My 5 Favorite Captain Picard Scenes In Star Trek Movies, Ranked

Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) was the center of four Star Trek: The Next Generation movies, and my five favorite Picard movie scenes showcase the Captain of the Enterprise’s heroism, humor, and commanding, dramatic power. Before taking over the Star Trek movie franchise, Picard was the Captain of the USS Enterprise-D in seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which established Jean-Luc’s intelligence, compassion, wisdom, and devotion to the highest principles of Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets.

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Star Trek: The Next Generation jumped to the big screen in 1994’s Star Trek Generations, which featured Captain Picard meeting Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) from Star Trek: The Original Series, and ended with Kirk’s death. 1996’s Star Trek: First Contact was a crowd-pleasing action spectacle where Picard faced his greatest enemies, the Borg. Captain Picard risked his Starfleet career to protect a race called the Son’a in 1998’s Star Trek: Insurrection. Finally, Picard faced his evil clone in 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis.

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Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s movies changed Captain Picard, turning Jean-Luc into an action hero who battles the main villain in each film’s action-packed final act. Picard is more aggressive and dynamic in his four TNG movies, as opposed to the stoic Captain who favored negotiation in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Yet Picard’s moral compass and dedication to doing what’s right never waver. Captain Picard is always trustworthy, admirable, and a joy to watch in his four Star Trek movies, especially in my five favorite scenes.

5

Captain Picard Toasts Will Riker & Deanna Troi’s Wedding

Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)

Star Trek: Nemesis is far from my favorite Star Trek movie, but it opens with an enjoyable moment: Captain Picard giving the best man toast at the wedding of Commander Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis). Picard is in fine spirits (perhaps fueled by Romulan ale), and Jean-Luc delivers a jovial tribute to his First Officer and Counselor, who plan to depart the USS Enterprise-E to take command of the USS Titan. Jean-Luc draws warm laughter as he laments what Riker and Troi leaving will mean to him.

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I find the rest of Star Trek: Nemesis to be a dreary affair as Captain Picard meets his twisted clone, Shinzon (Tom Hardy), and prevents the new Romulan Praetor’s plot to attack the Federation. Picard has an uncharacteristic chase scene off-roading with Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) and Lt. Commander Worf (Michael Dorn), and Jean-Luc also has a few compelling moments facing off with Shinzon and trying to find the humanity in his doppelgänger.

It’s fun to see Jean-Luc let his hair down, so to speak.

To me, Captain Picard is at his best at the start of Star Trek: Nemesis, and his toast to Riker and Troi reinforces that they and his other USS Enterprise crewmates are his family. It’s fun to see Jean-Luc let his hair down, so to speak, and tease Data while commanding the room with warmth and wit. Since Star Trek: Nemesis literally breaks Picard’s family apart, Jean-Luc gets one fine moment celebrating them with his wedding toast.

4

Captain Picard Defies Admiral Dougherty

Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)

Star Trek: Insurrection has its moments, and the standout scene for Captain Picard is when he confronts Admiral Dougherty (Anthony Zerbe) about his plans to forcibly relocate the Ba’ku people. Dougherty partnered with the Son’a to remove the Ba’ku from their planet in order to harness the energies of the Briar Patch, which is a literal fountain of youth. When Doughtery justifies his plot by noting the Ba’ku are “only 600 people,” Picard asks the Admiral how many does it have to be before it’s considered wrong?

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Captain Picard’s memorable scenes in Star Trek: Insurrection include his dancing a mambo, singing Gilbert and Sullivan, his climactic slugfest with the villainous Son’a leader Ru’afo (F. Murray Abraham), and Jean-Luc’s romantic moments with Anij (Donna Murphy), his Ba’ku love interest. Yet Picard confronting Admiral Dougherty reaffirms Jean-Luc’s commitment to the highest principles of the Federation, which Dougherty is conveniently forgetting so that his ends justify the means.

When it comes to doing what’s right, Captain Picard is inflexible.

In private, Picard removes his Captain’s pips, signaling his decision to commit insurrection and defend the Ba’ku. It’s a powerful reminder that when it comes to doing what’s right, Captain Picard is inflexible, and this is what makes him one of Star Trek‘s greatest heroes.

3

Captain Picard Experiences Christmas In The Nexus

Star Trek Generations (1994)

Star Trek Generations has many memorable Captain Picard moments, and one of the most intriguing is when Jean-Luc is transported into the Nexus. Picard famously never married or had children, preferring to dedicate his life to Starfleet and exploring the galaxy as Captain of the Enterprise. The Nexus, an other-dimensional space ribbon capable of delivering a person’s heart’s desire, showed Picard a glimpse of the road not taken.

