As amusing detail in the Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987 to 1994) episode “The Pegasus” (Burton, 1994) is that the crew and children of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D celebrate “Captain Picard Day” on Stardate 47457.1, which roughly translates to this day, the 16^th of June. They do this by producing drawings, models, and paintings that the bewildered Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) must then judge. I, however, am using this as another good excuse to delve into some more Picard and Next Generation content.

Released: 11 December 1998
Director: Jonathan Frakes
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Budget: $70 million
Stars: Patrick Stewart, F. Murray Abraham, Brent Spiner, Donna Murphy, Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, and Anthony Zerbe

The Plot:
When Captain Picard uncovers a Starfleet conspiracy to steal the rejuvenating properties of the peaceful Ba’ku, the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise-E rebels to protect the functionally immortal adopted inhabitants from being forcibly relocated by corrupt Admiral Matthew Dougherty (Zerbe) and the warmongering Ahdar Ru’afo (Abraham).

The Background:
Once the popular Star Trek: The Next Generation series came to an end, the crew followed in their predecessors’ footsteps and moved on to the big screen. Although the highly anticipated meeting between Captain Picard and Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) failed to live up to the potential of its premise, it did well at the box office. However, while the sequel (one of my favourite Star Trek movies), Star Trek: First Contact (Frakes, 1996), outdid its predecessor considerably with its $30 million gross, Paramount wished to lighten to tone for the next film. After some deliberation, writer Michael Piller based the story around the quest for everlasting youth; one draft saw Lieutenant Commander Data (Spiner) killed off, and star Patrick Stewart was adamant that the script remain true to his arc from First Contact by fighting an ethical battle. Star Trek: Insurrection was the first Star Trek film to replace traditional model shots with CGI sequences, though fifty-five full sets were constructed to build the Ba’ku village and the Son’a were brought to life through extensive prosthetics and make-up effects. With a worldwide gross of over $117 million, Star Trek: Insurrection made a bit less than its predecessor and was met with mixed reviews. Critics noted that the film was little more than an extended episode of the TV series and a sluggish experience, though others were impressed by the performances and character moments. Of course, the Next Generation crew would return regardless for an unmitigated critical and commercial, leading to a franchise reboot in 2009 before the cast and crew finally reunited almost twenty years after their last adventure.

The Review:
It’s a commonly held belief that all the odd-numbered Star Trek movies are bad, and all the even-numbered Star Trek movies are good; while this is naturally subjective (I prefer the fifth movie to the sixth, for example), I can’t deny that Star Trek: First Contact is one of my favourites in the franchise. After the snore-fest that was Star Trek Generations, First Contact delivered all the action and intrigue I’d expect from a Next Generation film so I was naturally excited to see what the crew would get up to in their next film. Imagine my disappointment to find that Star Trek: Insurrection was a more light-hearted, character-driven romp that was both a re-framing and a contradiction of the Next Generation episode “Journey’s End” (Allen, 1994). Don’t get me wrong, I fully understand that Star Trek is about much more than just space battles and action-orientated plots, but some of the worst episodes across the franchise are those that focus more on politics, philosophy, and slower, less engaging plots so I’ve often had a contentious relationship with this film. Ironically, Star Trek: Insurrection forgoes a lengthy title sequence and instead displays the titles while introducing us to the Ba’ku, who live a simple live free of technology. They’re people of the land who grow their own food and work together in peace and harmony, and have no idea that Starfleet are secretly monitoring them using special cloaked suits and a cloaked outpost. However, the Ba’ku are alerted to their presence when Lieutenant Commander Data suffers a sudden malfunction, attacking Starfleet’s officers and their Son’a allies, exposing them to the locals and terrifying children like Artim (Michael Welch).

When we catch up with Data’s crewmates, they’re in the midst of welcoming a new, if technologically underdeveloped, race into the United Federation of Planets to help replenish the Federation’s losses at the hands of the Borg and the Dominion. This, sadly, just makes me wish that we’d had a Next Generation/Deep Space Nine (1993 to 1999) film that focused on the conflict with the Dominion. Not only was this a catastrophic and significant story in Star Trek lore, it also would’ve given the Deep Space Nine cast some time in the spotlight. Instead, we’re left with Picard’s awkward (if amusing) interactions with the relatively primitive Evora and an explanation for Lieutenant Commander Worf’s (Michael Dorn) presence that’s so weak the characters simply interrupt him rather than dwell on it. Luckily for Picard, Admiral Dougherty pulls him away from these diplomatic duties to request Data’s schematics; although Picard supplies this information, his concern for his friend and crewmate sees him disregard Dougherty’s suggestion to avoid coming in person because of “environmental concerns”. When they arrive, Data is said to have taken hostages and has stolen a Federation shuttle and Dougherty is under pressure from his Son’a ally, Ahdar Ru’afo, to destroy the android. Picard convinces the Admiral to let him and Worf attempt to shut Data down by distracting him with an amusing chorus from H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor (Sullivan and Gilbert, 1878), only to be embarrassed when Data’s “hostages” have been treated as guests by Anij (Murphy) and Sojef (Daniel Hugh Kelly). Picard is both disgusted to find that Starfleet have been wilfully disregarding the “Prime Directive” of non-interference by spying on the Ba’ku and surprised to find the Ba’ku are a warp-capable race with considerable knowledge of technology, they just choose not to employ it in favour of enjoying the tranquillity of their adopted world and the “metaphasic particles” that bestow rejuvenating effects upon them.

