Best Star Trek Movies Ranked

#2 Star Trek: First Contact

First Contact gives The Next Generation crew their strongest cinematic adventure and turns the Borg into a genuinely terrifying big-screen threat.

Picard's history with the Borg makes the conflict deeply personal, while the story on Earth explores humanity's first contact with the Vulcans and one of the most important events in Star Trek history.

It successfully combines action, horror, humour and classic Star Trek optimism, making First Contact one of the easiest franchise movies to recommend.

#3 Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

The Voyage Home proves that Star Trek does not need enormous space battles to make a brilliant movie. Kirk and his crew travel back to 1980s San Francisco to find humpback whales capable of responding to a mysterious probe threatening Earth.

The fish-out-of-water comedy gives the original cast some of their funniest material while the environmental story remains unmistakably Star Trek.

It is warm, accessible and endlessly rewatchable, even for viewers who would not normally consider themselves Star Trek fans.

#4 Star Trek (2009)

J.J. Abrams successfully rebooted Star Trek without erasing everything that came before it. The destruction of the USS Kelvin creates an alternate timeline, allowing younger versions of Kirk, Spock and the Enterprise crew to follow a different path.

Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto make the characters their own, while Leonard Nimoy provides an emotional connection between the new timeline and classic Star Trek.

Fast, funny and accessible, Star Trek introduced an entirely new generation to the Enterprise.

#5 Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

The final movie centred entirely on the original crew gives Kirk, Spock and their friends a fitting farewell.

With the Federation and Klingon Empire attempting to establish peace, the movie uses conspiracy and political tension to examine prejudice, change and what happens when lifelong enemies are suddenly expected to coexist.

Knowing that the cast were approaching the end of their journey adds another layer to a story already concerned with whether an older generation can accept a changing universe.

#6 Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

The Search for Spock has the difficult task of following one of Star Trek's greatest endings without simply undoing its emotional impact.

Kirk and his crew risk their careers to recover Spock, resulting in the destruction of the Enterprise and another devastating personal loss for Kirk.

It works particularly well when watched directly after The Wrath of Khan and before The Voyage Home, effectively forming the middle chapter of a Star Trek movie trilogy.

#7 Star Trek Beyond

Star Trek Beyond feels closer to the exploratory spirit of classic Trek than either of the previous Kelvin timeline movies.

Destroying the Enterprise early forces the crew apart and allows characters such as Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Scotty to operate in unusual combinations before eventually coming back together.

The result is a colourful, energetic adventure that understands the Enterprise crew are strongest because of their relationships rather than simply their ship.

#8 Star Trek: The Motion Picture

The Motion Picture is one of the most ambitious Star Trek films and one of the most divisive. Its slow pace and extended visual sequences are dramatically different from the action-driven movies that followed.

However, its story about encountering something genuinely unknown captures the exploratory philosophy at the heart of Star Trek.

Viewers willing to embrace its deliberate pace will find an ambitious science-fiction story that feels unlike almost every other film in the franchise.

#9 Star Trek: Generations

Generations performs the seemingly impossible task of bringing Captain Kirk and Captain Picard into the same movie.

The meeting between two legendary Enterprise captains provides the film's biggest attraction, while the destruction of the Enterprise-D gives The Next Generation crew its first major cinematic moment.

The crossover does not reach the heights its premise suggests, but seeing Kirk and Picard together ensures Generations remains an important chapter of Star Trek history.

#10 Star Trek Into Darkness

Star Trek Into Darkness delivers impressive action and strong performances from the Kelvin timeline cast, but its attempt to revisit ideas from The Wrath of Khan inevitably invites comparison with one of the franchise's greatest movies.

Benedict Cumberbatch brings intensity to Khan, while the relationship between Kirk and Spock remains the emotional centre of the story.

As a blockbuster it is extremely entertaining, even if its connections to classic Star Trek occasionally work against it.

#11 Star Trek: Insurrection

Insurrection often feels more like an extended episode of The Next Generation than a major cinematic event, but that is not necessarily a bad thing.

Picard and his crew rebel against Starfleet when they discover a plan to forcibly relocate the peaceful Ba'ku population.

The smaller scale prevents it from matching First Contact, but its moral conflict feels unmistakably like classic Star Trek.

#12 Star Trek: Nemesis

Nemesis attempts to give Picard a dark reflection through Shinzon while also delivering the final theatrical adventure of The Next Generation crew.

There are memorable ideas and an emotional sacrifice from Data, but the movie struggles to give several members of the Enterprise crew enough to do.

Later Star Trek stories would revisit some of its consequences, giving Nemesis greater significance within Picard's wider story.

#13 Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

The Final Frontier contains some genuinely interesting ideas about faith, pain and the relationship between Kirk, Spock and McCoy, but the finished movie never fully delivers on its ambitious premise.

Spock's half-brother Sybok takes control of the Enterprise while searching for a mysterious being he believes to be God.

Its flaws are significant, but the quieter character moments between the three central friends prevent it from being completely without merit.

#14 Star Trek: Section 31

Section 31 takes Star Trek into espionage territory with a story centred on the Federation's controversial secret organisation.

Its tone is deliberately different from the traditional Enterprise adventures, focusing on covert operations rather than exploration.

That experimentation gives the movie its own identity, although viewers looking for the optimistic exploration associated with classic Star Trek may find it further removed from the franchise's traditional strengths.

What Is the Best Original Star Trek Movie?

The Wrath of Khan is our highest-ranked movie featuring the original Enterprise crew. Its combination of a memorable villain, personal consequences and the relationship between Kirk and Spock makes it the defining Star Trek film.

The Voyage Home provides its closest competition by showing a completely different side of the franchise, while The Undiscovered Country gives the original crew an excellent farewell.

What Is the Best Next Generation Star Trek Movie?

First Contact comfortably takes our top position among The Next Generation movies.

The Borg provide the crew with their strongest cinematic enemy, while Picard's trauma following his assimilation gives Patrick Stewart some of his best material outside the television series.

What Is the Best Kelvin Timeline Star Trek Movie?

The 2009 Star Trek reboot remains our favourite of the Kelvin timeline trilogy. It successfully introduces an entirely new cast while using the alternate timeline to respect the history of the original characters.

Star Trek Beyond comes close because of its stronger focus on exploration and the Enterprise crew working together, while Into Darkness offers the trilogy's darkest adventure.

The Essential Star Trek Movies Everyone Should Watch

You do not need to watch every Star Trek movie to understand why the franchise has survived for generations.

If you only want the essential big-screen adventures, these five movies showcase the original crew, The Next Generation and the Kelvin timeline while capturing several very different sides of Star Trek.