star trek like movies

11 Sci-Fi Shows to Binge If You Love ‘Star Trek’

Set a course for these adventures in space.

There is no dearth of shows set in the world of Star Trek nowadays. Thanks to Paramount+ (previously known as CBS All Access), Trekkies can enjoy all kinds of fare, from darker serialized stories in Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard to old-school episodic style of storytelling in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds . We also have animated fare that appeals to adults, like Star Trek: Lower Decks, and Star Trek: Prodigy , that’s geared to younger generations.

But just because we live in an age of "All Trek All the Time", doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy some excellent science-fiction adventures outside the United Federation of Planets. Shows set in space have been around forever, though some have been forgotten. The shows on this list have vastly different tones and production values, and every viewer will have their own favorites. If you love Star Trek, or episodic adventures in space, then you may want to catch up with these shows in between seasons.

RELATED: Star Trek Day Programming and Global Pop-Ups Revealed for Paramount+ Event

An astronaut from Earth finds himself aboard the living spaceship Moya as the ship and its crew fight to escape a fascist military operation known as the Peacekeepers. Farscape aired in the early noughties, in an attempt to capture audiences who were losing interest in Star Trek , but unlike Star Trek the central crew aren’t always upstanding citizens. The protagonist, John Crichton ( Ben Browder ), is a great audience stand-in, with his pop culture retorts and easy-going air about him keeping him relatable. His perfect match turns out to be Aeryn Sun, played by Claudia Black , a no-nonsense former soldier who thaws into a compassionate character by the end of the series. Their dynamic is a big appeal of the show , as are the visuals and animatronics that bring this sci-fi universe to life.

Set aboard the titular space station, the space opera Babylon 5 focuses on what happens when humans and aliens must work together to bring peace to a galaxy that's still learning diplomacy. Babylon 5 doesn’t hold back on the horrors of war and the toll that it takes, while the show even touches on humanity’s darker aspects with plot lines featuring Xenophobic groups as well as the impact of political and religious influences. Parts of the show echo the atmosphere of Deep Space Nine , not only with its space station setting (there was some controversy around how similar the settings were) but also by showcasing how large-scale galactic events can affect the most ordinary of individuals.

Stargate is a sprawling franchise of shows based on the Roland Emmerich film, beginning with Stargate SG-1 , which debuted in the late 1990s and remains a favorite among genre fans. Later shows added to the canon of the franchise — the main premise revolves around Earth's discovery of a "Stargate," which is a cosmic portal that can ferry humans across vast distances. Of course, human beings decide to exploit this discovery for potential resources, which results in humanity battling aliens, especially the snake-like Goa'uld. Stargate is heavy on lore for sci-fi fans to immerse themselves in, but more importantly the show serves as "comfort viewing," with a fun and likable cast of characters.

Dark Matter

In the future, six people wake up on a spaceship with no knowledge of who they are and how they got there. They have to work together to discover the truth, but how can they trust each other? Based on the comic series of the same name, one of the most comparable aspects of Dark Matter to Star Trek is the introduction of The Android ( Zoie Palmer ), a character who is the smartest person in the room but knows little about human interaction. Though the show was canceled after only three seasons, it did develop a loyal fanbase, thanks to its combination of humor and darkness, with a diverse cast and a seemingly omnipresent villain. Dark Matter was less about the epic part of sci-fi, and more about the dynamics between people — something Star Trek fans will enjoy, since that franchise also emphasizes eclectic partnerships and friendships.

Killjoys deserved a lot more love than it received. This underrated sci-fi adventure follows Dutch ( Hannah John-Kamen ), Johnny ( Aaron Ashmore ), and D'avin ( Luke Macfarlane ), three bounty hunters who bungle every mission they’re on and still survive to tell the tale. The three protagonists have great chemistry and riff off each other perfectly. There’s a lot of quips mixed in with the brawls and space-hopping. What especially works for this Canadian show is that it’s a little more LGBTQIA+ friendly than Star Trek used to be, making for welcome change within the space opera genre. The show began with more episodic storytelling like older Trek , before introducing season-long villains like Deep Space Nine and Enterprise had. Also, one theme that appealed to fans of Killjoys was the concept of a found family — a quintessential theme of all Trek properties.

The Mandalorian

Star Wars and Trek are sometimes pitted against each other as franchises, which has never made sense. Now that Star Wars has debuted its own live-action series on Disney+, the differences between the franchises have decreased even more. You want an adventure in space? The Mandalorian has that as our hero flies from system to system to protect his young charge. You want aliens, betrayal, new and unconventional bonds formed? All of that can be found aboard the Razor Crest. What about epic battles, duels, and scheming villains — it’s in there! The Mandalorian is its own show, with a unique visual style, but the seasons so far definitely fill the void whenever you’re craving more Star Trek content, and you don’t feel like re-watching your favorite installment yet again.

Battlestar Galactica

If you’re a Trekkie, Battlestar Galactica has most likely been on your watchlist for a while. The reboot of the 1970s show is set aboard the titular spaceship, which leads the fleet carrying the last remaining humans in the universe. Admiral Adama ( Edward James Olmos ) oversees a crew consisting of fan-favorite characters like Katee Sackhoff ’s Starbuck and Jamie Bamber ’s Apollo, among others, alongside the newly-appointed President Laura Roslin (two-time Oscar nominee Mary McDonnell) . Adama has a destination in mind, but his hopes may be dashed as the fleet battles an old enemy in new form. The Cylons are like the Borg, insidious and relentless. Worse, the Cylons in the reboot can look like humans, so trust is at a premium in the show. Some of the storylines and character arcs on the show were controversial up to and including the series finale, but Battlestar Galactica continues to be thought-provoking, and the characters will easily become some of your favorites.

Lost in Space

For fans of space and exploration, the 2018 reboot of Lost in Space (yes, another reboot!) will be right up your alley. The show follows the Robinson family, Molly ( Maureen Robinson ), John ( Toby Stephens ) and their three children, aspiring doctor Judy ( Taylor Russell ), budding writer Penny ( Mina Sundwall ), and science-enthusiast Will ( Maxwell Jenkins ), as they travel to outer space. The Robinsons face several obstacles in space — from the environment, alien species, robots, and even their fellow humans — but always find a way to power through. As long as this family are together, they can overcome anything. Although they do need more than a little help from their friendly, albeit, taciturn, robot. Who else will loudly proclaim ‘Danger, Will Robinson’ at the first signs of trouble?

