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Star Trek: The Motion Picture
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Ten years after the cancellation of the original Star Trek TV series, the popularity of reruns led to a planned TV revival. Those plans shifted into what became the first-ever Star Trek movie, reuniting the original TV series cast, including William Shatner as Admiral James T. Kirk, Leonard Nimoy as Spock, and DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy. The starship Enterprise gets a fancy upgrade, and the crew sets out on a new mission to confront a mysterious, all-powerful alien intelligence. Star Trek: The Motion Picture proved the franchise’s enduring popularity, now on both the big and small screens.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture is streaming on Paramount+ ($4.99+ per month after a seven-day free trial).
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
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Still considered by many to be the greatest Star Trek movie, The Wrath of Khan brings back one of the original TV series’ most memorable villains, genetically engineered megalomaniac Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban), returned from exile to seek revenge. Khan proves to be a worthy foe for the Enterprise crew, especially Kirk, with whom he shares an intense rivalry. The Wrath of Khan features many of Trek‘s most iconic lines and moments, and has been held up as the template for Trek movies going forward.
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Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
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Following the tragic death of Spock at the end of The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek‘s creators, including debut director Leonard Nimoy, spent the next movie bringing him back to life. Admiral Kirk and the Enterprise crew go on a quest to reunite Spock’s soul—what the Vulcans call “katra”—with his body. Spock’s katra has been merged with Dr. McCoy’s mind, while his body is located on the planet terraformed by Khan at the end of the previous movie. Spock’s crewmates race to revive their friend while also facing off against a crew of hostile Klingons.
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock is streaming on Paramount+ ($4.99+ per month after a seven-day free trial).
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
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Combining Star Trek‘s sci-fi grandeur with the 1980s trend of fish-out-of-water comedy, The Voyage Home is the most lighthearted Trek movie. Leonard Nimoy returns as director for the story of the Enterprise crew traveling back in time to 1986 San Francisco, to retrieve a humpback whale. The whale, extinct in the Enterprise’s time, is needed to respond to a dangerous alien probe. Despite the plot urgency, the movie mostly focuses on the crew’s misadventures in 1986, where they are confused by the technology and customs of the past.
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is streaming on Paramount+ ($4.99+ per month after a seven-day free trial).
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Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
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Star William Shatner takes over as director and co-writer for an ambitious film that’s often considered the low point of Star Trek movies. Shatner’s vision has the Enterprise crew tracking an unhinged Vulcan named Sybok, who’s revealed to be Spock’s never-mentioned half-brother. Sybok commandeers a diplomatic mission so he can reach a mythical planet that he believes is the literal home of God. Pursued by a Klingon warship, the hijacked Enterprise travels to the home of the supposed deity, in a showdown that’s more silly than profound.
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is streaming on Paramount+ ($4.99+ per month after a seven-day free trial).
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
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After the disappointing response to The Final Frontier, The Wrath of Khan director Nicholas Meyer returned to Star Trek for the final movie featuring the full cast of the original TV series. Christopher Plummer plays a Shakespeare-quoting Klingon who attempts to derail peace talks between the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets, with the crew of the Enterprise caught in the middle. With an elegiac tone and references to the ongoing Star Trek: The Next Generation TV series, The Undiscovered Country is a wistful send-off for the pioneering Trek cast.
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is streaming on Paramount+ ($4.99+ per month after a seven-day free trial).
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Star Trek: Generations
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Following the finale of the Star Trek: The Next Generation TV series, the cast led by Patrick Stewart as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard made the leap to feature films with this transitional story. Original cast members William Shatner, Walter Koenig, and James Doohan return to pass the torch, and the movie’s centerpiece is a time-displaced meeting between Picard and Kirk. They’re both trapped in a pocket dimension by Malcolm McDowell’s Soran, a villain obsessed with evading death. The movie cements Star Trek‘s legacy from one generation to the next, launching a new film series.
Star Trek: Generations is streaming on Paramount+ ($4.99+ per month after a seven-day free trial).
Star Trek: First Contact
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The second movie to feature the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast, and the first to give them the sole spotlight, First Contact is often regarded as the best Next Generation movie. It brings back one of the TV series’ most popular antagonists, the cybernetic aliens known as the Borg, and also features a time-travel story sending the Enterprise crew back to the era when humans first made contact with alien races. Patrick Stewart gives one of his most commanding performances as Capt. Picard, while Alfre Woodard and James Cromwell add gravitas to the supporting cast.
Star Trek: First Contact is streaming on Paramount+ ($4.99+ per month after a seven-day free trial).
Star Trek: Insurrection
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The Enterprise crew is drawn into a conflict between two alien factions, the Son’a and the Ba’ku, in the second Star Trek movie directed by Next Generation cast member Jonathan Frakes. Insurrection co-stars F. Murray Abraham as its devious alien villain, who manipulates the Federation into serving his ends. Less action-oriented than First Contact, Insurrection features a romantic subplot for Capt. Picard as well as emotional arcs for various supporting characters. It emphasizes Trek‘s philosophical side while also delivering major plot twists.
Star Trek: Insurrection is streaming on Paramount+ ($4.99+ per month after a seven-day free trial).
Star Trek: Nemesis
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The final movie starring the Next Generation cast provides closure for several major characters, including Capt. Picard. He discovers a secret clone of his named Shinzon (Tom Hardy), who leads a dangerous rebellion against the Romulan Empire that also threatens the Federation. Nemesis returns to the action focus of First Contact, giving its primary spotlight to Picard and the android Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner). Nemesis was a box-office failure that put an end to the series of Next Generation movies, although some of its plot elements were later picked up by the TV series Star Trek: Picard.
Star Trek: Nemesis is streaming on Paramount+ ($4.99+ per month after a seven-day free trial).
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Star Trek
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Producer and director J.J. Abrams rebooted the Star Trek movie franchise with this action-heavy blockbuster film. The new Star Trek is set an alternate timeline, featuring younger versions of the original series characters. Chris Pine stars as Capt. Kirk, alongside Zachary Quinto as Spock and Karl Urban as Dr. McCoy. They and the rest of the familiar characters come together as the crew of the Enterprise, spurred on by the arrival of the original Spock (Leonard Nimoy). Spock Prime is chasing rogue Romulan Nero (Eric Bana), whose planetary destruction causes havoc in two timelines.
Star Trek Into Darkness
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The second movie in the rebooted “Kelvin timeline” brings in Benedict Cumberbatch as a new version of classic Star Trek villain Khan Noonien Singh. The new Khan is a terrorist mastermind determined to bring down Starfleet, with only the Enterprise crew standing in his way. J.J. Abrams returns as director and producer, delivering more large-scale action set pieces while also delving into more classic Trek lore, including the first appearance of this timeline’s version of the Klingons. Into Darkness also marks Leonard Nimoy’s final onscreen appearance, returning as Spock Prime.
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Star Trek Beyond
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Justin Lin, best known for his work on the Fast & Furious movies, takes over as director for the third movie in the reboot series. It’s a standalone adventure that finds the Enterprise crew stranded after crash-landing on a hostile planet. They’ve been forced there by the pirate Krall (Idris Elba), a former Starfleet officer who’s been twisted by alien technology and plans to unleash a dangerous biological weapon on the Federation. The fast-paced story features plenty of action, along with character development for the young Enterprise crew members who are still finding their way in Starfleet.
