I just don't get how you can be handed 70 million dollars to make a sci fi film in the 90s and this is what you come up with.
If I can turn off the part of my brain that examines writing (which is a problem given I went so far as to get a degree on the subject), I can enjoy the pretty visuals and such...
The only pretty visuals in this film are the battle scenes in the briar patch. The rest of the FX are average to sub par in my view.
I'd estimate that 1/2 of all the one-hour TV episodes (that only cost about $1.5M each) were far better. About 1/4 were on par. The remaining 1/4 were worse. And those are episodes like Imaginary Friend, Angel One, and Sub Rosa Insurrection is a dreadful feature film. It would have been a forgettable, "skip on rewatch" one hour TV episode. Yes
wonder if 'Picard' will dare have any references to Insurrection (like Nemesis) - the Ba'ku, metaphasic rings etc.. surely Anij will appear for some slooowd down perfect moments
The trick of never asking the Baku if they'd agree to share the "longevity particles" and never make them talk about the subject between themselves for the entire movie is really stupid but it was the only way they could make that story work because if the Baku had said "Yes, we're willing to share." then the story is pretty much over and if they had answered "No, we'll keep them to ourselves." then they become selfish bastards and nobody cares about what happens to them... That IMO is what makes that movie completely unredeemable.
^They did seem to be willing to share the planet but not as much as the antagonists or seemingly a lot of viewers wanted, not to the point of leaving the planet so others could get the benefit without having to live on the planet.
Offhand just that, as I said before, Ba'ku supporter Picard suggested the Son'a establish their own colony on the planet and that, at the end, one Ba'ku welcomed back her son Gallatin.
I really don't feel that's explicit enough to make a claim that they were willing to share the planet, especially as the part involving Gallatin only occurs at the end of the film, after the Baku have learned the truth about the Son'a. IIRC Picard suggests the colony to Dougherty, not the Son'a or Baku, and Dougherty dismisses it on the grounds that it wouldn't make a difference to some number of the Son'a who have degenerated too far. So we really don't know how the Baku themselves might have reacted prior to the events of the film.
PICARD Then the Son'a can establish a separate colony on this planet until we do... DOUGHERTY It would take ten years of normal exposure to begin to reverse their condition. Some of them won't survive that long. Besides, they don't want to live in the middle of The Briar Patch... who would? PICARD The Ba'ku. (https://movies.trekcore.com/insurrection/script.txt)
Insurrrection is so dull, with daft humour to fill in the gaps in the script. It's a shame Patrick Stewart was allowed to have any sort of say on the story because he dramatically changed the intensity of the film. Michael Piller wanted a Heart of Darkness story, but Stewart wanted something lighter, after First Contact. He should have just stayed at being an actor, because it's wasn't his job to decide what sort of work environment he wanted to work in.
300 people who are already living in one small area objecting to others living in other parts of a whole planet seems so extreme it seems a lot more unlikely. I think the only things supporting that they would object are that they didn't go around advertising the planet's benefits or, when visitors did come to them, initially tell them about it.
They also never actually told Our Heroes, "Hey, uh, if the Son'a wanna live on the opposite side of the planet? That's cool." As I said elsethread, for all that TNG gets mocked for Our Heroes going to the observation lounge in the middle of a crisis, this is exactly the kind of crisis in which Our Heroes should be going to the observation lounge to meet with the involved parties and hammer out a negotiation. It might have even led to the revelation of the Baku-Son'a connection faster.
After they find out that someone is trying to forcefully relocate them...the same people that don't want to share, they want to destroy the resource to harvest it. The plan becomes "hide and survive" because Picard has already tried to reason with Dougherty and come up with nothing. Sharing is not wanted. Picard then advises they all hide as the procedure won't start with them on planet. When, why, and to whom would the Ba'ku specifically bring up an offer to live elsewhere on the planet? Clearly a conversation about their options takes place off screen between Picard and the Ba'ku.
I read in the 50 Year Mission that Stewart insisted on bringing in a new writer to rewrite Ron Moore and Brannon Braga during First Contact. The rewrite wasn't working but Ron Moore was so pissed off that he refused to have anything more to do with the film. Rick Berman had to force him back. Just shows how star leverage complicated the TNG films.
The Baku could have said something after discovering the observation post. They could have said something when Picard first arrived to get the Starfleet personnel freed and find out what happened to Data. They could have said something after discovering the cloaked ship. Hell, why isn't there any discussion between the Baku and Dougherty? Oh, right, because it would make too much sense. They could have said something after being beamed to the Son'a ship. The Son'a were there, Dougherty was there. Even if it made no practical difference, they still would have made it clear that they considered it a viable alternative. Everyone in the film is so interested in keeping their secrets that they utterly sabotage their own goals.
I remember rounding up and taking all of my ‘cool’ mates to the cinema to see this in an attempt to turn them in to Star Trek fans after the fantastic ‘First Contact’... surely this film has to be as good as First Contact and my friends will be immediate converts and enjoy Star Trek just as much as me... I have never squirmed and felt as embarrassed in my whole life tbh... Personally, I like the film, but it put me in to an awkward situation one time...