Generations@25

[Khan 2.0]

25years since the most disappointing Trek movie of all time

http://blog.trekcore.com/2019/11/two-captains-one-destiny-star-trek-generations-turns-25/

 

[Smellmet]

Insurrection and The Final Frontier were way more disappointing for me. At least Generations got some stuff right - they knocked it out of the park visually, with the lighting and FX. You can't say that about the other two.

 

[Khan 2.0]

Insurrection and The Final Frontier were way more disappointing for me. At least Generations got some stuff right - they knocked it out of the park visually, with the lighting and FX. You can't say that about the other two.

True. was just focusing on the anticipation of the 2 crews interacting which didn't happen

 

[Smellmet]

True. was just focusing on the anticipation of the 2 crews interacting which didn't happen

I never thought it was going to to be honest.

 

[RandyS]

This depresses me. A 25 year old movie that came out when I was 24. More than half my life ago. I almost want to cry.

On the other hand, I might make a sandwich, microwave some popcorn and put in the DVD. It's been a few years.

 

[Smellmet]

I watched it a few months ago for the first time in a few years. I think it still holds up for the most part. It looks gorgeous, and up to the Nexus scenes near the end is a pretty entertaining film. Those Nexus scenes just derail the whole movie for me though.

 

[tomalak301]

This movie was decent. There were a lot of great things about it, like the You can make a difference scene, Malcolm McDowell, and seeing the Enterprise D on the big screen. Also, this has a very underrated musical score.

 

[Smellmet]

Pros
Cinematography
Lighting on the Enterprise was stunning
Visual Effects were excellent across the board
Saucer Crash was awesome
Malcom McDowell was predictably great
The Enterprise B sequence was a lot of fun
Stellar Cartography still looks really good (compare this to the shitty effort in Nemesis)
Champagne Bottle opening set the tone for an intriguing film.
Solid acting

Cons
The Nexus was a stupid, dumb plot hole - needed a total rethink
The Nexus scenes dragged the pacing of the film down when it was supposed to be the climax
Kirk's death was lame for the franchise's biggest character
Picard came across a bit of a pussy which probably led to him being portrayed as an action star in later instalments
The ending on the bridge/mountain, whilst shot nice on location was too small scale for a movie and looked cheap
The Enterprise D went out like a punk. Should have been a comparable Klingon battle cruiser(s) - this is a MOVIE FFS
which brings me nicely to... re-use of stock footage was noticeable

It's a very uneven, frustrating film to watch. It could have been one of, if not the best Trek film of all, and the first hour or so of this film is really, really good, then as soon as they enter the Nexus it all falls apart. Such a missed opportunity, but a glorious one at times.

 

[RodrigoBrowncoat]

Still my favorite TNG movie.

 

[pst]

i can't even pretend nostalgia doesn't completely shade my opinion, i unabashedly love star trek generations... the warm and fuzzy score, the beautiful cinematography giving us a new look at the same old standing sets, the repeated blunt attempts at eliciting feels, all still work on me.

and next to the 2009 star trek, it's got the best title of any star trek film.

 

[mtblillie]

I am always surprised this movie gets so much flak. I always kind of thought of it as a regular TNG episode with extra effects. The only thing I really didn't like about the movie was the lighting.

 

[USS Firefly]

The FX still looks great, and I like the movie better then ''Insurrection'' and ''Nemesis''

 

[Khan 2.0]

More 25 links
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/how-star-trek-generations-killed-franchise-1255759?
https://intl.startrek.com/news/watching-star-trek-generations-spoiled
https://trekmovie.com/2019/11/18/time-is-the-fire-star-trek-generations-at-25/

 

[Smellmet]

I am always surprised this movie gets so much flak. I always kind of thought of it as a regular TNG episode with extra effects. The only thing I really didn't like about the movie was the lighting.

I thought that was one of the best things about it. It made the film look cinematic.

 

[Lance]

Pros
Cinematography
Lighting on the Enterprise was stunning
Visual Effects were excellent across the board
Saucer Crash was awesome
Malcom McDowell was predictably great
The Enterprise B sequence was a lot of fun
Stellar Cartography still looks really good (compare this to the shitty effort in Nemesis)
Champagne Bottle opening set the tone for an intriguing film.
Solid acting

Cons
The Nexus was a stupid, dumb plot hole - needed a total rethink
The Nexus scenes dragged the pacing of the film down when it was supposed to be the climax
Kirk's death was lame for the franchise's biggest character
Picard came across a bit of a pussy which probably led to him being portrayed as an action star in later instalments
The ending on the bridge/mountain, whilst shot nice on location was too small scale for a movie and looked cheap
The Enterprise D went out like a punk. Should have been a comparable Klingon battle cruiser(s) - this is a MOVIE FFS
which brings me nicely to... re-use of stock footage was noticeable

It's a very uneven, frustrating film to watch. It could have been one of, if not the best Trek film of all, and the first hour or so of this film is really, really good, then as soon as they enter the Nexus it all falls apart. Such a missed opportunity, but a glorious one at times.

Great analysis.

