STAR TREK GENERATIONS

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country proved to be a big success in the box office, so of course there was going to be a seventh film with or without the original crew. The movie bid farewell to the adventures of Captain Kirk and his crew but it did make way for a Next Generation of movies. In 1994, Star Trek: The Next Generation ended it's seven year run and even before production wrapped, producer Rick Berman was already arranging plans to bring the crew to the big screen. While fans had to wait a full 10 years between the end of the original show and the first movie, fans only had to wait about 10 months before the first Next Generation film.

This movie was going to be a big event for may reasons. As mentioned earlier, it is the first film starring the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, featured the destruction of the Enterprise-D, transitioned the time periods between the 23rd and 24th centuries and finally, featured the death of Captain Kirk...Now, the death of Kirk leads to much controversy to this day. I honestly think it wasn't a proper send off for such an iconic character.
 

Kirk, Scotty and Chekov are guests of honor.

The films starts in the 23rd century picking up only a few months after the end of Star Trek VI. Kirk is officially retired from Starfleet and is the guest of honor during the christening of the new Enterprise-B. Along for the ride are his previous crew mates Scotty and Chekov. Once entering the bridge, he and company is raided with lights and news services. "What have you been doing since you retired?" "This is the first Starship Enterprise in 30 years without James T. Kirk in command, how do you feel about that, Sir?" Attempting to just get out of the way of all these questions, Kirk is saved by the new captain of the Enterprise, John Harriman. A moment later, he announces that he's grateful to have a group of "living legends" on the ship. Kirk must be thinking, Can I feel any older than I already am? It is actually quite a humorous moment. 


After having a glance of the bridge, Kirk takes a moment and looks at the command chair that is no longer his. Suddenly, Chekov comes over to him and introduces the new helmsman, Demora Sulu. Kirk is taken aback and asks Scotty "when did [Sulu] find time for a family?" Scotty tells him, "Well like you always say, 'If something's important you make the time. Ah, so that's why you seem so restless. Finding retirement a little lonely are we?" Kirk replies, "You know I'm glad you're an engineer, with tact like that you'd be a lousy psychiatrist." Soon after, the Enterprise gets a distress call and, as usual, they are the only ship in range. Kirk, filled with 30 years of gut instinct, slowly gets up but knows not to take over the situation and leave it in the hands of the inexperienced young captain.

The Enterprise entering the energy ribbon.

The Enterprise is finally in range of the two ships in distress and they appear to be caught in what looks like a giant space ribbon with tendrils shooting out like a cat trying to grab for a mouse. The Enterprise is not equipped with either the proper tools needed to save the ships, nor the proper amount of crew members, as they don't arrive until the following Tuesday. Once close enough to transporter range, the Enterprise is unable to save the first ship and 265 lives are lost. Kirk still manages to sit at bay. Finally, the captain asks Kirk for any advice he might have and the retired officer takes action and manages to save 47 crew of the second ship before that too gets destroyed. This is the ultimate test that all captain's must face. "Risk is part of the game if you want to sit in that chair", Kirk quips. Since the medical staff is not on the ship either, Commander Chekov acts as a medical officer and tends to the people beamed aboard. There is one person that beamed aboard from the other ship and is acting quite strange. He keeps asking to "go back" somewhere and no one has any idea what he's talking about. With a large gash run down the middle of his face and starting to get a bit violent, Chekov sedates him.

Captain Kirk briefly takes command of the Enterprise

After rescuing the survivors, the Enterprise itself becomes trapped in the ribbon! With no way of getting out since the ship has no torpedoes or any way to defend itself, Scotty has the quick plan to use the deflector dish as a means to escape since it can fire a beam that is big enough to break away. In order to do so, someone must go down to engineering and set it up. "I'll go!" Harriman tells Kirk. "You have the bridge!" Did I hear correctly? Did he give me command of the Enterprise? You're damn right I'll take the bridge! If only Spock and Bones were at my side! 

Right when Harriman is about to enter the turbolift, Kirk tells him to wait and says, "You're place is on the bridge of your ship...I'll take care of it." After telling Scotty to keep things together, Kirk enters the bowls of the Enterprise to the deflector control room. As the ship is shaking back and forth, Kirk finally reaches deflector control and the Enterprise breaks free. But not before a tendril of the ribbon hits the Enterprise, creating a gash on the hull where Kirk was working. 

Kirk risks his life for the crew of the Enterprise.

