10 Greatest Ship Entrances In Star Trek 

"FLY HER APART, THEN!" is easily the best read Takei ever performed in Star Trek. You FEEL that urgency with every fiber of your being when he says that.

When the NX-01, battered to hell but still flying, dropped out of the Aquatic Cruiser's hangar to take on the Xindi -Death Star- Weapon was an epic moment

How did you miss the Enterprise rising up behind the Reliant in the tense ship-to-ship battle in Wrath of Khan? Everything about that still gives me goosebumps.

I'm glad that the Enterprise-E entering the battle of sector 001 was on the list. That's one of my favourite scenes in all of Star Trek and hands down my favourite Michael Dorn scene of all time. His acting in that scene was next level. In spite of the klingon makeup, the dark lighting, and the fact that he didn't actually speak very much, he absolutely sold the huge change in emotion. Worf: "Prepare for ramming speed!" Helmsman: "Sir, there's another starship coming in". Worf: The look on his face and his body language just says "So what? We're hopelessly outclassed, they'll just be more meat for the grinder". Helmsman: "It's the Enterprise". Worf: Whole demeanor changes from despair to "We're gonna win! You guys are screwed now!" As for what I'd like to see in a followup list, Gotta be the Enterprise-A at the end Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. It was set up to be a grand reveal and it really lived up to expectations. The Defiant when it decloaks for the first time at DS9 is another great one, and going back The One With The Whales, when the Bounty decloaks in front of the whaling ship after the harpoon bounces off its hull like a bullet off of Superman.

As a teen, the strongest nerd chills I felt during TNG was Enterprise C coming out of that temporal disturbance, with the slow reading of its registry ( by Tasha Yar!).

I know people hate on Nemesis but the reveal of the Scimitar was pretty cool. "She's a predator". Also imagine if it was the refit enterprise that appeared in Picard. Geordi: "I've added some upgrades".

My favorite ship entrance was in ST-TNG Episode 3x10 "The Defector" when Tomalak sneers at Picard, saying he expected more than idle threats and 3 Klingon Birds-of-Prey suddenly de-cloak around the 2 Romulan Warbirds. Just perfection! I also loved in the movie Star Trek (2009) in which Spock, in older Spock's ship, is on a collision course with the Narada and her missiles, when the Enterprise appears and takes out the missiles.

Sulu saying "then fly her apart damn it" is one of my absolute favourite lines of all trek! George is such a good actor 😁

Not necessarily a reveal, but an arrival. NCC1701 climbing up behind the Reliant in the Mutara Nebula after outmanoeuvring Khan by working in 3 dimensions.

I liked the reveal of the Enterprise-A on the other side of the Excelsior in Star Trek 4. It wasn't expected and the actors played it wonderfully. "My friends, we've come home."

Mariner showing up with all of the California class ships to save the Cerritos in Lower Decks season 3 finale is both a great punch the air and go "woohoo!" moment and also hilarious as Boimler reels off the names faster and faster. I loved it.

Controversy about the Kelvinverse aside, the USS Vengeance looming up behind the Enterprise at warp in Into Darkness gives me chills. Back to alpha cannon and since it didn’t make the list I’m picking my favourite starship moment from Star Trek: Enterprise. It’s not an “entrance” per say, but when the Enterprise and Columbia merge warp fields so Trip can go back to the Enterprise. Despite the urgency he still takes a second to just be in the moment and it’s just amazing.

The Enterprise E flying out of that nebula in First Contract is a stunning shot

I would’ve added the entrance of 1701 from the end of Season 1 of Discovery, because who would’ve thought we’d actually SEE that ship then?

I was in the cinema with a friend at the opening of TMP, seeing the Enterprise on the big screen like that for the first time was just epic, several in the cinema actually gasped and one individual stated unashamedly out loud "There she is!!!". It was a powerful moment for sure!

As one who watched TOS from premier to cancelation and every episode 50 or 60 times in syndication there is nothing that can compare to the drydock fly by in STTMP. We thought we would never see ENTERPRISE again and there she was. Most movies don't give me goose bumps but that scene did.

