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1995-11-12
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TF01
3,Generations - Movie Review
4,by Simon Plumbe
Oh dear! Where oh where do I start with this film? After seven highly
successful seasons on TV, Paramount have finally gone and done it to
all of us TNG fans and tried to put us off the show for life in just
2 hours. Well, to be honest, Generations almost did that for me. I
was originally going to review this film with everyone else, but as
you'll see below, my review turned out to be a lot longer than I ever
anticipated...
If the film just had a few minor flaws, I could have lived with it.
Let's be frank, no film is perfect and anyone who expects a film to
be such is going to be in for a disappointment. Even what is arguably
the greatest sci-fi film ever made, Star Wars, has faults and
continuity errors (but that's another article... no doubt one that I
will end up writing for Visions!), so to expect a Trek film to be
flawless is asking too much.
Unfortunately, in the case of Generations, it isn't marred by just
one or two errors or flaws - I'd say that 90% of the film is flawed
to the extent that it raises questions for the viewer or makes them
ask themselves why they are bothering to stay in their seats.
When I went to see Generations, I must admit that I was one of the
many fans who had seen and read the script to the movie beforehand.
After reading it, I was certain that I wasn't going to like the movie
and to a limited extent, I admit that I had pre-judged the film.
However, when I went to the cinema with a group of about 20 other
Trekkers (a great way to enhance any of the films!), I tried to watch
the film with an open mind, hoping that the on-screen representation
would manage to gloss over the flaws and would at least keep me
entertained for two hours. Boy, was I in for a shock.
In fact, Generations turned out to be far WORSE than I had
anticipated, for a number of reasons. While there were one or two
points about the film that I DID like, the majority of the film left
me cold. To best deal with how I felt about Generations, it's
probably best to look at the film piece by piece...
* The champagne bottle - what on earth were they thinking?! While I
must admit that it is a nice sequence visually, and yes, it is a
naval traditional to launch ships in this way, did it really have
to be soooo long?! If this scene had been following a short fly-
through of the galaxy, ending up in our solar system and then,
for the last 20 seconds or so, concentrating on the bottle, then
I think it would have created a suitable build-up to the start of
the movie. As it is, 2.5 minutes is too drawn out and I found
that boredom soon set in. Not a good start.
The original opening with Kirk paragliding intercut with the
champagne bottle would have worked so much better and it was a
shame that the footage was left on the cutting room floor, purely
for time reasons.
* Captain Harriman - excuse me, but how did someone as downright
incompetent as Harriman ever get offered the command of
Starfleet's flagship? Surely anyone with the rank of Captain will
have served on board another ship as First Officer and would
have, on a number of occasions, been left in command of the ship
and left to deal with delicate and dangerous situations. Just
look at TNG for example, ALL of the bridge crew have been in
command at one point or another (even Geordi in season ONE when
he was still only a Lieutenant Junior Grade), and they were all
able to cope reasonably well. That being the case, why, when
Harriman has been trained specifically to command a Starship,
does he crack under pressure and fail to act when needed. It was
disappointing to see the Captain of the Enterprise being less
capable than anyone else on board his ship. Even some of the
visiting press could have handled the situation better!
* The visiting journalists - now I can understand that there would
be a great deal of media attention in the launch of a new ship,
but the way the journalists were acting a crowding Kirk, Scotty
and Chekov was hardly representative of how things would be in
the 23rd Century. 20th century tabloid television, fair enough,
but I don't think so in future. Anyway, wasn't it mentioned in
TNG that television had ceased to be a popular form of
entertainment in the mid-21st century, so where were all the
journalists from?
* Demora - I am really having a great deal of difficulty accepting
Demora's background. I would estimate that by her rank, Demora is
no older than 22 or 23. That being the case, she would need to
have been born during the Enterprise's original five year
mission. Did any of you see the relationship Sulu had with
Demora's mother? And since when was Sulu married??
* Tuesday - oh please! On board the Enterprise B were legendary
Starfleet heroes, and members of the public in the form of the
visiting press, yet there was no medical crew on board. In our
time, something like that would be illegal, and if nothing else,
safety in the 23rd Century would be an even more important
priority. Again, why would Starfleet send out an incomplete ship
(minus the tractor beam and photon torpedoes) on its maiden
voyage. Even if it was only a trip "around the block", it should
still have been fitted with ALL of its equipment before leaving
spacedock. This whole "joke" demeaned the Enterprise B and made
light of its position in Starfleet history. I was embarrassed to
watch this part of the film.
