If you could re-write Kirk's part in Generations...

[Cadet49]

If you could go back in time and edit Generations, what would you change?

Me ... I would:

1) Make the ship Kirk was boarding at the beginning of the movie the Enterprise-A, refitted and under a new captain and crew, for more emotional impact (this was actually the ship he had commanded, not a namesake). Kirk would board it alone, not accompanied by his former crew (to create the emotional sense that this is no longer his command and he was feeling out of place, and wanted to make a difference again.)
2) Harriman would be an experienced captain, not a novice one, but he and Kirk would differ in their opinions as to how best save the refugee vessels. Eventually, the captain would go with Kirk's idea. The Enterprise-A would manage to fling the refugee ships to safety, but would become trapped in the energy way itself. Kirk would take the helm and hold it in place long enough for the crew to abandon ship, but both the Enterprise-A and Kirk (with some of the remaining bridge officers) would be pulled into the Nexus...
3) Picard would find the derelict Enterprise-A, in a state of disrepair, now a derelict for almost a century after having disappeared, the crew gone. Kirk would actually leave the Nexus at some point and come aboard the Enterprise-D, so we could see him interact with the TNG crew.
4) Kirk would sacrifice himself heroically in space in the climax, finding a way to get aboard the Enterprise-A and pilot it towards the Nexus to change its course before it could destroy an inhabited planet or the Enterprise-D. Just before he drew the Nexus towards him to dissipate it he would say on the viewscreen to the Enterprise-D crew, "Well, my friends ... (smirking confidently, yet sadly) to boldly go where I've never gone before...", then his ship would be destroyed saving them all... Kirk dying on the bridge of his Enterprise ...

Might be a bit fanboyish of a storyline, with a few eye roll moment, but that's how I would have done it. how about you?

 

[balls]

I always felt that the Next Gen writers did a great job of writing Kirk (aside from how they killed him). I think they wrote his character closer to what Kirk had been as opposed to how they wrote TNG characters, which, in my opinion they really screwed up.

 

[Kirk1980]

No disagreement here either with Chewie or Balls.

Ew, chewie balls.

 

[Mr Silver]

If you could go back in time and edit Generations, what would you change?

Me ... I would:

1) Make the ship Kirk was boarding at the beginning of the movie the Enterprise-A, refitted and under a new captain and crew, for more emotional impact (this was actually the ship he had commanded, not a namesake). Kirk would board it alone, not accompanied by his former crew (to create the emotional sense that this is no longer his command and he was feeling out of place, and wanted to make a difference again.)
2) Harriman would be an experienced captain, not a novice one, but he and Kirk would differ in their opinions as to how best save the refugee vessels. Eventually, the captain would go with Kirk's idea. The Enterprise-A would manage to fling the refugee ships to safety, but would become trapped in the energy way itself. Kirk would take the helm and hold it in place long enough for the crew to abandon ship, but both the Enterprise-A and Kirk (with some of the remaining bridge officers) would be pulled into the Nexus...
3) Picard would find the derelict Enterprise-A, in a state of disrepair, now a derelict for almost a century after having disappeared, the crew gone. Kirk would actually leave the Nexus at some point and come aboard the Enterprise-D, so we could see him interact with the TNG crew.
4) Kirk would sacrifice himself heroically in space in the climax, finding a way to get aboard the Enterprise-A and pilot it towards the Nexus to change its course before it could destroy an inhabited planet or the Enterprise-D. Just before he drew the Nexus towards him to dissipate it he would say on the viewscreen to the Enterprise-D crew, "Well, my friends ... (smirking confidently, yet sadly) to boldly go where I've never gone before...", then his ship would be destroyed saving them all... Kirk dying on the bridge of his Enterprise ...

Might be a bit fanboyish of a storyline, with a few eye roll moment, but that's how I would have done it. how about you?

