How to watch the 'Star Trek' movies in order

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Boldly go toward these streaming services to watch the 'Star Trek' movies

Patrick Stewart and William Shatner in Star Trek: Generations
(Image credit: Alamy)

"Star Trek" has been flourishing lately — at least when it comes to TV shows. Although "Star Trek" started on TV in the 1960s, the iconic sci-fi franchise achieved wider success on the big screen, thanks to a series of movies starting with 1979's "Star Trek: The Motion Picture." A total of 13 "Star Trek" movies were released in theaters, but it's been eight years since the most recent film, 2016's "Star Trek Beyond."

With Paramount Plus going all-in on the veteran sci-fi property as its flagship franchise, though, "Star Trek" has never had a more prominent TV presence. There are three current "Star Trek" series ("Strange New Worlds," "Lower Decks" and "Prodigy"), with two more successful series that have recently wrapped up ("Picard" and "Discovery") and one new series on the way ("Starfleet Academy").

Aside from the kid-friendly animated series "Prodigy," which was picked up by Netflix, all of those shows stream on Paramount Plus, along with the original 1960s series and the 1980s-2000s series "The Next Generation," "Deep Space Nine," "Voyager" and "Enterprise."

That represents hundreds of hours of "Star Trek," while the movies offer a different experience, thanks to their big-screen production values and large-scale storytelling. The casts of the original "Star Trek" series and "The Next Generation" have both continued their adventures in films, followed by a reboot trilogy that reimagines the classic "Star Trek" characters.

Multiple attempts to make a fourth movie in the reboot series have failed thus far, although a "Section 31" feature film starring Michelle Yeoh as her Emperor Georgiou character from "Discovery" is set to premiere on Paramount Plus. There's always a chance it could get a brief theatrical release and mark the long-awaited return of "Star Trek" to movie theaters.

For now, all 13 "Star Trek" movies are available to stream along with the "Star Trek" TV series. Here's a look at how to watch them all, and some different ways to approach your "Star Trek" movie viewing.

How to watch the 'Star Trek' movies in release order

Star Trek movies in order: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

(Image credit: Paramount)

The "Star Trek" movie series began in 1979, 10 years after the end of the original "Star Trek" TV series. Thanks to a devoted fan base that connected via newsletters, conventions and other pre-internet methods, the show's popularity grew in the years after it was canceled, and the original cast returned for a series of successful movies.

Watching the "Star Trek" movies in order of release also places them in proper continuity order, since the original cast handed off the film series to the "Next Generation" cast in 1994 after the final episode of "The Next Generation," and the reboot movies follow their own continuity that branches off from the main timeline.

Paramount Plus has put in substantial efforts to corral almost all of "Star Trek" under one streaming banner, so all 13 movies can be streamed in one place, although they are often available elsewhere as well.

How to watch the 'Star Trek' movies in order of series

star trek movies in order: Star Trek: First Contact

(Image credit: Paramount)

There are three separate sets of characters who appear in the "Star Trek" movies, each with their own unique appeal. The "Star Trek" movies began by bringing back the cast of the original TV series, led by William Shatner as Capt. James T. Kirk and Leonard Nimoy as Spock. These are the classic "Star Trek" films, featuring iconic villains like Ricardo Montalban's Khan Noonien Singh and Christopher Plummer's Klingon leader Chang, plus many of the series' most indelible scenes and quotable lines.

All of the original series movies are available on Paramount Plus and selectively on other services.

'Star Trek: The Original Series' movies

  • "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" (1979)
  • "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" (1982)
  • "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" (1984)
  • "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" (1986)
  • "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" (1989)
  • "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" (1991)

After the TV finale of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" in 1994, the Enterprise crew featured in the show transitioned immediately into their own series of feature films. Although a few original series characters appear in "Generations," the four "Next Generation" movies focus on the crew led by Patrick Stewart's Jean-Luc Picard, which includes the android Data (Brent Spiner) and the Klingon Worf (Michael Dorn), among others.

All four "Next Generation" movies are available on Paramount Plus and selectively on other services.

