The Top Ten Star Trek Moments

The Star Trek film franchise spans 11 films and, come December, a solid 30 years. It's been a rocky and uneven road for the films; until the tenth installment, it was generally considered that the even-numbered films were better than the odd ones. With the latest Star Trek film proving that old rule wrong, here's a look back at my personal picks for the best moments from the films. While it's hard to rank them (like picking a favorite child), here's my go.

10) "Brace for Impact" / Ramming the Scimitar [Star Trek Nemesis, 2002]:

Known today as the only even-numbered Star Trek film to fall victim to the odd-numbered Trek curse (see this for a primer), Nemesis still had some good moments. First among them was a pretty good battle between the Enterprise and Shinzon's massive Scimitar. Most impressive was the desperate act of Captain Picard to ram the enemy Scimitar in a last-ditch effort to stop his evil clone. The resulting galactic crunch was a splendid feast of twisting metal and zero-gravity debris trails.

9) "A British Tar" / Capturing Data [Star Trek: Insurrection, 1998]:

Star Trek: Insurrection's main problem (okay, one of its problems) was humor that was somewhat out of step, but the chase of the malfunctioning Data through the atmosphere stands out as one of the better-executed comedy areas. In order to distract the android, Picard brings up the songlist to the HMS Pinafore and belts out "A British Tar", even getting the stoic Worf to sing along (via helpful bouncing ball icon over the lyrics.) It's entirely random and unexpected; which may be why it works so well.

8) "Appointment with Eternity" / Enterprise, meet ground [Star Trek Generations, 1994]:

Star Trek Generations suffered from a rather anticlimactic battle both on the planet Veridian III and in orbit, where the Enterprise inexplicably got the tar beaten out of it by a Klingon Bird of Prey (screw the shields, I say; can't they just launch all their torpedoes and finish them? Just because your defenses are gone doesn't mean you can't use your superior firepower!), but the fallout that results in the Enterprise saucer section crashing towards the planet's surface was pretty impressive. Data's expression pretty much sums it up: "Oh, shit." [runner up: the "lifeforms" song that Data belts out while scanning the planet's surface.]

7) "Space Battle" / The Battle for Peace [Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, 1991]:

Most climaxes are a quick and driving pace towards the triumph of good, but Star Trek VI takes a different path, alternating between the rather calm menace of an assassin preparing to take down his target to the Enterprise being hammered by a Shakespeare-spouting Klingon. The clincher is tracking a torpedo as it zeroes in to the enemy (a "we got him!" effect that Star Trek Generations tried and failed to replicate.) The action onscreen is lent great punch by Cliff Eidelmann's underrated score which builds and disappates in perfect synchronization. [runner up: the hilarious Shatner v. Shatner fight on the prison planet. "I can't believe I kissed you!" / "Must have been your lifelong ambition." Seriously, Shatner can't outact himself.]

6) "Stealing the Enterprise" / Green-blooded sunuvabitch [Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, 1984]:

Coming almost half-way into the underwhelming Star Trek III, Kirk and company's theft of the mothballed Enterprise from Spacedock in order to save their friend is no doubt the best part of the film. Enhanced by James Horner's orchestration and excellent sound effects, the best five seconds of the sequence are capped as the ship clears Spacedoors to a rousing brass fanfare. Warp speed, Mr. Scott! [But for god's sake, Chekov, you look like a moron in that schoolboy outfit.]

5) "The New Enterprise" / We're the only ship in the Quadrant! [Star Trek: The Motion Picture, 1979]:

For Star Trek fans, Star Trek: The Motion Picture wasn't the film they had been waiting for, but there's no doubt that the film's special effects were top-rate (in fact, it would be a full three decades before the franchise would see such high quality effects.) And the opening beauty pass of the ship, while overly long, is the utter encapsulation of the elation felt by the community. Here was the Enterprise, back after a full decade off the air, sleeker than ever. We can't blame Admiral Kirk for wanting to take the slow route to the airlock.

4) "Engaging the Borg" / Battle of Sector 001 [Star Trek: First Contact, 1996]:

Until 1996's First Contact, we had seen only around ten different starship classes that the Federation used, and never had a full-scale battle involving more than one or two ships (the battle against the Borg in The Next Generation was never seen in progress). First Contact rectified both issues in spectacular fashion. In less than ten minutes after the credits roll, we are treated to a battle between a dozen or more Starfleet ships against a massive Borg cube that absorbs all punishment (and if you look really closely, right before the ship explodes you can see a gag Millenium Falcon from Star Wars thrown in by effects company Industrial Light and Magic.) It's a feast of sight and sound and something that the series has only rarely matched, let along beaten.

3) "Fire!" / Battle in the Mutara Nebula [Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, 1982]:

While large-scale battles are perhaps more exciting, Star Trek has always excelled in depicting the (arguably more realistic) depiction of space combat as a sort of cloak-and-dagger, submarine warfare. And the nebula battle of Star Trek II exemplifies this style. Blinded by static, the Enterprise and Reliant fly in circles trying to get the upper hand against each other in the midst of swirling multicolored nebula clouds. Punctuated by Horner's score again, it's a satisfying battle of wits that most other Star Trek films have only tried to emulate.

2) "Nailin' the Kelvin" / You're Captain, now, Mr. Kirk [Star Trek, 2009]:

The recent Star Trek movie might underwhelm in some departments (my review is here), but special effects are not one of them, and perhaps the most spectacular battle seen in the franchise's history can be found in the reboot. In what is most likely the best opening to a Star Trek film, the USS Kelvin comes across the time-travelling Narada and George Kirk ends up sacrificing himself in order to save his wife and newborn son. It's action-packed, affecting, and a sure way to start a film off right. Before the titles roll, we're hooked.

1) "Life and Death" / The Death of Spock [Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, 1982]:
My biases are probably showing by including two moments from Star Trek II on this list, but I think that it's apropos. The noble sacrifice of Spock to save the Enterprise from Khan's clutches in the film's finale is one of the most impacting moments in the entire franchise. In the shadow of a developing world, Kirk realizes his friend is missing and makes a desperate dash to engineering amid rising strings only to come too late to save his friend, who he must say final words to through a clear screen. Starting the Star Trek tradition of laying the dead to rest in a torpedo tube, Kirk gives a touching eulogy for his fallen alien comrade, and Shatner acts better than he does in most of his career: "Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels... his was the most... human." Death scenes done this well, or this affecting, aren't often seen in films, let alone Star Trek (just take a look at how poor Data's death in Nemesis looks in comparison.)

Well, that's my list. Did I leave anything out or arrange things in a specious fashion? Tell me, then.