Star Trek: The Next Generation Movies	Release Year	Director
Star Trek Generations	1994	David Carson
Star Trek: First Contact	1996	Jonathan Frakes
Star Trek: Insurrection	1998	Jonathan Frakes
Star Trek: Nemesis	2002	Stuart Baird

Upon arriving in the Nexus, Captain Picard finds himself at Christmas with his family, including the wife and children he never had. Perhaps even more uplifting for Jean-Luc is that his nephew, Rene (Christopher James Miller), is present. Rene died in a fire off-screen in Star Trek Generations, but his presence completes the storybook illusion of hearth and home that Jean-Luc never experienced in his adult life up to that point.

David Tristan Birkin played Rene Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 4’s “Family,” and Birkin returned as the younger Jean-Luc in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 6’s “Rascals.”

However, Captain Picard was only momentarily persuaded by the Nexus’ Christmas illusion. An echo of Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) appeared to explain the rules of the Nexus to Jean-Luc, and Picard was quick to reject this fantasy and revert to his mission to stop Dr. Tolan Soran (Malcolm McDowell) from destroying Veridian III. Still, it was a lovely Christmas at the Picards while it lasted.

2

Captain Picard Learns His Family Died

Star Trek Generations (1994)

Perhaps Patrick Stewart’s most emotionally gutwrenching scene in Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s movies is when Captain Picard learns his family was dead in Star Trek Generations. Star Trek: The Next Generation season 4’s classic episode “Family” introduced Jean-Luc’s estranged older brother, Robert Picard (Jeremy Kemp), Robert’s wife Marie (Samantha Eggar), and his young son, Rene (David Tristan Birkin). Robert and Jean-Luc mended fences, and the elder brother helped his sibling cope with his trauma from being assimilated by the Borg.

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However, Star Trek Generations shockingly killed Robert Picard and his family off-screen when it is revealed they died in a fire at Chateau Picard in La Barre, France. Star Trek Generations delivers a heartbreaking moment of Jean-Luc looking through his photo album and crying over his lost family, especially Rene. It’s the most deeply personal and resonant moment for Picard in his Star Trek movies, with Counselor Troi helping Jean-Luc make sense of his tragedy.

It was Patrick Stewart’s idea to kill off Jean-Luc’s family in Star Trek Generations so that he would have an emotional scene to play, and to reinforce the Captain’s burden that he’s the last Picard.

Captain Picard has compelling scenes facing off with Dr. Tolian Soran, and Star Trek Generations hinges on the historic and entertaining interaction between Picard and Captain Kirk. To me, William Shatner is so charming as Kirk that he steals Star Trek Generations when he’s on-screen. For Captain Picard’s best moment centering on his character and his personal loss, coping with his family’s death is Jean-Luc’s standout moment.

1

Picard’s Captain Ahab Speech

Star Trek: First Contact (1996)

Of all of Captain Picard’s memorable moments in the Star Trek: The Next Generation movies, his absolute most iconic scene has to be Jean-Luc’s “Captain Ahab” speech in Star Trek: First Contact. This unforgettable scene reveals the depths of Picard’s hatred of the Borg and how unhinged he’s become as he seeks his revenge. Picard rasping, “The line must be drawn here! This far and no further! And I will make them pay for what they’ve done!” may be Picard’s most famous dialogue in the Star Trek movies.

Captain Picard was assimilated by the Borg and turned into Locutus in Star Trek: The Next Generation’s classic two-parter, “The Best of Both Worlds.”

However, Lily Sloane (Alfre Woodard) provides the crucial counterbalance that brings the crazed Captain Picard back down to Earth. A 21st-century human swept up in Picard’s war with the Borg, Lily can clearly see how far off the deep end the Captain is heading, and she aptly compares Jean-Luc to “Captain Ahab” who has to “hunt his whale.” Lily’s words do cut through Picard’s fury, and the introspective and compassionate Jean-Luc reasserts himself as he quotes Moby-Dick and realizes that he truly has become Captain Ahab.

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Star Trek: First Contact is Captain Picard’s best movie, and, in truth, this ranking could have just been great Picard moments from director Jonathan Frakes’ blockbuster. Picard is awesome when he’s explaining the tactile sensation of touching the Phoenix warp ship to Data, when he dons a tuxedo and opens fire with a Tommy gun as his holodeck gumshoe cosplay, Dixon Hill, and when Picard triumphantly snaps the dead Borg Queen’s (Alice Krige) spine. But “the line must be drawn here” is my all-time favorite Captain Picard moment in Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s movies.