The first shot of the Enterprise-D in Encounter at Farpoint was a great one. And so was the launch of the D (both the lights illuminating over the saucer and as it left the hangar) in Picard Season 3’s Vox. The Enterprise-F also had a grand entrance. And the reveal of the Enterprise-G was fantastic. The musical scores for these scenes added to the majesty of the launches.

I would add the Enterprise reveal in TMP. I was too young to have seen it in theaters, but I remember watching it on HBO at my Aunt's house when I was young and being transfixed. Also the Klingon ship reveal was pretty epic in TMP.

"That's why I called all of them." Lower Decks, The Stars at Night. After watching the Cerritos get pummeled by the Aledo drone ship. Just as the abandon ship order is being give, Mariner shows up and then the Oakland. And then another, and another, and another. The sequence is amazing as more and more ships arrive and Boimler is reading off a long list of names of all the different ships showing up to have the back of their sister ship. Man... That always gets the feels going.

You're all too young!! The reveal of the Enterprise in Star Trek: The Motion Picture was beyond words, and the most thrilling moment in over 55 years of this being part of my life.

I'm probably going to get hate for this, but the Kelvin Timeline had some awesome entrances too. Enterprise in Saturn's Rings in Star Trek 2009, Enterprise Rising out of THE WATER in Into Darkness. maybe the Vengeance introduction in Into Darkness as well. What about the ENTIRE CALIFORNIA CLASS showing up in "The Stars at Night"?? The Vulcan ship Sh'Vahl appearing to rescue the Cerritos in "We Duj" easily enough entries for another one

My favourite is the D'Deridex warbird. The way it folds out of the stars, music swelling, and everyone on the bridge falls silent. Love it.

I always liked the "My friends, the great experiment" reveal of the Excelsior in Star Trek III. The Constitution class was always the most impressive Starfleet ship we'd ever seen in Star Trek. That reveal of the Excelsior showed for the first time that the ships are getting bigger and cooler.

I know it's basically just the Titan's arrival re-done, but the entry of the entire California-class fleet at the end of Lower Decks season 3 was just awesome. Not just for the sense of cameraderie, but also because it's these plucky little lower-tier starships cementing once and for all that they're a force to be reckoned with. Naked Cerritos at the end of season 2 also deserves an honourable mention.

There's no shortage of great entrances by starships. But a few honourable mentions: - Kelvin Enterprise rising out of Titan in 2009 Star Trek. I like how the negative space of Saturn's rings makes a Starfleet arrowhead. - USS Shenzhou descending through the clouds in "The Vulcan Hello". It's not as much a "punch the air" moment, but it's pretty cool, and I love the reveal of the tracks Burnham and Georgiou had left - USS Defiant decloaking in "The Search"

The greatest for me is the reveal of the Enterprise-A at the end of Star Trek IV. I LOVE that movie so much, especially because it doesn’t show the Enterprise at all until the very end. It’s like, you were having a great time watching the movie, but you know there’s just ONE member of the family that’s not there. Then at the end, you’re led to believe that they’re getting Excelsior……until the Trek theme is played and we pan BEYOND Excelsior to Constitution refit NCC-1701-A. I swear, I wish I was old enough to be in the theater watching this. I would’ve cheered and clapped so much!

NUMBER 1 is the REBIRTH scene of the Enterprise D in Picard season 3. when Gordi revealed her everyone YES EVERYONE got emotional. there were tears there were CHEERS.seeing her again I said OMG! she's back it was like seeing a long missed relative. if I could have I would have hugged her and said we missed you.

Honor mention. Bounty bird of prey decloaking over whailing vessel in IV. Also Romulan warbirds decloaking in support against the dominion. Epic

The E entrance Into sector 001 was bad ass

Also, the Star Trek Into Darkness reveal of the Enterprise coming out of the water. That was something else! All the feels. Deserves a spot on this list.

I can’t believe the intro of the refit Enterprise in TMP didn’t make the list. That was the first time Star Trek had been on the big screen and they knew how much people would be eager to see the updated ship. No CGI needed, just a stunning model, powerful score and what feels like 10 minutes of gratuitous shots flying around the ship.

