Is Generations REALLY That Bad???

[AdmiralScreed]

A lot of Trekkies criticize Generations, and they lump it in with INS, NEM, and TFF as one of the worst films in the ST franchise. Personally, I think that GEN is a very under appreciated film. Here's what I think of it:

Pros: Wonderful cinematography, great visual effects and sets, a great story that explored time, mortality and making the most of every moment, terrific performances by the whole cast, including McDowell as the villain Soran, the Nexus was a fantastic concept brought to life in a wonderful way, and the soundtrack was great.

Cons: Soran was a little underdeveloped, the subplot with Data and his emotions chip was kind of annoying, Kirk's death was lame, and there were plenty of plot holes.

Do These Problems Matter? The plot holes didn't bother me at all because they were usually really minor things, and they didn't prevent me from suspending my disbelief. I was never a big Kirk fan so even though his death was poorly executed I wasn't too bothered by it (his death actually makes me laugh every time, it's so damn pathetic). Even though Soran was underdeveloped, McDowell gave a very fine performance which somewhat made up for this lack of development. Data's subplot bothered me more than anything else because it wasn't very funny, but at the end of the day it's a very small chunk of a large film, so I can live with it.

Overall, I think GEN is a very fine film, and I enjoy it every time. IMO, its pros outweigh its cons by a long shot.

Does anyone else agree?

 

[sonak]

I agree. I never get coherent explanations as to WHY it's bad other than "plot holes" and Kirk's lame death. As to the first point, the plot holes are no worse in this film than in any others, as to the second, I agree, but it's not a reason to dislike the entire film.

I lump Generations in with TSFS as "good but not great."

 

[ALF]

I'm in the minority but I love Generations.
I hate the way it was filmed, though. Waaaaaay too many close ups and we are trying to get a look at the "new" Enterprise D with it's reconfigured lighting (dark places are bright, bright places are dark) and it's tough to get an overall sense of the bridge refit.

 

[Augustus]

I agree with what has been said. While it isn't a GREAT Trek film, it is a class above INS, TFF and NEM.

I personally loved the the lighting in the early part of the film... allowing the nearby star to light up the ship.

 

[Grant]

Soran had 70 years to figure out how to recreate flying into the nexus, but decided blowing up whole stars and comitting genocide was the easiest. That's not a plot-hole that's a plot killer. The audience has SEEN how he got there the first time! They know how to get in --but Soran doesn't?

 

[sonak]

Soran had 70 years to figure out how to recreate flying into the nexus, but decided blowing up whole stars and comitting genocide was the easiest. That's not a plot-hole that's a plot killer. The audience has SEEN how he got there the first time! They know how to get in --but Soran doesn't?

-Why can't Sybok buy a ship to go to the Great Barrier?
-how does the USS Reliant confuse two different planets? Why can't Khan figure out such a dumb code?
-how can an advanced probe not figure out it's transmissions are harmful?
Why doesn't the borg cube time travel first, when it's back in the DQ, THEN travel to Earth? How can they sudden;y beam onto Federation ships without being detected?

see what I mean? Are those "plot killers?"

 

[The Dominion]

-Why can't Sybok buy a ship to go to the Great Barrier?

Because it's Star Trek V, and that's not even the dumbest thing in the movie.

-how does the USS Reliant confuse two different planets? Why can't Khan figure out such a dumb code?

I don't know about this one, how could he recognize Checkov either?

-how can an advanced probe not figure out it's transmissions are harmful?

Because it's Star Trek IV, and it doesn't bother with serious details of any kind. For that matter, how could they fit whales in a BoP? The dimensions don't work, and even if they did at the biggest stretch, they would be bringing home some pretty vacuum-packed whales. (Think can of tuna compression syndrome.)

Why doesn't the borg cube time travel first, when it's back in the DQ, THEN travel to Earth? How can they sudden;y beam onto Federation ships without being detected?

That one is a plot killer for me to be honest. Although there are others in the movie as well, like the Borg Queen.

 

[Augustus]

Soran had 70 years to figure out how to recreate flying into the nexus, but decided blowing up whole stars and comitting genocide was the easiest. That's not a plot-hole that's a plot killer. The audience has SEEN how he got there the first time! They know how to get in --but Soran doesn't?

