• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

How could a Star Trek fan NOT like Insurrection?

True to the series, you say? You mean like how Picard faced a VERY similar situation in the TV show but stuck to his orders despite personally wanting to side with the population of the planet? And the fact that he does the exact opposite here without the slightest acknowledgment of the previous decision?

Ah, so he grew a pair. Can't hold that against 'im. :lol:

He only did it to impress a chick.
(Jimbo Jones voice): That is so gay!
 
This is classic Star Trek... it's like watching a really excellent two-parter and the writing and characters are true to the series. I enjoy rewatching this movie and I'm consistently surprised that some supposed "fans" are so hostile about a really good TNG movie.

Thoughts?
I like it also, though it does feel a little "slow" in between FC and NEM. As to how a Trek fan could not like it, my God man, we're talking about Trek fans.
I do reject the idea that "the villain was in the right" in this film, though this also depends on if you're referring to Admiral Doherty, or Ru'Alfo. But Doherty was wrong to try and and secure a deal with Ru'Alfo and displace the population in a backroom, shadowy way, without actual sanctioned Starfleet approval. As I recall he just had some support, and a lot of Starfleet was in the dark about the whole thing. So Picard was demanding to at least put the issue to light.
I also feel Picard was right because there was no real hurry to resolve the issue right away. It didn't make sense that we just HAD to have these people displaced (without their knowledge) by next Tuesday.
 
I remember walking out of the theatre as a 16 year old in 1998, and being kinda disappointed with Insurrection. I was expecting something a bit more epic, like First Contact. People that say Berman didn't take risks, I think that was a pretty bold move, making a follow-up to FC that was more small-scale and personal, rather than epic. On rewatching the film, it is probably the most like a TNG episode of the NG films. However, that's what it essentially is. A glorified two part episode, not a feature.
 
I'm surprised how easily the Ba'ku are given a pass for their attitudes. That's what ruined the film for me.
 
^Me too. It'd be a much better film, imo, if part of the moral conflict had involved the crew struggling with the fact that their duty is to help the Ba'ku, while also realising that they are not noble innocents, but a selfish, arrogant, privileged colony who, through pure luck, are squatting on an unparalleled medical resource and neither sharing it nor using their own protracted lifespans to do a single thing to help anyone else.

They're fighting on behalf of a people who, were the positions reversed, probably wouldn't lift a finger. Acknowledging that would make for more interesting watching, I reckon.
 
There were a few missed points.

It never actually felt like an "insurrection". The E-E goes ahead and starts blasting Starfleet outposts, working with (name alien) - THAT'S Insurrection. This felt like Star Trek: Relocation

The planet could easily have been used as a "get healthy" base. Note above.

The actual use of the magic-ring-dust-macguffin wasn't clear. Suppose it became clear that the goal was to collect and have the new ring orbit, say Earth? So that if you lived on Earth you didn't age? Bingo - a real Federation motive, and a real "we must stop this".

And finally - they never indicated where the Ba'ku were going to be moved to. If you think about it, why not relocate them to an unpopulated area of the planet they were moving the magic ring dust to? Little or no harm done.

The humor was just-not-funny, and the Data&kid scenes came off as a bit flat.

The inevitable space battle was weak and won essentially by the Enterprise farting on the bad guys. With a joy stick. Please.

Finally: you'd think at least some of the crew would jump ship to remain, and that there would be a discussion about that. Interesting twist for Crusher, the doc, to say she was staying behind to study the phenomenon. Nope, not even hinted at.

Weak. Not terrible, but weak.
 
True to the series, you say? You mean like how Picard faced a VERY similar situation in the TV show but stuck to his orders despite personally wanting to side with the population of the planet? And the fact that he does the exact opposite here without the slightest acknowledgment of the previous decision?

Gep Malakai and DevilEyes pretty much cover my other thoughts.


The key difference was the planet in question in the show was not a federation planet but the planet in insurrection was.

While it was in Federation space I don't think it was a Federation planet?
 
It's like they spent their entire budget on getting Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner to return, and only had enough money remaining to do an elongated TNG episode.
 
I think it could have been bigger and more important to the Trek universe overall. How? By replacing the Son'a and the Ba'ku with Romulans and Vulcans and turning it into a Unification story. It could have been brilliant.

That said, I really don't mind Insurrection. It's light and fun, and I can enjoy it for what it is, but I just think it could have been so much more.

I appreciated how it (and First Contact) attempted to introduce us to some new crew members. It even went so far as to bring back the security officer from FC...and then give him a name!
 
True to the series, you say? You mean like how Picard faced a VERY similar situation in the TV show but stuck to his orders despite personally wanting to side with the population of the planet? And the fact that he does the exact opposite here without the slightest acknowledgment of the previous decision?

Gep Malakai and DevilEyes pretty much cover my other thoughts.


The key difference was the planet in question in the show was not a federation planet but the planet in insurrection was.

While it was in Federation space I don't think it was a Federation planet?
Just being in Federation space means the same thing for this argument.

In the tv episode the planet was not in federation space meaning if Picard wanted to protect them it would have meant starting a full fledged war with another race to do so.

In Insurrection the planet was in Federation space which makes all the difference.
 
The key difference was the planet in question in the show was not a federation planet but the planet in insurrection was.

While it was in Federation space I don't think it was a Federation planet?
Just being in Federation space means the same thing for this argument.

In the tv episode the planet was not in federation space meaning if Picard wanted to protect them it would have meant starting a full fledged war with another race to do so.

In Insurrection the planet was in Federation space which makes all the difference.

Tha Baku were there for Hundreds of years so maybe before the Federation was formed or before it reached that far. It was also hidden so I would argue it is not a Federation planet and that the Federation has no claim to it. They were wrong to try to move them. I thought Picard and his crew were in the right.
 
That guy who does these reviews has got the most irritating voice. I can't even make it through two minutes of his crap.

Too bad, it's hysterical and absolutely 100% spot on. The voice is a put on, and I thought it added to the humor of it all. Anyway, everything I think weakens the film is pointed out by him.
 
I think that Insurrection is a decent film. Not great, but not terrible either. I watch it every now and then.
Band why didn't Starfleet just come out in the open and cut a deal with the Ba'ku and Son'a for use of half the planet as a heath spa or something, anyway? It's not like 300 people are going to be bothered by a Starfleet medical facility for treating people's ailments that could be located on another continent
It is mentioned in the movie that the normal regenerative effects of the planet are not enough to reverse the aging of the Son'a. That is why the Son'a want to collect and concentrate the material from the planet rings.
 
It's a brilliant review. Yeah, it's very much "put on" in terms of attitude, but... folks, trust me. Even if you don't like his voice (come on!) watch the reviews. You'll get a kick out of all the stuff he finds that is totally crap about it.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top