this is probably my all time favorite I like data
and the emotion chip part.
and the emotion chip part.
star trek generations
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It certainly comes in for a lot of criticism, but I can't bring myself not to like it. It came out at probably the peak of my Trek fandom, and also arguably the franchise's biggest mainstream popularity... Trek was everywhere in '94/'95, and it felt great! Hindsight's fine, but I enjoyed Generations then, and enjoy it now.
I must admit, though, Data is probably my least favourite part of the film! (Tied with Picard's family dying and the Enterprise destruction). I did love the cinematography and the music of the film.
I must admit, though, Data is probably my least favourite part of the film! (Tied with Picard's family dying and the Enterprise destruction). I did love the cinematography and the music of the film.
It's got its weak points to be sure. But I am in absolute accord with Trek Survivor's sentiment that, despite all of that, I can't hate the movie. It always manages to win me over in the end with its charms, and it 'feels' the most like TNG (in a good way) out of all the movies they did. Seeing old NCC-1701-D in glorious widescreen is awesome, and I have only regret for the movie maker's hasty decision to destroy her and replace her with that... monstrosity we got in the subsequent three movies. 
I don't mind the E-E, but I would have preferred the E-D going down fighting a Negh'var, or a Vor'cha like it was supposed to. Having a BOP do it and so quickly (The D could dish out planet cracking shots against the Husnock and the Borg, but it could only muster a single measly phaser blast against a BOP?) was just humiliating.
Story wise, I would have preferred to keep TOS out of it, but I imagine most people still feel that way too, only so Kirk wouldn't die though, I personally preferred TUC as the TOS finale and have generations and TNG only.
Story wise, I would have preferred to keep TOS out of it, but I imagine most people still feel that way too, only so Kirk wouldn't die though, I personally preferred TUC as the TOS finale and have generations and TNG only.
On a side note, I've actually been nutting around with the idea of doing a "TV style" re-edit of GENS recently, more for fun than anything else. Including things like the standard TNG credits and theme music, fade-to-blacks for 'commercials', the five act format with a teaser, 4:3 pan-and-scan screen ratio, etc.
The biggest problem I've encountered so far on my preliminary attempts is that the TNG TV series used to use those repeated establishing shots of the Enterprise to denote the passing of time, but GENS doesn't do this at all (in fact we only get one 'establishing shot' of the Enterprise, and then the next one we get is the warp away from the exploding Armagosa sun). So I'm gonna have to go back to the TV series and pick out a few ship shots to pepper in here and there... all for the sake of an authentic feel.
The biggest problem I've encountered so far on my preliminary attempts is that the TNG TV series used to use those repeated establishing shots of the Enterprise to denote the passing of time, but GENS doesn't do this at all (in fact we only get one 'establishing shot' of the Enterprise, and then the next one we get is the warp away from the exploding Armagosa sun). So I'm gonna have to go back to the TV series and pick out a few ship shots to pepper in here and there... all for the sake of an authentic feel.
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I wonder if there's a fan edit of GEN that removes all TOS elements (i.e. no Kirk). I think it could work, except I don't remember if there are any Picard/Kirk shots on Veridian III that are vital to the plot.
I'm not knocking Kirk, I just think it could be interesting (e.g. Picard is burying Soran rather than Kirk at the end), and would help reduce the silly Nexus sequence.
I'm not knocking Kirk, I just think it could be interesting (e.g. Picard is burying Soran rather than Kirk at the end), and would help reduce the silly Nexus sequence.
There was a "Kirkless Generations" edit a while back, but IIRC it presented itself as a movie that just happened to have all the Kirk bits taken out of it. The idea I've had is to try and actually 'remake' GENS as a regular 42 minute episode of the series, although it's proving a little more difficult than I first imagined.
I respect that you enjoy the film. I, however, have found that with repeated viewings, I like it less and less, to the point where I've come to the conclusion that this movie is an absolute mess.
So basically we'd be given the setup that Soran wants to return to the nexus, but Picard just kills Soran before he can do so? That pretty much just defeats the purpose of the whole movie. Especially since we're told that the Nexus is this fantastic place, and then we never actually get to see it.
I thought it was damaged. I wonder who repaired it.
Probably Geordi. IIRC, in "Descent Part II" Data says he doesn't actually want to keep the emotion chip at all, given how he harmed Geordi while under its influence. But it's Geordi who convinces him to keep it around because someday he might be ready for it.
There are some interesting parallels between "Descent" and "Generations", because in the movie Geordi once again finds himself in a harmful situation as a result of Data's actions under the influence of the emotion chip (effectively vindicating Data's original fears that he expressed in "Descent" about keeping it).
I've always liked this movie, since I first saw it in theaters. Later I discovered that it gets a lot of hate. I think that much of it comes from Kirk's underwhelming death rather than other factors. I think that the movie looks great, has a lot of humor and some great performances.
