Noticias

Neon has been making big waves in recent years. Not only is the company home to several recent Oscar Best Picture winners, including "Parasite" and "Anora," but the indie studio has also become quite the haven for original horror, such as last year's breakout hit "Longlegs." The company's latest foray into the genre is "Together," a twisted bit of body/horror from director Michael Shanks. It turns out, he took some inspiration from an unexpected place: "Star Trek."

"Together" stars Dave Franco and Alison Brie as Tim and Millie, respectively. Years into their relationship, the couple is at a crossroads, having moved to the country with them being the only familiar thing in one another's lives. As tensions rise, an encounter with a mysterious force forces them to bond, so to speak.

/Film's Bj Colangelo spoke with Shanks in honor of the film's release in theaters. In discussing his inspirations for his latest feature,...

It is 2025, and it feels like the bad guys are winning. Humanity is witnessing, just outside our windows, a steady and inexorable march toward fascism. The worst examples of humanity are actively and shamelessly re-writing the rules to their own selfish, money-grubbing, cruelty-inspired whims, and there seems to be little we can do to stop it. Corrupt billionaires are stripping the United States government for parts, all in the name of giving themselves more tax cuts.

Additionally, our rights are being stripped away swiftly and steady. Vulnerable groups are being pointedly ignored and actively placed back at risk. This is all being done because it's too much work for stone-hearted politicians and their sadism-fueled followers to learn what "compassion" means. There are undercurrents of eugenics and white supremacy flowing from the most powerful people on the planet. It's 2025, and we're in a dark, dark place.

Of course, we have the...

Star Trek’s most formidable villains have one of the most tragic origins in the franchise, but the mainstream shows refuse to get into this storyline. The Borg have long been the Federation’s most dangerous enemies, after being introduced in the The Next Generation episode Q Who, which was released in 1989. However, their connection to the Federation goes way back.

There have been several versions of the Borg’s origins, both in Star Trek canon and its extended universe, which includes books, comics, manga, and games. The novel trilogy Destiny actually establishes a tragic human origin for the Borg, which involves a Federation ship stranded in the Delta Quadrant without resources and having to fuse with another species to survive.

The Borg have long been established as a ruthless, parasitic alien force, which only thrives to assimilate more people into its hive mind. The human origins give some nuance...

For years, Star Trek: Tng’s most underutilized character remained so, despite being a fan favorite. The beloved Reginald Barclay, a.k.a. Lt. Barclay, was the bumbling and anxious engineer aboard the Enterprise, who first became famous for his borderline creepy holodeck recreations of the bridge crew. However, he has since risen to legendary status.

Trekkies always loved Barclay because he was like them: socially anxious and awestruck by the people he looked up to the most. While most creators try to insert themselves into their creations (called a Mary Sue character), Star Trek: Tng introduced a character that best represented a typical Trekkie, and Barclay immediately became a hit.

Related: 34-Year-Old Star Trek: Tng Episode Earns Praise for Its Brilliant Costume Design

He was the audience proxy, and though he did some shameful things, he was brought back multiple times. However, the franchise failed to utilize him well,...

It’s been years since Star Trek: The Next Generation first aired, but despite that, the love for its characters is still going strong. The show gave fans a fresh take on the Star Trek universe, with several fresh faces leading the way. Led by Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard and Brent Spiner as Data, the series ran for seven glorious seasons and became a sci-fi classic.

Many of the cast members have stayed connected to the Star Trek universe through spin-offs, movies, and fan events. Others, on the other hand, have explored new paths – such as acting in other shows, writing books, or speaking up for causes they believe in. Some even took surprising turns in their careers, but one thing’s for sure – they’ve all continued to make an impact. So, let’s look at what the Tng stars are doing in 2025.

15. Patrick Stewart (Captain Jean-Luc Picard...

Actor James Cromwell’s relationship with Star Trek is long and legendary. He has played a variety of roles in the franchise across many shows. While his characters are usually filled with makeup and prosthetics, his most famous part in Star Trek was his appearance in First Contact as Zefram Cochrane, the inventor of the warp drive system.

Cromwell was not the first actor to play the character, as he had appeared even in The Original Series. However, the veteran star certainly owned it and has since reprised it in multiple other shows. The writers of First Contact reportedly first floated around Tom Hanks for the part, but he could not make it.

James Cromwell did not know his iconic Star Trek role was supposed to be played by Tom Hanks James Cromwell in Star Trek: First Contact | Credits: Paramount

Tom Hanks is one of those few stars left...

William Shatner is one of the faces of the Star Trek franchise, having played Captain Kirk in the original series as well as several other movies. Shatner has since been closely associated with the franchise, as he attends conventions and has made the role a significant part of his public image.

