Star Trek : Générations

*** out of ****

Star Trek: Generations stands out, in my mind, as the most underrated of all the Trek installments. Fans of the original series may not like the transition from old to new, but I personally prefer the crew of The Next Generation, and having been familiar with these characters through the show's seven season run on TV, seeing them on the big-screen was a welcome sight. Personal preference aside, Generations does a fine job of delivering an engrossing tale packed with exciting action and understated humor.

The plot involves an energy ribbon called the Nexus, a place where time has no meaning, where you can live out your greatest joys without fear or worry.

A near deranged scientist, named Soran (Malcolm Mcdowell), has amassed a horrific plan to enter the Nexus, one which could cause monumentous destruction and kill hundreds of millions. It becomes a race as the crew of the Enterprise-D struggles to find Soran before disaster strikes.

Generations has a fair share of problems, but for the most part, it's a very entertaining adventure boosted by excellent special effects and good performances. The film's highlight is the spectacular crash of the Enterprise, one of the most harrowing, exhilarating action sequences of any of the Star Trek films. Then, of course, there's the meeting between the two captains, Picard and Kirk, a memorable union that symbolically passes the torch and ends on a poignant note, which is enough to ignore the plot holes in the climax. Definitely recommended, Generations is a good stand-alone film and makes for an enjoyable warm-up to the superb First Contact.

When I originally saw this film in 1994 when I was 13 years old, I was distinctly underwhelmed but having re-watched this for the first time in over 20 years, I appreciate this film a lot more. Even though Star Trek will always work better as a TV Series, this is actually a very good film and I'll explain why below.

Originally I wasn't too fussed on the film because I was an avid Trekkie who had loved 'The Undiscovered Country', had been a huge fan of the TNG series and remembered that Scotty said in Relics that "I'll bet Jim Kirk himself hauled the old gal outta mothballs" and thus the film had what I considered a major plot hole as a result of Kirk dying. Now that I'm considerably wiser and no longer a virgin/13 years old, this minor plot inconsistency really doesn't matter to me. ;-)

Whilst the special effects are a bit rushed/cheap in places (re- using 'The Undiscovered Country' and TV Series effects), it stands up fairly well for a 20+ year old film on a limited budget (particularly compared to the new films). Anyway, special effects can sometimes get in the way of a good script or even negatively affect a film...as they did with 'Into Darkness'.

Generations has some stand out moments. I was quite touched by how lonely Picard and Kirk were despite the fact that they had extraordinary lives with excitement and variety that most of us could only dream about. And yet, Picard mourning the death of his family and the family he never had, really touched me...in a way that it didn't 21 years ago. Behind that extremely intelligent and reserved character, was a real, nuanced human being with regrets, dreams and hopes that were never quite realised. When people say this is out of character for Picard, it's obvious that the events in TNG Episode 'The Inner Light' really touched him on a personal level and made him reconsider how important family was. Kirk too, seemed to have heartache in his life and how his decisions/Starfleet ruined any chance of a normal existence. It was sad and compelling to watch and something I never really noticed when I was 13.

In fact, the writing by Braga and Moore is very good in the Nexus part whilst the acting by Patrick Stewart and William Shatner made this even more believable/tangible.

Moreover, there are humorous elements to the film - Data and the tiny life forms speech made my girlfriend laugh out loud several times - in fact, we watched it 4 times! Thus, it's not all sad. :-) And to me, that's the mark of a good film.

Soran, played by Malcolm McDowell, hams it up but is a good character. It was also nice to see Chekov and Scotty one last time. Seeing Kirk, Chekov & Scotty on the bridge and how out of place they were was a nice touch and well-acted.

Obviously the rest of the cast probably weren't utilised as much as they should have been but that's only a small negative.

Try to watch this with an open mind and maybe you'll appreciate Generations a lot more than you did previously. I know I did. :-)

A new Enterprise generation takes over from the old one in this Star Trek franchise movie. Remembering back when this first came out I recall that Paramount signed William Shatner and Patrick Stewart for a movie and then wrote the script to contain both captains who roamed the galaxies a century apart.

This opens with William Shatner along with Walter Koenig and James Doohan out of retirement to take a short spin on the inaugural voyage of a new Enterprise. The ship gets called on a rescue mission but James T. Kirk is lost and presumed dead.

A century later Patrick Stewart and his Next Generation crew are involved with chasing a renegade scientist Malcolm McDowell whom you can usually find playing disturbed people. He's got some kind of mad scientist scheme to get to a place called the Nexus where time and space have no meaning. To do that he has to launch a missile into a star and have it explode. That it will kill all life in its solar system has little concern. As mad a scientist as you will ever find.

So there's Jean-Luc Picard in pursuit and he gets help from an unlikely source.

That's as far as I go. McDowell is a great villain, always is. It's not the greatest of science fiction plots I've seen. But Trekkies around the globe will love this summit film from the Star Trek franchise.

Amongst Trek nerds, there's a hotly debated but generally true rule that the odd-numbered Treks suck (I: The Motion Picture, III: The Search for Spock, and V: Kirk Kills God) while the even-numbered ones kick ass (II: The Wrath of Khaaaaaaan, IV: Spock Hugs a Whale, VI: The Undiscovered Country). I myself disagree strongly with regard to #1 and #5 which are two of my favorites, but alas even I must concede that they were generally not well received.

