Happy 19th Birthday, Star Trek Generations!

[cooleddie74]

22 years on December 6th! And we're also closing in on thirty years since The Search for Spock (next summer).

 

[Cyke101]

For all its flaws, the biggest problem with Generations was how emotionally "flat" the losses of Kirk and the Enterprise felt. If they could've given those two bits more emotional "oomph", I think the film would be remembered much more fondly.

Makes me sad that it was the only time we get to see a Galaxy-class starship on the big-screen.

They forgot that the Enterprise herself was a character, and to have Picard just say, "Oh well, we all know we'll get an even better ship for Christmas!" was an absolute insult. If the crew doesn't even care about their ship, why should I? Maybe that's why I never got into the Enterprise E.

Aye. Compare the death of the Enterprise-D vs. the the death of the original Big E in TSFS, and the latter was definitely more emotional. Shatner really sold the idea that Kirk's heart sank *hard*, complete with the ship falling through the sky like a shooting star from old fairy tales.

One thing about the E-D is that it had a large TV audience and she withstood everything that the universe threw at her for 7 years. To get punked out like that with little emotional impact is an understatement.

I do think the ship was "disrespected" to a degree, by one really stupid factor: the Bird of Prey. Shields or no shields, having the E-D get taken down by that dinky little thing was just weird.

Not just a dinky ship, but visually speaking, it was virtually the same ship that had been featured in the previous 4 movies, too. At first glance, it's a ship that older, obsolete Enterprises defeated in the past. Secondly, by repeating the same design 4 times in a row (esp. when facing literally the future of Star Trek), the audience's sense of threat disappears and we're forced to wonder, "Who cares?"

Had the ship been a Vorcha class, at least that would simultaneously be a money-saver while still presenting something relatively new, at least on the big screen. I half-expected a BoP to somehow pop up during First Contact!

 

[Peach Wookiee]

True dat.

I'm pretty sure I saw that Bird-of-Prey explode at the end of a 1993 laxative commercial.

Guess they got comfortable cramp-free relief.

 

[cooleddie74]

No comment.

 

[Shat Happens]

Makes me sad that it was the only time we get to see a Galaxy-class starship on the big-screen.

I don't agree with the many people who think likewise, because The E-D though much loved is still a design-for-tv.

For the same reason they made the Refit (also known as E-A, Enterprise class, etc) and it looks so damn good.

IMHO , YMMV, of course

 

[Lance]

The Enterprise-D had character. I always found the Enterprise-E comparitively sterile and lifeless in comparison. Both internally and externally, I never had the connection with that ship that I had with 1701-D. It felt like a weak replacement-for-the-sake-of-replacement, IMO.

When I see 1701-D go down in GENS, I feel sad. When Picard threatens to blow up 1701-E in First Contact however, I'm just like "Meh, who cares?" We've only 'known' this new ship five minutes, and (as Gene Roddenberry rightly said) the Enterprise is a character as much as any of the actors. I don't have any emotional investment in 1701-E.

 

[cooleddie74]

I liked the Enterprise-E, but she wasn't anywhere near as interesting, warm or inviting a vessel as her immediate predecessor. When the 1701-D was destroyed you felt a pang of loss for a noble and beloved starship that you followed for 178 television episodes and one big-budget feature film not to mention a cameo in the premiere of DS9. The 1701-E was a sleek, powerful vessel but you just didn't feel much of an attachment to her and she existed solely because the previous Enterprise had been destroyed. The Enterprise-D was a steak dinner. The Enterprise-E was reheated meatloaf. Edible and tasty, but not a steak dinner.

 

[F. King Daniel]

The Enterprise-D exploding was a big deal to me... in "Time Squared". By the time GENS came along, it felt like it had blown up at least once a season (three times in the finale!) and I was totally numb to it.

As for the old Bird of Prey destroying the Enterprise, I kinda see that as more of that Kirk-and-Spock-death-in-the-warp-core destiny stuff. The sequence is strangely similar to the Enterprise's destruction in "Yesterday's Enterprise" - same ship (plus two friends) causes the same damage (coolant leak leading to warp core meltdown) with the same result in two timelines, about 4 years apart. *twilight zone music*

 

[Khan 2.0]

^
both directed by the same guy *continue TZ music*

 

[cooleddie74]

Conspiracy!!1!