However, his time in the franchise itself has not always been successful. The Original Series was deemed to be too expensive for the fanbase it had back in the day, and was promptly canceled after three seasons. Though Shatner returned for the six original movies, the highest-rated film in the franchise does not even star him. But it still stars Captain Kirk.

The highest-rated Star Trek film is J.J. Abrams’ 2009 reboot Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine in Star Trek | Credits: Paramount Pictures

Even at gunpoint, every Trekkie will say that Star Trek is not meant for the silver screen.

Jonathan Frakes’ directorial duties are not limited to Star Trek. He has worked on NCIS: Los Angeles, Castle, Leverage, Burn Notice, and more. While he is best known for playing William Riker on Tng, he has made a mark as a director in these shows and seems to have mastered the craft, prompting shows to call him back multiple times.

Apart from directing six episodes of NCIS: Los Angeles, Frakes also had a guest role in the second season episode ‘Disorder’. He played the role of Navy Commander Dr. Stanfill in the episode, though he was left uncredited for his acting services. He has not returned to the role in the show, despite direcing many other episodes.

Jonathan Frakes played a role in NCIS: Los Angeles, but was not credited Jonathan Frakes in Star Trek: Tng | Credits: Paramount

Jonathan Frakes has made a mark in the TV industry not only...

Star Trek: Tng was a global phenomenon upon release, with the cast enjoying a larger amount of fame than the iconic Tos cast, which was canceled after three seasons. Still, only a few main actors got to helm the Captain’s seat and drive the Enterprise, and surprisingly, Marina Sirtis’ Deanna Troi was one of them.

Troi had to take the helm in one scene in the film Star Trek: Generations, which starred both the Tng cast as well as part of the Tos cast. Marina Sirtis mentioned that they were doing an explosive scene with practical special effects, which resulted in burning embers falling on the captain’s seat, thus setting her bottom on fire.

Marina Sirtis’ bottom was on fire after a scene in the Star Trek: Tng cast’s movie Marina Sirtis in Star Trek: Tng | Credits: Paramount

Marina Sirtis played Denna Troi for seven seasons in...

In Jonathan Frakes' 1996 film "Star Trek: First Contact," the Borg -- an invading force of malevolent cyborgs -- had formed an attack plan against Earth, and boy howdy, was it complicated. At first, they tried a frontal assault in one of their cube-shaped ships, but Starfleet fought them off. That, however, was only Plan A. 

Plan B: While their ship was exploding, a miniature Borg envoy fled the scene and opened a time portal to the year 2063 (!). That was a year, Trekkies can tell you, when Earth was still recovering from a vicious World War, but also a year when a man named Zefram Cochran (James Cromwell) was building the planet's very first faster-than-light spacecraft. According to "Star Trek" history, Cochran would attract the attention of some passing Vulcans while testing his ship for the first time, causing them to land and greet humans. The first contact with an alien...

Actor LeVar Burton has been a part of several known IPs, including Reading Rainbow and Jeopardy, but his most famous role is Star Trek: Tng. He played the chief engineer of the USS Enterprise-d, Geordie La Forge, in the show for seven seasons and four films (and Picard), and wore his signature Visor through most of it all.

The device that allowed the character, who was born blind, to see was reportedly painful for Burton to wear every day for seven years. The Visor was pinched to his temples and restricted his eyes, which really bothered him as an actor. LeVar Burton finally got freedom from the torture device in 1996’s Star Trek: First Contact.

LeVar Burton finally removed his Visor on screen in Star Trek: First Contact LeVar Burton in Star Trek: Tng | Credits: Paramount

LeVar Burton’s Geordie La Forge was born blind, and always wore a Visor,...

Jonathan Frakes explained why newer shows in the Star Trek franchise have inconsistent VFX and CGI. In a Reddit Ama, Frakes joined writer Ken Lazebnik and science consultant Andre Bormanis to ask fans’ burning questions about the franchise. Among other things, the director and actor explained the reason behind Star Trek’s VFX woes.

The franchise has largely been successful in the longer format, with the original series starting out as a TV show. Unlike its competitor sci-fi franchise Star Wars, which only got into streaming and TV after the movies, Star Trek has always been a TV-friendly IP. Hence, a lot of time crunch has reportedly led to some inconsistent quality in the VFX.

Jonathan Frakes explained why the newer Star Trek shows have VFX issues A still from Star Trek: Tng | Credits: Paramount

While it is tradition for cast members to direct an episode in Star Trek,...

Star Trek: The Next Generation was released in 1987 and introduced the world to a plethora of new characters and actors, who remained iconic forever. Some actors like Sir Patrick Stewart became forever memorable while others… were somewhat forgotten.

One of these actresses, who had found much fame for her role in Star Trek: The Next Generation, was Marina Sirtis. The English actress had portrayed the iconic role of Counselor Deanna Troi in the show. However, no one remembers the Stargate Sg-1 character that she portrayed 6 years after The Next Generation ended.

