Project Enterprise: The next generation. Sort of.

7. Star Trek: Generations (1994) Finally -- I feel like I've broken out of some kind of tractor beam … OK, not quite. Kirk is still … hanging … around. But at least we're relieved by the crew from The Next Generation. It's both good to see them as new faces, and good to see them again. And Scotty did utter the phrase "space time continuum," even though he was only in the movie for about 15 minutes.

Overall: B- Not a great movie in and of itself. A transition movie. Kind of like Search for Spock, but a little better.

Plot: C I really didn't get what the ribbon/nexus thing was or how it worked. Picard seemed to jump in and out of it at will. And how handy that Whoopi Goldberg was there to explain it all to him!

Costumes: B- TNG folks were in their standard polyester jumpsuits. I was never really a fan but they were better than the old jumpsuits. They managed to get the Klingon thing down during the making of TNG, though -- maybe all those hours doing Worf.

New cast members: A- Malcolm MacDowell. That's really all you need to say, right? Whoopi Goldberg doesn't really count since she was a regular on TNG. The only drawback to MacDowell is that he and Patrick Stewart outclass Shatner to a near-embarrassing degree. But Shatner's really beyond embarrassment, isn't he? And casting Cameron from Ferris Bueller as the new Enterprise captain at the beginning was a little obvious. We just knew things weren't going to go well.

F/X: B+ The crash of the Enterprise saucer section goes on a little too long but it is impressive. And in an earlier battle with the Klingons, there's an especially impressive slo-mo of bodies flying around the bridge -- several steps beyond the old everyone-falls-to-the-right battles on the bridge.

Series Ranking: 1. Wrath of Khan 2. The Voyage Home 3. Generations 4. The Undiscovered Country 5. The Search for Spock 6. The Motion Picture 7. The Final Frontier

Project Enterprise: The wrath of Borg

8. Star Trek: First Contact (1996) I like Kirk. Hell, I love Kirk. But man, what a relief to finally reach a Kirk-free movie. The Next Generation cast really hits their groove with this movie. Perhaps because they borrowed a page from Wrath of Khan and revisited their most awesome villains: THE BORG. Specifically, the Borg Queen. Best villain since Khan, no question. It's good to have an enemy you can respect.

Overall: A- Excellent villain AND time travel? Yes, please!

Plot: A- Like I said, excellent villain and time travel. Generally, elements that make for a good Star Trek story. And the time travel was fun while avoiding most of the cheesiness that detracted from Voyage Home. I said most -- the bar scene where Troi gets drunk with Zefram Cochran kind of felt like a TV show more than a movie. And I must make this one point: The Next Generation is overly in love with the holodeck. You're already playing dress-up! Give it a rest.

Costumes: A They improved the Starfleet jumpsuits. But most of this grade is due to the Borg. Perhaps I'm overly influenced by the current zombie craze, but the Borg seem to me to have assimilated the best of the zombie look. Goth zombies. Goth steampunk zombies. They're just great.

New cast members: A James Cromwell makes such a good villain -- he's so great in L.A. Confidential and I've enjoyed him as Andrew Mellon in season 3 of Boardwalk Empire. So it's extra-fun to see him play goofy, as he does here, and he does it well. He's not really a mad scientist, he's a hard-drinking, smart guy who just wants to retire to a tropical island and doesn't want to be known as some kind of hero to humanity. Though I do wonder why he's so fond of mid-20th century music, in the year 2063. Alfre Woodard is also good though I'm starting to wonder why Picard always has to have a Wise Black Woman to keep him on track (Whoopi Goldberg last movie, Woodard in this one).

F/X: B+ I don't think they should get huge points for mid-21st century spacecraft. And I thought they were going to destroy the Enterprise again, but not this time. At least the time travel didn't involve any weird heads in weird substances.

