Re-Ranking The Star Trek Feature Films

In 40 years of Star Trek we have been given 10 movies - some great, some not so great, and some downright awful. One of them left the great sci-fi writer Arthur C. Clarke brooding over its inclusion in his list of the best science fiction films of all time, and coming to the conclusion that "it would make more sense to have two lists: Most Important, and Best." Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan undoubtedly holds the top spot for "best" Star Trek movie, but how do we rank the others?

Below you will find two lists that rank the films in order of greatness: one from TwitchGuru managing editor Rob Wright, and one from Aaron McKenna, editor of Tom's Hardware Guide UK & Ireland.

In re-ranking these films, there are two conclusions at which we've arrived. The first is that beyond "The Wrath of Khan," it's difficult to get people to agree 100 percent on the rest of the films. The positive aspect of this sort of look back is that it allows us to assess what works, and what doesn't work, with Star Trek movies. The second is that there is little basis for the "odd/even number movie curse", which holds that the even-numbered Trek films are far better than the odd-numbered ones. As we will point out, the curse is a nothing more than a myth.

Without further ado, here are Aaron and Rob's respective Top 10 Trek movies.

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Aaron's #1: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Need one even qualify this? Number 2 is seen as the best Star Trek movie by far, and it is considered one of the finest science fiction movies in its own right, by Arthur C. Clarke and on down.

What made Star Trek II a great movie? Simple: a tight, character-driven plot (as opposed to all this "pseudo-science" based malarkey) with an excellent villain. From start to finish, TWOK sets us up and then knocks everything down. In the first part of the movie, we explore the characters of the three main protagonists: Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Khan (Ricardo Montalban). Then, in the second, we blow the Enterprise and Reliant to bits.

There's no messing about in the lab discussing Genesis science ad nauseum, the camera doesn't spend all that long admiring the sleek shape of the ships, and the movie has a tight, naval feel to it - you can even see collected dirt on the hull of the Enterprise. At no point in the movie do you wish you were somewhere else - as in "The Motion Picture" - and every scene moves you forward.

Rob's #1: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

There's simply no way I can go against the grain on this one. Not only is this the best of Trek, it is one of the finest sci-fi movies ever made.

It's interesting to look back at TWOK and observe how well the film plays up its strengths and hides it weaknesses. Examples of the latter include the fact that Khan and Kirk never actually appear in the same room together (Montalban and Shatner shot all of their scenes separately four months apart); the character-driven plot focuses exclusively on the Big Three (Kirk, Spock and McCoy) while featuring very little of the supporting Trek cast; and while it may seem like there was more action, there are just two battle scenes.

All of this, however, is overshadowed by the great elements of TWOK: the strongest acting of any Trek film; a magnificent score from James Horner; tight direction from Nicholas Meyer; the greatest villain in Trek history; the powerful themes of mortality, aging and the bonds between father and son as well as friends; and a perfectly poignant climax. Spock's sacrifice and death is not only a classic movie moment but the apex of the entire franchise. It's a scene that still moves me to this day.

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