terry Farrell, Cirroc Lofton, Colm Meaney, Armin Shimerman, Alexander Siddig, Nana Visitor, Michael Dorn, Nicole de Boer

Defining moments : Resistance with the Maquis, The Dominion War and The Mirror Universe

Commanding Officer and later Captain Benjamin Sisko (Brooks) was the best part of a series that wasn’t as consistently entertaining as its predecessors. Brooks is a grieving widower whose wife is killed by the Borg, an we follow him, along with his son Jake (Loft), and the rest of a fun crew that includes the Changeling Odo (Auberjonois), Medical Officer Julian Bashir (Siddig), Science Officer Jadzia Dax (Farrell), Operations Officer Miles O’Brien (Meaney) and a cult favorite Quark (Shimerman). The last two seasons of “The Next Generation” are set in the same years as the first two of “Deep Space Nine,” which then lines up with “Voyager” for the last five seasons.

Discovery (2019)

Series run : Premiered September 2017 (still running) Created by : Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman

Cast : Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Shazad Latif, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman, Jason Isaacs, Wilson Cruz, Anson Mount, David Ajala, Rachael Ancheril

Defining moments : The betrayal of Lieutenant Commander Michael Burnham

This series is still finding its footing and has lots to proud of thus far. It’s the first of the franchise to focus on a First Officer rather than the Captain, taking place about ten years before the original series. In the universe, we typically see someone going against orders for the “greater good.” Still, this series has taken that premise and expanded it with Commander Michael Burnham (Green), leading a mutiny against Captain Phillipa Georgiou (Yeoh) and starting a war against the Klingons, leading to the death of her captain. That alone creates a new type of storytelling for the franchise to explore and could help pull in more viewers of Paramount Plus’ show. It won a Primetime Emmy Award last year for outstanding prosthetic makeup for a series, limited series, movie or special, the first for the show thus far.

The Undiscovered Country (1991)

Released : December 6, 1991 Written by : Nicholas Meyer, Denny Martin Flinn (screenplay by), Leonard Nimoy, Lawrence Konner, Mark Rosenthal (story by)

Cast : William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, Kim Cattrall, David Warner, Christopher Plummer

Defining moments : The final sign-off (“If I were Human, I believe my response would be, go to hell…if I were you human.”)

The original series saga’s final installment in feature-length form is enjoyable, showcasing a possible peace between the Klingon Empire and the Federation until a secret agenda is revealed that puts all our favorite heroes at risk. It also marks the final group appearance of the major cast members of the original series, with the late Christopher Plummer as the one-eyed Klingon General Chang, who is having the time of his life. We also have a cameo appearance by Christian Slater, whose mother, Mary Jo Slater, was the film’s casting director. The film was ultimately nominated for two Oscars (best sound effects editing and makeup) and, at the time, was the highest opener for the franchise. Before “Avengers: Endgame,” a reminder that the moving closing credit signature sequence was delivered in “The Undiscovered Country.”

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994)

Series run : September 1987 to May 1994 Created by : Gene Roddenberry

Cast : Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton. Denise Crosby, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Wil Wheaton

Defining moments : Tasha Yar’s death in episode “Skin of Evil”

The evolution of “Star Trek” was helped immensely by “The Next Generation,” which delivers the classically trained Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, with one of the entire franchise’s best crews. Sleeker, with more interesting characters (admittedly not as well explored as they could have been), the show also encompasses one of the most notable deaths of any of the television outings with Tasha Yar (played by Denise Crosby). In the 23rd episode of the first season, we’ve already grown a connection to the Enterprise-D crew. With a behind-the-scenes request by Crosby to be removed from her contract, the act gave us one of the most emotional episodes of the franchise. Also…the creature Armus is TERRIFYING.

The Search for Spock (1984)

Released : June 1, 1984 Written by : Harve Bennett

Cast : William Shatner, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, Merritt Butrick, Christopher Lloyd

Defining moments : Spock’s “death.”

Let the great debate begin. Before #FilmTwitter quarreled about the merits of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” (spoiler alert: it’s the second-best of the entire franchise), there was a discussion on the qualities of the third installment of the Kirk saga. It was a huge sequel weekend in June 1984, as it opened against the second weekend of “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” and the fourth week of “The Natural,” emerging victorious. It also marks the directorial debut of Leonard Nimoy, who was the first cast member ever to helm one of its films.  The visual effects are really where the movie comes alive, showcasing beautiful sequences developed by Industrial Light & Magic. What the film does is give heft and agency to the friendship between Kirk and Spock, and although the death of Kirk’s son is done haphazardly, the action sequences are pulse-pounding.

Voyager (1995-2001)

Series run : January 1995 to May 2001 Created by : Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor

Cast : Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson, Jennifer Lien, Robert Duncan McNeill, Ethan Phillips, Robert Picardo, Tim Russ, Garrett Wang, Jeri Ryan

Defining moments : “Same to you old friend” from “Year of Hell” episode with Janeway and Tuvok

Nostalgia and purists will say that the original “Star Trek” is the best because without that, we don’t have anything else that follows. While correct, in terms of quality, acting, and sheer audacity of the canon, “Voyager,” is behind-the-scenes, the best of them all. Kate Mulgrew’s Captain Janeway is vivacious, and she’s undoubtedly one of the best actresses to grace our screens (as also seen in Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black”) and Tuvok (played brilliantly by Tim Russ) is simply amazing. Also, “Seven of Nine” was my everything in my childhood, leading into my teenage years.

Star Trek: The Original Series (1966-1969)

Series run : September 1966 to June 1969 Created by : Gene Roddenberry

Cast : William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley

Defining moments : “The Doomsday Machine”

You have to respect the origins of a franchise, and we should properly genuflect before the series that started it all. The entire cast goes for it, with little budget and strange scene constructions, but it has more highs than it does lows, featuring numerous memorable moments. Many will say that the defining episodes of the series fall somewhere between “City on the Edge Forever” (with the death of Edith Keeler) or the Kirk and Spock battle in “Amok Time” (thanks to “The Cable Guy” with Jim Carrey), but “The Doomsday Machine” has the most tension and an outstanding turn from guest star William Windom as Commodore Matt Decker.

The Wrath of Khan (1982)

Released : June 4, 1982 Written by : Jack B. Sowards (screenplay and story by) Harve Bennett (story by)

Cast : William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Bibi Besch, Merritt Butrick, Paul Winfield, Kirstie Alley, Ricardo Montalbán

Defining moments : Spock’s “death”

If “Skin of Evil” defines the emotions on television, then “The Wrath of Khan” represents the silver screen for the franchise property. Our favorite Vulcan’s self-sacrifice, paired with Kirk’s eulogizing friend, is a tough one to stomach. It obviously is undone with the next entries of the cinematic universe, but it holds up immensely as a moving tribute to a beloved character. Sadly, no major awards love came for the film, which in many circles stands as the best in the franchise. Add the bombastic score of James Horner, and you receive amazing results.

Star Trek (2009)

Released : May 8, 2009 Written by : Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman

Cast : John Cho, Ben Cross, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Winona Ryder, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin, Eric Bana, Leonard Nimoy, Chris Hemsworth

Defining moments : The final battle (“Fire everything!”)

Let’s get this out of the way nice and early.

Star Trek” (2009) received four Oscar nominations – for sound mixing, sound editing, visual effects, and makeup, which it won – it’s the one film of the franchise that should have been nominated for best picture, especially in the first year of a guaranteed 10 films for the Academy’s top category. I would also put it on a ballot for adapted screenplay and film editing. You don’t get an action-packed film like this rebooted entry that focuses beautifully on the beloved characters’ origin stories, giving them alternate timelines that don’t feel forced and still capture the spirit of what makes the franchise so great. SAG Awards should have also jotted it down for best cast ensemble. While the sequels have never recaptured that early magic, J.J. Abrams has proven he knows how to set up a story arc properly (sticking the landing is still up for debate). I only hope as Paramount Plus progresses forward in the universe, they take plays from the Kevin Feige playbook and give themselves a long roadmap that will pay off to something truly extraordinary.

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All Of The Star Trek Movies Available On Streaming

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Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise, and they're not lightyears away. Yes, all thirteen theatrical Star Trek movies are available to stream — though not all in the same place. If you're looking to view any-or-all the space adventures with your favorite Star Trek characters, including Captain James T. Kirk and Captain Jean-Luc Picard, then you're in luck! We've compiled a list of all the places you can watch the movies, and where you can expect to find them in the weeks ahead. With that, this is where all the Star Trek movies are streaming, including Star Trek Beyond. Stream me up, Scotty!

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

In the first of over a dozen Star Trek movies, 1979's Star Trek: The Motion Picture doesn't mirror any of the installments that would follow. It's slow, meditative pacing harkens more towards Stanley Kubrick 's masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey than any of the more action-packed Star Trek sequels we would see in its wake. Suffice to say, you either like it or you don't. Personally, I find it to be a bit of a snooze, but I can see the appeal. There's no denying that the filmmakers behind this first cinematic journey took full advantage of their cinematic potential, filling the frame with long, lingering shots of the Enterprise floating throughout the recesses of space. Be warned, though: it's definitely a slow-burn. And oddly hyper-sexual too.

Stream it on Hulu. Available on Amazon Prime until June 30th. Available on IMDb TV on July 1st.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

For many Star Trek fans, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is the greatest Star Trek movie ever made . And it's hard to argue otherwise, unless the newest Star Trek blockbuster really knocks our space socks off. Director Nicholas Meyer applied old-fashioned story characteristics to the futuristic franchise, resulting in a Moby Dick -esque tale where Captain James T. Kirk and the rest of the USS Enterprise crew square off against the tyrant Khan (Ricardo Montalban), who escapes exile to exact revenge on Kirk while also trying to acquire a powerful device called Genesis. A smartly-crafted tale filled with character-driven stakes, thoughtful themes, and many thrilling moments, Star Trek has never topped this sequel in its cinematic history.

Stream it on Hulu . Available on Amazon Prime until June 30th.

Star Trek III: The Search For Spock (1984)

Though it doesn't reach the same heights as The Wrath of Khan , notably in how it downplays the meaningfulness of Spock's ultimate sacrifice in the movie's emotional climax, Star Trek III: The Search For Spock finds the Enterprise hoping to bring dear Spock back to life whenever his spirit is found lodged inside the mind of Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley). It's an admittedly forced effort to put the popular Vulcan back into the fold, but who could complain about that? In addition to reprising his role of Spock, Leonard Nimoy also jumps into the director's chair for this third Star Trek motion picture, and he proves to be a commendable captain. It's not the best Star Trek movie, but it's an enjoyable, emotional sequel with a big heart.

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Stream it on Hulu. Available on Amazon Prime until June 30th.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

In a curious twist, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home progresses the popular science-fiction franchise by pushing the series back. Specifically, it finds the USS Enterprise going back in time to (then) modern-day San Fransisco to protect the now-extinct humpback whales. Sure enough, in their time-traveling efforts, they find themselves to be fish-out-of-water in a primitive society they don't understand.

It's an undeniably goofy idea for a Star Trek movie, but it works! The premise is fresh and surprisingly funny, proving director Leonard Nimoy's surprising knack for comedy (something he'd continue to explore whenever he took over the reins for 1987's Three Men and a Baby ) and an environmentally-cautious storyline that's unexpectedly rousing and affecting. It's also one of the more accessible Star Trek sequels, resulting in one of the most inspired, entertaining Star Trek blockbusters.

Stream it on IMDb TV , CBS All Access and Popcorn Flix .

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

While Captain James T. Kirk was a noble commander of the USS Enterprise, the leadership skills of William Shatner , the singular actor who played him, left something to be desired in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. While perhaps not quite as bad as its reputation suggests (at least in my humble opinion), it's hard to call this heavily-panned sequel a shining moment for the series. Shatner's inexperience as a director is apparent, thus resulting in a clumsy, thematically skewed sequel in which the Enterprise is in search of God at the center of the galaxy, and it lacks the charm, smarts, and winning appeal of the better Star Trek movies that proceeded it. Thankfully, The Final Frontier wasn't the last time we saw the Enterprise.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

With director Nicholas Meyer back in the director's chair, the Enterprise was steered back in the right direction with Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, giving the long-running TV/cinematic series a proper send-off for its thoughtful band of space cruisers. The story, which follows Enterprise racing to stop conspirators with a militaristic agenda, is appropriately thematic, though it's best seen as a lovely, melancholy goodbye to the crew we know and love. Particularly since Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry dying shortly before its premiere, there's an undeniable somberness to this sequel. While Captain Kirk's story continued with Generations , this is the last time we see the original Enterprise crew in action. It's a poignant send-off to one of the most iconic ensembles of the past millenium.

Stream it on Hulu . Available on Amazon Prime until June 30th. Available on IMDb TV on July 1st.

Star Trek: Generations (1994)

In theory, this cinematic torch passing between the Star Trek Enterprise and Star Trek: The Next Generation 's crew should've been monumental. Alas, this crossover film became one of the weaker installments in the prolonged sci-fi series, despite touching performances from William Shatner (in his final portrayal of Kirk) and Patrick Stewart . As we watch these two captains join forces to stop a villain (Malcolm McDowell) from destroying the solar system, we get what could've been a thoughtful, poignant reflection on legacies and what it means to sacrifice everything for the common good of humanity and beyond.

Alas, the material doesn't match the potential, resulting in an underwhelming conclusion to Kirk's story. Perhaps that's what makes it worse. Knowing it's his last adventure, this otherwise forgettable sequel doesn't match his indelible legacy.

Stream it on Crackle, Tubi, CBS All Access and Popcorn Flix. Available on IMDb TV on July 1st.

Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

For many Star Trek fans, Star Trek: First Contact is the best TNG movie. It's understandable why many people feel this way. In this thrilling sequel, which sees the crew going back to the 21st century to stop the Borg from conquering Earth, you get elements of both Wrath of Khan and The Voyage Home, resulting in an exciting, appropriately cinematic continuation for The Next Generation . It's easily the most critically and commercially successful of the spin-off series' films, and for some folks, it's considered one of the best Star Trek movies. It also, as it happens, harkens back to Moby Dick .

Stream It on IMDb TV , CBS All Access and Popcorn Flix.

Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)

While the reception to Star Trek: Insurrection is mixed among Star Trek fans, it was a quaint return-to-form (in so much as a Star Trek blockbuster can be "quaint") to the more ideological roots of the sci-fi franchise. We follow the Starfleet crew as they discover a conspiracy with the species Son'a to steal a peaceful planet called Ba'ku, known for its rejuvenating properties. Once again, environmentalism factors into the fold, and the plot is admittedly silly. Insurrection is also distinctly restrained, notably compared to First Contact , which was also directed by Jonathan Frakes . But its smaller, more insulated plot is pretty charming. Its focus on character and themes in the midst of action feels like an extension of the show in a way the other, more bombastic TNG movies didn't.

Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

In what would be the final Star Trek movie for The Next Generation crew and the last Star Trek movie until 2009, Star Trek: Nemesis finds Captain Jean-Luc Picard in a personal battle with Shinzon ( Tom Hardy ), an evil clone of Picard, who threatens to take control of the Roman Star Empire. It's a silly premise, but one that's notably more high-concept than Insurrection . While it lacks the wit and sophistication of TNG 's TV run, opting for thunderous action beats instead, Nemesis does have compelling moments between Patrick Stewart and a young Hardy. While he'd get his moments to shine in better projects , Hardy's star power is undeniable in this villainous role. While it was a critical/commercial disappointment, it paved the way for Hardy's future A-list status.

Stream it on Crackle , Tubi, CBS All Access and Popcorn Flix. Available on IMDb TV on July 1st.