Series Ranking: 1. Wrath of Khan 2. First Contact 3. The Voyage Home 4. Generations 5. The Undiscovered Country 6. The Search for Spock 7. The Motion Picture 8. The Final Frontier

Project Enterprise: A New Hope

11. Star Trek (2009) Woo hoo! I've reached the J.J. Abrams era! Kirk is hot again! In fact, Kirk is even hotter than he was when Kirk was supposed to be hot! Though it is a little unsettling that I watched the original Star Trek series as re-runs in the '70s saying "eeeewwwww" every time Kirk got it on with a babe (because I was, you know, six) and now I find it a tad creepy to find Chris Pine hot (because I am, you know, not quite old enough to be his mother but too old to be ogling a 29-year-old). I guess I should have had a crush on Riker back in the '90s but I just couldn't quite get there. Too bad Voyager never got a movie because that rebel first officer guy was definitely …

But I digress. What I meant was, woo hoo! It's a new day, a new cast, a reboot and finally another Star Trek movie that bears repeated viewing.

Overall: A I will admit openly that if this movie had come out when I was 13, it would probably be my favorite of the bunch, with the possible exception of Into Darkness. But it didn't, and my heart still lies with Wrath of Khan.

Plot: A Excellent and creative reboot, and our first look at an origin story, too. I'll admit here that the opening scene, with Kirk's father sacrificing himself for the ship's crew including his wife and newborn son, actually brought me to tears.

Costumes: B Nice references to the old TV show in the uniforms, especially the miniskirts for Uhura. Nero and his crew? I can't remember what they were wearing, other than I think it was black.

Extra cast members: A- Eric Bana as Nero is the only one of note but he's awfully good. First of all, because I've been a huge Eric Bana fan since Black Hawk Down and he never quite seems to get the love (he was just fine as the Hulk, dammit!). Secondly, because he goes for out-and-out villain but puts a nice twist of pyscho in there -- my favorite moment might be when he's first onscreen with Capt. Pike who identifies himself and Nero says, "Hi, Chris. I'm Nero." As if they were meeting at some kind of networking forum. Beautifully done. Just watch it.

F/X: B+ CG has gotten so much better it almost doesn't seem fair. And I kind of wish they had referred more to the old show in the look of the computers, etc., even though that would be hard to do without a high cheese factor.

Series ranking: 1. Wrath of Khan 2. Star Trek 3. First Contact 4. The Voyage Home 5. Nemesis 6. Insurrection. 7. Generations 8. The Undiscovered Country 9. The Search for Spock 10. The Motion Picture 11. The Final Frontier

Project Enterprise: The pre-return of Khan

12. Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) OK, it's my Wrath of Khan thing again. I know this movie got raves and deservedly so -- I was into it every minute in the theater. It's got great pacing, good performances, a formidable villain -- everything you want from a Star Trek movie. But. It just doesn't have the heart of Wrath of Khan. This could be because once, again, I'm way too attached to that movie. I understand the reboot thing. I applaud it. But something about replacing the gloriously over-the-top Ricardo Montalban with the cerebral Benedict Cumberbatch just didn't quite work for me. To wit: Kirk's big death scene in the warp core chamber? I didn't take that seriously at all.

Overall: A- It's a good movie. It's just the second-best Star Trek movie featuring Khan, that's all. And it's the second-best of the Abrams era -- I love an origin story.

Plot: A- It's one thing to tamper with the text. It's another to change the whole nature of an iconic character. Admiral Marcus as an opponent wasn't bad. So, yeah, good movie.

Costumes: B+ I liked the references to the velour-y uniform jerseys from the show's early days. Otherwise -- nothing special.

Extra Cast Members: A- Cumberbatch -- adore him as Sherlock. Just don't see him as Khan. But it's still fun to watch and, even better, listen to him. Admiral Marcus was fine, Carol Marcus quite good -- even  though in this timeline she has inexplicably acquired a British accent.

F/X: B+ Khan's attack on Starfleet headquarters was good. Ship crashing into Starfleet headquarters better. Big finale fight scene on the hovercraft? Just a top-of-the-train fight, set in the not-too-distant future.

Series ranking: 1. Wrath of Khan 2. Star Trek 3. First Contact 4. Star Trek Into Darkness 5. The Voyage Home 6. Nemesis 7. Insurrection. 8. Generations 9. The Undiscovered Country 10. The Search for Spock 11. The Motion Picture 12. The Final Frontier