I've seen "Star Trek Generations" (STG) hundreds of times being a huge Star Trek fan. Recently I've watched it again from beginning to end in HD. Having watched watched pretty much every episode of all the Star Trek TV shows and all of the movies (including the newest "Into Darkness"), I felt the need to write a new, updated review for my take on this film. For many years, I hated this film as most other Star Trek fans have over the years. There many bad things about this movie. From the storyline to minor things like random changing between the standard TNG uniforms, this movie had a "wild" things going on. However, with all the shortcomings of this movie, after recently re-watching this film I've had a change of heart about my attitude towards this film.
The good sides of this movie: STG is still a good, quality Star Trek film. The camera work, set design, costumes, and the works were all done with superb quality. After having watched most of TNG over recently, I've come to appreciate the nice budget this film got. The CGI, for the most part, is great. The shots of the Enterprise D were fantastic and a huge step up from the TV show models, from the flying through space to the destruction of the ship. In HD, this movie really pops for being almost 20 years old already. Although some find Data's behavior over the top in this film, I found it hilarious and if you are truly a TNG fan you will enjoy Brent Spiner's performance. We even get to see Spot, Data's cat again! Lastly, although I'm not a fan of the story, the villain is great and the concept behind "the nexus" is intriguing. Now for the bad sides of this film: the rest of the storyline! Simply put, STG has too much going on at once. They tried to cram too many things into this movie, making it a loyal TNG film while honoring Captain Kirk's history. The main thing that hurts this film and made many fans including myself dislike it, was the death of Captain Kirk. Captain Kirk's character was forced into this film. I found it completely unnecessary to ever make Picard and Kirk ever meet face-to-face in the first place. And the way William Shatner's Captain Kirk was killed off; I have and always will find it insulting and just plain bad for such a legendary TV icon.
Although the story was interesting, in the end, TNG could have had a great start on the big screen without the "passing of the torch" from Kirk to Picard. The way "The Undiscovered Country" left off was perfect. Kirk has his last voyage in Enterprise and that was it. Instead they forcibly brought him back in this film as an excuse to involve him with TNG's storyline. In conclusion "Star Trek Generations" is a decent Star Trek film. If you can get past the mixed timelines/story and enjoy the good sides of this film, it is still an enjoyable movie with some hidden surprises. With that being said, though, this movie at heart is a TNG film. If you're not a TNG fan, you're going to hate this film. I also don't thing this is a good Star Trek film for the general audience. Unless you're a Star Trek fan, you probably won't "get" this movie. Of the TNG franchise, I still thing the best of the bunch is "First Contact".
The good sides of this movie: STG is still a good, quality Star Trek film. The camera work, set design, costumes, and the works were all done with superb quality. After having watched most of TNG over recently, I've come to appreciate the nice budget this film got. The CGI, for the most part, is great. The shots of the Enterprise D were fantastic and a huge step up from the TV show models, from the flying through space to the destruction of the ship. In HD, this movie really pops for being almost 20 years old already. Although some find Data's behavior over the top in this film, I found it hilarious and if you are truly a TNG fan you will enjoy Brent Spiner's performance. We even get to see Spot, Data's cat again! Lastly, although I'm not a fan of the story, the villain is great and the concept behind "the nexus" is intriguing. Now for the bad sides of this film: the rest of the storyline! Simply put, STG has too much going on at once. They tried to cram too many things into this movie, making it a loyal TNG film while honoring Captain Kirk's history. The main thing that hurts this film and made many fans including myself dislike it, was the death of Captain Kirk. Captain Kirk's character was forced into this film. I found it completely unnecessary to ever make Picard and Kirk ever meet face-to-face in the first place. And the way William Shatner's Captain Kirk was killed off; I have and always will find it insulting and just plain bad for such a legendary TV icon.
Although the story was interesting, in the end, TNG could have had a great start on the big screen without the "passing of the torch" from Kirk to Picard. The way "The Undiscovered Country" left off was perfect. Kirk has his last voyage in Enterprise and that was it. Instead they forcibly brought him back in this film as an excuse to involve him with TNG's storyline. In conclusion "Star Trek Generations" is a decent Star Trek film. If you can get past the mixed timelines/story and enjoy the good sides of this film, it is still an enjoyable movie with some hidden surprises. With that being said, though, this movie at heart is a TNG film. If you're not a TNG fan, you're going to hate this film. I also don't thing this is a good Star Trek film for the general audience. Unless you're a Star Trek fan, you probably won't "get" this movie. Of the TNG franchise, I still thing the best of the bunch is "First Contact".