The Expanse

Set in the 24th century (like several Star Trek shows), The Expanse is one of the more critically-acclaimed science-fiction shows of the new millennium. Based on a series of novels by Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck , the series follows several characters unwittingly intertwined in a giant conspiracy that threatens to destabilize the already teetering state of peace in the Solar System. The characters are distinct and compelling, but it’s the political storylines that keep you hooked. Shohreh Aghdashloo is particularly riveting as United Nations member Chrisjen Avasarala, as is Frankie Adams , who joined the show in the second season as gunnery sergeant Bobby Draper. The dynamics among the crew of the Rocinante ship are another reason you’ll continue to tune in. With The Expanse, come for the space adventure, stay for the political intrigue.

Quantum Leap

The original Quantum Leap and its 2022 sequel capture the core values of Star Trek —understanding, tolerance and a love of all people, irrespective of their differences. While the original show may feel a little dated nowadays (well, so does some of Star Trek ), through Sam Beckett ( Scott Bakula ) ‘leaping’ into other people, the show examined tough topics including racism and women’s rights. It helps that Bakula also starred as Captain Jonathan Archer on Enterprise . The sequel series stars a diverse cast including Raymond Lee, Caitlin Bassett, Mason Alexander Park, Nanrisa Lee and Ernie Hudson . The show is an absolute delight with heartwarming stories brought to life by Lee’s effortless performance and a deeper relationship between the lead characters than there was in the original . The stories are also more representative, and include an episode with an Indian immigrant family, as well as an episode about a trans teenager who just wants to play basketball. There’s an extra layer of mystery added in that will keep you tuning in for more.

The long-lasting British science-fiction show Doctor Who has the episodic, planet-hopping, and alien-encountering fun of Star Trek , but brings its own distinct flavor. Every era has its own appeal, and now that the show has broadened its horizons to cast more women, people of color, and trans actors as leads, Doctor Who is becoming more representative with every series. The show is quirky and silly, but can be scary (Weeping Angels, anyone?), thought-provoking, and somber ( just take a look at Donna Noble's tragic companion arc ). Everyone will have their own favorite Doctor, but there are a lot of companions to cheer for as well. There’s never a dull moment when the Time-Lord steps into their Tardis and decides which planet or year to fly off to. Every episode is an unforgettable adventure, and one never knows if the Doctor will meet a strange new alien, a historic figure from Earth’s past, or something else completely out of this world.

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

• Last updated: 17 May, 2023

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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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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10 Best ‘Star Trek’ Movies and TV Shows of the Franchise (So Far)

By Clayton Davis

Clayton Davis

Senior Awards Editor

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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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What To Watch If You Love 'Star Trek: Picard'

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. 

With lots of options, including Star Trek: The Next Generation , a show with Patrick Stewart playing Jean-Luc Picard, and even movies like Star Wars: The Force Awakens , a film that finds a veteran pilot returning to his starship, deciding what to watch after Star Trek: Picard will really just depend on your mood.

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.

With more than 40 million people visiting Ranker every month, we are able to offer you data-driven recommendations based on voting across thousands of film & TV polls.

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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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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 .

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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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Sequels have a bad reputation for being less than impressive. On the plus side, you have franchises like the new Star Trek movies and Guardians of the Galaxy, where the sequels aren't necessarily bad, they're just more of the same. On the bad end, you're left with what most sequels become: desperate attempts from studios to make more money by churning out absolute garbage, like Son of the Mask, Basic Instinct 2, Sex and the City 2, and Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and Blonde.

Luckily, sci-fi is a genre that's largely been spared from horrific theatrically released sequels (the straight-to-DVD ones are another story). In fact, there are quite a few heavily praised sci-fi sequels out there ... some of which have even won Oscars. If you want to watch some great sci-fi sequels, check out the list below to discover the seven best. 7. Jurassic World (2015)

For more than 50 years, Star Trek has been an institution, especially among the nerds of America. The original Star Trek series has spawned various movies and additional shows in the years since it aired, and those shows have been met with various levels of acclaim and criticism.

Alongside all of these more faithful series, though, there have also been a number of parodies of Star Trek, its tropes, and the world it's set in. We've gathered seven of the very best of those parodies for this list, which range from TV episodes to entire movies. 7. Star Trek: Lower Decks Star Trek: Lower Decks First Look

Sony-produced Marvel movies have historically been a mixed bag. At times, the company has delivered superhero masterpieces like the Spider-Verse films. Other times, they have given viewers half-baked cash grabs like Morbius and Madame Web. Whether or not audiences think the company is fit to handle beloved properties like Spider-Man and Venom, they can't deny that Sony played a significant role in making Marvel movies the pop culture phenomenon they are today. Now that Madame Web has premiered in theaters, here'sour list of Sony's Marvel movies, rankedfrom worst to best. Please note that this list won't include the Men in Black films, as Marvel didn't create the original comic books they were based on.

16. Madame Web (2024)

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Every Star Trek movie, ranked

Boldly go on a ranking of all 13  Star Trek  films.

Credit: CBS via Getty Images

In 1979, Star Trek warped from television to the big screen. The franchise expanded faster than V'Ger. On December 6th, one of the franchise's best movies (and one of our favorites), Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , celebrates its 30th anniversary.   

The films began with the original cast from Star Trek: The Original Series . After six films, the movies transitioned to feature the cast from Star Trek: The Next Generation , and then in 2009, a new timeline of films branched off with recast legacy characters and much bigger budgets. What will the next Trek movie be, and which crew will it feature? Who knows, but it’s only a matter of time before some Trek project boldly goes to the cinema once more. 

In the meantime, we’re going to rank all of the existing 13 films in the canon. It’s more of a celebration than anything else; most of these movies we love. We don’t dislike any of them. Which one are we going to throw on at any given moment? It depends on the day, it depends on the hour, it depends on which crew we want to journey with. 

