- Space Speed - This episode introduces some of the core concepts that really inform the Star Trek universe. The Eugenics Wars and mankind having previously having come within a few breaths of Armageddon. That's not the reason it makes the top ten. It's a story that while clichéd is very well told. Montelban's performance is memorable, even if the episode itself is not. Every character has a clear motivation, especially Khan. That's a rarity in a villain from the original series episode.
- Who Mourns Adonis? - Captain Kirk and company meet the Greek Gods. I think my mom and I might be the only people in the world who would put this one in their top ten. It usually doesn't rank that high in fan polls. It's a little on the goofy side but it's fun. Unlike certain episodes I could name that seem to go on the top ten list of all of our competitors lists that really isn't all that great an episode. I'm looking at you, Galileo Seven.
- I, Mudd - The notorious con man Harry Mudd returns. Only this time he has friends in the form of bunch of androids. Unfortunately, these robots designed to serve humans begin to think humanity is out of control and even dangerous. So the crew are simply not allowed to leave the planet for their own safety. Of course, this being a Mudd episode, hijinks ensue. The way Kirk beats the androids is laughable by today's standards. However, the episode is incredibly entertaining especially watching Spock seducing the android women. I bet you're thinking "What the hell?" but it's true. Sort of.
- Balance of Terror - The 1960s was the height of the Cold War. No television show captured the 60s like Star Trek. So it is not surprising that a show known for metaphors of real world events disguised as science fiction would do a story that was a thinly veiled version of the Cuban Missile Crisis. One of the great things about Star Trek: The Original Series was that as science fiction they could say things that would go right over the head of network executives (average IQ: 27) and some of the audience. You couldn't go on most TV shows of the period and have a story that said: "Hey, the enemy are people too. They have hopes, desires, feelings and families too. That's why we have to find someway to work this out without destroying each other." Very few shows could boldly go there but Star Trek did. The Romulan Commander wasn't so much a villain as he was an honorable man fighting for a cause diametrically opposed to the Federation viewpoint. Luckily for Kirk, he was a man who wanted to prevent a war so badly he was willing to die for it.
- Wolf in the Fold - The good news is due to an odd twist of fate, the beautiful woman on the planet falls for someone other than Kirk - Scotty, of all people. The bad news is all the evidence points to Scotty being her murderer. Scott goes to trial and things really aren't going very well. Kirk and Spock try every thing they can to prove Scotty's innocence. It is a very cool murder mystery than ultimately involves a transmigrating soul that is hundreds of years old. It is quite possibly the most dangerous being Kirk has ever had to face - Piglet. Sorry, I meant Jack the Ripper. Though it's na-na-not easy being a sa-sa-serial killer when you're such a sm-sm-small animal.
- Mirror, Mirror - First, this is one of the few, if not only episode where Uhura goes on an away mission. It should get props just for that. Second, when done right, alternate universe stories are a great chance to explore who our characters are especially when the villains are the characters we've come to know to know and love. Thirdly, how can you go wrong with Spock with a goatee? It's like Star Trek is giving a gentle nod to what has come before - mainly the old Republic Studios serials. Unlike most good Trek, it doesn't have any metaphorical ties to real world events. However it does teach us to look at how others might perceive our actions, which is just as important.
- The City on the Edge of Forever - During a shipboard accident, McCoy accidentally gets drugged and beams down to a nearby planet. He finds a doorway back in time and somehow radically alters history. Thus, Kirk and Spock have to go back a little bit further back in time and fix it. Then Kirk meets Edith Kellar and falls in love. Then they discover what changes the timeline and well, wouldn't you know McCoy's actions save Kellar when she was supposed to die. The ending is heartbreaking. It's not quite the story Harlan Ellison originally wrote but it is still a damn fine episode.
- The Trouble with Tribbles - This is probably the episode most people, even non fans, think of when they think of the original series. It is goofy but it is also a classic. Every marathon that includes best of the original series airs this episode. It's kind of obligatory. Shatner seems less annoying than usual in this one- perhaps because he's a much better comedic actor. Everyone else is hysterical- even Leonard Nimoy, who isn't supposed to be funny. I bet you can't say: "Who put the tribbles in the quadrotriticale" three times fast.
