Generations had a bigger budget than ST6, so why...

Thanks to Joe Menosky's collection of Trek materials at UCLA, I've gotten to see each of the drafts of Generations, and it might be the only film I've ever seen where the script doesn't really vary much in structure from draft-to-draft. Ron and Brannon had all the major setpieces as required by the studio in there for the first draft, it's just the fate of the Duras sisters and other bits and pieces that shuffled around or were changed.

Ultimately, more development time would not have helped the film. The studio handicapped the project from the get-go by handing down a list of things they demand be in the picture.

For me, though, I enjoy Generations more and more with each passing year. Probably more nostalgia than anything, since it was the first Star Trek movie I saw in the theater (I was much too young to see TUC in theaters). But the cinematography is good, the score has grown on me, and I love the expanded version of the Enterprise-D bridge.

 

Its planet destruction sequence still holds up.

 

I never noticed it either. Indeed, this may be the first time I've heard of it.

(Who is "Mr. Plinkett"?)

 

Red Letter Media, and one of their less savory production styles.

 

They reuse the Excelsior at warp for Enterprise-B at warp, they reuse Chang's BOP flying off to cloak as the sister's BOP doing something, and they reuse the explosion at the end. Like TWOK did it too but TWOK was good.

 

I don't care about those reuses because they're fairly generic things to reuse, while a climax explosion is a different matter.

 

I personally like it more than the one in the 2009 film.

 

The explosion is too distinct.

 

me too.

 

A YouTuber who reviews movies "in character." You're not missing anything.

 

An early creation from Youtube channel Red Letter Media. Mr Plinkett is a caricature of an old man with an over-the-top (camp?) sense of sardonic humor. Definitely is more like performance artistry and where a couple of their plot points can be explained. Some loathe it, others love it, I got a few chuckles from it. "Plinkett" goes after Star Wars and other franchises too. They ditched the persona a few years ago...

 

"Star Trek Generations is the stupidest movie ever made. It ruined everything. And not just Star Trek movies, but everything."

Mike Stoklasa knows a lot about Star Trek. He makes good points. You should not miss it. But the video is already old and the format is outdated

 

True on all points.

I recall some discussions on GEN in other posts where ironed-out ideas and headcanon make GEN easier to appreciate (the bookend films are my favorites right now FWIW), and to be fair GEN was rushed along with season 7 of TNG, DS9, VOY was in its early stages, et cetera... GEN I've bounced back and forth on and more than my ex at the bar, but there is a truly great movie in there as it was spot-on with some of its themes and offering potential on others. (The one thing I can't still wrap my head around is Guinan's candle fetish and disabling the computer's fire sensors...)



I love how Worf is just to the point with the facts and ever so stoically. Usually, it's Data's meandering from the point into stream of wireless consciousness that is more entertaining, but they have the dude of the week swearing in this one about the situation in return, so why not... G-rated terms, too, oddly... I've seen Barrie Ingham in other works and, nope, not just in old Doctor Who, so it's a testament to his range as a character actor... but I digress again as I'm sure I've had and not realized it.

I saw the HD redo of the videos' parts. It's on a different YT channel. Not sure if RLM knows of it, but it's framecode-by-framecode perfect or nearly so...

Oh, along with certain other things from certain other shows, I found this video to be somewhat heartwarming:



But I digressed again.

 

Picard: "Number One, that's 'retract the plank', not 'remove the plank'."
Riker: "Of course, sir." (to Worf) "Sorry!"

As for Beverly's fall, I laughed harder at that than when Worf did. In my opinion, the whole sequence was amplified a hundred fold. So when this exchange happens later in the film, I couldn't help but smile...

Geordi: "Data, what possessed you to push her in the water anyway?"
Data: "I was attempting to get into the spirit of things. I thought it would be amusing. Is she still angry?"
Geordi: "I'd stay out of Sickbay for a couple of days if I were you."

 

This:

Belies this:

GEN is the successor to the two stupidest Trek films ever made.

 

I actually like "Generations". It was the first big-screen adventure for the "TNG" cast, the story was epic, and Malcolm McDowell was a truly great villain. Many of his lines are among the most often-quoted, from all four films. William Shatner's return was an added bonus, and his scenes with Patrick Stewart had a real weight to them, especially emotionally. Most of the other characters were also given plenty to do, whether it was Worf and Beverly ending up in the ocean, Geordi being briefly kidnapped by the scheming Duras sisters, Data suffering the equivalent of a nervous breakdown, and Deanna humorously crashing the saucer section...there was just so much to love. All in all, I'd seriously give the film a 9 out of 10 - its that good.

 

I would have loved to have seen a Nimoy rewrite of the script of movie (as he was interested in doing when he was offered the directing job). Do we think Kirk would still have died at the end?

 

Depending on their friendship in 1994, he could have died at the beginning.

 

I always hoped that the moment of contention between Nimoy and Berman was the fact that they wanted the entire original cast to return for TNG’s first movie. The Undiscovered Country, largely spearheaded by Nimoy, was by all accounts the perfect send off for everyone and to see everyone unceremoniously crammed into a turbo lift for their introduction had to have been the biggest turn off for Nimoy.

 

I must be about the same age as you, this was the first Trek film I saw in theaters too.

I totally agree with you on the cinematography and the expanded bridge. The ship looked great with the darker, more dynamic lighting, especially in the Ten Forward scene. I get why they wanted to axe the Ent-D but they did a great job making the TV sets pop on the big screen. The score still doesn't do it for me though, McCarthy basically remixed his own DS9 main theme for the overture, at least to my ear.

A flawed film, no question, but still worth watching from time to time. And don't tell anyone, but I unironically like Data's "tiny little lifeforms" song. But I don't care for Mr. Tricorder.