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What is the odd - numberedStar Trekmovie jinx , and does it hold any weightiness ? Veteran fans of theStar Trekworld will be all too familiar with the famous odd - add up movie rule , but as the franchise continue to stretch forth its reach and appeal to newer , younger audiences , this singular and fascinating piece ofStar Trekmythology becomes relevant once again . In the X following the cancellation of the originalStar Trekseries , the adventures ofKirkand Spock had performed very well in syndication and the serial publication ' already passionate fan base had surged in the go-ahead ’s absence seizure .
This burgeoning popularity take to the release ofStar Trek : The Motion Picturein 1979 , which in turn spark a whole young reincarnation for the dealership on the silver screen , breed a string of movies that would reach treble digits and cover three separate casts . While it ’s unacceptable to deny that theStar Trekmovie serieswas successful as a whole , reaction from fans and critics varied wildly with each release and , after a while , a pattern get going to come out that theTrekfaithful could n’t help but notice .
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Over time , theStar Trekmovie rule has passed into Hollywood caption , becoming trickier to keep track of following theJ. J. Abrams 2009 reboot . The curse is still spoken of today in sure geeky circles , but was it ever precise and , if so , does it still echo dependable in 2019 ?
What Is The Odd-Numbered Star Trek Movie Rule And Where Did It Come From?
Star Trekheld a constant cinematic presence in the eighties and 1990s , and soon became Paramount ’s most important big screen property . As the franchise begin to develop , however , fans in the mid-1980s commence to point out an emerging convention regarding the big screen adventures of theEnterprise : only the even - numbered picture show were any honest .
This phenomenon seems to originate as early as the third pic , but came to widespread prominence followingStar Trek atomic number 23 : The Final Frontier ’s poor receipt . By 1991 , the odd - numberedStar Trektheory had gained such traction that illustrious picture critic , Roger Ebert , was create open references to it during his discourse ofStar Trek VI : The Undiscovered Countrywith Gene Siskel . By theNext Generationera , the curse had been broadly speaking accept as fact , and Jonathan Frakes even joke about the figure prior to conduct the odd - numberedStar Trek : Insurrectionwhich , incidentally , very few the great unwashed like .
The odd - numberedStar Trekmovie rule has now become an integral part of geek lore , and has even been referenced in the wider kingdom of pop culture . For example , Simon Peggand Edgar Wright ’s far-out sitcom , Spaced , sees Pegg ’s reference muse , " Sure as day follows dark , sure as eggs is eggs , sure as every odd - numberedStar Trekmovie is sh*t . " References such as this helped cement theTrekmovie curse into the cultural consciousness , and the irony did n’t escape Pegg when the doer ’s later career found him drop a line the handwriting toStar Trek : Beyond- the thirteenth entryway in the serial .
Is The Star Trek Movie Curse Accurate?
Considering the fan base had been eagerly await new material for a decade , Star Trek : The Motion Picturereceived a in spades mixed reply . Lacking the pacey intergalactic action that form a central part ofTrek ’s TV popularity and bloated with expensive effects , audiences were not blown away by the Enterprise ’s first cinematic outing . With a greatly reduced budget , Star Trek II : The Wrath of Khanreturned to the core principle and themes of the TV series , but add together a modern Hollywood luster , resulting in a picture that many buff still claim to be the pinnacle ofStar Trek ’s moving-picture show outturn .
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Having fall upon upon a successful rule , Star Trek III : The Search For Spockfollowed on directly from its predecessor , but the general consensus upon press release suggested the threequel failed to slay the heights of the previous moving picture , largely thanks to a weaker secret plan and an age mould . Star Trek IV : The Voyage Hometook a vastly different approaching , warp the crew of theEnterpriseinto the past for a more light - hearted caper , and audience generally value the shift in emphasis . After sitting back while Leonard Nimoy calculate two motion picture , William Shatner could take no more and demand the managing director ’s chairperson forStar Trek V : The Final Frontier , the heavy critical flop since the original movie . Fortunately , business picked up again for the Klingon - centricStar Trek VI : The Undiscovered Country .