Picard feels a renewed vigour thanks to the Ba’ku and an intense admiration for the culture, alongside an obvious attraction to Anji that drives him to learn more about their people and their journey. Sojef reveals that the Ba’ku were once on the verge of self-annihilation and fled to establish a peaceful sanctuary some 309 years previously, and Picard is disgusted by the plot to relocate the Ba’ku, who refuse to take up arms and lower themselves to war. Thankfully, Picard is outraged by the blatant disregard for Starfleet’s guiding principles and is on-hand to fight for their continued survival. He’s in awe of their unique affliction, which enables them to live longer, healthier lives, continuing an ongoing theme of his advancing years and mortality that’s laced throughout the Next Generation movies. Although tempted to bask in the Ba’ku’s power, Picard’s knowledge of human history drives him to oppose Dougherty’s schemes; aghast by the Federation Council’s claim upon the Ba’ku, Picard has an impassioned, defiant confrontation with Dougherty and essentially goes rogue from Starfleet to prevent past atrocities happening gain. While initially somewhat hostile towards Picard, Anji is unique amongst her people in that she has a fascination for technology; she’s horrified to discover that the Federation are planning to covertly take her people off-world but warms to Picard after being amused by his curiosity. She encourages him to take the time to embrace the moment, to stop analysing and just give himself fully to life, a perception heightened by the Ba’ku and which allows them (and, eventually, Picard) to effectively slow down a single moment in time in order to appreciate life and survive fatal injuries. Although he’s now capable of expressing emotions, Data remains as curious and socially awkward as ever. Star Trek: Insurrection explores new layers of his humanity and character growth through his relationship with Artim, a Ba’ku boy both fascinated and afraid of the android’s capabilities since he’s grown up devoid of technology. Although it takes some effort for Data to convince Artim that he’s not a threat, Artim eventually teaches Data the value of playing and having fun, allowing Data to experience a degree of the light-hearted focus of the film despite not being affected by the metaphasic particles. Data also proves invaluable in setting the plot in motion since it’s his brief malfunction that attracts Picard to the Ba’ku, is instrumental in getting Picard and Anji to safety by acting as a flotation device, and he who exposed the Federation plot.

The Ba’ku’s metaphasic particles have a rejuvenating effect on the rest of the crew as well (strangely even before the Enterprise-E reaches Ba’ku), though it’s primarily played for laughs through Worf’s struggles withs Klingon boils and rising “aggressive tendencies” due to essentially suffering through Klingon puberty. The planet’s influence also gives Commander William Riker (Frakes) and Counsellor Deanna Troi (Sirtis) the chance to rediscover their passion for each other with carefree, adolescent playfulness. This not only sees Troi shave Riker’s trademark beard (in a sensual bubble bath, no less) after reacting with impish disgust to his facial hair and rekindle their romantic relationship, injecting a little flirtatious sexuality into the usually less romantically inclined Next Generation narrative. In addition to joining Picard’s rescue team, Doctor Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) reveals the extent of the planet’s rejuvenating effects to the captain through examinations of the crew, noting increased metabolism and energy from exposure to the metaphysic particles. She’s also the one who delivers crucial exposition into the Son’a, revealing that they and the Ba’ku are one and the same. Concerned for his friend’s welfare, Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) puts his engineering expertise and knowledge of Data’s systems to work to discover that the android was damaged by a Son’a phaser after he discovered the elaborate holoship they plan to use to smuggle the Ba’ku off the planet. Throughout the film, Geordi struggles with his cybernetic optical implants, but sadly misses out on exploring the emotional potential of his restored eyes in any depth; however, Burton expresses profound emotion in conveying Geordi’s appreciation at seeing a sunrise with his own eyes for the first time in his life. Although Picard fully intends to go solo in his mission to defend the Ba’ku, Worf, Data, Troi, and Crusher rebel alongside him while Riker and Geordi appeal to the Federation Council. Although reluctant to rely on technology to safeguard his people, Sojef mobilises a mass evacuation to the tunnels in the surrounding mountains while Picard and his crew defend them from the Son’a attack

Dougherty has allied with the Son’a and their leader, Ahdar Ru’afo, in a bid to monitor and safely displace the Ba’ku so as to harness the metaphasic particles for wider use. This is an alliance of convenience since only the Son’a have the means to harvest the particles, but Dougherty sees Ba’ku as a chance to save and improve countless lives despite the fact that this will essentially leave the planet a barren wasteland. While Dougherty fully believes that he has every right to do this since the Ba’ku barely number six-hundred and aren’t indigenous to their world, he’s adamant that the mission falls within strict Federation procedures, meaning he values subterfuge and patience to avoid unnecessary attention and bloodshed. Ru’afo finds Dougherty’s insistence on rules and regulations first amusing and then increasingly aggravating since he believes it’s slowing things down when brute force would achieve the same means much faster. Riker and Troi’s research show the Son’a to an aggressive, oppressive, war-like race who conquer and subjugate others for riches and power, but Dougherty is forced to rely on their weapons and expertise since the Son’a are exiles from the Ba’ku people and thus offer unique insight into the planet’s metaphasic properties. Ru’afo’s frustration not only comes from his jealousy and desire to avenge himself on his former people, but also a desperate need to bask in the Ba’ku’s rejuvenating properties since he’s reached the limits of genetic manipulation and many of his people cannot afford to wait for the particles to naturally improve their condition. Ru’afo and his people are dangerous and driven, but essentially outcast adolescents lashing out at their parents; we see this in Ru’afo’s right-hand man, Gallatin (Gregg Henry), who begins to doubt their mission as Ru’afo’s mania increases. Played with an intense, psychotic glee by accomplished stage actor F. Murray Abraham, Ru’afo’s true nature is exposed as his aggravation increases. While he goes along with Dougherty’s plan to covertly relocate the Ba’ku, he convinces the Admiral to sign off on an attack on the Enterprise-E (in one of my favourite exchanges in the film) when they refuse to leave the area and violently ends their partnership when Dougherty and his “procedures” get in his way once too often, leaving Ru’afo free to harvest the metaphasic particles with destructive force.