* As a whole, the only saving grace of the entire Enterprise B
sequence were the superb performances from William Shatner, James
Doohan and Walter Koenig, and the Classic Trek atmosphere they
managed to re-create, despite the weak scripting and "jokes".
* Onto the 24th century now, and Worf's promotion. In the past when
characters had been promoted, we never saw any sort of fantasy
promotion scene, so why do it now? Admittedly, it was a nice
scene to watch, although Geordi's reaction to the promotion was
so over-the-top it was cringeworthy. One nice touch of continuity
was Picard's more relaxed attitude towards the rest of his crew.
On a couple of occasions he referred to Riker as Will, when in
the past he would have called him Commander. It was nice to see
that the card game in "All Good Things..." has had an impact on
him.
* After this, things go downhill for the TNG crew. Killing off
Robert and Rene was a brave move for the writers to take, but
surely it could have been handled better. I mean, killing them
off in a fire seemed to be an easy way to write the characters
out of Star Trek lore. There are plenty of ways a person can die,
and I find it hard to believe that they couldn't have been saved
from a simple fire. While talking about Robert and Rene, when we
saw them later (in the photo album and during Picard's experience
in the Nexus), why on earth did they bring in different actors?
* Next, a controversial point - the lighting on the Enterprise.
While many may argue that the dark lighting added to the
atmosphere of the film, saying that the bright lighting of the
series didn't fit the tone of the movie, I have to disagree. TNG
has done dark and very serious stories in the past, such as The
Best Of Both Worlds, and that hasn't needed to have half of the
light bulbs on the Enterprise removed, so why did Generations.
I'm surprised that none of the characters spent most of the film
bumping into each other in the dark!
* The sore point of the whole film for me however, is that of Data
getting the emotion chip. Yes, we knew that it was only going to
be a matter of time before it would be used, but to use the
reason that Data didn't understand a joke was a little on the
weak side. Surely a better reason could have been thought of?
* This leads to the atrocious scene in Ten Forward with Data
tasting the drink given to him by Guinan. Whether Data hated the
drink or not is irrelevant, someone isn't just going to lose all
of their tact and consideration for others feelings just because
they suddenly develop emotions. One other thing I noticed in this
scene is that Ten Forward seemed rather crowded. Even when the
Enterprise has been host to large diplomatic gatherings, there
have never been that many people in Ten Forward before.
* Data's emotions - yet again they started to spoil the film. When
Data and Geordi beamed over to the observatory, I could do
nothing but cringe at Data's "jokes", his actions, mannerisms and
puns. To see my favourite character degraded and humiliated in
such a way was a terrible thing to see. In fact, the few scenes
in the film with Data's have affected my opinion of the character
so much that Data is no longer my favourite Star Trek character.
And when Data started playing with "Mr Tricorder" it was all I
could do to refrain myself from switch the video off or leaving
the cinema.
I generally had problems with the latter scenes with Data's
emotions as well. When Data cowered while Soran kidnapped Geordi
I spent the whole time asking why Data didn't intervene. For
crying out loud, Data is an intelligent android with more than
enough strength and ability to have stopped Soran in his tracks
without harming Geordi and Data certainly must have been aware of
that.
Then there was the "Yes!" exclamation from Data at the
destruction of Lursa and B'Etor's ship. Unfortunately, this is
one of the few emotional reactions from Data that could have been
explained (as Geordi acted in the same way over Worf's promotion
earlier in the film), but to expect a Starfleet officer to take
pleasure over the loss of life - any life - is beyond
comprehension.
On top of that, when Data started singing about searching for
lifeforms, I just wanted to curl up and die! Characters have been
seen singing in Star Trek in the past, but it has never seemed to
be so out of character as this. I just can't believe that Brent
agreed to do this.