The seventh film , Star Trek Generations , was designed as a blowlamp - clear from the original Enterprise form to theNext Generationera and should ’ve been suitably heroic . Instead , most lover and critics matt-up the 1994 film was a mediocre effort , butPicardand co. ’s crowning cinematic moment came in 1996’sStar Trek : First Contact . The ninth movie , Star Trek : Insurrection , once again suffered a free fall in quality .
Up until this point , the odd - numberedStar Trekmovie rule works absolutely . Although not every peculiar release is as bad as Simon Pegg would have you consider , there are certainly instances where a strong , even - numbered sack is follow by a more modal exertion that curtails the enfranchisement ’s momentum . The first existent anomaly isStar Trek : Nemesis , the " final " mission for the crowd of Enterprise - D , which received the same hushed response afforded toStar Trek : Insurrectionfour years antecedently , finally breaking the odd - numbered movie linguistic rule .
Do The Kelvin Timeline Reboot Movies Fit The Star Trek Movie Curse?
Whether the2009Star Trekmovieis considered the eleventh ingress in the enfranchisement , or the start of a whole new serial publication , it ’s an odd - numbered moving picture and , therefore , should be rubbish . In truth , the J. J. Abrams reboot was a critical and commercial-grade smash , reinventing theStar Trekstory for a innovative audience and start out the cinematic career of a mark raw Enterprise mold . Trekpurists may have found the director ’s approach distasteful and the film ’s use of lens flare might ’ve spiraled hopelessly out of control , but it ’s heavy to reason that this is n’t the best odd - numberedStar Trekfilm to date .
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Evidently , theKelvin timelinemovies mess up theStar Trekmovie police completely , and the partizan reaction toStar Trek Into Darknessmakes it even harder to determine which movie are generally considered good or speculative . It could perhaps be argued that the reboot films follow an inverse version of the odd - numerate rule , where the first and third plastic film are good , and the second is panned . WithStar Trek 4officially cancel , however , it ’s unconvincing lover will be able to put this reworked theory to the test any fourth dimension soon .
Why Were The Odd-Numbered Star Trek Movies Generally Worse?
Humans have a natural urge to regain order in chaos and make pattern out of the random , and the fact that odd - numberedStar Trekmoviesare loosely considered inferior could certainly be an example of this phenomenon . However , there are perhaps some more empiric reasons for the existence of this curse .
foremost , Star Trek : The Motion Picture ’s troubles can be directly traced to behind - the - scenes job . Creative wrangling between Gene Roddenberry and Paramount , an ever - extend budget and the studio ’s desire to make a second TV series rather of a film all contributed to a unsaved production . In contrast , Star Trek II : The Wrath of Khanlearned from the mistakes of its predecessor and demonstrate universally popular , arguably setting an unreasonably high bar of expectation for the follow - up .
Star Trek quintet : The Final Frontier ’s deficiency of popularity can also be mostly accounted for . Leonard Nimoy ’s success as conductor allow William Shatner to drive for the same position , despite being an amateur behind the camera . The production also ran out of money halfway through cinematography , leave in a dicey third act . Once again , lessons were memorize , andStar Trek VI : The Undiscovered Countrybrought backWrath of Khandirector , Nicholas Meyer , who manoeuver the franchise to succeeder once again .
Moving into the era ofStar Trek : The Next genesis , filming began onGenerationsonly a week after the conclusion of the TV serial , whereas a two - twelvemonth break allowedStar Trek : First Contactto develop a far more fan - pleasing story featuring theBorgand time travel .
While it ’s comfortable to paint the odd - numberedStar Trekmovie rule as a fun coincidence or mythical Hollywood hex , it ’s perhaps more accurately described as an ongoing Hz of avoidable product offspring follow by a period of pick up from preceding mistakes , before once again succumbing to complacency .
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