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Ranking updated (11 votes):
54 POINTS: 02. "Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan" (1982)
51 POINTS: 08. "Star Trek VIII: First Contact" (1996)
48 POINTS: 06. "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" (1991)
45 POINTS: 01. "Star Trek I: The Motion Picture" (1979)
34 POINTS: 04. "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" (1986)
20 POINTS: 03. "Star Trek III: The Search For Spock" (1984)
18 POINTS: 11. "Star Trek XI" (2009)
10 POINTS: 09. "Star Trek IX: Insurrection" (1998)
08 POINTS: 12. "Star Trek XII: Into Darkness" (2013)
08 POINTS: 05. "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" (1989)
06 POINTS: 07. "Star Trek VII: Generations" (1994)
00 POINTS: 10. "Star Trek X: Nemesis" (2002)
I had my reservations about the film. It is IMO the best of the three Kelvin Timeline films. But it still isn't a groundbreaking Star Trek film. Anyway, here's my review in bullet point style, with pro's and con's:
THE GOOD:
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It is indeed the best of the Kelvin timeline trilogy. So it saddens me a bit that until now "Beyond" is on course to become the least succesful Kelvin-film.
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It's a real teamplayer movie, in which every character gets a worthy role. The writers did a good thing by dropping the crew in duo's on the planet Altamid. By doing so there are more heftier, deeper conversations taking place between all of them. For instance, Kirk and Bones drinking some powerful brandy together works, talking about Kirk's father George. Furthermore, you can see some 'George Kirk' in James Tiberius once he makes sure he's the very last person to abandon the ship...or what's left of it.
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The theme of the film, basically Hillary Clinton's 'Stronger Together', is being used in here. Unity and cooperation eventually achieve more good, as opposed to Krall's vision of dividing crews and destroying unions.
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It was refreshing to see the Enterprise crew for the most part on a true alien planet. Altamid looked different from many of the alien planets and moons the previous 12 films focused on. Altamid has exotic forests, yet also dangerous rocky environments.
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Sofia Boutella as Jaylah was a real nice addition to the film. She was really spicy and shook up things a bit once the crew members came together with her help. In a way she reminded me of Lily from "Star Trek: First Contact".
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I am a big fan of actress Shohreh Aghdashloo. She currently plays a lovely Clinton-esque power-politician in "The Expanse" (worthwhile watching it). In here she plays Commodore Paris, the commander of Federation Station Yorktown, with her own lovely charisma and smokey vocals.
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The film had some nice, positive references to Prime Spock and his own senior crew he was part of.
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Nice to finally see Sulu being revealed as a gay husband with a kid (Demora Sulu??). It actually gave me a warm feeling, seeing two men with kids. It's what I dream off, and will probably never get or achieve. But, I found it a missed opportunity to do a bit more with gay characters, story-wise.
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From the viewpoint of technical continuity "Beyond" is a big party. The USS Franklin to me always looked like a slightly cleaner, leaner version of Captain Archer's NX-Class USS Enterprise. And now we understand why. The USS Franklin NX-326 (2161) was commissioned 10 years after the launch of the USS Enterprise NX-01 (2151).
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There are many little references to "Star Trek: Enterprise", of which season 3 and especially season 4 were really good. The uniforms of Captain Balthazar Edison's crew really looked like a streamlined combination of Captain Archer's crew and the Kelvin timeline Captain Kirk. Captain Edison also shortly mentioned The Xindi. Make no mistake, "Star Trek: Enterprise" now serves as a bridge between the Kelvin Timeline and the Prime Timeline. "Enterprise" in a way is part of both timelines.
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A comparison between the USS (M.A.C.O.-ship) Franklin and the first USS Enterprise:
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And there are some nice comparisons already with the saucer section of the USS Franklin and the upcoming USS Discovery from the new series "Star Trek: Discovery". You see this fishbone-like array? It could very well be the predecessor of 24th century phaser arrays. But both the USS Franklin and the USS Discovery -both Prime Timeline ships- have it:
THE BAD:
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"Star Trek Beyond" still is what it is: A fairly OK Trek-blockbuster, but by no means a groundbreaking "Star Trek"-adventure. It touches a lot of moral and ethical dilemma's, but it only stays with 'touching'. It doesn't go into detail with such dilemma's. I find that a missed opportunity. And I do think the Trek-franchise needs a more groundbreaking Sci-Fi epic. Similar to what 'Skyfall' and 'Casino Royale' did to the Bond franchise.
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A lot of events that occured in "Beyond" deserved to be on the forefront if you ask me. There was the mention of 'New Vulcan'. You see some other Vulcans wandering on that wonderful space station Yorktown. But as we are facing our own immigrant crisis in Europe, then why did no writer stand up and asked themselves: "We need to tailor a story around those Vulcans who are now desparate immigrants themselves". Why couldn't there be at least a bit more conversation about this? It could have fitted perfectly in the theme of 'Stronger Together'.