I enjoyed rewatching it more than I expected, but it's still a very flawed and uneven film.
The best parts for me was Data's story. It's a well told arc with Data grappling with understanding and controlling his new emotions.
The Nexus storyline sounds interesting on paper, but it's execution didn't work - a topic discussed in length in the Antonia thread in the movies forum. The gist of my opinion is that Kirk and Picard seem to have a pretty easy time leaving the Nexus, which isn't at all what we're told to expect. Guinan and Soran both act like the Nexus is the ultimate drug, and Soran's desperation to return to the Nexus drives the plot, so when we see the Nexus and Kirk and Picard both shrug it off fairly painlessly, it takes a lot of the impact of the story out.
Also, it bugs me a lot that Kirk's happiness is a cabin in the woods with a woman we've never heard of before. Kirk's perfect happiness would be to be back on the Enterprise in his youth. Alternative fantasy lives could include him raising David with Carol, or even somehow being with Edith - all of those things would be believable to Kirk's life as we know it. Instead, I feel like I'm seeing Shatner's perfect life.
Picard gets a good story arc with the death of his brother and nephew, his reflecting on the family life he didn't have. His Nexus fantasy of a large loving family makes sense for where he was emotionally, but he still leaves them behind pretty easily. It also annoys me that Picard's perfect wife was the bland woman we've never seen before. It should've been Beverly, and that should've been part of an arc thru the movies of Picard and Beverly getting together.
Troi had some nice scenes with Picard, but I find it very strange that there's absolutely nothing done at all with her love life considering the love triangle with Riker, Troi and Worf had a big subplot in the series finale, but here, there's not the slightest suggestion of a special closeness between Troi and either man. I'd think there would've been time for something to be done in the largely unnecessary age of sail holodeck scene.
The Duras sisters were a welcome bit of fun in the movie. While I'm sorry to see them killed off, even their death scene was pretty spectacularly done.
Kirk's death really does spoil the mood of the movie. It's depressing and unnecessary but not really touching or meaningful the way Spock's death in STII was. If you're going to kill Kirk, it should've meant something. Instead, it just felt like the writer was ticking off boxes of things to do in the movie.
Generations is my least favorite TNG movie. First Contact is my favorite, but as I'm doing these in order with DS9 and Voyager still, it'll be a few weeks before I get to it again.
The best parts for me was Data's story. It's a well told arc with Data grappling with understanding and controlling his new emotions.
The Nexus storyline sounds interesting on paper, but it's execution didn't work - a topic discussed in length in the Antonia thread in the movies forum. The gist of my opinion is that Kirk and Picard seem to have a pretty easy time leaving the Nexus, which isn't at all what we're told to expect. Guinan and Soran both act like the Nexus is the ultimate drug, and Soran's desperation to return to the Nexus drives the plot, so when we see the Nexus and Kirk and Picard both shrug it off fairly painlessly, it takes a lot of the impact of the story out.
Also, it bugs me a lot that Kirk's happiness is a cabin in the woods with a woman we've never heard of before. Kirk's perfect happiness would be to be back on the Enterprise in his youth. Alternative fantasy lives could include him raising David with Carol, or even somehow being with Edith - all of those things would be believable to Kirk's life as we know it. Instead, I feel like I'm seeing Shatner's perfect life.
Picard gets a good story arc with the death of his brother and nephew, his reflecting on the family life he didn't have. His Nexus fantasy of a large loving family makes sense for where he was emotionally, but he still leaves them behind pretty easily. It also annoys me that Picard's perfect wife was the bland woman we've never seen before. It should've been Beverly, and that should've been part of an arc thru the movies of Picard and Beverly getting together.
Troi had some nice scenes with Picard, but I find it very strange that there's absolutely nothing done at all with her love life considering the love triangle with Riker, Troi and Worf had a big subplot in the series finale, but here, there's not the slightest suggestion of a special closeness between Troi and either man. I'd think there would've been time for something to be done in the largely unnecessary age of sail holodeck scene.
The Duras sisters were a welcome bit of fun in the movie. While I'm sorry to see them killed off, even their death scene was pretty spectacularly done.
Kirk's death really does spoil the mood of the movie. It's depressing and unnecessary but not really touching or meaningful the way Spock's death in STII was. If you're going to kill Kirk, it should've meant something. Instead, it just felt like the writer was ticking off boxes of things to do in the movie.
Generations is my least favorite TNG movie. First Contact is my favorite, but as I'm doing these in order with DS9 and Voyager still, it'll be a few weeks before I get to it again.
Who would have thought that all this time Data was nothing but a scaredy cat?
My reading of the scene was that the emotion chip basically malfunctioned, leaving Data helpless to control exactly which emotion he was feeling at the time. It was bad timing that it fused onto fear at exactly the time when he needed to help Geordi.
Then why would he deactivate it? As Sisko said: " I've found nothing keeps me alert quite like a healthy fear of death."
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