Full impulse and prepare for warp, because only Nixon could go to China. Here’s our ranking of the 13 Star Trek feature films. 

13. Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

J.J. Abrams' last Star Trek movie as director, Into Darkness , is his worst film. His much-loved “Mystery Box” approach, which only really works as a marketing tool, fails him on a story level when we learn who the villain really is (as if we didn't know already). It's a movie where the head of Starfleet is totally fine violating Federation principles and risking war with the Klingons to cover up his secret plans with an all-out military strike (which, as cover-ups go, not very discrete), but, if you’re Jim Kirk and you're caught lying, then he must uphold the very rules he's taking seven photon torpedoes to. If you like movies where heroes lie to save their own ass and put their crews’ in a wringer, or stories that lurch from one set piece to another with inconsistent characterizations and little emotional resonance, or that remix bits from Wrath of Khan without earning it, then appreciating why it is the best, then Into Darkness is for you.

12. S tar Trek: Nemesis (2002)

Traditionally, even-numbered Trek  films are high points for the franchise. The tenth installment, and the fourth film featuring the Next Generation  cast, broke that tradition.

Nemesis is a dull, rough draft of a movie that feels and operates like big-budget fan-fic, one that is surprisingly tone-deaf in regards to how to portray these characters — especially, and frustratingly, Picard in the first half. An overabundance on Romulan political intrigue gets in the way of enjoying or appreciating what few moments in the story are truly worthy of our attention, as Tom Hardy's Shinzon (a young and bald clone of Picard) challenges his (wait for it) nemesis in a big CG space battle where Shinzon's massive planet-killing ship and Picard's Enterprise collide. The movie bombed, killing future missions from this crew. It would take Paramount seven years to recover with J.J. Abrams' reboot.

11. Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)

Saddle up, lock and load! The second Trek movie directed by Jonathan Frakes is, rightfully, the movie that gave us the "Riker Manuever." Turns out that it has nothing to do with the way Riker sits in chairs. 

Picard and the Enterprise crew get swept up in a rather uneventful conflict between the nasty Son'a and the ever-peaceful Ba'ku. The latter alien race inhabit a lovely planet that keeps you young and has various other magical powers. Starfleet wants to work with the Son'a to harness the planet's abilities, thanks to another wicked Admiral, and he's dealing dirty with the lead Son'a... played by none other than Oscar-winner F. Murray Abraham. Picard won't stand for it, so he launches the titular insurrection and goes after Space Salieri to save the Ba'ku. 

Insurrection  plays like an extended episode of TNG ; no more, no less. Donna Murphy plays a love interest to Picard, and though we are big fans of hers, giving more screentime to, say, Beverly Crusher, would have been a better choice for this story. After the glory of Star Trek: First Contact , the stakes felt a little small but we still enjoy it. 

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

"What does God need with a starship?" Good question.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier got clobbered in the Summer of '89 by the likes of Batman and Indiana Jones; William Shatner's directorial debut's low, low budget and really bad special effects just couldn't compete with the other blockbusters. Neither could Final Frontier 's messy and largely passive story that tries too hard to capture the lighting-in-a-bottle mix of comedy and sci-fi that turned Voyage Home into a hit. Despite being one of the lowest grossing Trek s ever, this misfire does feature a few strong moments, especially when God-searching Sybok confronts his half-brother, Spock, and McCoy with their secret pains. (And we don't mind the funny campfire scene with Spock and "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" either.)

9. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

The one with V'Ger.

The first big-screen Trek movie is definitely an acquired taste. Legendary director Robert Wise made a great science fiction movie, but it doesn't always feel like Star Trek . The pace is slow, but the ideas and themes the movie explores during its slog of a runtime are incredible. You just have to get past the blaring alarms, the nonsensical murdering transporters, and the cabana boy beach uniforms. 

William Shatner brings a lot of hubris to this new Kirk, and Kirk makes some bad decisions because of it. Leonard Nimoy is the highlight of the movie (shocker), giving us a Spock that wants to purge himself of emotions. That changes when he discovers the V'Ger entity. The mysterious being that is moving toward Earth is cold and unfeeling, and Spock realizes that he doesn't want to be like that. V'Ger's true identity, once revealed, is a great payoff. 

Still, most of the movie features one ship trying to stop a giant cloud. Patience will be rewarded here, and the rewards include some of the weirdest and most beautiful images in any Trek movie. Jerry Goldsmith's score is likely the movie's greatest asset, as none of it (especially Kirk and Scotty's famously long shuttle approach to the Enterprise) would work without it.

8. Star Trek: Generations (1994)

The one with Malcolm McDowell.

After Picard and company sailed off at the end of their television finale, they flew right into this 1994 film from David Carson. It was the first big-screen showing for the TNG crew, and it brought some old favorites back as well. Captain Kirk, Chekhov, and Scotty start off by christening the Enterprise-B back in their era, and, in record time, the ship gets caught up in an anomaly called the Nexus. Kirk is lost and presumed dead. Cut to the TNG era, and a dimly-lit Enterprise-D encounters the Nexus' number one fan, the sinister Dr. Soran (McDowell). He wants to get back to the Nexus, having survived the encounter that Kirk didn't aboard the B. The Nexus is pure joy, and it is only there that Soran feels he can escape the pain of having lost his family to the Borg years ago. 

Captains Kirk and Picard finally meet to stop Soran and save the galaxy, but the end result is rather "meh." A great (if too long) crash sequence involving the Enterprise-D and vivid cinematography are among the film's few high points, unless you have always wanted the greatest captains ever to meet-cute over (we sh** you not) chopping firewood and making eggs. And Kirk's death lacks the emotional impact that both the iconic hero and his fans deserve.

