A Better TNG Film Sendoff: What should have been included?

[Dr. Crusher]

Another post here got me thinking about "Nemesis:"

What if "Nemesis" had not been the last TNG film? Would it still be as harshly judged by TNG fans?

What did "Nemesis" leave out--what should have been included in a TNG sendoff?

I think there is an endless number of loose ends that the last TNG film could have tied off for TNG fans. I am curious to know what other fans think.

 

[LOKAI of CHERON]

This'll no doubt sound fairly corny; but I really would have liked to see the entire crew together in the final shot of the final movie.

 

[ChristopherPike]

Peace negotations with the Romulans. A conspiracy that threatens all that. Probably too similar to The Undiscovered Country, but with a different long-standing enemy. Nemesis without the Shinzon plot line. Finding out about the Remans at last, I liked. It needed an already established Romulan nemesis with a fixation on Picard... like Tomalak or Sela or Carolyn Seymour's Commander from "Contagion" or "Face of the Enemy".

Spock still around on Romulus, would have been a good continuation to "Unification" and extend it beyond being just a TNG film.

 

[22 Stars]

At the time, it would have been nice to include Spock's mission on Romulus, but I'm afraid that time has passed.

I am a big proponent of one last TNG mission. Live action TV movie would be my first choice, but I would absolutely settle for an animated special or series featuring all or some of the cast. Brent has said he couldn't play Data again but that is nonsense.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

A better scriptwriter (s), a better more compelling story, and a better director.

 

[LOKAI of CHERON]

A better scriptwriter (s), a better more compelling story, and a better director.

Ouch!

 

[BillJ]

Exploring a strange new world and a decent moral dilemma..

 

[AdmiralScreed]

I thought that the TV series was at its best when it made the viewer feel happy and good about life. If the final film could have ended that way I would have been much more satisfied. Instead, it just left me feeling depressed.

 

[davejames]

While I wasn't crazy about the Shinzon part of the story, I DO still think Nemesis ended on the right, hopeful note with regard to the characters.

And in any case, I've always regarded All Good Things as the true finale for TNG. The movies seemed more like just bonus adventures to me, or an "epilogue" to the main story.

 

[Captaindemotion]

I could have lived with them re-hashing the plot of TUC and the death scene from TWOK (and the cop-out from TSFS) if the damn movie had been any good. But it was just so dull and lifeless. The whole ENT-E crew seemed to be phoning it in.

The weird thing is, the movie is less than the sum of its parts. There are a few decent scenes and some good performances (Tom Hardy does his best, despite being nothing like Patrick Stewart), a few nice attempts at character building and acknowledgement of the show's history.

But overall, it's just - meh. Stuart Baird's direction is lacklustre, the plot potters along, the audience has nothing invested in the Picard/ Shinzon dynamic. We wait 10 movies for a Romulan-based movie and we get these silly Nosferatu clones. No acknowledgement of Spock's activities there. No Sela, no Tomalak (despite the fact that Andreas Katsulas worked with Baird on Executive Decision) and a silly plot about cloning. And another superweapon McGuffin.

Basically, a wasted opportunity.

 

[AdmiralScreed]

While I wasn't crazy about the Shinzon part of the story, I DO still think Nemesis ended on the right, hopeful note with regard to the characters.

Data's dead, Riker, Troi, and Crusher are leaving, the Enterprise was pounded to oblivion in the battle, and Picard seems like he would like to crawl into a coffin and die........................how did it come across as hopeful to you?

 

[BillJ]

While I wasn't crazy about the Shinzon part of the story, I DO still think Nemesis ended on the right, hopeful note with regard to the characters.

Data's dead, Riker, Troi, and Crusher are leaving, the Enterprise was pounded to oblivion in the battle, and Picard seems like he would like to crawl into a coffin and die........................how did it come across as hopeful to you?

Huh?

The last we see of Picard is him walking down a hallway smiling after just finishing a conversation with B4 and finding out from Worf the new warp drive was ready to be tested.

