Happy 19th Birthday, Star Trek Generations!

[cooleddie74]

It was nineteen years ago today on November 18, 1994 that the seventh film in the franchise and the first one featuring the Next Gen cast and characters hit American theaters amidst a lot of fanfare and hoopla surrounding the passing of the torch from the TOS cast to the newer characters as well as the not-so-secret death of the one and only Captain James T. Kirk.

I saw it four times in the theaters before buying it on VHS and later on disc, and I've seen it more times than I can remember on different cable TV channels in the years since it first premiered. It was a milestone in my love for Trek and ushered in another decade-plus of nonstop Trek episodes and films that didn't end until the cancellation and finale of Enterprise. Two more series came and went following Generations and DS9 aired five of its seven seasons before going off the air. We've had five more theatrical films since this one.

1994 was a wondrous time to be a Star Trek geek and fanatic. Whatever legimitate nitpicks one can make about Generations (and it was far from perfect in so many ways) it was a turning point in the franchise and provided me and no doubt many others with a lot of great and fun memories and of the way Star Trek was at the apex of its popularity and cultural impact in the nineties. Happy Birthday and Anniversary, you loopy little film. You didn't make much sense at times but you were an event, and you were and are still enjoyed.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JV8ushOaJi8[/yt]

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooIUtXEuTYQ[/yt]

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrJiU9BOEBI[/yt]

 

[LOKAI of CHERON]

Yes, I still really enjoy the movie - despite some of the obvious flaws. Particularly noteworthy are Dennis McCarthy's woefully underrated score and some top rate cinematography/lighting - the E-D bridge never looked so good.

 

[BillJ]

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.

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

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

True, especially in light of the fact that the Enterprise D's height-to-width ratio would really have lent itself very nicely to the big screen.

 

[R. Star]

Yeah the soundtrack to this movie was great. The plot left a lot to be desired of course, but I'm still fond of this movie for reasons I really can't qualify. Maybe it does boil down to just seeing the E-D on the big screen.

 

[Use of Time]

Great soundtrack, visually stunning scenes of the Ent-D (especially with the sun shining in Picard's ready room and ten forward) and the crew looked great in their updated uniforms. This movie will always get a pass from me because I was a rabid Star Trek fan at the time and I hadn't looked forward to a theatrical release that much in my entire life. I'm fully aware of the complaints about this film but I still love this movie.

 

[LOKAI of CHERON]

Yeah the soundtrack to this movie was great. The plot left a lot to be desired of course, but I'm still fond of this movie for reasons I really can't qualify. Maybe it does boil down to just seeing the E-D on the big screen.

I always say if a movie, song, entertainment property etc feels good to you, then it is good, nothing more need be said. Always go with your personal vibe.

You may have guessed I am extremely keen on TOS episode "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" - my screen name/avatar may be a clue! Most fans don't remember it particularly fondly, yet, I adore it.

 

[Hober Mallow]

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.

 

[Use of Time]

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.

Well it's possible that he might have been somewhat emotionally drained after the incredible sequence of events he just had to endure...you know, going through the Nexus and burying James T. Kirk after recruiting him to help you. I mean at that point Picard is probably just saying, "what a fucking day."

 

[Trek Survivor]

1994 was a wondrous time to be a Star Trek geek and fanatic. Whatever legimitate nitpicks one can make about Generations (and it was far from perfect in so many ways) it was a turning point in the franchise and provided me and no doubt many others with a lot of great and fun memories and of the way Star Trek was at the apex of its popularity and cultural impact in the nineties.

I liked your whole post, and agree. This was a wonderful time to be a Trek fan; 1994-1996 was probably the high point of my love for Trek. It was at its most mainstream (certainly here in the UK) and there was just a wave of optimism about how great Trek was, and what lay ahead in its future.

Generations premiered in the UK in Feb 1995. The build-up was huge, with lots of promotional tie-ins (e.g. with Weetabix), souvenir mags etc.

Particularly noteworthy are Dennis McCarthy's woefully underrated score and some top rate cinematography/lighting - the E-D bridge never looked so good.

QFT. The score is great.

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.

Definitely agree on the loss of the Enterprise. When compared to "The Search for Spock", something seems very 'off' about how casually it's trashed and the crew are almost indifferent.

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.

True, but I guess what they were trying to underscore was Picard has recognised that how one lives their life, the time spent with loved ones and treasured memories etc are more important than a physical item. To quote Data from "Ensigns of Command":

"It is a thing. And things can be replaced. Lives cannot."

