Franklin wrote: View Post
Thematically, it was interesting and right up TNG's alley. As I've posted before, I saw it as 1960's communal left-wing college student values versus the values of that same group of people when they grew up into yuppies (which is why I thought it was neat that they turned out to be the same race). It was a "good Kirk, bad Kirk" thing: neither group was whole on its own. The Ba'ku needed the technology of the Federation to protect them, just as the college students needed their checks from Mom and Dad to sustain their lifestyles (the irony of that being lost on them). The So'na had sold out their ideals, just as many of the 1960s radicalized or very liberal students did when they got jobs, moved into gated communities, started paying homeowner's association fees, had children, and got IRAs.
The problem is, a story centered around conflicts of values like that just isn't going to be the whizz-bang big screen event and popcorn-munching treat moviegoers want to see. On the other hand, it would've been a top ten TNG episode, in my opinion.
It was, to put it diplomatically, a quiet movie that didn't know if it wanted to be taken seriously or not. It also lacked the charm of TVH, which was a 180 degree turn from what came before it. The only way TVH worked was that it was an open and complete farce -- in the good theater use of the term -- and everyone, even the characters, knew it.
Your last two paragraphs sum it up nicely. I've slagged Insurrection off as much as any, but it's not without merit - it has a feeling of the characters being close, almost like TOS movie in parts, some of the humor was still okay even though some of it sucked, and the location shooting was nice, I totally get what you mean about it not knowing if it wanted to be taken seriously - it ended up being neither one thing or the other and suffered for it. But it's still reasonably entertaining in parts, I do still watch it from time, I definitely don't hate the movie, I just find it a bit 'meh'
Thematically, it was interesting and right up TNG's alley. As I've posted before, I saw it as 1960's communal left-wing college student values versus the values of that same group of people when they grew up into yuppies (which is why I thought it was neat that they turned out to be the same race). It was a "good Kirk, bad Kirk" thing: neither group was whole on its own. The Ba'ku needed the technology of the Federation to protect them, just as the college students needed their checks from Mom and Dad to sustain their lifestyles (the irony of that being lost on them). The So'na had sold out their ideals, just as many of the 1960s radicalized or very liberal students did when they got jobs, moved into gated communities, started paying homeowner's association fees, had children, and got IRAs.
The problem is, a story centered around conflicts of values like that just isn't going to be the whizz-bang big screen event and popcorn-munching treat moviegoers want to see. On the other hand, it would've been a top ten TNG episode, in my opinion.
It was, to put it diplomatically, a quiet movie that didn't know if it wanted to be taken seriously or not. It also lacked the charm of TVH, which was a 180 degree turn from what came before it. The only way TVH worked was that it was an open and complete farce -- in the good theater use of the term -- and everyone, even the characters, knew it.
Your last two paragraphs sum it up nicely. I've slagged Insurrection off as much as any, but it's not without merit - it has a feeling of the characters being close, almost like TOS movie in parts, some of the humor was still okay even though some of it sucked, and the location shooting was nice, I totally get what you mean about it not knowing if it wanted to be taken seriously - it ended up being neither one thing or the other and suffered for it. But it's still reasonably entertaining in parts, I do still watch it from time, I definitely don't hate the movie, I just find it a bit 'meh'