Star Trek (2009)

Following an underwhelming series of Star Trek movies, J.J. Abrams ' vibrant, exuberant 2009 reboot, Star Trek, felt like the kick in the pants that the franchise needed . While other attempts at reinventing/retooling other popular IPs have often fell flat, this energetic, immensely entertaining new origin story of the original USS enterprise crew was benefitted by Abrams' sharp eye for action, an enjoyably fresh perspective on these popular characters, and sharp performances from our young cast, notably Chris Pine as Kirk, Zachary Quinto as Spock, Karl Urban as Bones, Zoe Saldana as Uhura, John Cho as Sulu, Anton Yelchin as Chekov, and Simon Pegg as Scotty.

Many reboots fail to balance between honoring their elders and doing something uniquely fun, but Abrams figured it out fabulously, resulting in a refreshing new take.

Stream it on FuboTV.

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

While certainly among the most contested Star Trek movies, particularly in how it rips off Wrath of Khan in shameless fashion, there are several thrills to be found in Star Trek Into Darkness , J.J. Abrams' follow-up to his massive 2009 blockbuster. In this sequel, the new USS Enterprise crew battle a former Starfleet-turned-terrorist who goes by the name "John Harrison" (Benedict Cumberbatch) — although (as you've probably heard), that's not his real name.

The pacing is fast and relentless, which helps smooth out some wonkier story beats, though fans who disparaged the whiz-bang-buck style of Star Trek (2009) were understandably more critical of this action-packed sequel. Nevertheless, it's not without its emotional moments, particularly Leonard Nimoy playing Spock for the last time.

Stream it on FX Now .

Star Trek Beyond (2016)

2016's Star Trek Beyond didn't get the same notice as its action-packed predecessors, ultimately underperforming at the box office. But for many Star Trek fans, it was a welcomed return-to-form. Directed by Justin Fix ( Fast Five ) and co-written by Simon Pegg , Star Trek Beyond follows the crew of the USS Enterprise as they explore the further recesses of space and encountering the villainous Krall (Idris Elba) who puts them to the test. Despite the high stakes, Beyond was notably less over-energized than its predecessor, returning to the more intellectually-stimulating material that made the series what it is today.

Though it didn't capture the same heights as the best installments, it was a worthwhile sequel. It was also an unexpectedly mournful goodbye to Anton Yelchin , who died shortly before its release .

Stream it on IMDb TV.

What's your favorite Star Trek movie? Let us know in the comment section.

Will is an entertainment writer based in Pittsburgh, PA. His writing can also be found in The Playlist, Cut Print Film, We Got This Covered, The Young Folks, Slate and other outlets. He also co-hosts the weekly film/TV podcast Cinemaholics with Jon Negroni and he likes to think he's a professional Garfield enthusiast.

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From Khan to Beyond: All the Star Trek movies, ranked from worst to best

Star Trek is inarguably television’s greatest space adventure, captivating audiences with exciting, inspiring, and thoughtful stories since 1966. However, like most culturally significant pop culture franchises, Trek also has a long history on the big screen, supplementing its over 800 television episodes with 13 feature films. These large-scale adventures are often the gateways through which new fans find their way into the Star Trek universe , attracting mass audiences on a scale rarely enjoyed by their counterparts on TV.

13. Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

12. star trek v: the final frontier (1989), 11. star trek into darkness (2013), 10. star trek: insurrection (1998), 9. star trek iii: the search for spock (1984), 8. star trek: the motion picture (1979), 7. star trek: generations (1994), 6. star trek beyond (2016), 5. star trek iv: the voyage home (1986), 4. star trek: first contact (1996), 3. star trek (2009), 2. star trek vi: the undiscovered country (1991), honorable mention: galaxy quest (1999), 1. star trek ii: the wrath of khan (1982).

However, as one might expect from a long-running film series that has had multiple casts and behind-the-scenes shake-ups, the Star Trek movies vary wildly in quality. The conventional wisdom amongst fans is that even-numbered Trek movies are much better than odd-numbered ones, an adage that still holds up if you slot in the loving parody Galaxy Quest as the unofficial tenth installment, which, of course, we do.

“A Generation’s Final Journey Begins,” boasted the theatrical poster for Star Trek: Nemesis , the fourth feature film to include the cast of the hit series Star Trek: The Next Generation . It’s also where their final journey ended, at least on the big screen. Nemesis failed to satisfy critics, casual filmgoers, or Trek devotees, opening at No. 2 at the US box office behind J.Lo vehicle Maid in Manhattan and plummeting the following weekend thanks to the debut of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers .

Helmed by an allegedly indifferent director in Stuart Baird and edited to within an inch of its life by producer Rick Berman, Nemesis is a dreary, lifeless slog with none of Trek’s usual heart. There are a few highlights, such as the young Tom Hardy’s performance as Captain Picard’s villainous clone and the light-hearted fun of Riker and Troi’s wedding, but for the most part, Nemesis is just a bummer. It’s no wonder why, decades later, the streaming series Star Trek: Picard would spend its first season trying to rehabilitate it, and its third season outright replacing it as a farewell to the cast of The Next Generation .

During the original run of Star Trek in the 1960s, lead actors William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy had a “favored nations clause” incorporated into their contracts, stating that each actor was entitled to any raise in pay or perks received by the other. This clause remained intact during the franchise’s big screen revival in the late ‘70s and ‘80s, so when Nimoy won the job of directing the third and fourth Star Trek films, Paramount couldn’t refuse Shatner the same privilege. The result was a troubled production and a critical disaster, and if not for Star Trek: The Next Generation finding its footing on television that very same year, it could well have damaged the franchise beyond repair.

The blame doesn’t all fall on Shatner’s shoulders; The Final Frontier faced a number of obstacles, such as a writer’s strike and an unqualified special effects team . Its story is ambitious, sending the Enterprise crew on a mission to the center of the galaxy to meet a being who claims to be God Himself, and there are some truly charming moments of camaraderie between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. For the most part, however, The Final Frontier is a mess, teetering precariously between “so bad it’s good” and just plain bad.

2009’s Star Trek reimagined the brainy space procedural as a shiny, fast-paced action adventure, grabbing mainstream attention on an unprecedented scale. The Next Generation and its spin-offs were well-regarded, but now, suddenly, Star Trek was … cool? Consequently, its sequel was granted a colossal $190 million production budget and preceded by a great deal of hype.

Upon its release, Star Trek Into Darkness couldn’t quite live up to either. It fell short of its predecessor at the box office and flummoxed fans and critics with a contrived, overblown story that retreads the beloved Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan while also stealthily promoting the 9/11 truther movement . It’s a thematically muddled “dark middle chapter” to a trilogy that, thanks to co-writer Roberto Orci’s subsequent departure from the franchise , was jettisoned in favor of Justin Lin’s Star Trek Beyond . And, honestly, we’re better off without it.

Do you ever hear a cinephile refer to a real film that, as far as they’re concerned, “doesn’t exist?” We’re not talking about movies that are loathed and willfully forgotten, like Norbit or The Last Airbender , we mean films that were so promptly forgotten that they provoke no feeling whatsoever even from those who saw them, like Transcendence or The Huntsman: Winter’s War . If not for its place in one of pop culture’s most recognizable franchises, Star Trek: Insurrection would surely fall into this category.

The third film starring the Next Generation cast feels like a very expensive two-part episode of the television series, but not a particularly good one. Its dilemma, which sees Picard fighting to keep Starfleet from exploiting a cosmic fountain of youth, is theoretically compelling but poorly thought out. Most of the highlighted character moments come in the form of funneled-in comic relief, and its attempt to recast this gang of affable middle-aged nerds as rebellious action heroes simply doesn’t work. Like all Star Trek products, it has its loyal defenders, but were it not for its place in the franchise’s canon, we doubt anyone would give it a second thought.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was an instant classic that dug more deeply into the original show’s beloved characters than ever before, expanded the canvas of their lives, and delivered a powerful, emotional ending. So, it’s stunning that its immediate follow-up, The Search for Spock , willfully undermines it at nearly every turn. The Wrath of Khan ’s iconic, tear-jerking death scene is undone; the feeling of hope and rejuvenation implied by its ending is evaporated in the sequel’s very first scene; its three new characters are killed off, recast, and totally absent, respectively.

Despite this, The Search for Spock isn’t actually retrograde, in fact, it’s a surprising lateral move for the characters, who have always been driven by their duty to Starfleet, to put their lives and careers on the line for an unsanctioned mission to rescue their lost friend from a forbidden planet. The concept is exciting and there are warm and wonderful moments of character throughout, but the execution by TV-minded writer/producer Harve Bennett and first-time feature director Leonard Nimoy feels a bit small and underwhelming.

If The Search for Spock is an ambitious story with an underwhelming production, then The Motion Picture is the reverse case. Academy Award-winning director Robert Wise took a screenplay adapted from what was meant to be the pilot to a new Star Trek TV series and, with the aid of an astronomical budget, tried to make it into his own 2001: A Space Odyssey .

The result is a film in which characters silently gawk at the crazy light show they’re seeing out the Enterprise’s viewscreen for minutes at a time. Plot isn’t everything, but when a movie is 132 minutes long but only really has enough story for 90, that laser light show had better be damned compelling. And, heck, it is pretty spectacular, especially if you have the privilege of seeing it on the big screen, but the runtime is so bloated that its character beats, including one of Leonard Nimoy’s best performances as Spock, get totally lost. Even in its more polished “Director’s Edition” form, The Motion Picture is Star Trek at its slowest and most sterile. However, if you’re in the mood for something trippy and meditative, it’s still worth a watch.

Whereas the classic Star Trek gained an obsessive fanbase in the decade following its cancelation, Star Trek: The Next Generation was a legitimate phenomenon in its own time, outshining the original series in terms of both commercial and critical success. With the original cast growing more expensive and less profitable on the big screen, it was practically a given that the Next Gen crew, led by Patrick Stewart, would eventually take their place in the Star Trek film series. Star Trek: Generations , whose production overlapped with that of TNG ’s series finale, sees Kirk passing the torch to Picard in a crossover adventure that fans had been imagining for seven years.

Since there was probably no way for the film to meet the audience’s expectations for a Kirk/Picard team-up story, writers Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga attempted to subvert them all together and deliver a more personal story about death, loss, and legacy. Audiences found the long-awaited crossover underwhelming at the time but taken on its own merits and judged more as a Next Generation episode than as a blockbuster event, Star Trek: Generations is actually one of the more interesting films in the franchise, and the only one that allows star Patrick Stewart to exercise the full extent of his acting range.

When the first teaser trailer for Star Trek Beyond premiered online, die-hard Trekkies went into full panic mode. “It’s bad enough that Paramount hired the Fast & Furious  guy to make Star Trek ,” the nerds cried, “but now they’ve got Captain Kirk riding a dirt bike? Star Trek is ruined forever!” It surely was not, in fact, we’d argue that Justin Lin’s Star Trek Beyond does a better job capturing the sense of fun, friendship, and wonder of the original Star Trek than any other feature film, save for the next entry on our list. At the same time, it also steps out of the shadow of the franchise’s dense mythology after J.J. Abrams’ two nostalgia-driven adventures.

With no legacy cast or famous villains in their way, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldaña, and company finally get to have their own Star Trek , one in which all of their iterations on the Enterprise family feel like fully formed adults without sacrificing the youthful vigor that attracted new fans to the rebooted Trek films in the first place. It’s delightful, both as its own film and as an accidental bookend to the Kelvinverse Trilogy.

Star Trek is often serious business, an arena for complex characters to confront difficult ethical dilemmas that help audiences to confront the adversity and inequity they encounter in real life. But, it’s important to remember that Star Trek can also be very silly and that many of its most memorable moments are born from its dalliances in farce. The Voyage Home is a wry fish-out-of-water comedy in which the crew of the Enterprise (who, following The Search for Spock , are now fugitives from Starfleet) travels back in time to 1980s San Francisco in order to kidnap a pair of humpback whales in the hope that one of them might be able to talk a powerful space probe in the 2280s out of destroying the Earth.

The story has blockbuster-level stakes, but they all but disappear for a solid hour of the film in favor of a charming light adventure that prioritizes Trek’s memorable cast over flashy effects or high drama. Thanks to a clever script and terrific comedic chemistry between William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy (who also directs) and guest star Catherine Hicks, The Voyage Home is a total crowd-pleaser and was even the franchise’s biggest box office hit before the 2009 relaunch.

1996 could be considered the apex of Star Trek ’s cultural relevance. The franchise was celebrating its 30th anniversary, both Deep Space Nine and Voyager were on television every week, and there was an absolute deluge of books, PC games, and other merchandise available. The cherry on top was Star Trek: First Contact , the second film to feature the cast of The Next Generation and the only one to catch fire with general audiences.

A dark action-thriller that has as much in common with Aliens as it does with The Wrath of Khan , First Contact pits Captain Picard and the crew of the new Enterprise against their most famous enemy from their television hay day: the Borg. At the same time, First Contact serves as a sort of origin story for Star Trek itself, as its time travel plot takes our characters to an event in our future that is pivotal to their history. It’s a terrific “gateway Trek,” an approachable popcorn flick that explains the franchise’s values and aspirations for a better future within the context of a relatively dark and creepy action movie.

Though rejected by Trek traditionalists for its mile-a-minute pace and cranked-to-eleven characterizations of young Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the classic Enterprise crew, J.J. Abrams’ 2009 Star Trek reboot was a massive popular success that breathed new life into a franchise that had completely run out of gas by the early 2000s. Not everyone may be a fan of just how far it pushed Trek into the realm of “big dumb action blockbuster,” but the truth is that, after 18 continuous years under the same creative management, Trek desperately needed a refresh.

Abrams and writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (the latter of whom remains at the helm of the franchise to this day) radically changed the visual aesthetic and the tempo of Star Trek from classical to classic rock, and in so doing restored an element that had long been lacking in the film series: Joy. Emotionally intense and startlingly sincere, Star Trek more than earns its place near the top of our list of Trek ’s best theatrical outings.

Being an episodic drama from the 1960s that got canceled during its third season, the original Star Trek never really got a “series finale.” As was commonplace in television at the time, when Star Trek ended, it just stopped. Thanks to its revival on the big screen, Trek got a new lease on life, a grand legacy, and — 25 years after it first appeared on television —a proper ending. The Undiscovered Country reunites the entire classic cast one last time, along with writer-director Nicholas Meyer, the man behind the No. 1 entry on our list, to tell the tale of the final voyage of Kirk’s Enterprise, one that provides closure to the crew’s growth over the course of the five preceding films.

In proper Trek tradition, it’s also an incisive political allegory about the end of the Cold War (one of The Original Series ’ most common subjects) and the difficulty of putting aside old prejudices and embracing change. The Undiscovered Country doesn’t paint our Starfleet heroes in the most flattering light, which provoked the ire of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, but that’s the entire point: to see characters who we’ve grown up with confront their own learned hatreds so that those who come after them can live in a better world.

While not technically not a Star Trek movie, Galaxy Quest is a loving parody that captures the essence of classic Trek as well as any film in the canon. The story of a band of washed-up actors who are abducted by aliens who believe them to be the gallant space travelers they played on TV, Galaxy Quest skewers sci-fi fandom and tropes while also telling a heartfelt story about friendship, compassion, and imagination. I

t’s no wonder that this film has been adopted by Trekkies as an unofficial yet essential part of the Star Trek movie canon. Should you choose to include it, slot it right here on our rankings, beneath…

The phrase “ad astra, per aspera” meaning “to the stars through hardships,” has been adopted by many a starry-eyed enterprise (including Starfleet itself), but it also applies perfectly to the production of Star Trek II . Produced with a third of its predecessor’s budget by an inexperienced director who had only twelve days to rewrite its script , The Wrath of Khan could very well have been a disaster. Instead, it’s almost universally considered to be the best Star Trek film and one of the most enduring science fiction films of all time.