The Nitty-Gritty:
I mentioned earlier about the themes of mortality; the idea of Picard’s days being numbered and time being against him permeates the Next Generation films and is a clear holdover from the Original Series movies, where the advancing age of these characters was often at the forefront. Star Trek: Insurrection gives the whole crew the chance to rediscover their youth; renewed by the Ba’ku, there’s a playful energy on the Enterprise-E that sees even Picard revelling in his newfound energy. Picard, who has spent most of his life in space going from mission to mission, is severely tempted to slow down and settle on Ba’ku, whose people are free from the burdens of responsibility, and feels more alive than ever thanks to the planet’s influence. This is in stark contrast to the Son’a; exiled from the planet after a destructive rebellion, the Son’a are bitter and twisted and clinging to life by any means necessary, desperate to avenge themselves on their parents like raging children. Finally, a huge aspect of Ru’afo’s frustration with Federation procedures is predicated on his belief (and that of many during this time) that Starfleet, like Dougherty, is “old”. Extremists such as he recognise that the Federation has suffered crippling losses recently and is losing support, allowing him to aggressively influence the Admiral’s reluctant approval for the Son’a to intercept the Enterprise-E.

Star Trek: Insurrection does offer a few new visuals amidst its mostly middling plot; the opening sequence, in which Data attacks Starfleet personnel while partially cloaked, showcases some fun invisibility effects, as does the massive cloaked holoship that fascinates both Artim and Anji and reveals to Picard the blasphemous extent of Dougherty’s plan. However, I can’t help but notice that the ships and space action have taken a dramatic step back; CGI seems to have replaced all the traditional model shots and it looks down-right cartoonish at times, robbing Ru’afo’s flagship and its skirmishes with the Enterprise-E of a lot of their appeal. Once again Riker is left in command of the Enterprise-E and, once again, he’s hampered by environmental factors; the “Briar Patch” that surrounds Ba’ku makes space combat extremely dangerous, and the Son’a’s employment of a “subspace weapon” leaves Geordi with no choice but the eject the warp core to save the ship and Riker forced to manually highly volatile “metreon gas” to destroy the Son’a ships. However, most of  action sequences take place on the planet’s surface; Picard and Data have a brief shoot-out with a Son’a guard aboard the holoship but the most prominent action sequences come as Picard and the others desperately defend the Ba’ku. This sees the village bombarded by phaser shots as the Son’a target the transport inhibitors, has Picard and the others fending off Son’a drones that forcibly transport the Ba’ku, and leaves Anij near death from the Son’a attack. Conversely, the Son’a are presented as one of the more unsettling Star Trek species; without the rejuvenating effects of Ba’ku, the Son’a have taken on a decrepit, almost mummified appearance. They’re forced to rely on genetic tampering and surprisingly gruesome cosmetic surgery to prolong their lives, warping and stretching their skin to the point where they are almost unrecognisable from their people, the Ba’ku, and often suffer from splits and lesions when they become too emotional. Although the CGI used to render their skin-stretching technology leaves a lot to be desired (especially compared to the more practical effects used to achieve the same means), it does result in a gruesome death scene for Admiral Dougherty when Ru’afo forces him into the machine and tears his face apart.

Despite Picard, Worf, and Data’s best efforts to get the Ba’ku to safety, most of them are abducted by the Son’a, including Anij and Picard, who’s more than ready to face a court martial if it means exposing Dougherty’s plot and reveals that the Admiral has gotten mixed up in a blood feud between the exiled Son’a. With the misguided Dougherty dead, Ru’afo orders the deployment of the “collector” (a set of sadly laughable CGI solar sails), despite Gallatin’s reservations about annihilating their former people. Picard appeals to Gallatin’s humanity and convinces him to aid him in opposing Ru’afo’s plan. Data then distracts Ru’afo with tachyon bursts to his flagship, forcing Ru’afo to reset their shield frequencies to avoid being destroyed by the “thermolytic reaction” the collector will produce. This creates an opening for an entertaining deception that sees the Son’a transported, en masse, to the holoship and momentarily fooled by a holographic simulation. Ru’afo quickly discovers the trick and is enraged; he transports himself directly to the collector to restart the process and Picard is forced to confront him, one-on-one, in the collector’s surprisingly sparse control room. After giving Ru’afo the runaround, Picard prepares to meet his end to destroy the collector and save the Ba’ku; luckily, the Enterprise-E arrives just in time to beam him to safety, leaving Ru’afo to go up in flames with his diabolical aspirations. Thanks to Riker, Starfleet halt the Ba’ku relocation plan and launch a full investigation and the remaining Son’a surrender, allowing Gallatin to bashfully reunite with his parents on Ba’ku. Although tempted to stay on the planet, and with Anij, Picard vows to continue protecting the universe from threats both foreign and domestic to ensure that the Federation doesn’t lose its way and repeat the worst mistakes of human history, and the crew return to the ship victorious, reinvigorated, and ready for their next adventure.

The Summary:
Even now, I remain conflicted about Star Trek: Insurrection: on the one hand, it’s a decent, surprisingly emotional adventure for the crew and a far more light-hearted escapade than the last film but, on the other hand, Star Trek: First Contact set a pretty high standard and Insurrection doesn’t come close to matching it. Fundamentally, they are two different films, however, just as different episodes of Star Trek told different stories and had different aspects that made them appealing. Some prefer the character-based stories; others the diplomatic stories or ruminations on age, humanity, and morality; and others prefer the more action-orientated episodes. For me, a Star Trek movie needs to hit all of those beats to have the most appeal and, while Star Trek: Insurrection does try to do this, it falls a little flat for me and comes across as a far too subdued production as a result. It’s a shame as there are some interesting elements here; the continued narrative of Picard’s age, for one thing, and the presentation of Starfleet as a less benevolent entity. Picard shines through his staunch defence of the Ba’ku but it’s interesting to learn that he had completely different stance on the same matter in “Journey’s End”. I liked seeing the crew be affected by the metaphasic particles, even if it is largely just played for laughs, and it’s mildly adorable to see Data explore what it means to be a child and Picard to consider settling down, even if neither of these plot points carry through to the next film. F. Murray Abraham was great as the conniving, desperate Ru’afo; I loved his frustration with Dougherty and his rules, but it’s not enough to salvage the film for me, especially when you remember the lacklustre special effects. Ultimately, it’s a more subdued and grounded Star Trek adventure but one I rarely find myself revisiting or really thinking about, so I’d still choose to watch Star Trek: First Contact any day.

