Star Trek had been racking up the ratings on our TV screens for more than ten years before they made that all-important jump to the big screen. 12 feature films later and a new series due for release in 2020, the Star Trek franchise has been keeping their Trekkie fan base happy since 1966. The series has seen 740 episodes over 31 seasons. We think it is safe to say that after 53 years of success, it is not so much a franchise as it is an empire. While not all of the 12 films received raving reviews, some of them did. We have narrowed down the list to bring our readers the two best Star Trek movies.
Star Trek: First Contact
Appearing in cinemas for the first time in 1997 was Star Trek: First Contact. We followed the cast of The Next Generation series on the Starship Enterprise while they tried their hands at a bit of time travel (because it is science fiction after all.) The crew finds themselves in a time vortex in the hopes of preventing a cybernetic race from changing history to bring about the end of the world. Picard’s emotional journey is intense in this film as his love for humanity causes him to make sacrifices for the greater good. A fan favorite majestic scene in this film was witnessing the first contact, the day humanity came into contact with the Vulcans. The film ends off in a dazzling display of CGI wizardry with a deep-space battle against the infamous Borg. Starships, lasers, blasters, and explosions. Just the perfect amount of “pew pew” to keep the Trekkies happy.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
This 1982 film is the sequel to match all sequels. The Wrath of Khan is unrivaled in the Star Trek series and has even been said to be the best sci-fi film of all time. That’s quite a title to hold. It’s not too often that a sequel can actually surpass the original, but it’s a good thing this one did. The first Star Trek film had some rather mixed reviews with the fans left wanting by a film that veered so far off course from the series.
The Wrath of Khan was able to perfectly capture the essence of the series. Khan was a villain we had seen before in the series and the storyline was epic, to say the least. The constant mental and physical battle between Kirk and Khan had us all wondering if Kirk had finally met his match. This film was made before major CGI had exploded into Hollywood. Special effects were done with old school perfection through models and makeup, giving the film a truly authentic feel.
Tears surely flowed through one of the most touching scenes in science fiction history when Spock was laid to rest from a heroic sacrifice. “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” Nobody could have said it any better.
Love it or hate it, Star Trek is here to stay. And that’s just fine with us. The human imagination is endless in its possibilities and we cannot wait to see what the new series of Picard has cooked up for their millions of science fiction fundi fans.
