Action Hero Picard!

[Docbrown777]

Why is it that in each TNG movie Picard becomes an action hero at the end and has to fight the bad guy in hand to hand combat?

Ok, in Generations we kind of let the fact that Picard just decides to give himself to the Klingons and the only objection from the crew is a some minor mutterings from Data and even then Data at that point was more concerned about doing something for Geordi then stopping Picard. We let it slide though because it had to happen so that Picard could be alone and eventually team up with Kirk and beat to stink out of the villain.

In First Contact it actually made sense. The captain is always the last one off or sometimes goes down with the ship. On top of that Data is a good friend of Picard so it makes sense for him to go back and try to save him. So here I give Picard a pass and say it is ok to swing around engineering and fight the Borg.

Insurrection gets a little ridiculous. Oh there might be a way to get on the collector? Picard just walks over to Worf, grabs his rifle, and says beam me aboard. No one objects or even volunteers to go with him. I guess Picard told Worf to stay at his post but...... Then it is time for Picard to climb around in his t-shirt and fight the badguy.....again.

Of course Nemisis doesn't even try to explain it anymore. There Picard is on his crippled ship. The ole captain just gets up, grabs a phaser rifle, and says beam me over there so I can fight an entire ship of badguys on my own. Geordi's Response? No problem! Oh, and not before Troy tells Data(the only sane one at this point) to basically shut up and let the captain abandon ship and crew for his personal vendetta to kill his evil twin. Lucky for us at this point in the series Picard is a master action hero and is able to fight through the entire ship of Remans and get to the head guy not unlike so many first person shooter video games. This is the worst because of how convoluted it is. Complete with "oops the transporter just broke now no one else can beam over there."

The point about all of this is that Picard was never even a fist fighter before the movies. Heck, that is what Kirk was known as and only in one of TOS movies did he physically fight the main badguy at the end(The Search for Spock for those keeping score at home). Another great example is when Kirk faced his nemesis Khan and the two were never even even in the same room and yet it made for what many still consider to be the best trek film.

So there you go.

 

[CaptainJon]

What happened was that Patrick Stewart felt that the captain had to be "in the thick of things" do "hero stuff", or something to that effect. In the original draft of First Contact that can be found somewhere online, it actually has Picard on Earth repairing the Phoenix and Riker on the Enterprise fighting the Borg. But Stewart didn't like it and felt that it should be reversed. In the end, of course, that turned out best because it made perfect sense that he would have a strong vendetta against the Borg and that the captain should defend his ship.

But you're right that after that, it started to become ridiculous. The problem with the TNG movies that they tried to be action/adventure movies instead of (shock) TNG movies! They tried to "outdo" the original movies, and Stewart tried to get Picard to outdo Captain Kirk as an action hero. Truth is, we didn't like Picard because he was a "hero captain". We liked Picard because of how he was on the series.

I love Patrick Stewart as an actor and feel that he had a lot to do with the series success, but I feel like that when it came down to the TNG movies his attempt to "action-ize" Picard pulled the quality of the movies done. TNG lost its identity in the movies.

 

[ELURIA]

I couldn't stand Action Hero Picard. It somehow just seemed forced and not in character.

It was 1 of the many reasons I really disliked First Contact.

...maybe his encounter with ol' Kirk somehow inspired him to become more actiony

 

[Jon1701]

This is a prime example of how the TNG movies don't work very well.

 

[Kegek]

This is a prime example of how the TNG movies don't work very well.

It's my main problem with the films. It's why TNG's two-parters were better movies, episodes like The Chain of Command may have briefly toyed with the idea of Picard in covert ops but where really more about his heroic feat of endurance. TNG's films felt obliged to fit the summer movie action spectacle formula with a gung ho hero in the thick of things... and that just didn't fit the series at all. In the films, Picard's really still at his best when he's allowed to speechify about his principles rather than careening around on the Argo.

 

[Jon1701]

I just don't know what they were thinking.

I mean, did we ever see Kirk running around with a Phaser rifle? Picard does this for 3 movies straight. The closest Kirk got to real action in the movies was a bit of a fistfight in Trek III and a couple of Karate chops in Trek V.

First Contact is probably the best of the TNG movies, even though I didn't really care for the characterization of Picard in that movie, or indeed the later ones. I don't mind him in Generations - he at least feels like the character we knew on the TV show for so long.

The scene in the observation lounge in First Contact makes me angry every time. Ok, so it works in the context of the movie - but not so much in the context of the Picard character. Why he is still storing up so much hatred for the Borg I'll never know. His "I will make them paaay for what they've done", whilst fantastically acted - is totally and completely out of character for Picard.

Just awful.

Almost as if I, Borg & Descent never happened...

 

[Kegek]

^
Absolutely. I feel that GEN and to an extent INS (Picard's speeches were far more internally consistent with the character we knew) got the character right. But FC was a hit; so it's understandable that both INS and NEM tried to repeat this action man Picard motif. That scene were Picard snaps, well... it reads like they wrote it for Sisko.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

I always wonder what FC would've been like had Sisko been there... The argument on the bridge would've been cool!

