star trek films with chris pine in order

Star Trek movies in order: Chronological and release

Number One, show me a list of all the Star Trek movies in order — both chronological and release — engage!

• Chronological order
• Prime Timeline

The Original Series movies

The next generation movies.

• Kelvin Timeline
• Release order

Upcoming Star Trek movies

Raise shields, red alert — we’re going to try and put all the Star Trek movies in order. And we do mean try.

When they were focused on the Original Series era, the Star Trek movies were so easy to watch in order — the movies were numbered, everything was nice and simple. Then Picard comes in with his Next Generation buddies and suddenly numbers are out, subtitles are in. And that’s before we get all the time travel shenanigans that gave birth to the Kelvin timeline , an alternative timeline that splits off from the main canon.

It's been a long while since we've had a new Star Trek movie, with the last release — Star Trek Beyond — coming out back in 2016. Over eight years! Voyager got home from the Delta Quadrant in less time than that! Mercifully the drought is nearly over, with the Discovery spin-off movie Star Trek: Section 31 due to launch in early 2025.

So while we wait for Trek's silver screen return, we’re going to break down the various timelines and help you watch the Star Trek movies in either chronological or release order —- the Temporal Prime Directive be damned. Oh and we’re not making any judgements on the quality of the movies here, so head over to our Star Trek movies ranked list if you want to fight about whether the Kirk or Picard era movies are better.

All of the Star Trek movies are available to watch on Paramount+, along with almost all the shows — check our Star Trek streaming guide to find which nebulas the exceptions are hiding in. 

Star Trek movies: Chronological order

Below is the quick version of our list if you just need to check something to win an argument, but it comes with a lot of in-universe time travel-related caveats that we'll explain below.

• Star Trek: The Motion Picture
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
• Star Trek: Generations
• Star Trek: First Contact
• Star Trek: Insurrection
• Star Trek: Nemesis
• Star Trek Into Darkness
• Star Trek Beyond

Star Trek: Prime Timeline

The first thing you need to know about the Star Trek films is that while they travel back and forth in time, they also diverge into two (for now) different timelines. The films of the original crew (well, the first iteration of them, anyway – more on that later) are all in what is known as the Prime Timeline. 

Within the Prime Timeline, the movies are then split between The Original Series movies and The Next Generation movies.

1. Star Trek: The Motion Picture

• Release date: December 8, 1979
• Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley

This is the film that brought the voyages of the U.S.S. Enterprise to the big screen. An energy cloud is making its way toward Earth, destroying everything in its path. Kirk and crew intercept it and discover an ancient NASA probe at the heart of the cloud. Voyager – known as V’ger now – encountered a planet of living machines, learned all it could, and returned home to report its findings, only to find no one who knew how to answer. It’s a slow-paced film, and the costumes are about as 70s as they come, but there’s classic Star Trek at the heart of this film.

2. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

• Release date: June 4, 1982
• Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Ricardo Montalban

Ask a Star Trek fan what the best Star Trek movie is and more often than not, you’ll get Khan as your answer. A sequel to the events of the “Space Seed” episode of The Original Series, Khan is a retelling of Moby Dick with Khan throwing reason to the wind as he hunts his nemesis, James T. Kirk. Montalban delivers a pitch-perfect performance, giving us a Khan with charisma and obsession in equal parts.

3. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

• Release date: June 1, 1984

Spock might have died in The Wrath of Khan, but this third entry set up the premise for his return, with the creation of the Genesis planet. Essentially a heist movie in reverse, Search for Spock has the crew defying orders from Starfleet in an attempt to reunite Spock’s consciousness with his newly-rejuvenated body. It’s not a great movie, but it does include two very important events: the rebirth of Spock and the death of Kirk’s son at the hands of the Klingons. That’ll be important a few flicks from now.   

4. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

• Release date: November 26, 1986
• Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Catherine Hicks

If Star Trek fans don’t say Khan is the best Star Trek movie, odds are very high they say Voyage Home is. It’s a funny film where the mission isn’t destruction, but creation – or more accurately, repairing the devastating effects of humankind’s ecological short-sightedness. 

A probe arrives at Earth, knocking out the power of everything in its path as it looks for someone to respond to its message (yeah, it happens a lot). This time, however, the intended recipient is the long-extinct blue whale. To save Earth, Kirk and co. go back in time to 1980s San Francisco to snag some blue whales. The eco-messaging isn’t exactly subtle, but it doesn’t get in the way of a highly enjoyable movie.

5. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

• Release date: June 9, 1989

A writers’ strike and Shatner’s directorial skills (or lack thereof) doomed this film before a single scene was shot. The core plot is actually pretty good: Spock’s half-brother hijacks the Enterprise so that he can meet God, which he believes to be… himself. Some Star Trek fans have an odd fondness for this movie, as it showcases the camaraderie of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy when they’re off-duty.

6. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

• Release date: December 6, 1991
• Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Christopher Plummer

Right, so if that Star Trek fan you’ve been talking to doesn’t choose either Khan or Voyage Home as the best Star Trek movie ever, they almost certainly name Undiscovered Country (and if they don’t, they have highly questionable taste, frankly). The Klingon moon of Praxis explodes, putting the entire Klingon race at risk. The Enterprise hosts a diplomatic entourage of Klingons, much to Kirk’s discomfort. 

Remember how Klingons murdered Kirk’s son? Well, he certainly hasn’t forgotten. Kirk’s lingering rage makes him the perfect patsy for the murder of the Klingon Chancellor, sending him and McCoy to a prison planet and setting the stage for war. Christopher Plummer is perfection as a Shakespeare-quoting Klingon general with no taste for peace.

7. Star Trek: Generations

• Release date: November 18, 1994
• Cast: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner

And thus the torch is passed from the crew of The Original Series to that of The Next Generation. It’s a bit of a fumble, to be honest, but they all did their best to get Kirk and Picard into the same film and have it make sense. Malcolm McDowell plays Soran, a scientist who will stop at nothing to control the Nexus, a giant space rainbow that exists outside of space-time. 

Soran lost his family when his home world was destroyed and he wants to re-join them (or at least an illusion of them) in the Nexus. He’s not so much a villain as a tragic figure, but the Nexus makes a meeting between Kirk and Picard possible. Not all that sensible, but possible.

8. Star Trek: First Contact

• Release date: November 22, 1996
• Cast: Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, Alice Krige

Okay, no, for real, if your Star Trek pal didn’t pick Khan or Voyage Home or… oh, nevermind. Cueing off the iconic two-part episode “Best of Both Worlds,” in which Picard is assimilated by the Borg, First Contact sees the collective traveling back in time in order to disrupt First Contact, the day Earth’s first foray into space attracted the attention of the Vulcans, kicking off the events that would eventually lead to Starfleet’s victory over the Borg. The Borg Queen torments Picard with visions of the past and tempts Data with humanity, going so far as to give him some human skin. 

The fight with the Borg aboard the Enterprise is thrilling, and the work on the surface to get first contact back on track is fun. Plus, there’s just nothing like Patrick Stewart turning it up to 11 as he lashes out at the enemy that haunts his dreams.

9. Star Trek: Insurrection

• Release date: December 11, 1998
• Cast: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, F. Murray Abraham

Essentially an episode inflated for the big screen, Insurrection is about the Federation conspiring to displace a planet’s population in order to harvest the planet’s unique resource – super healing metaphasic particles. In addition to the rejuvenating natural resource, the Ba’ku also have access to exceptional technology, which they shun in favor of a more simple lifestyle. 

Data malfunctions, the villains are Federation allies (and former Ba’ku!), Picard gets to knock boots with a local – Insurrection is the very definition of “fine.” Chronologically, Insurrection is relevant for rekindling the romance between Riker and Troi, but not much else.

10. Star Trek: Nemesis

• Release date: December 13, 2002
• Cast: Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, Tom Hardy

Before he mumbled his way into our hearts as Bane, Tom Hardy was Shinzon, a clone of Picard the Romulans created in an eventually abandoned attempt to infiltrate Starfleet. Shinzon is dying, and all that will save him is a transfusion of Picard’s blood. Unfortunately, Shinzon also happens to be a megalomaniac who happens to want to destroy all life on Earth and maybe a few other planets, too, if he’s feeling saucy. 

Nemesis is notable mostly for killing Data with a noble sacrifice, only to resurrect him moments later in a duplicate body found earlier by the Enterprise crew.

Star Trek: Kelvin Timeline

The last of the Prime Timeline movies failed to impress at the box office, so it was a few years before anyone tried to bring the Enterprise back to the big screen. Rather than lean on any of the TV crews, this new slate of movies would serve as a reboot, welcoming new audiences while honoring long-time fans. Welcome to the Kelvin Timeline. (For all the ins and outs, check out our Star Trek: Kelvin Timeline explained article).

11. Star Trek

• Release date: May 8, 2009
• Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban

Back to the beginning! Star Trek introduces us to James T. Kirk, Spock, and “Bones” McCoy as they meet and join the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Though the plot is a relatively straightforward affair of a Romulan named Nero trying to destroy the Earth. His anger borne out of grief, what matters most is how it all came to be. In the future, Spock – the Prime Timeline version – tries to save Romulus from being destroyed by a supernova, but fails. Both his ship and Nero’s are kicked back in time, setting off a chain of events that diverge from the original, “true” timeline. 

The name “Kelvin” refers to the U.S.S. Kelvin, the ship heroically captained by Kirk’s father, which is destroyed in the opening moments of the movie.

12. Star Trek Into Darkness

• Release date: May 16, 2013
• Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch

The benefit of the Kelvin Timeline is that it not only allows Star Trek to explore canon material – such as Khan (he of the Wrath) – but to do something completely new with it. Khan features heavily in Into Darkness, but he has no beef with Kirk. Instead, a Starfleet Admiral is threatening the lives of Khan’s crew, forcing them to craft weapons of mass destruction. 

Khan inevitably eludes captivity and strikes out against Starfleet, killing Captain Pike (and a bunch of others) in the process. Kirk and company eventually take Khan down, but not before Kirk sacrifices himself to save his crew. Don’t worry, these things don’t last in either Star Trek timeline, as Kirk gets better moments later thanks to *checks notes* Khan's super blood.

13. Star Trek Beyond

• Release date: July 22, 2016
• Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Idris Elba

Beyond leans into the camaraderie of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy now that they’ve had some time together, much to the movie’s benefit. The Enterprise is lured to Altamid under false pretenses, leading to much of the crew being marooned on the planet. The architect of the deception was Krall, who wants an opportunity to return to a galaxy where war is the order of the day. 

Beyond is a significant point in the timeline for two reasons. First, it sadly marked the death of Spock Prime due to the passing of Leonard Nimoy. Second, it culminates in the Enterprise embarking on the five-year-mission that started everything back in 1966.

Star Trek movies: Release order

If you can't be bothered remembering two different orders for the Star Trek movies then we've got good news for you — the release order is identical to the chronological order that we've shown above (accounting for the Kelvin timeline as it's own entity anyway).

Star Trek 4

The full run of Star Trek films currently tops out at 13 entries; the fate of the 14th was hidden within a nebula of conflicting information. “Star Trek 4” was slated for December 22, 2023, but given that filming had yet to begin as of July 2022, it seems inevitable that date will change. Back in February 2022, Paramount that the principal cast would be returning for the fourth installment of the Kelvin timeline, a claim quickly disputed by the agents of those selfsame actors. Awkward.

Soon after, however, Chris Pine eventually signed on the dotted line, and his shipmates reached their own agreements. As of right now, Kirk (Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), McCoy (Karl Urban, assuming he can make it work around filming of The Boys), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Uhura (Zoe Saldaña), and Sulu (John Cho) are all ready to beam up and get filming. Sadly, this will be the first of the Kelvin films to not feature Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov. Yelchin died in an accident at his home in 2016. It’s currently unclear if Chekov will be recast or if a different character will take his place on the bridge of the Enterprise.

Though the Kelvin timeline is often referred to as “J.J. Abrams Trek,” he won’t be directing Star Trek 4; Matt Shakman will take on that responsibility, leaving Abrams to produce. As for what it will be about, that’s anyone’s guess, but Chris Pine told Deadline he hopes this one tells a smaller story that appeals to the core Trek audience. “Let’s make the movie for the people that love this group of people, that love this story, that love Star Trek,” he said. “Let’s make it for them and then, if people want to come to the party, great.” It’s a strategy that makes sense; the disappointment with recent Trek films hasn’t been their content so much as their box office. A Trek film with a smaller scope (and budget) would almost certainly have a very healthy profit margin while also resonating with the fanbase.   

With no new announcements coming from San Diego Comic-Con 2022, it seems that we’ll have to wait for any more insight into the next Star Trek film. Sill, recent comments from Paramount CEO Brian Robbins have us cautiously optimistic: “We’re deep into [Star Trek 4] with J.J. Abrams, and it feels like we’re getting close to the starting line and excited about where we’re going creatively,” he told Variety . 

Still, recent comments from Paramount CEO Brian Robbins have us cautiously optimistic: “We’re deep into [Star Trek 4] with J.J. Abrams, and it feels like we’re getting close to the starting line and excited about where we’re going creatively,” he told Variety.

Since then, there hasn’t been much in the way of updates, which leaves us with the worrying prospect of Star Trek 4 being stuck in development hell. During a 2023 appearance at the 57-Year Mission convention in Las Vegas (reported by TrekMovie ), Zachary Quinto explained that creative differences were the cause of the numerous delays. 

“I think there’s a lot of other stuff, creative things. It’s complicated. The fact that anything good gets made is kind of a miracle. I think it’s about different people having different agendas and ideas about what it will be.“

Star Trek: Section 31

In the meantime, we are getting the Star Trek: Section 31 movie staring Academy Award-winning actress MichelIe Yeoh. She is reprising her role as Emperor Philip Georgiou, her character from Star Trek Discovery (well one of them anyway, mirror universes and all that). This spin-off from the TV series is coming out of warp in early 2025.

Check out our guide to Everything we know about Star trek Section 31 for more info on the upcoming movie.

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Susan Arendt is a freelance writer, editor, and consultant living in Burleson, TX. She's a huge sci-fi TV and movie buff, and will talk your Vulcan ears off about Star Trek. You can find more of her work at Wired, IGN, Polygon, or look for her on Twitter: @SusanArendt. Be prepared to see too many pictures of her dogs.

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Star Trek Movies in Order: How to Watch Chronologically and by Release Date

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Star Trek is back in a big way. The franchise is going strong on Paramount+ through new original TV shows , with the recent Star Trek: Strange New Worlds premiering to positive reviews while Star Trek: Picard finished season two. Paramount also announced the long-awaited fourth Star Trek film in the recent series, which will see Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldaña, Simon Pegg, John Cho, and Karl Urban return to the franchise following a seven-year hiatus from Star Trek Beyond . The franchise is now arguably the most popular and readily available that it's been in its entire history, gaining new fans every day.

The Star Trek film series currently includes 13 films and spans multiple generations of different crews that weave in and out of the different series. They form one giant massive timeline that builds off one another to show humanity's future among the stars and the constantly changing relationship between various alien species. If the 13 films seem daunting, and you're not sure how everything relates, take a look at this list that details the Star Trek film series in chronological and release order.

Update November 23, 2023: This article has been updated with where each entry in the Star Trek film is currently streaming and more details on each film in the franchise.

Star Trek Movies In Chronological Order

Star trek: the motion picture.

• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

Star trek iv: the voyage home, star trek v: the final frontier, star trek vi: the undiscovered country, star trek: generations, star trek: first contact, star trek: insurrection, star trek: nemesis, star trek into darkness, star trek beyond, star trek: the motion picture (1979).

Star Trek: The Motion Picture takes place in 2273, five years after the events of Star Trek: The Original Series, and finds Kirk and his crew retaking control of the renovated Enterprise to investigate a mysterious cloud of energy that has destroyed Federation and Klingon ships. The movie was a massive hit, yet the critical reaction was more on the mixed side than Paramount expected. Even with how much money the studio put into it, bringing in Academy Award-winner Robert Wise to direct, the film was seen as a disappointment, yet has found a cult status and recently got the director's cut released in 4K .

Star Trek: The Motion Picture is available for streaming on Paramount+

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

Star trek 2: the wrath of khan.

A massive time jump, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan takes place in 2285, 13 years after the events of the previous film and 18 years since the original series ended. This film is less a sequel to Star Trek: The Motion Picture and more to season one, episode 22, or 'Space Seed,' from the original series, which now finds that episode's villain, Khan, seeking revenge on Kirk for marooning him on Ceti Alpha V. The movie sees an older Kirk wrestling with his age, and in the ultimate sign of time moving forward, Kirk loses his old friend Spock when the Vulcan-human hybrid sacrifices his life to save the crew of the Enterprise.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan also serves as the first part in a three-movie story arc, often referred to by fans as The Genesis Trilogy (named after the Genesis device which becomes a key factor in the life/death cycle the three films explore), one that continues in the following two sequels. While not making as much money as the previous film, Wrath of Khan had a smaller budget, so the profits of the film were greater and the film helped relaunch the popularity of the franchise. It still remains arguably the most acclaimed film of the franchise.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is available for streaming on Paramount+.

