15 of the best movie prequels ever

Star Trek (2009)

The Star Trek franchise was in urgent need of rebooting – but its rabid fanbase would shun any actor who dared to take over the role of James T Kirk. How to square the circle?

Enter Lost creator JJ Abrams, who cleverly used time travel as a plot element to create a film that's simultaneously a sequel to the previous films, a prequel recounting how Kirk, Spock and Bones met, and a reboot that rewrites established Trek history.

All that would count for nothing if the film wasn't any good, though – fortunately Abrams delivers a rip-roaring sci-fi adventure with space battles, swordfights and some top-notch banter between Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto) and McCoy (Karl Urban).