Marina Sitris also became a part of Stargate Sg-1

It was in 1997 that a show named Stargate Sg-1 was aired, starring Richard Dean Anderson in the main lead. Alongside the actor, a plethora of stars such as Christopher Judge, Michael Shanks, and more had joined across the 10 seasons that the show spanned.

Marina Sirtis portrayed the role of Dr.

When it comes to directing, some filmmakers can tend to be aggressive and demanding when extracting the performances they need from the actors, one example being William Friedkin’s approach in The Exorcist. Many filmmakers also prefer to swing in the complete opposite direction by prioritizing the atmosphere on set, with Greta Gerwig being one prime example.

Jonatha Frakes falls into the latter, who made his directorial debut with Star Trek, and his fellow collaborator, Patrick Stewart, has nothing but nice things to say about the former’s directorial debut, especially its technical prowess.

Sir Patrick Stewart argued First Contact directorial debut puts every Star Trek movie to shame Sir Patrick Stewart in Star Trek | Credit: Paramount

Having been associated with Star Trek since making his debut in the role of William Riker opposite Sir Patrick Stewart, as of now, Frakes has cemented himself as one of the most esteemed filmmakers within the franchise.

Jonathan Frakes has not just played William Riker in the Star Trek franchise, but has also been a director on multiple episodes across shows and two films starring The Next Generation cast. This kind of makes him an expert on the inner operations of the show and the movies, giving him a lot of credibility on what actually went wrong with some of the films.

Frakes directed both Star Trek: First Contact and Insurrection, with the former gaining a lot of praise. However, the middling response to the latter led the studio to give the job to Stuart Baird in Star Trek: Nemesis, the final film featuring the Tng cast. Frakes said what he felt went wrong with Nemesis, which only earned a disappointing $67 million at the box office.

Jonathan Frakes revealed the scenes that got cut in Star Trek: Nemesis A still from Star Trek: Nemesis | Credits: Paramount

If...

In David Carson's 1994 film "Star Trek: Generations," a mad scientist named Dr. Soren (Malcolm McDowell) has been galavanting about the galaxy destroying stars and wiping out entire planetary systems. His goal is to alter the gravitational fields throughout the quadrant in order to "steer" a free-floating energy ribbon into a nearby planet. The ribbon, audiences learned earlier, was nicknamed the Nexus, as the ordinary rules of time don't apply inside of it, and all points of history happen simultaneously. The Nexus can scoop up humanoid species, and deposit them into a psychic realm of their own imagining, more or less granting their every wish. The Nexus is the "Star Trek" version of Heaven, imagined as a rogue spatial phenomenon. I guess Belinda Carlisle was wrong when she declared that Ooh, Heaven is a Place on Earth. 

Soren is ultimately successful, and steers the Nexus into the planet Veridian III,...

The season 2 finale of "Severance" is perhaps the show's darkest installment yet. After viewers spent so much time rooting for Innie Mark and Outtie Mark to meet, the two finally get to talk and it does not go over well. It turns out that Outtie Mark is sort of like Outtie Helena, in that he's failed to appreciate his innie as a real, compete person. He doesn't get that Innie Mark values his own life just as much as anyone would, and he's not going to let Outtie Mark turn him off. 

Their inability to find common ground leads to perhaps the most devastating final moments of a TV show finale in years: Innie Mark abandons Outtie Mark's wife, Gemma, in order to go back to a (likely doomed) romance with Helly. You can argue that "Cold Harbor" has a hopeful ending from the innies' perspectives, but it's definitely a...

This article contains Spoilers for SeveranceSeason 2, Episode 10, "Cold Harbor."

Viewers watching the Season 2 finale of Apple TV+’s Severancecertainly had a lot to unpack. Not least was an opening sequence during which Adam Scott’s Innie Mark and Outie Mark talked via video recordings - which was the first time anything like that happened in the series. In an interview with Esquire, Severance creator Dan Erickson said the scene in which the two Marks communicate was something he “had always wanted to write.”

However, that particular scene almost made for a different title to the 10th episode of the season, which was eventually called “Cold Harbor,” after a data file that Innie Mark had been refining since Season 1. Erickson said he very nearly called the episode “First Contact,” an homage to Star Trek: First Contact,a film in which Scott, then in his early 20s, had a small role.

A...

While it is often accepted that Star Trek is best suited for the TV medium, it took Star Trek: Nemesis to officially put the idea of movies to bed until the 2009 reboot. Starring the Tng cast including Sir Patrick Stewart and a young Tom Hardy, the film received negative responses, but Stewart believed it did one thing better than its predecessor.

Jonathan Frakes, best known for playing William Riker in Tng, stepped into directing with the film Star Trek: First Contact, which was a surprising hit. Frakes hoped to continue his streak with Insurrection but seemed to fumble along the way. Despite Nemesis’ failure, Stewart credited it with improving on one thing.

