3. Star Trek: Nemesis
While I am torn between Nemesis and Section 31 in this third spot, Nemesis takes the cake because of its strange send-off for the Next Generation Cast. Nemesis pits Captain Jean-Luc Picard face-to-face with his younger self as the Enterprise battles a Romulan Clone of Picard named Shinzon. Shinzon was abandoned by the Romulans as a child and was raised by Remans. The Remans were introduced as Romulan slaves of a neighboring planet. As such, Shinzon is motivated to defeat the Romulan Star Empire and has his sights set on Earth.
The film had a great opportunity to introduce the Romulans as an intriguing movie villain, but fell short of creating any real compelling villain among the Romulans, Remans, and Shinzon. Additionally, the introduction of a clone of Picard felt random and out of context given the scope of The Next Generation and its previous three films. The franchise could have finished the Next Generation’s story much more compellingly, but everything was corrected over 20 years later during season 3 of Star Trek: Picard.
2. Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Following the success of Star Wars in the late 1970s, Star Trek wanted to capitalize on the public’s newfound interest in big-budget science fiction. While the film delivered as a visual spectacle for its time, it certainly left a lot to be desired in story development.
The Motion Picture is characterized by long, drawn-out, overly dramatic sequences that are unnecessary for the plot. Additionally, there are several moments with choppy dialogue or no dialogue whatsoever. Take the minutes-long departure of the retrofitted Enterprise from space dock as one example.
With so few positives, The Motion Picture can be skipped. The good news is that Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan avenged the shortcomings of The Motion Picture by delivering on everything that had made Star Trek great to that point.
1. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Star Trek V ventured into the religious sector by introducing Spock’s half-brother Sybok. Sybok spent the film searching for God beyond an energy field known as The Great Barrier. Although fully Vulcan, Sybok has rejected the Vulcan path of logic, and as such, the film does a solid job of portraying Sybok as the antithesis to Spock. However, the film suffers from poor writing and a fitful storyline, developed and directed by star actor William Shatner.
Luckily, Star Trek managed to course correct with Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. The Final Frontier remains one of, if not the worst, pieces of media Star Trek has delivered to date.