'Section 31' Is The Worst Reviewed 'Star Trek' Movie Or Show In History

While Star Trek fans can be a fickle bunch, given how protective they are of their beloved series, everyone, critics and viewers alike, seem to have come together to agree that Star Trek: Section 31, a new film that went straight to Paramount Plus, may be the objectively worst thing in the history of the series.

Critic and audience scores are shockingly low. Star Trek: Section 31 has a 20% from a few dozen critics and a 17% from over a 1000 fans on Rotten Tomatoes. Those numbers make it the worst reviewed movie or show in Star Trek history using these metrics. Here’s the list:

• Star Trek: The Motion Picture – 52% critics, 42% audience
• Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan - 86% critics, 90% audience
• Star Trek III: The Search for Spock – 79% critics, 68% audience
• Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home - 81% critics, 81% audience
• Star Trek V: The Final Frontier – 23% critics, 25% audience
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country – 83% critics, 83% audience
• Star Trek: Generations - 47% critics, 57% audience
• Star Trek: First Contact - 93% critics, 89% audience
• Star Trek: Insurrection – 55% critics, 44% audience
• Star Trek: Nemesis – 38% critics, 49% audience
• Star Trek (2009) – 94% critics, 91% audience
• Star Trek Into Darkness – 84% critics, 89% audience
• Star Trek Beyond – 86% critics, 80% audience
• Star Trek: Section 31 – 20% critics, 17% audience

As you can see, Section 31 is the worst-rated film, with only the much-disliked Final Frontier nearby. Nothing else is really even close. And this is a big change from the recent trilogy of well-liked modern-era movies starring Chris Pine. For good measure, we can also compare it to the TV series, including what it spun out of.

• Star Trek: The Original Series – 92% critics, N/A audience
• Star Trek: The Animated Series - 94% critics, 81% audience
• Star Trek: The Next Generation - 92% critics, 90% audience
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – 91% critics, 89% audience
• Star Trek: Voyager – 76% critics, 80% audience
• Star Trek: Discovery – 91% critics, 33% audience
• Star Trek: Lower Decks - 91% critics, 73% audience
• Star Trek: Picard – 89% critics, 57% audience
• Star Trek: Prodigy – 97% critics, 88% audience
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - 98% critics, 79% audience

Here, the only close one is the incredibly divisive Star Trek Discovery. So what exactly when wrong with Section 31 here, how is it this level of disliked among both critics and fans? Some samplings:

Pajiba – “Section 31 never seems to know exactly where it’s headed and instead crams together clashing movie tropes as a means of giving Michelle Yeoh something cool to do while the others explain away plot points using made-up words.”

Slate – “While it’s now unavoidably and unfortunately canon, let’s hope Section 31 was just a stumble on the way to better and bolder things. If this is what the Federation’s underbelly really looks like, I’d rather it stayed in the dark.”

Tom’s Guide – “At best, it finds clever ways to tweak familiar Star Trek elements in service of a fast-paced, action-packed espionage story. At worst, it comes off as a try-hard pretender, full of stale quips and faux-edgy characters.”

So, this seems like one to skip, even if you may want to know how it alters Star Trek canon from here. It seems more infuriating than anything, and these dismal scores will be something Paramount will want to fully avoid for future projects. Hopefully they learn some lessons.

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