Functioning as a sequel to the classic episode Space Seed , Khan pits William Shatner against a worthy, equally hammy foil in Ricardo Montalbán, and their tête-à-tête is pure movie magic. The submarine-style battle at the film’s climax is one of the franchise’s strongest action sequences, but it’s Admiral Kirk’s inner journey that gives The Wrath of Khan its soul, as he confronts the cost of a life spent cheating death and hopping galaxies. Star Trek is not always literature, but The Wrath of Khan is a genuine work of art, a treat not just for Trekkies or genre fans, but for all lovers of cinema.  

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Planet of the Apes is one of the most unlikely film franchises in Hollywood history. The 1968 original is a social sci-fi thought experiment best remembered for its shocking twist ending. But rather than simply becoming one of cinema’s most ubiquitous spoilers, the revelation that the Planet of the Apes was Earth all along opened the door to a variety of new stories about power, oppression, compassion, hubris, societal self-destruction, and redemption. Now, over half a century later, the saga of a world whose evolutionary ladder turned upside down is still in top form, delivering its most intriguing and compelling installments yet. They may not all be winners, but from Chimpan-A to Chimpan-Z, nearly all of them are interesting.

10. Planet of the Apes (2001) Yes, despite the existence of four, increasingly cheap sequels from the 1970s, the Tim Burton remake is still the worst Planet of the Apes movie. Though the special makeup effects applied to Helena Bonham Carter, Tim Roth, Michael Clarke Duncan, Paul Giamatti, and company are marvelous and the production designers clearly put their hearts into designing the ape city and culture, it’s all in the service of an awful script and loathsome characters. It is a remake of a famously thought-provoking sci-fi classic, and yet it is brainless. It is an adventure movie starring first-rate actors as very convincing talking apes, and yet it is joyless. There’s no need to even get into specifics about the plot or the weird twist ending — this one’s a stinker. 

From Darth Vader to Emperor Palpatine to Jabba the Hutt, Star Wars has been given us several iconic villains. But for all its many well-known villains, there are still those who have been all but overlooked by general audiences. Such a lackluster reception may be due to limited appearances or questionable story choices regarding their character.

In this massive franchise, there are many characters who should get more recognition from audiences, and these seven prove themselves to be the unsung villains of the Star Wars universe. 7. Darth Bane

This is sure to be an unusual year for Hollywood cinema. With the regular cadence of franchise blockbusters disrupted by the Hollywood strikes of 2023, there are fewer surefire bets at the box office. And some of the studios’ supposedly safer gambles, like Madame Web and Argylle, have already fallen flat upon release. Of course, this doesn’t mean there hasn’t been anything worth seeing in theaters or streaming at home. In addition to a few standout franchise entries, the year to date has seen a number of terrific smaller-scale dramas, horror flicks, and indie comedies, many of them by debuting filmmakers. With luck, the relative lack of competition for audience attention will allow one or more underdogs to make a big cultural splash.

10. Abigail

Star Trek movies in order: Chronological and release

Untangle the different timelines and get the popcorn: Here are the Star Trek movies in order — both chronological and release.

• Chronological order
• Prime Timeline

The Original Series movies

The next generation movies.

• Kelvin Timeline
• Release order

Upcoming Star Trek movies

We've got a guide to watching the Star Trek movies in order, decloaking off our starboard side!

So long as movies stick numbers on the ends of their titles, it’s easy to watch them in order. Once they start branching out, however, things can get a little muddled, especially when reboots come along and start the whole process over from scratch. 

You may have heard that the even-numbered ones are good and the odd-numbered ones are not. That’s spot on for the films starring the cast of The Original Series (aka Kirk and friends) falls apart once you reach the tenth entry in the series. It would probably be worth your while to have this list of the Star Trek movies, ranked worst to best around to steer clear of the clunkers. Look, we’re not going to pretend everything here is worth two hours of your day, we’re just letting you know which came out after which.

Should your Trek appetite remain unsatiated after your movie watchathon, feel free to pull from either our list of the best Star Trek: The Original series episode s or best Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes . Either one will set you up for a weekend jam-packed with great Trek moments. Consult our Star Trek streaming guide for all the details on where to watch the movies and shows online 

Star Trek movies: Chronological order

Below is the quick version of our list if you just need to check something to win an argument, but it comes with a lot of in-universe time travel-related caveats that we'll explain below.

• Star Trek: The Motion Picture
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
• Star Trek: Generations
• Star Trek: First Contact
• Star Trek: Insurrection
• Star Trek: Nemesis
• Star Trek Into Darkness
• Star Trek Beyond

Star Trek: Prime Timeline

The first thing you need to know about the Star Trek films is that while they travel back and forth in time, they also diverge into two (for now) different timelines. The films of the original crew (well, the first iteration of them, anyway – more on that later) are all in what is known as the Prime Timeline. 

Within the Prime Timeline, the movies are then split between The Original Series movies and The Next Generation movies.

1. Star Trek: The Motion Picture

• Release date: December 8, 1979
• Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley

This is the film that brought the voyages of the U.S.S. Enterprise to the big screen. An energy cloud is making its way toward Earth, destroying everything in its path. Kirk and crew intercept it and discover an ancient NASA probe at the heart of the cloud. Voyager – known as V’ger now – encountered a planet of living machines, learned all it could, and returned home to report its findings, only to find no one who knew how to answer. It’s a slow-paced film, and the costumes are about as 70s as they come, but there’s classic Star Trek at the heart of this film.

2. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

• Release date: June 4, 1982
• Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Ricardo Montalban

Ask a Star Trek fan what the best Star Trek movie is and more often than not, you’ll get Khan as your answer. A sequel to the events of the “Space Seed” episode of The Original Series, Khan is a retelling of Moby Dick with Khan throwing reason to the wind as he hunts his nemesis, James T. Kirk. Montalban delivers a pitch-perfect performance, giving us a Khan with charisma and obsession in equal parts.

3. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

• Release date: June 1, 1984

Spock might have died in The Wrath of Khan, but this third entry set up the premise for his return, with the creation of the Genesis planet. Essentially a heist movie in reverse, Search for Spock has the crew defying orders from Starfleet in an attempt to reunite Spock’s consciousness with his newly-rejuvenated body. It’s not a great movie, but it does include two very important events: the rebirth of Spock and the death of Kirk’s son at the hands of the Klingons. That’ll be important a few flicks from now.   

4. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

• Release date: November 26, 1986
• Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Catherine Hicks

If Star Trek fans don’t say Khan is the best Star Trek movie, odds are very high they say Voyage Home is. It’s a funny film where the mission isn’t destruction, but creation – or more accurately, repairing the devastating effects of humankind’s ecological short-sightedness. 

A probe arrives at Earth, knocking out the power of everything in its path as it looks for someone to respond to its message (yeah, it happens a lot). This time, however, the intended recipient is the long-extinct blue whale. To save Earth, Kirk and co. go back in time to 1980s San Francisco to snag some blue whales. The eco-messaging isn’t exactly subtle, but it doesn’t get in the way of a highly enjoyable movie.

5. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

• Release date: June 9, 1989

A writers’ strike and Shatner’s directorial skills (or lack thereof) doomed this film before a single scene was shot. The core plot is actually pretty good: Spock’s half-brother hijacks the Enterprise so that he can meet God, which he believes to be… himself. Some Star Trek fans have an odd fondness for this movie, as it showcases the camaraderie of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy when they’re off-duty.

6. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

• Release date: December 6, 1991
• Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Christopher Plummer

Right, so if that Star Trek fan you’ve been talking to doesn’t choose either Khan or Voyage Home as the best Star Trek movie ever, they almost certainly name Undiscovered Country (and if they don’t, they have highly questionable taste, frankly). The Klingon moon of Praxis explodes, putting the entire Klingon race at risk. The Enterprise hosts a diplomatic entourage of Klingons, much to Kirk’s discomfort. 

Remember how Klingons murdered Kirk’s son? Well, he certainly hasn’t forgotten. Kirk’s lingering rage makes him the perfect patsy for the murder of the Klingon Chancellor, sending him and McCoy to a prison planet and setting the stage for war. Christopher Plummer is perfection as a Shakespeare-quoting Klingon general with no taste for peace.

7. Star Trek: Generations

• Release date: November 18, 1994
• Cast: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner

And thus the torch is passed from the crew of The Original Series to that of The Next Generation. It’s a bit of a fumble, to be honest, but they all did their best to get Kirk and Picard into the same film and have it make sense. Malcolm McDowell plays Soran, a scientist who will stop at nothing to control the Nexus, a giant space rainbow that exists outside of space-time. 

Soran lost his family when his home world was destroyed and he wants to re-join them (or at least an illusion of them) in the Nexus. He’s not so much a villain as a tragic figure, but the Nexus makes a meeting between Kirk and Picard possible. Not all that sensible, but possible.

8. Star Trek: First Contact

• Release date: November 22, 1996
• Cast: Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, Alice Krige

Okay, no, for real, if your Star Trek pal didn’t pick Khan or Voyage Home or… oh, nevermind. Cueing off the iconic two-part episode “Best of Both Worlds,” in which Picard is assimilated by the Borg, First Contact sees the collective traveling back in time in order to disrupt First Contact, the day Earth’s first foray into space attracted the attention of the Vulcans, kicking off the events that would eventually lead to Starfleet’s victory over the Borg. The Borg Queen torments Picard with visions of the past and tempts Data with humanity, going so far as to give him some human skin. 

The fight with the Borg aboard the Enterprise is thrilling, and the work on the surface to get first contact back on track is fun. Plus, there’s just nothing like Patrick Stewart turning it up to 11 as he lashes out at the enemy that haunts his dreams.

9. Star Trek: Insurrection

• Release date: December 11, 1998
• Cast: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, F. Murray Abraham

Essentially an episode inflated for the big screen, Insurrection is about the Federation conspiring to displace a planet’s population in order to harvest the planet’s unique resource – super healing metaphasic particles. In addition to the rejuvenating natural resource, the Ba’ku also have access to exceptional technology, which they shun in favor of a more simple lifestyle. 

Data malfunctions, the villains are Federation allies (and former Ba’ku!), Picard gets to knock boots with a local – Insurrection is the very definition of “fine.” Chronologically, Insurrection is relevant for rekindling the romance between Riker and Troi, but not much else.

10. Star Trek: Nemesis

• Release date: December 13, 2002
• Cast: Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, Tom Hardy

Before he mumbled his way into our hearts as Bane, Tom Hardy was Shinzon, a clone of Picard the Romulans created in an eventually abandoned attempt to infiltrate Starfleet. Shinzon is dying, and all that will save him is a transfusion of Picard’s blood. Unfortunately, Shinzon also happens to be a megalomaniac who happens to want to destroy all life on Earth and maybe a few other planets, too, if he’s feeling saucy. 

Nemesis is notable mostly for killing Data with a noble sacrifice, only to resurrect him moments later in a duplicate body found earlier by the Enterprise crew.

Star Trek: Kelvin Timeline

The last of the Prime Timeline movies failed to impress at the box office, so it was a few years before anyone tried to bring the Enterprise back to the big screen. Rather than lean on any of the TV crews, this new slate of movies would serve as a reboot, welcoming new audiences while honoring long-time fans. Welcome to the Kelvin Timeline. (For all the ins and outs, check out our Star Trek: Kelvin Timeline explained article).

11. Star Trek

• Release date: May 8, 2009
• Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban

Back to the beginning! Star Trek introduces us to James T. Kirk, Spock, and “Bones” McCoy as they meet and join the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Though the plot is a relatively straightforward affair of a Romulan named Nero trying to destroy the Earth. His anger borne out of grief, what matters most is how it all came to be. In the future, Spock – the Prime Timeline version – tries to save Romulus from being destroyed by a supernova, but fails. Both his ship and Nero’s are kicked back in time, setting off a chain of events that diverge from the original, “true” timeline. 

The name “Kelvin” refers to the U.S.S. Kelvin, the ship heroically captained by Kirk’s father, which is destroyed in the opening moments of the movie.

12. Star Trek Into Darkness

• Release date: May 16, 2013
• Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch

The benefit of the Kelvin Timeline is that it not only allows Star Trek to explore canon material – such as Khan (he of the Wrath) – but to do something completely new with it. Khan features heavily in Into Darkness, but he has no beef with Kirk. Instead, a Starfleet Admiral is threatening the lives of Khan’s crew, forcing them to craft weapons of mass destruction. 

Khan inevitably eludes captivity and strikes out against Starfleet, killing Captain Pike (and a bunch of others) in the process. Kirk and company eventually take Khan down, but not before Kirk sacrifices himself to save his crew. Don’t worry, these things don’t last in either Star Trek timeline, as Kirk gets better moments later thanks to *checks notes* Khan's super blood.

13. Star Trek Beyond

• Release date: July 22, 2016
• Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Idris Elba

Beyond leans into the camaraderie of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy now that they’ve had some time together, much to the movie’s benefit. The Enterprise is lured to Altamid under false pretenses, leading to much of the crew being marooned on the planet. The architect of the deception was Krall, who wants an opportunity to return to a galaxy where war is the order of the day. 

Beyond is a significant point in the timeline for two reasons. First, it sadly marked the death of Spock Prime due to the passing of Leonard Nimoy. Second, it culminates in the Enterprise embarking on the five-year-mission that started everything back in 1966.

Star Trek movies: Release order

If you can't be bothered remembering two different orders for the Star Trek movies then we've got good news for you — the release order is identical to the chronological order that we've shown above (accounting for the Kelvin timeline as it's own entity anyway).

The full run of Star Trek films currently tops out at 13 entries; the fate of the 14th was hidden within a nebula of conflicting information. “Star Trek 4” was slated for December 22, 2023, but given that filming had yet to begin as of July 2022, it seems inevitable that date will change. Back in February 2022, Paramount that the principal cast would be returning for the fourth installment of the Kelvin timeline, a claim quickly disputed by the agents of those selfsame actors. Awkward.

Soon after, however, Chris Pine eventually signed on the dotted line, and his shipmates reached their own agreements. As of right now, Kirk (Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), McCoy (Karl Urban, assuming he can make it work around filming of The Boys), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Uhura (Zoe Saldaña), and Sulu (John Cho) are all ready to beam up and get filming. Sadly, this will be the first of the Kelvin films to not feature Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov. Yelchin died in an accident at his home in 2016. It’s currently unclear if Chekov will be recast or if a different character will take his place on the bridge of the Enterprise.

Though the Kelvin timeline is often referred to as “J.J. Abrams Trek,” he won’t be directing Star Trek 4; Matt Shakman will take on that responsibility, leaving Abrams to produce. As for what it will be about, that’s anyone’s guess, but Chris Pine told Deadline he hopes this one tells a smaller story that appeals to the core Trek audience. “Let’s make the movie for the people that love this group of people, that love this story, that love Star Trek,” he said. “Let’s make it for them and then, if people want to come to the party, great.” It’s a strategy that makes sense; the disappointment with recent Trek films hasn’t been their content so much as their box office. A Trek film with a smaller scope (and budget) would almost certainly have a very healthy profit margin while also resonating with the fanbase.   

With no new announcements coming from San Diego Comic-Con 2022, it seems that we’ll have to wait for any more insight into the next Star Trek film. Sill, recent comments from Paramount CEO Brian Robbins have us cautiously optimistic: “We’re deep into [Star Trek 4] with J.J. Abrams, and it feels like we’re getting close to the starting line and excited about where we’re going creatively,” he told Variety . 

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Susan Arendt is a freelance writer, editor, and consultant living in Burleson, TX. She's a huge sci-fi TV and movie buff, and will talk your Vulcan ears off about Star Trek. You can find more of her work at Wired, IGN, Polygon, or look for her on Twitter: @SusanArendt. Be prepared to see too many pictures of her dogs.

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The brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful Romulan from the future creates black holes to destroy the Federation one pl... Read all The brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful Romulan from the future creates black holes to destroy the Federation one planet at a time. The brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful Romulan from the future creates black holes to destroy the Federation one planet at a time.