- The Cage - This pilot is an odd mix. On the one hand, the special effects and actors all say 1960s. The themes and attitude of the story all say second or third season TNG. It has a lot of things I'm sure couldn't fly on network television in those days with a woman as first officer being just the start. Sometimes I wonder how the history of science fiction on television would have played out if Jeffery Hunter had been the star of the series rather than William Shatner. Ultimately, I don't think I'd be writing this column in that universe. The series would not have lasted long. While the acting was strong, the story was great (people in zoos) and it was even shot better than most Star Trek episodes - I'm not sure it was what people would have wanted to watch. It's an episode that is probably better received now than it would have been back then. It is so good that Roddenberry recycled most of the footage into the two part episode The Menagerie.
The Best of Star Trek: The Next Generation
- Yesterday's Enterprise - This was one of the first TNG episodes I saw all the way through and it stuck with me. It's a story wherein a "lost" Enterprise jumps forward in time and alters the present. The only one aware of it is Guinan. It's also noted as the episode that brought Tasha Yar back for a death that was slightly less "Why did they do that other than Denise Crosby wanting off the show by a certain date?" It's also the springboard for the big, bad villain for parts of season four and five. So this episode has a lot going for it.
- Deja Q - Unlike my mom, my father is not a Star Trek fan- however this is one of those rare episodes even he likes. Actually, any episode with Q, aside from Farpoint is one he enjoys but this one is his favorite because of the premise. Q episodes have a tendency to get just a little bit silly but with a dark edge. This one more so than most, as the once almighty Q is brought low and sent to live amongst men. Given a choice of being able to go anywhere in the universe he chose the Enterprise and hijinks ensue. John de Lancie is, as always, perfectly droll and sarcastic. We've sort of stolen a line from this episode around our house. When someone says something incredible stupid, someone will say: "Very clever Worf, eat any good books lately?" I guess you had to be there.
- Unification - Since almost day one, fans had wanted to see Spock on the Star Trek: The Next Generation. After five years, the writer's finally hit on a story that Leonard Nimoy was willing to do. It hits all the right notes. Spock's reasons for going to Romulus all seem right. There is the fact of Spock's own dual nature and that he married a half Romulan, you can really understand his desire to heal the rift in Vulcan culture. The episode also features one of the last roles of another Star Trek legend, Mark Lenard who gets a great send off. Not only that- as much as most Trekkies won't speak of it- the writer's took the extra step of making at least one episode of Star Trek: The Animated series canon. Luckily, the episode was Yesteryear, one of the episodes originally developed for the original series that had to be abandoned due to effects reasons.
- Hero Worship - This episode is about a traumatized little boy who decides to emulate Data. Which should be a rather frightening and somewhat strange concept. It should come off kind of creepy and in some ways it does. However there are also some elements of humor. It's dark enough that it holds together as really good story but not goofy enough that it falls apart. Brent Spiner pulls off a great performance. The B plot seems to only be there for two reasons 1) to put a ticking clock on the resolution of the A plot and 2) to give Picard and the others something to do. Still, it is one of TNGs finest hours. Producers Berman and Piller claimed the cast pulled out all the stops on this one because they were shooting it the week Gene Roddenberry died.
- Frame of Mind - I like this episode a lot mainly because there is a line - that gets repeated a lot - that basically sums up how I feel about the world around me. "I may be surrounded by insanity but I am not insane." I guess most people have felt that way from time to time. Maybe not to extent Riker does when he's captured during an away mission and put in a mental hospital but the feeling is the same. It's an episode that plays with the definition of reality and what people will do to maintain equilibrium. It's one of those very fast paced but character driven episodes that Next Generation did quite a bit later on. It's also one of those episode where you might want to pause it before you take a pee break otherwise you'll be hopelessly lost when you get back.
- Cause and Effect - This is an odd and repetitive episode. This is an odd and repetitive episode. This is an odd and repetitive episode. This is an odd and repetitive episode. This is an odd and repetitive episode. This is an odd and repetitive episode. This is an odd and repetitive episode. This is an odd and repetitive episode. This is an odd and repetitive episode. This is an odd and repetitive episode This is a rather odd and... is that Sideshow Bob?
