SPOILERS
So it came to pass, from one crew to another. Like everything else in this world, the "Star Trek" movie franchise evolved. Gone went the entire crew of the original series, gone went Spock and McCoy arguing whilst Kirk sat in the middle. To replace them came the successful crew of the Enterprise NCC 1701 - D. We lost Spock's logic and gained Data's android take on humanity. We all have a favourite crew in the "Star Trek" universe, Whether we love the classical touch, or the well thought out adventures of "The Next Generation", or the violence of "Deep Space Nine" or even the almost camp style of "Voyager", everyone has their own favourite. Eventually though, it was obvious that Kirk would disappear from the big screen, to be replaced by Picard. In "Star Trek: Generations", this would happen through a few complicated twists and turns, but it would work well and would be a nice way to pass on the torch.
In this seventh film of the series, but the first to star the second crew, both Kirk and Picard are eventually united in a quest to prevent the evil Doctor Tolian Soran (Malcolm McDowell) from destroying millions of lives for his own personal goals. Combining the styles of the classical with it's replacement, we are given a union which fans have dreamt of for years.
Perhaps the main problem from the offset is that this feels more like a gimmick than a proper story. It feels like the writers were fully aware that Kirk and his crew had achieved a decent send off in "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" (1991), yet they chose to abandon this in favour of bringing Kirk back one final time to team up with Picard. It seems interesting that at the beginning of the film, along with Kirk only James Doohan's Scotty and Walter Koenig's Chekov were featured. Whilst Spock made a brief cameo in an episode of this second series, as did Dr McCoy (a suitably brief conversation with Data in the pilot episode), only Doohan and Koenig were featured in this film (on a different note, Doohan had also received a cameo episode in the series where he teams up with Commander La Forge) and it is worth considering whether this was intentional or whether some of the original crew declined the possibility.
In "Star Trek: Generations", there are some superb scenes where the franchise is alive and well, these are limited however, with Commander Data (Brent Spiner) receiving most of the highlights, most notably his lifeforms song. At the same time as with the majority of the films staring this crew, key members feel under utilised. Whilst Troi, Riker, La Forge, Data, Picard and Worf will get key story elements in the series of films, it seems strange that Gates McFadden's Doctor Crusher never really is given much to do. Part of the beauty of the original series was the way in which Kirk interacted with the members of his crew in which he had a strong history, in the "Next Generation" by contrast, the one member who Picard has the most history is Doctor Crusher. This storyline is never focused upon however.
Anyway, in this one film, there are some beautiful lines which make the audience laugh. At the same time, Kirk's role might be gimmick based, and it might devalue the climax of the previous film, but for what it is, it is done with great tact and is a moving end of the Captain's involvement. Therefore to summarise, for what it is, "Generations" is worth a watch. As a way of unifying the two captains, it works well. As a way of introducing the second crew to the Big screen, it's not bad. As a way of destroying an old ship to allow for a new one, it also works superbly. However, compared with so many other films in the "Star Trek" catalogue, it's a mediocre effort which could have been better.
So it came to pass, from one crew to another. Like everything else in this world, the "Star Trek" movie franchise evolved. Gone went the entire crew of the original series, gone went Spock and McCoy arguing whilst Kirk sat in the middle. To replace them came the successful crew of the Enterprise NCC 1701 - D. We lost Spock's logic and gained Data's android take on humanity. We all have a favourite crew in the "Star Trek" universe, Whether we love the classical touch, or the well thought out adventures of "The Next Generation", or the violence of "Deep Space Nine" or even the almost camp style of "Voyager", everyone has their own favourite. Eventually though, it was obvious that Kirk would disappear from the big screen, to be replaced by Picard. In "Star Trek: Generations", this would happen through a few complicated twists and turns, but it would work well and would be a nice way to pass on the torch.
In this seventh film of the series, but the first to star the second crew, both Kirk and Picard are eventually united in a quest to prevent the evil Doctor Tolian Soran (Malcolm McDowell) from destroying millions of lives for his own personal goals. Combining the styles of the classical with it's replacement, we are given a union which fans have dreamt of for years.
Perhaps the main problem from the offset is that this feels more like a gimmick than a proper story. It feels like the writers were fully aware that Kirk and his crew had achieved a decent send off in "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" (1991), yet they chose to abandon this in favour of bringing Kirk back one final time to team up with Picard. It seems interesting that at the beginning of the film, along with Kirk only James Doohan's Scotty and Walter Koenig's Chekov were featured. Whilst Spock made a brief cameo in an episode of this second series, as did Dr McCoy (a suitably brief conversation with Data in the pilot episode), only Doohan and Koenig were featured in this film (on a different note, Doohan had also received a cameo episode in the series where he teams up with Commander La Forge) and it is worth considering whether this was intentional or whether some of the original crew declined the possibility.
In "Star Trek: Generations", there are some superb scenes where the franchise is alive and well, these are limited however, with Commander Data (Brent Spiner) receiving most of the highlights, most notably his lifeforms song. At the same time as with the majority of the films staring this crew, key members feel under utilised. Whilst Troi, Riker, La Forge, Data, Picard and Worf will get key story elements in the series of films, it seems strange that Gates McFadden's Doctor Crusher never really is given much to do. Part of the beauty of the original series was the way in which Kirk interacted with the members of his crew in which he had a strong history, in the "Next Generation" by contrast, the one member who Picard has the most history is Doctor Crusher. This storyline is never focused upon however.
Anyway, in this one film, there are some beautiful lines which make the audience laugh. At the same time, Kirk's role might be gimmick based, and it might devalue the climax of the previous film, but for what it is, it is done with great tact and is a moving end of the Captain's involvement. Therefore to summarise, for what it is, "Generations" is worth a watch. As a way of unifying the two captains, it works well. As a way of introducing the second crew to the Big screen, it's not bad. As a way of destroying an old ship to allow for a new one, it also works superbly. However, compared with so many other films in the "Star Trek" catalogue, it's a mediocre effort which could have been better.