• J.J. Abrams
• Roberto Orci
• Alex Kurtzman
• Gene Roddenberry
• Zachary Quinto
• 1.6K User reviews
• 533 Critic reviews
• 82 Metascore
• 27 wins & 95 nominations total

• Spock Prime

• (as Zoë Saldana)

• Amanda Grayson

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• Winona Kirk

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• Trivia Simon Pegg did not audition for the role - he simply received an email from J.J. Abrams asking if he would like to play Scotty. Pegg said he would have done this for free, or even paid Abrams to be in this film, if he had not been offered a role.
• Goofs After Spock boards the Vulcan ship on board the mining vessel, Kirk is seen walking through some pipes. His Starfleet phaser has switched to a Romulan gun (longer barrel and no lights), before switching back to the Starfleet one again in the next scene. He actually acquires the Romulan gun a few scenes later.

Spock Prime : James T. Kirk!

James T. Kirk : Excuse me?

Spock Prime : How did you find me?

James T. Kirk : Whoa... how do you know my name?

Spock Prime : I have been and always shall be your friend.

James T. Kirk : Wha...

[shakes head]

James T. Kirk : Uh... look... I-I don't know you.

Spock Prime : I am Spock.

James T. Kirk : Bullshit.

• Crazy credits The first part of the closing credits is styled after the opening credits of Star Trek (1966) , where the starship Enterprise blasts off into space as a monologue describes its mission, and then the cast names appear as the famous "Star Trek" theme music plays.
• Connections Edited into De wereld draait door: Episode #4.157 (2009)
• Soundtracks Theme from 'Star Trek' TV Series Written by Alexander Courage & Gene Roddenberry

User reviews 1.6K

• Apr 20, 2009
• If this premise is that an alternate timeline created when Nero traveled back in time, then what happened to James Kirk's older brother, Sam, aka George Samuel Kirk Jr.?
• How can Spock's mother still be alive years later (original series) when she dies earlier on in this movie ?
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• May 8, 2009 (United States)
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• $150,000,000 (estimated)
• $257,730,019
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• May 10, 2009
• $385,681,768

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• Runtime 2 hours 7 minutes
• Dolby Digital
• 2.39 : 1 (original ratio)

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Where To Watch Every Star Trek TV Show and Movie in Order

Rachel Ulatowski

Official JustWatch writer

Paramount has ushered in a new era of Star Trek. Following the conclusion of Star Trek: Discovery , the studio ordered multiple new series and began developing the TV movie Star Trek: Chapter 31 , which will star Academy Award-winning actress Michelle Yeoh. Given its revitalization, now is the perfect time to delve into the franchise. This guide will demonstrate where and how to watch every Star Trek movie and TV show in order.

The Star Trek franchise began in 1966 with the premiere of Star Trek , also known as Star Trek: The Original Series. Created by Gene Roddenberry, the sci-fi series follows Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and First Officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy) as they guide the Enterprise on a mission of intergalactic space exploration. While the show received poor ratings during its three-season run, broadcast syndication and reruns breathed new life into the franchise, garnering it a cult following after its 1969 cancelation.

Following the show’s re-evaluation, Roddenberry convinced Paramount to continue the original series on the big screen with Star Trek: The Motion Picture . Although it wasn’t a huge box-office hit, it did well enough to earn five more sequels, for which Roddenberry was a consultant.

As Star Trek: The Original Series remained one of the most popular syndicated TV shows years after its release, Paramount and Gene Roddenberry began working on another live-action series: Star Trek: The Next Generation . The series takes place aboard a new Enterprise one century after the events of the original series, with Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) at the helm. Along with his crew, Captain Picard carries on his predecessors' mission of exploring new worlds.

Star Trek: The Next Generation also continued on the big screen after its conclusion, receiving four feature films. While films like Star Trek: First Contact were well-received, Star Trek: Nemesis was a critical and financial failure. The failure of Star Trek: Nemesis was followed by another blow as the prequel series Star Trek: Enterprise was canceled amid low ratings.

Paramount switched directions on the big screen and released what many consider a “reboot” trilogy. However, the films aren’t an official reboot as they merely explore an alternate timeline known as the Kelvin Timeline and see Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto take over as Captain Kirk and Spock, respectively.

While the Kelvin Timeline film series played out, Star Trek went on a hiatus on the small screen. After a 12-year break, Paramount revived the franchise, aiming to create Star Trek shows specifically for its streaming service, CBS All Access (now Paramount+). In 2017, it released Star Trek: Discovery, followed by a new round of shows, including Star Trek: Picard , which continued Captain Picard’s story after Star Trek: The Next Generation.

There are no signs of the franchise slowing down, with the first TV movie, Star Trek: Chapter 31, on the way and Paramount showing interest in further Star Trek TV films, theatrical films, and shows.

How to watch the Star Trek franchise in order

Viewers can watch the Star Trek franchise either by release date order or chronologically. Those hoping to watch chronologically should know that the Kelvin Timeline trilogy takes place outside of the timeline of the other shows and movies, so they can technically be watched at any point. Star Trek: Short Treks also does not fit in the chronological order as it is an anthology series. Additionally, viewers may have to jump between shows occasionally due to time jumps in series like Star Trek: Discovery.

See below for the chronological order of every Star Trek show and movie:

Star Trek: Enterprise

Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1 - 2

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Star Trek: The Original Series

Star Trek: The Animated Series

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Star trek ii: the wrath of khan, star trek iii: the search for spock, star trek iv: the voyage home, star trek v: the final frontier, star trek vi: the undiscovered country, star trek: the next generation, star trek: generations, star trek: first contact, star trek: insurrection, star trek: nemesis, star trek: deep space nine, star trek: voyager.

Star Trek: Lower Decks

Star Trek: Prodigy

Star Trek: Picard

Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 3 - 5

Viewers can also watch the Star Trek franchise by the release date order detailed below. Read on to find out where to stream every Star Trek movie and TV show in the United States!

Star Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that follows the adventures of the starship USS Enterprise and its crew. The show is set in the Milky Way galaxy, roughly during the 2260s. The crew is headed by Captain James T. Kirk, first officer Spock, and chief medical officer Leonard McCoy. Shatner's voice-over introduction during each episode's opening credits stated the starship's purpose: The series was produced from 1966-67 by Desilu Productions, and by Paramount Television from 1968-69. Star Trek aired on NBC from September 8, 1966 to June 3, 1969. Although this television series had the title of Star Trek, it later acquired the retronym of Star Trek: The Original Series to distinguish the show within the media franchise that it began. Star Trek's Nielsen ratings while on NBC were low, and the network canceled it after three seasons and 79 episodes. Nevertheless, the show had a major influence on popular culture and it became a cult classic in broadcast syndication during the 1970s. The show eventually spawned a franchise, consisting of five additional television series, 12 theatrical films, and numerous books, games, toys, and other products.

The animated adventures of Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock and the crew of the Starship Enterprise.

When an unidentified alien destroys three powerful Klingon cruisers, Captain James T. Kirk returns to the newly transformed U.S.S. Enterprise to take command.

The starship Enterprise and its crew is pulled back into action when old nemesis, Khan, steals a top secret device called Project Genesis.

A surprise visit from Spock's father provides a startling revelation: McCoy is harboring Spock's living essence.

When a huge alien probe enters the galaxy and begins to vaporize earths oceans, Kirk and his crew must travel back in time in order to bring back whales and save the planet.

Follow the intergalactic adventures of Capt. Jean-Luc Picard and his loyal crew aboard the all-new USS Enterprise NCC-1701D, as they explore new worlds.

A renegade Vulcan with a startling secret hijacks the U.S.S. Enterprise in order to find a mythical planet.

After years of war, the Federation and the Klingon empire find themselves on the brink of a peace summit when a Klingon ship is nearly destroyed by an apparent attack from the Enterprise. Both worlds brace for what may be their deadliest encounter.

At Deep Space Nine, a space station located next to a wormhole in the vicinity of the liberated planet of Bajor, Commander Sisko and crew welcome alien visitors, root out evildoers and solve all types of unexpected problems that come their way.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-D find themselves at odds with the renegade scientist Soran who is destroying entire star systems. Only one man can help Picard stop Soran's scheme...and he's been dead for seventy-eight years.

Pulled to the far side of the galaxy, where the Federation is 75 years away at maximum warp speed, a Starfleet ship must cooperate with Maquis rebels to find a way home.

The Borg, a relentless race of cyborgs, are on a direct course for Earth. Violating orders to stay away from the battle, Captain Picard and the crew of the newly-commissioned USS Enterprise E pursue the Borg back in time to prevent the invaders from changing Federation history and assimilating the galaxy.

When an alien race and factions within Starfleet attempt to take over a planet that has "regenerative" properties, it falls upon Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise to defend the planet's people as well as the very ideals upon which the Federation itself was founded.

During the mid-22nd century, a century before Captain Kirk's five-year mission, Jonathan Archer captains the United Earth ship Enterprise during the early years of Starfleet, leading up to the Earth-Romulan War and the formation of the Federation.

En route to the honeymoon of William Riker to Deanna Troi on her home planet of Betazed, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise receives word from Starfleet that a coup has resulted in the installation of a new Romulan political leader, Shinzon, who claims to seek peace with the human-backed United Federation of Planets. Once in enemy territory, the captain and his crew make a startling discovery: Shinzon is human, a slave from the Romulan sister planet of Remus, and has a secret, shocking relationship to Picard himself.

The fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of bitter rivals. One, James Kirk, is a delinquent, thrill-seeking Iowa farm boy. The other, Spock, a Vulcan, was raised in a logic-based society that rejects all emotion. As fiery instinct clashes with calm reason, their unlikely but powerful partnership is the only thing capable of leading their crew through unimaginable danger, boldly going where no one has gone before. The human adventure has begun again.

Star Trek Into Darkness

When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.

Star Trek Beyond

The USS Enterprise crew explores the furthest reaches of uncharted space, where they encounter a mysterious new enemy who puts them and everything the Federation stands for to the test.

Star Trek: Discovery

Follow the voyages of Starfleet on their missions to discover new worlds and new life forms, and one Starfleet officer who must learn that to truly understand all things alien, you must first understand yourself.

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• July 11, 2024 | Comic-Con Update: ‘Prodigy’ Screening With Kate Mulgrew And IDW Star Trek Comics Panel Announced

Paramount Pictures Officially Confirms Star Trek Origin Movie For Its Upcoming Film Slate

| April 11, 2024 | By: Anthony Pascale 240 comments so far

Today, the road to the next Star Trek feature film took a small but significant step towards becoming reality.

Paramount makes it official

Earlier this year, it was reported that Paramount Pictures was developing a new Star Trek feature film in parallel development to the “Star Trek 4” sequel to 2016’s Star Trek Beyond . Today the studio made the reports official as they announced their slate of films for 2025 and 2026, an official list which includes what Paramount is now calling “Untitled Star Trek Origin Story.” The studio also confirms the previously reported details: The film is “set decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film.” Toby Haynes ( Andor , Black Mirror “USS Callister”) is directing based on a screenplay by Seth Grahame-Smith ( The Lego Batman Movie ), with J.J. Abrams returning as producer.

The Star Trek movie was just one of many the studio confirmed as part of their 2025/2026 slate at their CinemaCon presentation today. Paramount Pictures CEO Brian Robbins led the studio’s presentation at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. This is the first time Star Trek has been part of the studio’s annual CinemaCon event since Robbins took over in 2021.

The “Star Trek 4” sequel to Beyond was not part of today’s CinemaCon presentation, presumably because with the recent hiring of a new screenwriter , that film would not be ready for theaters by 2026. It has also been reported that the origin story movie is set to start filming by the end of the year. There are no details yet on the plot, specific time setting, or cast. If Paramount can move fast enough they could get the origin movie into theaters by 2026—in time for Star Trek’s 60th anniversary.

Find more news and analysis on  upcoming Star Trek feature films .

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Star Trek 4

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Fool me once … ( also I want a movie but until someone gets a set built I’m not holding my breath )

I’m not pre-ordering my tickets…..

You would need a title and a premiere date to order tickets. This film has neither.

I’d wait to believe it until you actually see a movie trailer for it. Noah Hawley was in the casting stage when they cancelled his Trek movie. They might have even started on the sets.

The film is on Noah’s IMDB Credits list…

Yep. I heard ferries exist too!

Car ferries?

Even now, it potentially doesn’t matter. They could pull a Zaslav and shelve the film after it was all but released.

I won’t believe it until my butt is in the theater seat and the film starts playing.

We don’t need the origin story. We have it already. It was called “Enterprise”.

I didn’t realize there was such a large interest in a Star Trek origin movie. It’s their money to burn.

I still believe this is their way of rebooting the “prime” universe from the beginning and remaking it in a new image. I see no other point of doing an origin movie. First Contact and Star trek: Enterprise were origin enough IMO.

I don’t quite get it either. We already got that with First Contact and Enterprise. What else is there that could interest the general public.

Yeah, and for me, the period between First Contact and Enterprise just doesn’t seem that exciting. The period between Enterprise and the Nero incursion would be more interesting, I guess.

They wrote that the origin film would be “set decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film”. That film (in-universe) is set in 2233 (Nero incursion) and 2258 (main plot) respectively. So “decades before” would be after Enterprise, probably after the formation of the Federation, most probably before the Nero incursion, maybe around the turn of the century.

It’s just odd they are calling it an “origin” movie if it happens after Enterprise.

I’m curious what they mean by “origin”. The origin of Starfleet would be before Enterprise and the origin of the Federation would be after.

Also, the origin of Star Trek would have to be before the events of First Contact.

…assuming there is a concern about canon whatsoever, of course.

Many assumptions to be made at this point for sure.

Assuming this announcement doesn’t get added to the pile of previous unmade-movie announcements.

They’re calling it an origin movie to appeal to newcomers and casual fans.

Maybe we’ll see the founding of the Federation?

We already saw that in the infamous final episode of Enterprise. If they revisit that, they’d have to include the NX-01 crew and do a *lot* of deaging. 😉

They could show the first year of the Federation or something.

The obvious way to go is just do the Romulan war which leads into the founding of the Federation and what Enterprise was supposed to do.

That’s really the only thing fans actually want to see in terms of a prequel story.

Which was already scripted for Berman nearly 20 years ago by the band of brothers screenwriter.

Yep. I heard that’s what they were considering doing until the Kelvin movie got greenlit instead.

Overall the Kelvin movie was probably the better choice in terms of box office but I probably would’ve preferred the Romulan war idea because it did sound more original and different.

That’s something, the Romulan War. That’s a big event, it could have action and you probably can just invent your own characters.

Couldn’t they just carry on from the end instead of squeezing more new shows in between what we already have?

For how little Trek lore has fleshed out that imaginary bit of history, do we really need to be putting some detail to how we went from post-apocalyptic hellhole to utopian paradise in fifty years? Maybe some enterprising human stole a replicator off a Vulcan ship and reverse engineered it? Seeing the sausage being made may not be a great on screen adventure…

Eastern Europe isn’t the best example – while they’ve done okay extricating themselves from the communist wasteland, it was (and is) without its setbacks.

that’s what makes me so crazy. Discovery was the chance to reboot the “prime” universe but they have stubbornly stuck to this quisling versio

Not only that, they already did a Star Trek origin movie. Star TRek 2009. But sure lets put more money in it, have it fail, and then blame the box office on why we will never get more trek. Thats a great idea!

That was really a Kirk and Spock origin story. There’s a century of Federation/Starfleet before them that we know almost nothing about. Plenty of room for a good one-off story. Maybe a story 20-ish years before Discovery , with Captain April and Lt. Commander Pike? Could have a young Sarek, too.

First off do we even know what they mean by “origin”?

Could be about the founding of the federation, the Romulan War, or the early days of starfleet pre-Enterprise.

It may have nothing to do with Kirk and Spock, the Enterprise, might not be any kind of reboot or reset.

My gut says it’s set in the Kelvin timeline and it takes place post USS Kelvin but pre-2009 Trek. And I’m fine with that.

