TSJ’s Ranking of the STAR TREK: TNG Movies |

TSJ’s Ranking of the Star Trek: TNG Movies

In the past few months I’ve written several stories on Life After Gateway featuring Star Trek episodes and movies. I’ve ranked the top 3 TOS episodes, I’ve ranked the TOS movies, and today I’m going to rank the movies featuring the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Here we go, in ascending order of excellence.

4. Star Trek: Generations

I was living in Ottawa, Ontario during the year in which this movie came out. I was very excited for it. The final episode of TNG, All Good Things, was exceptional. It was endearing and it was truly sad to see the crew leave our weekly lives. The cast immediately jumped into the filming of this movie, and frankly, you could tell. The sets were the same television quality, despite the attempts to hide them with dim lighting and long shadows. The story bordered on weak, although it was nice to see Captain Kirk return, even if his ultimate end was also anti-climactic — symbolic of the movie itself.

The stakes were low, the villain not very villainous, and the effects (particularly of the Enterprise crashing) were also weak. That being said, it was nice to see the crew on the big screen; they have such great chemistry together.

3. Star Trek: Insurrection

This was a lackluster entry in the TNG Star Trek movies. The stakes were minimal, featuring an alien race and a threat that fans did not fully identify with. The story was littered with one-liners by Data, featured a small child and a furry animal, and hinted at jokes regarding growing more youthful, such as Worf’s pimple. Definitely not a shining moment in Star Trek. The antagonist was inspired casting — F. Murray Abraham as Ru’afo — but then he was hidden in makeup and his character had little development. Like the first film, Generations, it seemed as though it was more of a two-hour television episode than a major motion picture.

2. Star Trek: Nemesis

The villain this time around was Picard himself. It was a good idea: the Romulans had cloned Picard decades earlier and the clone had lived a harsher existence than Picard. Shinzon (Tom Hardy, in an early role) had risen through the ranks of a Romulan dissident group and now operates a deadly ship built for war. Picard must come to terms with Shinzon’s existence, Data meets another version of himself, and Riker and Troi must combat a psychic villain. The story had far more depth than some of the previous entries in the franchise; the study in duality was interesting, at least.

There’s not much else for the supporting actors, however, and the story faltered at a lack of tension and problems for the crew to solve. In short, it’s a grand idea that wasn’t fully formed. The framework is all there, though, and the final battle was compelling. It also featured a sad, traumatic ending that Picard: Season 2 and 3 finally resolved: Data’s destiny.

1. Star Trek: First Contact

This was the second film featuring the Next Generation cast and it is by far the best of the four. A former nemesis returns — the Borg — threatening not just Earth and the Federation, but the entire history of Earth back to first contact in the 21st Century. On top of this, Picard’s past trauma with the Borg is torn open once again. A festering wound never heals, and Picard is reeling during the new Borg attack. Throw in a manifestation of the hive mind in the form of a singular villain — the Borg Queen — and this created an effective nemesis for Picard and crew to fight. Moreover, an event that must occur — the very first warp flight test, orchestrated by TOS character Zephram Cochrane — is the challenge that the supporting cast must ensure happens. The story is dark, it’s a magnificent challenge for the entire crew, the stakes are (finally) enormous, and at times the events even border on horror. It is the first Star Trek film directed by Riker himself — Jonathan Frakes — and he exceeded all metrics for this cast, and recovered the franchise after a lackluster Star Trek: Generations. This is a wonderful and escapist movie that hits on all levels. It’s by far the best of the TNG films. Just reading my synopsis is dramatic counterpoint to the ones I wrote above. This story had way more threads, depth, and stakes than the other three films.

As an extra bonus for you, check out Siskel & Ebert’s review of Star Trek: First Contact from back in 1996. It’s fun to revisit their old reviews. Hint: they loved the film. Video credit to videoholic90sB.

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A Blanket of Steel by Timothy S. Johnston and from Fitzhenry & Whiteside, LTD. is the recipient of the 2024 GLOBAL Thriller Award GRAND PRIZE and the 2024 CYGNUS Award First in Category.

— Timothy S. Johnston, 23 October 2025

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Praise for Timothy S. Johnston’s A Blanket of Steel

“Fans of Clive Cussler’s NUMA Files will be delighted with Timothy S. Johnston’s undersea novels. Truman McClusky and Dirk Pitt are cut from the same adventurer’s cloth.” — Nick Cutter, author of The Deep and The Troop

“Action that ranges from close range combat to torpedo-fueled attacks. The result is a thriller that keeps moving from confrontation to confrontation … with constant danger and the vast depths of the ocean as a setting, there is always reason to keep reading.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Read the book and prepare to be blown away by one of the best writers I have ever had the pleasure to read. Timothy S. Johnston is simply amazing.” — FIVE Stars from Readers’ Favorite

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“Innovative technology, Mac taking risks no one else would dare and thinking his way through to brilliant solutions … But the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been before. This is it. The countdown to the final battle … Johnston does an excellent job of keeping the tension taut as he plays with the reader’s perceptions of characters we thought we knew and trusted …” — SFcrowsnest

“Expect to be left breathless. Trust me here. Please. I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN.” — Michael Libling, author of The Serial Killer’s Son Takes A Wife and Hollywood North: A Novel in Six Reels

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A BLANKET OF STEEL is out now!

WATCH THE GRIPPING BOOK TRAILER HERE.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

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A Blanket of Steel from Timothy S. Johnston and Fitzhenry & Whiteside, Ltd.

Book Cover & Jacket Copy:

AN UNSTOPPABLE THREAT!

A mysterious assassin has murdered Cliff Sim, Chief Security Officer of the underwater colony, Trieste. Cliff was a mountain of a man, highly trained, and impossible to defeat in combat. And yet …

Someone brutally beat him and left his broken body in a secret Chinese facility at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

And included a calling card for Truman McClusky, Mayor of Trieste.

Taunting him.

Mac has led the underwater colonies in their fight against the world’s superpowers. Climate change has devastated the surface; nations suffer famine, drought, rebellion, rising waters, and apocalyptic coastal flooding. But now, as Mac leads the underwater colonies to freedom and independence, he’s faced with the gravest threat of his life: a Russian assassin, hellbent on killing Mac and everyone he cares for. Now Mac must uncover the identity of the killer, face him in combat, and at the same time lead people in battle against the largest underwater force ever assembled. It’s Mac’s final test, and to win the war, he must use every tool at his disposal, including the most surprising and devastating underwater weapons ever invented.

If Mac fails, all hope is lost for the future of human colonization on the ocean floors.

But the assassin could be anyone …

Watch your back, Mac.

A Blanket of Steel is the most gripping thriller yet in The Rise of Oceania.

FOR PURCHASE OPTIONS CLICK HERE

The other books in The Rise of Oceania series by Timothy S Johnston:

The War Beneath 9781771484718
The Savage Deeps 9781771485067
Fatal Depth 9781554555574
An Island of Light 9781554555819
The Shadow of War 9781554556007