(Photo Credit: Ronald Grant)
The best Star Trek movies are exceptional experiences, but if you’re planning on a whole series marathon, you should be aware that there are some high highs and low lows as far as the films go. Many view the movies with the original crew as the best, but a couple are rough around the edges, and the nostalgia factor helps them out a bit. While we think they’re all worth watching at least once, you can see our recommendations for the best Star Trek movies below.
Best Star Trek movies as of 2026
We’ve put together a list of the best of the Star Trek movies below. With the future of the franchise clouded in uncertainty, this might be our definitive picks. Since Star Trek: Beyond, there have been numerous rumors about a fourth Abrams film or something completely new, but all of them have fallen through. However, with Skydance’s merger with Paramount, the Abramsverse is dead, and yet another project has been announced.
The good news is that the latest update says the reboot will focus on the Kelvin timeline. The bad news is we might have to wait longer than we’d like for a new Star Trek movie, at least until 2028. In the meantime, enjoy the classics below.
As a note, we’ve listed our picks by release date, not ranking order. There’s no way we’d put Star Trek: The Motion Picture as our top pick.
Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)
Though the original film sometimes gets pushback for being a bad Star Trek movie, we’d have to disagree. Sure, it’s not the best, but it’s not the worst either— sorry, Final Frontier. But despite being panned by fans and critics alike, you should watch it for yourself, especially if you’re new to Star Trek. Though we can’t confidently say there wouldn’t be a film franchise without it, we still have to give the film its laurels for being the first.
The 1979 movie centers its conflict around a mysterious alien cloud heading toward Earth, destroying everything in its path. Admiral James T. Kirk returns to command the USS Enterprise. Alongside his crew, including Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Scotty (James Doohan), and McCoy (DeForest Kelley), Kirk must intercept this destructive entity before it reaches Earth.
Also worth mentioning: this was originally intended as a pilot for a new TV relaunch. That probably explains some of the drawn-out pacing and why it feels like it’s taking its time getting anywhere. It wasn’t built to be a fast-moving blockbuster. It was meant to reintroduce the world of Star Trek. Some people even compare this one to Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Big comparison, we know. But are we calling that a bad movie just because it’s slow? No. And if you are — take a time out. Star Trek: The Motion Picture isn’t space action; it’s space fiction. Whether you love it or fall asleep halfway through, it’s still essential, and that’s why it’s on this list.
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Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Generally considered the best of the thirteen Star Trek movies, The Wrath of Khan was initially shaping up to be something of a nightmare in its script. The franchise really couldn’t afford another failure after the first Star Trek (which we’ve still included on this list — but we’ll get to that later).
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan opens with Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and a crew made up mostly of cadets on a training mission aboard the USS Enterprise. While Kirk is dealing with the personal struggles of aging and an overall sense of purposelessness, a much bigger problem emerges in the form of Khan Noonien Singh — a genetically engineered tyrant who was exiled by Kirk years earlier in the Star Trek episode “Space Seed.” After escaping exile, Khan takes control of the starship Reliant. From there, we get a deadly game of cat and mouse between Khan and Kirk.
While this one started rocky during pre-production and could have been an abysmal film, fortunately, director-genius Nicholas Meyer came on board, taking the best parts from the multiple drafts into a unified script in a 12-day writing sprint. His vision pushed the film in a more action-adventure direction, something that feels somewhere between Indiana Jones and Star Wars. There might even be a hint of the Goonies to it. While many other Star Trek movies are often judged by their quality within the franchise, The Wrath of Khan can stand as a great movie in its own right.
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Star Trek: IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
The 1986 film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, directed by Leonard Nimoy, wraps up the storyline that began with The Wrath of Khan and continued in Star Trek III. While Wrath of Khan may still hold the crown as the best Star Trek movie, The Voyage Home might be the most fun. Unlike the vengeance-driven heaviness of Wrath of Khan — relatively heavy, anyway; we still count it as a family-friendly action film — or the cerebral space mysticism of the first Star Trek movie, The Voyage Home leans into comedic dialogue and time-travel hijinks. Also, this one’s about saving whales.
