Star Trek: Generations — Alternative Uniforms

[Michael]

In order to distract myself from a paper I'm supposed to write right now, I wondered what you guys thought about the alternative uniforms originally designed by Robert Blackman for Generations. They had a more naval and military look to them than the ones from The Next Generation and were somewhat reminiscent of the TOS movie uniforms (Star Trek II onwards). Would you have preferred them to the mix of TNG and DS9 uniforms we got instead?

 

[Joe_Atari]

I prefer them to the First Contact uniforms; I always found the ones they went with in FC rather uninspired and colorless compared with everything that came before. At least the alt-GEN ones kept the dominant multi-color scheme of all of the previous uniforms while taking some cues from TOS. And I also had no real problem with the use of DS9 uniforms in GEN; I just took it to mean the DS9 ones were more casual or utility oriented than the more formal ones from the show. It made sense the ship would have more than one style of uniform, but there could have been more rhyme or reason to how and where they were worn (DS9 uniforms in engineering or on the observatory but never on the bridge, etc.). But they were good enough for VOY so who knows?

Production reasons aside (all but a few of the then-existing TNG/DS9 uniforms were high-quality enough for the big screen; Frakes supposedly wore Avery Brooks' hero costume for instance), I never saw the need to change from the TNG S3 and DS9/Voyager uniform style at all, but anything to sell a new action figure...

Speaking of, for those who don't know these uniforms were used on the 1994 production GEN figures from Playmates. Filming actually began with the new duds above but was changed back too late to fix the figures. I never collect acton figures but have a complete set of these for just this reason; they're not worth anything but just an odd piece of Trek trivia.

I'm always on the lookout for the alt-GEN uniforms in clips, stills, or even in other Trek productions. Supposedly LaForge wore one in a deleted GEN scene on the Bird of Prey leading up to the torture scene, but my copy of that scene is a horrible VHS dub where you can hardly see anything. And I guess some of them turned up at the Christie's auction, but what other photo / video documentation exists of these uniforms?

 

[RyuRoots]

Not really. They're not "horrid", but they're kinda meh, and they're so similar to the existing TNG uni that I have to wonder what the point is while the changes that are there are all ones I don't especially care for.


Besides which, the uniform change we got in First Contact is infinitely superior; definitely the best uniform in Trek.

 

[Herbert1]

I like the the re-introduction of the sleeve rank insignia and I also like the design because it is an evolutionary change and not a revolutionary one like the change we saw in Star Trek: Generations.

 

[Skywalker]

My favorite part about them is the rank stripes on the sleeves. It would have been cool if the FC uniforms had gone with those (gold stripes on the black sleeves probably would have looked pretty snazzy), and either done away with the collar pips, or kept them as well, like those GEN uniforms did.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Yeah, it would've been nice if they given those uniforms a shot. I recall that the change was made so late that the Generations action figures still had that uniform design.

Weren't they cut for budgetary reasons?

 

[Warp Coil]

Yeah, it would've been nice if they given those uniforms a shot. I recall that the change was made so late that the Generations action figures still had that uniform design.

Weren't they cut for budgetary reasons?

I believe the producers were worried about introducing too many new elements into the feature. They already re-designed the comm badges, spruced up the interior sets, re-painted the 6-foot Enterprise filming model, etc. I honestly don't think the new uniform design was all that great, anyway. The FC-style uniforms look great so I'm glad that these alternate uniforms were scrapped.

 

[JonnyQuest037]

I believe the producers were worried about introducing too many new elements into the feature. They already re-designed the comm badges, spruced up the interior sets, re-painted the 6-foot Enterprise filming model, etc. I honestly don't think the new uniform design was all that great, anyway. The FC-style uniforms look great so I'm glad that these alternate uniforms were scrapped.

Wow, that's kind of a dumb reason. Did they not see how thoroughly TMP redesigned everything from TOS?

I was never too nuts about the FC uniforms. They're so homogeneous. I remember one of the columnists from Sci-Fi Universe called them 24th Century Granimals. That about summed up for me.

