Star Trek: 10 MORE Behind The Scenes Decisions We Can't Forgive

Star Trek Beyond is widely considered one of the best movies in the franchise, praised for being the first big budget installment to actually feel like an episode of The Original Series, while also removing some of the trappings of Star Trek to focus on character. According to director Justin Lin, in order to explore the crew of the Enterprise, they had to be separated from the Enterprise; and what better way to do that than destroy the ship in spectacular, big summer movie fashion?

The death of the Enterprise in Star Trek Beyond is grand and operatic, the ship is systematically and brutally disassembled by Krall's forces -- a symbolic deconstruction of Star Trek, scored by a dramatic, choral rendition of Michael Giacchino's ear worm of a main theme. It's stirring and emotional... or at least it would be, if damn near the same thing hadn't already happened in Star Trek Into Darkness. Right down to the choral version of Giacchino's theme.

It's unfortunate the destruction of the Enterprise doesn't have more impact in Star Trek Beyond. It's a perfectly executed sequence by the director, the cast, VFX house Double Negative, and the aforementioned Michael Giacchino. The scene, however, was badly undercut by its prominence in the marketing for the film and by the fact that the Enterprise is nearly destroyed in every single movie in the Kelvin Timeline Trilogy.

Directors J.J. Abrams and Justin Lin both raised the stakes of their films by clobbering the Enterprise. In Star Trek (2009), the ship was nearly destroyed by the Narada, forcing the young cadets to take on roles that would lead to their iconic positions in TOS. In Star Trek Into Darkness, Kirk must sacrifice himself in order to save his ship as it plummets to Earth. And, as stated, in Beyond, the death of the Enterprise separates the crew but ultimately pushes them together.

In isolation, each of these instances works. Each sequence in which the Enterprise is pummeled is exciting and well staged and it's an understandable trick to get the audience invested.

But it' also a trick that only works once and the Kelvin Timeline did it three times, making the flashy new Enterprise look a bit like a clunker and robbing the final chapter of some much needed emotional weight.