Star Trek Review

Full disclosure, Nels has seen every Star Trek movie and every episode of all the Star Trek television series. Nels went to see the theatrical release of Star Trek XI (2009) during the evening on Thursday May 7, 2009. Twitter allows for very short movie reviews. Perhaps in the case of this particular review brevity makes sense, “Star Trek XI was more space cowboy than prime directive.”

Overall, reimaging established franchises seems to be the direction major movie studios are taking. The director and producers present very few utopian futurist promises during the movie. Instead of continuing the franchise by advancing the intellectual legacy of fifteen franchise endeavors, the film endeavors a fundamental intellectual reimaging.

Before seeing the new Star Trek XI film, Nels was concerned the reimaging would abandon the themes, tone, and feel of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The future of the franchise does not appear to focus on producing futurist visions of a better tomorrow.

Clearly, the movie studio intends the reimaging of the franchise to launch a series of future possible films. Will these films focus on the development of a better tomorrow? That possible outcome seems highly unlikely at this point.

Where will Star Trek XI fall within the list of best Star Trek franchise endeavors? Nels will now attempt to rate the best Star Trek franchise endeavors by preference.

Best Star Trek Franchise Endeavors as ranked by Nels’s preference

1. Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987 – 1994)
2. Star Trek: The Wrath of Kahn (2nd Film, 1982)
3. Star Trek: The Original Series (1966 – 1969)
4. Star Trek: The Search for Spock (3rd Film, 1984)
5. Star Trek: Generations (7th Film, 1991)
6. Star Trek: XI (11th Film, 2009)
7. Star Trek: First Contact (8th Film, 1994)
8. Star Trek: Nemesis (10th Film, 2002)
9. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993 – 1999)
10. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1st Film, 1979)
11. Star Trek: The Voyage Home (4th Film, 1986)
12. Star Trek: The Final Frontier(5th Film, 1989)
13. Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country (6th Film, 1991)
14. Star Trek: Voyager (1995 – 2001)
15. Star Trek: Enterprise (2001 – 2005)
16. Star Trek: Insurrection (9th Film, 1998)

Pick your three favorite Star Trek franchise endeavors…