My Rating:

Could Be Better

What did you think to Star Trek: Insurrection? Where does it rank against the other Next Generation and Star Trek films for you? Do you prefer its more light-hearted, grounded story? What did you think to Ru’afo and the gruesome depiction of the Son’a? Did you enjoy seeing the crew be more playful and relaxed? What did you think to the idea that Starfleet would so brazenly abandon their principles? How are you celebrating Captain Picard Day today? Whatever your thoughts on Star Trek: Insurrection, or Star Trek in general, go ahead and share them below and be sure to check out my other Star Trek reviews.

As amusing detail in the Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987 to 1994) episode “The Pegasus” (Burton, 1994) is that the crew and children of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D celebrate “Captain Picard Day” on Stardate 47457.1, which roughly translates to this day, the 16^th of June. They do this by producing drawings, models, and paintings that the bewildered Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) must then judge. I, however, am using this as another good excuse to delve into some more Picard and Next Generation content.

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Released: 18 November 1994
Director: David Carson
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Budget: $60 million
Stars: Patrick Stewart, Malcolm McDowell, Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes, Levar Burton, and William Shatner

The Plot:
When Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Stewart) and his crew investigate a Romulan attack and rescue Doctor Tolian Soran (McDowell). Soran forces the Enterprise-D into a conflict with the Klingons so that he can return to an extra-dimensional realm known as the “Nexus”, a plot that threatens to destroy entire worlds and sees Picard entering the Nexus to recruit the help of the legendary Captain James T. Kirk (Shatner).

The Background:
Once the popular Star Trek: The Next Generation wrapped up, the crew, like their predecessors, featured in a series of feature-length films. Writers Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga were recruited mid-way through The Next Generation’s sixth season to pen the script for the crew’s first big-screen outing, which was always framed around the idea of the Original Series (1966 to 1969) crew passing the torch, or outright doing battle with, their Next Generation successors, though the writers struggled to find a way to have the multi-generational crews meet face-to-face. Determined to aim high, the writers and producer Rick Berman hit upon the idea of killing the iconic Captain Kirk, a decision which both the studio and Shatner had some concerns about. For the transition to the silver screen, production designer Herman Zimmerman improved many of the Next Generation sets, giving them a new coat of polish and designing an elaborate new area, stellar cartography, for a key scene in the narrative, while Bill George gave the Enterprise-D a touch up for cinema screens. Star Trek Generations also marked the first use of extensive CGI for many of the model, space, and battle scenes, which very quickly became the norm for future Star Trek projects. Star Trek Generations grossed $118 million at the box office, making it a financial success, but was met with mixed reviews; critics complained that it felt more like a longer episode of the TV series and relied too much on audience familiarity, and many criticised the film for killing Kirk in such an underwhelming fashion. What should have been an iconic meeting of two prominent Star Trek characters was seen as a disappointing waste of potential, with Patrick Stewart generally regarded as the superior actor of the two, and many of the film’s other plot points were seen as equally disappointing. These days, Star Trek Generations remains divisive, but it did result in a series of bonkers novels written by Shatner that returned his famous character to life for further adventures.

The Review:
I’ve talked a bit about this before, but I was firmly a Next Generation fan as a kid; my only real experience to the Original Series came from the films, as the show just wasn’t on terrestrial television when I was growing up, so it was Next Generation and onwards for me. Still, I was fascinated by the concept of the Original Series and had been won over by the cast and characters from the majority of their feature-film adventures, so the idea of seeing interactions between them both was very exciting for me as a Star Trek fan. I believe I’d seen the two-part Next Generation episode “Unification” (Landau; Bole, 1991) prior to this, or not long after, which offered a rare cross-generational moment when Picard encountered Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy), but it seemed like it would be all-but-impossible to get the Enterprise-A and Enterprise-D in the same place at the same time due to the massive time gap between the generations, so Star Trek Generations had a hell of a lot of potential and promise in its premise alone.

Following a dramatic opening sequence in which he learn that Kirk was presumably lost when the ridiculously unprepared Enterprise-B was damaged by a destructive energy ribbon later identified as the “Nexus”, Star Trek Generations jumps ahead to the then-present day some eighty years later to find the crew of the Enterprise-D celebrating the promotion of Lieutenant Worf (Michael Dorn) to Lieutenant-Commander on a holodeck simulator. Unfortunately, Picard’s jovial mood soon takes an unexpected and crushing blow when he receives word that his brother and nephew, Robert (Jeremy Kemp/Ian Abercrombie) and René (David Tristan Birkin/Christopher James Miller), have perished in a fire at Château Picard. This leaves Picard in an extremely vulnerable place for the majority of the film; struggling to process his grief, he becomes irritable and snaps at his crew, most notably Commander William Riker (Frakes) and Lieutenant-Commander Data (Spiner). Sympathy from Counsellor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) allows him to open up (in actual fact, he breaks down in an uncomfortably awkward sequence) about the fire, but he remains somewhat shell-shocked by the realisation that his family line has effectively ended with the death of his young nephew. Consequently, he has a contentious relationship, to say the least, with the concept of time; feeling his age and the weight of what could have been baring down on top of him, he’s fascinated by the allure of the Nexus, which promises its occupants their ideal life at the cost of denying the reality of the outside world. Despite his pain and doubts, Picard remains a stern, but fair, commanding officer and throws himself whole-heartedly into trying to predict and ultimately stop the ribbon’s destructive path. He’s also the only one of the three Nexus occupants to actively reject the paradise dimension through the sheer force of his conviction to making a difference in the galaxy and living a life worth remembering while he has the time, regardless of what he does or doesn’t leave behind.