- Chain of Command - When the Cardassians were first introduced they were sort of nebulously immoral, vile and disgusting lizard people. They are nasty people and obviously a lot brighter than the Gorn. It was here, however they the Cardassians first showed themselves as a serious threat not just on a vast "we've killed millions of characters you've never seen before and don't give a targ's ass about" sort of way. Sometimes, you need to witness the evil inflicted one person, knowing it probably wasn't the first time they'd done something like this, to make the nastiness sink in. In that respect, Gul Madred does something to Picard with the mere repetition of the words: "There are five lights" that even the Borg were not able to accomplish. He almost shatters Picard's resolve. Emotionally it is not an easy two parter to watch. It originally had a "parental discretion is advised" warning on it. Both Patrick Stewart and David Warner bring their A games to this two-parter.
- The Best of Both Worlds - The third season had some bad episodes but also some really good bordering on great episodes. Best of Both Worlds begins the golden age of TNG, which ran from the end of the third season up until season six. This two parter has some of the best battle scenes the series ever produced. It has some good character moments for Riker, Troi and Guinan. Most of the time TV series are burning themselves out by season three. Next Generation was just finding itself. When it finally does, damn is it fantastic. It's hardly recognizable as the same show anymore. Which is a good thing.
- The Outcast - Many of Star Trek's best episodes have been metaphors for the social ills of the modern world. Here, Riker falls in love with a member of an androgynous species who happens to be a mutant and social outcast for having slightly more feminine characteristics. Through the course of her time with Riker, the authorities on the planet find out. Soon she is placed in genetic and psychological treatment as if being who you are is a disease. It's one of the best sci-fi stories about sexual identity I've seen get by on broadcast TV. It's seems so truly sci-fi, until you see something just like it happening in the news usually involving the headline: gay teen commits suicide. The episode was written in the early 1990s and two decades later not much has changed. It's still a very socially relevant episode even if it shouldn't be.
- Brothers - This episode is almost 90% character development with an amazing acting job. I was aware Brent Spiner played Data and Lore. It was not until my fourth viewing that I realized Brent Spiner was also Dr. Soong. This episode really had me fooled. I've seen the same actor talking to themselves bit many, many, many times however I've never seen it done so naturally. It did not seem like he was spending 22 minutes talking to himself. It felt like a debate on what it means to be human, child rearing, the nature of the soul and a really dysfunctional synthetic family. Like most family get togethers, there are touching moments, some laughs and that one member who we wish wouldn't come to the party but shows up anyway. Even that brings in some much needed conflict to the episode.
Deep Space Nine
- Duet - It is said the first law of television is the first season of a series always stinks because the show has a lot of bugs that have to be kicked out so the series can really figure out what it is. However, with this episode, Deep Space Nine figures it out a few episodes early. Compared to other episode in the series- not to mention a mere week before- the series evolves rapidly. The story revolves around the crew finding a Cardassian with a disease he could have only contracted at a Bajoran labor camp and has questions about his identity. Was he a mere file clerk or as he later claims- the Gul in charge of the facility? It's a morally muddy episode where you see the irrationality of one woman's need for vengeance and the insane lengths one man will go to to redeem his entire society. The daring thing about this episode is that the woman seeking vengeance is Kira Nerys- a character we've spent the entire season seeing as a protagonist. One of the major flaws of a lot of sci-fi, even Star Trek, is the trope that "All Species X are evil, Character Y is Species X, therefore Character Y is evil." This episode really blurs that line. There are a several moments where you almost believe that Kira is the villain of the piece. It's an episode about hatred but in true Star Trek fashion it's about how corrosive it is to ones mental health and to that of society.
- The Wire - In concordance with the title, this episode does a very nice balancing act. It reveals a trail of bread crumbs into the life of plain simple Garak. It tells you just enough that you think you know what his game is but not enough that you lose interest in him. Quite the opposite in fact; for every answer this episode gives viewers, it asks quite a few more. Most characters on Deep Space Nine changed over time but not Garak. Everything that Garak was- he always was. It is a case of layers being pulled away and revealed to the audience. Sometimes the layers would fold back in a Moebius strip of emotions. It's probably why he is one of the series most interesting characters.