Sir Patrick Stewart praised Star Trek: Nemesis for improving on Insurrection Patrick Stewart in Star Trek: Nemesis | Credits: Paramount

One of the primary issues Sir Patrick Stewart had with the first film with the Tng cast i.e.

"Star Trek" has diversified a lot over the years, in keeping with the Vulcan mantra of infinite diversity in infinite combinations. We've seen Captains of all genders, races, and even species. There's been serious wartime Trek ("Deep Space Nine"), post-apocalypse Trek, Suicide Squad Trek ("Section 31"), and even comedy Trek ("Lower Decks"). 

Across every iteration, though, some things have to remain the same, or it's just not "Star Trek." We're not just talking about the most common tropes in the franchise, like the guys in red shirts (here's the different meanings of "Star Trek" uniform colors by the way) who used to beam down with Kirk and Spock to get killed every other week -- once fans caught on about that being a thing, subsequent shows stopped doing it. This is about things that still happen in every iteration.

Every franchise has its favorite structures and character types, but when one really breaks it down,...

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"Star Trek" has been boldly going strong for nearly 60 years at this point. Though it started as a TV show, it was only a matter of time before Starfleet would make its way to the big screen. That began in 1979 with "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," but it's a tradition that continues to this day. As such, when "Star Trek: The Next Generation" wrapped up its seven-season run in 1994, it seemed appropriate that Captain Picard would lead the crew of the Enterprise to the world of major motion pictures.

Ultimately, the cast of "Next Generation" made four movies from 1994 to 2002. Those movies are of varying quality and the merits of each are regularly debated amongst fans. But which one of them does Patrick Stewart prefer? Stewart, who played Picard on all seven seasons of the show as well as the movies,...

Sir Patrick Stewart played Captain Jean-Luc Picard for seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation and four original films before taking a hiatus and appearing on the spinoff show Picard. The second film with the Tng cast was helmed by co-star Jonathan Frakes, best known for playing William Riker in the show.

Stewart was all praise for Jonathan Frakes and his direction skills in Star Trek: First Contact. The film was well-received by audiences too, with many regarding it in the same league as Wrath of Khan. The X-Men star called it his favorite of the films he was in and appreciated Frakes for his technical mastery.

Patrick Stewart called Jonathan Frakes’ feature film debut the ‘best-looking Star Trek film’ A still from Star Trek: First Contact | Credits: Paramount

While the first original film with the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast was considered a passing-of-the-torch from the...

When considering the legacy of Star Trek movies, one title consistently stands above the rest as the one true Tng film that still holds real consequence — Star Trek: First Contact. It's the second of four films in the Tng series, released after Star Trek Generations and before Star Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek: Nemesis.

First Contact received positive reviews when it came out in 1996. It's always difficult to know how a movie will hold up over time, but out of the four Tng films, First Contact is the one that remains relevant in the Star Trek universe, and it's easy to see why.

Why Star Trek: First Contact Is The Only Tng Movie That Still Matters Its Place In Star Trek History Remains Secure

While the other Tng-era films have faded into obscurity, Star Trek: First Contact remains a touchstone for fans and creators alike, thanks to its deep connections to Star Trek’s lore,...

Warning: Contains Spoilers for Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5, episode 9, "Fissure Quest"

Academy Award-nominated actress Alfre Woodard portrayed Lily Sloane in Star Trek: First Contact. Following Star Trek Generations, First Contact was the first big screen adventure devoted completely to the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Director Jonathan Frakes' hit film follows Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the USS Enterprise-e as they travel back in time to prevent the Borg from rewriting history. Upon arriving in 2063, the Enterprise crew encounters Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell), the creator of warp drive, on the eve of his historic flight that led to humanity's First Contact with the Vulcans.

While Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes), Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton), and Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis) work with Zefram Cochrane on Earth, Captain Picard and the rest of the crew fight off Borg drones aboard the Enterprise. The Borg manage to capture Lt.

Star Trek: Lower Deck's final season has reached its conclusion. Nine episodes have come and gone and the last episode is set to air in a matter of days. Before they close things out, however, the crew behind the show took one last leap into the unknown. The penultimate episode, entitled "Fissure Quest" saw a collection of Star Trek all-stars from around the canon, coming together to help stop a growing threat.

The episode brought back a handful of major names, and while they all played familiar roles, no one returned as their original character. Each actor or actress who came back played a different universe's version of their character.

Firstly, Jolene Blalock was back, once again playing T'Pol. Her first version of T'Pol was first seen in Star Trek: Enterprise over 20 years ago. This T'Pol however isn't the same version. This version that we see has been married to...

