Discuss Star Trek: Generations
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Best STNG-cast film
posted by FarfSTAFFMOD on February 23, 2017 at 2:42 AM
I was 12 when this came out in 1994, and I was in my heyday of being a STNG fanatic. And so I might be a bit jaded, but I absolutely loved this movie. Whenever anyone talks about the best film year, I hands down argue for 1994. It produced such hits as Shawshank Redemption, Forrest Gump, Pulp Fiction, The Lion King, Dumb and Dumber, Ace Ventura, Legends of the Fall, and ... drumroll ... Generations! What a ridiculous year in cinema!
The reason I like Generations so much is it felt like it was the most right fit for the style of plot the STNG crew would deal with on the show. There wasn't a lot of over-the-top action like in First Contact. There was a genuine intriguing villian that you could even empathize with. The Capt Kirk and Picard scenes in the Nexus were extraordinary. The music score was one of the best in the series, rivaling that of even the legendary James Horner, who did Wrath of Khan.
Yea, there's some plot-hole problems. The movie ain't perfect. I just think it gets crapped on so much that people forget it is, what I consider, the best STNG movie. It just went downhill from here, with First Contact being the prime example of what the STNG crew was not made for: mindless action.
Reply by Knixon
on June 13, 2021 at 3:55 AM
I hated the whole Zefram Cochrane retcon thing that leads up to the First Contact movie (not the TNG episode). In the TOS episode "Metamorphosis" it's pretty clear that the Vulcans didn't have it first, Cochrane discovered warp drive for EVERYONE, not just Earth.
Reply by Jacinto Cupboard
on July 6, 2021 at 7:09 AM
I disagree about ST not being an 'action' franchise, tho I doubt anyone would argue with the 'mindless' part being a problem for any movie. First Contact might be an action movie but it isn't mindless. Imo ST is at its best when it takes on big themes. The core of First Contact, like all of the Borg centric episodes, is what it means to be human. Unsurprisingly, Generations covers similar ground, only in this instance it is about what constitutes a meaningful life.
The vehicles for the ST franchise to approach these sorts of topics, at least when it was done well, was a backdrop of life and death struggle against a powerful and usually malicious enemy. That's the action part. It is that marriage of action and grand theme that has made the best of ST over the years.
I think why many fans don't like the reboot movies so much is that they are treated as action movies, and there are no grand themes.
As for Generations, imo it would have worked better without Kirk, and the reduced to cameo appearance of Scotty and Chekov. The Undiscovered Country was already a fitting send off to the original cast and there was no reason, other than money, to bring 3 of them back for this movie.
Reply by Knixon
on July 6, 2021 at 4:52 PM
Well it was supposed to be a "hand-off" movie, which "Undiscovered Country" wasn't.
Reply by Jacinto Cupboard
on July 6, 2021 at 9:14 PM
I understand the reasoning behind this from a monetary perspective. Having Shatner on the bill is a draw, and there would have been doubts about whether TNG cast could carry a movie on their own.
Put the passing the baton thing was redundant given the fact The Next Generation had already had 6 or 7 seasons under its belt and was well received.
The Undiscovered Country works well as a swansong to the original cast and that is probably how it was intended. Don't get me wrong, I always enjoy seeing Shatner and there is a huge geek factor in seeing Kirk and Picard together but it probably wasn't necessary. Berman played a similar stunt again with the finale to Enterprise. Again, equally needlessly.
Reply by Knixon
on July 6, 2021 at 10:07 PM
The Enterprise finale wasn't just needless, it was awful.
Reply by Jacinto Cupboard
on July 6, 2021 at 10:46 PM
I agree. I am only pointing out that this trick of Berman's played out more than once.