Why didn't Q appear in any of the TNG films?

[The Overlord]

Why didn't Q appear in any of the TNG films? I think an adventure with Q would have made for a better final story for the TNG crew then Nemesis did.

[The Dominion]

I don't think so, both TNG's pilot and finale already centered around him.

[Sandoval]

The Overlord wrote:

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I think an adventure with Q would have made for a better final story for the TNG crew then Nemesis did.

Automatically?

No. A well-written story featuring Q would have made a better film, but a badly-written piece of junk featuring him would be no better simply because it included him.

That said, you would struggle to see a better send off between Q and the TNG crew than All Good Things.

[The Overlord]

Sandoval wrote:

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Automatically?

No. A well-written story featuring Q would have made a better film, but a badly-written piece of junk featuring him would be no better simply because it included him.

That said, you would struggle to see a better send off between Q and the TNG crew than All Good Things.

Of course well written, I know that simply having Q in a movie wouldn't have a bad movie good, but I do think a Q story would have more original then Nemesis, which was nothing more a poor man's TWOK.

[Therin of Andor]

Easy. You don't write a major motion picture script hoping you can coerce your anticipated main guest star to participate. Since TNG fans would only accept one actor as Q, John de Lancie's agent would have Paramount over a barrel as regards salary.

Paramount: "We want you in the next movie."

Agent: "We need to see the script."

Paramount: "It's not written yet."

Agent: "Get back to us when you have a script."

(Major expense needed, for no guarantees.)

Then...

Agent: "We hate it. John's passing."

Or...

Agent: "Yes, it'll do. Our price is extremely high, you know."

Or...

Agent: "Yes, it'll do. We are very busy, though. Call us in maybe a year or two."

Harve Bennett didn't have this problem with ST II because that script wasn't written in the hope that Ricardo Montalban was available or interested.

[MasuPu'a]

To be honest I felt that Q was most effective when used sparingly. He was an all powerful being, a living deus ex machina if you will, and I think that it's very difficult to write a good story involving such a character. The few episodes he appeared in weren't always the best, as it was.

We should probably be thankful that they never attempted to make a Q movie. The banter between Q and Picard probably would have been exaggerated to annoying proportions. It would have been two hours of Q doing crazy things to Picard and mocking him, while watching Picard try to visibly restrain himself from face-palming. Like a sci-fi Odd Couple movie.

[SchwEnt]

That's right. They'd do with Q what they did with Data.
A lot of painful expository scenes, for the general audience who doesn't know better. All the "I am an android, I do not understand humor" stuff.

So Q would appear, and a lot of nonsense to explain to the audience what a Q is, what he can do, what his connection to Picard is, yadda yadda yadda.

Almost not worth it to have in the film at that point.

[Therin of Andor]

MasuPu'a wrote:

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We should probably be thankful that they never attempted to make a Q movie.

Not to mention that the Q/TNG story had come full circle with "All Good Things...", revisiting the Judge Q scenes from "Farpoint".

[JWD75]

After "All Good Things" the character of Q should have been put to rest. It was the perfect final appearance for him. I'm glad that the movies left him alone. It's a shame that Voyager felt it necessary to bring him back for a couple of lame and ridiculous episodes.

[Christopher]

Besides, Q might've been a difficult character for mainstream audiences to take seriously. "Okay, so there's this goofy magic guy who pops in and snaps his fingers and makes anything happen? What is this, the Great Gazoo? I thought this was a space movie, not I Dream of Jeannie!"

[The Dominion]

The first Voyager Q episode was really good actually, but the rest were horrible.

[JarodRussell]

Christopher wrote:

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Besides, Q might've been a difficult character for mainstream audiences to take seriously. "Okay, so there's this goofy magic guy who pops in and snaps his fingers and makes anything happen? What is this, the Great Gazoo? I thought this was a space movie, not I Dream of Jeannie!"

It worked for the TNG pilot, didn't it?


All Good Things would have made for an amazing movie, in my opinion.

[Brutal Strudel]

The TNG movie I would have made would have begun about 2,000 years ago, as Q visits a fellow Q on a hill outside of Jerusalem and says "The Contiuum is very displeased with you, Q...."

[Ghrakh]

Therin of Andor wrote:

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Not to mention that the Q/TNG story had come full circle with "All Good Things...", revisiting the Judge Q scenes from "Farpoint".

It was left open in my view. "The trial never ends" "See you out there"

JWD75 wrote:

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It's a shame that Voyager felt it necessary to bring him back for a couple of lame and ridiculous episodes.

Yeah, VOY didn't handle him well at all (or DS9 for that matter). Q was a TNG character more than anything because of his chemistry with that crew, particularly Picard.

JarodRussell wrote:

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All Good Things would have made for an amazing movie, in my opinion.

Or, dump the Nexus and have Q bring Kirk into the TNG timeline.

[Trek Survivor]

Therin of Andor wrote:

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Easy. You don't write a major motion picture script hoping you can coerce your anticipated main guest star to participate. Since TNG fans would only accept one actor as Q, John de Lancie's agent would have Paramount over a barrel as regards salary.

Paramount: "We want you in the next movie."

Agent: "We need to see the script."

Paramount: "It's not written yet."

Agent: "Get back to us when you have a script."

(Major expense needed, for no guarantees.)

Then...

Agent: "We hate it. John's passing."

Or...

Agent: "Yes, it'll do. Our price is extremely high, you know."

Or...

Agent: "Yes, it'll do. We are very busy, though. Call us in maybe a year or two."

Harve Bennett didn't have this problem with ST II because that script wasn't written in the hope that Ricardo Montalban was available or interested.

Mind you, John De Lancie's resume hardly suggests he's incredibly picky...

I am relieved Q never appeared in the films. I am sure I'm alone amongst TNG fandom, but I don't really like his character at all.