(Not including the reboot trilogy as that's a different altogether topic)
I was recently in a mood to binge the first ten Star Trek films as I hadn't seen any of them in several years, and I notice that the TOS films are better than the TNG films. Which is weird because when it comes to the tv series, I far prefer TNG and its spin-offs over TOS but when it came to the films, it's the opposite. I love First Contact, and like Generations but Insurrection and Nemesis are pretty bad IMO, whereas the only TOS film I truly dislike is V. (My favorites are IV and VI) Was wondering what others here thought, I think this may be the standard opinion in fact.
As for why they're better, I think for whatever reason the TOS movies feel more cinematic, whereas the TNG films were mostly trying to capture the TNG feeling and not as much be cinematic?
I used to despise Star Trek 1 but recently saw the HD Directors Cut version and loved it.
I'll admit I haven't seen that but it would have to be some impressive magic.
My wife has never managed to stay awake past the opening sweep around the Enterprise but I can't say it really gets better.