7. Star Trek Beyond (2016)

The best odd-numbered film since Star Trek III: The Search for Spock , Star Trek Beyond is waaaay better than its predecessor, Star Trek Into Darkness (Phew.) It celebrates what makes Trek  so great, its themes and characters, while honoring the franchise's 50th anniversary with a very entertaining mix of humor, heart, and spectacle. We'd rank it higher if not for the problematic execution of villain Krall (a surprisingly ineffectual Idris Elba), whose motivations (while solid  on paper) are denied the necessary screentime to truly connect. But director Justin Lin (of Fast & Furious  fame) mostly overcomes that, as well as certain tonal and narrative bumps, thanks to making the first of these nuTreks to feel like a $200 million episode of The Original Series . Beyond leaves us feeling that which STID failed to do: Wanting more.

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

Leonard Nimoy returns as Spock with his feature film directorial debut that bridges the events of  Star Trek II  with  Star Trek IV  with an earnest and assured, if not visually dynamic, approach. The story packs a considerable emotional punch, as well as some of the series most iconic moments — the death of Enterprise, Kirk's heartsick reaction ("Klingon bastards!") to the murder of his son, David — as the Enterprise's crew puts their careers and lives on the line to save both a resurrected Spock and a compromised McCoy. The latter is suffering from the effects of a super Vulcan mind meld; Spock used it to transfer his essence and consciousness into McCoy like one would backup files to the Cloud. 

The Search for Spock  competently explores the toll of Kirk's efforts to prove to Spock that sometimes the needs of the one outweigh those of the many, even if it means stealing the Enterprise in a stirring sequence. While Trek III  isn't the most ambitious or exciting  Trek  movie, it is one of the most heartfelt adventures in the series. A necessary throat clearing of sorts before the franchise can reach its then-highest point. 

5. Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

While Star Trek: First Contact is the second film featuring Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the rest of the Star Trek: The Next Generation crew, it is the first full solo outing for the TNG cast. The hit sequel, which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, also proved to be better than TNG ’s maiden big-screen voyage, 1994’s uneven Star Trek: Generations . Free from the studio-imposed story mandates that Generations had, writers Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga delivered an action-packed and emotionally compelling adventure that pit Picard against his most lethal enemy: The Borg, a race of cybernetic beings hellbent on going back in time to assimilate Earth at a vulnerable point in its history. Making the stakes that much higher was how Picard’s past trauma with the Borg threatened to get in the way of saving humanity’s future, as his experience being assimilated into their collective boiled over into revenge. 

In between explosive space battles and tension-filled set pieces featuring a Borgified new Enterprise, first-time feature director (and Next Gen actor) Jonathan Frakes gave fans a Star Trek movie unlike any other; a riveting, action-horror sci-fi blockbuster that was only the second Trek film at the time to ever achieve crossover audience appeal outside the core fanbase. (The first was 1986’s time-traveling, “save-the-whales” romp Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ). 

4. Star Trek (2009) 

It’s telling that J.J. Abrams has remade Star Wars twice and that his actual Star Wars movie is the second-best one.

2009’s Star Trek  is still a nearly unparalleled dazzler, a canny prequel and inspired reboot that feels wholly fresh and original, with a nifty plot (involving time travel and alternate timelines) that wisely (albeit in a complicated way) doesn’t negate the films that came before it. Abrams brilliantly cast the movie, introducing a host of fresh faces playing iconic roles that, by the time the film was released, had become more punchline than anything else. ( Star Trek: Nemesis was an inglorious end to the Enterprise’s big-screen adventures, critically lambasted and commercially ignored.)

Breathlessly told, Star Trek  has some of the biggest and most inventive set pieces (the opening attack sequence, particularly when the sound drains away during a key moment to leave room for only Michael Giacchino’s soaring score, is enough to bring tears to your eyes), as well as  memorable new characters (Eric Bana’s Nero is a wry and scary baddie). After the promise of Mission: Impossible III , Abrams showed himself to be an honest-to-goodness filmmaker, able to improbably invigorating moribund franchises with vitality, humor and boundless energy. It feels like we have watched Star Trek a thousand times and it also feels like we could watch it a thousand more.

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

The one with the whales.

It's not just the funniest Star Trek movie, it's one of the funniest movies ever. Large credit goes to director Leonard Nimoy and the movie's late producer and co-writer, Harve Bennett. 

A weird probe (its origins never explained) comes to 23rd-century Earth looking for whales. Humpback whales, specifically. But, since they are extinct, Kirk and his crew aboard a stolen Klingon vessel must slingshot around the sun to travel back in time to 20th-century San Francisco and save two whales just in time to warp back to the future and save the day. 

It's such a cockamamie plan, sure, but part of the fun is seeing the characters both acknowledge it is a stretch and then commit fully to it. There are no consequences to messing with time, the crew just romps around San Francisco and does what they want. They alter history (hello, transparent aluminum!) and invade Naval vessels. But along the way, the movie takes some big comedic swings with the hilarious "fish out of water" story Spock and Kirk find themselves in as they don't need photon torpedos to save the day. Just their wits. The film is full of sweet, funny, and surprisingly poignant moments and still remains, 35 years later, a classic comedy and essential  Trek  film.

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

It’s fitting that one of the filmmakers responsible for putting Trek ’s big-screen franchise back on track would return to wrap up the voyages of the The Original Series cast. Wrath of Khan writer-director Nicholas Meyer’s second Star Trek feature, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is, at times, arguably more confidently executed and rich with character beats than his former (and well-regarded) entry. The movie embraces the characters’ twilight years as a plot point by putting the aging crew of the past-her-prime Enterprise in the middle of a conspiracy that threatens to light the fuse on continued conflict between the Federation and the Klingons.

The Cold War parallels here between the then-fall of the Berlin Wall and our sci-fi heroes and their nemesis lend Trek VI  an urgency and intrigue on par with ‘60s political thrillers, with Meyer’s propulsive whodunit of a script (cowritten by the late Denny Martin Flynn) affording the franchise to boldly go explore new genres like the murder mystery and POW, Great Escape -esque war dramas. (There’s also some great courtroom drama flourishes as well, on top of an exceptional Run Silent, Run Deep -inspired space battle between the Enterprise and a Klingon bird-of-prey that can fire while cloaked.)

From Kirk sporting grey hair, to the characters expounding upon their relevancy and usefulness as they are all that stand between us and the brink of full-scale war, Star Trek VI is a taut, clever picture that always puts story and character first and never fails to deliver on the emotional resonance of either.

