Redshirts Always Die
Fansided

Ranking every Star Trek film in franchise history according to metrics

By Chad Porto

American actors Leonard Nimoy, George Takei, Walter Koenig, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, and Canadian William Shatner on the set of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (Photo by Paramount Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)
American actors Leonard Nimoy, George Takei, Walter Koenig, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, and Canadian William Shatner on the set of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (Photo by Paramount Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images) /
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GLENDALE, CA – APRIL 15: Michael Dorn and Malcom McDowell attend Prospect Entertainment with Glendale Arts presents the Malcom McDowell series and Q&A screening of “Star Trek: Generations” at Alex Theatre on April 15, 2014 in Glendale, California. (Photo by Araya Doheny/WireImage)
GLENDALE, CA – APRIL 15: Michael Dorn and Malcom McDowell attend Prospect Entertainment with Glendale Arts presents the Malcom McDowell series and Q&A screening of “Star Trek: Generations” at Alex Theatre on April 15, 2014 in Glendale, California. (Photo by Araya Doheny/WireImage) /

Star Trek VII: Generations

Final Score: 54.35

I like Generations. It’s solid fun. It’s not the best film by a mile, there are probably 100 episodes I’d rather watch beforehand. Some of the actors in the film were underutilized but I like it. It’s not going to reshape the history of Star Trek by any means but it’s solid.

Until the end.

See, what made Generations so interesting was that it was billed as the first and only ever meeting of captains Jean-Luc Picard and James T. Kirk. William Shatner would return to the role he made famous one last time to send off the film franchise in style, with Kirk passing the torch to Picard.

The only problem is, that this is also the film that killed Kirk. The original Kirk, that is. Now, I have no problem killing off Kirk. After all, Shatner was 63 at the time. We didn’t think he’d be acting that much longer after the film anyway.

Ha.

Yet, the idea of killing off a 63-year-old Shatner wasn’t a terrible idea. The way they did it, however, was. He basically dies because a metal structure snaps apart and he falls down a mountain and gets crushed. Oh, he was trying to push a button, so you know, that made his death heroic.

Death by button pushing.

That’s where I believe most fans have an issue with the film. Not with Kirk dying, but how. Hey, if you thought that death scene was bad, the original just had him getting shot randomly. So, at least there’s that?

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