As is generally the case with the Next Generation feature-films, it’s Data who receives the biggest sub-plot out of the rest of the Enterprise-D crew; just as Picard struggles with his emotions, Data finds himself perplexed at his continued inability to grasp basic human concepts such as “humour” and is so disturbed at having misunderstood the concept and upsetting Doctor Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) that he resolves to install the “Emotion Chip” (retrieved from his twin “brother”, Lore (also Spiner), in the episode “Descent, Part II” (Singer, 1993)). Data’s struggles to process and adapt to the sudden influx of emotions is a recurring element of the film, and a significant character arc for him; at first, he’s excited at exploring positive emotions and his increased range of comprehension and emotion, and this gives Spiner a chance to be much more whimsical with the normally logical android and leads to some of the film’s more amusing moments as Data is hit with a case of the giggles and does a little sing-song when asked to scan for lifeforms. However, he soon becomes overwhelmed by them, and the accompanying negative emotions, when the chip overloads his positronic relay. After being crippled by fear, Data is left guilt-ridden when his friend, Commander Geordi LaForge (Burton), is captured by the Klingons and begs to be deactivated until the chip can be removed so he can be spared his pain. This, however, acts as a thematic parallel to Picard’s own pain and the Captain encourages Data to work through his emotions since learning to process the good and the bad is all part of being human, which includes making mistakes and learning how to overcome fear and doubt. Ultimately, Data resolves to continue on and make amends for his mistake, though Geordi shows no ill-will towards his friend, which results in him ending the film as a far more emotionally expressive character than the one we followed in The Next Generation, which would continue to be seen in subsequent Next Generation movies.

The film’s primary, tangible antagonist is Dr. Soren, played with scenery chewing (if sadly underutilised) malice by the fantastic Malcolm McDowell. McDowell certainly has the menace and acting chops to match wits with Stewart/Picard, but Dr. Soren doesn’t really make for an especially intimidating villain, despite the fact that his obsession with the Nexus has led to the destruction of numerous starships and even entire planets. Like Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg), Dr. Soren is a long-lived El-Aurian whose race were decimated by the Borg and scattered throughout the galaxy; prior to this, he was a gentle and kind-hearted man, but the Borg attack and the loss of his beloved wife and children changed him, scarred him, for life. Dr. Soren came to regard death as in inevitability and time as a predatory animal hunting every lifeform in existence, and actively sought to defy both by losing himself to the Nexus. Having experienced a taste of paradise about eighty years previously before being torn away by the Enterprise-B, Dr. Soren has explored every possibility to re-enter the Nexus and concluded that the only way to guarantee that he survives the cross-dimensional trip is to forcibly direct the energy ribbon towards Veridian III, an action that will cause (and has caused) the cataclysmic destruction of entire worlds. Dr. Soren, however, cares little about this; he even allies with the Klingon sisters Lursa (Barbara March) and B’Etor Duras (Gwynyth Walsh) to stave off the Enterprise-D (using Geordi as an unwilling spy) long enough for him to destroy the Veridan star and enact his plan and refuses to listen to Picard’s pleas for sanity. Dr. Soren is a driven, single-minded villain who is absolutely fixated on returning to the Nexus whatever the cost; he cares nothing for the death and destruction his actions will cause, or how reprehensible his wife would find his actions, and is simply consumed by not only his selfish and maniacal desires but also his fear regarding the inevitability of death.

As is only fitting, Kirk – and his Original Series cohorts Commander Montgomery “Scotty” Scott (James Doohan) and Commander Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig) – is treated with reverence and respect by John Harriman (Alan Ruck), Captain of the Enterprise-B, and are mobbed by adoring reporters, all of whom regard the trio as “living legends”. In keeping with much of his characterisation throughout the Original Series movies, Kirk is a man at a crossroads; very much retired, he is literally itching to get back into action and only stops himself from interfering in Harriman’s actions out of a begrudging respect for the fact that he (as in Kirk) is no longer in command. While his experience and knowledge clearly outweigh those of Harriman, Kirk only gets involved when all other options are exhausted; once he does, he immediately comes up with a variety of possible solutions using the Enterprise-B’s limited capabilities to try and rescue the ships threatened by the Nexus, and even appears to die when successfully helping the ship escape the ribbon’s destructive path. However, it’s revealed that Kirk’s actually been transported to the Nexus; although Kirk’s been presumed dead for almost eighty years, from his perspective he only just arrived in the paradise dimension and, once there, his priorities immediately shift. Kirk sees the otherworldly nirvana as a second chance to make good on all the things he ignored in favour of galivanting across the galaxy and vehemently resents Picard’s suggestion that he’s turning his back on his duties as a Starfleet officer. Kirk feels he has more than paid his dues and that “the galaxy owes [him] one” but sees a lot of himself in Picard; straight-laced and obsessed with “duty and obligation” at the expense of his personal life and wants, but the pull of adventure ultimately lures Kirk into one last hurrah. The interactions between Kirk and Picard are easily the best part of the film, and the verbal jousting and banter they share for the entirety of the final act is incredibly surreal and enjoyable; Kirk represents what Picard could become if he doesn’t realise that he needs to appreciate life outside of Starfleet, and Picard offers Kirk one last chance to “make a difference” like he used to on a near-daily basis and to experience the excitement and danger he felt as Captain of the Enterprise rather than languish in a dream-like dimension.

The Nitty-Gritty:
It’s hard to argue with those who were disappointed that Star Trek Generations just feels like a longer, mediocre episode of The Next Generation; the film drags unnecessarily with many of its plot points and, especially, in its pacing. Not only are the film’s uniforms wildly inconsistent, constantly shifting between the Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993 to 1999) outfits, but it doesn’t even feature the iconic Star Trek theme until the closing credits and begins with a long, drawn out, sombre title sequence in which nothing of any great interest happens and we’re not even treated to a rousing score to get us excited. Obviously, it would be a bit misleading to act as though the film was going to be this action-packed spectacle, but the point is that Star Trek Generations could’ve, and should’ve, been so much more and it fumbles the ball right off the bat. The clue’s in the title: “Generations”, and yet we barely get much interaction between Kirk and Picard and they’re pushed together in one of the most contrived ways imaginable. Maybe it’s just me, but I would have much preferred seeing all of the Original Series crew back in action, in the Enterprise-A, and going head-to-head and battling alongside their Next Generation counterparts.