In no order: The Bounty decloaking above the whaling ship Enterprise-A at the end of Voyage Home The Enterprise in TMP Discovery meets Enterprise The Kumari under Shran swoops in to help Archer fight the Xindi weapon at Earth The Enterprise appears on the Defiant viewscreen in Trials and Tribble-ations Enterprise-D arrives above Picard, Jack, Worf and Riiker in Picard 3:10 The Vengeance catching the Enteprise at warp in Trek into Darkness and giving it a right coating The Bird of Prey decloaks and fires a plasma torpedo at the Enteprise in Balance of Terror And of course, the arrival of the Fesarius in Corbomite Maneuver. The original effects work is phenomenal, Fred Steiner's score in incredible as this massive, MASSIVE ship approaches, fills the screen and makes the Enteprise appear like a tiny gnat in comparison. I still think its the greatest ship reveal in Trek history.

The Enterprise-Refit from TMP should have been on the list. It's a long scene but it's gorgeous looking. The original fans of TOS must have loved how it looked.

1. The Strange New Worlds credits sequence 2. The Titan shooing away the Pakleds 3. "Target that explosion and fire!" 4. The introduction to the Scimitar 5. The introduction of the Shrike 6. The Enterprise meeting the Discovery 7. The Enterprise rising out of the water and breaking the Prime Directive 8. The introduction of Rios' Stargazer 9. The launch of the Phoenix 10. The launch of the NX-01

"Fly her apart then" is one of my absolute favorite movie lines ever 😁

The Enterprise-A reveal at the end of The Voyage Home. As much as the destruction of the first Enterprise was a shock in The Search For Spock, that bit where the orbital shuttle heads towards the Excelsior to tease us a little before flying over its saucer to reveal the newly rechristened Enterprise-A was like a big hug for all the ship fans. Doesn’t matter that it’s a familiar class of ship, it mattered that it was an Enterprise. Great way to end the movie.

When Sulu brings the Enterprise to the rescue with guns ablazin to rescue Kirk, Spock, and Pike in Star Trek (2009) with the music punch always gave me chills.

Say what you will about it, and people have, but I still fondly remember seeing the reveal of the Enterprise in the first Star Movie. As always thank you so very much for the videos. And on a personal note: A shout out to a college friend of mine who I saw the movie with in theaters, and who went on to work at ILM, and has credits in many of the Star Trek TV shows, and is currently in Hospital battling Brain Cancer. ♥

The Enterprise's entrance in the "fire everything" scene in Star Trek 2009 deserves a spot. Fantastic moment

There are a ton of awesome starship entrances to choose from, so I can see this list being a little hard to narrow down. My personal favorite occurs in DS9's third season episode "The Die is Cast" when the USS Defiant decloaked in front of Odo and Garak's runabout before she dove headfirst into battle against the Jem'Hadar. Amazing scene!

You bringing up the Titan in No Small Parts gave me full on goosebumps. I love that moment so much.

We were surprised that Federation HQ could do that because we made the mistake of assuming it was just a space Station… instead of what it really is, the “Pax”-class starship USS Federation.

These lists are hard to narrow down for sure. But I think there was room for sure for either: - The Enterprise rising up behind the Reliant inside the Mutara Nebula with that beautiful James Horner score in TWOK. - Or even the Reliant giving chase to the Enterprise into the nebula "There she is..." along with Khan's theme blaring those glorious french horns - And the de-cloaking of the Klingon Bird of Prey over the Genesis Planet before it destroys the USS Grissom in TSFS Sure it's the second appearance in the film, but so much more dramatic.

It's not an entrance, but in Picard season 3, Roe's ship after she crashed into it. When it rose back up, still burning, powering up? It looked MAD. Gave me goosebumps.

Sorry, but you missed the best one by far - the introduction of the Enterprise Refit in Star Trek: TMP. That was 6 minutes of pure awesome, and should be #1 on this list, period. Otherwise, good list!

Personally a couple of Klingon Bird Of Prey Entrances could make your next list. 1. The Klingon ships that de-cloak to help the Enterprise at the end of "The Defector" and in "Redemption - Part 1" when Kurn's Bird of Prey comes to the aid of Gowron and Worf on the Vortas.