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

Following the events of "Space Seed" in The Original Series , Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban) comes to get revenge on Admiral...  Admiral ... James T. Kirk in the rousing intimate epic that is Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan . A cat and mouse game of dueling starships ensues, with Kirk commanding an Enterprise full of trainees. A dangerous science project called "Genesis" is in the mix, too, and Khan wants it to help him conquer the galaxy. Kirk wins in the end, bit loses his best friend in the process.

The most thematically and emotionally rich film in the series,  Khan  is still the benchmark to which all subsequent Treks aspire to match or exceed. Not only is it the best big-screen mission ever for the Enterprise, it's also one of the best science fiction films of all time.

This movie set a new bar for Trek greatness. We don't think we're being hyperbolic when we say that it is damn near perfect. We'll watch it "'round the moons of Nibia, and 'round the Antares maelstrom, and 'round perdition's flames before we give it up."

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• Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan
• Star Trek Into Darkness

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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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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?

There is no such thin as "the best" Star Trek film, just which one you prefer

W e like to think of ourselves as pretty knowledgeable Star Trek fans. We've been around for a while, with myself getting into the franchise in the early to mid-1990s. As a child I had my favorites, don't we all, but as I grew up, I stopped thinking that my favorite had to mean it's the best. As something being the best is very subjective. Yet, there are still people who like to utilize this idealogy that something can be definitely better than another thing when there is no real way of proving it.

There are fans who love certain movies and fans who don't. There are people who will swear by Star Trek: Discovery is not only their favorite show but the best show. Are they right? I don't think so, but that's an opinion. One no more or less powerful than those who disagree with me.

Yet, there are still people who have to prove an opinion as fact. We don't get why but we're here once again to argue to the contrary. Matt Stinger of Screen Crush has just published a new article stating that Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is definitely the best Star Trek film ever. Or as Stinger puts it;

Don’t get me wrong; The Wrath of Khan is a very good movie. The Undiscovered Country is just better.

Now, there are a lot of good points here that Stinger makes about why he believes Undiscovered Country is better than The Wrath of Khan. Here's the thing though; they're all emotion-based. There is no quantifiable way to say which movie is better.

If this were just a discussion about which movie he most enjoyed, cool. Have your take, we're fine with people having different opinions than us. Yet, to say that one is definitively better than the other? That's just not possible.

No Star Trek film is proven as the best. If you're not a fan of Wrath of Khan, that's cool. If you think Beyond is your favorite; no harm there. Personally, I'm all about that First Contact goodness, but I don't believe it's the definitive best. At least, not anymore. I've long accepted the idea that everyone has a fair view of what the "best" truly is.

I think the best film is First Contact, but I don't know what it is. He has a right to his favorite movie, as do I, and they don't need to be the same, but saying something is definitely better requires evidence, evidence that can't exist when the argument is based on emotion and opinion.

This article was originally published on redshirtsalwaysdie.com as There is no such thin as "the best" Star Trek film, just which one you prefer .

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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Star Trek Movies in order

• Movies or TV
• IMDb Rating
• In Theaters
• Release Year

1. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

G | 143 min | Adventure, Mystery, Sci-Fi

When an alien spacecraft of enormous power is spotted approaching Earth, Admiral James T. Kirk resumes command of the overhauled USS Enterprise in order to intercept it.

Director: Robert Wise | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , James Doohan

Votes: 96,670 | Gross: $82.26M

Star Trek I

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

PG | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

With the assistance of the Enterprise crew, Admiral Kirk must stop an old nemesis, Khan Noonien Singh, from using the life-generating Genesis Device as the ultimate weapon.

Director: Nicholas Meyer | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , James Doohan

Votes: 129,281 | Gross: $78.91M

Star Trek II

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

PG | 105 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Admiral Kirk and his bridge crew risk their careers stealing the decommissioned U.S.S. Enterprise to return to the restricted Genesis Planet to recover Spock's body.

Director: Leonard Nimoy | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , James Doohan

Votes: 86,204 | Gross: $76.47M

Star Trek III

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

PG | 119 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy

To save Earth from an alien probe, Admiral James T. Kirk and his fugitive crew go back in time to San Francisco in 1986 to retrieve the only beings who can communicate with it: humpback whales.

Votes: 91,527 | Gross: $109.71M

Star Trek IV

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

PG | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Captain Kirk and his crew must deal with Mr. Spock's long-lost half-brother who hijacks the Enterprise for an obsessive search for God at the center of the galaxy.

Director: William Shatner | Stars: William Shatner , Leonard Nimoy , DeForest Kelley , James Doohan

Votes: 64,229 | Gross: $52.21M

Star Trek V

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

PG | 110 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

On the eve of retirement, Kirk and McCoy are charged with assassinating the Klingon High Chancellor and imprisoned. The Enterprise crew must help them escape to thwart a conspiracy aimed at sabotaging the last best hope for peace.

Votes: 80,924 | Gross: $74.89M

Star Trek VI

7. Star Trek: Generations (1994)

PG | 118 min | Action, Adventure, Mystery

With the help of long presumed dead Captain Kirk, Captain Picard must stop a deranged scientist willing to murder on a planetary scale in order to enter a space matrix.

Director: David Carson | Stars: Patrick Stewart , William Shatner , Malcolm McDowell , Jonathan Frakes

Votes: 87,073 | Gross: $75.67M

Star Trek VII

8. Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

PG-13 | 111 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

The Borg travel back in time intent on preventing Earth's first contact with an alien species. Captain Picard and his crew pursue them to ensure that Zefram Cochrane makes his maiden flight reaching warp speed.

Director: Jonathan Frakes | Stars: Patrick Stewart , Jonathan Frakes , Brent Spiner , LeVar Burton

Votes: 132,124 | Gross: $92.00M

Star Trek VIII

9. Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)

PG | 103 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

When the crew of the Enterprise learn of a Federation conspiracy against the inhabitants of a unique planet, Captain Picard begins an open rebellion.

Votes: 79,490 | Gross: $70.12M

Star Trek IX

10. Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

PG-13 | 116 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

The Enterprise is diverted to the Romulan homeworld Romulus, supposedly because they want to negotiate a peace treaty. Captain Picard and his crew discover a serious threat to the Federation once Praetor Shinzon plans to attack Earth.