 

[Lance]

As for the old Bird of Prey destroying the Enterprise, I kinda see that as more of that Kirk-and-Spock-death-in-the-warp-core destiny stuff. The sequence is strangely similar to the Enterprise's destruction in "Yesterday's Enterprise" - same ship (plus two friends) causes the same damage (coolant leak leading to warp core meltdown) with the same result in two timelines, about 4 years apart. *twilight zone music*

I have to admit, this is something that occured to me back in the day. Always wondered if Carson was sort of deliberately hinting that this was, in fact, the main universe effectively playing out the very same events that had chronologically happened four years 'earlier' in the Alternative one? Maybe the 'D' was always fated to go down this way?

At the very least I suspect that it was a deliberate continuity nod.

 

[JarodRussell]

Oh God that fate and destiny bullshit again.

 

[Lance]

^ You were fated and pre-destined to say that.

 

[Dukhat]

People always rag on the stock footage of the BoP exploding, but let's be honest, it's hardly the only piece of stock used in GENS, is it? But nobody ever moans about the stock shots of the Enterprise at warp being cribbed straight from the TV series...

There's a world of difference between a shot of the Enterprise simply moving for a few seconds, and a shot of the climactic battle scene where the enemy ship is destroyed.

Call me anal all you want, but I absolutely hated that scene. And everyone in the theater fucking knew it was the scene from the previous movie, so it's not like they pulled the wool over everyone's eyes.

 

[Khan 2.0]

this has obviosly been stated many times but Yesterdays Enterprise is the Generations movie that shouldve been done - allowing for both crews and ships to be on screen - the Ent A coming through the rift into the 24th Century on its way back to space dock after the events of Trek VI - and finding the Federation at war with the very race they had just established peace with in the previous film - therefore both crews have to work together to restore the timeline

they could have read the script for Yesterdays Ent in 89/90 and though ‘whoa this would make a great cross over film when we get around to doing it with the original cast - we better keep it on hold for that.’ (although YE was instrumental in TNG being the major success that it became in the 3rd season and a TNG movie wasn’t even on the radar then)

Alternatively they could have just done what TMP did and used elements of the episode for the film - not doing it verbatim but similar (e.g. TMP - with Doomsday Machine/The Changeling/Immunity Syndrome...TVH - Tomorrow is Yesterday/Assignment Earth/City on the Edge ...TFF - The Way to Eden/Who Mourns Adonis & how ST09 sort of took its cue from YE). Maybe they could’ve had the Ent D come back to Kirks time (post VI) - e.g. in trying to save earth from a borg attack the Ent D gets blown back to the 23rd century - 'Tomorrows' Enterprise?’


they could have released it in 94 or maybe 1996 - thus allowing abit of time in order to come up with a decent script, build some anticipation for TNG on the big screen and also have given the TNG actors and writers etc a bit of a rest after 7 years to recharge ..not thrown them into doing the movie immediately after the last ep. Plus 96 was Treks 30th anniversary - the perfect time for a crossover film. Also they could have got Meyer or Nimoy to direct the film (both had directed time travel movies) - apparently Nimoy was offered directing and appearing in the existing Generations but turned it down due to the script and lack of time.

It could have been an epic 2 hour crossover movie like Avengers (and like Avengers there would’ve been build up to it with all the cameos/guest appearances in TNG/Trek VI) - a real event - Star Trek VII/TNG The Motion Picture

 

[Andymator]

Oh man, it definitely was a great time from 1994 to 1996... I loved it so much as a kid, what a ride! I'm trying to recreate specifically that atmosphere with my fan film project, as if it had been a lost chapter of Trek from the mid 90s.

 

[tomalak301]

I like First Contact, but Generations was the only TNG movie that felt like the TV show and for that, I really enjoy revisiting Generations. I still say if the deaths of Kirk and the Enterprise were handled better, the movie would have been a lot better received than it currently is, despite it's flaws.

Agreed about 1994 being a great time to be a fan. I was only 10 years old and you had TNG, DS9, Voyager coming, a new movie. From my perspective, it was the best year to be a Star Trek fan and no year has topped it sense.

 

[Push The Button]

Weird, Generations is on SyFy this very minute. Today was Trek Movie Day on SyFy apparently, I ODed on Search for Spock, The Voyage Home, Undiscovered Country and First Contact, and now Generations.

Yes, the Enterprise-D went before her time, and was my second favorite Enterprise, after the original pre-refit 1701.

 

[Pondwater]

^ Watching the same thing. Except that I tuned into MeTv to watch TOS.

 

[los2188]

Although I liked Generations more than most, the one biggest problem with the movie is the Nexus. It leaves way too many simple and clear "buts and whys" to the entire plot from beginning to end.