Happy Birthday, Star Trek!

Forty-two years ago today, "Star Trek" premiered on network television. The series ran only three seasons, from 1966 to 1969, but from those humble beginnings came four spin-off series and ten motion pictures. The eleventh film, tentatively titled "Star Trek," is due out next May.

In honor of the "Star Trek" franchise and its creator Gene Roddenberry, I have composed a short list of the top three "Star Trek" movies.

For a list of the top three "Star Trek" episodes, please visit http://doc755musings.blogspot.com/.


Top 3 "Star Trek" Movies:

3) "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country"

Released in 1991, "The Undiscovered Country" went a long way to cleaning out the bad taste left in fans' mouths by "Star Trek V," considered by many to be the worst film installment. It reunited the original T.V. cast in an inventive, suspenseful and, above all, plausible scenario: renewed hostilities between the Federation, a confederacy of allied star systems, and the Klingon Empire, their principal enemy, days before a peace treaty is to be signed.

The most interesting and compelling part of "The Undiscovered Country" is Captain Kirk's opposition to the Klingons, who he blames for his son's death. His usually sound judgment seems impaired by his visceral hatred for the Empire, which is personified in General Chang (Christopher Plummer), one of "Star Trek's" greatest villains.

2) "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan"

The original film treatment of "Star Trek" officially marks the first time the science-fiction franchise appeared in theaters, but it was "The Wrath of Khan" that set the tone and mood for future movies.

In "The Wrath of Khan" writer Harve Bennett and director Nicholas Meyer resurrected a villain from the original television series: Khan Noonian Singh, a genetically-engineered super-human. Ricardo Montalban is excellent as the villain Khan, who exacts revenge with cold precision. There is plenty of action and spectacle in "The Wrath of Khan," but many of the battles are fought and won (or lost) in the minds of Kirk and Khan, two formidable adversaries.

"The Wrath of Khan" is perhaps most memorable for the selflessness of Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and the touching scenes between Spock and Kirk, his commanding officer. The entire funeral ceremony, including Kirk's eulogy, is devastating and touching.

1) "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home"

The one with the whales? Yes, "The Voyage Home" might be the most polarizing movie in the "Star Trek" canon, but it's also the best, and for a number of reasons. "Star Trek" has never been, in its soul, a saga about epic space battles and larger-than-life villains; it is a story about humanity, and about mankind's place in the universe.

In "The Voyage Home," the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise go backwards in time to 1986 San Francisco to rescue a pair of humpback whales, which have gone extinct in the future. While there, members of the crew suffer from a serious case of culture-shock.

"The Voyage Home" is easily the funniest and most imaginative of the ten "Star Trek" movies. It lampoons some of the sillier things going on on the 1980s (punk rock) and some of the more serious (the Cold War). Chekov's "nuclear wessels" scene alone is worth the price of a rental.