 

[Docbrown777]

My theory of course all goes back to the belief that Picard is still in the Nexus. It makes perfect sense.

He failed at being an action hero the first time in Generations and the star was destroyed. He gets picked up by the Nexus and his idea of a perfect life is to kick the ass of bad guys from there on out.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

That's an interesting theory...

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

What happened was that Patrick Stewart felt that the captain had to be "in the thick of things" do "hero stuff", or something to that effect. In the original draft of First Contact that can be found somewhere online, it actually has Picard on Earth repairing the Phoenix and Riker on the Enterprise fighting the Borg. But Stewart didn't like it and felt that it should be reversed. In the end, of course, that turned out best because it made perfect sense that he would have a strong vendetta against the Borg and that the captain should defend his ship.

But you're right that after that, it started to become ridiculous. The problem with the TNG movies that they tried to be action/adventure movies instead of (shock) TNG movies! They tried to "outdo" the original movies, and Stewart tried to get Picard to outdo Captain Kirk as an action hero. Truth is, we didn't like Picard because he was a "hero captain". We liked Picard because of how he was on the series.

I love Patrick Stewart as an actor and feel that he had a lot to do with the series success, but I feel like that when it came down to the TNG movies his attempt to "action-ize" Picard pulled the quality of the movies done. TNG lost its identity in the movies.

Well said and echo my sentiments on the TNG films after FC.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

The Picard we grew to love was, for the most part, more cerebral. That's not to say that he didn't have many action moments but for the most part he thought his way out rather than rushing in where angels fear to tread.

 

[T'Cal]

This is a prime example of how the TNG movies don't work very well.

I reluctantly agree. TNG belongs on the small screen where its character-driven stories can be told. I would love to see miniseries that dealt with an era rather than a specific cast of one series aired semi-annually on a cable channel. I prefer the late 24th/early 25th century timeframe in which we would see some new characters interacting with some familiar ones from TNG, DS9, and VOY, if not Capt. Calhoun and crew, too. Six months after the first 8-hour miniseries is aired (and rerun a few times), it is released on DVD just as the next miniseries is aired.

 

[SmoothieX]

I agree that the portrayal of Picard in GEN and INS (with some exceptions) is more in line with the thoughtful, work out a solution character from the series than the action hero bit.

INS was pretty good with this until the climactic fist fight with Ru'ffles. That was utterly ridiculous. I have no problem with how the scenes went with the escape from the Baku village or the holoship stuff. A little action and danger is expected. And they did a good job with his character with the scenes with Data and Admiral Doughtery, and especially Gall'na. The fist fight with Ru'afo and convenient beam me out ending was lame-o.

I don't have a problem with the First Contact portrayal. I think it's totally reasonable the hatred he has toward the Borg. They violated his body and forced him to commit terrible acts. Starfleet was right in a way when they figured he would be an unstable element in the situation.

 

[CaptainJon]

I do think that TNG could have found a place on the big screen just as much as it did on the small. Unfortunately the studio and producers felt that the movies had to be accessible to a wide audience that wasn't completely familiar with Trek. And at the time (with movies like Independence Day and other action movies eating things up) it seemed like the best way to do that was to put in plenty of action/eye-candy.

In the end, this betrayed the core principles of TNG, which was always about the story, characters and drama and eventually alienated TNG's fan base. There were very intelligent stories done throughout TNG's run that also served as good action stories. Episodes like Yesterday's Enterprise or even the sixth season's The Chase (which was almost a two-parter) would've made excellent movies had they been expanded upon. The Best of Both Worlds was followed wonderfully by First Contact (in my opinion). Episodes like this proved that TNG could be smart while also contain action! The producers just weren't brave enough to make a genuine attempt. I think they made a somewhat decent attempt with Insurrection, but then opted for the more comedic/action fare. There were glimmers of this in Nemesis, but in the end, they balked (both at the typewriter and in the editing room) and went for the eye-candy action.

The TNG movies could've been brilliant, epic stories that held true to both the principals of Star Trek and TNG, but instead tried too hard to be something that they weren't.

 

[TheCanon72]

"Me kill Remans!"

"oof!"

"Arrrrrrrrgh!"

"tinckle"

"Rifle broke. :sob:"

Picard was better during the tv series.

 

[Good Will Riker]

^^^

Obviously, something got lost in the translation between TV series and the movies.

Witness, for example, Adrian Paul and Highlander: The Source.

 

[22 Stars]

The OP is exactly right. I've been saying this to friends colleagues and even posting it here whenever the TNG films come up. It's precicely why the TNG films fail, one, becuase the character dynamic is so out of whack, but two, they are so DAMN repetetive!

The TOS films tried to bring something new to the table EACH TIME! TMP was slow, cerebral and plodding. TWOK was intense, and touching. TSFS continued that arc and brought redemption, and TVH finished it off with a BANG and a laugh. TFF was really the only big miss, and TUC ended the run in style. They simply weren't the same thing every two or three years, quick, what B actor can we get to team up with Stewart!?