EAS Today

13: Into Darkness
12: 2009
11: Beyond
10: Nemesis
9: The Final Frontier
8: Insurrection
7: The Voyage Home
6: The Search for Spock
5: First Contact
4: The Undiscovered Country
3: The Wrath of Khan
2: Generations
1: The Motion Picture

My personal rationale:

13..11: Almost on the same level of unwatchable for me.

10: Throughout TNG, the impression had been that the Romulan Star Empire was a large civilization spanning many systems, with a space fleet on par with the UFP's Starfleet. In the movie, it seemed more like a singular "planet of the week". Add to that silly action-movie concepts like the personal transporter, huge uber-ships, and the Thalaron emitter, as well as the noticeable lack of connection to the rest of the franchise (no previously known Romulan ship types anywhere; no references to the crew's previous dealings with Romulans; the only scenes that would embed the movie in a larger story, like Riker leaving the Enterprise, getting cut) and two antagonists (Shinzon and the Reman Viceroy) that I barely perceived as characters in their own right, all of this makes me put this movie almost to the end of the list.

9: Not much to say here.

8: The underlying story idea was a good one, but it IMO, it was overshadowed by plotholes (origin of the Son'a from the PoV of the Federation and from the Son'a themselves), silliness (Data as a flotation device), and aspects that I consider just bad taste (the UFP appear as the "big bad" here, because we never see anything of them other than the one corrupt admiral; leaving the villain back to die rather than getting him out and to justice before the collector station explodes).

7: Enjoyable, but IMHO tainted by way too much 1980s-movie-campiness.

6: Mediocre. I have neither any particularly bad nor particularly good memories of this one.

5: Exciting and fun to watch, but it seriously loses points for me by the fact that it retooled the Borg from an invincible collective that has no leader to a beehive with a queen. Also, on a minor note, it was the movie that ended the era of the TNG/DS9 uniforms - the classic ones that I had grown up with.

4: It is great to watch the TOS crew on a last mutual adventure, and one that is embedded well into the politics of the Trek universe established by that time. The movie included, however, some problematic plotholes (such as the role of the Romulan ambassador).

3: Quite exciting. I forgive it some deficiencies as this movie was created at a time when the Star Trek universe as a whole was still much less defined.

2: I'll always have a soft spot for this movie. It is the only movie on the entire list that mostly took over the look and feel from the TV shows, in terms of the starship, the interiors, and the uniforms. I also liked that while the movie had a villain, Soran was not a mortal enemy of the Federation or one of the protagonists, but simply sought to reach his goal of returning to the Nexus by any means available to him. These factors combined made the movie feel more like an episode of the series that I loved than any of the other movies, which always had a certain we-produce-a-scifi-movie-and-make-it-fit-into-Star-Trek feel to it. On top of that, while the specifics may need some closer examination, I have always found it clever how the movie's plot was centered around someone using interstellar physics to re-route an interstellar phenomenon, when Star Trek otherwise makes it seem way too often as if planets and systems were just fixed points on a map.

1: This movie is something special. I understand why plenty of viewers may not be overwhelmed by it, but personally, I like how the movie takes its time to show the crew travel into the unknown (even though in this case, "the unknown" is just heading toward Earth) and how it conveys what a lonely and dangerous place space is. It includes wonderful scenes like the flyby around the Enterprise refit, the mission briefing for the entire crew and the warp drive malfunction. Furthermore, the movie is quite unique in its visual styling and tone, being the only movie to feature the grey uniforms and made before the more militaristic style of the remaining TOS movies started, making TMP feel like memories of a "mysterious, almost forgotten era" (from a couple of years before I was born).

I do think it is a pretty fantastic score. Final Frontier's is just moreso, for me. But I could certainly listen to 'Deck 15' or the Overture, the BoP battle/crash, or the finale and credits, any time...