Harriman exclaims, "You did it Kirk!" When he asks for a damage report...Demora Sulu says that the deck Kirk was on was destroyed. Scotty and Harriman head to the breach and call Chekov down as well. Once arrive to where Kirk was, there is a huge gape in the deflector room and no sign of the Captain. "My God...was anyone in here?" Scotty simply replies, "...Aye." The last shot of the 23rd century is of the Enterprise-B simply with the three officers looking out of the hull and then heading back to Earth. Captain Kirk is dead...or is he?

Now, I just want to take a brief note before I get into the meat of the story. This is the last time we see any Scotty and Chekov and the 23rd century of Star Trek. I find it to be quite anti-climactic since they had such a great farewell in the last movie. This, although a good epilogue to depict what many of the members were up to since they retired, kind of brings our last viewing of them on a low note. Kirk is believed dead and that is the end of these characters. Now, many fans don't like this movie and tend to just throw it away, but this IS a Star Trek film nonetheless and therefore we must respect it. 


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 Now, we flash forward 78 years later and the crew of Star Trek: The Next Generation take the center stage. Our introduction to the crew is on an old navy vessel of the 19th century called the H.M.S. Enterprise. Now, why are we on an old naval vessel from the past if we were to be 78 years from the events that took place with Captain Kirk? Well, that is because we are on a holodeck. For those unclear of what a holodeck is, just watch an episode of The Next Generation. It's a room where anything is possible. You go in, and the room suddenly vanishes and you are in any location you want to be, whither it be from 19th century Earth or the planet mars. You aren't really there, however it makes you believe you are. In reality, we are aboard the latest starship in the Federation, the U.S.S. Enterprise, NCC-1701-D.

Worf isn't laughing...rather he never laughs.

As the crew gather around, a drum roll begins and what looks to be a Klingon is taken from the bowls of the ship to the main deck. The captain of this vessel, Jean-Luc Picard, asks, "Mr. Worf, I always knew this day would come. Are you prepared to face the charges?" Worf replies, "I am prepared." A plank is extended and there is a hat right above it for Worf to catch without falling into the freezing ocean. When Worf succeeds, Commander Riker, First Officer of the Enterprise tells the computer to remove the plank. This mistake caused the plank to disintegrate, leading Worf to fall into the freezing water. "Number one, that's retract plank, not remove plank." Commander Riker yells, "Sorry!" Worf is growling and furious but it seems to be all in good fun.

The first android in Starfleet, Lieutenant Commander Data, is at a loss as to why someone falling into freezing water is "amusing". Doctor Crusher, the CMO aboard the Enterprise says, "It's all in good fun Data." To this, Data does not understand. When she tells him to do something unexpected, he takes this the wrong way and pushed her off the ship as well. No one laughs at this and all eyes go to Data. Confused, Data says, "That was..." Geordi La Forge, the chief engineer of the Enterprise-D finishes his statement, "...Not funny." During this, Captain Picard gets a message from the ship regarding a message he has from Earth.  

The computer arch appears on the holodeck for Captain Picard.

Arriving at the Amargosa Observatory

Once reading the message, Picard discovers that his brother and nephew have passed away in a fire in his home country of France. This changes Picard's demeanor and he storms out of the holodeck to his ready room on the bridge of the starship. Once Picard leaves, there is another announcement that an observatory is under attack. Riker changes character and orders Red Alert. The Enterprise-D has arrived in the observatory to discovered that it has been ambushed and ransacked. The crew compliment was 15. Once an away team has beamed to the station, Riker and Worf discover that there is one survivor. A Dr. Tolian Soran. He has a scar on his face...Riker asks who attacked him and he has no idea. "It all happened so fast." Getting ready to leave for the Enterprise, Worf discovers a dead Romulan, confirming that they indeed attacked the station.

Dr. Tolian Soran is discovered alive on the observatory

Meanwhile, back on the Enterprise, Data, still full of guilt after pushing the doctor off the ship, explains that it is time for him to use his emotion chip. Geordi is hesitant to insert it in the android, but Data insists that he have it installed. He wants to know what it is like to discover humor. 

Geordi installing Data's emotion chip.