Director: Stuart Baird | Stars: Patrick Stewart , Jonathan Frakes , Brent Spiner , LeVar Burton

Votes: 83,951 | Gross: $43.25M

Star Trek X

11. Star Trek (2009)

PG-13 | 127 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

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.

Director: J.J. Abrams | Stars: Chris Pine , Zachary Quinto , Simon Pegg , Leonard Nimoy

Votes: 620,468 | Gross: $257.73M

Star Trek XI

12. Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

PG-13 | 132 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

After the crew of the Enterprise find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one-man weapon of mass destruction.

Director: J.J. Abrams | Stars: Chris Pine , Zachary Quinto , Zoe Saldana , Benedict Cumberbatch

Votes: 497,213 | Gross: $228.78M

Star Trek XII

13. Star Trek Beyond (2016)

PG-13 | 122 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

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

Director: Justin Lin | Stars: Chris Pine , Zachary Quinto , Karl Urban , Zoe Saldana

Votes: 258,627 | Gross: $158.85M

Star Trek XIII

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Screen Rant

10 movies like miller’s girl to watch after jenna ortega's thriller.

Miller's Girl caused a stir when it was released due to the wide age gap between the two stars, but there are many other movies with similar themes.

• Thrillers like Miller's Girl captivate audiences with forbidden romance and moral ambiguity, sparking conversations and creating suspense.
• American Beauty weaves together lies and desires in a man's life, celebrating complex storytelling which led to its Oscar success.
• Saltburn and The Crush explore deceit and revenge themes in unexpected ways, showcasing subversive storytelling and talented casts.

Miller's Girl caused a lot of controversy due to the age gap between the stars, Martin Freeman and Jenna Ortega, but it's not the first thriller to make people squirm. Thrillers are popular for a variety of reasons, from captivating the audience and putting them on edge, to causing a stir and sparking conversations. As a result, many movies in this genre get a lot of attention for better and for worse.

However, Miller's Girl is, at its core, a story about forbidden romance , attraction, and blurred lines of morality. Freeman plays a teacher, who forms an unusually close bond with one of his student, played by Ortega. These feelings are reciprocated, and while the pair may hesitate to act on their feelings, ultimately, it has significant consequences on their lives. The film also depicts a narrative of spite and revenge, which sees characters turn on each other in unexpected ways.

10 American Beauty

American Beauty is an Oscar winning film from 1999 starring Kevin Spacey as a man who becomes disillusioned with his life. As he chooses to make drastic changes and alter the course of his life, he finds himself infatuated with a young girl who is a friend of his teenage daughters. The movie weaves together several threads with people in the small neighborhood, as lies, betrayals, and desires are brought to light.

The film's similarities with Miller's Girl are evident, but unlike the latter, American Beauty was widely praised and celebrated. The actors, and the visuals, along with the writing and direction were heaped with praise, resulting in five separate Oscar wins. American Beauty takes the ideas and concepts which Miller's Girl tried to express and places them in a clear context of a man's fracturing life, and the community that he resides in.

Miller's Girl Cast & Character Guide - Who Else Stars In The Jenna Ortega Drama

Saltburn takes the concepts of deceit and revenge and places them within a contemporary British setting. When Oliver Quick, played by Barry Keoghan, attends one of the most prestigious and elite universities in the UK, he struggles to fit in with his more well off peers. However, he eventually forms a connection with a popular and wealthy young man named Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi).

The film establishes the characters and settings in a way that draws out certain feelings of sympathy from the audience, but over time, the story takes unexpected turns. The subversive storytelling, and the characters gradually revealing new and opposite sides to themselves, is truly spectacular. The film has a similar feeling to Miller's Girl as they both go into their final act , and it's an incredible thriller.

8 The Crush

The Crush came out in 1993, starring a young Alicia Silverstone opposite The Princess Bride star, Cary Elwes. When a handsome writer (Elwes) moves into a beautiful guest house to help maintain the Forrester's property, he finds himself entangled in an intense infatuation with their 14-year-old daughter (Silverstone). While initially, he is flattered and receptive to her flirtations, he quickly shuts down her advances, clarifying that there will be no relationship.

He then begins dating a woman from his work, but his young admirer struggles to accept that they are not going to be together. The film is a psychological thriller with much in common with Miller's Girl . Exploring forbidden romance, and the fallout from such a dangerous connection. It is also the film debut of Silverstone which helped launch her career, and features a wonderful, talented cast.

The 20 Best Jenna Ortega Movies And TV Shows

6 cruel intentions.

Cruel Intentions has some distinct differences from Miller's Girl , and several interesting similarities. The film revolves around a pair of entitled and wealthy young people who enjoy toying with people's lives. They are step-siblings, whose parents recently married, and the young man, Sebastian, has an intense attraction towards his step-sister, Kathryn (Sarah Michelle Gellar ). When a new girl moves into town, and her virtuous nature is well known in the community, Katryn makes a bet with her brother.

If Sebastian manages to sleep with the new girl (Reese Witherspoon), Kathryn will have sex with him. However, if he fails to do so, she wins his luxury car. The movie follows a line of deciet and treachery, with complex emotions entangled in the story. However, unlike Miller's Girl , the characters at the heart of the story set out with cruel intentions from the beginning.

5 Lady Bird

Lady Bird is a comedy drama from 2017, starring Saoirse Ronan, and written and directed by Greta Gerwig in her directorial debut. The story is largely focused on the central character, played by Ronan, maturing and going through the regular stresses and dramas of growing up. However, the tone, and the visual style of the film resemble the one present in Miller's Girl . While the movie doesn't dive into forbidden love, there is heartbreak, growth, acceptance, and highly intelligent characters.

Both Miller's Girl and Lady Bird feature beautiful and engaging visuals, and characters with aspirations that go far beyond their small town. Both stories are also witty and engaging in their style of comedy and the way the characters are designed, with well-defined personalities and frequent shifts in the ways that each character is presented. All of this combines to make a thoroughly compelling story, with engaging characters and a twist around every corner.