13: Nemesis
12: Into Darkness
11: Star Trek Beyond
10: Final Frontier (try thinking of it as a dream that Kirk is having)
09: Trek '09
08: Generations
07: Insurrection
06: Undiscovered Country (overrated IMHO)
05: Search for Spock (this would probably be lower if not for the awesome new ships and space dock)
04: First Contact (best "popcorn" Star Trek Movie)
03: Voyage Home
02: Wrath of Khan (best score)
01: Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Director's Cut)

TMP takes a lot of flack, but a huge chunk of that is unfair.
This film had to absorb the costs of an aborted tv series as it was entering production. It was squeezed into a painfully tight production window, and there was all sorts of logistical and studio political issues that dogged it from the start. Not to mention everything compared it to the shock success explosion of a little George Lucas production that was Star Wars. Only the very beginning of that story!

Your points about Harve Bennett taking over leading to Wrath Of Khan, and Michael Piller getting the TNG Writing House in order as of Season 3 of that show are completely valid.
But in its own right (esp as of the excellent 2002 Directors cut) TMP is not a bad film and has some solid and pure Sci Fi ideas, good character moments and is a worthy entry in the film library.

In many ways, its impressive that considering how creaky the original 1979 version is it DID inspire what followed, with aspects lasting well into TNG almost a decade later. 🙂

No it didn't. INS could not live up to FC, so it wisely didn't try. Instead it told its own story, and did it well enough. It was a successful film, it was just not successful on Wrath Of Khan or First Contact levels. INS was out during DS9's final season and VOY was on the go too. Both series ended relatively well in retrospect.

NEM however, died at the box office, its mused sequel idea was quoshed, even at the PR stage. Finally ENT, just as it was getting good, also got the chop.
Paramount had lost confidence in the franchise because NEM tanked just so badly. Thats also why as of 2009, the writing has never been the same, except in part perhaps for Lower Decks.

Funny, I'd reverse Fnal Frontier and GEN on the reasoning, the GEN score is the one consistant things I have loved about that film.

N/A. Section 31

13. Into Darkness
12. Nemesis
11. 2009

10. Beyond

9. Final Frontier
8. First Contact
7. Generations

6. The Motion Picture
5. Wrath of Khan
4. Search for Spock
3. The Undiscovered Country
2. Insurection
1. The Voyage Home

This was tricky! Section 31 is excempt because I have seen the trailer, and I have no interest in seeing the film at all. Its as simple as that.

Slots 13 - 11 reflect the films I have each seen once, and never again.
I consider the quality of the writing so subpar I have never been able to sit through them a second time.

10 is a standalone. Its predictable and anticlamatic, but the character scenes between the mains are written well, so I can watch it if I accidentally come across it on the telly. Slots 13 - 10 I have never owned on home media.
This won't change.

9 - 7
They are Trek films too.
GEN is the end of TOS and TNG, using a contrived time loop, FC fails its biggest promise in its premise (in retrospect) the Borg horror to conclusion. VOY and PIC dragged the collective on, painfully so. Also FC is not properly concluded, I hate films that are open ended in this manner. - Scenes of the EE arriving back in the 24th century, moments after she had left, were cut.
Finsl Frontier is simply a disjointed mess of half baked ideas. Disappointing.
Even the excellent camp fire scenes and use of the shuttlecraft can't help its flim-flam concept.

6 - 1
Its all about the writing and execution. How good is the story, are the characters used well, am I eager to see this film and its details again? Do I feel something positive from seeing it?
Many may be surprised to see me rate INS so high, but to me, its the only TNG era film that fulfils the promise of a solid moral story. One still pertinent all these years later too.
Maybe its because I grew up with the original 6 films, maybe it was the magic of the Genesis Trilogy, maybe it was the wonder and less is much more of the visuals, but classic film era Trek is truelly evergreen to me. INS is too, as the standalone TNG film. The others? Not so much.

It's hard to rank the Abramsverse movies on the same scale as the first ten since they are such different experiences. Nemesis could move up a couple of places with some judicious editing. Objectively, I think Final Frontier is better than Generations, but I have fond memories of watching 1701-D on the big screen.