Warning: Contains Spoilers for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5, Episode 9, "Fissure Quest"

25 years later, Star Trek: Lower Decks finally makes a fan-favorite couple from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine canon. Star Trek: Lower Decks season 5, episode 9, "Fissure Quest", follows up with Captain William Boimler (Jack Quaid), the transporter duplicate of Lieutenant Brad Boimler who was assigned to Starfleet's Section 31 after faking his death. Captain Boimler's crew is assembled from alternate reality versions of Star Trek legacy characters from across Star Trek's multiverse of timelines, including Star Trek: Enterprise's T'Pol (Jolene Blalock), a pre-Jadzia Curzon Dax (Fred Tatasciore), and a bevy of Ensigns Harry Kim (Garrett Wang).

The USS Anaximander's medical officers are based on potential realities from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. This holographic Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) is ostensibly based on the Long-term Medical Hologram that engineer Lewis Zimmerman (Robert Picardo) started building in DS9 season 5, episode 16, "Dr.

“Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” characters Doctor Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) and Mister Elim Garak (Andrew Robinson) brimmed with chemistry throughout that series’ run — but if there was anything real behind their relationship, viewers never got to see it. But that pairing remains a fan favorite, and fans have speculated for years about the real relationship potential for two. Now, shippers finally got their happy ending — thanks to the latest episode of Paramount+’s animated “Star Trek: Lower Decks.”

In “Fissure Quest,” the penultimate episode of “Lower Decks” (as it wraps its fifth and final season), the series’ ongoing dimensional rift storyline reaches a boiling point. This comes following an alternate version of Boimler (Jack Quaid) as he embarks on a covert inter-dimensional mission to investigate the fissures.

In what may well be the most self-referential episode in “Star Trek” history, “Fissure Quest” features a slew of returning cast members...

In the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode "Cause and Effect", the U.S.S. Enterprise-d enters a recurring time loop, forcing the people on board to relive the same day over and over again. At the start of the day, several members of the senior staff gather for a game of poker. At the end of the day, the Enterprise collides with a mysterious other ship and explodes, killing everyone on board. When time resets, the Enterprise crew has no memory of what happened. 

Of course, thanks to some elaborate clues, the crew does eventually find out what's happening, and even develop a means to sent additional clues backward into the next time loop. In the next repetition, the crew finally deciphers their own hints and escapes the loop by dodging the mysterious ship. Once freed, the Enterprise-d contacts that ship, and finds it is the U.S.S.

Star Trek: First Contact proved to be the gold standard that Star Trek: The Next Generation's movie franchise could never top. Directed by Jonathan Frakes, Star Trek: First Contact premiered on November 22, 1996. Grossing over $92 million at the North American box office, Star Trek: First Contact was the highest-earning of the four Star Trek: The Next Generation movies. First Contact is also the most popular Tng big-screen adventure among Star Trek fans and is considered one of the best overall Star Trek movies.

Star Trek Generations ushered in the Star Trek: The Next Generation movie franchise in 1994, with Captain James T. Kirk (WIlliam Shatner) passing the torch to Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart). Star Trek: First Contact did better business than Generations and was a hit with critics and audiences. However, Tng's movie dominance would take a downturn. 1998's Star Trek: Insurrection was less well-received than First Contact, and 2002's...

To date, there have been 13 "Star Trek" feature films, with a 14th movie, "Section 31," scheduled to debut on Paramount+ on January 24, 2025. The films are, many Trekkies would agree, various degrees of good and bad. Some of the "Star Trek" films are among the best sci-fi movies ever made, while others are handily the worst. Many agree that Nicholas Meyer's 1982 film "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" is the best one, although J.J. Abrams' 2009 "Star Trek" is the highest-grossing. The four films based on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" -- that is: "Generations," "First Contact," "Insurrection," and "Nemesis" -- are all pretty middling, although many like the Borg action from "First Contact." My personal favorites are Robert Wise's 1979 epic "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," for its cerebral grandiosity, and Meyer's "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" for its political bent. 

The films also fluctuate wildly in mere production quality.

‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’ is one of the most eagerly awaited releases in the MCU. The movie is set to come out on July 25, 2025, and we’ve already had a sneak peeks from the set that promise exciting comic-accurate experience.

The film will take place in an alternate reality and will introduce the Fantastic Four it’s reportedly bound to feature some of their most famous villains.

The latest news regarding the movie is related to its title. ‘First Steps’ was added to the title during Sdcc when we had the opportunity to see an exclusive clip featuring the team as well as hear the score composed by Michael Giacchino.

Fan’s weren’t exactly hyped about the title, but now it seems that the title has been secret changed and it’s a massive improvement.

The source of this rumor is one of the most notable (and accurate) rumor subreddits MarvelStudiosSpoilers.

