I don't really care for the film, but I agree GEN looks fantastic, for the most part.
What are your controversial Star Trek opinions?
- Thread starter Amasov
- Start date
GEN is the most gorgeous of all the Prime Timeline films and in some ways the best looking of them all.
Steak is funnier.Even with 20/20 vision, I'd have a hard time making out most details and small things beyond the edge of the ship's saucer. At five kilometers, a space ship the size of the Enterprise is just a little more than a dot assuming it is barely moving; at small percentages of the speed of light, it's asteak<edit. streak> of light, both assuming it is well lit.
Plus you can eat steak, properly cooked...
Try eating the Enterprise...
The Enterprise is a feast to my eyes.
I think GEN looks so good because we'd seen those same sets for seven years with flat TV lighting. It means we can really appreciate the visual flare that a film cinematographer as great as John Alonzo could provide, which was simply impossible on a TV budget and production schedule.
I wouldn't go along with it being the best TNG film - I think First Contact is a much tighter script and a better movie - but Generations is probably the best filmic adaptation of the TNG TV series. All the characters act like they should. It's the right ship, Geordi wears his VISOR etc.
It just *feels* right, despite the visual differences. It's also the first Trek film I saw in the cinema, so I unconditionally love it.
I wouldn't go along with it being the best TNG film - I think First Contact is a much tighter script and a better movie - but Generations is probably the best filmic adaptation of the TNG TV series. All the characters act like they should. It's the right ship, Geordi wears his VISOR etc.
It just *feels* right, despite the visual differences. It's also the first Trek film I saw in the cinema, so I unconditionally love it.
Some things have tried to eat the Enterprise.
The first season of TNG does way more with the lighting and cinematography, particularly earlier in the production. It's actualy kind of jarring to watch an episode considered mediocre like "Too Short a Season" followed immediately by a great one like "Best of Both Worlds".
I always assumed the blown out soap opera lighting was one of Berman's cost-cutting measures that the studio loved him for doing, since it correlates pretty well with when he starts taking the reins.
Watching SNW Hegemony, Captain Batel willingly puts everyone in danger by not letting them know she was infected with Gorn eggs. Was that careless, selfish or what?
Last edited:
The amoeba tried to eat the Enterprise but she gave it indigestion.
we should get that guy that ate a cessna on the line... it might take him a while, though.
That's the point, though. They won't see anything.
I've played a few hex based starship combat games, Star Fleet Battles being one of them. Typically 1 hex is 10,000 km. A starship at point blank range was still within 10,000 km. Starships close enough to see would likely be rare and hazardous.
Modern naval battles on Earth take place at ranges either at extreme or beyond visual line of sight. Those cruise missiles are flying for miles.
Plus, realistically, there is the matter of light. Deep space won't have any light sources illuminating other spacecraft.
The only thing that would regularly be visible through a window would be a planet.
Ehhh, don't see how that's not TMP, for all it's narrative shortcomings, and I don't think you even have to qualify that with "prime universe".
Generations basically looks like a regular TNG episode with dimmer lighting to me, not sure what the big deal is. I'd say Nemesis (again, in spite of its narrative shortcomings) is the second most cinematic prime Trek movie. I know the cast didn't like Baird but there's something to be said for getting a director with experience with bug budget films instead of letting the cast take turns or getting a TV director like Carson.
They'll see planets, stars, stellar phenomenon. There's a lot more to Star Trek than space combat. Plus, Star Trek has never been realistic.
They shouldn't really be seeing much other than the reflection of the brightly lit room they're in, so maybe the windows are enhancing the image somehow.
I'm sure by the 23rd Century they'd be able to create non-reflective transparent aluminum.
Enter the "D"... this was AWESOME on the big screen.
Just roll with it, they're still human and the inverse of the "David vs Goliath" trope is kinda good, plus the visuals are sumptuous on a 60-foot screen while sitting in the middle of the theater. Or 6 feet away from a 60 inch screen.
Logistical stuff like glass vs transparent aluminum windows and hokey teddy bear aside, the crash still gets to me. Like Scorpio from Blake's 7, I'll always yum up a good crash scene. Still could have sworn that there were extra shots of the "D" going down through the atmosphere through the clouds and I saw this in the theater thrice. Apparently not, isn't that called "the Mandangle Affect" or something?
Heck yeah! The groovy 80s neon deflector dish really has some detail in that brief moment, even more spectacular in 4K.
^^ and in another timeline:
(The film itself would likely be better too)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUfmY-uD7h0
Bonus, more 1701-D goodness with some live action f/x fluffybunny stuff thrown in.
But they do sell it well, especially when they get the real science right which in turn makes the iffy bits easier to buy into, suspension of disbelief and all, which was definitely needed in the earlier years:
Thank you, Mr Data!
The saddest part is, it's easier to justify the goofiness in "The Next Phase", partially because there are more unknowns than in "Disaster" where it starts to feel rubberstampy, but instead of digressing I'm going to go goofy for once:
Not even TSFS?
After two movies and not too many scenes where we as the audience get to see more of the ship being explored, this was an impressive gut-punch and almost underrated*. Even if the password used was 20 years old, used more as a cozy memberberry** than anything else, but the berry is deep within a fairly solid film so it's not as egregious as all that... still there, but not dreadfully so as the berry isn't being THE overt focus or point. Plot holes in the film? Sure. Managing to be more than the sum of its parts? With amazing ease.
* You're right, the 1701-D we all did vicariously live in. The 1701-Refit was just in a couple of movies and was totally different... but still a strong demise.
** Yup, those existed back then too!
Similar threads
- Locked
