The Best Star Trek Movies Ranked: All 13 Films From Worst to Best

Rough Cut Review ranked all 13 Star Trek feature films, from Robert Wise's The Motion Picture in 1979 to Justin Lin's Beyond in 2016, in a single table. This page answers the question behind the best star trek movies search with an order that can be argued with, because every placement comes from four scored criteria instead of a gut feeling.

The method is fixed: story and structure 35, performances 25, craft 25, rewatch value 15; full rewatch before any placement; lists reviewed quarterly and within 30 days of a new release. Each film gets a score from 0 to 10 on each criterion. Those scores are multiplied by the criterion's weight and added into a total out of 100, so story and structure moves a film further than any other single column, and a film cannot climb the list on spectacle alone. Readers who want the list worst to best can read the table from the bottom row up.

The rewatch rule decides the middle of the pack. A film that plays well in a theater can sag on a second pass, and a movie with a bad reputation sometimes tightens up, so nothing here was placed from memory. The scores are the publication's own editorial judgment, not an average of other critics, though the extremes match the broad critical consensus: The Wrath of Khan near the top, The Final Frontier and Nemesis near the bottom. If you disagree with a placement, the table shows which column to blame.

Scope is the theatrical run. The ranking covers the 13 films that opened in cinemas between The Motion Picture (December 7, 1979) and Beyond (July 22, 2016). Section 31, the 2025 film that premiered on Paramount+, gets its own section further down and is not scored, because a streaming release was made for a different screen and different expectations. Each film is judged on the cut that played in theaters, and director's cuts come up only where they change the viewing advice.

The four criteria each answer one question. Story asks whether the plot holds together and pays off its setup. Performances covers the principal cast and the villain. Craft covers direction, effects, music and editing. Rewatch asks whether the film survives a second and third viewing once the surprises are gone. Scores are whole numbers from 0 to 10, and the weighted totals can land on half points, so the table shows values such as 87.5 and 72.5.

Star Trek movies ranked this way split into three groups: a top tier led by The Wrath of Khan and First Contact, a crowded middle, and a short bottom tier. The entries below run from first place down to thirteenth, so the best star trek movies come first, and anyone who prefers a worst to best countdown can read them from the bottom. The score columns in the table explain each spot, and the notes here say what the numbers cannot. Readers looking for other star trek films ranked by franchise can start at the Star Trek guide, and the full set of lists lives in Rankings.

1. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

The Wrath of Khan opened on June 4, 1982, and Nicholas Meyer directed it. It runs 113 minutes with the original crew, and its villain is a returning one, since Khan first appeared in the 1967 television episode "Space Seed". It takes first place because it holds up on all four columns, and the 10 for rewatch value is the highest single mark on the sheet.

Nicholas Meyer's naval-thriller approach gives the series its tightest script: a revenge story with a real cost, anchored by Ricardo Montalban's Khan and a Kirk who has to face getting old. The Spock sacrifice still lands on the fifth viewing, which is exactly what the rewatch column rewards. If you only watch one of the best star trek movies on this page, watch this one.

It scores a 9 for story because nothing is wasted: the Genesis device, the Kobayashi Maru test and the nebula battle all feed the same argument about age and regret. Rewatch value is the only perfect mark on the sheet, and the film earned it by staying fresh long after the plot is known.

2. Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

First Contact opened on November 22, 1996, was directed by Jonathan Frakes and runs 111 minutes with the Next Generation crew. It earns 9s on story, craft and rewatch value. Only an 8 for performances, and a total 1.5 points short of Khan, keeps it in second place.

Jonathan Frakes directs the Next Generation crew at full strength. Patrick Stewart's Picard gets an obsession with the Borg that shades into something dark, Alice Krige makes the Borg Queen unsettling, and James Cromwell's Zefram Cochrane gives the time-travel plot a human center. It is the most balanced film of the 1990s and the only one that comes close to Khan.

The two timelines never crowd each other, which is a structural feat many sequels cannot manage. Among all the Star Trek films ranked here on craft, it also has the cleanest action, with the Borg corridor fights and the deflector dish spacewalk both easy to follow.

3. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

The Undiscovered Country opened on December 6, 1991, with Nicholas Meyer back in the director's chair, and runs 110 minutes with the original crew. It is the only film on the sheet with an even 8 on every criterion. That uniform line is the reason it lands third instead of higher or lower.

Meyer returns for the original cast's farewell and turns the end of the Cold War into a Klingon-Federation mystery. Christopher Plummer's Shakespeare-quoting General Chang is a great villain, and the script lets Kirk's prejudice be the problem he has to solve. A few effects look dated, but the structure holds up.

What keeps it from the top two is rewatch rhythm: the prison-planet stretch drags a little on repeat viewings. Still, the dinner scene with the Klingon delegation and the last ride of the original crew make it a fitting goodbye.

4. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

The Voyage Home opened on November 26, 1986, was directed by Leonard Nimoy and runs 122 minutes with the original crew. A 9 for rewatch value, level with First Contact and second only to Khan, lifts it above films with stronger plots. A 7 for craft stops it short of the top three.

Leonard Nimoy directs a comedy about whales and 1980s San Francisco that should not work and does. The fish-out-of-water jokes give every member of the crew something to do, and it is the easiest entry on the list to hand to a newcomer. Its stakes are lower than the film above it, which keeps it out of the top three.

The performances score is high because the comedy depends on the ensemble, with Spock's attempts at slang and Chekov's search for nuclear vessels as the standouts. Craft loses a point for the plain look of the present-day scenes.

5. Star Trek (2009)

Star Trek opened on May 8, 2009, was directed by J.J. Abrams and runs 127 minutes. It starts the Kelvin crew's three films and is the highest-ranked of them. It reaches fifth on 8s for performances and craft, while 7s for story and rewatch value hold it back.

J.J. Abrams relaunched the franchise with Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto as the young Kirk and Spock, and the casting is the strongest thing about it. Eric Bana's Nero is thin, and the plot leans on coincidence, but the pacing and the sound design make it a smooth rewatch. It earned the right to a sequel and the sequel is a few spots lower.

This is the film that proved the franchise could reach a new audience, and it sits just above Beyond on the strength of its cast chemistry and a brisk opening act. Its story score is the one that keeps it out of the top four.

6. Star Trek Beyond (2016)

Beyond opened on July 22, 2016, was directed by Justin Lin and runs 122 minutes with the Kelvin crew. It sits 2.5 points behind the 2009 film. Its 8 for craft is the best mark in its row, and the 7s elsewhere keep it in sixth.

Justin Lin and co-writer Simon Pegg strip the crew down to small character pairings, and the best scenes are the quiet ones between Spock and McCoy. Idris Elba's Krall is under-written, yet the action is clearer and more inventive than in the previous Abrams film. It was also Anton Yelchin's last appearance as Chekov, which gives some scenes extra weight.

It loses points for a plot that has been told before, yet it wins them back on character work. Among the best star trek movies of the relaunch trilogy, it is the one most likely to improve on a second viewing.

7. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)

The Search for Spock opened on June 1, 1984, was directed by Leonard Nimoy and runs 105 minutes with the original crew, the second shortest of the 13. It scores 7s for story, performances and rewatch value. A 6 for craft explains why it trails the films above it.

Nimoy's directing debut has the unglamorous job of undoing a death, and it manages that with real feeling. Christopher Lloyd's Kruge is a lively villain, and the destruction of the Enterprise is a bold choice. The middle section is slow and the effects budget shows, so it works as a second act more than a standalone film.

The story is solid because it carries the weight of the film before it, but that dependence is also the limit: on its own it plays like the middle chapter it is. The ending on Vulcan is quietly effective.

8. Star Trek Generations (1994)

Generations opened on November 18, 1994, was directed by David Carson and runs 118 minutes. It is the hand-over film between the original cast and the Next Generation crew. Its totals of 6 for story and 6 for rewatch value leave it in the middle of the table.

The hand-over from Kirk to Picard is the reason to watch, and the two captains sharing the screen delivers part of what it promises. Malcolm McDowell's Soran has a good first scene and a weak plan, and Kirk's ending feels rushed for a character with this much history. The Enterprise-D saucer crash is still a memorable piece of spectacle.

Both captains are well played, yet the film spends so long setting up the Nexus that the final fight arrives with little time left. It lands in the middle because its good parts are memorable and its weak parts are structural.

9. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

The Motion Picture opened on December 7, 1979, the first of the 13, and Robert Wise directed it. Its theatrical cut runs 132 minutes, tied with Into Darkness as the longest in the set. It takes an 8 for craft and only a 4 for rewatch value, and that split decides its spot.

Robert Wise made the most visually ambitious film in the series, with Jerry Goldsmith's score doing much of the storytelling. The V'Ger plot asks interesting questions, but the long effects sequences stall the pace and the characters barely interact. It ranks high on craft and last in its neighborhood on rewatch value.

The Director's Edition tidies the effects, but the pace stays slow. Anyone curious about the series' scale ambitions should see it once, and that single viewing is what the rewatch score reflects.

10. Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

Into Darkness opened in the United States on May 16, 2013, after IMAX screenings the day before, and J.J. Abrams directed it. It runs 132 minutes, level with The Motion Picture, and belongs to the Kelvin crew. Its 7s for performances and craft meet 5s for story and rewatch value, which is how it ends up tenth.

Benedict Cumberbatch gives Khan real menace, and the first half moves with energy. Then the script remakes scenes from The Wrath of Khan with the emotion removed, and the reversal of the famous death scene feels borrowed. A good cast and polished look keep it above the bottom tier.

Its craft score is high because the film looks expensive and moves quickly. What pulls the total down is the story, where the borrowed beats from the second film invite a comparison it cannot win.

11. Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)

Insurrection opened on December 11, 1998, was directed by Jonathan Frakes and runs 103 minutes, the shortest of the 13. It has the Next Generation crew and scores 5s for story, craft and rewatch value, with a 6 for performances. Every one of those marks sits one point above The Final Frontier.

The film plays like a long episode of the television series, with a pleasant moral about forced relocation and a villain in F. Murray Abraham's Ru'afo who never becomes a threat. The Picard and Data scenes are charming. As a feature, it has little scale and not much to argue about afterward.

Nothing here is bad, which is its own problem. The film produces a pleasant evening, but it offers few scenes that a fan would name on a favorites list, and the scores across the board stay in the middle.

12. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

The Final Frontier opened on June 9, 1989, was directed by William Shatner and runs 106 minutes with the original crew. It earns 4s for story, craft and rewatch value and a 5 for performances. That is the lowest line of any original-crew film.

William Shatner's directing debut sends the crew to the center of the galaxy to meet God, and the film never finds a tone between comedy and mysticism. A tight budget shows in the effects work, and the final act looks it. There is warmth in the campfire scene between Kirk, Spock and McCoy, but little else holds together.

The comedy beats clash with the larger questions, and the rock-climbing opener and the Sybok storyline pull in different directions. It has the lowest story score of the original-cast run, and the sequel that followed had to rebuild trust.

13. Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

Nemesis opened on December 13, 2002, was directed by Stuart Baird and runs 117 minutes. It was the last film for the Next Generation crew. A 3 for rewatch value is the lowest single mark on the sheet, and it decides last place.

Tom Hardy's Shinzon, a young clone of Picard, is a promising idea that the script never develops, and Data's death scene lands with less force than it should. The chase on the Scimitar and the dune buggy sequence feel like they belong to a different movie. It closed the Next Generation era on its weakest note and is the one entry here with almost no rewatch value.

It has moments worth saving, including the Picard and Data friendship, yet the film gives them too little room. Placing it last is the result of the rewatch criterion: after one viewing there is little reason to return.

The 13 films span more than 36 years, from The Motion Picture on December 7, 1979 to Beyond on July 22, 2016. The longest pause between theatrical releases came after Nemesis (December 13, 2002), when the franchise stayed off cinema screens until the 2009 relaunch arrived on May 8, 2009, a wait of more than six years.

Runtime does not predict placement. The two longest films, The Motion Picture and Into Darkness at 132 minutes each, finish ninth and tenth. The shortest, Insurrection at 103 minutes, finishes eleventh, while The Search for Spock (105 minutes) finishes seventh and The Final Frontier (106 minutes) finishes twelfth. Added together, the 13 theatrical running times come to 1,518 minutes, or 25 hours and 18 minutes.