Unfortunately, many of the Original Series cast declined to join the production, primarily because they were reduced to glorified cameos in the opening. Consequently, while it’s fun seeing Scotty and Chekov again, it’s nothing compared to what could have been had the entire crew been a part of the film. Sadly, as is often the case, many of the supporting characters are pushed aside so the film can focus on Picard, Data, and the main antagonist. I’m no fan of Riker but Picard’s enigmatic First Officer really doesn’t get all that much to do here; he’s concerned for Picard’s welfare after the Captain is uncharacteristically snappy with him and leads the away teams that investigate the Amargosa observatory, but Generations isn’t a great character moment for Riker as the Enterprise-D is crippled, and ultimately unsalvageably downed, by a twenty-year-old Bird of Prey when he’s left in command! Still, at least he’s at the forefront of that; Deanna tries to console Picard after learning of his loss but has little else to do, Dr. Crusher is primarily there to facilitate Data’s decision to install the Emotion Chip, and Worf may as well not even be in the film since he’s mainly there for a bit of comic relief at the start and offering a tiny piece of advice regarding the aforementioned Bird of Prey (this does result in the Enterprise-D destroying their foe, but I imagine the crew would have figured out how to do that without Worf). Geordi gets a minor sub-plot after he’s captured by the Klingons and Dr. Soren installs a hidden monitoring device in his visor so the Klingons can penetrate the Enterprise-D’s shields (something I really don’t think their obsolete ship should’ve been able to do), and a surprising amount of screen time is given to Guinan, who proves to be much more than a simple bartender when she’s able to give Picard information about the Nexus since she also experienced a taste of it during the opening scene. Finally, there’s the Duras sisters, two Klingon villainesses previously encountered by Picard in the two-part episode “Redemption” (Bole; Carson, 1991) and seemingly included in a desperate attempt to inject some much-needed action and suspense into the otherwise dull main plot and because it’s tradition to have antagonistic Klingons in Star Trek.

Star Trek Generations is rife with many themes that fans of the Original Series will be more than familiar with; Kirk, more than anyone, embodies a sense of regret over putting his space adventures ahead of more grounded needs, such as having a family and a life of his own. He’s astounded to find that his former helmsman, Captain Hikaru Sulu (George Takei), found the time to start a family and raise a child, Ensign Demora Sulu (Jacqueline Kim), and continues to be torn between wishing he’d done things differently and the allure of being in a position of command on a starship. Family is another important theme in Generations; Dr. Soren’s entire mission and descent into villainy was precipitated by the loss of his family and Picard’s sullen demeanour is brought about by the realisation that his family line will end with him. When he’s in the Nexus, Picard is literally bombarded by the idyllic family life he has long been denied and is momentarily overwhelmed by the illusion, but ultimately rallies against it because not only is it not “real” but there are countless lives at stake should he choose to remain there. This, more than anything, is what convinces Kirk to also leave the Nexus and help Picard oppose Dr. Soren in the finale; originally, Picard was unable to deactivate Dr. Soren’s solar missile and subdue the El-Aurian since he was but one man, but Kirk’s presence is enough to change events in their favour and allow Picard the chance to rig the missile to explode on its launching pad, taking Dr. Soren with it and allowing the Nexus ribbon to harmlessly pass by. Unfortunately, not only is the Enterprise-D left irreparably damaged but Kirk is killed during the fracas when he’s literally crushed under a bridge. While it’s an admittedly anti-climatic death for Star Trek’s most iconic character, it’s still a poignant scene when Kirk dies knowing that he made a difference one last time and it’s pretty heart-breaking to see him realise that death has finally caught up with him. Oddly, Picard chooses to honour Kirk by burying him on Veridian III, but he returns to the Enterprise-D wreckage with a newfound respect for life and determined to make his mark while he still has the time rather than being consumed by his regrets and losses.

The Summary:
I’m a little torn when it comes to Star Trek Generations; it was the first Next Generation movie I saw and, having grown up watching that series more than any other Star Trek show, it was exciting to see a feature-length adventure for “my crew”, especially one that promised to include a meeting between them and their Original Series predecessors. I don’t think the plot should’ve been like “Trials and Tribble-ations” (West, 1996) but I think more effort could’ve gone into making equal roles for each generation of crewmen and bringing them together. Like, maybe the Nexus caused havoc in the past and present, and both crews were encountering and investigating it simultaneously, causing a rift in space/time that allows a brief battle and some fun interactions to take place before both ships join forces against Dr. Soren. This also would have potentially allowed the producers to avoid killing off Kirk and served as an actual passing of the torch between the two generations rather than the more private and subdued team-up between the two Captains, which arguably comes at the cost of interesting sub-plots and actions for most of the Enterprise-D crew. Instead of this, or something actually exciting and engaging, we get a largely mediocre and forgettable Star Trek film that completely fumbles the potential of its premise and doesn’t really give us any interesting space action to compensate. While its ruminations of family, loss, and obsession are interesting, and it offers significant character development for Picard and Data, there’s ultimately very little here to really make much of an impact. Thankfully, the follow-up would make up for this with some intense action sequences and equally poignant moments, but this only serves to highlight how disappointing the Next Generation’s debut feature was not just for those characters but also as a swansong for Captain Kirk.