I have thought about this one and to help me get around this rather obvious plot hole, I reasoned that when he, Guinan and the others were in the Nexus at the start of the film, they were not completely in the nexus... hence they could be beamed away. And those that died on those ships did not go to the Nexus.

Soran needed a way to get into the nexus alive..... make sense?

 

[Lord Garth]

A lot of disappointment had to do with timing. Generations was released in 1994, when Star Trek was at its peak. Okay, the JJ Abrams movie was a new peak but for the Star Trek of the '80s, '90s, and early-2000s, this was the peak.

TNG finished a very successful run, DS9 still had ratings not too far removed from TNG's, Voyager was on the way, and now TNG was on the big screen and Kirk was going to meet Picard. They were even on the cover of Time.

This was the peak. Expectations were high. Nothing could've lived up to that. When Generations didn't, a movie that was middling -- despite its ambitions -- was criticized harsher than it would've been otherwise.

First Contact had it easier: it was a better story, a better movie, the Borg were back to their former glory, and the only expecatations were that it had to be better than Generations.

 

[WarsTrek1993]

Generations isn't a HORRIBLE movie, per se. But it's not the best either. There are a few plot holes here and there. Like how easily the Enterprise-D got taken down.

Plus Soran could've been developed more.

 

[Racetrack]

It's my favourite Trek movie. When i first saw it when it came out as a 12 year old it was my favourite movie of all time. There was something magical about seeing TNG crew on the big screen.

17 years on and having just watched it again for the first time in many years i feel the same. I know people didn't like Kirk's death but i don't have a problem with it because i don't have that attachment to TOS crew.

The ONLY thing i think that could have been BETTER was the destruction of Enterprise-D. Instead of the Klingon's finding out the shield frequency i would have liked the Enterprise to go out with a real space fight. Perhaps if the Duras sisters had 4 of 5 birds of prey and Enterprise fights them all off before being destroyed and crashing. Would have been a more fitting end to such a fine ship.

 

[YARN]

Yes, it's really that bad.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I wasn't happy when I left the theater. At all.

 

[ALF]

^^ What did it? The Scanning for Lifeforms song? Guinan on the Merry Go Round? Picard sobbing in front of Troi?

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Wasting Malcom McDowell in a thankless one-dimensional role was not getting off on the right foot. Your comments about the lighting and the close-ups were spot on. I was constantly shouting at the screen for people making stupid decisions. Too many series wankages: Lursa and B'Etor, emotion chip, Geordi's visor, Picard's family. And then: pissing away Kirk.

The highlight of the movie was stellar cartography. The Scanning for Lifeforms song was funny, but Data yelling "shit" was pretty god-awful embarrassing.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

There are some things I really like about GEN (the Enterprise-B intro section, new Bridge, stellar cartography to mention just a few) and its a film I do watch just for the hell of it. But there are a couple of problems with it, that really do annoy me:
1. Too much emphasis on "passing the torch" from TOS to TNG, when it was already well-established and successful series;
2. The Nexus sequence just kills the pace of the film (I generally always skip right past it).

Had they focused on the TNG cast and developed a story based more around them I would have been happier with it, but as it stands it's not that bad. I have never liked Kirk as a character or a Captain, so his death was always kinda 'meh' for me.

 

[F. King Daniel]

It was fun enough. It felt MUCH more like a two-part episode than a movie, though.

 

[WarsTrek1993]

I hated the way the Enterprise was destroyed. Completely wasteful and pointless.
How can she take a pounding from four modern Birds of Prey and survive, or Borg vessels?
And yet only a few shots from some POS 23rd Century BOP can cause her heavy damage?
Kirk's death, meaningless as it is, was at least for a good cause.

 

[Dr. Crusher]

I also found Kirk's death very underwhelming in this film. However, there are some very positive points to the plot, too.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

Regarding the destruction of the 'D', had they slipped in a line that said their shield generators had been hit, therefore leaving the ship defenseless, I would have been happier.

The tactic would have made sense. Target the shield generators, bridge and warp core in the first volley (taking out their means of defence, their command centre and then speeding up the destruction of the ship), rather than just blasting away without any clearly defined motivation.