They already said it will be based in the prime universe, not the Kelvin. I don’t know why they framed that press release that way but I guess since the Kelvin movies are the current movies they wanted to make clear to people this movie is before all of that I guess.

And obviously will have nothing to do with Kirk and Spock because it will be before they were even born.

I agree. I’m not really interested in a ST origin film either, for the reasons you stated. I think, if they were to do one, it has to have some good hook. Say something like Kirk before Enterprise, or Robert April’s time on the Enterprise as its first captain, but I think that’s been pretty much done with Strange New Worlds.

Maybe Picard on the Stargazer before TNG?

Otherwise, you’ll be getting something with a cast of characters that you’ve never heard off, or, if you have, it’s been a line in an episode.

These announcements feel like Groundhog Day, don’t they? Maybe that’s the story they should tell.

A feature length version of Cause and Effect…

I’m guessing Romulan Star Empire Wars era setting.

Yeah, maybe it’s the concept Rick Berman pitched: a Romulan War film where the NX-01 is off vacationing at Risa.

How about Star Trek: Federation . Founding of the Federation, which is immediately followed by a crisis requiring the urgent launch of USS Federation (NCC-01). Scott Bakula has a cameo appearance as President Archer.

Here we go! :D

Star Trek Origins: The Future Begins

Yeah but it’s not as exciting when we literally have a thousand years of that future now.

This is why prequels bore so many people when we already know so much about the future it’s setting up.

At least with the Kelvin movies they were smart to not make it a traditional prequel and people still hated those too.

I will never understand the obsession of going backwards when you have a fanbase that is constantly begging to go forward and prequels don’t attract new fans at all because they are made for oddly old fans in mind. You only cared about how Anakin became Vader in the prequels if you watched the OT.

We really know almost nothing (in canon) about the entire century that elapses between Enterprise and Discovery , though. I would have preferred Kelvin Movie 4 or even a post-TNG original movie (maybe with Patrick Stewart making a cameo) but I could get behind a canon treatment about the first years of the Federation.

If it’s really something good or interesting fine. If it’s just ‘this is how the Federation was formed” we already got that already.

Now if it’s the Romulan war or something then that’s at least something people can get excited about. But yeah we already know how it ends so maybe that won’t be it either.

I just can’t really get to excited about a prequel movie.

Yeah, I think the Romulan war would be a great premise for a movie, BUT according to TOS the battles were fought with “primitive atomic weapons and in primitive space vessels which allowed no quarter, no captives, nor was there even ship-to-ship visual communication; therefore, no human, Romulan or ally has ever seen the other.”

In other words canon would have to be completely ignored – we all know Enterprise completely disregarded the TOS take of the war as the NX-01 had visual comms, phase cannons and photonic torpedoes. If the story is a good one, I am totally good with ignoring canon, but of course others are not.

Yeah that’s always the issue with the Romulan War thing, it’s really hard to make a compelling story about it when you are fighting it without directly engaging the enemy.

That said I’m 100% convinced they will just ignore that and do what they want or just find an excuse to change ot. Look at SNW, this the show that has shown the Gorn years before they were supposed to be seen and completely changed Khan’s original timeline using TCW as the reason..

Discovery had an entire Klingon War when that didn’t remotely exist in canon.

So yeah it probably won’t matter that much end of the day. They will just make what they want and then will use some excuse to do it. That’s been the case since Enterprise as you said.

Exactly! Very well put!! I just wish someone from TPTB would listen already!

Think about it prequels are easy to make because most of the writing is done for you. You don’t have to come up with where these characters will go.

Only if they are old characters though. But this sounds like Enterprise and not SNW and it will be all new characters.

So, it would be set after Enterprise and before the Kelvin fiasco. Awesome.

Probably the Romulan Wars. And with no Enterprise. Not excited

If only I could insert the Will Farrel “I don’t believe you!” GIF.

Whatever this turns out to be, hopefully it will be interesting. More likely it will turn out to be just another dead Trek movie project.

So many of these stories do seem to go absolutely nowhere! However, I am not as negative about an origin story as some fans are. At this point, I am more neutral on the movie. I can see that under the right circumstances it could be quite interesting. Although prequels can be a tough sell to Star Trek fans. Ultimately the fact that’s a movie could work in its favor though. Less storylines to produce over the years might help keep the story focused! Though I am not sure it would be a box office draw.

I’ll believe it when I’ve seen it in theaters, listened to TrekMovie’s review, and have the blu-ray on my shelf 4 months later.

Where to place the Blu-ray tho?

Before ST09 or after Beyond? …or.. Before TOS?

They go in order of release, for me. But could this be the first Trek film I don’t purchase on disc? Time may tell…

It’s an origin story taking place in the prime universe so it will go either before or after Enterprise basically.

I’ll believe it when it actually happens. Also, Seth Grahame-Smith is not a good writer, so that doesn’t bode well.

My thoughts exactly.

I liked the book Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, but not the movie.

I absolutely loved the Lego Batman movie, though. If he is able to incorporate Trek lore with as much care as he did for Batman, it could turn out to be a very good movie after all.

I’ll believe it when I’m sat i theatre turning off my phone with my Star Trek Origins screensaver and eating popcorn out my STO popcorn bucket (the lid in shape of the Starfleet A insignia )

He co wrote The Flash right? I really liked that , I could imagine something similar happening with Nero as happened with Zod in that (going back to 1st film via timetravel)

This is what’s over at Box Office Mojo: Untitled Star Trek: Beyond Sequel (????)

Grain of salt, anyone?

There are apparently two movies planned. Origin and Trek 4…

Actually there are three now including one that we all thought was DOA two minutes after it was announced.

Three movies in development from a studio who has cancelled four of them for 8 years now. And this will be the fourth new script for the next Kelvin movie.

That’s why everyone is very very confident this one is happening for sure. 🙄

The only thing we can take to the bank is we will see Section 31, starring Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh!!

Pretty much.

And a studio that is broke and in debt with junk status. None of these will likely be made or just the super cheapy origin movie if they can keep the budget low.

My thoughts exactly as well.

I’m pretty sure you got your facts wrong.

Sigh. Why do the powers that be always want to go backward in the ST timeline and do origin stories and such?

Lack of confidence in new ideas and to make it as cheaply as possible, are two things that come to mind right away.

It’s simple. They don’t want all that trek nerd baggage. They want a movie anyone would go to see and understand.

How’s that working for them?

You don’t get it.

I don’t get it either? It’s not like the prequel stuff has been huge home runs or big money makers.

The Star Wars prequels made a lot of money. That’s what Paramount still looks at, even though they have yet to duplicate that financial success.

Yes but that’s STAR WARS! It’s going to make a lot of money period. And those prequels came out when it was just the OT and nothing else for literally decades. There was a lot of hype just returning to those stories.

This is not the same thing, especially when we already had so many prequels in Trek now and with mixed results. That said I’m not saying it can’t be successful but I don’t see any huge hype around it either because most fans just seem to want to go forward and not backwards.

All the negativity over this ‘announcement’ is well deserved. Just make a fcking movie already Paramount, Jesus.

But I suspect IF this one is real it’s probably a much cheaper movie being new actors and maybe something with a lot less explosions and FX. I suspect it will probably be around $100 million.

It’s certainly doesn’t sound like something they are pushing to make a billion dollars or anything. Only people who cares about a prequel will be mostly old fans and even they aren’t exactly excited about yet another prequel judging by all the reactions so far. Maybe they will attract an A list star or a well respected one to bring more hype to it.

But same time I been pushing to just do something NEW with new characters and setting forever now. Stop trouting out Kirk and Picard, take a real chance with the franchise for a change. I was hoping it would be Post Nemesis but I should be happy I finally got half of what I wanted lol.

But I’ll believe it when I see it. I have literally been saying this line for six years now and I’m really tired of saying it. 🙄

Yup, exactly. Assuming it even happens, the premise sounds weak. Not surprised.

Yep. Unless it’s something truly mind blowing it’s not going to elicit a lot of excitement. Sure we’ll all go lol but I don’t see this thing having any real pull beyond the true believers.

It probably got the greenlight because its really cheap and it’s becoming embarrassing how long this franchise has languished.

I really only go to movie theaters to see Trek films (much prefer the comforts of home to see movies), so yup I’ll be going, good or bad. And yes, it is really pathetic the way this franchise has been treated on the big screen for the past 20 years. Disgraceful.

Ummm… what premise?? The only thing we know is that it is an origin movie. Nothing else. There IS no premise yet…

I think he means just another origin story itself feels a bit tired. But yes we don’t specifically know what that means yet but anything before TOS at this point just doesn’t really get a lot of fans all that hot and bother.

Whatever it ends up being it’s just filling in to more history we already know.

I get it. But no matter what era they make a movie in, there will be complaints. We have done prequels – some fans hate that. We have done same era as TNGish – fans complained. Likewise, we have had a show set in the future (soon to be another) – fans complained. There aren’t many options left.

Before TOS: Enterprise, JJ movies, Discovery, SNW just after TNG era: Picard, Prodigy, Lower Decks Future: Discovery, Starfleet Academy

Do they just make things in the era of TNG, DS9 and Voyager? No matter what is produced, there will always be a fan base that is unhappy.

Most people seem to really want the Legacy show though. I think for the majority of fans they may not agree with everything but there is definitely a sense they rather go forwards than backwards and why 4 of the 5 shows are post Nemesis shows.

And if you gave the option between a Legacy movie or this prequel idea, it wouldn’t be close.

I just don’t think making a prequel movie is the best idea out there. And I don’t think new audiences will remotely care one way or the other.

I’m going to start reporting you now. One guy got the boot for being an obsessive troll and like you was already banned before anyway.

Leave me alone from this point on. I mean it.

What a total disappointment. I wanted to see the Kelvin crew return. It’s going to be 10 years between films.

Please be Kirk and Spock at least.

Check the first paragraph of the article out again. This one is presumably being developed ‘in parallel’ to the Kelvin crew sequel.

Recast Kirk and Spock, I presume?

I wouldn’t be surprised if the main character is Kirk’s great grandfather, Tiberius something or other.

And not surprised there was no announcement of the next JJ verse movie. I predicted a few weeks ago that one wouldn’t get made by 2026 or the 60th anniversary. Frankly I don’t even know why they are even bothering with it anymore? Whenever it’s supposed to come out it’s already going to be the last one and over 10 years since the last one came out.

What’s even the point? They are clearly moving on from it.

As far as the origin movie why not just make it for the 60th anniversary? Why rush it? It’s already been nearly a decade, what’s one more year at this point and you can Marley it better in an anniversary year.

Its the reverse of ST 6, here we getting the prequel movie instead of the final cast film (for the anniversary)

Someone on another board said we are probably getting the sequel to First Contact so it would make sense to have it for the 6Oth anniversary 30 years apart lol.

“[S]et decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film?”

Gimme Archer & T’Pol, or else…

Neither actor has any interest in returning to Star Trek, so that won’t happen.

I’ve only heard Bakula say that about Quantum Leap , not Enterprise . And this is a feature film, a lot harder for an actor to turn down. I agree with his decision to ignore the QL reboot (that series didn’t capture the heart and soul of the original at all) but if Paramount approached him with “we want you to play President Archer for a few scenes in this movie” I doubt he’d say no.

No, no no. You’ve got it all wrong. It’s a story about a little design firm vying for the chance to design the Enterprise. It’s a story about a plucky band of mechanical engineers and physicists who come together to do the best pitch of their lives in a bidding war with three other firms. So, an origin story…from a certain point of view. ;)

I would watch,THAT!

I would write that!

I would direct that! (If I was Christopher Nolan)

No, I want Nolan doing ThePrisoner! He’s already got a script from the guy who wrote 12 Monkeys and the best stuff in Blade Runner, from over a decade back.

You probably meant it as a joke, but I’m also intrigued by this idea :D

Charlie Kaufmann does star trek.

Sure, you can store anti-matter in a glass jar. What could possibly go wrong?

Y’know, I know this is said partly in jest, but I wouldn’t mind that kind of movie if it was sort of a space race / WWII / Cold War drama, kind of a mix of Oppenheimer and The Right Stuff.

There’s a geo (spatio?) political angle (firm up the borders of the Federation, mitigate threats, and establish new allies while keeping up the exploration / first contact initiatives), the pressure on the engineering team to deliver groundbreaking new tech (and probably the cost of failed experiments, accidents, etc.), and then recruiting and training a new kind of crew – a starship crew (as Captain Merrick described them in ‘Bread and Circuses’.)

In essence, the origin of Starfleet as we know it – the first long-duration missions, the best of the best crewmembers, cross-trained, multidisciplinary, and for the first time, widely multi-species, etc.

Glad you all like. Paramount, you can send the check to: bmar, care of….

I’m thinking there’s going to be peace in the Middle East and nuclear fusion power is going to be a reality before they ever get back to the theaters.

Once upon a time I enjoyed Star Trek. Since the Nu Trek era began. I havent enjoyed any of the story arcs. They are just too aweful. There is a multitude of reasons why throught the web. Strange New Worlds S1 corrected course, however S2 not so. There are forces at work at Paramount. They are hell bent to destroy Star Trek. If Kurtzman and crew are in charge of the new movie. Get ready for more fantasy drama nonsense, and less plausable sci-fi.

Same here. I can’t get into NuTrek much at all. It feels like a shell of the golden era. For me that will always be 1966-2005.

But if others like it and getting new fans I’m very happy for them.

Same here. I’ve found a few gems in SNW S1, PIC S3, and S1 of Prodigy, but otherwise have been very disappointed in “NuTrek.” Of course I wish the franchise the best, but so far it’s been more misses than hits for me.

Yes I truly love Picard season 3! The best thing to come out of NuTrek so far. I don’t hate SNW but it railroads canon too much for my taste but it does feel like Star Trek again.

I haven’t seen Prodigy yet but I plan to watch it when season 2 begins and will watch season 1 before that one. Everyone kept saying it’s for kids and I’m far from a kid these days lol. But others here convinced me it’s a show for adults too so will give it a go

Wow, hell-bent on destroying Trek. Hell-bent, you say!! Just a tough melodramatic, are you?

Really don’t care about prequels and just want to keep going forward. Why not a movie in the 25th or 26th century with new crew and characters?

I may care more if Archer is involved or something. But I suspect this movie will bomb like the last one did. Only fans cares about prequels. New fans won’t care at all.

At least it’s in the prime universe again I guess.

But 25th or 26th century would still be a prequel to Discovery’s 32nd century :D

That doesn’t bother me because we don’t know anything about those time periods. We already know plenty about everything before TOS because it’s all been said or told now

Yeah I said this to another member the other day discussing any post Picard stories and that it will be completely new stories in a period we don’t know so it’s not the same thing. When you’re doing something like a TOS prequel you only have so much room and while it can certainly be interesting and creative it basically just like filling in to more stuff we already know.

That said the Section 31 movie time period is at least more interesting because it covers a much wider time period and they can be a lot more freer with the technology, etc so looking forward to that at least.

Yes I will admit although I’m not a big fan of the Space Nazi the time period of the movie intrigues me more. I always been curious of this period and the lead up to TNG, mostly because we know very little about it.

Discovery (in my view) kind of ruined everything in the Trek timelime. Just my opinion. Anyone who wants to just forget it happened, I’m in. Kidding, not kidding.

Agreed! I also don’t think it will be allegorical science fiction or be anything thought provoking. It will be a fast paced action adventure story that’s empty of depth and soul. Modern Star Trek is more interested in spectacle than compelling stories.

I’d guess that it means “origin of the TOS crew,” but that’s kind of weird, because we saw that in 2009.

Maybe this time they’ll start when they’re toddlers. (I kid, but not really). :)

They are going to re-do ‘A night in Sickbay’ like they did with Wrath of Khan/Into Darkness. It’ll be the same but different…..

Could this be their way of doing a George Kirk movie?