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)

Picking up shortly after the previous film, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock takes place in 2285 and focuses on Kirk and the Enterprise Crew's attempt to resurrect Spock when they find out his spirit has been left inside Leonard 'Bones' McCoy, which involves stealing the Enterprise from the Federation. Meanwhile, the crew must contend with a Klingon crew led by Kurge (Christopher Lloyd) who seeks to steal information on the genesis device.

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The movie resurrects Spock but also sees another beloved member of the crew perish: this time in the form of the Enterprise. While the ship will be rebuilt, this marks the final appearance of the ship that Kirk and his crew piloted since the original series. Another major plot point is the death of Kirk's son (who was established in the previous film), killed at the hands of Klingons, which will go on to inform Kirk's bias a few films later.

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock is available for streaming on Paramount+.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home picks up shortly after the previous film, with the Enterprise crew returning to Earth to face trial for stealing the Enterprise to resurrect Spock; however, they find the planet is in grave danger when a mysterious alien probe cannot communicate with any humpback whales. To save the Earth, the crew travels back in time to 1986 (the release date of the film) to try to find a group of whales to bring back to the future. The movie concludes the Genesis Trilogy, and due to its fish out of water aspect was a massive success even outside the Star Trek fanbase, grossing more than both previous entries.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is available for streaming on Paramount+.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

Set in 2287, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier focuses on the exploits of the Enterprise-A (the new ship that replaces the destroyed Enterprise) as they confront a renegade Vulcan who is attempting to search for God at the center of the universe. While opening big, the film had massive drop-offs in the following weeks due to poor word of mouth and competition from other summer movies like Ghostbusters II and Batman. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier almost killed the franchise for many, but the studio wanted to give the classic crew of the original series one final and proper goodbye.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is available for streaming on Paramount+.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

Released in 1991, 35 years after the premiere of Star Trek: The Original Series , Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country was to give the original cast their proper goodbyes. The movie is set in 2293, which makes it 24 years after the events of the original series. The Undiscovered Country acts as the end of the Cold War, but in space, the destruction of the Klingon moon, Praxis, leads the Klingon Empire to pursue peace with their longtime adversary, the Federation. However, a military conspiracy threatens to destroy the potential peace as Kirk is framed for a crime based on his prejudice towards Klingons for killing his son in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock .

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The movie ends as a proper conclusion to the original Star Trek series, as the two iconic foes of the Klingons and Federation have now found peace. With the Enterprise set to be decommissioned, Kirk and his crew take one final trip on the ship with the final mission log so that new crews, new ships and more will carry on their legacy, commenting on the future laid out in Star Trek series like The Next Generation , Deep Space Nine , and Voyager .

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is available for streaming on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Generations (1994)

A passing of the torch film between the crew of the original series and Star Trek: The Next Generation , Star Trek: Generations is the iconic meeting between the two captains, Kirk and Picard . The movie's prologue is set in 2293, shortly after the events of Star Trek VI: The Voyage Home, while the main action of the film is 2371, 78 years later and one year after Star Trek: The Next Generation .

The movie marks the final adventure for William Shatner's incarnation of James Kirk, and while it will not be the last time the character appears thanks to the reboot, it serves as a true end for the original series and full acknowledgment of Star Trek: The Next Generation being the face of the franchise for the 1990s.

Star Trek: Generations is available for streaming on Paramount+

Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

Set two years after the previous film in 2273, Star Trek: First Contact sees The Borg as the film's primary villain and follows the crew of the Enterprise-D as they pursue the villainous species back in time, with the Borg's primary objective to take over in the past. The film borrows the time travel element of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and primarily is set on April 4, 2023, which is the day before Earth makes contact with alien life and begins the steps for the Federation of Planets to form, thanks to the work of Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell), whose first successful warp drive creation draws the attention of the Vulcans.

Thanks to a heavy marketing push, Star Trek: First Contact was a major box office hit and also received positive reviews from critics, and until the release of 2009's Star Trek, was the best-performing film of the franchise internationally. Fans all over the world now celebrate April 5th as First Contact Day .

Star Trek: First Contact is available for streaming on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)

In 2375, Star Trek: Insurrection sees the crew of the Enterprise-D rebel against Starfleet when they discover a conspiracy involving two alien species. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with many claiming it lacked the scope of a movie and felt more like an extended episode of television.

The events of Star Trek: Insurrection are taking place around the time of both Star Trek: Voyager and at the end of the story for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , and while there are no major references to the events of the series or vice versa, it does show how big the franchise was at this point in time but also how the overexposure and years of continuity were starting to hamper it.

Star Trek: Insurrection is available for streaming on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

Star Trek: Nemesis takes place in 2379, meaning it is nine years after the events of Star Trek: The Next Generation and 110 years since the end of the original series. Star Trek: Nemesis sees a clone of Picard (Tom Hardy, in his first movie), created by Romulans, take control of the Romulan Empire and seek war with the Federation.

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The film received poor reviews from critics and was a box office bomb , becoming the lowest-grossing Star Trek film ever and was beaten out in its opening weekend box office by Maid in Manhattan . Combine that with competition from huge movies like Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets , Die Another Day, and Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers during the holiday season, and Star Trek: Nemesis was dead on arrival, marking the final adventure for the crew of The Next Generation until the release of Star Trek: Picard . The film's box office disappointment, combined with the cancelation of Star Trek: Enterprise three years, later marked a quiet point in the franchise , where it would take a big swing to bring the series back.

Star Trek: Nemesis is available for streaming on Paramount+.

Star Trek (2009)

Marketed as a prequel, J.J. Abrams' Star Trek is much more. It does show the origins of the original series cast but does so by taking place in an alternate reality that is kicked into motion by Spock from the original series traveling through a wormhole from 2387 (ten years after Star Trek: Nemesis ) that causes the timeline to split. So Star Trek is both a reboot, a prequel, and a sequel, as the events in Star Trek: The Original Series and all the following films need to happen to get Spock into a place to go back and time and create a new timeline, which will be called the Kelvin Timeline after the USS Kelvin, which is the ship at the center of the timeline divergence in 2233.

The great J.J. Abrams movie tells the story of how the crew of the Enterprise comes together, primarily taking place from 2258 to 2259, meaning that by the end of the film, when Kirk takes control of the Enterprise, it is earlier than the original timeline. The film was a surprisingly big success, grossing $386 million and becoming the highest-scoring Star Trek film on Rotten Tomatoes. In addition to the polished production and great effects, the excellent work of the cast was largely responsible for this; as Ty Burr writes in The Boston Globe :

What lifts the Abrams film into the ether is the rightness of its casting and playing, from Saldana's Uhura, finally a major character after all these years, to Urban's loyal, dyspeptic McCoy, to Simon Pegg's grandly comic Scotty, the movie's most radical reimagining of a Star Trek regular.

Star Trek is available for streaming on Hulu and Paramount+.

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

With a new timeline in place, Star Trek Into Darkness sees the crew of the Enterprise encounter Khan years earlier, as the destruction of Vulcan causes the Federation to explore space and find Khan and his crew about eight years earlier than the original timeline. Star Trek Into Darkness takes place one year after the 2009 Star Trek , meaning it is 2259. With Khan awakened earlier, and the butterfly effect nature of the timeline is rewritten, Kirk meets Carol Marcus (the mother of his child in the original timeline) earlier, and instead of Spock dying, it is Kirk. Yet Kirk is able to be resurrected much quicker than Spock.

The film ends with Kirk, Spock, and the crew on a rebuilt Enterprise ready to begin their five-year mission, and it is revealed they were waiting a year, meaning, that the five-year mission begins in 2260, six years before the original series. The modern-day cast of these Star Trek movies continues to excel, and the inclusion of a great Benedict Cumberbatch performance as Khan is a highlight.

Star Trek Into Darkness is available for streaming on Paramount+.

Star Trek Beyond (2016)

The final film released so far in the Star Trek film series, Star Trek Beyond, is set three years into the Enterprise's five-year mission (a meta-joke about how the original series lasted three seasons). The movie finds Kirk and his Enterprise crew on an unexplored planet, encountering a hostile alien who has ties to the Federation.

Released to tie in with the 50th anniversary of the franchise, Star Trek Beyond serves as the perfect conclusion to the film series so far. When the Spock from the original timeline dies, he leaves the current Spock some of his belongings, which includes a photo of the crew from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country . Seeing the life his alternate timeline version had, inspires this version to stay with his crew on a rebuilt Enterprise (this universe's version of Enterprise-A) to continue the adventure in a recently announced fourth film , whose production seems to be encountering several setbacks .

Star Trek Beyond is available for streaming on Paramount+.

Star Trek Films In Release Order

Unlike Star Wars , The MCU, or the X-Men movie series , the release order of Star Trek is the same as the chronological viewing order, making it a straightforward viewing experience. Historically, Star Trek has been a winter franchise, finding great success during the holiday weekends around Thanksgiving and Christmas. However, in recent years, all three Kelvin timeline films were summer releases.

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A guide to the 'star trek' movies in order.

Perhaps you've started watching Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and you're wondering where this whole thing (like the whole thing ) originated from. Maybe you're completely ingrained in the Star Trek universe but want to start all over from the beginning for the hundredth time. Whatever the case may be, you're currently reading this because you plan on watching or re-watching all of the Star Trek movies in order. No worries, we've got you all covered with everything you need to know before you get to it. When you're dealing with franchise that has been around many different decades and has had different iterations things can get a bit tricky.

We're going to break it down the best way we can.

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How Many Star Trek Movies Are There?

All-in-all, there are thirteen total films in the Star Trek franchise as of this writing. That's the simple version. Now we're really going to break it all down.

Star Trek "Original Series" Movies in Order:

• 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)

Star Trek "Next Generation" Movies in Order

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

Star Trek "Kelvin Timeline" Movies in Order aka the "New" Star Trek Movies in Order

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

1. Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

• Release Date: December 8, 1979
• Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Nichelle Nicholas
• Extra Recommended Viewing:  While it isn't required to watch Star Trek: The Original Series in its entirety before Star Trek: The Motion Picture , seasons one and two in particular can help prepare you for the overall pace of the movie and familiarize yourself with the characters as they are the ones that star in the film.

Ten years prior to the release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture , the television series, Star Trek: The Original Series , was cancelled after three seasons. Despite the cancellation, Paramount Pictures had been lobbying for a feature film which originally began development in 1975, but was scrapped in 1977 for another television series that was to be titled Star Trek: Phase II . However, after the success of Steven Spielberg's Close Encounter of the Third Kind in 1977, plans for a feature film were put back into motion since that particular film showed that science-fiction movies could be successful.

Finally, after many years, Star Trek: The Motion Picture was released on December 8, 1979, as we just mentioned, it featured the cast from the television series. Adm. James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and the crew of the Starship Enterprise is called upon by the federation to help contain an object that is on a crash course with earth. This object is an alien cloud that is wreaking havoc on everything getting in it's way. Kirk uses his leadership expertise to intercept the cloud, which eventually leads to an alien attack.

We then find out that Voyager aka V'Ger,  a 20th-century Earth space probe previously believed lost in a black hole, was found by an alien race of living machines, learned all the information it could, returned home to report what they discovered, but that nobody knew how to respond to the findings. Some people believe that you can skip this film altogether, but if you want to say that you've watched every single Star Trek , you've gotta get it in.

2. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

• Release Date: June 4, 1982
• Extra Recommended Viewing: Similar to the first film, nothing is required to be watched in order to understand the movie. However, if you want to get super nerdy, you can watch "Space Seed" (season 1, episode 22) from the television series as that's when Khan is originally introduced.

Despite the mixed reviews of Star Trek: The Motion Picture , the follow-up Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was released three years later on June 4, 1982. Many consider The Wrath of Khan to be the best Star Trek movie of all time, which makes for a fun debate amongst fans and movie critics. Adm. James T. Kirk and Capt. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) are monitoring trainees at Starfleet Academy when they discover that another vessel from the United Federation of Planets is about to test the planet-creating Genesis Device, which leads to two of Kirk's officers being captured and a showdown.

The Wrath of Khan was a huge box office success, grossing $97 million at the box office along with positive reviews from critics.

3. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984)

• Release Date: June 1, 1984
• Extra Recommended Viewing: For Star Trek III: The Search for Spock , you will need to watch The Wrath of Khan as this film is a continuation of the events that happened in that movie.

Fast forward two years later, Spock is dead. Or is he? Adm. James T. Kirk succeeded in defeating Khan, but that defeat apparently came with the cost of losing Spock. While investigating  the Genesis planet from aboard the science vessel  Grissom , they discover that Spock has been resurrected, but in the form of a child and that he has lost consciousness. The crew defies orders disables the USS  Excelsior , and steals the  Enterprise in the attempt to retrieve Spock's body. While The Search for Spock did gross $87 million at the box office (which in reality wasn't that much less than its predecessor), the film was still considered a "moderate" success compared The Wrath of Khan .

4. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

• Release Date: November 26, 1986
• Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Nichelle Nicholas, Catherine Hicks
• Extra Recommended Viewing: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home completes the arc of The Wrath of Khan and The Search for Spock , so you will need to watch both in order to understand what's going on.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is another debate starter as it is frequently put up against The Wrath of Khan in terms of which one is better. In it, Adm. James T. Kirk and his crew go back in time to San Francisco in 1986 to retrieve humpback whales — which is the key to communicating with a probe that's dangerously looking for somebody that understands it/them/whatever you want to call it. The plot is inexplicably corny 1980s, but you can't deny its charm as it pulled in $133 million worldwide at the box office, and received four Academy Award nominations for cinematography and sound.

5. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

• Release Date: June 9, 1989
• Extra Recommended Viewing: No required viewing, but it is recommended that you watch the previous films.

Alright, we're going to save you the trouble here — the mark was missed with Star Trek V: The Final Frontier . It has a case for being one of if not the worst Star Trek film of all time. That said, The Final Frontier centers around Sybok, the half brother of Spock, who hijacks the Enterprise in order to meet God, who he also believes is himself. Interesting. We're not going to say skip The Final Frontier completely, but we will say to have proper expectations before you watch.

6. Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

• Release Date: December 6, 1991
• Extra Recommended Viewing: While it's recommended you watch the previous films, it should be noted that some have started their Star Trek journey with The Undiscovered Country . You don't have to watch the television series to understand what's going on this film either.

Whenever Star Trek would take a step backward in terms of critical and commercial success, they would always follow it up with a stronger attempt. The Undiscovered Country is a whirlwind journey as Capt. Kirk and the USS Enterprise Crew are carrying Klingon Chancellor Gorkon (David Warner) to Earth as leverage for a peace treaty with the United Federation of Planets. Their ship gets confused for firing on a Klingon vessel, which kills Gorkon. This leads to Kirk and Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelley) being arrested for murder as it is thought to be a revenge attempt by Kirk for the Klingons murdering his son. Now it's all left up to Spock to save the day.

7. Star Trek: Generations (1994)

• Release Date: November 18, 1994
• Starring: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Michael Dorn, William Shatner
• Extra Recommended Viewing: It is our recommendation that you watch at least a few episodes of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series that ran from 1987 to 1994, as the movies are set at the end of series and preceded by the 1994 series finale "All Good Things."

And here begins The Next Generation era of Star Trek . While not as captivating as the prior films, the movie had its own strong points as the Starship Enterprise gets sent to a giant energy field on the verge of engulfing two ships that presumably kills Capt. Kirk. Fast forward several years later, Capt. Picard (Patrick Stewart) learns that one of the survivors, Dr. Soran (Malcolm McDowell), has big plans to enter the field by destroying a neighboring star, and must be stopped. While The Next Generation received mixed reviews, it did gross $118 million at the box office, so it was a good first start to the new generation.

8. Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

• Release Date: November 22, 1996
• Starring: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Michael Dorn, Brent Spiner
• Extra Recommended Viewing: "The Best of Both Worlds" (season 3, episode 26 and season 4, episode 1)

The story behind Star Trek: First Contact goes a little something like this — Paramount Pictures asked writers Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore to start working on the next film. Braga and Moore wanted to feature the Borg in the storyline, but Rick Berman, the producer, wanted the plot to focus on time travel. The solution? They decided to combine both ideas, pulling references from the two-part episode "The Best of Both Worlds" from Star Trek: The Next Generation , which served as both a season finale for season 3, and a season premiere for season 4.

First Contact features the crew following a Borg ship and traveling back in time to prevent the Borg from taking over the Earth in a past era. Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) and a space travel guru (James Cromwell) are stuck trying to create the first time warp, whereas Capt. Picard and mdr. Data (Brent Spiner) are trying to battle the borg queen as she attempts to take over The Enterprise. Fun stuff.

9. Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)

• Release Date: December 11, 1998
• Extra Recommended Viewing: Any episode from The Next Generation and the previous movies in The Next Generation series.

When a mission to planet Ba'ku gets disrupted by a malfunctioning android named Data (Brent Spiner) taking the cultural task force hostage, Capt. Picard and crew learn that the Federation mission was actually a ploy by the Son'a to remove the inhabitants of Ba'ku. There's also the romance between Troi and Riker that gets rekindled in the process. While some may argue other Star Trek films are more dynamic, we'd argue that Insurrection stands on its own two feet.

10. Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

• Release Date: December 13, 2002
• Starring: Patrick Stewart, Stuart Baird, Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes, Tom Hardy
• Extra Recommended Viewing: You could watch the entire Next Generation series and all the prior films before tackling Nemesis , but it also works as a standalone.

The final film of The Next Generation series sees Capt. Picard diverting Enterprise's trip to Cmdr. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Counselor Troi's (Marina Sirtis) wedding in order to negotiate a peace treaty with the Romulans. Pre-Bane Tom Hardy takes on the role of Shinzon, the new Praetor of the Romulans, who needs Picard’s blood to survive. The only problem is Shiznon is also trying to destroy the entire Earth and take everyone down with him, so there's that.

11. Star Trek (2009)

• Release Date: May 7, 2009
• Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Karl Urban
• Extra Recommended Viewing: The 2009 Star Trek essentially restarts the whole series. You can watch it without having seen any of the prior series or movies.

Back to the beginning we go! We get re-introduced to Kirk, Bones, Spock and the rest of the USS Enterprise crew as they are dealing with the villainous Romulan commander Nero (Eric Bana) who's kinda threatening all of mankind. It's up to Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), and everybody else to defeat Nero before it's too late. Nothing too complicated here — just a simple plot to introduce newcomers to the franchise.

12. Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

• Release Date: May 16, 2013
• Extra Recommended Viewing: Star Trek (2009)

Capt. Kirk gets removed from his commander position by violating the Prime Directive, Admiral Pike replaces him, Spock gets transferred to another ship, and that's just the beginning. Khan is back, but he's actually kind of... somewhat... nice, and Kirk and the rest of The Enterprise team set out to capture a one-man weapon of mass destruction which leads to a life or death battle. Fun stuff again.

13. Star Trek Beyond (2016)

• Extra Recommended Viewing: Star Trek (2009) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

And this is where the Star Trek movies (emphasis on movies) leaves us in this era until Star Trek 4 which is currently in development. Star Trek Beyond was about The Enterprise being deceived by Krall (Idris Elba), a vicious enemy who gets his energy from sucking the life out of his victims. Long story short, Krall needs an artifact that's on The Enterprise ship, and Kirk and the crew have got to battle against him. The events of Star Trek Beyond effectively serve as a prequel to the 1960s series, so you can actually watch Star Trek: The Original Series after this.

The Star Trek Movies in Release Order:

Unlike other franchises or universes , the Star Trek movies in order of release date is actually exactly the same as the chronological order.

• Star Trek: The Motion Picture - December 6th, 1979
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - June 4th, 1982
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock - June 1st, 1984
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home - November 26th, 1986
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier - June 9th, 1989
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country - December 6th, 1991
• Star Trek: Generations - November 18th, 1994
• Star Trek: First Contact - November 22nd, 1996
• Star Trek: Insurrection - December 11th, 1998
• Star Trek: Nemesis - December 13th, 2002
• Star Trek - May 7th, 2009
• Star Trek Into Darkness - May 16th, 2013
• Star Trek Beyond - July 22nd, 2016

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How to watch the Star Trek movies in order

Set phasers to "fun" and watch the Star Trek movies in order

It’s a good time to be a Star Trek fan and watch all the Star Trek movies in order. With three active TV series ( Discovery , Picard , Lower Decks ) and three more in the works (Section 31, Prodigy, Strange New Worlds ), there are more Star Trek adventures airing now than at any point since the mid-90s. 

While Star Trek TV shows have come and gone since the ‘60s, Star Trek movies maintained a pretty consistent release schedule between 1979 and 2016. On average, we got a new film once every three years. But with the fourth move of the Star Trek reboot franchise allegedly canceled , we may be in for a long wait until we see the U.S.S. Enterprise on the big screen again.

Still, there’s one missing piece of the puzzle: Where are all the Star Trek movies? Unlike watching the Star Wars movies in order , you can't see every Trek film on the same service.

• What is Paramount Plus ?
• Play the best Star Trek games
• Find what to watch after Star Trek: Discovery

In the meantime, there are thirteen Star Trek movies to watch (or rewatch), either on DVD or your favorite streaming services. I personally bought the Blu-ray collections so that I wouldn’t be at the mercy of shifting streaming schedules, but if you prefer an all-digital experience, these movies are almost always available somewhere online.

Star Trek movies in order of release date

Watching the Star Trek movies in release order is, for the most part, exactly the same as watching the Star Trek movies in chronological order. (There’s some time travel here and there, but the later films still follow “after” the earlier ones.) There are 13 films. The first came out in 1979; the last came out in 2016. 

The only issue is that they're spread out across a number of different subscription services. 10 of the 13 can be found on Amazon Prime Video, and seven of those are also on Hulu. FX Now and Fubo each have one Star Trek movie a piece, each film being a streaming exclusive (you'd need to buy or rent to watch otherwise). And then CBS All Access (soon to be Paramount Plus) and Pluto also have one film. 

• Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) : On Hulu and Prime Video
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) : On Hulu and Prime Video
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) : On Hulu and Prime Video
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) : On Prime Video
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) : On Hulu and Prime Video
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) : On Hulu and Prime Video
• Star Trek: Generations (1994) : On Prime Video
• Star Trek: First Contact (1996) : On Prime Video
• Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) : On Hulu and Prime Video
• Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) : On CBS All Access/Paramount Plus and Pluto
• Star Trek (2009): On Fubo
• Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) : On FX Now
• Star Trek Beyond (2016) : On Hulu and Prime Video

Star Trek is just one of many great things you can watch on Hulu . In addition to its acclaimed originals like High Fidelity and Shrill, Hulu streams next-day airings of current TV shows and library content from FX.

Amazon Prime Video has a huge library beyond Star Trek movies. Not only do they have a ton of top movies and TV shows, they've got a lineup of acclaimed originals. They've got everything from Fleabag to Marvelous Mrs. Maisel to The Expanse to Jack Ryan. 

Fubo.TV : One of the streaming services you'll need to complete the Star Trek movies in order, Fubo has all of the right network channels too. Who needs cable? Not Fubo subscribers. It's got a 7-day free trial so you don't need to pay up front.

One year of Paramount Plus: was $99 or $59, now $49 or $29 If you sign up a little under one month before Paramount Plus launches, you'll save $30 to $50 on its annual price. The higher rate is for the ad-free version. Paramount Plus will pack everything from Yellowstone to SpongeBob SquarePants, The Real Criminal MInds and more.

On top of there not being one home for all the movies, there are a few small wrinkles in this plan, however. First: The Star Trek movies aren’t completely standalone. They require some knowledge of what happened in the Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation TV shows to fully grok. 

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Furthermore, the 13 movies don’t tell one continuous story. Rather, they’re based on three separate iterations of the long-running franchise.

Star Trek movies in order of series

Just like the Star Trek TV shows, the Star Trek movies don’t all focus on the same characters and settings. While there’s a little bit of crossover (which we’ll cover below), the films generally fall into three categories.

The first category is based on Star Trek: The Original Series. This is your daddy’s Star Trek, complete with Kirk, Spock, McCoy, the original U.S.S. Enterprise and Scotty beaming people up. If you’ve ever heard about “KHAAAAN!” or “the one with the whales,” or “Shakespeare in the original Klingon,” this is where they come from.

They're all available on Prime Video, and almost all (The Voyage Home is missing) are on Hulu as well. 

Star Trek: The Original Series movies

Next up, there are the Next Generation movies. This is Gen X/Elder Millennial Star Trek, starring Picard, Data, Worf and the crew. The movies start off with the Enterprise-D, but transition to the sleeker Enterprise-E in First Contact. Generations features a crossover with some original series crewmembers, but the rest put the TNG cast front and center, with occasional Deep Space Nine and Voyager cameos.

You'll need at least two streaming services to see all of them.

Star Trek: The Next Generation movies

• Star Trek: Generations (1994): On Prime Video

Finally, there are the “reboot” Star Trek films, also known as the “Kelvin timeline” films. Kirk, Spock and McCoy take center stage again, but this time in an alternate reality, where events play out differently. This is Star Trek for the cool kids, complete with fast starships, pulse-pounding action and soundtracks populated by the Beastie Boys. (It’s not quite as mindless as it sounds — except for Into Darkness, maybe.) For the most part, these films don’t require previous Star Trek knowledge. But they do pick up where Nemesis left off, more or less, before winding the clock back.

This set is the splintered across services more than any of the others.

Star Trek reboot movies

• Star Trek (2009) : On Fubo

Star Trek episodes to watch first

TOS: The Original Series TNG: The Next Generation ENT: Enterprise

Watching the Star Trek movies is an extremely straightforward process, but they may be a little incomprehensible unless you’ve seen at least some of the TV series . (I watched the entire franchise , but that may not be practical for you.) The Motion Picture picks up after The Original Series ends; likewise with Generations and The Next Generation.

As such, here are some episodes you should watch if you’re going to dive into the movies. Generally, the movies stand on their own, but it might help to know about some of the supporting characters and subplots:

Episodes for Star Trek: The Original Series movies

• Space Seed (TOS, S1, E22) : On Hulu and Prime Video
• Errand of Mercy (TOS: S1, E26) : On Hulu and Prime Video
• Journey to Babel (TOS: S2, E10) : On Hulu and Prime Video

Episodes for Star Trek: The Next Generation movies

• Q Who (TNG: S2, E16) : On Hulu and Prime Video
• The Best of Both Worlds, Parts I and II (TNG: S3, E26 / S4, E1) : On Hulu and Prime Video
• Family (TNG: S4, E2) : On Hulu and Prime Video

Episodes for Star Trek reboot movies

• Unification, Parts I and II (TNG: S5, E7 & E8) : On Hulu and Prime Video
• First Flight (ENT: S2, E24) : On Hulu and Prime Video
• The Xindi (ENT: S3, E1) : On Hulu and Prime Video

Which Star Trek movies are good?

If you watch all 13 Star Trek movies, you’re signing yourself up for about 26 hours of screen time. That’s more than a casual fan may want to invest. Luckily (or unluckily?), not ever Star Trek film is created equal. For a long time, fans held that the even-numbered movies were good, while the odd-numbered ones were bad. That trend seems to have reversed with the recent reboot films, though: The odd ones are good, while the even one is, well, not.

In any case, if you want to start with the movies that are really worth your time, here they are:

I personally like some of the other ones quite a bit (Nemesis is better than you remember, and Generations has quite a few moving moments), but those should at least represent a good starting point.

And once you’re done with those, you can move onto Galaxy Quest: the best Star Trek movie that’s not actually a Star Trek movie.

• Next: How to watch Harry Potter movies in order

Marshall Honorof is a senior editor for Tom's Guide, overseeing the site's coverage of gaming hardware and software. He comes from a science writing background, having studied paleomammalogy, biological anthropology, and the history of science and technology. After hours, you can find him practicing taekwondo or doing deep dives on classic sci-fi. 

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How to Watch Every Star Trek Series (and Movie) in the Right Order

Ready for a rewatch but not sure where to start? We’ve got you covered.

Have you ever wondered what the best way is to stream Star Trek from start to finish? Look no further.

Approaching the chronological watch of a franchise that’s been on over fifty years can be daunting. Especially with a science-fiction universe that has time travel, multiple universes, concurrent shows and entirely new timelines.

Fear not, as we have created a handy binge-watch guide using the Stardate of each series and film. Here is our guide on how to watch every Star Trek series and movie in the right order.

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Trek Boldly With Our Guide To Watching the ‘Star Trek’ Movies

We’ve had almost 60 years of Star Trek now, and with 13 movies (and counting?) it can be hard to work out the right order to watch them in. It helps that the early movies are numbered, but only if you want to watch them in release order rather than in universe chronology—and once you get out of The Original Series era , even that advantage goes away. Here’s our ultimate guide to watching the Star Trek movies, both ways!

Release Order

Watching the Star Trek movies in the order in which they were released is recommended for first time viewers, simply to avoid the confusion of receiving plot elements out of order. We start with the TOS films and work our way through to the Kelvin timeline reboots. Easy.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Kirk, now an Admiral, commandeers the Enterprise to investigate a powerful alien entity traveling inside an energy cloud that poses a serious threat to all life in the galaxy. After losing various members of the crew to the alien, it turns out to be the returning Voyager 6 probe, now sentient after its travels and looking to merge with a human to complete its mission.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

No good deed goes unpunished, and Kirk’s decision (TOS: “Space Seed”) to spare Khan and his followers—by leaving them to settle on an uninhabited planet—backfires spectacularly in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan . Seeking vengeance, Khan attempts to capture the Genesis Device—experimental technology that can produce new worlds out of dead matter through an explosive process, which can also be used as a weapon. Be warned: Spock dies in this one, and it’s emotionally devastating even though we all know it doesn’t last.

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

In Star Trek III: The Search for Spock , Kirk discovers that Spock’s katra (something like a soul) is inside McCoy, and that both katra and body are needed to properly lay Spock to rest on Vulcan. So Kirk and the crew steal the Enterprise to reunite them. But because Spock’s casket landed on the new planet created by the Genesis Device, his body has been de-aged and resurrected, rapidly aging toward adulthood—but without a mind. However, Klingons are also after the planet and the Genesis Device, so the crew of the Enterprise will have to do battle with them to complete their mission.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Star Trek IV is also commonly referred to as the “one with the whales.” After an alien probe induces catastrophic effects on the earth’s atmosphere, Spock discovers that the probe is attempting to communicate via the call of the now extinct humpback whale. In order to find and bring some of the whales back, and thereby save the planet, the Enterprise performs a “slingshot maneuver” around the sun to travel back to a time before the whales died out. When they arrive in 1986, Kirk and Spock locate a pair of whales that are about to be released from captivity and try to persuade the biologist in charge of their care to hand them over, while Uhura and Chekov raid a nuclear-equipped aircraft carrier to restore the Enterprise’s power so they can return home.

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

In Star Trek V , Kirk, Spock, and McCoy’s camping trip is cut short when Spock’s half-brother Sybok takes a group of diplomats hostage and the crew of the Enterprise is sent to rescue them. It turns out to be a trap, as Sybok needed a starship to find God at the center of the universe, and he uses his Vulcan abilities to persuade the crew to help him. Pursued by a glory-seeking Klingon Captain and his warship, they reach and break through the energy barrier that Sybok believes houses God on the other side, and meet a powerful alien entity who certainly claims to be God but doesn’t have anyone’s best interests at heart.

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

The destruction of Qo’noS’ moon forces the Klingons into peace talks with the Federation in Star Trek VI . Despite Kirk’s long standing grudge against Klingons (one of them killed his son), the Enterprise is sent to collect their Chancellor, Gorkon, and bring him to Earth to negotiate a treaty. On the way there, however, Gorkon is murdered, and Kirk and McCoy are framed as the killers and sent to a penal colony on an ice planet. The crew of the Enterprise goes rogue to rescue them, expose the real assassins, and foil the conspiracy that threatens the peace talks.

Star Trek: Generations

Star Trek: Generations begins with Picard, having just learned of the death of his brother and nephew, receiving a distress call from an observatory. When he takes the Enterprise to check it out, they discover that the scientist in charge, Dr. Soran, is trying to destroy stars to summon a massive energy ribbon that contains another dimension. Called the Nexus, the dimension creates alternative realities based on your deepest desires. Attempts to stop Soran fail, and both he and Picard are transported inside the Nexus, where Picard discovers Captain Kirk—who was sucked inside the Nexus at the beginning of the movie—and the two work together to defeat Dr. Soran.

Star Trek: First Contact

In an attempt to conquer Earth, the Borg create a temporal vortex to send a ship back in time and take over the planet before humanity demonstrated warp capabilities, thereby preventing first contact and the formation of the Federation—hence the title, First Contact . The Enterprise follows the Borg ship through the time vortex, seeking out Zefram Cochrane to ensure his test flight goes ahead as planned, thus preserving the correct timeline, all while fighting off a Borg invasion. Meanwhile, the Borg queen has kidnapped Data, and Picard has to work through his own Borg-related trauma while attempting to rescue him.

Star Trek: Insurrection

In Star Trek: Insurrection , Data malfunctions while observing what appear to be pre-warp people, leading the Enterprise to discover that not only is this untrue (they merely choose to live that way), but that the Federation is collaborating with a group called the Son’a to forcefully relocate them so the planet’s rejuvenating properties can be harvested. Picard defies orders to allow this to go on, citing the Prime Directive, and the Enterprise assists the planet’s inhabitants in defending themselves and their way of life.

Star Trek: Nemesis

Star Trek: Nemesis sees Picard on a diplomatic mission to Romulus, where he discovers that the new Romulan leader is a younger clone of himself. Named Shinzon, he was originally created to act as a spy within the Federation, but the project was scrapped and the young clone was left in a prison colony on Remus, where he launched his climb to the top of the Empire. Shinzon requires a transfusion of Picard’s blood to reverse the ill effects of the cloning process that are killing him, so he kidnaps Picard and heads for Earth with a thalaron radiation-emitting weapon, which he intends to use to wipe out all life on the planet.