Dr. Soran, meanwhile is on the Enterprise and keeps looking at his pocket watch. He seems to have a need to get somewhere but doesn't tell anyone why. He calls for Captain Picard to meet with him at the 10 Forward lounge, and pleads to tell him that he must return to the observatory. He explains, "I must complete a critical experiment on the Amargosa star." Picard shuts him down in quite an impulsive and impatience way. He is still damaged by the death of his family members and wants nothing but to be left alone. However, he is the captain of a starship, thus he must put all other duties before him as far as the ship is concerned. You can't just walk off the face of the earth because you lost two family members. The Enterprise has over a thousand people on board and they are all under his command and responsibility. Picard says, "We are still investigating the reasoning for the attack so as soon as that is complete I will allow you to return." Soran says that "timing is very important in his experiment." He is obviously obsessed and threatens Picard saying that, "Time is the fire in which we burn." What is all this talk about time?

Picard eventually allows Soran to return to the observatory. Data and Geordi then travel down to the observatory and check out any hints or clues as to why and how the station was attacked. Data, with his newly installed emotion chip starts to joke around, much to Georgi's chagrin. Wanting to get back to business, Geordi detects Dr. Soran. "Is there a problem, gentleman?" Acting strange and mischievous out of the blue, the doctor then knocks out Geordi and Data is scared to take action since his emotion chip has caused him to be afraid, afraid. Meanwhile, on the Enterprise, Mr. Worf detects that a missile was launched at the Amargosa star and a quantum implosion has started, causing the star to collapse in a matter of minutes. Picard orders Riker and Worf to rush and get everyone off of the station to safety.

Riker and Worf beam aboard to get everyone to safety. However, Soran has taken the unconscious Geordi hostage and they both beam off to an unknown location. Where could they have gone? No matter, it's time to evacuate the station and Picard is not going to wait for anything. "Helm! Warp One, ENGAGE!" And then, in an instant the Enterprise warps away seconds before the debris destroys the station.

The next thing we see, is a grungy Klingon ship and Dr. Soran is there while holding Geordi hostage. It turns out that the Klingons were the ones that attacked the station after all. The reason Dr. Soran survived, was simply due to the fact that he was in on it! He knew all along and all the people on the station had to die because of his scheme, whatever it was. Some experiment. What on Earth...or Amargosa, could he be doing that is so important to kill 12 people? We discover it is because he has stolen a missing compound called trilithium, a compound needed to shoot the missile into the star. Interrogating Geordi, he asks if he knows what he knows about trilithium so he can use more for it.

Meanwhile, on the Enterprise, Dr. Crusher informs the captain that Dr. Soran is an El-Aurian over 300 years old. "He lost his entire family when the Borg destroyed his world." She also informs Riker that he was part of the refuges that were rescued by the Enterprise-B, the mission where James Kirk was killed. Not only was he the one who lost his family, but so was the ship's bartender on the current Enterprise...Guinan. She is also an El-Aurian. It is found out that the lives lost on the ship were not lost, but rather pulled into a dimension called the Nexus. This was the ribbon that the Enterprise-B encountered all those years ago. "It's a doorway to a place that we call the Nexus." She also goes on to explain that when she and Dr. Soran were saved by the Enterprise-B, they were in and out and pulled from their reality. Once in the Nexus, you can go wherever you want to go and that time has no meaning. So, if you lost your family in reality, you can simply go to a place in time where they may seem alive to you, but not in reality. Soran is trying desperately to get back there and as Guinan says, "If he's still obsessed he can be a very, very dangerous man." Picard is not going to risk the loss of any other planets just so Soran's missile can change the course of the ribbon. He's going to stop him.

 

Arriving at Veridian III

Meanwhile, Geordi is released from the Klingon ship once Soran makes the modifications to his VISOR. Demanding to go to Veridian III, Soran tells the Klingon crew to send Geordi back to the Enterprise. He modified the VISOR so the Klingons can see what he sees. The Enterprise knows exactly where the Klingon Bird-of-Prey is and swears to stop any missiles launched at the star. The Klingon ship is no match for the mighty Enterprise...unless their shields are compromised... Thanks to Geordi La Forge's VISOR, the Klingons can now view inside the Enterprise and at first it takes a while for him to actually get there. B'tor exclaims, "He bathed and now he's roaming the ship. He must be the only engineer in Starfleet who doesn't GO to engineering." After finally arriving, they find the shield vulnerability on the starship and pinpoint the vulnerable spot on the ship. Once the vessel decloaks, they fire on the Enterprise and the torpedoes go right past the shields.