 

[Balok's Head]

It's not really a dumb reason, remember that TMP was made a decade after the series, so having things the way they were made sense.

Generations however, was made as a sequel (almost) to the series, so you don't want to make to many changes.

I think they had just the right amount of old and new, and I loved the movie.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Weren't they cut for budgetary reasons?

No, because the money was already sunk into manufacturing the uniforms. And I suspect, but have never been able to confirm, that Voyager would have reused these uniforms.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

And I suspect, but have never been able to confirm, that Voyager would have reused these uniforms.

Weren't there a couple of pre-production interviews where Berman states this is the case?

 

[Allyn Gibson]

Weren't there a couple of pre-production interviews where Berman states this is the case?

There may be, but I don't recollect them. Honestly, I didn't spend a lot of time following the pre-production of Voyager.

But it's not an unreasonable assumption that the Generations uniforms were intended for reuse in Voyager. Deep Space Nine switched to the First Contact uniforms because the film's production budget absorbed the cost of the uniforms. (And it meant that the original DS9 uniforms wouldn't get double use from appearing on two shows simultaneously.)

 

[Warp Coil]

Weren't there a couple of pre-production interviews where Berman states this is the case?

There may be, but I don't recollect them. Honestly, I didn't spend a lot of time following the pre-production of Voyager.

But it's not an unreasonable assumption that the Generations uniforms were intended for reuse in Voyager. Deep Space Nine switched to the First Contact uniforms because the film's production budget absorbed the cost of the uniforms. (And it meant that the original DS9 uniforms wouldn't get double use from appearing on two shows simultaneously.)

Indeed, there was a lot of uniform sharing going on. GEN used a mixture of the existing TNG and DS9 uniforms (only Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner actually got tailor-made DS9 jumpsuits). I suspect that DS9 and VOY shared the same pool of uniforms for extras and guest stars for a few years before the switch was made to the FC-style uniforms (after which, all of the old DS9 uniforms went exclusively to VOY).

I'm sure that the original intention was for VOY to use the new uniform design that was planned for GEN. After the film had wrapped, all of the uniforms could be used for extras and guest stars on the new series. But, since the producers changed their minds, VOY ended up getting the DS9-style jumpsuits instead.

 

[WillsBabe]

I don't really care for the never used uniforms. To me they seem to be redesigned for no reason; they seem to close to the originals but it's like they went with the ones they used for a reason. I don't think I'm explaining myself well, I just don't like them. I might be one of the very few folks in the whole wide world who liked the mix of TNG and DS9 uniforms that they used in Generations. I think the mix of uniforms worked on the big screen, and contributed to the visual interest.

 

[nx1701g]

I like the prototype uniforms; however, I also like the TNGM/DS9 uniforms a little more.

I'm happy with how things turned out.

 

[Kirk1980]

Yeah, all that black never sat well with me (RE: FC uniforms). It was just so monochromatic. At least black's better than pastels, though.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I like the unused Generations uniforms as one poster stated already they remind one of the Bennet/Meyer era military jackets. I love the First Contact/Dominion War uniforms but wouldn't have minded seeing those ones either. I think the military jackets are the best uniforms the franchise has had.

 

[doubleohfive]

"Not everybody got the memo about the uniforms."
-Red Letter Media

 

[Epsilon IX]

Whilst I have to admit that the First Contact style uniforms look rather drab, I think they are a good reflection of the more uncertain times the Federation was facing (with threats from the Borg and Dominion), and you don't stick out like a sore thumb as much for a Jem'Hadar!

Back to the point, I do like the look of these uniforms. I would say that they look better than both the styles of uniforms used throughout TNG (both the one-piece and two-piece) outfits, and if I could have had it my way, I would have used these instead of the TNG uniforms.

 

[Tosk]

The uniforms definitely weren't scrapped due to budget, regardless of what they claim. You can see them being used briefly during the deleted scenes. (Geordi wears one, if I recall correctly.) So they were manufactured, and even made it to shooting.