I just don't get it. At all. I'll never get the love that people have for the lighting of the Enterprise-D sets in Generations. It looks like they've suddenly decided to switch the Enterprise to being lit by fireplaces in each room. It's not "cinematic," it's just dark, IMHO. The only part of the Enterprise-D from that film I found impressive was the beautiful stellar cartography set. Other than that, I much preferred how the ship looked in TNG.
Star Trek: Generations at 30
- Thread starter Tallguy
- Start date
To each their own. One person's cinematic is another's "meh."
Absolutely! I'm not saying anyone is wrong to like the cinematography. I'm just saying I don't get it myself.
I remember dragging my parents to GEN. They weren’t fans, but went for me.
My brain thinks I saw it only a month ago. Then I walk past a mirror... yup, been three decades
^^this, and sentiment shared (as general concept).
Why I adore the darker sets - after years of bleached overlit sets for 178 TV episodes of varying levels of excitement, now we get sets steeped in shadow detail - even more than in seasons one and two. The shadow detail adds depth, as had the grilles added over the turbolift doors to add some additional visual texturing -- or at least to hide the fact that the sets got heavy use over 7 years (10-Forward was 6 years and also repurposed for STVI), with carpet and bits of wall getting knackered. Okay, maybe there's a tad too little lighting, but there's still enough ambient lighting that the net result just looks atmospheric. That said, close examination of the Ready Room set does show some bumps thanks to the outside star illuminating just the right area.
Granted, Data's quarters started as Kirk's quarters from TMP but redressed, so some sections were far more than 7 years old.
But it had to have been more than just "hide the nicks on the set", since the shiny new Amargosa observatory was also lit with the same philosophies.
But, yeah, the old joke of OSHA would have a fit over the subdued lighting makes sense, especially in Data's quarters where it's also by far the least lit. Engineering and Bridge did look better, though that also meant that some camera angles had to be avoided and especially for all but long-shots as quilted fabric was used for some plasma tubes in Engineering, which definitely would not have been seen as such in 1987 and only a trained eye can see on blu-ray, but those same sets and picture quality on a 40~70-foot screen?! There'd be no chance to hide anything at all, not even for any pairs of pants hanging up there.
Beyond the visual appeal or lack thereof, it technically would be inappropriate in some areas such as Engineering, or whenever Geordi wants Data to pop his top so he can shove a positronic chip in it.
Lastly, the reduced lighting helped the fact that all the DS9 costumes were nicked and not tailor-fit for any of the crew, who were changing outfits in the middle of an emergency. Into ill-fitting outfits that some of them could trip on and over, should they have to run in a hurry.
I have a softspot for Generations
Know a lot of fans wanted to see a better end to Kirk than what we got. But I think its brilliant.
James Kirk is basically given the opportunity to right his mistakes in life and do things right from day one as he says in the nexus. A chance of true happiness.
But he throws it away to help make a difference and save the lives of people from the future, who he's never known. That's Kirk! He makes the sacrifice because the needs of the many out weight needs of the few or the one.
Yes his death was not in blaze of glory on a sinking starship.
But a fistfight in some desert facing fearful odds, How can a man die better?
Know a lot of fans wanted to see a better end to Kirk than what we got. But I think its brilliant.
James Kirk is basically given the opportunity to right his mistakes in life and do things right from day one as he says in the nexus. A chance of true happiness.
But he throws it away to help make a difference and save the lives of people from the future, who he's never known. That's Kirk! He makes the sacrifice because the needs of the many out weight needs of the few or the one.
Yes his death was not in blaze of glory on a sinking starship.
But a fistfight in some desert facing fearful odds, How can a man die better?
Was just thinking about Generations this evening and remembered an multi-part article on TrekWeb ages ago where they did a detailed breakdown of a couple versions of the film’s workprint. I wanna say they split it over three parts?
Anyone else remember this article and if it’s been preserved anywhere? Googling didn’t help much, and I don’t have any efficient ways of finding it through the Internet Archive without a direct link.
Anyone else remember this article and if it’s been preserved anywhere? Googling didn’t help much, and I don’t have any efficient ways of finding it through the Internet Archive without a direct link.
I don't know as I've seen that. I find a lot of work print / not done yet type reels hard to watch. (Heck, I find the original trailer to Star Wars hard to watch.) But Generations ESPECIALLY. If ever there was a re-shoot that was absolutely needed it was this film.
Yes that was a good sacrifice scene.
Captain Kirk’s sacrifice was no different. He helped save the lives of the Enterprise-D, not just the crew and its passengers but a whole alien civilisation of 230 million lives.
May of been alternate version of his father but as the saying goes “like father like son.”
I think George resonates better for me.
Perhaps one of the key factors is that while we know there's 230 million lives on Veridian IV(?), we don't even get a glimpse of them in the film. They're a pure abstraction, making it infinitely easier to care about the ~1,000 lives on the E-D (not a trifling figure!).
On the other hand, besides us seeing the Kelvin folks before things go to hell, we know the significance of anyone with the surname of Kirk being aboard.
On the other hand, besides us seeing the Kelvin folks before things go to hell, we know the significance of anyone with the surname of Kirk being aboard.
Well it comes over in execution doesn’t it. Yes we have two characters that are willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice to save lives.
But the scene with George the stakes are more personal, he isn’t just saving the crew, his pregnant wife is there and to make things worse in premature labour. Even if a premature birth is something you’ve not been through you can emphasise very easily, you can imagine what would you do in the same position.
But in Generations we know of the civilisation as it was stated a few times in the plot. But we never see them.. All we see is crashed enterprise-d get destroyed by the shockwave.
I've decided it's actually not "We don't know who the people are that he's saving" (although it might be that we never see any of them). It's that in George, Sr's case (for example) it actually seems necessary. (Even in a JJ film.) Same with Kirk Death Part I in Generations. (Spock, obviously.) Data? Ehhhh.
But really, Kirk's death feels dumb because Picard going right back to where he's fighting Soran unarmed, only now with another unarmed guy, feels dumb!
But really, Kirk's death feels dumb because Picard going right back to where he's fighting Soran unarmed, only now with another unarmed guy, feels dumb!
The Nexus logic come across as dumb for me.
I'm all for a Captain Kirk goes one last adventure. Save the galaxy or die trying.. It's the part I liked in the story.
It's that you can leave the nexus and go anywhere in time and space. Why Picard didn't go back months, could of saved his family from being in the house when it burns down and still have time to have Soran arrested before he starts blowing stars up, there's enough shady stuff involving the Romulans we could have him detained. Also that would mean the enterprise-d doesn't get destroyed.
Edit to add.
For the longest time I did have a theory of what if Picard never actually left the nexus, and everything post generations is just Picard's make-believe land haha
They could have put a few seconds of the destruction of Veridian IV when we saw the shockwave hit the planets, but that's a ton of money for alien makeup and architecture that they couldn't spare. Plus you risk the "Who are these random aliens?" question from people who weren't paying attention.
We never saw the Malurians who were destroyed by Nomad, at least not until a member of the species showed up in "Civilization(ENT)," a story set over a century before the Malurian race was wiped out. Sometimes we don't really need to see every alien that's part of the wider story.
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