- Improbable Cause/The Die is Cast - This two parter walks that fine line with Garak once again. It gives us more bread crumbs and even more puzzle pieces. It give us reasons to hate Garak. It gives us a few more reasons to like him as well. While most shows- even other Star Trek series- would have an easy time saying Garak is evil, Deep Space Nine wisely puts him in a shade of gray. The surprising thing is that for the first time we actually see Garak acting in ways that seem somewhat unlike him. Before the Changelings attack, he has no reason to protect Odo but he does. Of course after the attack starts, it's completely in Garak's self interest to help Odo and escape with his life. He tries to warn everyone else and fails. Both acts seem somewhat out of place for a character who claims to be motivated by nothing less than his own survival. Again, it makes the viewer wonder what Garak's real game plan is or if he really has one.
- Civil Defense - Deep Space Nine itself is almost the forgotten character of the series. This episode offers up some dark pieces of its history as a sleeper program is accidentally activated. It's a story about some rather unusual choices for character interactions. There are some nice moments with Chief O'Brien and Jake. It's also a great highlight for two recurring regulars: Gul Dukat and Garak. Seeing how much these two really hate each other is really fun to watch. It is almost, but not quite, their episode. The episode while not a thematic gem is a fast paced race against the clock where the crew have to join forces with people they can't trust to save the station.
- Our Man Bashir - Just so you don't think Deep Space Nine's best episodes were all doom and gloom, here's Julian Bashir super spy to the rescue. Another in an amazing number of "something goes wrong with the holodeck" episodes, this one has a twist of being a "something goes wrong with the transporter" episode as well. While using the holodeck memory to store degrading transporter patterns, the crew replace key characters in Bashir's spy program. Garak and Bashir are in the holodeck and must play out the scenario with the safeties off in order to save the lives of their friends. It is a really silly episode. Yes. It invokes every James Bond and buddy cop action movie gimmick you can think of and then some. Jadzia as the gorgeous, brilliant scientist working for the villain but is secretly in love with the hero is so true to the period but also inspired considering how their relationship almost played out. Garak's commentary on the spy game is hilarious. Then there is Sisko as the mad scientist which is where the laughs meet their crescendo.
- Trials and Tribbulations - This is another one of those episodes that is almost mandatory. It is an episode that respects the original series but is also not afraid to have fun with it. Oddly enough, the original Trouble with Tribbles was a goofy episode that became almost sacred ground. It's hard to match. The humor in this sequel is a little more true to Deep Space Nine's sensibility. There is much less slapstick and a little more dry sarcasm. "Tell me Worf, do they still sing songs of the great tribble hunt?" It also introduces the quite amusing concept of the Department of Temporal Investigations. The only section of the Federation that thinks of James T. Kirk as the most dangerous man who ever lived.
- For the Uniform - Out of all the Star Trek series - Deep Space Nine had the best villains. Mainly because they treated them as individuals and all races got to be villains at some point. In this case- a character who had been a hero for almost two seasons. That is part of what made Eddington a great villain. He was a former Starfleet officer who just had a different idea of justice and fair play. He wasn't some random psychotic, former war criminal or religious zealot. In his own way he was a man of honor. The viewer can actually understand why he's doing horrible things. They probably don't agree with it but they can sympathize. If ones family were being cut off from society, starved and tortured- they might even imagine themselves acting accordingly. They probably realize that even if Eddington's reasons are right, his actions aren't. It's why when Sisko uses Eddington's own moral code against him, you don't feel so bad for him. On the other hand, Eddigton still wins because in his own mind he has shown Sisko that when you get down to it, he can be as insidious and dishonorable as Eddington seems to everyone else.
- What You Leave Behind - As rushed as the final season was ,I really don't think there was any other way the series could have ended. It's a nice wrap up to most of the plot lines that the series had going. Did all of them end the way the fans were happy with? No. Anyone who'd been watching since Season One and expected that kind of ending was deluding themselves. Not every story in this series ends happily. Nor should they because that wouldn't really be satisfying. Yes, things seem happy for Julian and Ezri but Kira and Odo are forced to go their separate ways. Worf leaves to become Ambassador to the Klingon Empire but Sisko is forced into Godhood leaving Jake alone to help Cassidy. The O'Brien family may have finally gotten their wish of leaving the station but it's right when they'd begun to think of it as home. Then there is Quark who after all this time is still running the damn bar. I mean, where's the justice?
