Star Trekhas a proud and complicated story , admit six TV shows and narration in every medium . But to a whole multiplication of people , it ’s just two movies . J.J. Abrams ’ film reboot gain the grown audience Star Trek had seen since the 1990s . So if you only know these two films , how do you get into the rest of Trek ?
This is a slight conundrum . Because on the one hand , if you ’ve seen 2009 ’s Star Trek and 2013 ’s Star Trek Into Darkness , then you ’re already familiar with the hero sandwich of the 1960s TV show that launched this universe of discourse . On the other hand , that sixties TV show is the farthest from those Abrams films stylistically , in honest part because it ’s the Old . Classic Trek is slow - act , talky , in high spirits - minded , and full of old - school television motifs like all the characters looking at the television camera and express mirth at the terminal of every episode .
So it ’s really a interrogative sentence of whether you want to hold fast to the graphic symbol you already know — or start them out on something that ’s penny-pinching in smell and approach to the two movie you already see and presumably enjoyed ? This is the form of question that keeps me up at dark .
So here ’s a four - footfall program for get down into the eternal rest of Star Trek if you ’ve never seen anything prior to 2009 .
Start with Star Trek: First Contact.
This is one of four movies that were made starring the cast of Star Trek : The Next Generation , but it ’s the only one that ’s watchable if you were n’t already a TNG fan . In fact , First Contact goes out of its way to be accessible to random moviegoers , almost as if they were trying to commute new fans or something .
First Contact is n’t really the same as the two Abrams films — it ’s really a fair bit dark-skinned and more complicated , but it has certain things in coarse . There ’s fourth dimension - traveling fuckery . The fate of the Earth is at interest . thing get down and dirty . And we search the history and nature of Starfleet , the organization of peacekeepers and Explorer that the Enterprise belong to to . The good thing about First Contact is that it actually give a middling good primer about the approximation of Star Trek , include the impression that man just barely lifted ourselves out of barbarism in the twenty-first hundred in time to become part of a biotic community with the Vulcans and other life forms .
But it wraps all of that stuff in a genuinely exciting action pic that work on all the same levels that Abrams hit in his films .
Move on to “Best of Both Worlds”
Once you ’ve see First Contact , you ’ll likely be singular about the biggest piece of backstory in the film — how Picard , the chieftain of the Enterprise - D , got himself conquer and assimilated by the Borg , a cybernetic “ hive mind ” that seeks to absorb and repurpose all other life form . And fortunately , “ The Best of Both Worlds , Parts I and II ” is one of the all - time good Star Trek installment , and it ’s a thrilling drive in its own right . You do n’t really require to see this episode before First Contact , but after fancy the movie , you ’ll definitely be left desire to watch the instalment that set it up .
And once you ’ve image “ upright of Both Worlds , ” you could just keep watching TNG for a spell . This Borg two - parter is followed by a slew of terrific episode , and there are also several brilliant stories leading up to it . ( Just do n’t watch the first two season of TNG just yet , or you ’ll plausibly be put off Star Trek forever . )
Now it’s time to try some TOS
At this point , you ’re hopefully already hooked on Star Trek . The one - two punch of First Contact ’s thrilling action and the thought - provoking storytelling of TNG seasons three and four has likely eaten your brainiac . And you may even find yourself preferring Captain Picard and his crew of brainy problem - solvers to Kirk , Spock and the other stars of the J.J. Abrams film .
Now is a pure time to give the Original Series a convolution . There are a ton of instalment that remain firm the mental testing of time , and luckily they ’ve been restore in HD with reasonably nice - take care CG effects that make them look less dated . ( purist hate the added CG , but whatever . )
I ’d start with season two ’s “ The Doomsday Machine , ” which is one of the most straight - up exciting episode of the serial publication . There ’s a jumbo quad weapon , up to of destroy starships , and when the Enterprise show up , its sis ship has already been trashed . Kirk has to figure out a means to take this monster down , while hold back a Starfleet Commodore from sacrificing the enterprisingness .
There ’s also “ Space Seed , ” the episode which bring out Khan ( remember that maniac play by Benedict Cumberbatch in Star Trek Into Darkness ? ) . And “ urban center on the Edge of Forever , ” where Kirk goes back in prison term and dally a pacificist on the brink of World War II . “ Balance of Terror ” is another thrilling infinite - engagement story , this time a conflict of wit ( and wills ) against the Romulans . “ Mirror , Mirror ” sees Kirk visiting an evil alternate creation , which is always fun .
Actually , our list ofthe top 100 Star Trek installment of all timecontains a bunch of full classics — any TOS storey in the top 30 is a must - watch for sure . A lot of episode from TOS seasons one and two are still terrific .
https://gizmodo.com/the-top-100-star-trek-episodes-of-all-time-1641565699
And once you ’ve seen a handful of TOS , including “ Space Seed , ” you ’ll get way more out of see the good of the TOS movie : the even - numbered ace . Star Trek IIsees Kirk dealing with a midlife crisis and the return key of Khan , the baddie from “ Space Seed ” ( and Into wickedness ) . Star Trek IV is perhaps the 80s Trek picture that holds up the best today , because it ’s a straight - up funniness , about Kirk ’s crew shoot the breeze eighties San Francisco . Star Trek VI is nakedly a metaphor for the end of the Cold War , but it still load down a becoming punch .
The Deep End
So you ’ve seen the best of the Original Series and The Next Generation , plus the most decent film . At this breaker point , you ’re practically a Trekspert . That leave three TV show and a ton of other textile still undiscovered . And now , it ’s time to go to the cryptic end .
At this point , I ’d probably go flat to Star Trek : Deep Space Nine , the third unrecorded - action boob tube series . It ’s not as sluttish a watch as the two display you ’ve already see , in part because it ’s more heavy serialized and you ca n’t just “ dive in ” as easily in the midriff . The first two season of DS9 are almost as bad as the first two seasons of TNG , but you need to see at least bits of them to translate what comes afterwards . ( Off the top of my head , “ Emissary , ” “ Past Prologue , ” “ Duet , ” “ In the Hands of the prophet , ” the first few episodes of time of year two , “ The Wire , ” “ Crossover , ” “ The Collaborator , ” and “ The Jem’Hadar . ” And then you’re able to leap into time of year three . )
Deep Space Nine is often described as a nasty , more challenging edition of Star Trek , in which the morality is less clear - abridge and both submarine and villains are willing to track some surprising line . The heart of the serial publication is a war story , which starts building at the beginning of time of year three , and at its good this series analyse the cost and misery of war .
But really , once you ’ve get under one’s skin more than a fistful of Star Trek episode under your smash , you ’re already pretty familiar with one of the most optimistic and thoughtful visions of the futurity ever created . After that , there ’s a whole galax to search , and many , many mode to discover it .
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