My Rating:

Could Be Better

What did you think to Star Trek Generations? Where do you rank it against the other Next Generation and Star Trek films? Were you also disappointed by Kirk’s anti-climatic death and the mediocre meeting of him and Picard? What did you think to Dr. Soren and his obsessive mania? Were you a fan of Data’s struggle with his newofund emotions, and what did you think to the destruction of the Enterprise-D? Would you like to see another go-around for the Next Generation crew or do you prefer to see new, unique takes on the franchise? How are you celebrating Captain Picard Day today? Whatever your thoughts on Star Trek Generations, or Star Trek in general, share them below or drop a comment on my social media.

As amusing detail in the Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987 to 1994) episode “The Pegasus” (Burton, 1994) is that the crew and children of the U.S.S. Enterprise-D celebrate “Captain Picard Day” on Stardate 47457.1, which roughly translates to this day, the 16^th of June. They do this by producing drawings, models, and paintings that the bewildered Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) must then judge. I, however, am using this as another good excuse to delve into some more Picard and Next Generation content.

Released: 13 December 2002
Director: Stuart Baird
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Budget: $60 million
Stars: Patrick Stewart, Tom Hardy, Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes, and Marina Sirtis

The Plot:
After locating an earlier version of Lieutenant Commander Data (Spiner), B-4, in Romulan space, the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise-E soon discovers that the Romulan Empire has been taken over by Praetor Shinzon (Hardy), a young clone of Picard, who threatens to destroy both the Romulans and Starfleet with his highly advanced and unstable battleship, the Scimitar.

The Background:
Following the conclusion of the popular Star Trek: The Next Generation, the crew, like their predecessors, moved into a series of feature-length films. Although the much anticipated meeting between Captain Picard and Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) failed to really deliver on the potential of its premise, it performed decently at the box office. The sequel (and one of my favourite Star Trek movies), Star Trek: First Contact (Frakes, 1996) performed much better, beating its predecessor by some $30 million, but the follow-up, Star Trek: Insurrection (ibid, 1998) failed to exceed at the box office or impress critics. For the fourth Next Generation movie, long-term cast member and director Jonathan Frakes was replaced as director by Stuart Baird, who wasn’t too familiar with the long-running franchise. Indeed, after numerous scenes depicting more character-based moments ended up being cut from the finished film to focus on action and many cast members questioned Baird’s suitability as director. For a film that was supposed to be the grand finale of the Next Generation crew, Star Trek: Nemesis was a crushing financial disappointment at the box office, with critics, and even with its main star. The film’s paltry worldwide gross of just of $67 million made Star Trek: Nemesis not just a box office bomb but also the lowest-grossing Star Trek film to date; it also saw any plans for a follow-up to be cancelled, and led to a major reboot of the franchise in 2009.

The Review:
Star Trek: Nemesis begins without the usual Star Trek fanfare and drops us immediately into the political intrigue that forms the basis for the movie’s overall plot by opening with peace between Romulus and Remus being debated within the Romulan senate. Of course, this peace would be achieved through an imperial alliance under Praetor Shinzon that would allow the Romulan Empire to openly and directly oppose the might of the United Federation of Planets and, when the proposal is resoundingly rejected, the council is summarily executed. We then re-join the crew of the Enterprise-E at the long-awaited wedding between Commander William Riker (Frakes) and Counsellor Deanna Troi (Siritis), which also finally sees Riker being promoted to a position of captaincy and Data replacing him as Picard’s first officer. Picard’s best man speech is a particular highlight, emphasising his rapport with his crew and the central theme of the film: family. Picard sees his crew as family, his ship as home, out of both pride and necessity, since he is the last of his family line.

The wedding, of course, helpfully reunites the crew with Lieutenant Commander Worf (Michael Dorn), who picks up B-4’s positronic signal. The implications of such a signal intrigue Picard on Data’s behalf and (thanks to the ion storm of Kolarus III) gives him, Worf, and Data the perfect excuse to bust out a futuristic dune buggy. It’s not often we get so see wheeled vehicles in Star Trek so it’s a nice moment of levity for Picard, who begins the film in a far more jovial and mischievous mood than usual thanks to the wedding, and leads to a pretty decent, old-fashioned car chase and shoot out. Unlike Data and Lore, B-4 is an inquisitive, naïve, child-like being; a precursor to his big brothers, B-4 has the potential to be as advanced and evolved as Data but is limited by his less sophisticated technology and childish demeanour. His existence creates something of a crisis for Data, who begins to question his creation and life and the meaning of his own existence and raises interesting questions regarding our capacity for intelligence and how important experience and personality are to our development. The film briefly explores this by downloading Data’s memories and experiences into B-4 but it doesn’t immediately affect B-4 or allow him to evolve in the same way; for the most part, it seems to be a failure but, of course, by the end we’re left with the suggestion that B-4 could, in time come to be as advanced and experienced as his older brother.

Normally, it’s massively convenient that the Enterprise-E just happens to be the “closest ship” to the current crisis but, in this case, it actually does make sense since the ship was heading that way, drawn to nearby Romulan space by B-4’s signal, and it’s later revealed that the ship was specifically lured there by Shinzon. Shinzon is given quite a bit of build up prior to his actual appearance; as a Remun, a race bred to simply be cannon fodder and slaves for the Romulans, it is unusual that he has reached such a vaulted position but his threat is immediately established in the dramatic reveal of his supped-up warship, the Scimitar, and the monstrous appearance of his Reman viceroy (Ron Perlman).

Shinzon’s reveal is a stunning blow to the crew but especially for Picard; in Shinzon, he sees himself as a younger man, the son he always yearned for and the life he could have had were he exposed to the same traumas and horrors as the Reman warrior. As if it wasn’t immediately clear, Shinzon is a clone of Picard, bred to be placed as a destructive mole within the Federation, and exists as Picard’s obvious dark opposite. The crux of the film, and Picard’s arc, is reconciling that Shinzon’s true nature has been twisted, skewed by his experiences; to begin with, he believes he has finally found the chance to nurture a son and continue his legacy but, very quickly and harshly, learns that Shinzon desires nothing but power, destruction, and vengeance upon not just his Romulan overlords but the Federation itself. Shinzon is a charismatic and alluring antagonist; eloquent and calculating, he is perfectly capable of subtle manipulation and subterfuge and aggressive, uncompromising fury. Immediately after his introduction, we see that he has no interest in peace; he is merely curious by Picard’s existence but determined to destroy his enemies, viewing the Romulans, the Federation, and especially Picard with disgust and hatred. This is an intriguing element and really throws Picard for a loop but it’s unfortunately very underdeveloped as, almost immediately, we learn that Shinzon is a destructive, aggressive force, resentful of Picard and his other enemies, so he may as well have been introduced as a villain right away rather than through half-hearted subterfuge.

