Star Trek (2009) vs. Star Trek Into Darkness

I really like '09. But I think I just fell in love with "Into Darkness". I will of course have to see it again, but I am already fairly comfortable with voting for the brilliant sequel.

 

I think 2009 is better: the movie and story had more gravity to it, so to speak, and anytime you can make an origin story entertaining, that's something.

Both are good films though.

 

That is a fair point. The world feels "lived in", in a good way. Also think that there was no need to set up and world build again, and thus it flowed far more freely.

 

Yeah, both of JJ's prologues have been superb imo. Both different, both very exhilarating. Though it is probably going to be hard to top the emotions of 09's prologue. I still tear-up every time I see it. Papa Thor is hero.

 

I tear up at the ST'09 prologue even when I'm watching it on my phone.

 

When Winona realizes George is staying behind for good, I am hopeless. The music, the dialogue, the acting. Beautiful in a very painful way.

 

Oh, forget it. I don't even know how many times I've seen now, but it destroys me every damn time. The look on her face when she realizes he's gone...

 

Star Trek 2009 by a long shot.

 

Star Trek, by the smallest margin.

And Trekkies will crucify me, but in order:
Star Trek (2009)
Star Trek Into Darkness
Star Trek Wrath of Khan
Star Trek First Contact

Thats movies only obviously.

 

Into darkness by a little bit. But I love the first one as well. And I wasn't even a Star Trek fan previously

 

STID was a huge improvement.

 

My Top 10

1. Star Trek: Into Darkness
2. Star Trek (09)
3. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
4. Star Trek: First Contact
5. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
6. Star Trek III: Search for Spock
7. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
8. Star Trek: Insurrection
9. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
10. Star Trek: Generations

Both Nemesis and the motion picture sucked that their not worth mentioning.

 

But you mentioned them! jkjk. I'm actually really glad I'm not alone thinking Abram's are the best. Our lists would be quite similar I think.

I find the acting, script and effects far more entertaining in the two most recent ones. But I greatly respect Roddenberry, Nimoy, Shatner and the rest of the crew for bringing this amazing concept to life. If TOS didn't exist, the 2009 movie might be pretty hollow.

 

I think Star Trek Into Darkness actually lowered my opinion of Star Trek 09 because it squandered the promise of the new alternate reality and the possibility of new, original stories. I was able to ignore Star Trek 09's failings in terms of sloppy plotting, space fantasy hero myth mumbo jumbo, bad science fiction, and a one-dimensional antagonist because of how well it captured the characters so well, created a bright, optimistic future,brought back the energy and sense of fun in TOS and how the new timeline made it possible for the original crew to go on new, exciting adventures. Instead, the writers retreaded old ground and aped a lot of classic scenes with half the intelligence and depth that was present the first time around. Now I find it harder to ignore similar failings in Star Trek 09.

I think my list goes something like:

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Star Trek: The Motion Picture / Star Trek 09
Star Trek: Generations
Star Trek: Insurrection / Star Trek Into Darkness
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
Star Trek: Nemesis

I'm not quite sure how I feel about the J.J. Abrams films. I'm really conflicted about the right now. They are good to me as light popcorn fair, but are they really Star Trek? The characters are really excellent at times, but where is the substance and originality?

 

For my money, the JJ Abrams films are the best of the bunch. Real cinematic experiences.

 

though I liked STID, I liked ST09 more. I might've been more into this one if I was familiar with Wrath of Khan

 

I'm kind of torn. I need to see this one a few more times. I think the character arcs were better in the first movie. However the effects were far better in this film, and it had a way bigger scope. But they are very close in quality.

 

I love both, but Star Trek Into Darkness triumphs over '09 because "John Harrison" is a much better villain than Nero ever was.

 

I'm leaning towards ST09 being better, just because STID's second half was fairly weak, while ST09 was a strong movie throughout.

 

It boggles my mind that people have such a low opinion of Nemesis.

I rank them like this by the way:

First Contact
Undiscovered Country
Wrath of Khan
Voyage Home
Nemesis
Star Trek '09
Generations
The Motion Picture
Search for Spock
Insurrection
Final Frontier

 

I still think there is a lot of problems with "Hoth" in that film.