Did Frakes Hate Insurrection?
- Thread starter Aike
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If you watch the dvd extras on Insurrection he says he was happy with his work directing the film but he thought he had a weaker story to work with than First Contact.
In a recent interview when the second Librarian movie came out he made the same comments regarding the movie.
In a recent interview when the second Librarian movie came out he made the same comments regarding the movie.
What was fascinating to me watching the extras on an old Insurrection DVD (never bought it, just rented it) was how everybody was so happy in their interviews, but only as they talked about anything but the movie itself. Everyone from Frakes down the whole cast just talked about how much fun it was to work together again, like it was summer camp or a family reunion. Oh, and F. Murray Abraham talked about how cool it was to wear crazy Alien make-up. Nobody had a damn thing to say about the story of the movie. I imagine that unconsciously they were all straining to keep themselves from saying, "too bad the story of this movie sucks" after each of their positive comments. 
I always laugh when I read this, like it makes a fucking difference to us, the audience.
They they had fun making it! You can tell! Look at their faces!
I'd have fun getting paid millions for prancing around infront of a camera being fed lines too. Most people would. Doesn't make the film any less shit.
There's news articles from back whenever, where Frakes mentioned during convention appearances that he'd recorded his commentary for the Insurrection 2-disc, but there was no real explanation as to why it wasn't included.
Ya that was really weird how they had him record the commentary and then did not use it. I wonder if they will use it for the blu-ray release?
Perhaps it wasn't unconsciously.
^Probably not; there's probably clauses in their contracts where they can only say nice or at least non-committal things about the movie for a certain period of time. If you go back to 1989, in the run-up to the release of The Final Frontier, James Doohan said it was a great film, he thought Shatner did a great job as director, and hoped they'd have him back again if there was a sixth film. As soon as it was clear that TFF was a critical, fan, and box-office disappointment, he did a complete 180 and didn't hold back in his criticism of either the film or Shatman.
The movie was pretty forgettable, but the worst thing it did is try to make us believe that Picard was doing the right thing by defending a bunch of arrogant assholes from not sharing an immensely vast resource. These guys thought they were even beyond the Federation, so why should the Federation bother to stick their neck out for them?
The point was that the arrogant assholes weren't even asked.
Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to take a cheapshot here (I actually like Frakes a lot as a director and actor), but I can't help but wonder if how poor his commentary for "Star Trek: First Contact" was could have influenced him not being allowed to have another director's commentary on the "Insurrection" DVD. I think Frakes is a very good director and actor, but his audio commentary style leaves a little to be desired. As IGN pointed out in its review (which I believe was accurate in this observation), he kinda sounds like he has a cold and is high on cold medicine for much of the "Star Trek: First Contact" commentary! I tried to listen to it, but had to give up after awhile as I got exasperated with how much he seems to be rambling incoherently in that ill voice. Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga sound a lot more sprited, intelligent, and insightful on their commentary.
I agree his First Contact commentary was not very good. It could be he is the type of person that needs someone to talk to instead of doing a monologue. Maybe he did not know what to say with just him in a room. If he was with someone else who worked on the movie or acted in it he may have been more comfortable remembering and sharing stories from the set.
Yeah, any DVD commentary that has only one participant tends to be quite dry and somber. Moore and Braga had each other to bounce off of in their commentary.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the issue is that Frakes recorded a commentary for Insurrection, albeit one that was not then used on the DVD, right? If that's the case, then the quality of his First Contact commentary would have no bearing on whether or not the Insurrection DVD would feature one; it costs money to record a commentary (even if they don't pay Frakes, they have to book studio time, pay technicians, etc.), and if his First Contact commentary had been a deciding factor, then the decision not to do one for Insurrection would have been made before spending money on recording it. It's far more likely that there was something on the Insurrection commentary that the studio didn't like, or which made it otherwise unusable.
Paramount isn't above editing commentaries without warning (we know that the Motion Picture theatrical commentary was edited, and it wouldn't surprise me to learn that the Voyage Home one was as well, given its numerous blank spots); it must've been really bad for them to drop-kick it entirely.
Better that than the patchwork we got on The Search for Spock, I suppose (or the Crusade hackjob from WB).
What was fascinating to me watching the extras on an old Insurrection DVD (never bought it, just rented it) was how everybody was so happy in their interviews, but only as they talked about anything but the movie itself. Everyone from Frakes down the whole cast just talked about how much fun it was to work together again, like it was summer camp or a family reunion. Oh, and F. Murray Abraham talked about how cool it was to wear crazy Alien make-up. Nobody had a damn thing to say about the story of the movie. I imagine that unconsciously they were all straining to keep themselves from saying, "too bad the story of this movie sucks" after each of their positive comments.
Interesting. I had the same reaction.
Since when does the studio have any influence on the commentary of a DVD? This idea doesn't gel with what I see on The Simpsons DVDs, unless The Simpsons DVDs are unique in how much freedom they grant the commentators. At the beginning of the DVDs, there is a disclaimer stating that the views and opinions expressed on commentaries within do not reflect the thoughts of anyone but the people giving them.
This note allows the people doing commentary freedom to bash FOX as much as they want, and they sure take advantage of that. They even have many moments where they say, "I bet the FOX lawyers are going to edit this out", but everything is left intact. Unless FOX is just unusually lenient about people bashing them on their own DVDs, I'm sure it's the same with Paramount.
This note allows the people doing commentary freedom to bash FOX as much as they want, and they sure take advantage of that. They even have many moments where they say, "I bet the FOX lawyers are going to edit this out", but everything is left intact. Unless FOX is just unusually lenient about people bashing them on their own DVDs, I'm sure it's the same with Paramount.
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