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Same goes with the very essence of the United Federation of Planets. Commodore Paris had a small role, but why couldn't her role be made bigger? In which she more fiercefully supported the need of a United Federation of Planets?
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The more grotesque bits of humours to me felt a bit flat. The opening sequence, a diplomatic mission, was funny. But when can we see Captain Kirk more competent during diplomatic missions? God, I do miss Captain Picard.
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Krall/Captain Edison to me felt like the biggest flaw of the film. Perhaps the Kelvin films needed a less dominant villain this time. But at least Krall's reasoning to me was vague. He was just 'there' to make revenge. I would have loved to see a dinner table sequence in which Kirk and Krall had a fierce intellectual discussion about the need of the Federation. This is why Silva in 'Skyfall' is a good villain, and Krall a badly written villain.
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The story to me was too simple. Yes, I loved the buddy-esque storyline, but it lacked mystery and intrige. If only Christopher Nolan was there to write a more complex story for a future Trek-film. And, he actually made his own 'Trek-film' already: "Interstellar".
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The action of the film, especially those swarm ships, to me didn't really do it. It all looks great visually, but I'm actually a bit tired of too much destruction.
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And that brings me to the destruction of the USS Enterprise. It has been done before, in "Star Trek: Generations" and "Star Trek: The Search For Spock", and even in the episode "Timeless" from "Star Trek: Voyager".
Still, "Star Trek Beyond" left a bigger smile on my face than the previous two Kelvin-films. Yet, I do hope "Star Trek: Discovery" becomes more groundbreaking as a TV Series when it comes to moral and ethical dilemma's and real exploration.
So, here's my new ranking of the Star Trek movie franchise:
01. "Star Trek IX: Insurrection" (1998)
02. "Star Trek VIII: First Contact" (1996)
03. "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" (1991)
04. "Star Trek VII: Generations" (1994)
05. "Star Trek I: The Motion Picture" (1979)
06. "Star Trek XIII: Beyond" (2016)
07. "Star Trek III: The Search For Spock" (1984)
08. "Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan" (1982)
09. "Star Trek XII: Into Darkness" (2013)
10. "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" (1986)
11. "Star Trek XI" (2009)
12. "Star Trek X: Nemesis" (2002)
13. "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" (1989)
And here are my overall ratings from the entire Kelvin-trilogy:
7.0/10: "Star Trek XIII: Beyond" (2016)
6.5/10: "Star Trek XII: Into Darkness" (2013)
5.0/10: "Star Trek XI" (2009)
1. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) $485.6 million
2. Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013) $481.1 million
3. Star Trek (2009) $433.9 million
4. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) $282.2 million
5. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) $240.3 million
6. Star Trek: First Contact (1996) $231.0 million
7. Star Trek Generations (1994) $194.3 million
8. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) $191.0 million
9. Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) $172.7 million
10. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) $171.3 million
11. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) $134.5 million
12. Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) $90.0 million
Hahahaha, you will like it though. It's Hillary (Kirk) versus Trump (Krall), and we know who eventually wins :-P.
Well, as you could think reading my Trek Films Ranking, i don´t like Kelvin timeline movies. I even like more The Final Frontier. Why? Because i can´t find in the new ones what i liked about the previous 10. Watching TMP, i feel like watching something groundbreaking, true Sci-Fi movie with imagination, futuristic and optimistic Trek- minded screenplay. When i watch Insurrection, the one u like most, while i dont like Ruafo´s boys, CGI effects , i like a lot the film´s background. Moral questions, fight for Baku people against the odds, Picard defense of the Federation ideals until the end. There is one scene when Picard and Anish walk through the village that captures Trek essence. When i watched Beyond, ITD or the first JJ trek, i felt cheated. I think the new movies try to make fans think they are watching something similar to what they like by
filtering small tributes , references here and there, 1 minute dilemma for every hour of destruction and CGI to camouflage the void of feelings and ideas. I watched Beyond, and yeah, it was entertaining, good to see the tributes to Anton and Nimoy... but im sorry i have to say this is more like Fast and Furious than Star Trek. Today i will watch Search For Spock with one friend, and i know i will have better time watching the stealing of the Enterprise than the new movies together. And im not an old fan with too much nostalgia about the old things, I´m 22, i grew up watching ESDLA, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Star Wars prequels.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3780194/The-superstealth-USS-Zumwalt-destroyer-sails-officially-join-Navy-Captain-James-Kirk-helm.html
2) Star Trek (2009)
3) First Contact
4) The Undiscovered Country
5) The Motion Picture
6) Star Trek Into Darkness
7) Beyond--haven't seen it yet but guessing I'll rank it here
8) The Search For Spock
9) The Voyage Home
10) Generations
11) Insurrection
12) The Final Frontier
13) Nemesis
Any of you who like musicals and/or Barbara and/or Chris Pine will love this:
<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Yp9GXXzwHOs"; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Had no idea about this until today...