Thursday, September 08, 2016

Happy Birthday Star Trek

Today is the 50th birthday of Star Trek. I've certainly devoted more hours of my life to this series/universe than any other. If you're not like me, Vox offers, Star Trek, explained for non-Trekkies.

I realized I hadn't watched any Star Trek episodes in a long time because they're not rerun on any stations. I know they're available on Netflix but it's not something I'd seek out that way (there's already too much in my Netflix queue and stored on my TiVo). But I found that BBCAmerica shows reruns and has been showing a lot lately. So I've watched a bunch of TNG episodes. It's easy to skip the bad ones and the good ones bring back lots of memories. I usually list Tapestry as my favorite, but I think the finale, All Good Things the better. I also think it's the best sci-fi finale of all-time and perhaps the best TV show finale. I'll expand on that in another post.

This is my favorite Star Trek story today: Things Bones McCoy Is Not, Ranked.

In researching Sequels recently I tried ranking all the Star Trek films, there's surprisingly little agreement doing so (Entertainment Weekly has particularly odd thoughts on the matter). I think I settle out as follows.

  • Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
  • Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
  • Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
  • Star Trek Beyond (2016)
  • Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
  • Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
  • Star Trek (2009)
  • Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
  • Star Trek Generations (1994)
  • Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
  • Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
  • Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
  • Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

I'm not a huge fan of the reboots. I like the characters (though Kirk is far too one-note) and am fine with the idea of rebooting the original cast, but I didn't like how JJ Abrams filmed them (lens flares) and how the stories were weak and un-Trek-like. For the record, the IMDb ratings are as follows:

  • 8.0 Star Trek (2009)
  • 7.8 Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)
  • 7.7 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
  • 7.6 Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
  • 7.5 Star Trek Beyond (2016)
  • 7.3 Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
  • 7.2 Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
  • 6.6 Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)
  • 6.6 Star Trek Generations (1994)
  • 6.4 Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
  • 6.4 Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
  • 6.4 Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
  • 5.4 Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

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