Having said that, I do wish more had been made of the Enterprise's passing - actually, I wish it hadn't "passed" at all. They could've had it badly damaged and spruce it up for the next film with a good old refit (that would've given them the opportunity to ditch the families and children onboard, which they presumably didn't want to show when the Borg came a-calling in ST:FC).

Anyway, Happy Birthday "Generations". Not perfect, but a wonderful representation of a great time in my life.

 

[JarodRussell]

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.

An INSULT?! Oh come on.

 

[Peach Wookiee]

I see where that's coming from. Sure it might be "just a ship," but it is the Enterprise.

 

[cooleddie74]

1994-1996 was amazing for Trek fans.

Look at a brief rundown of the major events:

------------------------------------------------------------------------

March 1994 - Classic TOS Klingons Kor, Kang and Koloth appear on DS9 in the episode "Blood Oath," this time with more elaborate makeup, head ridges and costumes

May 1994 - The TNG series finale

September 1994 - DS9 Season 3 premieres with the Dominion storyline rapidly advancing and the Defiant making her debut

November 1994 - Star Trek Generations

January 1995 - Voyager premieres on the brand-new UPN network

February 1996 - Q makes his first (and easily best) guest appearance on Voyager.

November 1996 - The 30th anniversary of Trek's premiere on television accompanied by "Trials and Tribbleations (DS9)" and "Flashback (VOY)." Star Trek: First Contact hits theaters to rave reviews.

 

[ALF]

^^ Agreed. The mid-90s ride to First Contact from Generations was a blast. I was in grade 10 and geeked out to the max! My buddies and I - we did a little road trip to go see Generations and we were pretty thrilled about it.

 

[cooleddie74]

To be frank the entire 1994-2005 period was one long, protracted thrill ride that took us from Season 2 of DS9 and the final year of Next Gen straight through to the early cancellation of Enterprise eleven years later. During that relatively brief time four different Trek series were on the air and hundreds of television episodes and four theatrical movies were filmed and released in fairly quick succession.

That decade could legitimately be called the Golden Age of Star Trek if just for the sheer amount of product and the number of shows and films being produced, but also because Trek's global cultural impact was probably at its greatest height during the nineties.

 

[dub]

And don't forget, we had Star Trek: The Experience during that time, too! I was in geek heaven when I went there...I think it was late 1990s or early 2000's. I was so sad when I went there a few months ago and took the monorail to the Hilton (now LVH), and saw a sad and ignored Star Trek emblem from that period on the outside wall as the tram came to a stop. I walked in, and there were empty and dark rooms where the Experience used to be. Nothing was replaced, just empty. It made me sad. In the distance, the sound of slot machines. I played a few hands of Pai Gow poker, took a loss, then left the same way I came pondering on all that had been lost. At least I have a bottle of Romulan Ale left to remember my first trip!

 

[JarodRussell]

I also had the feeling that the release of First Contact was the climax of Star Trek. And First Contact celebrated that with fun, combining references to the most popular/memorable items of the TV shows, getting back to the central element of the Trek/Federation mythology, and had an entirely different, fresh style. And I remember articles about it praising the hell out of it, calling the space battle the best one on the big screen since Return of the Jedi. It did what Abrams & Co always talked about with ease. First Contact is the film I watch with people to introduce them to Trek.


Someone needs to go back in time and seed the idea of an Avengers style movie series. A TNG film, a DS9 film, a VOY film, and then a film that combines all of that in an epic story.

 

[Khan 2.0]

i realised just how big Trek had become when i went into my local newsagent and saw some Star Trek First Contact chocolate bars

 

[cooleddie74]

I actually had Kirk's death (and not just one death, but two!) spoiled for me when I was in line at a grocery store early in the fall of 1994, many weeks before the film premiered. A major national tabloid had published spoilers about the movie and plastered pictures of Kirk and other characters across their cover for that week's issue.

I had heard rumors about this being Shatner's last adventure as Kirk and the possibility that he'd die in the new film and I knew that tabloids can get details wrong and deliberately exaggerate others, so while I wasn't sure if Kirk indeed died in Generations but I was at peace with his demise if it would indeed turn out to be true. It was just a matter of time before we saw Shatner's last portrayal of Kirk (the character's death or otherwise) and the passing of the torch to the 24th century crews.

 

[BillJ]

I had heard rumors about this being Shatner's last adventure as Kirk and the possibility that he'd die in the new film and I knew that tabloids can get details wrong and deliberately exaggerate others, so while I wasn't sure if Kirk indeed died in Generations but I was at peace with his demise if it would indeed turn out to be true. It was just a matter of time before we saw Shatner's last portrayal of Kirk (the character's death or otherwise) and the passing of the torch to the 24th century crews.

I was fine with the idea of passing the torch, but very unhappy with the execution.