MeanJoePhaser
Admiral
Less of an insult and more of a knock at how uncreative the series got.
It was just supposed to be a 3 hour tour, a 3 hour tour...
Generations: why I love/hate it
- Thread starter Chrisisall
- Start date
Less of an insult and more of a knock at how uncreative the series got.
It was just supposed to be a 3 hour tour, a 3 hour tour...
I liked Generations. It was the first Trek film I saw in theaters and I actually dragged my parents along. I loved Data saying the things that everyone was thinking... "YES!" and "Oh, shit!"
I like it, but it's an average Trek movie. For one thing, everything is just far more complicated than it needed to be. I feel like major parts of the movie could have been more dynamic had the amount of technobabble and contrived situations (the underequipped E-B, the ship battle, the Klingons themselves) been toned down.
Two examples that I note:
-Did the Enterprise-B really have to be so under-equipped in order for the scene to play out? They could have standard equipment and still struggle. The Nexus is a previously unknown phenomenon of immense power, after all. A boat's chain and anchor can snap in a tsunami, so why can't the Nexus, being essentially a wave in space, overpower the tractor beam and shields and torpedoes?
-The battle itself. First, get a larger ship. That may seem simple, but suddenly you don't need a thousand words to explain why the Enterprise-D has to go down in flames. Second, the solution to beat the Klingons doesn't need to be so drawn out -- Shoot First, Mock Later Worf concocting and explaining the plasma coil weakness is completely out of character for him. Force the shields down (pinpoint all-weapon spam onto a single spot? THAT's the Worf I know), beam some torpedoes into their bridge, and bam (or boom, rather) fight over. Plus, since the Enterprise has to blow up and crash anyway, the rest of the mini climax can proceed like we know it.
Compare that to First Contact, in which we have our most techno-babbly villains ever, but the dialogue was significantly streamlined and thus had much better pacing to produce a superior film overall.
Two examples that I note:
-Did the Enterprise-B really have to be so under-equipped in order for the scene to play out? They could have standard equipment and still struggle. The Nexus is a previously unknown phenomenon of immense power, after all. A boat's chain and anchor can snap in a tsunami, so why can't the Nexus, being essentially a wave in space, overpower the tractor beam and shields and torpedoes?
-The battle itself. First, get a larger ship. That may seem simple, but suddenly you don't need a thousand words to explain why the Enterprise-D has to go down in flames. Second, the solution to beat the Klingons doesn't need to be so drawn out -- Shoot First, Mock Later Worf concocting and explaining the plasma coil weakness is completely out of character for him. Force the shields down (pinpoint all-weapon spam onto a single spot? THAT's the Worf I know), beam some torpedoes into their bridge, and bam (or boom, rather) fight over. Plus, since the Enterprise has to blow up and crash anyway, the rest of the mini climax can proceed like we know it.
Compare that to First Contact, in which we have our most techno-babbly villains ever, but the dialogue was significantly streamlined and thus had much better pacing to produce a superior film overall.
MeanJoePhaser
Admiral
Woah, woah, woah...but then they wouldn't be able to reuse the same Bird of Prey destruction footage from the previous film in the series.
I like the way the Klingons react the same in both films. Well, they found a weakeness...stare in shock and wait to die.
I think Klingons are forever condemned to die that way. Klingon black box footage in the Dominion War got real boring real fast.
Good movie, nowhere near great.
I could have done without the TOS guys. TNG was a hit show that ran for seven years. I think the torch had already been passed. they needed to focus solely on TNG.
Inside the Nexus was silly and having Guinan in there was one of the worst shoehorns in movie history.
Captain Harriman was just painfully embarrassing writing. The guy is the Captain of the flagship of Star Fleet. Could he at least have a speck of dignity or competence?
McDowell was a good baddie, but the whole threat didn't seem very urgent or immediate. Some planet we never saw or heard of was going to be destroyed. A threat to something closer to home would have been better.
Don't like killing off Lursa and Betor. Lursa and Betor should live forever.
The Nexus SFX was really cool. One of the best visuals in movies.