Martin Freeman's 10 Best Movies, According To Rotten Tomatoes

Again, pushing more into the realm of comedy drama, Easy A was the breakout role for actress Emma Stone early in her career when it was released in 2010. The film is a contemporary adaptation of the 1850 novel, The Scarlet Letter . Stone is a teenage girl who suddenly develops a reputation for promiscuity. Despite the rumors about her promiscuity being false, Olive (Stone), leans into the stories and chooses to cash in on her reputation.

The movie features a compelling and highly intelligent protagonist, and a story that builds up tension and drama around lies and deceptions. Like Miller's Girl , romance is a prominent central theme in the plot of the story, with other themes about promiscuity and indecent actions. However, the story keeps everything age appropriate, which immediately alters a significant part of what is at the core of the story overall.

3 The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a 2012 movie based on a novel of the same name from 1999. The story follows a young man who has had clinical depression from a young age. This protagonist, played by Logan Lerman, is undergoing a huge change in his life when he begins high school, and it could potentially be a moment that causes him to retreat from society entirely, or to be brave and embrace a new chapter in his life with his head held high. Fortunately, he befriends two seniors whose passion for life help him come out of his shell.

Emma Watson and Ezra Miller, before many controversies arose , play the seniors who show the protagonist how to grab life with enthusiasm and overcome the darker thoughts and past that plague him. The film takes an honest look at a very difficult and exhausting aspect of growing up, and some of the worst challenges that can come with it. While the central concept may be different, the movie has a similar aesthetic in terms of young intelligent people pursuing greater knowledge and dreams, with a particular love of literature.

10 Best Coming Of Age Comedy Dramas Like Juno

2 the edge of seventeen.

The Edge of Seventeen stars Hailee Steinfeld in a film about loss and growing up. The comedy drama follows a young woman who recently lost her father and finds her entire life thrown into disarray. Throughout the film, Nadine (Steinfeld) is faced with challenges that she struggles to overcome in the process of growing up. While the film has similar themes, and the inclusion of dark humor and more mellow scenes, there are also stark differences.

Both films share a commonality with a young woman who is forced into maturing at an accelerated rate due to the absence of parental supervision in their lives. Both Nadine and Cairo (Ortega) find solace and comfort by engaging with a teacher who gives them special attention, and makes them feel seen. However, Nadine's teacher never creates a romantic or ambiguous relationship, which helps to preserve their relationship and keep it strictly platonic.

1 The Idea Of You

The Idea of You came out after Miller's Girl as a Prime Original film starring Anne Hathaway as a single mother who forms a romantic relationship with a much younger man. The relationship is made more complicated by the fact that the young man is a lead singer for an incredibly popular boy band, which makes their relationship breaking news. Despite the difference in age and life experience, the pair form a passionate romantic relationship together.

The tone of The Idea of You is much lighter and brighter than Miller's Girl , but there is still a core relationship which is formed that feels inherently taboo. Despite the lack of other moral factors, such as Hathaway's character being single, unlike Freeman's Mr. Miller, there is a lot of attention directed at the couple due to their public relationship. It provides an interesting contrast to Miller's Girl , and several similarities which are worth exploring within the context of both films.

Den of Geek

Only Those Strong in the Force Can Defeat This Star Wars Character Quiz

Does their name sound like it would be in Star Wars? Then they MUST be a Star Wars character. Right?

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Another May the 4th has arrived, and with it, the promise of so much Star Wars goodness on the horizon. Today, for example, sees the release of a new animated series called Tales of the Empire , which expands the stories of Lady Morgan Elsbeth, the villainous Nightsister from the Mandoverse, and Barriss Offee, a fallen Jedi whom Clone Wars fans have long wanted to revisit. The show sees both of these characters embrace the dark side for the glory of the Empire. Festive viewing indeed.

That’s only the beginning for the villains of Star Wars . On June 4, fans will get to witness the return of the Sith in the new Disney+ live action series The Acolyte , which stars Amandla Stenberg as an ex-Jedi who’s gone rogue as well as Lee Jung-jae and Dafne Keen as a Jedi Master and apprentice duo investigating a series of mysterious crimes. The show is set at the end of the High Republic era , 100 years before any of the movies, even the Prequels, which means this is the furthest back we’ve ever been on the Star Wars timeline in live action. The new era means The Acolyte can explore characters, places, and lore we’ve never seen on screen before, including how the Sith first launched their plan to take over the Republic and exterminate the Jedi Order.

But it isn’t just all bad vibes in the galaxy far, far away! To celebrate May the 4th, we also have a brand-new Star Wars quiz that will challenge how well you know even the most obscure scum of the Outer Rim just from seeing their names. There may even be a few followers of the dark side in there…

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Dexter Jettster

<p>Real character in the Star Wars universe or fake?</p>

Porro Bibblie

Savage opress, elan sleazebaggano, nana visitor, quintana omega, gafferky lenzwin, kesi daivand, droopy mccool, gronhys typhe, thermoculus krisintvolt scissorpunch.

Den of Geek Staff

Why Does Spock Never Talk About His Long-Lost Sister, Michael Burnham?

Star Trek: Discovery introduced a big retcon to Spock's history by revealing an adopted sister; here is why he never mentioned Michael Burnham before.

• Spock made a tough decision to keep his adopted sister a secret to protect the galaxy in "Star Trek: Discovery."
• Spock's history of keeping personal matters private helps explain why he never mentioned Michael Burnham.
• The addition of Michael Burnham to the Star Trek timeline has interesting implications for the Kelvin timeline.

When it comes to Star Trek , there is arguably no character more associated with the franchise than Spock. The Vulcan First Officer became the breakout character of the series and remained a fixture in pop culture. He is one of the few characters to make it past the original pilot for the series and then be a major character on not just Star Trek: The Original Series but original actor Leonard Nimoy returned to play a role in all six live-action films, two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and the two J.J. Abrams-directed reboots where he passed the baton on to actor Zachary Quinto. In addition, actor Ethan Peck plays a young Spock on both Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds , making him the character to appear in the most entries in the franchise.

