Every Star Trek Movie Ranked From Worst To Best

2. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Yes, the film where Kirk, Spock et. al save the whales is the second best Star Trek film of all time, and it only proves how strong the franchise truly is.

Another Leonard Nimoy work, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is one of the more environmentally conscious Trek films, as it sees the crew of the Enterprise travel back in time to avert an apocalyptic scenario taking place in the 23rd century. An alien probe, making an attempt to communicate with humpback whales, is on a destructive course, and only the whales themselves - now extinct in the future - can save humanity.

The Voyage Home's admittedly goofy premise is what makes the film so enjoyable though, with Kirk and Spock's voyage through eighties-era San Francisco being played to laughs in a very self-aware way. The message itself is no less important either, as - at the time at least - whales were experiencing a major decline in population, and while you certainly could get the message out to save - and not nuke - the whales (gotta nuke something), making Star Trek the vehicle for that message is really rather clever.

It might seem silly, but if a franchise can convince an entire generation that a collection of unassuming wigs are in fact aliens, then saving the whales must surely be a minor offence.