Enterprise under attack

Eventually, the Enterprise prevails, destroying the Klingon ship once and for all, but not before it has been critically hit. The ship then needs to separate. So, the saucer section of the ship separates and the ship makes an emergency crash landing into the Veridian III star. During this time, Picard had transported down to the planet to negotiate with Soran but to no avail. After a brief brawl, Picard loses the fight and then the missile shoots, destroying the Veridian star. All the survivors on the ship are lost once the the nexus passes. This isn't correct. This wasn't meant to happen.

After entering the Nexus, Picard meets up with the echo of Guinan from the past and she informs him that she can send Captain Kirk with him to help him stop the mad scientist. You see, Kirk wasn't killed on the Enterprise-B after all, but rather pulled into the everlasting Nexus ribbon living a life he's always wanted.

When Picard meets him, it is quite strange. He walks up to Kirk chopping wood and introduces himself as the Captain of the Enterprise. How awkward is that?! In any case, Kirk asks if he smells something burning. "It looks like someone was trying to cook some eggs! It's all right, it's my house. At least it used to be." This cabin in Iowa appears to be a home that Kirk had owned some time ago, but not really since this is from the point of view of Kirk and not Picard. You see, as explained before, time has no meaning in the nexus and what may just seem like a few years ago for Kirk, is really over 80 years for Picard. In any case, Picard attempts to convince Kirk to go back with Picard to the time right before Soran destroys the star and the Enterprise.

Now, here is probably the most important part of the movie. The advice that Captain Kirk gives Picard.

"Captain of the Enterprise, huh?"
"That's right."
"Close to retirement?"
"Not planning on it."
"Well, let me tell you something. Don't. Don't let them promote you. Don't let them transfer you, don't let them do anything, that takes you off the bridge of that ship because while you're there, you can make a difference."

As we know through the life and journey of Kirk, he has made choices in his life. Some better and some worse, but after his career, he gives Picard some sound advice that no other Starfleet captain would know about. 

Finally, the two leave the Nexus and confront Soran right before the star was destroyed. After a brawl, Captain Kirk kick's his butt but not before falling down a cliff and dying. Picard meanwhile puts locking clamps on the missile so it can't launch, killing Soran instantly. After the rocks and debris clear, Picard reaches Kirk and informing him that he had made a difference, Kirk dies and is buried by Picard in a simple cairn of rocks. He truly went where none have gone before.

The film ends with Picard meeting up with Riker and informs him that this will not be the last ship to carry the name Enterprise. There will be another...

Now, I don't hate this film by any means. I actually have a soft spot for it. I can't say that I would recommend it, but there are plenty of ways in which it could have been better. The previous movie was such a wonderful send off for the original crew and there didn't really need to be a prologue during the original era. The baton was already passed in a brilliant way and to have some crew carried over in this movie was a bit anti-climactic. This is really a Next Generation film and is not intended to be an Original movie. Many say that it seems to be an episode of the show on the big screen, but I don't see it that way. The lighting and the music for one thing is what makes it much more grander. The film certainly drags on to the point where I just turn it off. I do like the idea of the Nexus and I've always wanted to see Captain Kirk and Picard together, but the climactic fight was not executed well and is best left to be forgotten.

Transporter accidents, starship battles, being stranded, and just to fall of a cliff seemed so...uninspired and just lazy. Granted, he saved many lives, but I took it as a way for the writers to make the movie standout just because it featured the death of Kirk. William Shatner was barely in the film as he is only in the beginning and in the end fighting. I, like many fans, feel that he should have died on the bridge of the Enterprise or at least saving the ship. Falling off a cliff? No. There were test screenings for the movie and originally he was to be shot in the back by Dr. Soran. It was not at all popular and they decided to change it. I don't find it to be much better. But, it is what it is. Star Trek Generations has happened and that is the way it goes.

The upside, is that it pushed the Next Generation crew to their own movie series. 

What are your thoughts on the movie? Did you enjoy it? See it in theaters? Feel that the death of Captain Kirk was lame? Please comment below and show your thoughts. I love getting a different perspective and would be more than happy to reply!

Sources:

• Captain Kirk and Picard on horseback: http://io9.gizmodo.com/10-things-that-star-trek-got-right-that-have-never-bee-1752983440
• Enterprise-B GIF:  http://startrekships.tumblr.com/tagged/Enterprise%20B
• All other images courtesy of: http://www.movie-screencaps.com  
• And a very special thanks to These Are The Voyages for the clip of Picard and Kirk! Please follow him! He's got some great stuff!