The Nitty-Gritty:
I can understand why people disliked Star Trek: Nemesis; for me, the film’s glaring flaw is the pacing. The film is very short and wastes a lot of its potential; it’s not often we get to really peel back the layers of Picard’s officious and complex personality and seeing him vulnerable, somewhat helpless against his dark doppelgänger was genuinely intrigued…for all of ten minutes or so. Similar to Star Trek Generations, the film squanders its potential but, unlike that film (which is largely a snore-fest), Star Trek: Nemesis does, at least, have a lot of action sequences packed into its run time. I mentioned in my review of Star Trek: First Contact that one of the few flaws of that film is the lack of space-based combat and, while Star Trek: Nemesis doesn’t really have a space battle until the finale, it does include an entertaining chase sequence and a shoot out between Picard, Data, and the Remuns aboard the Scimitar.

Again, though, the bulk of the film’s focus is on Picard and Data; given the plot of the film, this isn’t entirely unsurprising but it is still a bit disappointing. Riker and Troi’s long-overdue wedding is a central focus of the early part of the film but, very quickly, Riker is pushed to the background as simply a voice of concern among Picard’s crew. Troi gets an interesting sub-plot where Shinzon, enamoured by her appearance, initiates a mental invasion of her mind via his viceroy that is a very blatant allegory for rape but, again, this is only briefly touched upon. Clearly Troi is affected by this experience and she does get to extract a measure of revenge against her tormentors, but she also disappears for a lot of the film between these two events. Similarly, Doctor Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) is barely in the film, Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) exists mainly to debate the merits of B-4’s potential, and Worf doesn’t really get much of anything to do but man (Klingon?) the phaser banks.

As I mentioned, this isn’t entirely surprising and the film’s primary narratives revolving around Picard and Shinzon and Data and B-4 do go some way to making up for this. Picard is heartbroken and enraged at how selfish and disappointing his “son” is and the final confrontation with his doppelgänger is as much a fight for his (Picard’s) survival as it is against himself and the dark side that dwells deep beneath his morals and ethics. Similarly, Data is saddened by his younger brother, his childish nature, and his position as Shinzon’s slave. I mentioned earlier that family is a central theme of the film and that’s true; the idea is that the bond between a surrogate family of close friends and colleagues is just as strong as those between blood relatives. This is even reflected in Shinzon, who literally needs Picard’s blood to survive and who only truly confides and trusts in his viceroy, treating everyone else as disposable and expendable filth. In the end, both Picard and Data choose their surrogate family over their actual family, with Picard exorcising his dark half and Data willingly sacrificing his existence to ensure the survival of his family.

Of course, this ending draws immediately and blatant parallels to the classic finale of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (Meyer, 1982); while Data’s sacrifice kind of comes out of nowhere, so did Spock’s (Leonard Nimoy), if we’re being really honest, and both relate to the aforementioned themes of family and sacrifice that are prevalent in both movies. It’s a sudden and heart-breaking end to a beloved character but one, perhaps, long overdue since Spiner had desired to be killed off for some time. Like Spock, Data is able to create a kind of back-up or failsafe to ensure his legacy lives on, in some way, through B-4. The similarities don’t end there either, really: Shinzon is a more blatant dark mirror of Picard but Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalbán) was also a dark reflection of Kirk, his ship a dark opposite of the Enterprise, and his motivations similarly based on horrific experiences that he largely blamed his opposite for. It’s a deeply personal story for Picard, one that ties into themes that have brewing since, at least, Star Trek Generations and demonstrates that the difference between nature and nurture is often an extremely blurred line.

The Summery:
I can understand, to a degree, why Star Trek: Nemesis wasn’t received all too well but, honestly, I find it to be the second-best of the Next Generation films. It’s not a complete bore-fest like Star Trek Generations or Star Trek: Insurrection, featuring a lot more action and thought-provoking narrative elements but it’s still not quite on the same level as Star Trek: First Contact. Sadly, however, the film does squander a lot of its potential; the pace is very brisk and the film just doesn’t focus itself in the right ways. There’s a very intriguing story here, a deeply personal one, for the normally composed Picard but the potential of that story is thrown out the window all too fast as any question about Shinzon’s motivations is immediately rendered mute shortly after we’re introduced to him. Shinzon is, in many ways, a fascinating antagonist; he has every reason to hate his enemies and his motivations are as understandable as they are abhorrent but, sadly, not enough is done with the concept of him as Picard’s dark mirror. Still, I feel Star Trek: Nemesis is an underappreciated and overlooked film in the franchise; it’s worth a view for the potential of the Picard/Shinzon story and Data’s ultimate, poignant sacrifice alone and it’s easily the most aesthetically impressive of the Next Generation movies so I’d say it’s worth a bit more consideration that it got upon release.

My Rating:

Pretty Good

What did you think to Star Trek: Nemesis? Where does it rank against the other Next Generation and Star Trek films for you? Do you agree that the film isn’t as bad as people made it out to be or do you think it deserves its negative reputation? What did you think to Shinzon and his position as Picard’s dark mirror, and to Data’s sacrifice? Do you think these elements were warranted or do you feel they were squandered? Would you like to see another go-around for the Next Generation crew or do you prefer to see new, unique takes on the franchise? How are you celebrating Captain Picard Day today? Whatever your thoughts on Star Trek: Nemesis, or Star Trek in general, go ahead and share them below.