Anyone planning a marathon faces a choice between release order and story order, and for the Star Trek films the two nearly always agree. The six films with the original crew run from 1979 to 1991, and each sequel picks up shortly after the one before it. The Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock and The Voyage Home form a direct three-part run, so skipping the middle film leaves the third without its setup.

Release order is the safest recommendation. It lets the casting changes, the effects and the shifts in tone arrive in the sequence audiences first met them, and it keeps the hand-over in Generations (1994) where it belongs, after both crews are established. First Contact sends the Next Generation crew back to the first warp flight, so it is a film about the past that still follows Generations in story terms. The 2009 Star Trek begins a separate timeline, which means the Kelvin films can be watched on their own without disturbing the older run.

Watching worst to best is a different exercise. It makes a decent countdown, but it opens with Nemesis and The Final Frontier, the two films with the least to say to a newcomer. The ranking above works better as a menu than as a viewing order. Pick the best star trek movies first, then circle back to the films that need context.

Every film belongs to one of three casts, and the weighted totals in the table above show how differently each group fared.

The original crew (1979 to 1991)

Six films belong to the original cast: The Motion Picture, The Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock, The Voyage Home, The Final Frontier and The Undiscovered Country. Their directors are Robert Wise, Nicholas Meyer, Leonard Nimoy (twice), William Shatner and Meyer again. The group averages 70.0 points and holds the top of the table with Khan at 89, but it also holds the 12th place of The Final Frontier at 42.5. Nothing else in the franchise swings as widely.

The Next Generation crew (1994 to 2002)

Four films follow the Next Generation cast: Generations, First Contact, Insurrection and Nemesis. David Carson, Jonathan Frakes (twice) and Stuart Baird directed them. The group averages 61.5, the lowest of the three, yet it contains the second best film on the page, First Contact at 87.5, and the last, Nemesis at 41. Generations also carries original cast members, which makes it the one film that sits in two camps.

The Kelvin crew (2009 to 2016)

Three films use the recast crew introduced in 2009: Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Trek Beyond. The group is named after the USS Kelvin, the ship seen in the opening of the 2009 film, and J.J. Abrams directed the first two with Justin Lin taking over for Beyond. The three films average 69.2 points and have the narrowest spread of any crew, from 75 down to 60. None of the three finished in the top four or the bottom three.

The full spread runs 48 points, from 89 for The Wrath of Khan to 41 for Nemesis, but the steps between neighbors are uneven. The largest single gap is between 11th and 12th: Insurrection at 52.5 and The Final Frontier at 42.5, a 10-point drop. Insurrection scores 5, 6, 5, 5 and The Final Frontier scores 4, 5, 4, 4, so every one of the four criteria falls by exactly one point.

Two gaps tie for second at 7.5 points. The first sits between First Contact (87.5) and The Undiscovered Country (80), which separates the top two from the rest of the best star trek movies. First Contact leads that film by a point on story, craft and rewatch value. The second sits between Into Darkness (60) and Insurrection (52.5), where Into Darkness gains one point on performances and two on craft.

The closest calls are just as informative. The Undiscovered Country (80) and The Voyage Home (79) are separated by a single point, and their lines differ in shape: Meyer's film is an even 8, 8, 8, 8, while Nimoy's trades a 9 for rewatch value against a 7 for craft. The top two are 1.5 points apart, and so are the bottom two, so the first and last spots are the most arguable calls on the page. Read the table from the bottom row up and the worst to best order shows the same clusters: a bottom tier of three films below 55, a crowded middle between 60 and 80, and a short top tier above 87.

Star Trek: Section 31 premiered on Paramount+ on January 24, 2025. Olatunde Osunsanmi directed it, Michelle Yeoh plays Philippa Georgiou, a role she held on Star Trek: Discovery, and Wikipedia lists its running time as 95 minutes. It belongs to none of the three crews above, since it follows the Discovery character rather than the original, Next Generation or Kelvin casts. Because it is a streaming film and not a cinema release, it has no row in the scored table and no place in the worst to best order.

A further film is in development. According to Wikipedia, Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley were hired in November 2025 to write, direct and produce a new Star Trek feature through their GoldDay banner, and the article gave no release date when it was checked in October 2026. Until it opens, the count of scored films stays at 13. A new theatrical release would be rated on the same four criteria and slotted into the table by its total.