It's more like it didn't end in a way you find hopeful. But for me it seemed Picard was reinvigorated and ready to set out anew.

 

[Shazam!]

finding out from Worf the new warp drive was ready to be tested.

OH HAPPY DAY!

 

[CaptainMatt]

Nemesis would have been better a s a feature film had it had cameos from Spock, sela and Tomalek, and featured Romulans and more of their ships.
But I am forced to agree with a previous poster that All Good Things was a much better onscreen sendoff for the NG crew than any of the four features.


It would be nice if we could get one more movie or tv movie based on TNG no mnatter how likely it would be now. A lot of fans would gravitate towards it and thus boost ratings, or making it a lot of money if released theaterically.

 

[knowthyself]

This'll no doubt sound fairly corny; but I really would have liked to see the entire crew together in the final shot of the final movie.

or at the very least the damn ship flying out of spacedock and warping away instead of broke down and getting repaired.

 

[Dr. Crusher]

Nemesis would have been better a s a feature film had it had cameos from Spock, sela and Tomalek, and featured Romulans and more of their ships.
But I am forced to agree with a previous poster that All Good Things was a much better onscreen sendoff for the NG crew than any of the four features.

I think you're right on both points here. If the Nemesis story was going to be Romulan-related, it would only make sense to include Romulans (or part-Romulans for that matter) who made significant appearances in the TV series. It would have made much more sense, and certainly bridge continuity, if Spock had been even a small part of the film. If I had to choose between Sela and Tomalak, I would probably have to go with Tomalak, but either (or both) would have been welcome.

I also would have liked to see Picard deliver the letter written by the Romulan who committed suicide in "The Defector."

I felt a lot more "satisfied" with "All Good Things..," too. I can't put my finger on one big reason why, but I do agree.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Wouldn't it have been nice to actually see Riker's new ship?

 

[tomalak301]

I know it's only calling back to one episode, but why couldn't we have an Undiscovered Country ending where peace or non-agression has finally been made, and you have the entire crew on Romulus and Picard hands over the letter from Admiral Jerok. Now that would have been an ending I can get behind.

 

[M-Red]

After FC's commercial and critical success, TPTB should have mapped out a coherent plan for ending the TNG movie franchise in a logical way that tied together the broader TNG story and strengthened the broader Trek brand.


Obviously, that didn't happen.


In my perfect world where I controlled Trek, the TNG franchise would have looked like this after FC:


Romulan Movie I: geopolitical theme; introduce new emperor-like Romulan villain; ditch all cloning concepts with Data and Picard; ditch the Reman concept; incorporate Spock and Tomalak; provide an Empire Strikes Back-like, cliff-hanger ending.


Romulan Movie II: geopolitical conclusion to the TNG franchise; fall of Romulan Emperor; death of Tomalak; Picard's farewell to Spock, who continues to work toward his Unification mission; Rommie Empire and Feds establish workable New Peace


Q Movie: franchise comes full-circle with Q and a bright film and hopeful message; Q not as villain, but as Guide/Judge; Q condemns Mankind for recent violence of Feds with Dominion and Rommies; Q transports Ent-E across the universe and introduces them to new and fantastic world where a moral dilemma surrounds a benign race they must help; Data's sacrifice and quest for humanity saves benign race and proves mankind's worth to Continuum; Q wishes Picard well, saying "See you....out there" after JLP rejects Q's offer of immortality; Data provides closure by wishing crew goodbye in a Tasha Yar-like holodeck setting; upbeat and hopeful, the Enterprise sails off in a fade-to-black with the theme song



Obviously, I haven't given this much thought

 

[USS Kongo]

The deleted ending on the DVD shows Picard taking the newly repaired Enterprise out of drydock and onwards to new adventures.

This was far more upbeat than just having him get excited by news about the warp engines and then ending the film with a shot of the Enterprise still imprisoned within drydock.

Sean