- Far Beyond the Stars - This episode is a real mind blower. Sisko's somehow lost his memory and stumbles into living the life of a 1950s science fiction writer named Ben Russell. He begins having weird dreams and starts writing them down. Those dreams are of a space station called Deep Space Nine. Most of the rest of the DS9 cast appear as people Russell knows. Some in positions similar to the ones we know, like Cassidy Yates, Gul Dukat and Weyoun. Others not as much- Odo is almost the bad guy here. Quark is actually one of the more likable people in Russell's life. It's an episode about racial equality. It's an episode that puts the very ideas of what Star Trek is supposed to be to the test, breaks many of those rules and yet ultimately reaffirms them.
- In the Pale Moonlight - One of the things you expect from a captain on Star Trek is honesty and the ability to know right from wrong. That's what makes this episode so interesting. Sisko has lived through dozens of battles throughout the war with the Dominion. He's seen large portions of the fleet wiped out in a matter of minutes. He looks at scenario after scenario and they all tell him the final outcome: the Federation will lose. The only possible solution is to get the Romulans to pull out of their non-aggression pact with The Dominion and side with the Federation. Sisko then turns to Garak to come up with a way to make that happen. It is an episode that boldly goes where no Trek has gone before and only with the best intentions. We all know where that often leads...
The Top Ten All Series Crap Down
- Phage (Star Trek: Voyager) - The problem I have with this episode is simple - holographic lungs. It's a bit like they borrowed the most incoherent part of the plot from Spock's Brain, removed the overt sexism and added a completely unnecessary- albeit creative use- of the holodeck for no reason. The whole idea of hard light holographic lungs is absurd even for Star Trek. Cloned organs have been in the theoretical stages since the 20th century. A few years ago cloned organs were actually inserted into mice. The cooler thing; the mice actually had an improved life span and did not reject the organs. (Since they were genetically identical to the immune system in place.) Yes, with current technology it takes months to grow an organ. Though the idea that in four hundred years the process would have improved somewhat is not that much of a stretch. At least less of one than a transporter, faster than light travel and hard light holograms.
- Heart of Stone (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) - Even Deep Space Nine lapsed every once in awhile. This episode a little more than most. Here Odo and Kira are in a shuttle that crashes. They get separated somehow. Then Odo finds Kira slowly turning into stone. Instead of going to see if the beacons worked, Odo stays and talks to her. They exchange emotional beats. Then comes the big emotional reveal that we the audience already knew- that Odo was in love with Kira and always had been. Now this could have been a big emotional moment for the series. Only it turns out that it wasn't Kira. It was the female changeling. The real Kira was on the other side of the asteroid repairing her beacon the whole time. So the episode is just a big waste of time plotwise. No matter how good the emotionally charged talking in the middle act was, it just gets ruined by a cheap ending put in because the writer's didn't want to go down that road. Considering they changed their mind about a season or two later makes it all the more horrible to watch. The only redeeming aspect of this episode is Nog's desire to join Starfleet. It was a really big turning point for the character and the place of the Ferengi in the Star Trek universe. While he was sort of the antagonist of the piece, Armin Shimmerman final got his wish- that the Ferengi would become more than a joke. They became just as developed as a culture as the Klingons, Bajorans or the Vulcans.
- Rascals (Star Trek: The Next Generation) - This is an over used Saturday morning cartoon trope wherein some of the main characters, in this case Picard, Guinan and Ro, get turned back into children (Editor's note: This was a staple of DC Comics in the Silver Age, too.) Riker takes command of the ship as Geordi, Data and Beverly try to come with a way to change them back. All is well and good until the Ferengi intervene and take over the ship. Luckily, Guinan is old enough to remember seeing Home Alone and kids who are even younger than Wesley end up saving the Enterprise. I'm not sure if the "I want a second chance at being a child" subplot for Ro which attempts to give the episode a little bit more emotional heft helps the episode or increases the deep hurting factor.