13. Into Darkness
12. Nemesis
11. Beyond
10. 2009
9. Insurrection
8. The Final Frontier
7. Generations
6. First Contact
5. The Voyage Home
4. The Search for Spock
3. The Undiscovered Country
2. The Wrath of Khan
1. The Motion Picture

Generations above Undiscovered Country? Insurrection that high up? Nemesis not dead last? Now there is a hot take!

My list would be:

13. Nemesis
12. Insurrection
11. Into Darkness (The first 3/4, up through the torpedos exploding, would rank #9; it's the ending that sinks it)
10. Generations
9. Final Frontier (beating out Generations sheerly by the power of its score, otherwise they'd be reversed)
8. 2009
7. Voyage Home
6. Undiscovered Country
5. Beyond
4. Wrath of Kahn
3. Search for Spock
2. First Contact
1. Star Trek: The Motion Picture

14 - Star Trek: Section 31
13 - Star Trek Beyond
12 - Star Trek Into Darkness
11 - Star Trek (2009)
10 - Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
09 - Star Trek Generations
08 - Star Trek: Insurrection
07 - Star Trek: Nemesis
06 - Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
05 - Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
04 - Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Director's Cut)
03 - Star Trek: First Contact
02 - Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
01 - Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

The Ring Nebula (NGC 6720) is seen on some of the bridge overhead displays in 6 episodes of #StarTrekTOS. More than 30 years later, it is seen again in Voyager's astrometrics in several season 6 and 7 episodes of #StarTrekVOY.

Here are the bridge overhead displays seen in #StarTrekTOS "Court Martial". It's the last time the image of the Ring Nebula is seen on the Enterprise bridge in #TOS.

In the final bridge shots of #StarTrekTOS' "The Galileo Seven"⬆️ the Environmental overhead bridge display switches to a white starfield (it's red throughout earlier in the episode), just like it is seen in the following episode "Court Martial"⬇️. Possibly both bridge shots were filmed on the same day.

A Malcorian scanner/stethoscope created for #StarTrekTNG's "First Contact"↖️↗️⬅️ later appears as a medical scanner ("Ethics"➡️), cardiostimulator ("Realm of Fear"↙️) and a cortical stimulator ( #StarTrekVOY's "Alliances"↘️) on Starfleet vessels.

In #StarTrekTOS' "The Galileo Seven", Kirk is seen talking to Kelowitz by means of the left Science station display, which normally displays an image of the Ring Nebula in this episode. In ↙️ (seen right before and after the video call) the light normally lighting the displays from behind can be seen.

An image of the Andromeda galaxy first appeared in the Enterprise library computer in "The Cage" before being seen on bridge overhead displays in several early #StarTrekTOS season 1 episodes. It also appears in the briefing room in "The Corbomite Maneuver" and "for real" in "By Any Other Name".

A large medical console seen at the Sikla Medical Facility on Malcor III in #StarTrekTNG's "First Contact"⬆️ was first seen more than two seasons earlier on the bridge of the Erstwhile in "The Outrageous Okona"⬇️ . The console was rented from Modern Props.

Here is a collage of all the bridge overhead displays seen in #StarTrekTOS' "The Galielo Seven". I love the green version of the solar flare! The image of the Andromeda galaxy ⬆️ appears for the last time on a bridge display in this episode.

Tell you what: I'm really really enjoying the #StarTrekTOS overhead bridge display research! It's the first time in ages that I have seriously tackled #TOS, I think the last time was during the remastering of the show more than 15 years ago. I'm learning a lot and am looking forward to doing more TOS research! :-)

In the final bridge shots of #StarTrekTOS' The Conscience of the King"⬆️ the Communications overhead displays were changed and also appear like that at the beginning of the episode filmed next, "The Galileo Seven"⬇️. This kind of overlap happens in several season 1 episodes.