Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) was the center of four 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.

Star Trek: The Next Generation jumped to the big screen in 1994's Star Trek Generations, which featured , 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.

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. in his four Star Trek movies, especially in my five favorite scenes.

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 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.

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 and trying to find the humanity in his doppelgänger.

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,

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,"

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 , which Dougherty is conveniently forgetting so that his ends justify the means.

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

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,

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 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.

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,

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). from being assimilated by the Borg.

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. 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.

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,

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. 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.

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 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.

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 's movies.