I would want to watch that, colour me intrigued…

“set decades before the original 2009 Star Trek film.”

Original 2009 Sta Trek film Sounds so wrong.

there is only two star trek origin stories i want to see the formation of the federation and it’s first few years if they have to adapt the rise of the federation novels for the movie and the origins of the borg they could adapt the plot ffor thet from the star trek destiny novels for a movie

Spot on, on both points!

2025? I hope it works out…

First we hear we are getting a Star Fleet Space Academy series that no one wants. The idea was mentioned in the 1980’s and shot down by fans. Now a retake on a Star Trek Origins films. Is any one currently running the Star Trek franchise in TV/streaming or film even listening to what the fans both old and new are saying?

It would seem not, sadly. How about establishing the time period between TUC and TNG, there’s a literal ton of stories to tell there? How the possibilities for storytelling within the franchise have been squandered over the years makes me frustrated, and frankly confused. SO many missed opportunities.

The upcoming section 31 movie will be set during that time frame as we know a young Rachel Garrett who later in life will be the captain of the enterprise c and defend the Klingon colony of narendra 3 will be in the movie maybe we will get to see the ent-b also again

Pointless movie as no audience will come see it at best it will make half its budget back. I mean they spent $250M on the 2009 movie and it showed on screen….you already know they are not spending that level otherwise it would be a Kelvin cast sequel!

I believe they spent just under 160 mil on the 09 (not counting the interest payments for holding the finished film for six months to get a summer release, or prints/advertising.) You’re probably thinking of BEYOND with the 250 number.

I still can’t see the money on screen in the 09, shooting in the damn brewery was Corman-level cheap.

The Numbers have the 09 costs 140 and BO Mojo sez 150, so yeah, way under the 250m you mention.

Can the ethos of Trek be distilled by JJ? Bob orci was bad for trek.

Kurtzman seemed to fall into trap w/discovery season 1.

Season 2, Picard, Lower Decks and SNW definitely sealed my thinking that Trek was in right hands.

Is section 31 and Rachel Garrett the right pivot for Trek? I thought 24th/25th century had plenty of stories to still tell.

Enterprise C, and possibly Tasha Yar/Sela after the events of Yesterday’s Enterprise! This should reboot TNG/Picard if ST: Legacy doesn’t happen.

Lower Decks makes me laugh Picard made me cry (good) SNW made me feel like Kurtzman should be trusted 💯

Great. Abrams ruined Star Wars and he’s finishing of Star Trek.

JJ had a planed out story plot for what he wanted to happen in the sequels but rian johnson chose to deviate from what jj had payed out so when jj returned for episode 9 he had to try and make the best of it and make his original story plot work but with the changes Johnson had made altering it so he had to come up with another evil sith mastermind and chose palpatine and he did course correct Rey’s lineage though it was different from who he had initially planned it to be and with Carrie fishers untimely passing he had to rewrite more and he had Luke show up as a force ghost to help rey when she returned to ach-to as apparently he was never going to have Luke die until the the final battle

I hope it has nudity

….and “Invincible” level action. It’ll be a hard R Quinton Tarentino could love.

Yes, we are on the same page.

CinemaCon basically works like a network upfront. You see clips and hear a lot of announcements. When there’s no cast or start date for announced projects, there’s maybe a 50/50 chance that the project will actually move forward (I was with a former employer for over 8 years and we announced a lot of stuff that generated a lot of buzz but then never materialized).

I think Brian Robbins will be gone within the next 12 months and if Robbins is pushed out this film is dead in the water.

This is probably the right answer.

I have next to no faith this will actually happen but they only have themselves to blame lol.

I remember a former poster kept saying ‘well this a new regime ‘ they aren’t the old guys’. Uh huh. It just shows end of the day they might be different but they still answer to the same shareholders and they know another Trek film is risky. Maybe this will finally get beyond a script this time but no one will be convinced until they start shooting the thing.

Rehashing old fandom letter campaign complaints from 40 years ago, don’t equate to the modern sci-fi fan, let alone the majority of Star Trek fans of 2024. The majority of complaints in the article comments are that there isn’t enough new future timeline Star Trek, so why would people NOT want a Star Fleet Academy series – new stories, new characters, new ships, new alien species/planets etc? An Origin movie is a vague enough description that it’s probably likely that the fandom can’t come anywhere close to a correct theory on when in the Trek timeline, this movie could be set.

I agreed with a commenter earlier, a George Kirk prequel movie would satisfy a lot of the fans, and hopefully generate enough interest for new and casual Star Trek moviegoers to warrant their going to a cinema complex. As to want the hardcore Star Trek fandom really want? There is too much dissent and bitter recriminations gone by, for any serious agreement by the fandom of their requirements, to stick for any longer than the next Trek major media article to be issued. And even if a majority agreement could be achieved – then we have the Mount Everest of EP Alex Kurtzman / Secret Hideout control of Trek production, to climb. A movie or series could have a billion-dollar budget, stellar A-list cast and crew, critical media acclaim for the story / screenplay. A favourable release timing and viral marketing, but fall at the last hurdle – the box office, due to the mountain of hate piled up against Paramount, Kurzman and his associates.

Now, as to the overall custodianship of the Trek franchise and its operation as a business, in general by Paramount, and its contracted creatives? Well, that’s a whole Hollywood chapter in itself. And is any of that even relevant in the long term, with the behind-the-scenes Harry Potter Wizard chess moves that are going on at the studio ownership, and network controlling interest levels? Apologies for the extended and extensive reply.

The first thing to do in order make a successful Star Trek movie is to ignore Star Trek fans.

God, please, no origin stories.

Star Trek: The Beginning, Part 1 — A Final Frontier Origin Story

Star Trek has always been a production dealing with many human issues pushing open the veils of awkwardness, embarrassment, and unaddressed behaviors that represent our culture planet wide. Thank You Star Trek. The one thing Paramount+ did that was just totally in bad taste was cancel Prodigy, bunch of morons.

Every fan’s preferences are different, but over the years I’ve ended up streamlining various ‘franchises’ I enjoy to my own liking when it comes to a re-watch – and these days my own limited Star Trek ‘canon’ purely consists of kicking things off with ‘The Cage’ pilot storyline….followed by my specific favourite TOS episodes in ‘production order’ (starting with ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before’, and skipping ‘The Menagerie’ two-part storyline)….followed by all the TOS movie storylines….and ending the Kirk crew’s adventures with ‘The Undiscovered Country’ as my preferred send-off for them all….then skip the antics of the ‘Generations’ movie, and instead continue on with my specific favourite TNG episodes (starting with the ‘Encounter At Farpoint’ introduction to Picard and his crew)….and then conclude the entire thing with the ‘First Contact’ movie’s storyline – which covers the development of ‘warp drive’, bringing everything full circle, and giving me all the ‘origin’ specifics I need..

All other ‘Trek-related shows and movies since then remain firmly on my ‘one-watch-only’ list, but I’m more than content with what I’ve outlined above.

I don’t know if I’ll ever get a ‘Star Trek’ movie which goes much deeper than glossy ‘pew-pew’ action and explosions in the future, but I remain hopeful.there might be a storyline that I really like again.

In the meantime, for my latest ‘alien contact’ fix, I’ve just finished up enjoying the excellent ‘Three-Body’ show’s inventive storyline and characters – the subtitled, 30-episode one produced by Tencent, which is currently available on YouTube and Amazon Prime (not the muddled 8-episode ‘3 Body Problem’ version by Netflix) – So much so, that I’m intending to buy the actual trilogy of books by the Chinese author, as I can’t wait for the next season to be made to find out what happens next. Some big ideas to come by all accounts, and I’m there for a bit more of that. .

The Netflix series is Superior

You’re welcome to your own preference of course.

But I far preferred the slow burn of the mystery and character build-ups in the Tencent version compared to the condensed and altered Netflix adaption. I just happen to find it a more satisfying and riveting version overall – and I will always prefer the way the ‘Judgment Day’ tanker got ‘nano-spliced’ in the Tencent version. Such an awesome sequence from start to finish!

Anyway, if the Netflix version actually gets a second season, I’ll certainly check it out too….but I am definitely looking forward to the next season of the Tencent show, which has been greenlit already.

The Tencent version is just boring to me and you can feel the Party’s hands all over it. Glad you liked it though.

I did indeed like it. A lot. I hadn’t read the books as I said, so didn’t know what to expect. Having read up on a few things since watching both shows, it seems that that there’s plenty of others that much prefer the slower build-up of the Tencent version too.

While it doesn’t include the likes of the brutal Netflix show’s opening, the hardship that the main female character endured was covered sufficiently for me throughout the show, and I’m just glad that I got to know her story by watching this version first.

And I sure didn’t miss the amount of unnecessary swearing that the Netflix version included either, which gave the Tencent version additional points. I don’t appreciate it my ‘Star Trek’ viewing, and I didn’t need it in the telling of this memorable sci-fi tale either.

And just to add, that even better for me is the fact that there’s now been a 26-episode ‘Anniversary Edition’ version of the Tencent show released, which has been re-edited by the director.

It seemingly cuts down on some ‘filler’ run-time that was added for the sake of the show’s producers initially, so that things will follow the original book’s contents even more closely now, and improve on the pacing of the show overall. I’m very pleased about that.

Whats so bad about swearing? The human race has been swearing since language was invented and we’ll be swearing 10,000 years from now.

Again, it’s just a personal preference thing.

There’s plenty of hard-edged movies and shows that contain wall-to-wall swearing which I can watch if I’m in the mood for them. But other times I’m equally inclined to watch something with less harsh language throughout.

I really disliked the F-bombs which the ‘Picard’ show included for instance, and didn’t think the ‘Star Trek’ franchise was the better for it. And I doubt that I would have enjoyed the Tencent ‘Three-Body’ adaption any better if it had contained bad language too.

Anyway, back to this supposed ‘Star Trek origin movie. I’d like to think it won’t be littered with F-bombs either.

PG13 are allowed 1 f bomb (like Guardians 3 I finally saw other night). And Trek is very comfortable to f bombs in Picard etc so safe to say we’ll be getting Treks first movie f bomb next film :)

Data said “Oh $hit” in Generations.

Which was very mild compared to what we heard in ‘Picard” Not that I would wish to show my younger family members the ‘Picard’ show anyway, considering it turned out to be so dire overall.

However, Data’s reaction was hilarious in that scene’s context I recall. Just a pity the rest of the movie was such a dud, and not part of my own ‘Star Trek’ canon anymore.

I’ll always wonder what the Tarantino script would have given us….

we don’t need origin stories for everything! in media res is the way to go – almost always – TOS just dumps you right in the middle of events without even the clunky intros of TNG Encounter at Farpoint.

If this movie does well will IT get an origin story? We’re going to end up at the pool of goo at the dawn of humankind waiting for Picard and Q to show up…

im happy with any good trek news… even if they made a direct sequel to the final frontier… but how many origin stories do we need? i’d be happy if someone forged a path forward and created new things…

So this one is set in the five-minute period between Enterprise and Discovery? Or the as-yet unexplored time between April 5th 2063 and Enterprise where it’s “stone knives and bear skins” and no Trek tech to speak of? Enterprise was the prequel! How’d that one work out?

If the movie is made ,I will judge it then.

I wanted the 4th Kelvin, do they know who their audience is? Nobody i know, Star Trek fan or general audience bothered to go see Beyond. It was like Nemesis all over again. The trailer was terrible, the movie was kind of meh to be honest. So in the intervening years since the 2009 somewhere they lost the audience. Star Trek 2009 was an event movie, and 2015 Force Awakens was as well. Good job letting JJ go to Disney so Star Trek died as a film series.

I’m guessing the fourth movie is still too costly to risk making another one at least right now.

Someone threw out an an interesting theory on the last thread discussing this for the 47th time that they suggested Paramount have no plans to actually make another Kelvin movie but just as a rouse for the next company that buys the studio.

It really makes sense at this point, they can dangle the idea the movie is in ‘development’ and then when someone actually buys it they can just decide to make it or cancel it.

I mean it doesn’t sound crazy considering where we are. It’s a movie that is working with their fourth new writer but there is still no director or even a starting date of any kind within the the next two years.

Them you have this origin movie that was just announced a few months ago and that’s already scheduled to come out next year. My guess is it will probably cost half of what another Kelvin movie would be. But yeah who knows if that will get made either, but it has a better chance than a Kelvin movie.

Ikr, Beyond totally killed interest the series , the Fast Furious teaser trailer was bad, the second trailer gave away the twist, the audience (who cared about that stuff) knew JJ had crossed over to SW (which gave the behemoth of SW7 even more publicity, making ST feel less an event), there was no hook for fans or even general moviegoers like there was for ST09/ID (like if Shatner had returned or the Borg being the villain again) and nothing ‘big’ happening in the canon like the previous ones (Orcis ST3 had the timeline under threat of being wiped out, which would’ve been a huge deal) the eventual movie was kind of meh as you say and was just abit nerdy and Insurrection looking (like it was for hard core fans only).

At the time i had some friends (some who were casual Trek fans, and some even disliked Trek) who thought 09/ID were awesome and they didn’t even bother to see Beyond bc of the trailers and the general vibe (its like it felt like abit of a turkey, like other big sequels/remakes that summer, Ghostbusters, Independence Day 2 etc, )

I actually agree with all of this and I personally think Beyond was the best of the three.

But you’re right, there was really no hook for the movie and that first trailer was just awful. It almost kept me away from watching it.

But the biggest problem is the new fans just lost interest by then. I always bring up the fact I had three friends who had never seen Star Trek before went to go see the first film and generally loved it. I thought it was truly bad but fine for a brainless action movie.

But by the time Beyond showed up all three had zero interest in the franchise by that point. They just stopped caring. I remember asking one of them that saw the first two movies in the theater if he planned to watch Beyond and his response was no because now Star Wars was back and he rather just watch that. And he thought it looked boring.

That’s the entire problem trying to get new fans onboard and a lot of them were like my friends who just saw these movies as another summer action movie but nothing beyond that. They never cared about the franchise itself and so it was very easy to move on when the next shiny toy showed up.

That’s exactly why I don’t see another one doing all that well because to newbies it’s still Star Trek and it’s not cool enough to fully get into and will probably bomb again unless the budget is just super low.

I watched Guardians Vol 3 the other night on dvd and it (and previous 2) kind of felt the same as Beyond abit , the look, the vibe, the action, set pieces, the humour, the rock songs etc . so really with Guardians (that Beyond tried to ape), along with the return of SW, Trek 3 had no chance with casual movie goers who would just consider it Guardians/SW lite , (between the generational event of SW7 and the next GOTG vol 2) .. Even more reason to have gone with Orci’s more ‘star trek’ version of ST3 featuring Shatner

I can’t name anyone who actually wants an origin movie. By the way, didn’t we get that one with First Contact already anyway?

It’s not up to you or anyone you pretend to know.

Another prequel? This is getting ridiculous now. Remember when Star Trek used to go forwards? Enough already!

Kurtzman said he didn’t have the authority to greenlight legacy. I wonder if that will be like Bennet’s academy years and never happen.

18 months is not enough time for a movie of this size unless this is ready to shoot in july.

The JJ-verse is an aberration no one is particularly a fan of. There is no one who wants to how that mess started. It’s done nothing but foul everything that went before, leaving ST-ENT, of all things, as the only remaining official classic canon. Bugger that.

I need Star Trek that is hopeful, aspirational, and inspirational. 15 yrs later neither Bad Robot or Secret Hideout has done anything close to that. Sec 31 and Starfleet Academy aren’t anything viewers want. I wish they’d just stop.

lol,if you say so…

EXCLUSIVE: Former Anonymous writer of Trek 4 shares his experience

Interviewer: Hello, we are here today to talk to a former writer for the very very very (like really very) long delayed fourth Kelvin movie. With the announcement of a prequel movie being released instead and yet ANOTHER new set of writers for the next Kelvin movie, we reached out to the only person who returned our calls; a former writer from the 2023 project.

