Review of Star Trek: Generations (1994) by Byron B — 15 Sep 2013

Producers/Writers Ronald D. Moore, Brannon Braga, and Rick Berman carry on the Star Trek movie legacy immediately following The Next Generation series completing its seven year run. Shatner, Doohan, and Koenig as Kirk, Scotty, and Chekov, respectively, are the only ones from the original cast to appear to pass the torch. Following movie number six, the new Enterprise, Captained by actor Alan Ruck, is hopelessly unprepared for a space anomaly threatening some other ships. Again (!) the old crew is facing retirement from active Starfleet duty, but Kirk, Scotty, and Chekov can't sit by and do nothing. Kirk repeats a line about life being about making a difference a few times throughout the film. Scotty and Chekov help transport some survivors, including McDowell's Dr. Soran and Goldberg's Guinan, from one of the other lost ships. In helping to save the Enterprise and its crew, Kirk is thought to have been killed when the anomaly rips apart the section of the ship where he was working.

Then we jump almost 80 years into the future for some holograph fun with The Next Generation crew dressed as Napoleonic era Navy officers. Having just finished watching the entire series, I noticed some slight changes in details around this version of the Enterprise, yet it was essentially the same set. What bothered me the most was that someone made the decision to keep most of the ship's lights off in most rooms and corridors. I guess they didn't want it to look like a luxurious pleasure cruise, or they thought keeping the actors in shadows substituted for dark story themes. The production team tried too hard to copy the gloomy atmosphere of other science-fiction franchises. I also think the writers tried to cram too much into the story, yet didn't utilize each of the seven senior officers in the best way. And in trying to appeal to audiences larger than the Star Trek fan base, they forgot or ignored story-lines that had already been explored in the television series. This is the movie with Data choosing to reconnect his emotion chip only to have it overload his positronic net (brain). Brent Spiner is multi-talented and quite the comedian, but he is encouraged to go too far. A Data with an obsession for jokes or paralyzing fear, is no Data at all. Then again, Malcolm McDowell's villain character, Dr. Soran (who is of the same race as the long-living and wise Guinan), is fairly weak as an obstacle. Dr. Soran has a sort of addiction and is single-minded in his effort to return to the Nexus, the anomaly faced at the beginning of the movie. Being in this energy ribbon is like achieving nirvana or reaching paradise. Soran is willing to kill whole populations to bring the Nexus to him. There are plot points that make no sense since this anomaly isn't adequately explained. Patrick Stewart as Captain Picard must convince Kirk, who has actually been in the Nexus, to somehow go back in time with him to help stop Soran. Kirk was generally more rough-and-tumble than Picard ever was and yet the two against one fight is not very climactic. Kirk's "oh my..." death scene lacks any emotional punch. Seeing the massive saucer section of the Enterprise crash in a great special effects sequence, still based on models rather than CGI, held more significance. In the end we say goodbye to the ship from the sequel series that was an improvement on the original series, but not goodbye to the new crew.