The first of the alternate timeline films, Star Trek reboots the series with a vengeance-seeking Romulan who travels back in time, altering the past. Kirk, having lost his father as a baby, grows up to be a very different person. Though he’s constantly getting into trouble, Kirk is invited to join the academy anyway by Captain Pike, who sees his potential. Just when Kirk is on the verge of expulsion, the same Romulan reappears, continuing to seek his vengeance, and Kirk stows away on the Enterprise, determined to go into the field with the other cadets.

Star Trek Into Darkness

Star Trek Into Darkness is a reboot of The Wrath of Khan that proposes a very different backstory for Khan and Kirk’s relationship. Sent to chase after a Starfleet agent who blew up the Section 31 headquarters and killed several senior officers (including Pike), Kirk and the Enterprise crew discover there’s something else going on. The agent is actually Khan, pressed into service by Admiral Marcus, who is holding the rest of Khan’s people hostage and is trying to kill them and everyone else who knows what’s going on.

Star Trek Beyond

In Star Trek Beyond , the Enterprise is ambushed and many of its crew captured by a man named Krall. The bulk of the ship is destroyed, while the saucer section crashes onto the planet below. It turns out Krall is a pre-Federation soldier whose life was extended by the technology of the planet’s inhabitants, and who believes the Federation abandoned him and his crew there to die. Intent on revenge, Krall is seeking the missing piece of an ancient bioweapon. When he finds it, the movie becomes a race to stop Krall from reaching Earth and setting it off.

Chronological Order

I wouldn’t recommend watching the Star Trek movies in chronological order unless you’ve already watched all of them through at least once. Otherwise, you’re going to spend half the time confused as to what’s going on and the rest realizing you’ve already spoiled yourself on the major plots.

The Voyage Home is the earliest the crew travels back in time, to 1986. However, they change the past, altering rather than preserving the timeline, so it’s debatable as to whether the fourth film actually goes here or if it follows The Search for Spock instead.

By traveling back to ensure First Contact goes ahead as planned, the crew of the Enterprise ensure the timeline remains unchanged, enabling everything that happens in the other movies to proceed.

This is where you switch to watching the Kelvin-verse movies, because Nero’s alteration to the timeline starts long before the events of the original Star Trek movie took place.

Time to revert to the original continuity, even though the events of this movie (and the ones after) don’t follow the last three you’ve watched.

If you actually give this watch order a try, let us know how it goes and whether it makes for an enjoyable experience!

(featured image:

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How to watch the star trek movies and tv shows in order.

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Key Takeaways

• Explore the Star Trek universe by watching the franchise in chronological order, based on stardates.
• The original Star Trek timeline includes the TV show Enterprise and the first two seasons of Discovery.
• The original series, The Animated Series, and the first Star Trek movie are important parts of the franchise's origins.

With the Star Trek franchise rapidly expanding on Paramount+ , now is the perfect time to boldly go explore the Star Trek Universe.

The universe is composed of 13 films and nine TV shows. Now, it'd be easy enough to watch them all in the order they premiered, but if you prefer to watch everything chronologically (when the events take place), we've compiled an ultimate viewing guide for you. Below, you'll find the entire franchise organized by stardates. It starts with the oldest event in the original Star Trek timeline.

Speaking of timelines, there are two in Star Trek: The original, which includes nearly all the films and TV shows; and Kelvin, an alternative timeline that kicked off with the latest three reboot films. To better understand what we're talking about, please read the guide below. Those of you who want to proceed spoiler-free, however, can scroll all the way to the bottom for the list version of this guide.

Also at the bottom, we've included another spoiler-free list. It's structured by order of release - or when each film and TV show premiered.

How to watch all the Marvel movies and TV shows in chronological order

The Marvel Cinematic Universe began in 2008 and is still going strong. Here's the entire MCU timeline, shows and movies included.

The original Star Trek timeline

The thing to remember about this order is that it is chronological - based entirely on the stardate time system in the Star Trek franchise. Think of stardates as years. In that case, the order below starts with the oldest events in the Star Trek Universe - but it excludes the Kelvin timeline films.

There are spoilers below.

1 Star Trek: E nterprise

The first to boldly go where no man has gone before, star trek: enterprise.

Stardate: 2151 to 2156

Enterprise follows the adventures of one of the first starships to explore deep space in the Star Trek Universe.

Set right before the founding of the Federation of Planets (and about 100 years before the original Star Trek series), Star Trek: Enterprise is a TV show that follows the adventures of Captain Jack Archer, played by Scott Bakula, and the Starship Enterprise crew. This ship is the first Federation vessel to have Warp 5 capabilities, allowing its crew to be among the first deep-space explorers.

The series introduces many of the different alien species important to the Star Trek Universe, such as the Vulcans and Klingons. It also begins to lay the groundwork for the Federation of Planets, in the fourth and final season.

2 Star Trek: Discovery seasons 1 and 2

Discover a new type of starship, set ten years before the original series, star trek: discovery.

Stardate: 2256

The first two seasons of Discovery is set ten years before the original series as the crew of the titular ship tests an impressive new warp drive.

Star Trek: Discovery follows Michael Burnham, played by Sonequa Martin-Green, the first officer aboard the USS Shenzhou before she is found guilty of mutineering. However, with the Federation at war with the Klingons, the captain of the new Discovery ship, Gabriel Lorca, played by Jason Isaacs, enlists Burnham to help get the ship’s experimental warp drive properly working.

Discovery's early setting in the Star Trek universe was changed with a leap through time at the end of season two, which is why we're placing the recently released third season elsewhere on our list.

3 Star Trek: Strange New World

A direct prequel to the original series., star trek: strange new worlds.

Stardate: 2258

Strange New Worlds follows the early adventures of the Starship Enterprise, before Kirk became its captain.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds stars Anson Mount as Captain Christopher Pike.

Pike will be a familiar name to Star Trek fans, as Pike is the man who commanded the starship Enterprise before Captain Kirk. The series follows Pike doing just that, in his final five-year mission as captain of the Enterprise before he becomes Fleet Captain and hands the reigns to Captain Kirk.

This being a prequel to the original Star Trek series, there are also other recognizable names, with Ethan Peck playing Spock and Celia Rose-Gooding as Uhara. A third season is currently in production.

4 Star Trek: The Original Series

Where it all began, star trek: the original series.

Stardate: 2266 to 2269

The original Star Trek series follows Captain Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the crew as they boldly go where no man has gone before.

This is the original Star Trek TV show. It began airing in 1966 and primarily follows the crew of the USS Enterprise, starting with them embarking on a five-year mission “to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before”.

The series introduces William Shatner’s Captain James T Kirk and Leonard Nimoy’s Spock, too.

It also gives us the basis for the universe that makes Star Trek so successful, from introducing numerous alien species like the Vulcans and Klingons to showing us the inner workings of the Federation of Planets. The origins of the Star Trek Universe wouldn’t exist without it.

5 *Optional* Star Trek: The Animated Series

Continue the journey with the original crew, star trek: animated.

Stardate: 2269 to 2270

Continue the adventures of the original series in this animated version that sees most of the cast return to voice their characters.

After The Original Series ended, it quickly became a cult classic. Creator Gene Roddenberry then began work on an animated series that saw most of the original cast provide voice work for the animated versions of their characters. The show essentially functions as the fourth season of the original series, with the original characters navigating unexplored sections of space.

However, it was eliminated from canon by Roddenberry himself, when the rights were renegotiated following the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. So, if you want to consume every drop of Star Trek content, add this to your list.

6 Star Trek: The Motion Picture

The first star trek movie, star trek: the motion picture.

Stardate: 2273

Captain Kirk, his crew, and a newly remodeled Enterprise head out to investigate an alien entity known as V'ger.

This is the first feature film in the Star Trek Universe. It sees Captain James T Kirk retake the helm of a renovated USS Enterprise to investigate a mysterious cloud of energy that is moving toward Earth. The energy cloud destroys a Federation monitoring station, as well as three Klingon ships, but before Kirk is able to engage it, he must learn to operate an unfamiliar USS Enterprise.

7 Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

Star trek: the wrath of khan.

Stardate: 2285

The crew of the Enterprise faces off against it's most fearsome adversary, Khan.

The second Star Trek movie is perhaps the most successful entry in the franchise. It sees Captain James T Kirk taking command of a USS Enterprise staffed with untested trainees in order to track down the adversary Khan Noonien Singh and his genetically engineered super soldiers.

In the process of escaping a planet that Kirk trapped him on, Khan learns of a secret device known as Genesis, capable of re-organizing matter to terraform (make them habitable) planets. Khan tries to steal the device, but, of course, Kirk will do all he can to stop him.

8 Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

The crew of the enterprise try to resurrect spock, star trek iii: the search for spock.

Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise set out on a mission to recover Spock's body and bring him back to life.

Following their battle with Khan, the crew of the USS Enterprise returns home to Earth in this third feature film.

Once there, Leonard H “Bones” McCoy, played by DeForest Kelley, begins to act strangely, leading to him being detained. Captain James T Kirk, with the help of Spock’s father, Sarek, played by Mark Lenard, then learns that Spock transferred his Katra into McCoy before dying.

If nothing is done, McCoy will die from carrying Spock’s Katra. So, the crew of the USS Enterprise go back to the site of their battle with Khan - in the hopes of retrieving Spock’s body. To top it all off, they must battle with the Klingon Kruge, played by Christopher Lloyd, over control of the Genesis Device. The Search for Spock is also directed by Spock himself, Leonard Nimoy.

9 Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

Earth is in danger and the only hope is humpback whales, star trek iv: the voyage home.

Stardate: 2286

The Enterprise travels back in time to 1986 and has to untangle a mystery involving humpback whales and an alien probe.

In this film, a mysterious ship begins orbiting Earth and destroys the planet's power grid. It emits strange noises, too, and the newly resurrected Spock realizes the sound is similar to the now-extinct humpback whale. Believing the strange ship is expecting to hear back the song of humpback whales, the crew goes around the Sun and travels back in time to 1986 to get a humpback whale.

Nimoy returned to direct this film, as well.

10 Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

The enterprise crew must face off with spock's brother, sybok, star trek v: the final frontier.

Stardate: 2287

The Enterprise heads out on a mission to rescue hostages from the planet Nimbus 3.

After finishing a mission, Kirk, Spock, and Bones are enjoying a camping trip in Yosemite in this film when they are ordered to rescue hostages on the planet Nimbus III. But, once arriving on the planet, the crew realizes Spock’s half-brother, Sybok, is responsible for taking the hostages in order to lure a starship, with the hopes of reaching the mythical planet Sha Ka Ree and meeting a God.

Sybok realizes he’ll need Kirk’s expertise to navigate through the barrier at the centre of the Milky Way that leads to this mythical planet. Along the way, the Klingon Kraa decides to hunt Kirk. The Final Frontier is also the only Star Trek film directed by William Shatner.

11 Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

The final film starring the original series cast, star trek vi: the undiscovered country.

Stardate: 2293

After being framed for a political assassination, Kirk and the rest of the crew of the Enterprise must unravel the conspiracy to avoid war with the Klingon Empire.

In the final film of this series, we see the Klingon homeworld nearly destroyed, leading the hostile empire to engage in peace talks with the Federation. Captain James T Kirk is assigned to escort the Klingon ambassador, but is instead blamed when assassins beam aboard the Ambassador’s ship and kill him. The Klingons then sentence Kirk and McCoy to life imprisonment on a frozen asteroid.

At that point, Spock and the rest of the crew must find the true culprits behind the attack of the Klingon ship and rescue Kirk and Bones.

12 Star Trek: The Next Generation

The next generation takes over the uss enterprise, star trek: the next generation.

Stardate: 2364 to 2370

A new crew takes over the Enterprise and heads out on a five-year mission to explore the unknown.

Set 71 years after the USS Enterprise’s last mission with Captain James T Kirk at the helm, The Next Generation introduces us to a new USS Enterprise staffed with the next generation of Starfleet officers, led by Captain Jean Luc Picard (played by Patrick Stewart).

This TV series also shows us new species of aliens, the Cardassians and the Borgs, which replace the now-friendlier Klingons as the Federation’s primary adversaries.

The Next Generation ran for seven seasons and featured a couple of cameos from The Original Series, like Spock and Bones, among others.

13 Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Everyday life in the deepest reaches of space, star trek: deep space nine.

Stardate: 2369 to 2375

Set on a stationary space station instead of an exploring starship, Deep Space Nine explores what life in space is like after the exploring part is done.

This TV show overlaps with the end of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It focuses on the former Cardassian space station, a backwood outpost that the Federation now controls and has ordered a Starfleet crew to run, with Avery Brook’s Benjamin Sisko as the commanding officer.

It's not about a starship exploring the unknown, but rather the trade disputes and political manoeuvring surrounding a crucial military hub.

14 Star Trek Generations

The two enterprise crews unite to take on a force with the power to destroy stars, star trek: generations.

Stardate: 2371

The first Star Trek film to feature the Next Generation crew also brought back the Enterprise crew from the original series.

Star Trek Generations is the first film to feature the crew of The Next Generation while also starring some of The Original Series cast.

The plot primarily centres around an El-Aurian, named Dr Tolian Soran (played by Malcolm McDowell), as well as an energy ribbon known as the Nexus.

You see, in 2293, Soran is rescued from the Energy Ribbon by a retired Captain James T Kirk, who is attending a maiden voyage of a new USS Enterprise. Then, in 2371, while answering a distress call, Captain Jean Luc Picard finds Soran - and he has a weapon capable of destroying stars.

15 Star Trek: Voyager

A federation starship stranded in uncharted space, star trek voyager.

Stardate: 2371 to 2378

Follow a Captain Janeway and her crew of the USS Voyager as they attempt to find their way home after being stranded in space.

After leaving Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in search of a group of Maquis rebels, the Starship Voyager, led by Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), is captured by an energy wave that sends it - and a ship of Maquis rebels - into the middle of the unexplored Delta Quadrant. With both ships damaged and far from home, the crews agree to join forces and begin a 75-year journey back to Earth.

16 Star Trek: First Contact

The crew of the enterprise travels back before the first warp drive was used, star trek: first contact.

Stardate: 2373

The Enterprise must travel back in time to prevent a Borg ship from assimilating all of Earth.

In this film, the USS Enterprise tries to help defeat a Borg Cube attacking Earth, with Captain Jean Luc Picard assuming command of a fleet of starships. However, just before the Cube is destroyed, it releases a smaller ship that enters a temporal vortex. The USS Enterprise gives chase through the vortex, but in the process, realizes the Borg traveled back in time and assimilated the entire planet.

And once through the Vortex, the crew arrives in 2063. More specifically, they arrive one day before Zefram Cochrane (played by James Cromwell) uses the first warp drive system, which draws the attention of the Vulcans, leading to humanity's first contact with an alien race.

17 Star Trek: Insurrection

The enterprise must uncover the mystery around a nearly immortal group of people, star trek: insurrection.

Stardate: 2375

The crew of the USS Enterprise uncovers a conspiracy involving the forced relocation of a peaceful alien race.

The action now centres around a planet with a type of unique radiation that rejuvenates its people, known as the Ba’ku. The effects of the radiation make the Ba’ku nearly immortal.

In this film, Brent Spinner’s Data is sent undercover to monitor the Ba’ku people and soon begins to malfunction, which causes Captain Jean Luc Picard and the crew of the USS Enterprise to investigate.

They uncover a conspiracy between a species, which is hostile to the Ba’ku, and Admiral Mathew Doherty, a Starfleet officer played by Anthony Zerbe. The crew of the Enterprise must stop them both in order to save the Ba’ku from being forcibly removed from their home planet.

18 Star Trek: Nemesis

Picard vs picard, star trek: nemesis.

Stardate: 2379

Captain Picard and the crew face a new, dangerous enemy in the form of a clone of Picard himself.

Captain Jean Luc Picard and the USS Enterprise crew are sent on a mission to meet with the leader of the Romulans, Shinzon, played by a super young Tom Hardy. Once there, they learn that Shinzon is actually a clone of Picard, created in the hopes that he would one day be able to infiltrate the Federation. The Romulans had abandoned the plan and sent Shinzon into slavery.

He led a rebellion, however, and created his own starship, the Scimitar. Soon, the Enterprise learns Shinzon’s true plan is to use a form of radiation poisonous to all life in order to attack the Federation and destroy Earth.

19 Star Trek: Picard

Picard's forced out of retirement one more time

Star Trek: Picard

Stardate: 2399

Captain Picard's retirement is about as full of adventure as his career on the Enterprise.

One of the most popular starship captains in the Star Trek Universe, Jean Luc Picard had retired to a life of wine-making, but a new mission set 20 years after the events of Nemesis sees Captain Jean Luc Picard return to space along with many of his old friends. The first season sees Picard struggling with the events that led to his retirement from Starfleet -- when he's forced into a conflict that sees him thrust into a captain's chair again.

The second season sees Picard transported to an alternate timeline by the interdimensional being known as Q (John De Lancie), who originally appeared in The Next Generation. The third and final season of Picard recently got a teaser and is slated to premiere in spring 2023.

20 Star Trek: Discovery seasons 3 and beyond

The discovery's journey picks up later than any other star trek content.