The story picks up after the events of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Admiral Kirk and his crew are headed back to Earth to face the consequences of stealing and destroying the Enterprise and violating Starfleet regulations. But before they can return, a mysterious alien probe begins sending out signals that disable power systems and start to evaporate Earth’s oceans. The crew soon realizes that the probe is attempting to communicate with humpback whales, which have been extinct for centuries.
The only way to answer the probe and save Earth is to return the whalesong. But to do that, they’ll need some whales. Cue the time travel: the crew heads back to 1986 San Francisco, where they must find two humpback whales and bring them back to the future. The whole thing is incredibly silly, and the actors who, by this point, have had plenty of time to play these characters really sink into the comedy.
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Star Trek: VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)
The debatably second-best Star Trek movie, The Undiscovered Country, works exceptionally well as a standalone, unlike Wrath of Khan, which is more or less part of a larger episodic arc. Released in 1991, the film tags along with Captain Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise as they escort Klingon Chancellor Gorkon to Earth to negotiate a historic peace treaty. But, of course, peace doesn’t come easy. Things start to get dark when the Enterprise appears to fire on a Klingon ship. Gorkon is assassinated in the chaos, and Kirk and Dr. McCoy are arrested for the crime. Spock is left to uncover the truth and save the fragile peace from collapsing.
Even from the synopsis alone, you can tell this one doesn’t require a lot of backstory about the Star Trek series, previous films, or even the characters. You can hop right in and have a great time. It’s a murder mystery, political thriller, sci-fi adventure, and Cold War allegory all rolled into one. Solid watch.
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Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
First Contact sees Sir Patrick Stewart back as Picard after his first Star Trek movie appearance in 1994’s Generations (which gets a lot of hate). But there is nothing to hate about Sir Patrick Stewart, and we couldn’t have a list without him. That said, even without him, this is the best TNG film and his best performance in those films. Aside from that, First Contact brought action-horror energy to the entire Star Trek movie franchise in a way nothing else had before. The only real criticism is that the A- and B-plot jumps can be a little jarring.
In First Contact, the crew of the USS Enterprise-E chases a Borg ship through a temporal rift to stop the Borg from conquering Earth in the past. Now stuck in the 21st century, Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) teams up with Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell), the reluctant inventor of warp drive, to make sure humanity’s first contact with aliens still happens. Meanwhile, Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Commander Data (Brent Spiner) face off with the Borg Queen (Alice Krige), who’s trying to seize control of the Enterprise from the inside. The whole movie gives us action, suspense, catchy dialogue, top-tier acting, and also Alfre Woodard.
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Star Trek (2009)
Though certainly not a perfect film, Star Trek ushered in a new era of filmmaking and a new vision for what the franchise could look like. This was right at the peak of the superhero movie relaunch, when everything gets a little cooler. The CGI gets better, and we’re into some really fantastic wide shots and smart camera movement (Dan Mindel is a legend for a reason) that make it clear the movie is serious. It was also backed by J.J. Abrams’ reputation as a director and a $150 million budget, which indicates how confident Paramount was in this endeavor. It was a good hunch, too, since the movie brought in $387 million worldwide.
On the USS Enterprise, a new crew heads off on its maiden voyage, on a path set to bring them into contact with Nero (Eric Bana), a Romulan commander with vengeance on his mind. A spirited young officer, James T. Kirk (Chris Pine), and a Vulcan named Spock (Zachary Quinto) are the odd couple who put aside their differences to make sure the destruction of humanity doesn’t, in fact, play out.
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How we chose the best Star Trek movies
With thirteen films to choose from, we decided to stick with the original film series and include one Next Generation entry, given its quality. Not that we have anything against the Kelvin timeline — but if you’re getting into Star Trek, these feel like the most essential ones to watch. We based our picks on a mix of critical and fan reception, standout performances, and how well each movie holds up today. We always like to factor in rewatchability as well.
You can stream the Star Trek movies on Paramount+.