Yeah, for me this one is a real roller coaster, and I feel like my viewpoint of it changes almost every time I give it a re-watch. Sometimes I'm still caught up in that nostalgic glow of a franchise at the height of it's confidence, the Next Generation crew triumphantly taking on the well-deserved mantle of big screen Trek, the charm of seeing Picard and Kirk interact, and McDowell's surprisingly layered performance for a villain that is pretty simply defined in the story being told. But other times I'm taken out of it by some bad choices, some cheapness behind the scenes, and most importantly the Enterprise-D's limp final moments being taken down by what even the characters themselves call a shitty 60 year old bird-of-prey. The saucer crash is still cool, but no longer stuns me. The way that beautiful ship is torn down and replaced by the bland 1701-E for the following films (still my least favourite Enterprise), as well as the retroactive acknowledgement that The Next Generation on the big screen went down with a depressing whimper rather than the greatness promised by the franchise's all-time peak in 1994, also serves to unfortunately destroy Generations legacy. In the end, I probably veer closer to disappointment when I watch it, even though I feel like there are a lot of good things in it.

 

[Lance]

As my user avatar suggests I actually love the look of it a lot. The cinematography is gorgeous across the board, and while some people feel like the 'uniform problem' is an issue, frankly I think Frakes, Stewart, Burton and Spiner all look quite nice in the DS9/VOY style jumpsuits, a lot more than the dull grey dirge of the FC/INS/NEN unis. But maybe that's just me.

 

[Smellmet]

Great analysis.

Yeah, for me this one is a real roller coaster, and I feel like my viewpoint of it changes almost every time I give it a re-watch. Sometimes I'm still caught up in that nostalgic glow of a franchise at the height of it's confidence, the Next Generation crew triumphantly taking on the well-deserved mantle of big screen Trek, the charm of seeing Picard and Kirk interact, and McDowell's surprisingly layered performance for a villain that is pretty simply defined in the story being told. But other times I'm taken out of it by some bad choices, some cheapness behind the scenes, and most importantly the Enterprise-D's limp final moments being taken down by what even the characters themselves call a shitty 60 year old bird-of-prey. The saucer crash is still cool, but no longer stuns me. The way that beautiful ship is torn down and replaced by the bland 1701-E for the following films (still my least favourite Enterprise), as well as the retroactive acknowledgement that The Next Generation on the big screen went down with a depressing whimper rather than the greatness promised by the franchise's all-time peak in 1994, also serves to unfortunately destroy Generations legacy. In the end, I probably veer closer to disappointment when I watch it, even though I feel like there are a lot of good things in it.

The saucer crash doesn't quite stun me in the way in did in the theatre in 94, but that's only because modern films can now depict mass destruction with ease these days, but it's still a fabulous feat of practical effects, and still looks great to my eyes precisely because it's not CGI - if they had gone down that route I'd wager it would look much worse today. Either way this film has several scenes where there's a distinct wow factor which was totally absent from Insurrection and to a much lesser degree Nemesis and First Contact. The Enterprise D deserved better too - fine, have it lose a battle and get destroyed, I don't have an issue with that, but at least have it go down to one of the big cruisers we saw on TNG, what's worse is that we saw the D throwing multiple phaser and photon torpedo fire simultaneously in the series against the Borg, we all know it could have wiped the floor with that Klingon BoP even without it's shields. The whole thing was just penny pinching culminating in the stock explosion from TUC.

As my user avatar suggests I actually love the look of it a lot. The cinematography is gorgeous across the board, and while some people feel like the 'uniform problem' is an issue, frankly I think Frakes, Stewart, Burton and Spiner all look quite nice in the DS9/VOY style jumpsuits, a lot more than the dull grey dirge of the FC/INS/NEN unis. But maybe that's just me.

Generations is by a country mile the best looking TNG film, and better looking than all the TOS films bar maybe TMP. The scenes in Ten Forward that are lit by the Amagosa star, the scenes in Picard's quarters with Troi, the bridge, all look stunning. I can't believe anyone would think this film looks anything other than epic. The 'extended episode' criticism of this film just doesn't register with me.

Ultimately, I can still watch this movie and enjoy it very much, it's got some good action sequences, is just gorgeous to look at, as long as I just turn my brain off for the last third then I can still get a good experience from it.

 

[USS Firefly]

The Enterprise D deserved better too - fine, have it lose a battle and get destroyed, I don't have an issue with that, but at least have it go down to one of the big cruisers we saw on TNG,

I agree, let her go down against a couple of Vorcha's or a Negh'var, that would way better.
Although I would have preferred that she survived the movie

 

[Smellmet]

I agree, let her go down against a couple of Vorcha's or a Negh'var, that would way better.
Although I would have preferred that she survived the movie

Classic Trek penny pinching.

 

[JamesRye]

I hate that they just took the lines that were to be given to Nimoy and Kelley and dumped them on Koenig and Doohan.
I dislike that Carol or Ruth weren't in the Nexus. The Nexus fantasy was more about indulging Shatner than depicting what Kirk would have craved for.
I think Patrick Stewart, Spiner et.al were still acting for TV. Why are so many lines whispered?
Still, it's a better Star Trek film than any of the other TNG movies, though it is a worse regular film when compared to First Contact. Your mileage may vary.

The saucer crash landing sequence works, just about, but it's such a primitive way to film the scene. There are a few fast cuts where the model bounced unnaturally. Voyagers Timeless would do it better on a TV budget. I remember the smashing glass and thinking hang on, that's supposed to be transparent aluminim?