Finally, Data swearing. This was totally inexcusable. We have,
to-date, NEVER seen anyone swearing in Star Trek other than
Kirk's speech to the Klingons in Star Trek III, and the
occasional "hell" and "damn" from Riker. It is a well-known fact
that people pick up language from people around them and what
they hear. Children from families who seldom swear are generally
unlikely to do so themselves. That being the case, where did Data
pick up his swearing habits from? The crew had been in worse
predicaments than the saucer section crashing (such as "Cause And
Effect") and no-one swore then, so why now? It was nothing more
than a cheap shot aimed at gaining a few laughs.
* Kidnapping Geordi, in the final cut of the movie at least, seemed
to be a complete waste of time, other than to re-hash an old TNG
episode plot to use Geordi's VISOR to see from a distance.
However, what the effects team obviously forgot to realise is
that we all KNOW what the signals look like from Geordi's VISOR.
They appear as a mixture of colours as if viewed through a number
of filters - Geordi doesn't have a built-in camcorder!
* Stellar Cartography - a nice scene visually and I won't argue
about it's importance to revealing Soran's plans, but did they
really need to spend $150,000 on a new set, when we are already
familiar with Stellar Cartography from the series?
* The destruction of the Klingon Bird Of Prey - surely they would
have tried to disable the ship and take Lursa and B'Etor
prisoner, especially considering their importance as Klingon
fugitives. Again, it all seemed to demonstrate the bloodlust of
the movie. There was no regard for the preservation of life.
* The initial confrontation between Picard and Soran was handled
reasonably well with sterling performance from both Patrick
Stewart and Malcolm McDowell. However, I felt that too much
emphasis was placed on Soran as being the "mad scientist",
explaining his plot to his adversary.
* Kirk meets Picard - now this is a part of the movie that I DID
like. When Picard first encountered Kirk in the Nexus I, like
most Trek fans, was grinning like an idiot! Patrick Stewart
managed to do a wonderful job in the initial scene where they
met, portraying Picard's awe at standing in the presence of a
Starfleet legend admirably. Shatner was his usual charismatic
self and I felt that the way the two interacted was one of the
highlights of the film. Simply superb. It was just a pity that
such a strong bond of friendship that had obviously evolved
between the two had to be brought to an abrupt end with Kirk's
untimely - and more importantly, unwarranted - death.
* Death of Kirk - why?! There was absolutely no need to kill Kirk
off, other than to say, "That's it, no more Classic Trek movies".
Whether his death was heroic or not was debatable as well. Yes,
he died helping Picard to save millions of lives, but that was
millions of lives on a planet we hadn't seen - there was no real
sense given that 230 million lives were at stake. It's all very
well mentioning lives as number, but the threat didn't seem real
enough.
Also, Gene had always stressed that he never wanted to see any of
the original series cast killed off. No, they are not immortal,
but shouldn't this wish have been respected?
* The Nexus - I had a great deal of trouble with this as well. The
very existence of the Nexus seemed to throw up more questions
that it could answer, and the experiences of Kirk and Picard were
a little odd to say the least. While Kirk was reliving old
memories, Picard seemed to have had memories invented for him.
There wasn't any consistency in the film. Also, Kirk's memories
seem to place his return to Starfleet (presumably after
resigning) 9 years prior to Generations - right in the middle of
between Star Trek IV and V!!
Sticking with Kirk's Nexus experience, he mentions that he met
Antonia 7 years prior to Generations... but if that is the case,
why was she in his house NINE years prior to Generations? Was it
just that they were living together for two years before meeting?
I think not!
Finally, couldn't they have chosen a better time to leave the
Nexus? Instead of cutting things tight, why didn't Picard go back
to the Enterprise, and have Soran put in the brig before he could
kidnap Geordi, or was that asking too much of him?
* Destruction of the Enterprise - There are a couple of problems I
have with this. First, was it really necessary to destroy the
Enterprise in the FIRST Next Gen movie? It came across as being a
marketing ploy from Paramount designed to persuade us all to buy
a whole new range of Enterprise-E merchandise when the next film
is released. If nothing else, it was yet another unoriginal idea
thrown into the film's storyline borrowed from past Trek, namely
Star Trek III.
What made it worse was the way in which the Enterprise was
destroyed. A brief battle with a Klingon Bird Of Prey (and an old
design at that), a couple of shots and the Enterprise is damaged
to the extent that a warp core breach is imminent. Again, more
unoriginality here with the Klingons using Geordi's VISOR to spy
on the Enterprise. Now surely the Enterprise crew would pick up
something being transmitted to/from Geordi's VISOR, especially as
someone else had already used his VISOR against him in the past.