- Ellan of Troyius (Star Trek: The Original Series) - Every once in awhile, okay, a lot of the time - the original series would go over budget and they'd just have to raid the prop department at Desilu. The results were usually not worth mentioning. Another money saving gimmick was to steal plots from Shakespeare. The results aren't usually that bad. Now - if you do both together that's a whole other can of worms. What you end up is "The Taming of Shrew" meets "Anthony and Cleopatra" in Space. It would take really good dramatic performances to really make that work. It's a level of serious acting that William Shatner isn't capable of. Well, at least they didn't do Hamlet in Space again.
- Where No One Has Gone Before (Star Trek: The Next Generation) - This episode makes the list for a very special reason. It is the first of many, many, many, many times wherein Wesley the Boy Wonder saves the Enterprise. I think Wesley has a bad rap amongst the fans because he was a fourteen year old who kept saving the galaxy. He'd fit in better on Commando Cody. The character became much less annoying as the series went on. However it's one of the elements of the first two seasons or so of Next Generation that make so many of those early episodes almost unwatchable to anyone over the age of twelve.
- The Haunting of Deck Twelve (Star Trek: Voyager) - This episode has all the makings of bad Star Trek: Voyager. Neelix narrating. Borg kids. A flashback framing device. A cheesy campfire type ghost story plot that ultimately turns out to be Neelix throwing crap up against the wall and seeing what sticks. The only way this episode could have gotten any worse would be for the mysterious entity to have turned out to Ensign Witherby with a holoprojector trying to scare everyone off Deck 12 so he could have all the gold he found to himself. No wait . . . that would have been amusing. They could have Seven of Nine shouting "My optical implants, my optical implants, I can't see without my optical implants." Then have Chakotay standing around doing nothing other than arrogantly trumpeting his plan while wearing an ascot. (No different from usual, save for the ascot.) Then Tuvok and Neelix could start eating dog treats. Yeah, I'd watch that.
- The Terratin Incident (Star Trek: The Animated Series) - There are some plots that every action adventure cartoon from the 1960s to the late 90s would do if you let them run long enough. One of these was an episode about shrinking. That plot might work for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or The Thundercats. In Star Trek- it turns out to be a disaster. They later did it in Deep Space Nine as well where it came off a little less annoying because they managed to make it visually interesting. I chalked the bad execution up to the split personality of the Animated Series. One being that of the typical Filmation cartoons of the 70s. The other being that of the writers from original series- people like Dorothy "D.C" Fontana and David Gerrold. Can you guess which team wrote this one? (Hint: This episode D.C. Fontana would probably be embarrassed to even be mentioned in this review.) It's a grimace inducing wink and a nudge to Roddenberry's claim that Gulliver's Travels was one of the inspirations for Star Trek.
- Imaginary Friend (Star Trek: The Next Generation) - This episode has a lot of things going for it to get it on the crap parade It's another in a long line of "...and when they got there they found their greatest wish, only it tried to kill them" episodes. There is nothing wrong with the concept. Each Star Trek series has done one of these at least once a season. The problem is it spends far, far, far too much time on "Girl We've Never Seen Before." Even when this episode first aired in the early 90s (I was about 12), I wondered who she was and when the episode would get back to Picard and the crew. It takes forever. Alexander gets more screen time than Riker? What the hell? When Picard finally decides to rejoin the plot, he gives Tommy from 3rd Rock from the Sun's girlfriend a very firm talking to and then she just up and leaves. That's it. In that regard, it's almost a throw back to the first and second season Wesleycentric episodes. Only at least we knew who Wesley Crusher was and had a vague reason why he had to be there. You don't get that here. To make matters even worse, this was from the fifth season. A season that goes down for Next Gen fans as- without a doubt- the best year of the series over all. Only one bad episode in the bunch but that one stinks worse than the restroom of a gas station off the interstate in West Virginia.
- Spock's Brain (Star Trek: The Original Series) - Spock gets kidnapped by a group of aliens from the planet Local Weather Girl. They only abduct his brain because they need it to navigate their Starship. Why? Because they sent all their children to brain removing classes and none of them to piloting school. Kirk and company track down the aliens while Spock somehow stays alive without a Medulla Oblongata. They manage to get Spock's brain back and here comes the most miraculous part- McCoy is able to do a brain transplant. The episode is almost too stupid for words. Save for...
