Which Next Generation Movie was the Best?

[Random_Spock]

FIRST CONTACT by a long shot.

Best soundtrack, too.

Definitely. But I didn't mind Nemesis too much. Only bits that bothered me were Data trying to sing and the outdoor scenes were way too brightly lit and seemed way, way cheap some how.

Loved how Data's story was handled in it. Sad, yes... but ok enough.

And to see that Riker and Troi got married... that made me grin . The Betazed ceremony remark had me laughing my ass off.

 

[eyeresist]

Team Nemesis!

It's a movie that pays rewatching, because of the world-building of the Romulans, and the moral dilemmas. I think it also maintains more of a worldly, adult feel than most Trek movies.

Followed by First Contact OR Generations, depending on how I feel on the given day.

Though I did like the Gilbert & Sullivan bit during the capture of Data.

My favourite bit was the boobs joke. Oh, Data.... wah-wah-waaaah.

 

[BillJ]

That sounds reasonable. Hang him by his neck until dead. All because he followed his own morals and chose not to forcefully relocate people when the Federation wanted something that wasn't theirs and decided that they would take it.

Right or wrong, I'll take that over "I was just following orders."

If Picard wants to be part of that kind of decision making, then he should be running for the Federation council instead of commanding a starship.

And... if he was following his own morals. He would have recused the Federation from the conflict the moment it was found out the two parties were connected. We also seem to forget that Picard was violating multiple orders before he ever got to the Ba'ku home world.

Kirk had his moments where he bucked orders in TOS, but even there, he and others questioned "why?" Even in The Search for Spock and The Voyage Home, they make sure to run down why Kirk was in the position he was in and there were ramifications to his actions. In Insurrection, Picard just mumbles something about shore leave and heads on his merry way.

 

[Galileo7]

Nemesis.

The only one that actually felt like a feature film. While it has major flaws, it is the most interesting story of the four.

Agree, the story was interesting even with flaws. At the end of Nemesis , I wanted to see another NG film with 1701-E leaving drydock, Riker commanding the Titan and B-4 becoming more Data-like.

1. Nemesis
2. First Contact
3. Generations (sad the death of both Kirk and the 1701-D)
4. Insurrection (felt like a television episode from the series, not a film for theaters)

 

[Vger23]

I don't get the hate for Insurrection. People say that it doesn't feel like a movie but just feels like a long TNG episode. Sure, I get that, it is a pretty decent TNG episode though.

I’ve committed several posts in the years I’ve been talking about Star Trek in online forums to what my problems with Insurrection are.

Suffice it to say, I don’t think there is a weaker film in the entire franchise. I won’t get into the painstakingly agonizing list of reasons why this is one of the only Star Trek productions in the history of the franchise that I actively dislike, but I will try to summarize:

1. The film is just a tepid, lukewarm passionless mess. There’s nothing really happening in this movie. They try to make it very poignant by injecting a morally ambiguous scenario and playing it up likes it’s “high stakes” for the principles and values of the Federation, but it comes off so uninspired and bland that it evokes no emotional response whatsoever.
   
   
2. It’s executed in a cartoonish and silly manner that even Star Trek V is elevated far above. Boob and zit jokes, lame adversaries, Picard dancing a mambo, Data playing with kids, Gilbert and Sullivan, manual steering columns, etc etc etc. It tried too hard to be “light and happy” and it came out flat and awkward.
   
   
3. The script and story structure is weak. It really is reflective, at that point in franchise history, of having too many cooks in the kitchen. The final story was reflective of a bunch of random ideas from the writers, producers, studio, and stars (namely Spiner and Stewart) and it shows, because it was not brought together in a crisp and interesting manner.
   
   
4. The greatest sin of all is that it was just a dull, pedestrian movie. People say “it wouldn’t have even been an interesting 2-parter” to illustrate this. I’d go further to say that it would’t have been an interesting “ONE-parter.” If this story had been boiled down to its basic elements and re-packaged as a one-hour episode of TNG, it would have been completely forgettable. That’s a horrendous, unforgiveable sin for a multi-million dollar motion picture in a well-known sci-fi adventure franchise. If you think about the production of the movie, to summarize, they basically admit to actually striving for mediocrity. They didn’t want to do anything too intense or complicated, because they had done that already with AGT, FC and GEN…so it was time to loosen up and just have some light-touch adventure, in their minds. It backfired because unless you’re Harve Bennett, Leonard Nimoy and Nick Meyer in 1986….that’s pretty tough to pull off. Insurrection was unambitious, and as a result it came across as embarrassing and trivial. Again, “embarrassing” and “trivial” are not words you want associated with your multi-million dollar space action/adventure movie.
   
   
5. People rail on TMP, TFF, NEM and ID as being “bad movies.” I’m not sure my personal tastes allow me to agree with that, but I can see the arguments and concede I may be in the minority in my appreciation for those films. That said, at least none of those movies could be accused of being “unambitious.” The execution may not have been ideal (in some people’s minds)…but at least they TRIED to be big and bold. Insurrection TRIED to be average. Yikes.