The latest episode of "Star Trek: Lower Decks," titled "The Best Exotic Nanite Hotel," takes place on the Cosmic Duchess, a massive, massive vacation cruise ship that has been outfitted with multiple enclosed, environmentally controlled vacation biomes. The ship includes a ski resort, a beach resort, a tropical river, and a slot machine-encrusted casino. The Duchess looks a lot like Earthship Ark from the short-lived 1973 Harlan Ellison sci-fi series "The Starlost," but it's unlikely anyone will understand that reference.

Early in the episode, Lieutenants Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and Boimler (Jack Quaid) enthusiastically read a list of the Duchess' amenities. Mariner notes that they have 240 24-hour spas, an indoor water park, and, perhaps bafflingly, an underwater dry park. No one knows what an underwater dry park is, but they're eager to try. Boimler also notes that one of the space casinos has a bunch of Dixon Hill slot machines.

Ignoring for...

In 1996, two notable blockbusters, each based on TV shows, were released by Paramount. On May 22, Brian De Palma's "Mission: Impossible" hit screens, detailing the adventures of super-spy Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) as he went on the lam after being framed for killing his super-spy teammates. It was a massive hit and set the stage for a supra-action franchise that has lasted to this day. The film cost a sizeable $80 million to make but earned $457 million at the box office. 

Six months later, on November 22, the eighth film in the "Star Trek" franchise, "Star Trek: First Contact" was released to much acclaim. "First Contact," based on "Star Trek: The Next Generation," boasted a time travel plot wherein the U.S.S. Enterprise traveled back to the year 2063 to face off against the malevolent cyborgs known as the Borg. It wasn't as thoughtful or diplomatic as the show on which it was based,...

The erosion of the original promise of streaming TV continues. This time around, it's Paramount+ removing some of the pillars of its back catalogue, with TrekMovie.com reporting that every "Star Trek" movie made between 1979 and 2002 have abruptly left the streamer, apparently not for the first time. All six movies starring the cast of "Star Trek: The Original Series" are now gone from Paramount+, as are all four movies from "The Next Generation" era.

Of course, this disappearance isn't quite as egregious as the decision of streamers like Max and Showtime to remove newer original content that has no other streaming home, but it still feels surprising given how regularly Paramount+ bills itself as the streaming home of all things "Star Trek." When the platform first launched as CBS All Access, "Star Trek: Discovery" was one of its first original series, and its rebrand in 2021 has only made the streamer...

There's a barrage of Star Trek news coming in today, both good and bad. On the good side, Paramount+ dropped the first trailer for the fifth and final season of Star Trek: Lower Decks, an animated comedy series. The show has been going strong for a while now and it's good to see it will get to bow out on its own terms. Watch the trailer above!

Star Trek: Lowers Decks will kick off its final season on Thursday, October 24; the first two episodes will drop at once. On the bad side of the news, TrekMovie.com reports that the first 10 Star Trek movies have been removed from streaming on Paramount+, which is supposed to be "the home of Star Trek." And this after those 10 films became available to stream on Paramount+ back in June. That was a short homecoming.

The three more recent Star Trek movies overseen by J.J. Abrams are still available,...

Viewers will no longer find the 10 classic Star Trek movies or the four movies featuring the cast of the original series and Star Trek: The Next Generation on Paramount+. The streamer, which in the recent past, has promoted itself as The Home of Star Trek, is no longer home to the six Tos-era Trek movies, which include The Motion Picture, The Wrath of Khan, The Search for Spock, The Voyage Home, The Final Frontier and The Undiscovered Country, and the four Tng-era films, Generations, First Contact, Insurrection and Nemesis, per Trek Movie.

This past June, all 10 movies returned to Paramount+, but that was short-lived. The streamer at that time, was home to all 13 Star Trek movies, which included the original 10 and the three Kelvin timeline movies, 2009s Star Trek, 2013s Star Trek: Into Darkness and 2016s Star Trek: Beyond. The three J.J. Abrams-directed movies are still available on Paramount+. At one point this year,...

A Star Trek fan theory may solve Star Trek: Picard's mystery of what happened to the USS Enterprise-e, which Captain Worf (Michael Dorn) claims was not his fault. Star Trek: Picard season 3, episode 9, "Vox," saw the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation come aboard the rebuilt USS Enterprise-d. En route to the Enterprise's dock at the Fleet Museum, however, Worf's Tng friends teased him about the fate of the Enterprise-e, and the Klingon insisted, "That was not my fault." What happened to the Enterprise-e remains an open question Star Trek: Picard left behind.

The Sovereign Class USS Enterprise-e was launched in 2373 prior to Star Trek: First Contact. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) commanded the Enterprise-e in three Star Trek: The Next Generation movies, including First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek: Nemesis. Star Trek: Picard season 1 revealed that Captain Picard received a promotion to Admiral in 2381 to...