To give us an honest insight into his experience he wishes to remain anonymous. For the sake of this interview he will be simply referred to as ‘GotohellParamount’. Thank you for meeting with me today.”

GotohellParamount’: “You’re welcome.”

Interviewer: “It sounds like your experience working on the last movie didn’t end too well. How is your relationship with the studio today?”

GotohellParamount: “Bleep them in their bleeping bleepholes. I hope they all die from bleeping Ebola.”

Interviewer: ‘That’s some pretty colorful metaphors. Can I ask what happened?”

GotohellParamount: “Their bleeps that’s what. We spent a year working on that movie. We lost the director to go work for Marvel because these bleepholes kept bleeping us around. I got so frustrated I finally texted the Head Studio Guy and said ‘will you people stop bleeping around!? Get off your bleeps and let’s make a movie already!!’

Three weeks went by and I finally got a response from them. It simply read ‘K’. Bleepholes!!! By the way you’re not going to ‘bleep’ any of these words out are you?”

Interviewer: “Um…of course not. Can you tell us a little about what the movie was about?”

GotohellParamount: “The gist was a huge black ship comes from the 25th century to the 23rd century wiping out solar systems in the Federation. It was a new villain who wanted…wait for it…vengeance. That bleep was going to be bleeping awesome!!”

Interviewer: “So who was going to be the villain?”

GotohellParamount: “That’s the greatest part of it all. He was going to call himself…you ready: Kaos. JJ Abrams himself came up with that name. But then the true reveal was that he was indeed Kirk’s great great great great great great great great great great grandson from the future and came to stop Kirk from destroying his planet so he had to destroy the Federation first. We were even thinking Chris Pine can play both parts but Paramount was worried he would demand twice the salary.”

Interviewer: “I interviewed Chris Pine a few months ago and he was hoping there would be more scenes of him riding another motorcycle. Did you include that in the script?”

GotohellParamount: “Do you remember the ending of Mission Impossible 2 with the motorcycle duel? Pretty much the same ending with our movie with Kirk versus his evil grandson; except it was going to take place either on Romulus or in San Francisco. We were still figuring it out. There was even talk of it happening on a lava planet… but that would’ve ballooned the budget.

Interviewer: “Sounds very exciting. How was he going to wipe out the solar systems?”

GotohellParamount: “The ship he was on had the power to destroy stars by breaking down their fusion reactions. The FX was going to be bleeping sick.”

Interviewer: “Wait so the ship was a…Star destroyer?”

GotohellParamount: “Yep but to get around copyright issues JJ wanted to call it a Destroyer of Stars. The man is a bleeping genius I tell you.”

Interviewer: “It’s definitely a name.”

GotohellParamount: “We were so proud of the script. We gave it to JJ to read it. After he put it down, he took off his glasses put his hand on my shoulders and said ‘this is the most original Star Trek story I’ve ever read and I’ve read three of them.’ You have no idea how much that meant coming from such a visionary like him.”

Interviewer: “I’m sure you were. Was there any casting possibilities before it was shut down?”

GotohellParamount: “Was there?? We reached out to some incredible actors! Robert Downey Jr, Florence Pugh, Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy and Matt Damon. We wanted him to actually play Kirk’s evil grandson.

Interviewer: “Wait… weren’t all of them in Oppenheimer?’

GotohellParamount: “(Hard shrug)! I don’t know I haven’t seen it yet. Unfortunately Matt Damon’s agent was the only one who bothered to call us back. Apparently he always wanted to work with John Cho. Go figure? Too late now unfortunately.”

Interviewer: “Well that’s all the time we have. Thank you for your incredible and honest insight. Any thoughts on the new movie announcement or the chances either one will actually get made?”

GotohellParamount: (Laughs for three minutes). That’s it.”

Interviewer: “Thank you.’

I laugh every.single.time! 😂

Well done per usual.

Nice. Don’t forget to throw the Beastie Boys in there someplace…wouldn’t be a Kelvin film without them…

Haha correct. How I let that one slide you got me. Having an off day I guess!

This was indeed hilarious! 😂

I love how you parody JJ Abrams. He doesn’t seem to have an original bone in his body looking at both his Star Trek and Star Wars movies.

Lol nope! I still remember watching Honest Trailer for Star Trek Into Dumbness and they even showed how much that movie copied the first one lol.

The fact both movies ended back at San Francisco when your series takes place in the freaking galaxy should tell you everything wrong with these movies.

that actually sounds like a legit potential Kelvin ST4 – Kirks evil great great grandson Kaos (Matt Damon) comes back to 23rd century to kill Kirk in his big star destroyer (sorry ‘destroyer of stars’) ship! Brilliant!!

That’s the insane part, this idea could actually pass for a Kelvin movie lol.

Thank you! 😁

Coming out of my lurker mode to say this is brilliant. I laughed my bleep off!

So glad you enjoyed it my friend! 😄

I bleeping love making them lol.

Another prequel? Why can’t they come up with new material?

Screen Rant

Where to watch every star trek tv show & movie.

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How To Watch All Star Trek TV Shows In Timeline Order

Star trek producers give hopeful update for prodigy season 3 on netflix, the q are finally evolving in star trek lore (all thanks to q's son).

• Paramount+ is the go-to spot for almost 60 years of Star Trek content, with 10 shows available for streaming until 2024.
• The missing Star Trek: Prodigy is exclusively on Netflix, where fans can watch seasons 1 and 2 of the animated series.
• Fans can now catch all 13 Star Trek movies on Paramount+, with the exclusive Star Trek: Section 31 film, and more, to follow.

Due to the complexities of licensing rights in the streaming age, it can sometimes be difficult to know where you can stream every Star Trek TV show and movie. Spanning almost six decades, eleven different TV shows, and 13 movies, the Star Trek franchise is a veritable goldmine of content for streamers. Indeed, Paramount+ launched itself on the fact that it was the only place to experience the Star Trek timeline in its entirety. While Paramount+'s promise didn't hold up for long, it's still the best place to go for the majority of the Star Trek back catalog .

Paramount+ is continuing to expand its Star Trek catalog, too, with a streaming-exclusive movie, Star Trek: Section 31 , due for release next year, and a YA series, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, set to enter production in the Fall. All of which cements the reputation of Paramount+ as the home of the Star Trek franchise in a heavily populated streaming landscape. However, there are one or two gaps in the collection, meaning that fans will have to turn to other streaming services to get the complete Star Trek experience .

The Star Trek TV franchise has existed for 57 years and consists of 12 shows (and counting). Here's how to watch them all in timeline order.

Every Star Trek TV Series (Except Star Trek: Prodigy) Can Be Watched On Paramount+

Subscribers can watch (almost) everything from 1966 to 2024..

Ten out of the eleven existing Star Trek TV shows can be watched with a subscription to Paramount+ . This covers everything from 1966's Star Trek: The Original Series , right up to the final season of Star Trek: Discovery , released earlier in 2024. Next up on Paramount+ is the final season of Star Trek: Lower Decks , set to stream weekly from late summer. The ability to watch almost 60 years of Star Trek in one place means that fans can enjoy the whole rich tapestry, or cherry-pick certain stories that stretch across multiple series and timelines.

Conspicuous by its absence on Paramount+ is the animated series, Star Trek: Prodigy which was canceled and unceremoniously deleted from the service in 2023. As a sequel series to Star Trek: Voyager , it's disappointing that fans have to go elsewhere to find out what happened next to characters like Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran). It's a minor gap, given that there are still ten other Star Trek shows on Paramount+, but the fate of Prodigy is a sobering warning about the fragility of the streaming bubble.

Star Trek: Prodigy Can Be Watched On Netflix

Prodigy seasons 1 and 2 are streaming now..

Netflix saved Star Trek: Prodigy in October 2023, when it signed a contract to stream seasons 1 and 2 of the animated series. The streaming giant also has the option of commissioning season 3 of Prodigy . This means that, like with season 2, future installments of Star Trek: Prodigy will stream exclusively on Netflix . Therefore, Paramount+ subscribers will have to switch to Netflix to keep up to date with the adventures of Dal R'El (Brett Gray), Gwyndala (Ella Purnell) and the rest of the young crew of Starfleet hopefuls.

Exclusive: Star Trek: Prodigy executive producers Kevin and Dan Hageman share the status of a potential Prodigy season 3 on Netflix.

The benefit of Star Trek: Prodigy being on Netflix is that it's likely to be the streamer that most fans were already signed up to before Paramount+ first launched. This means that there was likely an existing audience, eager to watch the 40 episodes of Star Trek: Prodigy seasons 1 and 2 that are available to stream now on Netflix. While it might be strange that the animated series doesn't sit alongside the other Star Trek shows on Paramount+, the critical acclaim for Prodigy season 2 proves that it's a show that is worth seeking out.

In the UK, Netflix still currently has streaming rights for all Star Trek legacy shows from TOS to Enterprise .

Every Star Trek Movie Can Be Watched On Paramount+

The first 10 star trek movies recently left max..

The first ten Star Trek movies were recently restored to Paramount+ after a temporary spell on Max. This deal between Paramount+ and Max has been in existence for a while, meaning that for a short spell each year, only the Chris Pine Star Trek movies are available on Paramount+. For now though, every Star Trek movie from The Motion Picture to Star Trek Beyond is available to stream on Paramount+.

The 13 existing Star Trek movies will soon be joined by Michelle Yeoh's streaming-exclusive movie, Star Trek: Section 31 , which marks a new direction for the franchise. Depending on how well Section 31 performs, more standalone streaming movies could join Star Trek 's big screen outings on Paramount+ . A brand-new cinematic origin movie is also currently in development, which will likely make its streaming debut on Paramount+ in due course, further bolstering the streamer's Star Trek catalog.

You Can Finally Stream All the Star Trek Movies in One Place

Surely, the best of times.

Most science fiction movie franchises that get past six films are fairly impressive. Way back before the MCU blew up in 2012 or the Star Wars sequels began in 2015, sci-fi film franchises generally didn’t get into the double-digits. In fact, the seemingly immortal Planet of the Apes franchise just now released its 10th film overall. Star Wars has 11 theatrical films, but five of those all came out in the last nine years. This summer, the Alien franchise will release its ninth film in very fragmented continuity, which funnily enough, has the subtitle Romulus , a term that was arguably popularized by the scrappiest science fiction franchise of them all — Star Trek .

While it's tempting to think of Star Trek as primarily a TV sci-fi empire (there are 11 distinct shows, with a 12th in production) the fact is, as a film franchise, Star Trek is not only massive but also extremely durable. And as of right now, every single Star Trek movie — from 1979 to 2016 — are all streaming on Paramount+. Here’s why even someone with a casual interest in science fiction or Star Trek should binge these movies ASAP.

In 1979, a TV series getting turned into a major motion picture was not common. Before Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the best examples of TV shows having feature film versions were the 1954 Dragnet and the 1966 Adam West-led Batman . What made Star Trek: The Motion Picture significant is that not only was it a TV series-turned-movie, but it was also released a decade after the show had been canceled. On top of this, it was a major aesthetic redesign for the entire concept. While Star Trek: The Original Series was known for its over-the-top colors and melodramatic action-adventure-oriented directorial choices, The Motion Picture was a contemplative epic, directed by cinema legend Robert Wise, with a graceful score from Jerry Goldsmith. For any of its faults, Star Trek: The Motion Picture wasn’t an attempt to emulate Star Wars. If anything, it was the exact opposite.

And from 1979, each Star Trek movie — to some degree — has been a departure from the previous installment. While the films sometimes struggled to translate the smaller-stakes brilliance of the episodes of the various series into big tentpole events, there’s no denying that each Star Trek film is utterly dissimilar to all other Star Trek films. With 1982’s crowd-pleasing favorite The Wrath of Khan , director Nicholas Meyer solidified a nautical flavor and mashed it up with a revenge thriller. Directing two back-to-back films, The Search for Spock and The Voyage Home , Leonard Nimoy created one movie about a spiritual journey and another film about environmentalism. By the time you get to Meyer’s other Trek film, The Undiscovered Country , you’re dealing with a deeply political film with smart commentary on the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the dangers of nationalism in general.

And that only covers through 1991! The four films spanning The Next Generation crew’s jump to the big screen are equally diverse in themes and concepts. While 1994’s Generations explores ideas of mortality and addiction, 1996’s First Contact reimagined the Trek revenge film with the hero as the person at fault. And though Insurrection (1998) and Nemesis (2002) are generally considered some of the weakest films in the franchise, the performances from guest villains F. Murray Abraham and Tom Hardy are outstanding.

Data (Brent Spiner) and Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) battle the Borg in Star Trek: First Contact .

In 2009, J.J. Abrams famously rebooted the Trek franchise with a new film simply titled Star Trek . While this film still creates a fair amount of controversy in hardcore Trekkie fandom circles, it is probably the best J.J. Abrams movie ever, and holds up extremely well as a great contemporary blockbuster, 15 years after its release. Star Trek Into Darkness , its 2013 sequel, is probably one of the least-loved Trek films of all time, but that doesn’t mean that Benedict Cumberbatch’s take on Khan isn’t fantastic. Nor, can anyone ignore the brilliant spectacle of the film in general. But it was 2016’s Star Trek Beyond that provided one of the most well-balanced Trek movies since The Wrath of Khan. Helmed by Fast and Furious alum Justin Lin with a script co-written by Lin, Simon Pegg, and Doug Jung, Into Darkness’ much-superior follow-up movie showed a deep, deep love for the flavor of The Original Series.

Since 2016, there have been no new Star Trek films in theaters. Instead, the franchise has expanded significantly in the medium of streaming TV, while various plans for a new Star Trek movie have remained stalled for more reasons than even Data could recall off the top of his head. Late 2024 will see the release of the first direct-to-streaming Trek movie — the highly anticipated sci-fi spy flick Star Trek: Section 31 , starring Michelle Yeoh. After that, a new Trek “origin story” movie, directed by Toby Haynes, is expected sometime in 2026, just in time for Star Trek’s 60th anniversary.

Whether or not that movie will actually beam down is unclear. But, until then, if you want to experience a wide variety of sci-fi adventures, set in a cozy, yet compelling future, you can’t do much worse than to binge all the Trek movies, starting at the very beginning.

All 13 Star Trek feature films are streaming on Paramount+.

• Science Fiction

“We’d like to see more action”: The Studio Was Not Satisfied With One Star Trek Movie The Next Generation Star Jonathan Frakes Directed

TNG's William Riker helmed multiple episodes in the series and came on to direct episodes in subsequent spinoff shows.

• Jonathan Frakes, who plays William Riker in Star Trek: The Next Generation, has directed multiple films and episodes in the sci-fi franchise.
• The filmmaker helmed the third original film from the TNG cast called Star Trek: Insurrection, which was a moderate box office success.
• However, the director was reportedly ordered by the studio to include an action scene in the film, which he believes was the right decision.

Actor Jonathan Frakes gained fame as the USS Enterprise-D’s first officer William Riker in Star Trek: The Next Generation . He starred along with Patrick Stewart, Marina Sirtis, LeVar Burton, and Brent Spiner among others in the show and even returned for the films. He also directed multiple episodes in the series.

Frakes helmed the third film featuring the TNG cast Star Trek: Insurrection. The film saw the Enterprise rebel against the Starfleet after knowing that they would be aiding in the Son’a’s conspiracy to steal resources from the Ba’kus. Frakes mentioned that after showing a cut to the studio they had one demand from him and he had to fulfill it.

Jonathan Frakes Was Asked To Include More Action In Star Trek: Insurrection

The Star Trek: TNG films have been considered a hit or a miss with fans. While many love films such as Star Trek: First Contact , films like Nemesis are not as well-received. However, most fans agree that Jonathan Frakes’ directorial sophomore directorial effort Star Trek: Insurrections is among the lower-rated films from the franchise.