 

[bbailey861]

First Contact.

 

[Overgeeked]

There was really only one good one, so...

 

[BillJ]

The greatest sin of all is that it was just a dull, pedestrian movie.

That's it in a nutshell. The non-sense Picard pulls wouldn't be an issue if the movie was interesting.

 

[T'Girl]

I’ve committed several posts in the years I’ve been talking about Star Trek in online forums to what my problems with Insurrection are

One of the things I like about Insurrection, and this is unusual in most movies, is at the end each audience member is left to decide who was right and who was wrong.

The Baku, the Sona, Picard himself? The Sona were certainly set up as the villains (TPTB's intent) and on the surface level they were, but there's a depth to the story that goes beyond that. There evidence on every side, and it's not clear cut.

Which I like.

†

 

[M.A.C.O.]

Whenever I decide to watch a TNG movie, it's always FC and NEM. I can't sit through INS, and GEN makes me angry thinking of what could've been.

 

[RAMA]

1. STFC: An easy call. There may be better Borg episodes than this movie, but this was best of the four.

2. NEM: Entertaining. I think if the middle had been re-edited a bit for pacing, we might be talking about it running neck and neck with STFC, but as it is, it's just second best. This was the most cinematic of the Trek movies since STTMP.

3, INS: Not a bad movie, just small scale. Unforgivable when the Dominion War was raging.

4. GEN: More plot holes than any ST movie before or since. They tried to do too much in 2 hours. Shatner slowed the movie down. Some pluses: The way the E-D looked. Cinematography.

 

[eyeresist]

Vger23, I basically agree with your points about INS, but would add the look of the film as a major failing - particularly the Baku village, which was presented as a brand-new ornamental garden (with water-features), populated by blandly pretty Hollywood types wearing those beige space-peasant smocks which were generic to TNG.

 

[Vger23]

Vger23, I basically agree with your points about INS, but would add the look of the film as a major failing - particularly the Baku village, which was presented as a brand-new ornamental garden (with water-features), populated by blandly pretty Hollywood types wearing those beige space-peasant smocks which were generic to TNG.

Agreed.

I think a positive would be the cinematography, though. The scene between Picard and LaForge at sunrise is nice overall in terms of look and total content. Otherwise...not much of value to see here.

 

[eyeresist]

I think a positive would be the cinematography, though. The scene between Picard and LaForge at sunrise is nice overall in terms of look and total content.

I honestly don't remember that scene at all.

 

[RAMA]

I honestly don't remember that scene at all.

One of the best ever scenes in Star Trek

 

[BillJ]

One of the best ever scenes in Star Trek

Really? Over seven hundred hours of material and that is one of the best scenes? I guess we should define "best"... Are we talking top 10, 100, or 1,000,000? It might qualify for the latter.

 

[CitadelZombies]

Pretty much enjoyed all over them. But First Contact has always been my favourite.

 

[Goji]

Having re-watched them all fairly recently, many for the first time in probably 15 years or so, my rankings changed slightly.

1. First Contact. Easily the best. Most interesting story, best use of characters (at least Picard and Data, and in the TNG cast I don't care that much for the rest, honestly), best villain, best productions values. James Cromwell is always a plus and Alfre Woodard is pretty good too. An all around solid movie.

2. Insurrection. Pretty dumb, but kind of fun. The humor is often tiresome but at least they were trying.

3. Generations. James Kirk goes out in terrible fashion, and for that I will never truly forgive this movie. But I like Malcolm McDowell, the subplot with Data's emotions chip is interesting and hey.... Captain Kirk finally met Captain Picard. Sort of. In a dream world and then on some rocks somewhere. Where he subsequently died unceremoniously. I'm trying to be positive about all of this, I swear.

4. Nemesis. This movie is just a slog. The Picard's clone story is dreadfully uninteresting and his macabre deteriorating makeup adds to the morose, tired feeling permeating this whole movie. Ron Perlman shows up and is wasted. You don't do that to Hellboy, movie. The mind-rape of Deanna Troi is simultaneously in poor taste, sketchy from a motivation standpoint and responsible for giving Marina Sirtis more screen time than she deserves. Data dies and nobody really cares because they have a spare. Yay.

 

[HIjol]

One of the best ever scenes in Star Trek

I could not find a clip. 100% Agree! The look in his eyes communicates that he is seeing and feeling it. Jesus, what a scene!

...and this

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And, my Heartfelt recommendation is that all of you find a quiet place it's no distractions...play this...sit...listen, I mean really listen...and remember...remember why you like Star Trek. Use your Minds Eye...

Remember.

#kleenexneed

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[cultcross]

First Contact is the best TNG movie by a mile, and not just for the action adventure and the Borg. I liked Lily, thought her scenes with Picard were great, and the moment of first contact itself is actually quite moving. The 'hope for the future' message of Cochrane is unusually powerful for a movie that opens with a massive space battle.

I see the others as pretty much equal, with perhaps Nemesis a shade lower than the other two. All three are OK movies but nothing particularly special.