19. Star Trek: The Original Movies

Welcome to the first episode of our giant summer retrospective! Yes! Goddammit, Jim! We’re doing Star Trek! All of Star Trek! Join us as Steven, Benjamin, and Sean boldly go back and revisit the original cast movies, from The Motion Picture to The Undiscovered Country, with wildly different energy levels, varying degrees of patience, and one host (Sean) who is clearly not firing on all thrusters. Benjamin almost—almost—convinces Sean that The Motion Picture deserves genuine Star Trek respect for its slower, cerebral sci-fi ambitions. Steven, however, stands firm in his belief that it is a beautifully lit bore-fest of cosmic proportions. Elsewhere, there’s pure, unfiltered love for Wrath of Khan, one of the best films of 1982 as well as one of James Horner’s finest scores, though that doesn’t stop us nitpicking it to death for entertainment value. Sean unexpectedly rediscovers The Search for Spock, sending the trio down a warp-speed rabbit hole of appreciation. Ben (as tradition demands) reminds us he saw every one of these films in the cinema at the time, meanwhile, Steven has no patience whatsoever for the comedy of The Voyage Home. We all gleefully eviscerate The Final Frontier, but harmony is finally restored as we celebrate The Undiscovered Country; a classy, heartfelt farewell to the original Enterprise crew. A lively mix of affection, nitpicking, nostalgia, and friendly mutiny, because no Star Trek discussion is complete without a little chaos on the bridge.