After the release of "Star Trek: Generations" in 1994, the various "Trek" writers felt a great weight lifted. There were a lot of strange story requirements in place when adapting "Star Trek: The Next Generation" to the big screen for the first time, and writers Ron D. Moore and Brannon Braga bent over backwards to invent a story that fulfilled every mandate. They managed to check every box -- original "Star Trek" cast members in the first 10 minutes only, Klingons had to be involved, time travel had to be a plot element -- but "Generations" feels scattered as a result. It ultimately served as a "passing of the torch" from Captain Kirk (William Shatner) to Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart), which was wholly unnecessary, given that Picard had already headlined his own TV series for seven seasons. 

When the time came to write a sequel, Braga and Moore suddenly felt a lot freer.

Star Trek: Enterprise came on the scene after the previous four series had already established canon. It struggled to find an audience, but the show has found many fans since becoming available on streaming. Since the release of the series on Blu-Ray and DVD, the actors have even spoke out more about what was happening behind the scenes and what they wished could have happened.

On the season 2 Blu-Ray disc special feature, one of those things Brannon Braga thought could have happened was more violence. [via Screenrant]. He added that the show should have had more "grit." But the series debuted in 2001 on Upn, and there were network guidelines that had to be followed. Even so, Enterprise did have its fair share of violence. Certainly not as severe as what we've seen on today's Star Trek series, but then, Star Trek isn't just about violence.

Enterprise made much more of an impact...

At the end of the third season of "Star Trek: Voyager," ratings were flagging and Paramount was concerned. The show was competent enough, but it simply wasn't drawing the numbers that "Star Trek: The Next Generation" did before it. To shake up the series, the writers ejected the gentle character of Kes (Jennifer Lien) and replaced her with Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), a Borg babe in a skintight catsuit. The show's writers loved Seven of Nine, and the series was restructured to be almost entirely about her. It also didn't hurt that Ryan looked like a magazine cover model and was cinched up in a bust-enhancing corset. Ratings, needless to say, went up.

It's reported in the oral history book "The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years: From The Next Generation to J. J. Abrams," edited by Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross, that the cast of "Voyager" initially resented Ryan,...

Star Trek: First Contact‘s influence on the entire franchise can’t be overstated. Not only is it considered by many to be the best in the series, but Star Trek: First Contact also introduced several significant elements in the franchise, including the origins of the Federation and the Borg Spheres.

However, the film was close to being something very different, as before the production on it kickstarted, Patrick Stewart was hellbent on incorporating some writing changes. Fortunately, the creative clash between the original writers and Stewart didn’t last long.

Patrick Stewart Brought His Own Writers for Star Trek: First Contact A still from Star Trek: First Contact| Credit: Paramount Pictures

Despite Star Trek: Generation being a financial success, its writers, Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga, weren’t creatively satisfied with the output. So when Paramount gave producer Rick Berman the thumbs up to proceed with the next one,...

In Jonathan Frakes' 1996 film "Star Trek: First Contact," the ordinarily diplomatic and level-headed Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) inexplicably cracks. The Borg -- an evil race of all-consuming cyborgs -- have traveled back in time to the year 2063 to muck around with human history. They intend to stop a key moment of "Star Trek" history and assimilate as many people as they can into their unthinking mechanical collective. Several years before, Picard had been assimilated by the Borg, and was only rescued and extracted at the last minute.

Healing took a long time, but Picard faced the Borg on several occasions thereafter, and was finally able to confront them with control and thoughtfulness. In "First Contact," however, the Borg attack again, and Picard -- for whatever reason -- can't handle it this time. This time, when he sees a Borg, he shoots it. When he confronts the Borg Queen (Alice Krige), he breaks her spine.

As the old saying goes, “necessity is the mother of invention”, and that certainly held true when the creative minds behind action-packed Mission: Impossible II found themselves looking to the Star Trek universe for some visionary inspiration.

Have you ever wondered who helped transform this single film into a multi-billion-dollar juggernaut? Enter Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga, the writing wizards who mesmerized us with their 1996 hit movie Star Trek: First Contact. This film not only brought out the wildest imaginations of Star Trek aficionados but also caught the keen eye of Cruise himself.

Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible II | Paramount Pictures

The actor, along with his then-producing partner Paula Wagner, enlisted Moore and Braga to rewrite the script for Mission: Impossible 2 after talks with the movie’s original writer, David Marconi, fell through.

The Unlikely Connection: How Star Trek Saved Mission: Impossible 2

Tom Cruise’s Mission Impossible...

If I may start with a personal, somewhat braggadocious anecdote, I personally visited the sets of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" back in 1993, when I was still in high school, and my "Star Trek" fandom was riding at its most intense. I was instructed to touch nothing, and I didn't -- I also wasn't allowed to sit in Captain Picard's chair, which was a bummer -- but I was permitted to look as closely at the computer panels and walls as I wanted. 