- The Infinite Vulcan (Star Trek: The Animated Series) - Okay, Spock gets kidnapped again! Only this time a crack pot scientist who escaped into space after the Eugenics Wars decides to make a 20 foot tall clone. Unfortunately, the process of copying memories leaves original Spock a vegetable. Kirk and Company track Spock down. They fight the bad guy. They convince giant Spock to mind meld with original Spock, thus restoring his mind. Now some episodes of the Animated series were good enough to be considered canon. This however is far from being one of those episodes.
And the Top five best Star Trek Movies
- Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country - Most great Star Trek is a metaphor for things that have happened, or are happening, in the world around us. In this case Russia in the post Chernobyl period, being reenacted by Star Trek. Though it also throws in an action/murder mystery plot. It takes its lumps for the Scooby Doo ending but the dialogue is snappy. It is a vast improvement over Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. It would be horrible if the original cast had that clunker as their big send off. The movie gains some points for giving Sulu his own ship and letting him kick Klingon ass. Oh yeah, there is also a small hint of things to come in the form of Worf's grandfather.
- Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - Most fans will be mad for putting this one so low on the countdown. On the one hand, it does have a lot of the over arcing Roddenberry ideas. The value of friendship, peace and good will to your fellow men along with the unhappy necessity of sacrifice. It also has not one- but two- really bad performances by people who are supposed to holding the movie together. The first and foremost.... the awkwardly paused William Shatner. The much was a given. However, if Shatner's performance was bad for being generally stiff and flat to the point of somehow being even more emotionless than Leonard Nimoy's Spock, then Ricardo Montalban's performance was bad for being too emotional. He put so much into that "round and round the moons of Nibia" stuff that you need Dramamine. The real glue of the movie, by far, are Leonard Nimoy and the oft overlooked Deforest Kelley.
- Star Trek XI - It seems there is no middle ground with J.J. Abrahms Star Trek. You either loved it or you hated it. It's odd, I haven't had a good impression of Abrahms from his previous work. Star Trek really came through. It kept the feel and spirit of the original series and gave it a much needed engine boost. He was very careful in saying that the old timeline had been split and not destroyed. Otherwise I think a lot of Star Trek fans would have walked out of the theater. (Funny, because a lot of the original timeline was already "destroyed" by the pilot of Enterprise and there were people fighting to keep that on the air.) I actually like some of the changes to "Universe-2." McCoy being more annoyed with Kirk than Spock, the exiled Scotty and best of all . . . Spock's relationship with Uhura.
- Star Trek: First Contact - This film is amazing not only because it tells a really good story but because it does so incorporating all five Star Trek series. First off, it is obviously a Next Generation movie. (One point) Then the Defiant makes a cameo and Worf plays a big role, tying into Deep Space Nine. (Point two) One of the EMH programs introduced on Voyager shows up. (Point three). While not originally played by James Cromwell, Zefram Cochrane appeared in the original series episode Metamorphosis. (Point Four). It also is the basic seeding point for the Enterprise series. (Point Five.) The Borg had made many appearances in Trek canon since The Best of Both Worlds including TNG's "I, Borg" and "Descent," along with DS9's "The Emissary" and a few appearances on Voyager. However, they had lost a little bit of the "Oh $#*!" factor that they once possessed. This movie should have been titled "How the Borg Got It's Groove Back." Not only that, it makes time for some very character driven moments including a hilarious scene with Barclay and the state of urination in the 24th century.
- Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home - Up until recently, if you asked non fans about the Star Trek movies they'd say: "I saw the one with the whales. That was funny." Indeed it is. There is enough humor and adventure to satisfy the non-fans with plenty of other jokes for those who are. The origins of the pair of glasses that McCoy gave Kirk in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is shown here. It's also got a really nice A, B, C and D plots. Every character is given something to do, even the usually over looked Uhura. Another thing that really makes it work is that it continues Star Trek's tradition of doing stories that are really talking about problems of our modern world- in this case man's role in the extinction of other species.
Be back here next time for Ten books that should have been part of The DC Reboot...