Stardate: 3188

Catch up with the rest of Discovery after a timejump shifts the story to the end of the Star Trek timeline.

Burnham and the crew of the Discovery make a jump through time that lands them further in the future than we've ever seen in the Star Trek Universe.

There, Burnham is separated from the rest of the crew of Discovery.

While trying to locate the ship, she learns that the United Federation of Planets has fallen following the event known as The Burn, which saw ships simultaneously explode throughout the entire galaxy. The fuel for Star Trek's ships, Dilithium, has also become extremely rare, which makes travel across wide distances of space much harder. In the fourth season, Burnham and the crew of the Discovery begin the process of rebuilding the Federation of Planets. A fifth season of Star Trek Discovery is slated to premiere in 2024.

Kelvin timeline: The alternate Star Trek timeline

These films kick off JJ Abrams' alternate Star Trek timeline. Officially called the Kelvin timeline, it's named after the USS Kelvin. If you want to watch them, you can do so either before or after Star Trek: The Original Series. We prefer you watch it after - in fact, watch it after you've finished the original Star Trek timeline, because it literally takes place in a different timeline.

• Movies and TV

This Is The Correct Order In Which To Watch The Star Trek Franchise

Don't look now, but "Star Trek" is a thing again. It's been a while — after redefining television in the 1960s and enjoying a resurgence in the '80s and '90s, the final episode of ""Star Trek: Enterprise" in 2005 marked the beginning of a dark period in which there was simply no "Trek" to be had. Then, in 2017, the drought ended with the premiere of " "Star Trek: Discovery ," and when it rains, it pours. "Discovery" heralded the arrival of a whole new era of ""Star Trek," and that's just the beginning — Paramount+ will soon play host to two new "Star Trek" shows, with three more currently in development, and there's a new movie scheduled for release in 2023 . Suddenly, we are awash in "Trek," which means that if you're unfamiliar with Gene Roddenberry's universe, it's a pretty good time to jump on board. Only where do you start with a franchise this big — and more importantly, what's the proper watch order?

These are the questions we're here to answer. While it's tempting to try and watch "Star Trek" chronologically, using either the fictional timeline or release dates, we recommend an order that's a bit of a blend of both. Following this list should result in an experience that provides a complete picture of what "Star Trek" is while also remaining easy to binge. With that in mind (and with the understanding that a few spoilers are unavoidable ), it's time to boldly go where every previous "Star Trek" installment has gone before!

The Original Series

When you watch "Star Trek," you really need to begin at the beginning. Not with Enterprise, which is set earlier in the "Trek" timeline than any show, but with "Star Trek" — or as it's lovingly called these days, "The Original Series." This is the show that ran on NBC from 1966 to 1969, forever altering the television medium, the science fiction genre, and the experience of being a fan. While some viewers may find the special effects laughable or the political themes unsubtle, the most astonishing thing about "TOS" is how well it holds up, even more than 50 years later. The first two seasons, in particular, are absolutely riddled with classic episodes, and while the third season is significantly worse due to changes in the creative team, it's still fun to watch William Shatner ham it up as Captain Kirk, Leonard Nimoy raise a single Vulcan eyebrow as Mr. Spock, and the original Starship Enterprise soar through space. Most importantly, though, those first 79 episodes introduce rules, concepts, and even characters that "Star Trek" is still playing with today, from Class M planets and the Prime Directive to Khan and the Klingons.

The Animated Series

The unofficial fourth and fifth seasons of "Star Trek," "The Animated Series" aired on NBC from 1973 to 1974, after tempers had cooled somewhat between NBC and Roddenberry, who left "Star Trek" after its second season out of frustration with the network. Not only was the entire original cast back (minus Walter Koenig), but so was Roddenberry, and so was D.C. Fontana, Roddenberry's longtime assistant who had grown into one of the most celebrated "Trek" writers and had also departed after Season 2. Between the return of some of the show's original creative minds and cast, and the fact that animation allowed them to do so much more than live action special effects of the era, "TAS" is pure, undiluted "Star Trek."

It's never been made explicitly clear whether "TAS" is canon, but considering the number of "TAS" ideas re-used in later live-action shows, plus the introduction in "TAS" of canon pieces of backstory, like Kirk's middle name, it's silly at this point to believe otherwise. And it's required viewing for completists who want to see every televised adventure undertaken by the original Enterprise crew.

The first six films

"Star Trek: The Motion Picture" was released by Paramount in 1979, and while it's not an especially good film, it holds historical importance as the launching point for the "Star Trek" movie franchise. The real highlights in this part of the list, though, are the three films that followed. The Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock, and The Voyage Home essentially form their own trilogy of movies within the larger "Trek" saga, and are some of the most popular and critically acclaimed installments in the franchise. "The Wrath of Khan," in particular, tends to show up near the top of "best science fiction films in history" lists, making the titular Khan such an iconic villain that he was recast for the J.J. Abrams reboot movies, while "The Voyage Home" is probably the most charming "Star Trek" film, as the Enterprise travels to the past to rescue the humpback whale species from extinction.

Even the most dedicated binge-watcher can safely skip the horrendous fifth movie, "The Final Frontier," but "The Undiscovered Country" is an absolute masterpiece, and taken together, these six films provide a worthy capstone to the franchise's inaugural era.

It might seem counterintuitive to follow up the oldest "Star Trek" series with one of the newest, especially given that "Star Trek: Discovery" actually takes place prior to "The Original Series." But there's a good reason to jump from the tales of Kirk and Spock to the tales of Michael Burnham and...well, and Spock, who shows up in Season 2. "The Original Series" and its accompanying animated and film extensions are foundational to "Discovery," which is set shortly after the events of the rejected "Star Trek" pilot "The Cage." And characters from "The Cage" show up in Season 2 and are also appearing in their own spinoff, "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds."

While an in-universe chronological watch order would put the first two seasons of "Discovery" before "TOS" and the third season at the very end (as the crew travels forward in time to the far future) it makes more sense to us to treat "Discovery" as its own story. The third season does occasionally reference "past" events from other shows, but that does lead nicely into the next "Trek" installment...

The Next Generation (Seasons 1-5)

For many Trekkies today, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was their introduction to the franchise, and for good reason. If any one series beyond the original can lay a claim to being the single most iconic "Star Trek" story, it's Next Generation, which premiered in 1987 and went on to not only have seven seasons of its own, but to jumpstart a chain of interlocking "Star Trek" shows that would thoroughly dominate the 1990s. Before that, though, the first five seasons of Next Generation stood alone, and if you're trying to get somebody instantly hooked on Trek, this might actually be the place to start, despite the fact that the first couple of seasons don't hold up incredibly well.

If you're absorbing all of "Star Trek," though, "Next Generation" has to be the place to start. After all, it's the next generation of what, exactly? The answer is the Starship Enterprise, which comes with an entirely new cast and crew, introducing the world to Worf, Data, Counselor Troi, and Geordi LaForge, and permanently branding the hearts of a thousand Trekkies with the image of Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard .

The Next Generation (Season 6) / Deep Space Nine (Season 1)

Okay, this is where it gets weird. "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" debuted in January 1993, just a few months after "Next Generation" kicked off its sixth season — a season full of unmitigated classics, incidentally, from the return of Montgomery Scott in "Relics" to the legendary two-parter "Chain of Command." Picard even makes a cameo in the first episode of "DS9," which takes place aboard a space station and uses the ideas and events of earlier "Next Generation" episodes to inform characters like Commander Benjamin Sisko and Quark. It's essentially impossible to understand Sisko's backstory, for example, without first having seen the "Next Generation" episode "The Best of Both Worlds."

Despite the fact that they take place over roughly the same time period, we recommend watching the entirety of Season 6 of "Next Generation" followed by the entirety of Season 1 of "DS9," if for no other reason than the former has more episodes than the latter, making it a complicated process to intercut between them. But however you choose to do it, these two seasons really should be watched back to back.

The Next Generation (Season 7) / Deep Space Nine (Season 2)

Similarly, the second season of "DS9" coincides with the last "Next Generation" season. While it might lack the standout episodes of earlier seasons, Season 7 manages a few achievements. For one thing, it puts a bow on one of the most beloved shows in television history with a flourish, ending the program with an ambitious, timeline-jumping two-parter that ties directly into the events of the very first episode. It also inadvertently lays the groundwork for a much more modern "Trek" show with an episode about junior officers called "Lower Decks." But most importantly, it ties into and reinforces "Deep Space Nine," most notably in the penultimate episode "Preemptive Strike," which deals with concurrent "DS9" problems like the Cardassians and the Maquis.

By the end of Season 2, "DS9" has already proven capable of standing on its own, having picked up and ran with the Maquis threads from earlier "Next Generation" episodes, returned to the Mirror Universe first introduced in the original series, and introduced the Dominion and the Jem'Hadar, who will serve as the series' primary antagonists. But the stories of Picard and company were far from over...

Generations

The four feature films built around the cast of "Next Generation" are a direct continuation of the movies that came before, not least because the first one, 1994's "Generations," serves as a bridge between "TOS" and its descendant, and between Kirk and Picard, in about the most literal way you could imagine. This movie marks the final appearance of several characters from the original show, including Kirk himself (the one played by William Shatner, at any rate) which makes it a crucial piece of the "Star Trek" timeline, as does the introduction of Data's emotion chip. Of course, some might consider the movie worth it just to see Malcolm McDowell chew the scenery like he hasn't eaten in three days, and we can't say they're wrong.

"Generations" launched Picard's crew onto the big screen almost immediately after their exit from the small one, meaning they would continue to be the face of "Star Trek" for the remainder of the decade. But back in the realm of "Trek" TV, things were only heating up, as a new series prepared to take the field and challenge "DS9" for television dominance.

Deep Space Nine (Season 3) / Voyager (Season 1)

Once again, it's time to switch between two seasons of "Star Trek," as the third season of "DS9" overlaps with the debuting "Star Trek: Voyager." The first "Trek" series to feature a woman (Kathryn Janeway) in the captain's chair, "Voyager" also had a unique and fascinating premise. Much of the "DS9" action is driven by the existence of a nearby wormhole that leads to the Gamma Quadrant, a section of space far away from the Federation's native Alpha Quadrant. This allows the titular space station and its intrepid crew to encounter any number of new and dangerous alien species. "Voyager" goes even farther, literally — a solitary ship finds itself transported to the even more distant Delta Quadrant and spends the rest of the series trying to get home.

Due to this premise, there's no reason whatsoever to jump between individual episodes of these two seasons, as the events of one show don't affect the other in any way. But jumping between shows by the season provides a fun and accurate experience of what it was like to watch the interlocking "Star Trek" programs of the 1990s.

Deep Space Nine (Season 4) / Voyager (Season 2)

Like most "Star Trek" shows, "Voyager" takes a couple of seasons to find its feet, and Season 2 in particular contains some of its most notoriously bad episodes, from the tone-deaf Native American implications of "Tattoo" to Janeway and Voyager pilot Tom Paris turning into salamanders and having salamander babies together in "Threshold" to the utter abomination that is "Tuvix." At least it has the consideration to get them all out of the way early on.

"DS9," meanwhile, was encountering its own problems in Season 4, which took a sharp turn away from the burgeoning conflict with the Dominion and instead spent most of its time dealing with the newly antagonistic Klingon Empire. Fortunately, even as the overarching plot went briefly off the rails, the writing was getting better and better, and the diversion is, if nothing else, entertaining. As a bonus, Season 4 features one of television's first lesbian kisses, and also brings in Worf, the Klingon security officer from "Next Generation" — until Picard, Michael Dorn was the only actor to star in the main casts of two different "Star Trek" shows.

First Contact

As a result of his dual roles, Worf would spend the next several years hopping back and forth between television and the movies. One reason it's important to watch Season 4 of "DS9" prior to watching "First Contact," the second film starring the "Next Generation" cast, is because in order to include Worf in the story, the latter is obligated to include a scene in which the Enterprise rescues another ship called the Defiant, introduced in "DS9" and captained by Worf himself. Future "Next Generation" movies, which decline in quality moving forward, come up with increasingly hand-wavy reasons for his presence on the Enterprise bridge.

"First Contact" itself, however, is by far the best of the "Next Generation" films and one of the best "Star Trek" films in general, as the crew travels back in time to prevent the cybernetic hive mind known as the Borg from altering history. Not only is "First Contact" a great movie (and the film directorial debut of Jonathan Frakes, who plays Commander William Riker), it also kicks off a spectacular "Star Trek" run that can stand up against any other period in franchise history.

Deep Space Nine (Season 5) / Voyager (Season 3)

With Season 5, "DS9" gets back on track after the previous outlier season, quickly focusing around a single unified threat thanks to an alliance between the show's original antagonists the Cardassians and the Dominion. The presence of the sinister Changelings adds an intrigue element to the story, as any character could potentially be a Changeling in disguise — a concept that would be used to great effect years later in the 2004 reboot of "Battlestar Galactica." The season concludes with the official start of the Dominion War, a conflict that would dominate the remainder of the show.

"Voyager," meanwhile, was also getting back on track in its third season, which generally sees an uptick in quality — particularly toward the end, with episodes like "Before and After," "Real Life," and "Worst Case Scenario." Robert Picardo, who plays Voyager's holographic doctor, also gets to make a cameo in "DS9" as the Doctor's creator, Lewis Zimmerman, in the episode "Doctor Bashir, I presume." And Season 3 ends with the first installment of "Scorpion," which catalyzed "Voyager's" official rise to greatness in part thanks to a memorable new character.

Deep Space Nine (Season 6) / Voyager (Season 4)

These two overlapping seasons, airing in late 1997 and early 1998, represent the pinnacle of "Star Trek's" '90s golden age. In "DS9," the Dominion War is in full swing, the series' much-discussed religions themes are building in prominence, the mysterious Section 31 is introduced, foreshadowing its prominent role in both "Enterprise" and "Discovery," and most memorably, the showrunners do what almost no iteration of "Star Trek" has ever dared to do: permanently kill off a member of the main cast.

Casting changes are also a major part of Season 4 of "Voyager," which jettisons the little-loved character of Kes and officially introduces Seven of Nine , a liberated Borg drone played by Jeri Ryan who quickly joins the ranks of the franchise's most widely known characters. It's an oversimplification to suggest that the overall brilliance of Season 4 is the direct result of Ryan joining the cast, but no matter how much of it you attribute to her, it's a phenomenal season of television, filled from start to finish with some of the best "Voyager" episodes (and also "Retrospect," but we don't talk about that one).

Insurrection

It's not "First Contact," but 1998's "Insurrection" is still a pretty good "Next Generation" movie, another solid offering from Jonathan Frakes. While "Insurrection" doesn't interact much with the events of "DS9" or "Voyager," watching it at this point in the "Trek" timeline provides an overall context for the state of the Federation, which has been intermittently challenged, as the movie's primary villain points out, by the Borg, the Cardassians, and the Dominion. A sense of the Federation being assailed from all sides isn't strictly necessary for the film's story of familial betrayal on a planet that confers immortality, but it does make viewing it a more interesting experience (though again, the perfunctory inclusion of Worf simply because he's expected to be in "Next Generation" movies is potentially jarring for "DS9" fans who have become invested in his character development, which "Insurrection" largely ignores).

"Insurrection" is Frakes' last "Star Trek" movie as director (though he would later direct episodes of "Discovery" and "Picard") and marks the beginning of the end of the '90s "Trek" boom. There's still plenty of great "Trek" ahead, but the curve is now pointing down.

Deep Space Nine (Season 7) / Voyager (Season 5)

The final season of "DS9" represents one of the single greatest creative accomplishments in "Star Trek" history, as no "Trek" show to date has managed to stick such an ambitious and satisfying landing. In a unique move, the last 10 episodes of the season form a single, series-ending story, and the feature-length finale, "What You Leave Behind," is considered one of the greatest "Trek" episodes of all time. "DS9" had been great for at least two seasons prior to this one, but the success of Season 7 cemented it as a foremost jewel in the crown of the "Star Trek" franchise.

"Voyager," meanwhile, continued its stellar run of episodes, capping off a three-year rehabilitation effort that saw one of the franchise's shakiest shows become one of its best. It was good timing, too, because with "DS9" wrapping up ("What You Leave Behind" aired the week after the Season 5 "Voyager" finale, "Equinox"), Captain Janeway and her crew were suddenly the only starship in the galaxy. And you, intrepid binge-watcher, can finally stop switching between two different shows.

Voyager (Seasons 6-7)

Unlike "DS9," the final seasons of "Voyager" are not its best, though admittedly, after Seasons 4 and 5, that's a high bar to clear. Season 6 comes close with a steady stream of classics, introducing both the popular Holodeck scenario Fair Haven and the "Pathfinder" storyline that sees "Next Generation" vets Reginald Barclay and Deanna Troi join up as recurring characters. By Season 7, however, the quality of "Voyager" has begun to dip noticeably — the final season contains few memorable episodes and at least one extremely ill-conceived romantic subplot. It earns some redemption, however, with the two-part series finale "Endgame," which, whether you like it or not, at least fulfills the promise of the show's premise and comes to a definitive conclusion about whether the ship and its crew are ever getting back to the Alpha Quadrant. It's a moment that would have been easy to shy away from, and "Voyager" meets it head on.

