My favorite star trek movie? Why of course, it would have to be the Wrath of ...mostly because I loved the Original Series, and I enjoyed Space Seed for all the world building and Khan of course. Watched it as a kid, loved it ever since. Then again, the lists that have been mentioned have some greats. I really enjoyed Star Trek VI with Christopher Plummer playing a Klingon. Star Trek IV was funny (nuclear wessels), and I also really enjoyed First Contact. I did not enjoy the first Star Trek movie, it was too much like 2001 Space Odessy and just dragged on and on and on and on. There is a reason so much of the footage was reused in the next two movies. Never saw Nemesis. I did enjoy the new Star Trek Movies, mostly the first reboot movie. Especially the dramatic opening scene with the Kelvin. Edit: woah, 4001st post!
I've only seen about a third of the Star Trek. The ones I've seen okay. Not bad, not good, okay. If Xanatos directed I think I probably have to watch it.
Just for fun here are a few remarks about most movies, mostly spoiler-free but I'll put some things in spoiler tags just to be sure. Star Trek: The Motion Picture A bit boring. The end is pretty nice but half of the movie - while visually interesting - is too far from the Star Trek recipe to be really good. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Good story, good acting (within Star Trek TOS limits), good villain, quite some action. Also related to something that happened in TOS. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock I don't remember half of the movie although I must have seen it, like, 10 times or so. The part with the Klingons is kinda cool but overall... meh. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home This was my favourite before First Contact was released. Much more lighthearted than the others, despite the grave danger the Earth is in. A bit silly from a modern point of view, and a tad cheesy sometimes, but I just like that movie. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier Man, people seem to hate that movie. And I agree that parts of it are just not good, in both story and acting. Still, there are some cool scenes in it, and some great quotes, too. What I like about it: Spoiler (but many people didn't like) was that it portrayed the way religions work, with the (natural) end to it that religious extremists are just liars. Powerful liars sometimes, but in the end there is nothing, or even worse they are puppets of powerful evil beings in the background. It was also bad enough that it caused the producers to get their s*** together and make a good one next. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country As a kid I didn't like the movie much, but its message is so typical for Star Trek that you feel right at home. The other thing is that it really struck a chord with many Germans (like myself), since it is about forgiveness, and peace between former enemies, Spoiler with some people on both sides working against it. Which is something not too different from parts of our own recent history. Star Trek Generations I remember being sad and angry because I couldn't watch it in the cinema (I was just a year too young or so) so I eagerly waited for it to be available for watching. And that was way back before BluRay releases half a year after cinema release were a thing, so I waited for a loooong time. When I finally could watch it on VHS a year after its release, I was ecstatic. To this day that influences my view of the movie. The TNG crew were the heroes of my childhood and this was the movie they were in. Loved it. The villain is pretty cool as well. McDowell is a great actor and the character is a tragic, desperate man. Star Trek: First Contact Borg. Action. TNG. New, even cooler Enterprise. Pretty Picard-centric, and that's my favourite character. I admit I don't like Spoiler time travel in most stories, but here it was done reasonably well so I don't mind. I am pretty sure I saw that one in the cinema. Many people criticize that the movie breaks with the Star Trek tradition of having a message of peace and cooperation, but I disagree there. I say it is the Star Trek recipe. It is the message of doing something for all mankind, and sure it is comparatively violent, I would maybe like it less if the enemy weren't the Borg there would be a choice for diplomacy. It is one of the rare movies in the franchise that is interesting for people who don't know Star Trek. I'd even go out on a limb and say that among the first ten movies it is the only one that is pretty good even if you don't know Star Trek. The only other movies in the series that applies to are the reboot movies. Star Trek: Insurrection IMO a vastly underrated movie. It goes back to the original Star Trek recipe a bit more, and it seems that people expected something else after First Contact. I liked this movie a lot although it contains a number of cheesy scenes. For non-Trekkies it is probably rather boring. Star Trek: Nemesis One of the few ST movie I have only seen once or twice. I mostly remember being sad and a bit angry about its lack of quality despite featuring my favourite characters. I'll have to re-watch it. Star Trek (reboot) Good actors and a decent _idea_ of a story. Visually stunning, and the action scenes are well done. Just the writing.... it doesn't make any sense. As an old Trekkie I also disliked that in this timeline too many things are different, like Spoiler the Enterprise being built on Earth for example, and Kirk's backstory. Star Trek Into Darkness Too much rehash for my taste. Decently done, pretty good acting and some great action scenes. Also a much more logical story than the first reboot movie, and I think that it is a pretty good movie for new fans, but as an old Star Trek fan this movie makes my heart bleed. Star Trek Beyond Same as above, with a few changes: it is a more original story, which is good. But man I hated that battle scene, Spoiler with the music to me that was right out of Guardians of the Galaxy. Really bad.
Well, i perfectly know what my podium is. ST II - The wrath of Khan ST IV - The voyage home ST - First Contact but to tell the best one is harder, mostly because it depends by my current mood...