As Spock's popularity grew, creators decided to expand on his backstory. One of the most controversial decisions was the revelation of Michael Burnham, played by Sonequa Martin-Green in the series Star Trek: Discovery . The series established her as the adopted sister of Spock, a human who was raised alongside Spock by his parents, Sarek and Amanda Grayson. This was a major shock to fans as it was a huge retcon to the franchise. Plus, with Star Trek: Discovery originally being a prequel series, the character was never mentioned by Spock or anyone else in the rest of the franchise.

While the obvious answer was the character was not created then, the writers of Star Trek: Discovery came up with an answer that fits within the established Star Trek timeline to explain why she was never brought up again despite her close connection to Spock. This is why Spock never mentioned his adopted sister, Michael Burnham, before.

Spock Vowed Never To Speak of Her or the Crew of the Enterprise to Save the Galaxy

Star Trek: Discovery season one firmly established that Michael Burnham was adopted by Sarek and his wife, Amanda Grayson, following the disappearance of her parents at a young age. Then, in Season 2, she introduced characters like Captain Pike and Number One, who debuted in the original pilot for Star Trek alongside Spock . This raised many more concerns about how nobody ever mentioned Spock's adopted sister. The series provides an explanation in the season two finale, “Such Sweet Sorrow, Part 2.” The Crew of the USS Discovery is able to take the rouge AI villain Control into the 31st century, which prevented itself from establishing.

The USS Discovery is reported to have been destroyed in action. To prevent another rouge AI like Control from emerging and risking Discovery's sacrifice being in vain, Spock proposed to the surviving members of the USS Enterprise and allies of Discovery to never speak of the ship or its crew again, wiping it from history essentially. This takes place in the year 2258, about eight years before the events of Star Trek: The Original Series . This was also years before Spock met many members of the crew he was closely associated with, like James Kirk, Leonard "Bones" McCoy, or Uhura, so they never met Michael Burnham or knew of her existence.

This development creates a new context for viewing Star Trek: The Original Series and all subsequent stories featuring Spock after Star Trek: Discovery . He is keeping the pain of losing his adopted sister, Michael Burnham, to himself, but he also theorizes that the crew of Discovery survived and will emerge alive in the future, which he is proven correct. While Spock does not live to see it, Michael Burnham does get to see Spock's impact on the galaxy in her absence and looks to preserve the Federation her brother defined.

Spock Is Known For Keeping Things From His Friends Before

Spock, being half-human and half-Vulcan, has been known to keep things from his closest friends until it is time to inform them of an important piece of news. This is best summed up in his younger Kelvin timeline, when in Star Trek Into Darkness he informs Captain Kirk that their new science officer is, in fact, Carol Marcus, the daughter of Admiral Marcus. When Kirk asks him when he is going to tell him, Spock replies, "When it became relevant, as it just did."

This is clear many times in Star Trek: The Original Serie s. The first was in the season two premiere, "Amok Time," where Kirk discovers that Spock is bothered to T'Pring and set to be married. Later in that season, in episode ten, “Journey to Babel,” audiences are introduced to Spock’s father, Sarek, for the first time. Kirk was surprised at the announced familial connection between them as it was clear Spock never revealed much about his family to Kirk, and the Captain only gets details from talking to Spock's mother, Amanda. These two incidents show that Spock was never one to talk about himself to Kirk, so it is not out of the realm of possibility to believe that Spock would never mention Michael Burnham in public to anyone.

Star Trek: 10 Facts About Spock You Probably Didn’t Know (Or Forgot)

This also is not the first time that Star Trek has introduced a long-lost, never-before-mentioned sibling of Spock's to the franchise and used his not being the most open with his friends as a way to explain the retcon. The main villain of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is Sybok, who is revealed to be the half-brother of Spock, who is fully Vulcan and has a different mother. This means that Spock had two siblings: an adopted human sister and a half-brother who was fully Vulcan.

When Spock reveals to Kirk that Sybok is his brother, he is left in disbelief and thinks that Spock is lying. Kirk cites he would know if Spock had a brother, and Spock reveals that Sybok and he were raised together after Sybok's mother died. When Kirk asks why he had never mentioned it before, Spock plainly says, "I was not disposed to discuss matters of personal nature." showing that Spock only reveals information when it is absolutely important, even to those closest to him like Kirk. It certainly helps provide an explanation as to why Spock never mentioned Michael before.

Does Michael Burnham Exist in the Kelvin Timeline?

The addition of Michael Burnham to the main Star Trek timeline also creates a new wrinkle for the franchise in terms of the alternate reality created in J.J. Abrams's 2009 reboot, Star Trek . That film features a younger Spock and Kirk meeting at an earlier point in their lives, but no mention is made of Michael Burnham, despite Spock's parents being prominently featured in the first film. In fact, in the Kelvin timeline of films, it seems that the divergent event is what led to her never needing to be adopted.

The USS Kelvin is attacked and destroyed, resulting in the creation of a new timeline in 2233. In the original Star Trek timeline, Michael Burnham's parents did not go missing until 2236, which led to her being adopted and raised by Sarek. Since this is three years after the event of the Kelvin timeline's divergent origin point, it stands to reason the ripple effect in the galaxy meant that Michael Burnham's parents never went missing, and therefore, she was never adopted and raised alongside Spock. In the Kelvin timeline, Spock never had a sister, and Michael Burnham had to live and grow up with her birth parents.

Star Trek 4: Development History & Why It's Taken So Long

This might be an intentional choice by the creators as the showrunner of Star Trek: Discovery is Alex Kurtzman, who also was the co-writer of 2009's Star Trek , which created the Kelvin timeline and established the rules of how the universe works from branching off from the point of Nero's ship coming through the black hole. When writing Star Trek: Discovery , he likely picked the year that Michael Burnham's parents went missing to be set after that stardate, so it could be implied in the Kelvin timeline it altered events to where she would never need to be adopted.

It appears the creators have done a good job providing plenty of in-universe explanations for why Spock never mentioned his adopted sister in the original Star Trek series or in the Kelvin timeline movies.

Check out our interview with Michael Burnham herself, Sonequa Martin-Green, on the final season of Star Trek: Discovery below.