"Endgame" aired in May 2001, and in retrospect, the title didn't only apply to "Voyager." The continuous story that "Star Trek" had been telling for the past 14 years over the course of three different shows and three different movies was over. There was, however, one last (incredibly depressing) chapter to get through.

The final "Next Generation" film, released in 2002, is by far the worst of them, and the worst "Star Trek" movie in general since 1989's "The Final Frontier." It was so bad, in fact, that it notoriously killed "Star Trek" — plans for a fifth "Next Generation" movie were scrapped after "Nemesis" bombed at the box office, and creatively, it's an absolute nightmare, introducing a Romulan sister planet with the unfortunate name of Remus, blatantly attempting to restart Data's entire character arc via a literal copy with the also unfortunate name of B-4, and tying these and other unfortunate decisions together with a nonsensical plot featuring Tom Hardy as a secret clone of Picard. After "Nemesis," the scuttling of future franchise installments can honestly be seen as a mercy killing.

"Star Trek" wasn't quite dead in 2002, however. While we've now officially made it through the combined stories of "Next Generation," "DS9," and "Voyager," there's one more show, independent from the others, that now enters the viewing order. And watching it involves going back to the very beginning... and even before that.

In a chronological viewing, "Star Trek: Enterprise" would actually be the first show you watch, since it takes place a hundred years prior to "The Cage." Indirectly spinning off from the events of "First Contact," it tells the story of Earth's first warp starship, appropriately named the Enterprise and captained by Scott Bakula's Jonathan Archer, and of humanity's early relationships with alien species like the Vulcans, Klingons, Romulans, and Andorians. Despite its status as a prequel, the sheer degree to which "Enterprise" relies on its audience having knowledge of other "Star Trek" properties makes it almost impossible to recommend as an entry point. It fits much better here, as the official end of the franchise's second major era, especially given that the final episode, "These Are The Voyages...," frames itself as a holodeck simulation being watched by the Enterprise crew from "Next Generation."

"There Are The Voyages..." aired on May 13th, 2005. There wouldn't be another "Star Trek" show for more than 12 years. At this point, our watch order breaks away from order of release, but we feel strongly that it's how "Star Trek" from 1987 to 2005 should be watched.

Lower Decks

If you think 12 years is a long gap between "Star Trek" installments, that's nothing compared to the 45 years that went by between "Trek" stories told via animation. "Short Treks" was technically the first "Trek" show since "The Animated Series" to include animated episodes, and that aired in 2019, but 2020 gave us the first season of "Lower Decks," an entirely animated show about the people who don't get to hang out on the bridge.

The first franchise installment to ever concern itself primarily with characters who are not in command of a starship or space station, "Lower Decks" is the "Star Trek" equivalent of shows like HBO's "Harley Quinn" — an irreverent, adult-oriented comedy that revels in its TV-MA rating, delivering violence, sex, and swearing at warp speed frequencies. Chronologically, it's set shortly after the events of "Nemesis," but more importantly to the binge-watcher, it's the dessert following a feast — a vital dose of pure fun after absorbing almost four full decades of space drama.

The Kelvin timeline

After the box office failure of "Nemesis" brought an abrupt end to the "Next Generation" movies, there wasn't a new "Trek" film until 2009. And far from being a continuation of the existing movie franchise, this new version, simply called "Star Trek," was a reboot of "The Original Series," casting new, younger versions of Kirk, Spock, and the rest of the first Enterprise crew. Sequels to the reboot followed in 2013 and 2016.

Watching these three movies as part of a "Star Trek" binge is pretty much entirely optional, since they take place in an alternate timeline created when the USS Kelvin was destroyed in battle with time-traveling Romulan ship from the 24th century, leaving an infant James T. Kirk without a father in the process. Moreover, the trilogy is widely considered to be of uneven quality (though the third movie, "Star Trek Beyond," is considerably better than its predecessor, possibly due to the departure of director J.J. Abrams). Still, if you're going to watch them, this is the place in the viewing order to do it, as a key plot point of the first film — the Romulan sun going supernova — plays a major role in "Picard."

Short Treks

The Kelvin movies might not exert much direct influence over the larger plot of "Star Trek," but they played a major role in the future of the franchise by bringing in Alex Kurtzman. Kurtzman is the showrunner on "Discovery," and with the exception of "Lower Decks," he has been directly involved in every modern "Trek" series. In 2018, after the successful first season of "Discovery" led to a new expansion of the "Star Trek" franchise, Kurtzman and co-creator Bryan Fuller (formerly a writer on "DS9" and "Voyager") premiered "Short Treks," an anthology series of short, unrelated stories. As of this writing, there have been two seasons and 10 total episodes, some live-action, some animated.

"Short Treks" spans almost the entire "Star Trek" timeline — two episodes are set in the period of time between "Enterprise" and "The Original Series," while a third takes place in the far future. As a result, watching it requires a sense of the entire scope of the "Trek" universe. It's the penultimate entry in this watch order, however, because the Season 2 finale, "Children of Mars," leads directly into the final entry: "Picard."

"Star Trek: Picard" is the first of the modern "Trek" offerings to look forward rather than back, giving us a story set after the events of "Next Generation," "DS9," and "Voyager." Indeed, not only does the series follow up with Jean-Luc Picard 20 years after we last saw him (and 12 years after the Romulan sun went supernova) but it also brings in an older version of Seven of Nine, once again portrayed by Jeri Ryan. As mentioned, Picard also ties into the most recent installment of "Short Treks," which involves a terrorist attack by synthetic life forms that eventually leads to a ban on their creation — one of the many plot elements of "Picard" that has drawn criticism for being inconsistent with the original utopian vision of "Star Trek."

With so many new "Trek" shows on their way, this list will quickly become outdated. But all the upcoming series will reward previous "Trek" viewing, from Janeway's return on "Star Trek: Prodigy" to a show focused entirely on Section 31. So if you're going to binge all of "Star Trek," you might want to get started now!

Star Trek Order: How to Watch the Movies and Series

It’s time to boldly go where no one has gone before. This post will tell you how to watch all the Star Trek movies and shows in the best way possible. Whether you’re a hardcore Trek fan who wants to know the chronological order or someone new to this franchise, I’ve got something for you.

What’s in the Star Trek Viewing Order?

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Trek creators only consider the episodes and films to be canonical in the Star Trek universe so we display them here in chronological order according to stardate (though stardate definitions have changed over time, so we work with what we have).

This list attempts to create a viewing order for all Star Trek television and films, but does not attempt to split up any episodes to view congruently. Instead, it focuses on an easy to follow viewing list. In the event that two works cover the exact same timeframe we first list the one published first. Additionally the placement within the timeline is often based on where the work ends rather than where it begins. There may be a few exceptions which will be pointed out in individual reviews. This timeline includes:

• The Original Series (TOS)
• The Next Generation (TNG)
• Deep Space Nine (DS9)
• Voyager (VOY)
• Enterprise (ENT)
• Short Treks
• Lower Decks

So enjoy this table version of the timeline, and continue reading for a detailed breakdown of all this information.

Believe it or not, the Star Trek movies as they were released, are already in chronological order. So I don’t have to give you two orders here. Even the films in the Kelvin timeline are best watched in this order. I’ll get more into why that is, but the short answer is that for old Spock, the Kelvin timeline is still chronologically later than all of the other films.

Here is the films order:

• Star Trek I: The Motion Picture (1979)
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn (1982)
• Star Trek III: 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)
• Star Trek VII: Generations (1994)
• Star Trek VIII: First Contact (1996)
• Star Trek IX: Insurrection (1998)
• Star Trek X: Nemesis (2002)
• Star Trek (2009)
• Star Trek: Into Darkness (2013)
• Star Trek: Beyond (2016)

All of that said, the films are fun, but the heart of Star Trek is really in the television series. So that’s what were going to talk about next.

Giving the order of the TV series is a little trickier, because several of them came out at the same time, and covered the same era. So we’ll be sure to break down those individually by season.

The release order look something like this:

• The Original Series (1966-1969)
• The Animated Series (1973-1974)
• The Next Generation Seasons 1-5 (1987-1992)
• The Next Generation Season 6-7/Deep Space Nine Seasons 1-2 (1992-1994)
• Deep Space Nine Seasons 3-7/Voyager Seasons 1-5 (1994-1999)
• Voyager Seasons 6-7 (1999-2001)
• Enterprise (2001-2005)
• Discovery (2017-)
• Picard (2020-)
• Lower Decks (2020-)
• Prodigy (2021-)
• Strange New Worlds (2022-)

And if you want to watch all of them chronologically, this is what that would look like:

• Discovery Seasons 1-2
• Strange New Worlds
• The Original Series
• The Animated Series
• The Next Generation Seasons 1-5
• The Next Generation Season 6-7/Deep Space Nine Seasons 1-2
• Deep Space Nine Seasons 3-7/Voyager Seasons 1-5
• Voyager Seasons 6-7
• Discovery Season 3 and onward

Before we move on, let’s get into some of the details about how I place the new Star Trek movies in order.

First, let’s get one thing clear, the Kelvin universe is an alternate timeline from everything else, including Star Trek Discovery, and all of the new Star Trek TV shows.

However, there is one character from the main universe that shows up in the Kelvin universe, and that is old Spock. It’s his traveling back in time that creates this new universe.

So while this time period technically takes place before the events of the original series, I actually think a better place to watch them is where they take place chronologically, which would be after all of the main films, and after all of the series except for Picard in the later seasons of Discovery.

As of right now there are only three movies in the Kelvin timeline, and they are:

There is some debate on whether these are “good” Star Trek movies, as some say they are more like Star Wars , leaning heavily on the action. But whatever your opinion, it’s fair to say that these films are responsible for bringing in a whole new generation of Star Trek fans.

While the chronological order can be fun to do, especially for diehard Trek fans, I actually recommend going by release order if you want to watch everything.

Obviously, there is a lot to get through, so you might not want to watch everything, or if you do, you’ll want to pace yourself.

I would start with some of the films, and make your way through some of the most important episodes of The Original Series, as well as all of the shows that aired in the late 80s and 90s. That will get you caught up enough to be well-versed in Star Trek for the new shows that are coming out these days.

And I would definitely watch all of the films, because some of the most important events in Star Trek’s timeline take place in those films.

The best way to watch all of the Star Trek series and order is on Paramount+ which has pretty much everything.

However, if you don’t have Paramount+ and still want to get your Star Trek fix, there are a few other streaming services that have some of the older shows such as Star Trek: The Next Generation, though some of those streaming services are losing those shows as Paramount+ consolidates all of their Star Trek shows onto their own platform.

The other viable option is to buy them all for yourself, and there are links to do just that in the table above. This is particularly important if you want 4K versions of the films, you’re only interested in one specific type of show, or if you just don’t want to stream your Star Trek.

Personally, I would just go with Paramount+.

All right, now that we’ve outlined the release and chronological orders for Star Trek, let’s get into the full breakdown of everything together.

Enterprise (Year 2151-2161)

First, at least chronologically, we have Enterprise. This was a prequel to the original series, set at a time when humans were first sending out their warp five starships, i.e. the first starships that were able to go into deep space.

It is set during a time of uneasy alliances and contention between humans and other races, including even the Vulcans.

It also lays the groundwork for a number of key events, including the first contact with the Klingons, Romulans, Andorians, and many others.

It was canceled after four seasons, which at the time was the shortest run since the original series. It also marked the end of episodic Star Trek television for 12 years, until Star Trek Discovery appeared in 2017.

While definitely not the strongest of Star Trek shows, it still follows the basic formula, so if you like that, you will likely enjoy Star Trek Enterprise as well.

The Cage (Year 2254)

The Cage was a pilot episode to the original series that technically takes place before Star Trek Discovery. It actually takes place a number of years before the rest of the Original Series, and doesn’t even feature Capt. James T. Kirk as a character.

While some elements will be familiar to later trek fans, such as the USS Enterprise itself and Mr. Spock (played by Leonard Nimoy), this really was a test ground for the series.

Although much of the original pilot would be scrapped in favor of a different Capt., several other different characters, and the shifting premise, overall The Cage would remain an important part of Star Trek canon, with a legacy that has built to the modern day with the introduction of Strange New Worlds, which features the same characters.

Discovery, Seasons 1-2 (Year 2255)

One of the newer entries of the franchise, Star Trek Discovery starts out in the years just before the time of The Original Series.

It focuses on a starship with a unique purpose, to discover the secrets of instant travel.

But doing so has consequences, and not to get too spoilery here, but let’s just say that, starting with season 3, the rest of this show takes place in a completely different time period.

The Original Series (Year 2265-2269)

The Original Series is what started it all when it aired in 1967, right at the height of the space race. It features Captain Kirk and a host of memorable cast as they elect to boldly go where no man has gone before.

It has since become iconic, spawning several films and multiple sequels until Star Trek became the media juggernaut that it is today.

Though a bit low on budget, and a little over the top in places, The Original Series still holds up remarkably well, and is a testament to how innovative and ahead of its time it truly was.

The Animated Series (Year 2269-2270)

Many people do not know that there was actually an animated series that followed the original series by a few years. I like to think of this series as the remaining two years in the supposed five year mission, following the original series cancellation after three years.

The animation looks a lot like the Hanna-Barbera cartoons of the time, including the Flintstones and Scooby Doo, but the quality is not the best that Star Trek has seen overall, and this is definitely one that can be skipped unless you are a completionist.

The Original Series Films (Year 2273-2293)

In 1979, the first of the Star Trek films was released. It would be the first in a long line of Star Trek film and TV shows. There would be six films specifically focusing on the original Enterprise crew. Chronologically, these all take place after the original series but before The Next Generation.

The Next Generation, Seasons 1-5 (Year 2364-2469)

Next comes five full seasons of Star Trek: The next generation, which is one of the more uninterrupted periods of the chronological timeline.

This series deals with Captain Jean-Luc Picard (played by Patrick Stewart) and his crew, as they continue the ongoing mission of the Star Trek Enterprise. It includes memorable characters such as Commander data, Commander Riker, Lieutenant Worf (the first Klingon with the Federation), and Chief Engineer Jordi Laforge.

The Next Generation, Season 6-7/Deep Space Nine, Seasons 1-2 (Year 2469-2471)

Following the first five seasons of The Next Generation, we get the final two seasons plus the first two seasons of Deep Space Nine.

The seasons overlap with each other, interweaving their narratives. If you want to know the exact episode order, I recommend referencing the table above.

The Deep Space Nine is a favorite Star Trek show for a lot of people. It involved some of the most memorable characters, including Captain Benjamin Sisko, who for many people, is the best captain. During the show they encounter a series of threats, including the Cardassian Union.

Star Trek: Generations (Year 2371)

I’m one of those few people who actually really love Star Trek Generations, the film that took place just after Star Trek The Next Generation, and involves the same cast. It also marks the final film appearance of William Shatner as Captain Kirk.

While many criticize it as being just an extended episode of Star Trek The Next Generation, I find this to be one of the films that is most true to its Star Trek roots, and feels the most like Star Trek.

Deep Space Nine Seasons 3-4/Voyager Seasons 1-2 (Year 2371-2372)

We get a few seasons of Deep Space Nine and the start of Star Trek Voyager following the events of Star Trek Generations.

Voyager is another Star Trek show that would run for seven seasons, and features a crew led by Captain Janeway as they tried to navigate an unknown region of space so they can return home.

Star Trek: First Contact (Year 2373)

Interrupting the ongoing shows is Star Trek First Contact, the Next Generation film that many people consider to be one of the Star Trek films of all time. It includes a definitive confrontation with the Borg, and some time travel shenanigans that lead to the witness of first contact with Earth.

It’s definitely one of the best films of Star Trek in general, largely due to Patrick Stewart’s brilliant performance, and an emphasis on character development for him in particular.

Deep Space Nine Seasons 5-7/Voyager Seasons 3-5 (Year 2373-2375)

As with many of these films, you will find several seasons of Deep SpaceNine and Star Trek Voyager in between. In this case you get the final two seasons of deep space nine, as well as two more seasons of Voyager.

Star Trek: Insurrection (Year 2375)

Next we get Star Trek Insurrection, which was not as well received as Star Trek First Contact. It’s plot was more mellow, trying to do too much, inject too much humor, and is overall a rather dull film. Nevertheless this film takes place right as Deep Space Nine ends, and should be watched at this point.

Voyager Seasons 6-7 (Year 2376-2378)

Here we finish off the last of the 90s era television shows. Star Trek Voyager ended with a bang, and although Star Trek Enterprise did come to take its place in 2001, by this time the golden age of Star Trek had kind of fizzled out.

In addition to Enterprise being canceled after four seasons, we will see with our next installment that people had rather grown tired of Star Trek.

Star Trek: Nemesis (Year 2379)

According to release date, Star Trek Enterprise would’ve been the next installment after Voyager, but chronologically our next step is Star Trek Nemesis. This Star Trek movie came out in 2002, to a weak box office return and lukewarm critical reception.

Personally, I am not a huge fan of this film, though it did lay the groundwork for a sort of Search for Data type of story, which I was very excited about at the time. And it does introduce us to Tom Hardy as the lead villain Shinzon.

