Yeah, that might have been something. The good thing about the TOS films was that they dared to do things differently. Killed Spock, gave Kirk a son, destroyed the Enterprise, killed Kirk's son, a whole film without the Enterprise.
Plain Simple has the right of it, although I don't know if the story as is could be saved, even if it was heavily tinkered with. If any of you have ever watched Nostalgia Critic and Linkara's video review of Insurrection, they tear this film a new one and explain how it makes no sense in the greater scope of Trek, because it backtracks on many of Trek's key themes. I know their style isn't for everyone, but was really a great summation of everything that's wrong with this movie.
Yep, I saw that episode of NC and they were spot-on. One of the(many) baffling things about INS is how it contradicts so many of Trek's popular themes. (like technology is a force for progress in Trek vs. the Baku's "advanced technology is eeeevil" stance)
I don't mind some tie-ins, and the amount they did was just about perfect. A character here or there who could exist without backstory and not disrupt the story (Admiral Janeway, the EMH, Barclay, etc.). I just don't think it's necessary to potentially lose people because of the fan desire to tie it all in. Sure, everyone knows the film is part of a larger franchise, but what about those audience members who finish the film and wonder about the outcome of the war that was mentioned, the people who don't want to watch DS9? The TNG films should exist on their own, with their own stories and problems and not be dependant on a storyline from another show. People shouldn't have to ask their Trekkie friends if they need to watch something else before they see the newest film. It's easier to have these references at the time of release, but as time goes on, DS9 fades into memory and now a movie is tied to a show that is no longer in production and barely rerun. Nah. What Insurrection needed was a better story, not Deep Space Nine crossovers.
This. Not to mention that, in addition to taking chances, they were willing to do different types of stories. Compare TMP, TWOK, and TVH for example. Three very, very different types of stories. From more "hard sci-fi" to action/adventure space opera to comedy. All of which TNG did on TV. But when it came to the movies, they wanted it to be cookie cutter. Oh, sure, Insurrection was played lighter than First Contact. But all four movies still try to follow that basic cookie cutter action/adventure format with the bad guy, the big action sequences, etc. None really dares to do a story about exploration or a scientific mystery or even just a straight-up comedy. And I think it was to the TNG films' detriment.
Watching the Plinkett review of Insurrection. The problem with Insurrection is that Who Watches The Watchers and Journey's End were made before it and are infinitely better. The only thing that could fix it is if they burned the script and wrote something completely different.