Next, and correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't all Starfleet
shields adapted after their encounter with the Borg so that the
shield frequencies rotate to prevent anyone from doing what Lursa
and B'Etor did? Yet another continuity error.
Next, why on earth didn't Geordi think about ejecting the warp
core? It would have saved a lot of trouble and would have made
the ship repairable. Geordi is one of the best engineers in
Starfleet, so surely he could have done better than he did?
Finally, the crash sequence. This is supposed to be a film made
in 1994 with special effects by industry leaders Industrial Light
& Magic, so why is the crash sequence worse than that of the
Scorpio in the final Blake's Seven episode, "Blake"? The BBC were
working with a budget for the entire season of episodes that was
smaller than Generations entire effects budget, yet the BBC
managed to do the same effect, but at a fraction of the cost, and
more importantly, over a decade earlier.
Also, we have seen with Voyager that Paramount CAN do very good
effects of ships on planets (if you haven't seen it, the Voyager
is seen to LAND on a planet in the episode "The 37's"). If this
can be done on a TV budget, surely ILM could have done better
considering the amount that they were being paid?
* Spot - the final scene for Data in Generations and the only one
that I felt worked with Data and that accursed emotion chip. All
of the scenes in the film prior to this left me feeling either
cold or repulsed, but when Data found Spot in the wreckage of the
Enterprise and began to cry I felt a lump welling up in my
throat. A very moving scene, played to perfection by Brent,
Marina, and, of course, Spot! Probably the best scene in the
entire film.
There were also a couple of general things that were bugging me as
well. The make-up generally was quite admirable, although there
seemed to be an excess of blood in the film. I'm certainly not
squeamish, but seeing the blood-soaked bodies on the observatory, and
the death on the Enterprise, I think it went too far for Star Trek.
Also, some of the cast, I must say, were starting to look old. Brent
is now really beginning to show his age, and it looked as if he had
aged 5-10 years since "All Good Things...". Riker as well looked
quite older in the movie and it does make you think what they will be
like in a few years time. However, none of the Classic Trek cast
present looked any different to the way they did in Star Trek VI and
they all seem to have aged far more gracefully. In Star Trek: The
Motion Picture, the cast had been apart for 10 years, but it didn't
show as much as the couple of week gap the TNG crew faced.
Admittedly there are one or two other good points about the movie.
Firstly, the music - I must admit that once again, Dennis McCarthy
has come up with the goods and produced a superb soundtrack which
seems to fit the film wonderfully. Although the soundtrack is
something of a departure for Star Trek, it still proves to be a
memorable listening experience. Sadly, the soundtrack is marred
slightly by the omission of the now-familiar TNG theme tune, which I
felt should have been retained, if only to try and keep SOME
continuity with the series.
Also, generally the special effects are wonderful, from the CGI
Enterprise effects to the Nexus ribbon, they all look wonderful and
are certainly up to Industrial Light & Magic's usual standards...
apart from one particular effect I mentioned earlier!
As well as this, the acting was up to the usual standard we have come
to expect from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Everyone gave 100% to
their roles - it was just a pity to see that many of the cast were
relegated to being glorified extras.
Overall though, I would have to say without reservation that
Generations is the worst Star Trek movie to-date and if this marked
the end of The Next Generation I for one would not be disappointed
considering the current quality of Voyager and Deep Space Nine. My
main worry is that the next film is also being written by Ron Moore
and Brannon Braga. Hopefully they can redeem themselves with the
proposed Borg story.
I only saw the film in the cinema once (and that was after a great
deal of persuasion from a group of friends) and other than watching
the (slightly edited) video recently prior to writing this review, I
have no intention of seeing it again in the foreseeable future. In
fact, unlike previous Trek films I didn't bother seeing the movie on
the day it opened. Instead I waited until the following day. It is
also be the first time in many years that I refused to purchase the
rental edition of the movie on video. On top of that, I have even
decided to boycott the sell-through edition. Fortunately, I have
received a review copy from CIC, but even if that hadn't have been
the case, I would NOT have paid for this film.
Out of 100? It struggles to "earn" a score of 7.