Unfortunately this was the last we saw Star Trek for many years, and certainly the last of the Next Generation crew that we saw until just recently.

Lower Decks (Year 2380-2381)

With a revived interest in Star Trek television came an animated series called Lower Decks, which was a series geared for fans of adult animated series like Rick and Morty.

Though not quite is “adult” as Rick and Morty or similar television shows, it’s definitely not meant for kids. Chronologically, it takes place one year after Star Trek Nemesis, and spends a lot of time throwing Easter eggs and fun bits of Star Trek lore at us.

Overall, it’s a good time.

Prodigy (Year 2383)

Prodigy is another animated series, this time intended for children. It takes place just a few years after Lower Decks, and involves a group of young aliens coming across the USS Voyager.

It features the returning voice of Kate Mulgrew as Captain Janeway, and is a great entry point for younger fans of the Star Trek franchise.

Picard (Year 2399)

Picard is one of the flagship series in modern-day Star Trek. It shows the fallout of several key events, including the Romulan tragedy that resulted in Spock going back in time to inadvertantly start the Kelvin universe.

It takes place over a decade after the events of Star Trek Nemesis, and a lot has happened at that time. Of note is the fact that the former Captain Picard is no longer satisfied with the way Starfleet works, and he has to take some matters into his own hands.

Chronologically, this takes place several years after the last appearance of the Next Generation crew, but is technically not the end of the Star Trek timeline…

Discovery Season 3 and onward (Year 3188-89)

Finally we get back to Star Trek Discovery. Starting in season three, this show takes place nearly a thousand years after the main part of the timeline, and shows a very different universe than what we would expect.

To say more would be to spoil the show, so I won’t do that, but Star Trek Discovery is one of those shows that started off a little shaky, but has ended up being extremely good. I highly recommend it.

I’ve got a few extra questions that I get asked a lot related to this watch order, so I thought I’d include them in a short list here at the end.

Where does Star Trek Discovery Fit in the Timeline?

The first two seasons of Star Trek Discovery take place in 2255, just 10 years before the events of the original series. Beginning with the third season, Discovery takes place nearly a thousand years further in the future.

What is the Kelvin Timeline in Star Trek?

The Kelvin timeline is an alternate reality in Star Trek, one where Kirk’s parents died, Vulcan is destroyed, and a lot is different in general. It does not have any direct effect on the main timeline for Star Trek’s other shows. Right now it only consists of three films, the first two directed by JJ Abrams, and starring Chris Pine, along with a lot of other amazing actors.

When is the Picard Series in the Star Trek Timeline?

The Star Trek Picard series takes place in the year 2399, 20 years after the events of Star Trek Nemesis.

Where does Lower Deck Take Place in the Timeline?

Star Trek Lower Decks takes place in the year 2380, one year after the events of Star Trek Nemesis.

Where does Star Trek Prodigy Take Place in the Timeline?

Star Trek Prodigy takes place in the year 2383, four years after the events of Star Trek Nemesis, and three years after the events of Lower Decks.

Where Does Strange New Worlds Take Place in the Star Trek Timeline?

Strange New Worlds takes place in the year 2255, beginning immediately following the events of season two of Star Trek Discovery.

Do You Need to Watch Star Trek in Order?

No, you do not need to watch Star Trek in order. If you are a completionist, and want to watch everything in order, I recommend release order over chronological order. But most of the shows are designed to stand on their own, and can be watched without prior knowledge of the franchise.

Where is the Best Place to Start Watching Star Trek?

Star Trek began with the Original Series, but that show is hard for some to get through since we’re used to much higher modern standards. Generally, I encourage people to start with the first films (starting with Star Trek: The Motion Picture). The new Kelvin timeline can also be a good place to start, but be aware that those films are much different than most of the Star Trek media. As always, if you have questions or comments about this timeline, we recommend you visit our  contact page .

22 thoughts on “Star Trek Order: How to Watch the Movies and Series”

Got a guy working on it.

Great, thx for the quick fix. I really appreciate the work you guys do. This site is a fennimonial tool.

Will this be updated when Discovery S03, Picard and Lower Decks come around?

Yep, it will be updated by the end of the year, then probably monthly or every other month after that.

I believe “The Cage” With Captain Pike happened before Star Trek Discovery season 1.

Are you sure First Contact takes place after In Purgatory’s Shadow? Because I am watching that episode right and Sisko mentioned the “recent Borg attack”

Right after season 1, though season 3 will be different.

Thomas Bates, on the Star Trek Fandom website it says, “ This episode mentions a Borg attack. This was intended to refer to the Battle of Sector 001 seen in Star Trek: First Contact. (AOL chat, 1997) However the stardate given in the film (50893.5) is later than the stardate given in this two-parter (50564.2; seen in the next episode, “By Inferno’s Light”). When asked about the inconsistency, Ronald D. Moore commented, tongue-in-cheek, “I am not at liberty to reveal the secret messages contained within the seeming “mistaken” stardates, but rest assured that it is another brilliantly conceived and skilfully executed Star Trek moment brought to you by the people who wrote “Meridian”.” (AOL chat, 1997).” So it was supposed to be about First Contact but in a way it is not.

You are aware that the Animated Series is not considered Canon by THe franchise owners.

Great site. But there seems to be an error in the release order when sorting Star Trek episodes by release dates

Technical problem. We’re working on it.

What happened to DS9 season 1 episode 8? It is missing from you list. Also when filtering out viewed episodes and movies in you r app it switches from Star Trek to Shakespeares… I enjoy Shakespeare and did Captain Jean-Luc Picard. However, I do not think he would appreciate the Enterprise’s computer doing something similar.

Yeah the app is experiencing some technical difficulties, but we’re working on it.

The cage is set between Enterprise and Discovery, not after Discovery. The events of Discovery Season 2 show that the events of the Cage have already occurred.

I think it is stupid to watch this series in any other order than the order of release. Thx for the list.

Star Trek Voyager season 4 episode 23 Living Witness takes place hundreds of years after the rest of the series

It’s the end of 2020 and Discovery S03 and Lower Decks aren’t on the list. When will the site be updated?

I guess you’ll be adding season 3 of Discovery AFTER Picard, but before Calypso. At least that’s where it would make sense.

Thank you for compiling this list! I’ve been watching Deep Space Nine and Voyager for this first time and simultaneously thanks to this timeline. Thank you, too, for including The Animated Series which has been repeatedly reinforced by CBS as canonical.

This is a good list. But you might want to make a small correction. Most of the time it makes sense to watch shows in the order in which they aired. But on rare occasions the show was originally aired out of order. In those cases, it makes more sense to watch them in the order in which they were MADE rather then the order in which they were AIRED. Such was the case with Star Trek TOS. Here is link to an alpha site that shows the list in the order they should be. [[https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series]]

One more thing about that list. Discover and Strange New Worlds take place after “The Cage” but Before everything else.

Also for some of you with the TNG movies. What I originally did when I was watching the show on dvd, was I looked at the date that they were released in Theaters and then looked at the airdates of the corresponding seasons of the shows airing at the time. I noticed that around that time, there was a gap in the airdates where the shows went on Hiatus for the holidays. That is where I placed the movies.

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The brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful Romulan from the future creates black holes to destroy the Federation one pl... Read all The brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful Romulan from the future creates black holes to destroy the Federation one planet at a time. The brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful Romulan from the future creates black holes to destroy the Federation one planet at a time.

• J.J. Abrams
• Roberto Orci
• Alex Kurtzman
• Gene Roddenberry
• Zachary Quinto
• 1.6K User reviews
• 534 Critic reviews
• 82 Metascore
• 27 wins & 95 nominations total

Top cast 99+

• Spock Prime

• (as Zoë Saldana)

• Amanda Grayson

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• (as Antonio Elias)
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• Trivia In the scene where Kirk is taking the Kobayashi Maru test, he is eating an apple, which is also what he is eating while recounting his tale of taking the Kobayashi Maru test in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) . (According to director J.J. Abrams in the Blu-ray audio commentary, this was not intended to be a reference to The Wrath of Khan. At one point, he was simply told that lead actors seem cocky eating apples.)
• Goofs After Spock boards the Vulcan ship on board the mining vessel, Kirk is seen walking through some pipes. His Starfleet phaser has switched to a Romulan gun (longer barrel and no lights), before switching back to the Starfleet one again in the next scene. He actually acquires the Romulan gun a few scenes later.

Spock Prime : James T. Kirk!

James T. Kirk : Excuse me?

Spock Prime : How did you find me?

James T. Kirk : Whoa... how do you know my name?

Spock Prime : I have been and always shall be your friend.

James T. Kirk : Wha...

[shakes head]

James T. Kirk : Uh... look... I-I don't know you.

Spock Prime : I am Spock.

James T. Kirk : Bullshit.

• Crazy credits The first part of the closing credits is styled after the opening credits of Star Trek (1966) , where the starship Enterprise blasts off into space as a monologue describes its mission, and then the cast names appear as the famous "Star Trek" theme music plays.
• Connections Edited into De wereld draait door: Episode #4.157 (2009)
• Soundtracks Theme from 'Star Trek' TV Series Written by Alexander Courage & Gene Roddenberry

User reviews 1.6K

• Mar 21, 2015
• If this premise is that an alternate timeline created when Nero traveled back in time, then what happened to James Kirk's older brother, Sam, aka George Samuel Kirk Jr.?
• How can Spock's mother still be alive years later (original series) when she dies earlier on in this movie ?
• What is Star Trek about?
• May 8, 2009 (United States)
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• May 10, 2009
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• 2.39 : 1 (original ratio)

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Chris Pine Wonders How ‘Star Trek 4’ Will Deal With Kirk Now That He Is “A Lot Older”

| July 3, 2024 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 66 comments so far

We are just a few weeks away from the 8th anniversary of the release of Star Trek Beyond , the third entry in the Kelvin timeline Star Trek movies staring Chris Pine as James T. Kirk. Paramount continues to say they are committed to a follow up movie, and now the star is starting to wonder how it will deal with how he isn’t getting any younger.

Pine curious about Star Trek 4

For the last couple of years, since he has recommitted to return as James T. Kirk for a fourth Star Trek movie, actor Chris Pine has often expressed his enthusiasm for the return, but also some frustrations. His latest comments from from a recent appearance at ACE Superhero Comic in San Antonio, TX. Pine acknowledged the well-reported ups and downs the Beyond sequel has gone through over the past decade (via PopVerse ), saying “In terms of the next phase of [Star Trek], obviously you’re all fans, so I’m sure you’ve read it.”

Chris Pine as Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek Beyond

The actor then talked about how he and his fellow cast are ready to get back to the Enterprise, but he wonders how the movie will deal with how he is getting older, saying:

“We all like one another a lot. I’m good friends with everybody I’ve worked with. We have a great time doing it. I’m a lot older now, so I would be curious where that next story lands us in terms of what it would be and what we’ve said in the press.”

Pine, now 43, was 29 when he first appeared as James T. Kirk in the 2009 Star Trek movie. Last year the actor talked about how he was hoping to do “many more” movies as Kirk, saying it would be “super cool” to play the same character through the course of his career. Original Kirk actor William Shatner was 35 when the Star Trek television show premiered and 63 when he last appeared as the character in the 1994 film Star Trek: Generations . Pine is still younger than Shatner when he played Admiral Kirk in Star Trek: The Motion Picture  in 1979. In Star Trek Beyond , Kirk turned down a promotion to admiral and was set to head out on a new USS Enterprise (NCC 1701-A). If the next movie were set a decade later, Kirk and his crew could have already completed two 5-year missions.

Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) looking up at new Enterprise in Star Trek Beyond

Various follow-ups to Beyond have been in the works over the last 8 years. In March of this year, it was reported that Paramount and producer J.J. Abrams had brought on yet another screenwriter to take a crack at what the studio is now calling the final movie for the Kelvin crew. Pine later expressed some frustration with this move, telling Business Insider “I thought there was already a script, but I guess I was wrong, or they decided to pivot. As it’s always been with ‘Trek,’ I just wait and see.”

Even now entering middle age, Pine is still keeping it sharp. He recently shaved off his beard (but kept the ‘stache) as can be seen from an appearance at a fashion event in Milan in mid-June…

Chris Pine turned Father’s Day into a weeklong holiday by repeatedly serving Daddy in Milan during Men’s fashion week (click for more): https://t.co/d4559OI35P — Tom and Lorenzo (@tomandlorenzo) June 19, 2024

The next Star Trek feature film expected to come out of Paramount is the “ Untitled Star Trek Origin Story ” which Paramount recently confirmed as part of its 2025/2026 slate. This movie would have a new cast. Earlier this year, Paramount and producer J.J. Abrams had tapped Andor ‘s Toby Haynes to direct, based on a script from Seth Grahame-Smith ( The Lego Batman Movie ). Paramount is also reportedly talking to producer Simon Kinberg about shepherding the film franchise , starting with that origin movie. This next Star Trek movie was mentioned during the Paramount Global shareholder meeting in June with co-CEO Brian Robbins saying it is “coming soon,” and touting Trek as one of the company’s “billion dollar brands.”

Find more news and analysis on  upcoming Star Trek feature films .

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This is the longest five-year mission in history…

Just because the TOS timeline had 5-yr.missions, there is no reason the Kelvin timeline would.

They mention it’s a five year mission in one of the movies.

But Into Darkness established that they did, and Beyond confirmed that they were halfway through one.

It certainly is. Eight years since Beyond, wow.

It’s been so long since the last Star Trek movie set in the Kelvin timeline, that by the time they finally make another one none of the crew of the Enterprise will still serve on that ship.

They’ll all have moved on to other assignments, pretty much like the original cast did in The Motion Picture.

I mean I don’t think they can just pick up where they left off in Beyond , so yeah the next one (if it happens) will hopefully skip ahead a decade or so.

At this point, what was it all for? The Kelvin movies did nothing for Star Trek. It was Discovery, Picard, Lower Decks, SNW, etc that saved it. The Kelvin movies contributed nothing.

While certainly not my favorite Trek, I would like to see it get a final outing. Of course, as long as that final outing doesn’t come at the expense of other Trek.

Star Trek did not need saving and Discovery has done the franchise no favours.

‘Beyond’ flopped and stalled the movie series. Disc at least has led to multi spin off shows and ST first TVM.

During the moments that worked (not saying there were a ton of them), BEYOND felt a lot more like STAR TREK than anything else I’ve seen this whole century.

didn’t help the film series though.

That seemed to a big reason the movie underperformed!, JJs films seemed to hit that sweet spot of appealing to moviegoers who wouldn’t been seen dead watching ST and the hardcore trekkies (ok maybe not ID for some fans lol), but Beyond missed the target .. Ironically Orci’s ST3 was apparently canned for being ‘too star trek’ yet sounded much more appealing for movie audiences (dealing with time travel/timelines and Shatner) whereas what they eventually did in Beyond sounded/looked so ‘star trek’ it turned off the average Joe moviegoers! plus there was that Fast and Furious action teaser trailer turning off the fans, a double whammy!

That is a flaming photon torpedo of truth. Beyond is generally well liked and appreciated by Trek fans, but I was surprised to find most non-fans I’ve heard from found it, quote, “boring and dull”. I could quite believe that take, but it’s definitely better received by fans than the public. Into Darkness was the reverse.

The biggest mistake was the handling of the villain, hiding Mr Elba under make up but also another of J J style ‘mystery box’ about his identity and motive.

Yup, exactly. Totally agree. What a waste of Mr. Elba’s talent, imo.

Discovery also divided the fan base, destroyed cannon, has the lowest episode scores of any Trek show, and was Cancelled!

Not the same, Disc came to a natural end but didn’t inhibit more ST TV from being made.

I think it’s probably too late to make this movie starting where they left off on the Enterprise. They really would need to write a story where they have to reconnect for one final mission, which might be worth doing. That being said, an aging crew is nothing new for Star Trek.

Bust him back to cadet.

Hey MIchael, I was just googling “Harlan Ellison Nicholas Meyer” and it actually took me to a trekmovie thread from 2017 which we participated in. You mention that you are going to have to buy RETURN TO TOMORROW book at some point. Did you?

I bought the digital edition. Roddenberry says in it that TMP cost 45 million due to them adding on all the costs of the previous scripts, sets etc. For 1979 that was super expensive.

Dee Kelley’s poem was interesting I never knew he was a writer. Also interesting was hearing from George Takei about the making of the movie. Some stuff I already knew like the studio not wanting Shatner back if it was going to be a series, and the difficulty in getting Leonard to sign on when it became a movie.

The stuff about who got to be credited in the movie I never once heard about the disputes with the effects people. A lot of the guy who wrote it hating the movie and being negative Harold I think. You could tell he thought it was a turkey. Also, the director had such a bad experience, and the movie was rushed I never knew that.

Or was it Jon Povill my memory these days is crap. I know whoever the person was hated the finished movie.

i imagine the writers/abrams etc are trying to figure out to do a standalone thing with the cast like Beyond (i.e. their TMP and TUC in one movie) or buy into the multiverse stuff going around and have them interact with their primeverse counterparts (via CG/AI ) or the TNG cast etc for a big anniversary movie ..

maybe they’ll go with the 1st option (Kelvin standalone/finale) and do a primeverse only ST Legacy movie for Paramount+ (various actors from TNG/DS9/VOY maybe ENT and SNW) – both aimimg for 2026

I mean you have a 40 something year old playing a 25 year old Kirk on Strange New Worlds and he looks older than Pine!