“I don’t think we realized it early on”: The Exact Season Jonathan Frakes Realized Star Trek: The Next Generation isn’t a Certified Disaster, It’s Lightning in a Bottle

Much of the criticism of the film has been about its low-stakes premise and the TV movie aesthetics of the film. However, Frakes revealed that the film would have even less impact if the studio had not demanded him to make one change in the edit. The filmmaker mentioned that they were not fully satisfied with the film when first presented.

Jonathan Frakes mentioned that the studio wanted an action scene before the epilogue of all the characters coming together. He said in the book, The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years: From The Next Generation to J. J. Abrams ,

What was always there at the ending was the bit with Beverly and Deanna coming back down the hill, Patrick and Anij having their little walk, and Brent and the boy playing in the haystack. Prior to that it was just Murray and Patrick mano a mano, and the collector. But the collector didn’t blow up, Riker didn’t come and save the day with the Enterprise, and Worf’s ship was not retaken by the bad guys. To the studio’s credit, they said, ‘We’d like to see more action here at the end because the audience expects more.’

Frakes agreed that the film became much better due to the inclusion of the climatic action sequence as he felt that the epilogue came much sooner in the screenplay.

The Studio Also Wanted A Big Explosion In Star Trek: Insurrection

The late ‘90s were filled with action-heavy films with movies such as Independence Day, Bad Boys, Die Hard, and Speed being the most profitable. All these films were high on action and emotion, with plenty of explosions and gun battles to make the sequences dynamic. The studio behind Star Trek at the time might have wanted to achieve a similar impact.

“It was like we were doing Shakespeare or Chekhov”: Jonathan Frakes Broke a Serious ‘The Next Generation’ Rule While Directing Another Star Trek Show

Hence, they reportedly told director Jonathan Frakes to include an explosion in the climax of Star Trek: Insurrection . So, they decided on a three-prong climax where the radiation collector had a self-destruct button. According to Frakes, this improved the stakes in the film,

Instead of just having two guys fight it out to the end, we were able to weave three stories, with the collector blowing up, the Enterprise going back — everyone wants to see the Enterprise save the day — and the bad guy ship is involved. We got Worf in one ship, Riker in one ship, and Picard about to give up his life. So the stakes went up a lot and it really improved. There were definitely a lot of ups and downs during the making of this film.

The film ended up earning $117 million against a $70 million budget (via The Numbers ). It would be succeeded by Star Trek: Nemesis .

Star Trek: Insurrection is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

jonathan frakes

Written by Nishanth A

Nishanth A is a Media, English and Psychology graduate from Bangalore. He is an avid DC fanboy and loves the films of Christopher Nolan. He has published over 1,000 articles on FandomWire. When he's not fixating on the entire filmography of a director, he tries to write and direct films.

Copyright © 2024 FandomWire, LLC. All rights reserved.

Star Trek: Prodigy Showrunners Reveal Why Wesley Crusher's Return Is a 'Perfect Fit'

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• Wesley Crusher returns in Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2, offering a connection to Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Picard .
• Showrunners Kevin and Dan Hageman plan to use Crusher as a mentor with a scatterbrained and untrustworthy side.
• Star Trek: Prodigy aims for a long-lasting impact like the 90s Star Trek series, with hopes for a future similar to The Original Series.

WARNING! This article contains Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 spoilers.

Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 thrilled fans with the brief return of Wesley Crusher, portrayed by Will Wheaton . Recently, the series showrunners Kevin and Dan Hageman revealed why they chose to bring back Crusher and how they plan to use his character in the show.

The inclusion of Wesley Crusher in Prodigy provided delight to long-time fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation . Furthermore, the showrunners have incorporated special elements for Star Trek: Picard viewers. Crusher will be playing a crucial role in a major crisis that threatens every Star Trek timeline.

During the interview with Screen Rant , Kevin Hageman remarked on the character's legacy, stating,

"He's the original Prodigy! It felt like such a perfect fit. Seeing how he just walked off the screen in 'Next Generation,' we wondered why no one had utilized him since. Everyone seemed hesitant to touch the character, but we wanted to bring him back and do something great with him. Make him a wonderful mentor, but also a little scatterbrained and untrustworthy."

Dan Hageman added, "A little Doctor Who, a little Willy Wonka..."

Star Trek: Prodigy

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Star Trek: Prodigy is the first TV series in the Star Trek franchise marketed toward children, and one of the few animated series in the franchise. The story follows a group of young aliens who find a stolen Starfleet ship and use it to escape from the Tars Lamora prison colony where they are all held captive. Working together with the help of a holographic Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), the new crew of the USS Protostar must find their way back to the Alpha Quadrant to warn the Federation of the deadly threat that is pursuing them.

The Hageman brothers revealed the collaboration with Star Trek: Picard showrunner Terry Matalas played a role in Crusher's return. Matalas reached out to the Hagemans, knowing they were incorporating Wesley into "Prodigy," and coordinated Wesley's cameo in the "Picard" season 2 finale to align with the character's deeper involvement in "Prodigy."

"We had talked to Terry Matalas about what they were doing with Picard.," Dan Hageman explained. "He had contacted us because he knew we were playing with Wesley, and they were going to have Wesley in Picard. And so, we just kind of lined it up. He's got a brother and that's something that we can put into the show. So it was all Kismet."

Kevin Hageman further noted,

I think they were trying to be respectful because they knew that we were already down the line. We had written a whole season with him in it. And so they're like, 'let us have a little bit of him too.'

Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 Review | Set Phasers to Awesome on Netflix

The Protostar cadets join Admiral Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) on a dangerous mission to rescue Chakotay (Robert Beltran) in the future.

Star Trek: Prodigy Aspires to be Like the 90s Star Trek Series

Star Trek: Prodigy has charted a course for an ambitious future, aiming to mirror the longevity and impact of the Star Trek shows from the 90s. The revival of Star Trek: Prodigy was a triumph for fans, who rallied to save the series from being shelved by Paramount. In an interview with Collider , Dan Hageman voiced his hopes for the series' extended lifespan, saying,

"There’s threads of what's next. If we're lucky enough to go to Season 3, I'm really excited about where the show can go. We wrote this thing to go seven seasons at least."

Kevin Hageman sees Prodigy's fate similar to Star Trek: The Original Series, which also faced cancellation before being revived and eventually spawning a successful film franchise. The showrunner aspires the same future for Star Trek: Prodigy , hoping it will follow the same path.

"I hope people will look back at our show and be like, 'Oh my god, they followed the footsteps of The Original Series. It got canceled, they got brought back to life. Oh, here comes Star Trek the motion picture.' Why not?" Kevin remarked.

Could people turn Mars into another Earth? Here’s what it would take to transform its barren landscape into a life-friendly world

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to [email protected] .

Is it possible that one day we could make Mars like Earth? – Tyla, age 16, Mississippi

When I was in middle school, my biology teacher showed our class the sci-fi movie “ Star Trek III: The Search for Spock .”

The plot drew me in, with its depiction of the “ Genesis Project ” – a new technology that transformed a dead alien world into one brimming with life.

After watching the movie, my teacher asked us to write an essay about such technology. Was it realistic? Was it ethical? And to channel our inner Spock: Was it logical? This assignment had a huge impact on me.

Fast-forward to today, and I’m an engineer and professor developing technologies to extend the human presence beyond Earth.

For example: I’m working on advanced propulsion systems to take spacecraft beyond Earth’s orbit. I’m helping to develop lunar construction technologies to support NASA’s goal of long-term human presence on the Moon . And I’ve been on a team that showed how to 3D-print habitats on Mars .

To sustain people beyond Earth will take a lot of time, energy and imagination. But engineers and scientists have started to chip away at the many challenges.

A partial checklist: Food, water, shelter, air

After the Moon, the next logical place for humans to live beyond Earth is Mars.

But is it possible to terraform Mars – that is, transform it to resemble the Earth and support life? Or is that just the musings of science fiction?

To live on Mars, humans will need liquid water, food, shelter and an atmosphere with enough oxygen to breathe and thick enough to retain heat and protect against radiation from the Sun.

But the Martian atmosphere is almost all carbon dioxide , with virtually no oxygen. And it’s very thin – only about 1% as dense as the Earth’s.

The less dense an atmosphere, the less heat it can hold on to. Earth’s atmosphere is thick enough to retain enough heat to sustain life by what’s known as the greenhouse effect .

But on Mars, the atmosphere is so slight that the nighttime temperature drops routinely to 150 degrees below zero Fahrenheit (-101 degrees Celsius).

So what’s the best way to give Mars an atmosphere?

Although Mars has no active volcanoes now – at least as far as we know – scientists could trigger volcanic eruptions via nuclear explosions. The gases trapped deep in a volcano would be released and then drift into the atmosphere . But that scheme is a bit harebrained, because the explosions would also introduce deadly radioactive material into the air.

A better idea: Redirecting water-rich comets and asteroids to crash into Mars. That too would release gases from below the planet’s surface into the atmosphere while also releasing the water found in the comets. NASA has already demonstrated that it is possible to redirect asteroids – but relatively large ones, and lots of them, are needed to make a difference.

Making Mars cozy

There are numerous ways to heat up the planet. For instance, gigantic mirrors, built in space and placed in orbit around Mars, could reflect sunlight to the surface and warm it up.

One recent study proposed that Mars colonists could spread aerogel , an ultralight solid material, on the ground. The aerogel would act as insulation and trap heat. This could be done all over Mars, including the polar ice caps, where the aerogel could melt the existing ice to make liquid water.

To grow food, you need soil. On Earth, soil is composed of five ingredients : minerals, organic matter, living organisms, gases and water.

But Mars is covered in a blanket of loose, dustlike material called regolith . Think of it as Martian sand. The regolith contains few nutrients, not enough for healthy plant growth, and it hosts some nasty chemicals called perchlorates , used on Earth in fireworks and explosives.

Cleaning up the regolith and turning it into something viable wouldn’t be easy . What the alien soil needs is some Martian fertilizer , maybe made by adding extremophiles to it – hardy microbes imported from Earth that can survive even the harshest conditions . Genetically engineered organisms are also a possibility.

Through photosynthesis , these organisms would begin converting carbon dioxide to oxygen. Eventually, as Mars became more life-friendly to Earthlike organisms, colonists could introduce more complex plants and even animals.

Providing oxygen, water and food in the right proportions is extraordinarily complex. On Earth, scientists have tried to simulate this in Biosphere 2 , a closed-off ecosystem featuring ocean, tropical and desert habitats. Although all of Biosphere 2’s environments are controlled, even there scientists struggle to get the balance right. Mother Nature really knows what she is doing.

A house on Mars

Buildings could be 3D-printed; initially, they would need to be pressurized and protected until Mars acquired Earthlike temperatures and air. NASA’s Moon-to-Mars Planetary Autonomous Construction Technologies program is researching how to do exactly this.

There are many more challenges. For example, unlike Earth , Mars has no magnetosphere , which protects a planet from solar wind and cosmic radiation. Without a magnetic field, too much radiation gets through for living things to stay healthy. There are ways to create a magnetic field , but so far the science is highly speculative.

In fact, all of the technologies I’ve described are far beyond current capabilities at the scale needed to terraform Mars. Developing them would take enormous amounts of research and money, probably much more than possible in the near term. Although the Genesis device from “Star Trek III” could terraform a planet in a matter of minutes, terraforming Mars would take centuries or even millennia.

And there are a lot of ethical questions to resolve before people get started on turning Mars into another Earth. Is it right to make such drastic permanent changes to another planet?

If this all leaves you disappointed, don’t be. As scientists create innovations to terraform Mars, we’ll also use them to make life better on Earth. Remember the technology we’re developing to print 3D habitats on Mars? Right now, I’m part of a group of scientists and engineers employing that very same technology to print homes here on Earth – which will help address the world’s housing shortage .

Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to [email protected] . Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.

And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.

• Could people breathe the air on Mars?
• Colonizing Mars means contaminating Mars – and never knowing for sure if it had its own native life

Sven Bilén is a co-owner of X-Hab 3D, Inc. which has received NASA STTR funding to develop lunar construction technologies and develops 3D concrete printing systems. He receives funding from NASA, DARPA, and the U.S. Air Force related to 3D concrete printing technologies.

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James b. sikking, actor on ‘hill street blues’ and ‘doogie howser,’ dies at 90.

The Emmy nominee worked for Steven Bochco on those series and on 'Brooklyn South,' too.

By Mike Barnes

Mike Barnes

Senior Editor

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James B. Sikking, the Steven Bochco favorite who portrayed the no-nonsense Lt. Howard Hunter on Hill Street Blues and the good-hearted doctor dad on Doogie Howser, M.D., has died. He was 90.

Sikking died Saturday at his Los Angeles home of complications from dementia, publicist Cynthia Snyder announced.  

After spending the better part of two decades showing up on such shows as The Outer Limits , Honey West , The Fugitive , Hogan’s Heroes and Mannix , Sikking was cast as the pipe-smoking Hunter, leader of the SWAT-like Emergency Action Team, on NBC’s Hill Street Blues .

Bochco, who created the series with Michael Kozoll, afforded Sikking the opportunity to shape his character, and the actor based Hunter on a drill instructor he had encountered during basic training at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

“The drill instructor looked like he had steel for hair and his uniform had so much starch in it, you knew it would [stand] in the corner when he took it off in the barracks,” he said in a 2014 interview with The Fresno Bee . “So when I started to play Howard, I picked out the way he should be dressed. It had to be a very military look.”

Sikking appeared on 144 episodes across all seven seasons (1981-87) of the acclaimed drama and received an Emmy nomination in 1984.

Bochco turned to Sikking again for Doogie Howser , and he played Vietnam veteran turned family practitioner David Howser, husband of Belinda Montgomery’s Katherine and dad of Doogie (Neil Patrick Harris), on all four seasons (1989-93) of that ABC show.

One of five kids, James Barrie (named for the Peter Pan author) Sikking was born in Los Angeles on March 5, 1934. His mother, Sue, founded the Unity by the Sea Church in Santa Monica in gratitude after she recovered from a nearly fatal automobile accident. His father, Art, followed his wife into the ministry.

Sikking attended El Segundo High School and, after military service, graduated from UCLA in 1959 with a theater degree. He then appeared on episodes of Perry Mason and Assignment: Underwater in 1961 and later in films including The Carpetbaggers (1964), Von Ryan’s Express (1965) and In Like Flint (1967).

Sikking worked on a 1971 episode of NBC’s Name of the Game on which Bochco served as a story editor and then guest-starred on the CBS shows Delvecchio and Paris and as a regular on NBC’s Turnabout — those three were written by Bochco, too — before embarking on Hill Street Blues .

“I’d done acres of crap,” he said of joining  Hill Street in 2006. “This was special.”

(Later, he showed up as Hunter on Bochco’s ill-fated ABC series Cop Rock in 1990.)

From 1971-76, Sikking played Jim Hobart, a surgeon with a drinking problem, on the ABC soap General Hospital , and he was the distant father of Jim Carrey in the acclaimed 1992 Fox telefilm Doing Time on Maple Drive .

Sikking’s film résumé also included The New Centurions (1972), The Magnificent Seven Ride! (1972), Scorpio (1973), Capricorn One (1977), The Electric Horseman (1979), The Competition (1980), Ordinary People (1980), Outland  (1981),  The Star Chamber (1983), Narrow Margin (1990), Final Approach (1991), Fever Pitch (2005) and Made of Honor (2008).

And he appeared twice on HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm in 2004.

Sikking was devoted to raising funds for cystic fibrosis and the Susan G. Koman Foundation, and through the SAG Book Pals program, he read to public school third-grade classes for 19 years and was affectionately known as “Jim the Reader.”

Survivors include his second wife, Florine, an author whom he met at UCLA and married in September 1962; children Emily and Andrew; and grandchildren Lola, Gemma, Hugh and Madeline.

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