Close inspection revealed a raft of teeny-tiny in-jokes that would never appear on camera, clearly designed by crew members and set designers to keep themselves amused while assembling the series. One might know that the wall panels of the U.S.S. Enterprise-d sport small, brown oval shapes indicating what might be behind that panel. In reality, those ovals contain little...

To date, there have been six feature films based on "Star Trek," four based on Star Trek: The Next Generation," and three set in a rebooted timeline (called the Kelvin timeline by fans). Those 13 films were all released theatrically from 1979 to 2016, averaging one film every three years or so. Up next, "Star Trek: Section 31" is slated for release on Paramount+ sometime in 2025, and it will be the first "Star Trek" TV movie. There has also long been talk of making a fourth film in the Kelvin timeline, but that movie's fate is currently a question mark; I'll believe it when I see it.

The longstanding general consensus is that the odd-numbered "Star Trek" films are bad and unsuccessful, while the even-numbered films are amazing hits. "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," for instance, was something of a disappointment at the box office, but "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan...

Actress Patti Yasutake, best known to Trekkies as Nurse Alyssa Ogawa, died on August 5, 2024, of a rare type of T-cell lymphoma. She was 70 years old. 

Nurse Ogawa first appeared on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" in the episode "Future Imperfect" more or less as a background character. She was one of Dr. Crusher's retinue of medical staff, there to give viewers the impression that the ship's sickbay was constantly bustling. She went on to star in 14 additional episodes of the show, and was usually merely standing next to Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden), passing her tools or saying "Yes, Doctor." She had a good bedside manner, and her repeated appearances had viewers wondering who she was and what her story might be. As the series progressed, Nurse Ogawa's role expanded incrementally, eventually leading to her becoming a legitimate supporting player. 

Indeed, by the show's seventh season, Nurse Ogawa began to...

Stream all 13 Star Trek movies for free on Pluto TV, from the originals to the reboot films. Includes iconic titles like "The Wrath of Khan" and "First Contact," spanning different Star Trek eras. Enjoy adventures with Kirk, Picard, and the Kelvin timeline crew at no cost for a limited time on Pluto TV.

All 13 Star Trek movies are streaming free on Pluto TV for a limited time. Star Trek officially became a movie franchise in 1979 with the premiere of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Five more movies starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and the cast of Star Trek: The Original Series followed until 1991. Patrick Stewart and the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation then took over the franchise for the next four films from 1994-2002. Director and producer J.J. Abrams then took over with three rebooted Star Trek movies from 2009-2016.

For a limited time, all 13 Star Trek movies...

About halfway through Jonathan Frake's 1996 sci-fi film "Star Trek: First Contact," Data (Brent Spiner) is being held hostage in the main engineering on board the U.S.S. Enterprise-e. Portions of the ship have been assimilated by the Borg, an invading race of emotionless cyborgs, and stone-faced drones march about the ship, infecting it with their transformative nanotechnology. Data has encountered the Borg on multiple occasions, however, and remains unflappable. He knows they are merely a collective consciousness, acting on a machine impulse to expand. There is no malevolence. Just programming.

Data, however — along with the Trekkies watching — is shocked to learn that the Borg have a leader. A partial humanoid torso — a head, shoulder, and little else — is lowered from the ceiling by tentacle-like tubes, its mechanical spinal cord hanging exposed. The shoulders are "plugged" into a waiting body below, and the Borg begins strutting around the room on its new legs.

Stunt casting can always be really hit or miss — sometimes audiences are excited to see a fun guest star in a surprising role, and sometimes the gimmick ends up feeling, well, gimmicky. Even when it works, like Marlon Brando playing Jor-El in Richard Donner's "Superman," it's frequently a major headache for folks behind-the-scenes. After all, stunt casting involves bringing an actor or star not used to a certain genre or medium into that arena, and actors used to art films and dramas might have a hard time adjusting to the very different requirements of science fiction, fantasy, and horror movies. This goes double for major franchises, where the actor has to contend not only with the unique challenges of a new genre but also the expectations of the fandoms. Since there are few fandoms as intense in their love or as scrutinizing as "Star Trek," stunt casting has to be done very,...

Patrick Stewart became a household name around the world when he was selected to play Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation. The actor was reportedly known for his stage work before he was selected to portray the extremely diplomatic USS Enterprise leader Picard.

The actor reunited with his cast mates for Star Trek: Picard and reportedly even encouraged Paramount to make a film around the events of the show. However, his choice for a director of the project may betray fans who want Brent Spiner, who plays Data, to helm a Star Trek project.

Patrick Stewart Tried To Make Paramount Develop A Film On Star Trek: Picard Patrick Stewart in Star Trek: The Next Generation | Credits: Paramount

Sir Patrick Stewart could not predict the level of stardom he received as Captain Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation. The most profitable syndicated show in the franchise,...