The casting decision there continues to baffle me. And yeah I agree, Pine does look younger than Wesley.

Now, Wesley has grown on me a bit, but it does still baffle me as well. He reminds me more of Crawley’s Kirk (fan film) than Shatner’s Kirk, and that’s not a good thing.

Yikes, you just hit the nail on the head there.

Ummm…..

Admiral deciding he’s sick of being in a desk job…kinda like last time?

In ’09, the snark was to call this Trek/Muppet Babies in Space. The then producers wanted a cast that could last for several movies without getting too old. AND… that might have worked if the studio(S!) hadn’t delayed so many of these films. Frankly, we should have five or six, not three. Thank god, the suits all got their bonuses and golden parachutes (several deployed btw) and important stuff like that.

We’ve seen how the Prime Kirk ages from young captain to admiral to old captain. It would be interesting to see Kelvin Kirk take a different pathway. Maybe he has a family. Maybe he is stuck in a Klingon prison. Maybe he is riding through the desert with a picnic lunch.

If JJ was available and Skydance ends up buying Paramount, they should get him to direct part 4. Make it an event movie, no more nonsense about spinoffs or low budget this or that. Disney Star Wars is dead. Capitalize on that.

Should have gone all in after Into Darkness, instead they played it safe with Beyond a tired old formula. Should have been new worlds, new twists if we had to have characters from Prime, do something different with them in Kelvin now that they were done with Khan, but no they had to make insipid Beyond. Guardians of the Furious.

I think you’re right. Go all out and make a final, great film for the Kelvinverse characters.

As to where they go with it, I don’t know. The simplest thing is to just have them on the ship, maybe coming home from their mission and then they get a call about an emergency. One last adventure. Maybe someone has to die, for drama. Maybe somehow, someway, via the Nexus or Q or the Guardian of Forever, Pine meets Shatner’s Kirk. Yeah, that probably will not happen but that would certainly help the film if they could find some way to make it an important part of the film.

Anyway, I’m all in for another Kelvin film. I loved all three of them, even though I had quibbles with some of JJ’s choices in Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness and thought making Sulu gay in Beyond was a complete and embarrassing fail.

Sulu being gay in ‘beyond’ a minor issue compared to the film’s real faults

Good point about SW its cooked atm, no movies being made anytime soon , that Rey movie not even the hard core wants and the Dawn of the Force movie from Mangold (whose Indiana Jones movie tanked to tune of a 100m loss), and the other film based on the Zahn novels like an Episode 6.5 (probably with not quite there CGI deaged Han Luke Leia) , any of those probably as likely to happen anytime soon as the Beyond sequel after 2016, (a loong wait with lots of faux announcements). so really you got similar scenario as that late 00s/early 10s era with ST09/ID filling in for SW for space action.

And yeah they messed up on Beyond , letting Orci go when he had the obvious way to go for the 3rd film/anniversary – Shatner returning, battle for the timelines stuff.

The last SW film to feature rey made a billion so there is still an audience waiting for a new one. But I bet rey will not be the central character this time.

Reading between the lines here……”a lot older” suggests he knows another movie is still years, maybe even decades away.

I think Pine’s just resigned to whatever happens will happen. He’s not getting his hopes up.

I think the 4th film should be titled, Star Trek: Kirk.

I wish they can adapt William Shatner’s first Star Trek story, Ashes of Eden.

Kelvin cast sequel is the ONLY viable movie worth making at this stage. Anything else will bomb hard.

I remember watching “Beyond” in the theater. No way that was 8 years ago already… wow.

Time flies. I also watched Beyond in the theater, and out of the three Kelvin-verse films it felt the most Trekkian to me. I can remember the smell of the popcorn and the twizzlers from that day.

The age of the crew or the actors is not the biggest problem with previous or upcoming films.

If it another ‘mad man with a grudge and a galactic WMD….’

If it is that, then I’m out. I blame TNG movies for first getting stuck on that, but it seems to be the only thing Hollywood screenwriters think a Star Trek film could ever possibly be about.

We need another ‘voyage home’, classic ST problem solving and not ‘pew pew boom’ again

They should adapt the Prime Directive novel for the next film. I would go see it. I doubt any of these writers know the book exists.

Would be wasted on the Kelvin cast. Great book, but it’s absolutely Shatner’s Kirk here, not anybody else’s. A book that makes so much out of ‘let me help’ doesn’t have the right callback, since Pine doesn’t have an Edith Keeler … it would be like the bizarre consideration Eon had for LIVE & LET DIE, when they considered bringing Ursula Andress back, even though it was featuring a new (utterly lame) guy playing Bond, so, you know, the face is not familiar.

Thats the first I’ve heard of bringing back Ursula Andress for LALD,(not impossible as the son of Quarrel from Dr No was in it) i had heard that producers wanted Barbara Bach to come back for A View to A Kill in a cameo as the Russian agent but obviously didn’t happen

And Roger Moore was the best Bond btw (imo :)

Meh. Some of the original cast members of Star Trek found about a hundred ways to keep on showing up despite being decades older. It’s sci-fi! All ya gotta do to explain stuff away is wave your hands around in the air and say stuff like, “quantum singularity!” or “it’s The Borg! The Borg did a thing!”. Inexplicable aging and time-space continuum inconsistancies are basically all one 8-second mumbo-jumbo explanation away with that franchise. It’ah be fiiiiiiine. lol

In general, I prefer a story with more “seasoned” characters, so it’s not a bad place to pick up for me. Showing the characters more matured is one of the major draws of a sequel.

It’s simple Chris – it’s time to put on the Monster Maroons! He’ll look as old as Shat from TWOK, TSFS, TVH

Also dark rinse with perm

Star trek 4 need a title like New horizon coming summer 2026 and the New starship enterprise a on a mission to explore strange New worlds and New villian of This epic final chapter of the kelvin timeline im a Star trek fan long live trekkies live long and prosper

Star Trek Wayyyy Beyond

Pull the plug on the Kelvin timeline and crew.

At some point Vger should be showing up to destroy Earth in the alternate universe that diverged with the Kelvin incident. I don’t want to see The Motion Picture remade but there might be a story there to tell somewhere …..

Use elements from Ellison’s intro to his movie pitch (which also had a huge threat to earth, but from time travelling lizards), with a cloaked figure going round kidnapping members of the old crew from wherever they are now and you finally realize it is Kirk who is doing it. Then do a variation on TMP, maybe with less of a police-procedural feel, one where we get to see how tough it is to match speeds and fly alongside something at warp 7+ from 1500 away .

Willl never happen

Whatever the next movie is, Giacchino’s going to have to write a new score, this time called “Enterprising Old Men “.

It will be a hit, and there will be a sequel.

It worked in Star Trek II…

I’d like to see throwback to Star Trek IV, where the Kelvin crew visit the world(s) that sent the alien probe to locate humpback whales.

They can maybe use stock footage from Lynch’s DUNE, since, like TVH, it also featured giant Tootsie-roll lookin’ space vessels.

A while ago I posted the idea of ST4 having the whale probe attacking kelvin earth a’la TVH and the JJ crew go back to San Fran 1986 for some whales but have to avoid running into their primeverse counterparts (TOS cast via cgi deaging and footage from TVH like Trials&Tribulations, BTTF2, Avengers Endgame etc), along the way they encounter/team up with Eddie Murphy’s UFO believing college professor called ‘Gene’ and kirk meets/romances an 80s aerobics instructor (Gal Gadot , but now maybe Dua Lipa whod also do the 80s inspired official song a’la Rhianna/Beyond ) who helps them out, plus thered be Lt Saavik (some new hot young actress) along for the ride replacing Chekov

I just get the feeling something fun and trippy and nostalgic like that would probably hit big at the box office (and avoid the usual super angry madman villain with space WMD who wants revenge on the Federation trope thats been done for the past 5? movies)

Set Phasers to Stream: Here’s Every ‘Star Trek’ Show and Movie You Can Watch on Paramount+

• By Sage Anderson

Sage Anderson

If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Rolling Stone may receive an affiliate commission.

From low-budget romps to high-energy blockbuster films,  Star Trek  has become one of the most influential sci-fi franchises of all time. While  Trek  has decades worth of TV, film, and animated iterations that might rival  Star Wars , it also has its own unique legacy and long-time, passionate cult following (and merch ).

In the past few years, the Trek television universe has become one of the highlights of original programming on Paramount+ . Helmed by Alex Kurtzman, series like  Star Trek : Lower Decks  and  Picard  have pushed the boundaries of what can be done with the universe’s canon in their first seasons so far.

This year for Star Trek Day, with the premiere episodes of several Trek series and “Short Treks” will be available to view for free from Sept. 7-13. The episodes can be watched from Paramount+’s partner platforms Amazon, Apple and Roku, their official YouTube page, Pluto TV and the Paramount+ free content hub (U.S. only).

From the new releases like the second season of Strange New Worlds , to the old adventures of the Enterprise ,  Deep Space 9 ,  Voyager , and more, here’s how to watch Star Trek in order online.

How Can I Watch Paramount+ Free Online?

When you sign up for a Paramount+ subscription , you can actually choose between two plans to watch Paramount+ online. Pricing for Paramount+ plans include Essential (with limited commercials) for $7.99/month, or ad-free with Showtime for $12.99/month. But if you’re still not sure about committing to a full subscription, you can always stream Paramount+ for free with a 7-day free trial .

For a limited time, the streamer is also slashing the price on its annual plan by 50%, bringing the cost down to just $29.99 a year . Normally $59.99, the new Paramount+ deal gets you access to its full library of content  for just $2.50 a month . Check out the latest Paramount+ deals here .

Buy Paramount+ Free Trial

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What  Star Trek TV Shows Are Available on Paramount+?

Premiering on September 8, 1966 on NBC-TV,  Star Trek  brought in a new era of programming for the science fiction genre. Though it wasn’t a critical success at the time it aired, with all 79 episodes of the original series running in syndication, a devoted fan base grew. Decades later, there are eight TV series with hundreds of episodes, all currently streaming now on Paramount+ .

Here’s an updated list of all the  Star Trek shows on Paramount+. Note that this isn’t the official timeline for when these shows take place in canon — Enterprise  is actually the “earliest” Trek series—but we’ll cover that below.

• Star Trek: The Original Series  (1966-1969)
• Star Trek: The Animated Series  (1973-1974)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation  (1987-1994)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine  (1993-1999)
• Star Trek: Voyager  (1995-2001)
• Star Trek: Enterprise  (2001-2005)
• Star Trek: Discovery  (2017-Present)
• Star Trek:  Short Treks  (2018-Present)
• Star Trek: Picard  (2020-Present)
• Star Trek: Lower Decks  (2020-Present)
• Star Trek: Prodigy  (2021-Present)
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022-Present)
• Star Trek: Section 31  (TBA)
• Star Trek: Starfleet Academy  (TBA) 

What  Star Trek Movies Are Streaming on Paramount+?

Paramount+ is the home to all the films featuring the cast of the Original Series, while many other Trek films are also hosted on other streaming services. Here are the  Star Trek movies streaming on Paramount+ right now. 

• 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)
• Star Trek: Generations (1994)
• Star Trek: First Contact  (1996)
•   Star Trek: Insurrection  (1998)
• Star Trek: Nemesis  (2002)
• Star Trek  (2009)
• Star Trek Into Darkness  (2013)
• Star Trek Beyond (2016)
• Building Star Trek  (2016)  —  Documentary
• Woman In Motion  (2021) — Documentary 
• Trekkies 2  (2004) — Documentary 

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• Star Trek: The Original Series: “The Cage”
• Star Trek: The Next Generation: “Encounter at Farpoint, Part I & II”
• Star Trek: Voyager: “Caretaker, Part I & II”
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: “The Emissary, Part I & II”
• Star Trek: Enterprise: “Broken Bow Part I & II”
• Star Trek: The Animated Series: “Beyond the Farthest Star”
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: “Strange New Worlds”
• Star Trek: Lower Decks: “Second Contact”
• Star Trek: Discovery: “The Vulcan Hello”
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Figuring out chronological timeline of  Star Trek  over can be overwhelming for even the most seasoned of Trekkies. With over 50 years of mirrorverses, time traveling back and forth, alternate timelines and spin-offs, we’ve created a guide for how to watch every  Star Trek  series and film in order. We’ve organized it by Stardate instead of year of release for optimal accuracy, but note that some series like  TNG  and  DS9  run concurrently.

• Star Trek: Enterprise  (2151-2161)
• Star Trek: Discovery Seasons 1 and 2  (2255-)
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2255-) 
• Star Trek: The Original Series  (2265-2269)
• Star Trek: The Animated Series  (2269-2270)
• Star Trek: The Motion Picture  (2273)
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan  (2285)
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock  (2285)
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home  (2286/1986)
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier ( 2287)
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country  (2293)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation  (2364-2370)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine  (2369-2375)
• Star Trek Generations  (2371)
• Star Trek: Voyager  (2371-2378)
• Star Trek: First Contact  (2373/2063)
• Star Trek: Insurrection  (2375)
• Star Trek: Nemesis  (2379)
• Star Trek: Lower Decks  (2380)
• Star Trek: Picard  (2399-)
• Star Trek: Discovery Season 3  (3155?)
• Star Trek: Short Treks  (2239-3300 Prime Timeline)

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• Star Trek  (2258 Kelvin Timeline)
• Star Trek Into Darkness  (2259 Kelvin Timeline)
• Star Trek Beyond  (2263 Kelvin Timeline)

Every Star Trek Series Coming To Paramount+ This Year (And Beyond)

• Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 (2024)
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Screen Rant

I think star trek should bring back chris pine (but not as captain kirk).

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Chris Pine should return to the Star Trek franchise, but I don't think he should necessarily return as Captain James T. Kirk. Chris Pine began his journey into the final frontier in JJ Abrams' Star Trek (2009) , playing a character many thought would only ever belong to William Shatner. Pine brought Kirk's humor, bravery, and selflessness back to life after Shatner's last on-screen appearance as the good captain in 1994's Star Trek: Generations . Pine went on to star in two more reboot films, Star Trek: Into Darkness in 2014 and Star Trek: Beyond in 2016.

Since then, Chris Pine hasn't reappeared in any Star Trek timeline , neither movie nor TV show. However, in his time back on Earth, Pine has dipped his toes into other areas of the entertainment industry by writing, directing, and producing projects. In 2023, Pine wrote, directed, produced, and starred in his film Poolman . All of this happened as the sequel to Star Trek: Beyond was being handed back and forth between creative teams. I think Chris Pine should head one of those teams and make the elusive sequel a reality.

Chris Pine Should Come Back To Star Trek As A Director

Poolman proved pine's willingness and ability to direct a movie.

Although Poolman was not a critical or commercial success, it indicates Pine has a future behind the camera. He seems to enjoy the art of filmmaking, from behind-the-scenes details to playing the starring role. To me, Pine's first movie as a director isn't measured by quality, but rather by his willingness to make it in the first place. After decades of acting, it's nice to see such a familiar face take on other roles in the industry and wear different creative hats. Despite Poolman 's poor reception, Pine now has experience leading a film project.

Chris Pine Is Curious About Playing Star Trek’s Captain Kirk Again: “I’m A Lot Older Now”

Chris Pine would be happy to play Captain Kirk in Star Trek again, and he wonders what playing his version of a middle-aged Kirk would be like.

Since we know Chris Pine wants to make a low-budget Star Trek movie to please long-time fans, now is the perfect time to see that dream come to fruition. Even if the original crew of JJ Abrams' reboot film doesn't return, Pine could still try his hand at a Star Trek film in the near future. Since the franchise's first-ever streaming movie, Michelle Yeoh's Star Trek: Section 31 , is set to premiere in 2025, the possibilities for Pine's creative journey into Star Trek are endless. Both film and TV projects are potential avenues for a Pine-led project.

Chris Pine Was The Millennial’s Captain Kirk

An entire generation has chris pine as their captain kirk.

Chris Pine was, and still is, extremely popular as Captain Jim Kirk. He had all the charisma that William Shatner brought to the role, plus he added even more complexity to the character by showcasing personal struggles. Chris Pine's Star Trek movies have also fared well at the box office, bringing in millions of dollars for Paramount Pictures. Numbers dwindled over the three films, but none of them were disappointments. Thanks to a young, millennial audience, Pine is still very much associated with Star Trek .

The viewers who grew up with Chris Pine's Captain Kirk are now a huge part of the modern box office. Knowing that Pine is behind a Star Trek project would positively influence the audience and generate a lot of interest in the project. The nostalgia tied to the reboot films would be a huge factor in a new film's success. With a Star Trek prequel film set largely on Earth reportedly in the works, I think a Chris Pine low-budget sequel to Star Trek: Beyond could be the perfect counterbalance to a franchise that's being split in a lot of different directions.

Star Trek (2009)

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