For me, the most stirring reveal was in Star Trek The Motion Picture when Scotty flies Admiral Kirk up to the space dock to see the refit. We had hoped and waited for the 10 years after the original series ended to see this!

If you wanted to start a list of reveals in other properties, the monolith over Jupiter in 2001: A Space Odyssey was pretty amazing. Black against the blackness of space, revealing itself by blocking stars with finally a glint of light off the surface.

I kind of feel that Voyager's finale, Endgame's, introductions of ablative armor on both the alternate timeline Janeway's shuttle and to a much greater effect, Voyager, were on their own sort of giving the same feeling as a great ship entrance. The first time the Defiant kicked some tail was amazing to me too. I thought that the Defiant lacked that feeling in First Contact despite being a so-called Borg fighting design... not just in its performance against the cube, which was reasonably decent of course, but also in the Defiant's new, but quite underwhelming sound effects for its pulse phasers, which had waaaayyy more kick on DS9. There were probably many more times than one when the Enterprise D had crazy good scenes too, the most recent and maybe the most powerful being Picard's finale. It's actually my favorite ship.

Great list have to admit when The Defiant(DS9,) debuted was a shock. A Federation starship with a cloaking device as well as being a warship. The Romulan Warbird first appearance(The Neutral zone TNG season 1 finale). The reveal of the Enterprise A(The Voyage home).

The klingon fleet arriving in sacrifice of angels is epic. I especially like how it reminds everyone that space is 3 dimensional and there's no real reason for nearly every other ship to be oriented the same way up

Look, the first time we see the Enterprise-E in 'First Contact', just cruising along majestically, is utterly breathtaking.

11/10 for the Sulu impression @Sean 😂

I still love the entrance of the Enterprise to save the Jellyfish in Trek 2009

my fav shots are : 1701E in the nebula at start of First Contact, the A leaving Spacedock in ST6 (also the A leaving Earth orbit in ST5), the arrival of the Valdore in Nemesis (really nice design for a Romulan warbird), the closeup of 1701 in Wrath of Khan coming alongside the Regula 1 station and matching speeds (appearing to stop relative to the station) and the entire Mutara battle sequence.

That shot with the Enterprise D Refit is one of the very few that really uses the 3rd dimension in space. Most other battles all the ships are more or less on the same plane.

So many great scenes for me, but three others for me not seen on this list, The USS Enterprise arriving in the first season finale of Discovery. The Enterprise-D reveal in Encounter at Farpoint. The Enterprise-C flying out the rift in Yesterday's Enterprise. She's battered but she's still got a presence about her that only comes with the Enterprise.

My vote would be for the Enterprise-refit reveal in TMP (yes it's long and slow like much of the rest of the film but in that particular case it's obviously a visual love letter to the new beauty of the classic ship seen on the big screen for the first time ever - THAT's sexy). A close 2nd would be the reveal of the Enterprise-A in Voyage Home - after losing the original in Search for Spock, seeing her named successor? People in the theater CHEERED when we saw it. It was the Vader-throws-the-Emperor-down-the-shaft moment in the original Return of the Jedi, it was the return-of-all-the-snapped-heroes moment of Avengers Endgame. Just pure give-the-audience-joy magic.

Mine is the intro of the refitted USS Enterprise in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, with Admiral James T. Kirk & Cmdr. Montgomery Scott inspecting her as Jerry Goldsmith's 'Enterprise' theme plays in the background. In the novelization of Star Trek VI, Capt. Sulu orders the USS Excelsior to go to Warp 10. And Uhura also contributed to the modification of the photon torpedo to a heat seeker - it was her idea, after all. The intro of the Imperial Klingon Fleet flagship Negh'var in DS9's The Way of the Warrior was also great.

11:45 gives such strong Wil Wheaton vibes (and that's absolutely a complement). Something about that "It was cool" felt like how he would say it - the tone, the expression. That unabashed enthusiasm for such a great moment.

Also, for the sequel list… the birds of Prey de clocking to surround the Romualans in “the defector.”

Sulu's *Excelsior* in STVI 😍

The California-class cavalry moment from Lower Decks is still one of my all time favorite Star Trek dynamic ship entrances. Especially given that it was an amazing payoff to the earlier setup where the _Cerritos_ was renowed among the Cali-class crews as being the _"Enterprise_ of support ships."