You see, dating all the way back to the 60s, the Trek stories have always been very personal, meaning certain stories will resonate with certain people but fail on the general audience. Call me crazy but I frickin LOVED "The Empath". Yeah, me and one other person, right? Long preamble aside, my point is that with Trek you'll get so many conflicting, subjective opinions that it's hardly any use to read reviews, aside from sheer entertainment factor which I will do my best to provide here.

Welcome to STAR TREK 7, aka "Why Did William Shatner Do This? Wasn't Priceline Earning Him Enough Money in the 90s?" This was Paramount Studio's attempt to reconcile Trekkies (fans of the original crew) and Trekkers (fans of The Next Generation), although I'd say this is squarely a Trekker next generation film with little more than a passing nod to the Trekkies and a somewhat forced "handoff" from Kirk to Picard. I won't get into that since the only amicable resolution of any Trekkie/Trekker debate is when both sides agree that the Federation would kick Darth Vader's butt.

As for this film, my biggest criticism with Star Trek Generations is that we don't feel any real peril. So it's hard to take the story as seriously as other Treks where, oh, the fate of the entire galaxy, universe or your momma rest in the balance. Danger seems contrived and random. The bad guy (admirably handled by Malcolm McDowell sporting an 80s Sting haircut) just isn't menacing or psychotic enough to get our attention like, for instance, Khan, who sets the tone right in the beginning by sticking a brain-eating worm in Chekov's ear. With Khan we know right away that we better set our inertial dampers on full because it'is going to be a wild ride. In contrast here in Generations, there's no real threat to the Enterprise or her crew, so we the audience are reduced to merely watching a series of events happen. Sure, these are events of importance, but emotionally we don't necessarily feel the emotional weight.

Of course this leads me right to the subject of the... well, the event that happens at the end. Just in case you've been living in the Genesis cave for the last 20 years and you don't know what that event is, I won't ruin it. But it feels like it comes totally out of left field and was unnecessary. Sort of like the Star Wars Christmas Special in 1978, I'd just as soon believe it never happened.

I'm going to do an about face now and tell you what's good about the movie. Data's subplot about trying to deal with emotions for the first time was awesome. It was both interesting as well as amusing, and it was a throwback to the Trek we all know & love which was driven by strong personalities and character development rather than plot points.

Similarly, there is a brief but powerful subplot about Picard and his personal tragedy. That was another great, profound moment which reminds us that Trek is more than phasers and special effects.

But alas, then we are thrown back into a plain old plot, which could've easily been the story of any other scifi and didn't require the Star Trek franchise behind it. Picard's (Patrick Stewart's) acting is first class as always, and it is mainly that plus the aforementioned Data story which keeps this movie rolling. But beyond that, all other characters are peripheral, wooden and somewhat forgettable.

The special effects are, well, 90s. That means they are neither nostalgic (like the 80s) nor technically impressive (like the 10s). They're just sorta... 90s. Apologies to anyone out there who grew up in the 90s. Your decade sorta sucked dude. Scifi wouldn't become cool again until the remake of Battlestar Galactica in 2003.

And on that note, YES, the same Ronald D Moore who masterminded Battlestar in 2003 is the guy who wrote the story and screenplay for Generations, so I can't imagine how it came up as short as a Ferengi's knee socks. But it did. The story was the worst part of this production because it didn't really give the actors a chance to shine.

We'll let Ronald off the hook just because Battlestar kicked ass.

I'm not sure if the Even-Odd rule holds true beyond 7 because I haven't seen 8 through (what are we on now?)13. And like I said, Trek tastes are entirely subjective and you may end up loving Generations more than any other. If so, I believe the Generations fan club is even smaller than my Empath fan club, so kudos for enduring the public shame. Hey it could be worse. You could be a fan of "Arena".

The one problem we have with the Next Generation films (all four of them) is that someone high up in the film-making process seems to forget that the Next Generation began as a television series about equals, as opposed to the Original Series having 3 stars and a lot of supporting characters. I understand that Picard and Data are seen as the most popular characters in the Next Generation that appeal to the general public, but the story lines that get played out for the two of them in the movies (family and finding humanity) have already been done in the series.

Those two themes - Picard's family and Data's quest for humanity - are central parts of this film, and take up a lot of the time, but the other characters do get their moments, and being the gracious professionals that they are, Frakes, Sirtis, McFadden, Burton and Dorn all give fabulous performances. Whoopi Goldberg appears unbilled as Guinan, and Patti Yasutaki also appears as Nurse Ogawa.

"Generations" also features three members of the Original Trekers, Captain Kirk, Scotty and Chekov, the latter two in small roles, while Kirk has a much larger role, yet his scenes, alongside Picard, are the slowest and most boring part of the film, even if they are confronting the enemy together.

One of the enemies in "Generations" is a mad man, well played by Malcolm McDowell, the others are the two Klingon sisters who appeared towards the end of the Next Generation series, and make welcome appearances once more. Also watch for Jacqueline Kim as the daughter of Sulu from the Original Series.

This is a decent film, but like all Next Generation films, can be quite repetitive and leaves some of the cast (particularly the lovely McFadden) with little to do.