The transfer of the ship and crew to the big screen was very impressively rendered.
Data finally getting emotions wasn't as corny as it could have been.
I could have done without the TOS guys. TNG was a hit show that ran for seven years. I think the torch had already been passed. they needed to focus solely on TNG.
Inside the Nexus was silly and having Guinan in there was one of the worst shoehorns in movie history.
Captain Harriman was just painfully embarrassing writing. The guy is the Captain of the flagship of Star Fleet. Could he at least have a speck of dignity or competence?
McDowell was a good baddie, but the whole threat didn't seem very urgent or immediate. Some planet we never saw or heard of was going to be destroyed. A threat to something closer to home would have been better.
Don't like killing off Lursa and Betor. Lursa and Betor should live forever.
The Nexus SFX was really cool. One of the best visuals in movies.
The transfer of the ship and crew to the big screen was very impressively rendered.
Data finally getting emotions wasn't as corny as it could have been.
LOL I always hate that bit because Picard casually discards some gift given to him in the series as though it means nothing.
Yeah, once in the Nexus it falls apart. For a start, as if Kirk wouldn't be on the Enterprise in his own little Nexus. Secondly, Kirk should've been the one talking Picard into leaving, thirdly where's the jeopardy if the can have another go if they fail, and fourthly forget Picard going back earlier, Kirk could've just gone back to the Enterprise-B.
Actually sorry to break to everyone, but everything since Generations has only happened in the Nexus. They never left it. Sad I know. 
Its a OK movie, although the nexux threw up more problems than it solved.
Guinen "Your in the nexus you can leave and go anywhere you like"
Picard "Right I'm off to save my family from burning to death in that fire"
Guinen " No wait you cant do th........!"
Film breaks mid reel and the universe ends in a flash.
Guinen "Your in the nexus you can leave and go anywhere you like"
Picard "Right I'm off to save my family from burning to death in that fire"
Guinen " No wait you cant do th........!"
Film breaks mid reel and the universe ends in a flash.
You CAD!!!! You have DESTROYED my Trek!!!! Damn you, Damn y'all to HELL!Actually sorry to break to everyone, but everything since Generations has only happened in the Nexus. They never left it. Sad I know.
I remember the analogy that the author of the TNG Nitpicker's Guide wrote. Paraphrased:
"Picard is pleased that his family album survived the crash, then pats Riker on the back. That's like a father giving his son the keys to the sports car, only for his son to crash it. But everything's okay because dad found his favorite cassette tape!"
MeanJoePhaser
Admiral
Some rare alien idol artifact that his old professor gave him. FORGET IT, IT'S TRASH!
"Some one once told time is a predator that stalks us all our lives...I'd like to think it's a companion that reminds us to say 'f#$% nostalgia.'"
"Speak for yourself, sir. I plan to live forever."
"Are you daft, man! How?"
"With my Q powers, of course."
"Very amusing, numba one, we know you gave those up years ago."
Riker winks at the camera
Actually, i think when he loses his brother and nephew (among everything else that happens), he realizes that such belongings really mean very little to a person. I think he realizes his priorites. The photo album is, aside from his memories, the only connection he now has to his family. The artifact really means diddly.
And regarding people not liking when Picard breaks down in tears: lose a brother and a beloved nephew. See if you don't cry. I think that scene shows us that he is a human being and not a cold and heartless prick.
Im glad that scene is in there.
The Nausicaans made him heartless, the Borg made him cold. He's still human and he still cried.
You know for some reason that always bothered me too.
On thing I was always curious about from that scene was whether Picard's flute meant just as much to him as the family album. I was glad to see it on his desk in the deleted scene in Nemesis, but I almost wish they had acknowledged its importance to him in Generations.
MeanJoePhaser
Admiral
I can believe that, but it was still a rare artifact, give it to a museum. It's not like it was a ceramic dollar store frog statue.
Yes, I want a whole epilouge of Picard taking that relic to a museum.
For that work in a film, you have to at least acknowledge that Picard has made that realisation. If we're making it up, it basically means that the writers didn't care.
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