'Star Trek: The Next Generation' movies

  • "Star Trek: Generations" (1994)
  • "Star Trek: First Contact" (1996)
  • "Star Trek: Insurrection" (1998)
  • "Star Trek: Nemesis" (2002)

Following a lull in which there were no "Star Trek" TV series or movies, the franchise returned to theaters with a reboot movie helmed by J.J. Abrams. The so-called "Kelvin timeline" branches off from main "Star Trek" continuity to offer new versions of classic characters like Kirk, Spock and Uhura, with a cast led by younger stars including Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Zoe Saldana, and a more action-oriented approach.

All three reboot movies are available on Paramount Plus.

'Star Trek' reboot movies

  • "Star Trek" (2009)
  • "Star Trek Into Darkness" (2013)
  • "Star Trek Beyond" (2016)

'Star Trek' movies, ranked

star trek movies in order — star trek

(Image credit: Paramount)

There's constant debate among "Star Trek" fans about which movies are the best, although consensus usually puts "The Wrath of Khan" on top, thanks to its masterful performance from Ricardo Montalban as the villain and the genuine personal stakes for Kirk and Spock. In the past, fans would cite the shorthand that the even-numbered "Star Trek" movies were the best, while the odd-numbered movies were the worst, but that doesn't necessarily hold up into the reboot era, and I think odd-numbered "Next Generation" movie "Nemesis" is especially overdue for a reassessment.

If you're just looking to start with the best "Star Trek" movies or you want to prioritize your latest rewatch, here's my ranking of the "Star Trek" movies, from best to worst.

  1. "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" (1982)
  2. "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" (1991)
  3. "Star Trek: First Contact" (1996)
  4. "Star Trek Into Darkness" (2013)
  5. "Star Trek Beyond" (2016)
  6. "Star Trek" (2009)
  7. "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" (1986)
  8. "Star Trek: Nemesis" (2002)
  9. "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" (1984)
  10. "Star Trek: Generations" (1994)
  11. "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" (1979)
  12. "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" (1989)
  13. "Star Trek: Insurrection" (1998)

Further 'Star Trek' viewing

Star Trek Strange New Worlds

(Image credit: Paramount Plus)

If you've watched all of the "Star Trek" movies and you're eager for more adventures into the final frontier, the obvious next step is to wade into the world of "Star Trek" TV shows. But there are 900-plus episodes of "Star Trek" TV across dozens of seasons, spanning multiple eras, numerous characters, and a variety of stylistic approaches.

After just experiencing the relatively self-contained, big-idea storytelling of the movies, a good entry point for TV would be "Strange New Worlds," which is set just before the era of the original series and includes some of the characters familiar from the original series and reboot movies. It features largely standalone episodes with lots of stylistic variation and high production values.

On the other hand, if you're ready to dive into more complex (and occasionally uneven) long-form storytelling mostly featuring characters you haven't seen before, "Deep Space Nine" is the best of the mid-era "Star Trek" series, with fascinating characters, some dark storylines in later seasons, and a thoughtful sci-fi tone.

For more seasoned "Star Trek" viewers who want to learn more about the rich history of this classic sci-fi franchise, there are numerous documentaries about different behind-the-scenes aspects of "Star Trek." Two informative and accessible "Star Trek"-related films are the fan-focused "Trekkies," which delved into fan culture in a time before the sometimes toxic age of social media, and "Woman in Motion," a tribute to the influence that original Uhura actress Nichelle Nichols had on recruiting women and people of color to join the space program.

If you've made your way through all of "Star Trek" (possibly multiple times) and are looking for a bit of outside perspective, the cult classic comedy "Galaxy Quest" is a loving parody of a "Star Trek"-style show and has garnered a devoted following of its own. The "Black Mirror" episode "U.S.S. Callister" has a nastier edge, satirizing the potential for abuse in the starship hierarchy, but both productions are created with genuine affection for "Star Trek" and its accomplishments.

  • "Galaxy Quest" (1999): Stream on MGM Plus
  • "Black Mirror: U.S.S. Callister" (2017): Stream on Netflix
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Josh Bell
Josh Bell
Writer

Josh Bell is a freelance writer and movie/TV critic based in Las Vegas. He's the former film editor of Las Vegas Weekly and has written about movies and TV for Vulture, Inverse, CBR, Crooked Marquee and more. With comedian Jason Harris, he co-hosts the podcast Awesome Movie Year.