The entrance of the K'tinga class ships in Star Trek TMP was truly inspiring. It gives us a taste of how the Klingons had evolved from the original series to what they would become in later franchises. Also, Enterprise D in Yesterday's Enterprise, engaging three K'vort class Klingon battle cruisers with multiply vectored phaser shots and photon torpedo dispersal patterns. And Picards John Paul Jones moment, "Let's make sure that history never forgets the name... ENTERPRISE!!"

Mildly surprised that the Enterprise bursting in to save Spock in the 2009 movie didn't make the list. It was such an interesting scene to me, the "hell yeah!" of it coming out of warp, guns blazing, intercut with shots of the crew being utterly cool and business-like on the bridge as they did it. Easily one of my all-time favorites. :)

Sean, you want an intervention? Do a list on the top uniforms!

The reveal of the Enterprise D in Picard season 3 is probably my favorite reveal. That hit me in all of the feels. Tbe music too. That was just ... amazing.

I don't know if it is technically an entrance, but in Star Trek II, I always feel a thrill when the Enterprise comes up behind the Reliant during the nebula battle.

100% agree on Trekkies showing the world a better way. Also great catch on the Pakled comment about another Enterprise.

I remember that Klingon Cleave ship moment, it's very memorable. So much so, that in the Battle of the Binary Stars TFO in Star Trek Online, they perfectly recreated the ship slicing through the USS Europa. Serious credit to the developers for recreating that scene so perfectly.

I always thought that the introduction view of the Enterprise-E from "Nemesis", combined with the music, is one of the best ship entrances.

An important one for me is the Defiant decloaking the first time and then revealing Sisko as in command. Love it.

Star Trek VI certainly made up for the shortfall of V with the VFX (having gotten ILM back), the general look of the whole film, and of course the utter arse-kicking the Enterprise took, but kept on kicking back, they really did the ol' E-A justice... :)

Thank you for doing this list! How about the Botany Bay decloaking over the Russian whaling ship. It was one of the three scenes that made the crowd in the theatre to go completely bonkers. (Nuclear Wessals and the punk scene being the other two) LLAP 🖖

I feel that the arrival of the original NCC-1701 in the DS9 Tribble episode was as amazing to see her again since the series ended.

"Captain I'm picking up another ship" as the enterprise saves spock from Star Trek 2009 is an amazing entrance. Really should be on here.

Although I'm not a fan of the discovery Klingons ships, the redesign of the D7 looks good but the Cleav ship (definitely spelt it wrong) is so Klingon I'm honestly surprised it wasn't done before

The Enterprise D refit (aka Galaxy-X) had a phaser LANCE, not cannon. It fired a concentrated, high damage lance of phaser energy. Phaser cannons, on the other hand, are what the Defiant had.

Sean, I have to say, I was watching this video while eating dinner, your number 1 pick actually made me call out for joy and pump my arm up. I absolutely loved the entrance of the Artifact during that fight. It is perhaps the single best ship entrance Trek has ever done I think. Please keep up the good content guys.

The shot of the Akira-class above the Enterprise-E just letting loose a salvo of torpedoes and moving away is so damn iconic. That scene made me fall in love with both classes the Sovereign and the Akira. I wish the USS Thunderchild got a shout out, that ship was used for quite a few shots and actually held a lot of importance for being a single heavy cruiser in the franchise.

Solid list. I may shuffle it a bit but I mostly agree. I would have liked to see the entire California Class fleet showing up together make at least an honorable mention. That was pretty incredible. Even Boimler's voice when he is announcing them says it all.

In these examples, it amazes me how the model shots from the 80's and early 90's look so much better than the CG shots from the late 2010's and now. They're just so clean and crisp compared to the muddied shots of disco and picard. I'd go so far as to say the animated Lower Decks and Prodigy look better here.

Adding 2 from the novels (original crew) 1) My Enemy My Ally :: when Enterprise has rescued Intrepid and they are leaving, but chased by Romulans, then the Constellation and Inaeiu show up and pop the ship - with Kirk, looking at McCoy and commenting on having more faith in his timing. 2) The Wounded Sky :: when Enterprise returns from her journey, and the fleet basically all mutiny to welcome her home from being outside the galaxy/universe. Yes, Diane Duane is just about my favorite Star Trek author, why do you ask?

