Star Trek: The 10 Scariest Moments From The Entire Film Franchise

The classic Star Trek film franchise might be a fun intergalactic adventure for the entire family, but the writers and directors in charge weren't always so kind to their audiences. For all the wondrous new alien worlds and exciting space battles, Star Trek also had its fair share of dark and scary moments that unnerved Trekkers.

Not everything was a victory in the Star Trek films, and sometimes bad things happened along the way. When things really went off the rails, it was enough to provoke a hefty dose of fear in the audience. There are scary moments of the classic Star Trek films scary enough to make one question whether to boldly go where no one has gone before.

10 Vger’s First Appearance (Star Trek: The Motion Picture)

Star Trek: The Motion Picture set up its principal antagonist just minutes into the film by showcasing Vger, a larger-than-life entity with a mysterious origin that defied humanity’s logic and reasoning skills. It quickly made short work of several Klingon vessels before entering Federation space.

The results were catastrophic. When the Enterprise crew finally rolled up on Vger for the first time, it was a frightening sight. Nothing like it had ever been glimpsed before, and thanks to its aggressive first contact with humans, that made it even more intimidating.

9 Troi’s Violation (Star Trek: Nemesis)

When the Enterprise was sent into Romulan space to broker a peace deal between the Empire and the Federation, Captain Picard came face to face with his ultimate nemesis – a clone of himself named Shinzon.

At first, Shinzon’s goals appeared noble, but his sinister nature began manifesting itself with a psychic attack on Deanna Troi, aided by his top lieutenant. The scene was a dark one that began with Troi and Riker making love in their quarters before she was assaulted by a series of violent images. The act was enough to shake Troi to her core, and the audience along with it.

8 Khan’s Win (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)

After Kirk’s first battle with Khan ended in a draw, he steered the Enterprise to the research outpost Regula I in an attempt to learn more about the Genesis device that Khan was so keen on acquiring. Meanwhile, Chekov and Captain Terrell made their move and announced themselves as Khan’s spies.

When Khan gave the order to kill Kirk, both men resisted the order. The parasitic creatures in their heads inflicted pain on them as they fought against their control, forcing Terrell  to turn his own phaser on himself and fire. It was an especially dark and scary moment for Trek fans.

7 The Borg & The Interplexing Beacon (Star Trek: First Contact)

A highlight of Star Trek: First Contact involves a scene with Picard, Data, Worf and Hawk attempting to stop the Borg from turning the Enterprise’s main deflector dish into an interplexing beacon. This device would have allowed them to contact the Borg living in the 21st century and assimilate the Alpha Quadrant with ease.The scene is nail-biting from start to finish as Borg drones take notice and attempt to kill the officers.

They manage to avoid the Borg for a time before Hawk loses track of his surroundings and fails to spot a Borg right next to him. His death happens off-screen which makes it even more frightening. His return as a half-assimilated Borg that attacks Captain Picard is even worse.

6 David’s Death (Star Trek III: The Search For Spock)

Star Trek III: The Search For Spock was already a dark film, but the subject matter took a frightening turn in the latter half of the story. After David, Saavik and Spock were taken prisoner by Klingons, their Commander Kruge ordered one of them to be executed as an example to Kirk.

Saavik was chosen as the victim, but before she could be killed, David attacked the Klingon to save her life. He paid the ultimate price in grisly, frightening fashion as the Klingon soldier overpowered him and brutally stabbed him to death.

5 The Alien Probe (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home)

In contrast to the bleak and unsettling tone of its predecessor, Star Trek IV was intended to be jovial and fun. It didn’t start out that way, however. The opening scene featured a mysterious alien probe of ominous design and origin that floated through the Sol system on a direct path for Earth. Starfleet vessels that came near it were subjected to a systems shutdown and left adrift in space.

The probe soon reached Earth and began tearing the planet apart while it sent out a shrieking communication that baffled the Federation’s best scientists. Though the probe never intended any harm, audiences weren’t aware of that until later on in the story. Until then, it was a frightening thing to behold the probe inflicting such massive devastation on Earth without any means of fighting back.

4 The Destruction Of Veridian III (Star Trek: Generations)

Mad scientist extraordinaire Soran was obsessed with finding a way back into the Nexus, a famed pocket dimension whose inhabitants experienced nothing but sheer, unabated joy for all eternity, without the constraints of time. Nothing stood in his way, even the deaths of millions of innocent people.His plan involved altering the gravitational shift of several star systems to force an energy ribbon directly into his own path on a remote planet.

This involved blowing up the system’s sun which caused a devastating shockwave. This ribbon acted as the doorway to the Nexus, and Soran willingly embraced it while the shockwave tore through the system and destroyed the planets therein. Audiences watched as everything, even the crashed Enterprise-D was obliterated in a single moment of mass destruction.

3 The Enterprise vs. The Borg (Star Trek: First Contact)

When the Enterprise managed to destroy an invading Borg Cube and its escape shuttle bound for 21st century Earth, they believed the threat was over. However, they quickly realize that the Borg had manage to beam themselves on board and were now occupying the lower decks of the ship.

The nervous crew descended into the decks with weapons in hand, ready for battle against this terrifying force. The dimly lit corridors and ominous shadows created a scene teeming with tension as audiences went along for the ride, fearful of the big reveal.

2 Khan’s Ear Bugs (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan)

An unfortunate chance encounter with dastardly villain Khan put Chekov and Captain Terrell in hot water on Ceti Alpha V. Khan’s hatred of Kirk had aged like a fine wine at that point, and the arrival of Chekov’s ship signaled an opportunity for revenge.

To enact his scheme, he implanted two parasitic life forms into the ears of Chekov and Terrell so that they could wrap themselves around the cerebral cortex and turn them into obedient slaves. The entire process of implantation was so scary that it left Trekkers squirming in their seats as screams of agony filled the theater.

1 Kirk vs. "God" (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier)

Spock’s half-brother Sybok led a campaign to commandeer the Enterprise and head to a forbidden area of space in order to make contact with what he believed was the almighty creator himself. Unfortunately, all was not as it seemed, and the entity soon revealed itself as a malevolent creature trapped on the planet for eons.

After Sybok sacrificed himself to distract the entity, Kirk ordered it shot down by the Enteprise from orbit. It only angered the creature which began rising up in anger to pursue Kirk, Spock and McCoy with a signature howl that sends chills up the spines of Star Trek fans to this day.

Source: screenrant.com