Star Trek (2009)
The future begins.
The fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of bitter rivals. One, James Kirk, is a delinquent, thrill-seeking Iowa farm boy. The other, Spock, a Vulcan, was raised in a logic-based society that rejects all emotion. As fiery instinct clashes with calm reason, their unlikely but powerful partnership is the only thing capable of leading their crew through unimaginable danger, boldly going where no one has gone before. The human adventure has begun again.
In Star Trek, consciousness is carried by aliens — a plane of “interstellar federation”. The story fights on E8/E9/E10 of the E0–E14 reality ladder, compressing prejudice, culture, authority, exploration.
Same rung, same subject
Films fighting at the same level of reality, about the same things.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)E8/E9/E10 · authority, culture
Justice League: Gods and Monsters (2015)E8/E9/E10 · authority, prejudice
District 9 (2009)E9/E10 · authority, prejudice
Cowboys & Aliens (2011)E8/E9 · culture, prejudice
The Faculty (1998)E8/E9 · authority, prejudice
Fantastic Planet (1973)E9/E10 · culture, prejudiceSame subject, different rung
The same preoccupations examined at another scale — one mind versus a nation.
Also bends a rule of reality
Other films that change a standing rule of their world — ranked first by those bending it at the same rung.
Wicked City (1987)alters at E0 · same rung · loose
Wreck-It Ralph (2012)alters at E0 · same rung · loose
Monsters vs Aliens (2009)alters at E0 · same rung · loose
Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014)alters at E0 · same rung · loose
Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost (1999)alters at E0 · same rung · loose
Patema Inverted (2013)alters at E0 · same rung · rigorousAlso hides consciousness here
Other films that move a human interior onto the same kind of thing.
Redline (2009)consciousness in aliens · interstellar racing arena
Enemy Mine (1985)consciousness in aliens · alien frontier
Lilo & Stitch (2025)consciousness in aliens · alien-ohana island
The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning (2008)consciousness in aliens · underwater kingdom
Village of the Damned (1960)consciousness in aliens · alien‑children village
Superman: Man of Tomorrow (2020)consciousness in aliens · alien-hero metropolisSame subject, different mask
The same preoccupations carried by a different kind of thing — grief told through the dead, an animal, a machine.
Smallfoot (2018)consciousness in animals · authority, culture
Warcraft (2016)consciousness in monsters · authority, culture
The Little Mermaid (1989)consciousness in animals · authority, prejudice
The Little Mermaid (2023)consciousness in monsters · authority, prejudice
Tinker Bell and the Legend of the NeverBeast (2014)consciousness carried elsewhere · culture, prejudice
Z-O-M-B-I-E-S (2018)consciousness in the dead · authority, prejudice
