Opinions on the Star Trek movies and TV series.
Star Trek is my all-time favorite entertainment franchise, even more so even than Mega Man. On the surface, there are cool spaceships and strange aliens and futuristic gadgets and everything I love about science-fiction. But what sets Star Trek apart from other sci-fi, and what makes the franchise so compelling, is what's below the surface. Star Trek is social commentary disguised as sci-fi, an exploration of the human condition via the exploration of strange new worlds. Anyone who tells you that Star Trek is Klingons and Spock and space battles is missing the point.
At its best, Star Trek grapples with issues that are relevant to our everyday lives: prejudice, poverty, trauma, identity, illness, aging, family, friendship, love, life, death, and so much more. It shows us a vision of the future that's hopeful, reminding us that people can overcome their differences and work together to accomplish anything. It's a character-driven drama (with an occasional sense of humor) that emphasizes the importance of choice in shaping our future. On top of all that, sometimes stuff blows up real good.
Star Trek comes in five flavors of television series (technically six, or perhaps seven if you can do the mental gymnastics necessary to count Discovery as canon), with a combined total of ten feature films following from two of the series. Star Trek also inspired a 2009 movie called The Incredible Voyages of Five Young Space Cadets, which was mislabeled as Star Trek and has since spawned two sequels. And that's to say nothing of the novels, comics, video games, fan productions, and even simulator rides that expand the Star Trek universe.
So much could be said about the history, development, science, and societal impact of Star Trek, but I'll leave that to historians and journalists and scientists. The opinions you're about to read are focused on story, characters, continuity—the opinions of a creative writer who watches a lot of sci-fi. No arbitrary rating scales here; just short essays on some of my favorite movies and TV shows (and some I'm obligated to acknowledge by association).
- Star Trek TV Series
- The Original Series (TOS) Films
- The Next Generation (TNG) Films
- Ones That Don't Count
At its best, Star Trek grapples with issues that are relevant to our everyday lives: prejudice, poverty, trauma, identity, illness, aging, family, friendship, love, life, death, and so much more. It shows us a vision of the future that's hopeful, reminding us that people can overcome their differences and work together to accomplish anything. It's a character-driven drama (with an occasional sense of humor) that emphasizes the importance of choice in shaping our future. On top of all that, sometimes stuff blows up real good.
Star Trek comes in five flavors of television series (technically six, or perhaps seven if you can do the mental gymnastics necessary to count Discovery as canon), with a combined total of ten feature films following from two of the series. Star Trek also inspired a 2009 movie called The Incredible Voyages of Five Young Space Cadets, which was mislabeled as Star Trek and has since spawned two sequels. And that's to say nothing of the novels, comics, video games, fan productions, and even simulator rides that expand the Star Trek universe.
So much could be said about the history, development, science, and societal impact of Star Trek, but I'll leave that to historians and journalists and scientists. The opinions you're about to read are focused on story, characters, continuity—the opinions of a creative writer who watches a lot of sci-fi. No arbitrary rating scales here; just short essays on some of my favorite movies and TV shows (and some I'm obligated to acknowledge by association).
- Star Trek TV Series
- The Original Series (TOS) Films
- The Next Generation (TNG) Films
- Ones That Don't Count