This plus, plus, plus needs a part 2. ... And please can we have some love for the initial Enterprise zoom from The Cage? OK, it's 60 years old but the zooming shot as we move closer and close to Pikes ship, we can see all that gorgeous detail and then we loop over the top and move directly into the Enterprise bridge. It's an incredible piece of production and really showcases the beauty of the Enterprise. Also, the Bounty in Voyage Home. Specifically the scene where it appears directly above the whaling ship. An amazing punch-the-air scene. (could also include any of the moments where the ship is cloaked in the middle of the park). Finally... And more deserving even than the Luna Titan. The finale of Lower Decks S3. The idea of the Ceretos being rescued has become a bit of a cliche by this point so the idea is completely subverted when instead of the Enterprise E or the Defiant or some other hero ship appearing.... The Ceretos is saved by dozens of Calli class ships all working together. It's like the little ships saving the Allied forces at Dunkirk. And utterly goes to show that it's not size that matters in the Trek universe, it's heart. (also Boimler exploding as he names all the incoming Calli ships is amazing) (p. S. Honerable mentions for the USS Defiant in DS9 S3... If you were watching in the 90s and didn't have access to spoilers, this was a game changing moment in the life of Next Gens poor cousin)

The 1701 rising about the Reliant in TWOK wasn’t really an entrance but fabulous ship porn

The entrance of the Enterprise with Pike in the last episode of season one discovery.. brought tears to my eyes.

The reveal of the Romulan D'deridex-class Warbird in the episode "The Neutral Zone" in ST: TNG. It was sleek, it was menacing, and it was massive, dwarfing the Galaxy-class Enterprise-D, the flagship of Starfleet, which was heretofore the standard to which every other ship compared to in their encounters. Most of it was due to perspective, but the D'deridex-class is actually nearly half again as big as the Galaxy-class. In TOS the Romulan warbirds were smaller than the Constitution-class and relied on their cloaking devices or sheer numbers to take on Kirk's Enterprise. The D'deridex was an eye popping reveal that the Romulan Star Empire had been busy in the intervening generation and was all too ready to confront Starfleet once more.

Resistance isn't futile, the borg's greatest enemy are flowers and feeling lonely.

Surprise Strange New Worlds didn't make the list. Enterprise is absolutely stunning in every shot, and I love the shot when they arrive to intervene in a fight between two much smaller ships. Strange New Worlds Enterprise always feels so immense and powerful when on screen.

I love that. It really is hilarious to remember the Titan-A was written to be a complete refit of the original Titan, even changing vessel classes, only to eventually become the Enterprise-G. It lived life as no less than 3 ships...

I kinda want to say the Enterprise from TMP with its initial beauty shot and explosive orchestration when you see her head on is my favorite ship reveal, but I think the Enterprise from 2009 warping in, all phasers blazing to defend the Jellyfish takes the cake.

The Titan scene is one of my favorite in all of Star Trek. Just 1 minute of perfection

The NCC-1701 in the cage. The camera pans up over the saucer and passes down into the bridge. The best introduction to the entire Trek universe.

Major honorable mention: The Enterprise, no bloody A, B, C, or D, from TMP. Six minutes of Kirk gushing over his one true love? Priceless.

"FLY HER APART THEN!!!" One of the best lines EVER!!!

The Enterprise-A reveal from the end of The Voyage Home is pretty jaw-dropping.

I'm on board with the number one pick. Also, the build up from Seven and Hugh with the emotions that came along with that broke in that scene did shock me a little. Then, the shock changed to an ear-to-ear smile when I saw this scene for the first time because I knew who it was who was flying the Cube.

Best of Both Worlds... The moment they find the Cube, literally sends chills every time with the music score.

Your choice for #1 is absolutely correct. Jaw-dropping.

Even though the Kelvin/JJ-verse isn't universally loved...that scene when the USS Vengeance comes up behind the Enterprise within the warp conduit...and then flings it out is cool AF I think. :)