I think these are some excellent ideas, however I think GEN would overall be a better film if Kirk wasn't in it, it would still work

 

[T'Girl]

Idea 1, yes definitely lose Scotty and Chekov, and while we're at it the Federation press corp. Do more to show the separation in ages between Kirk and absolutely everyone else. Give Kirk gray and silver hair. Go head and show him partially balding.

Idea 2, Between Kirk and Harriman should be a battle of equals, there's only time for one of their ideas and they're basically arguing as the time runs out.

 

[Ronald Held]

Replace Scotty and Chekov by Spock and McCoy, who should have been there.
Maybe, find a way to get Kirk into the Nexus instead of dying on veridian 3.

 

[Chrisisall]

I think GEN would overall be a better film if Kirk wasn't in it, it would still work

I agree on a cosmic scale.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I'd have placed him in the 1930s with Edith Keeler, during his time in the Nexus.

Yeah, I know that cheapens "City" a bit, but it would have helped "Generations" a lot.

 

[Chrisisall]

I'd have placed him in the 1930s with Edith Keeler, during his time in the Nexus.

Yeah, I know that cheapens "City" a bit, but it would have helped "Generations" a lot.

You are correct, Dennis.

 

[Red Ranger]

Had him steal the Bird of Prey and ram it right down Soran's throat.

 

[grabthars hammer]

Have him do a big huge explosive suicide run in a ship like the others have mentioned with him getting blown back into the Nexus after saving the day; we could then see him riding off into the sunset.

I would also spend a few minutes on the planet being saved, to give the audience a concrete idea of whose lives are in the balance, rather than just throw out a cold number as they did.

 

[Ralphis]

Replace Scotty and Chekov by Spock and McCoy, who should have been there.
Maybe, find a way to get Kirk into the Nexus instead of dying on veridian 3.

Nimoy was actually offered to come on a play Spock but he turned it down. And I believe Kelley wasn't in the movie because of his health or some reason related to this health.

 

[Ralphis]

Personally, I wish "All Good Things..." was Star Trek VII and not Generations, but I realize the studio wanted a movie that would pass down the torch.

 

[Chicagoan]

Not Kirk-related, but I would have the E-D up against Romulans in a warbird, rather than using them as a MacGuffin. If Moore and Braga were intent on killing the ship, it should have gone down in a battle with something its own size or bigger.

^“All Good Things” was an excellent way to end the series—honestly I’d have preferred it to be the end of TNG altogether, even if it meant losing out on First Contact.

Maybe some sort of two-way nexus, so you could have 23rd and 24th century plots running simultaneously, which could give McCoy and Spock meatier parts (as opposed to the cameos they refused)—maybe having Data and Spock reacting to each others’ actions in the different centuries without realizing it? Maybe that’s a bit too much like the different Enterprises in AGT.

Although I’m drawn to the idea of having Kirk go off into eternity into the nexus, I think there’s something to be said for killing him off. IIRC, Moore said something to the effect that Kirk was created as humanity’s representative in space, and there’s nothing more human than dying.

 

[A beaker full of death]

Kirk would sacrifice himself heroically in space in the climax, finding a way to get aboard the Enterprise-A and pilot it towards the Nexus to change its course before it could destroy an inhabited planet or the Enterprise-D.

Too Doomsday Machine.

 

[thew40]

I would have given him more time with Picard. The five minutes they had were the best part of that movie and I was more disappointed by how short it was than Kirk's actual death. I also would have had just more meat to the plot. With the exception of a few choice scenes, it just didn't have the dramatic weight I wanted it to.

I woud have also found a way to bring Ambassador Spock into the story. In addition to Kirk and Picard having some great character moments together -- how neat would it have been to have Spock advising Data on controlling his new emotions?

A story that would have linked both TOS and TNG would have been better than simply cameos of Scotty and Chekov and ten minutes of Kirk.

 

[Rett Mikhal]

I was much more upset about the writing of the Enterprise D. They didn't ever modulate shields, and barely fired back. It was just a B'rel class bird of prey! It's a half step above a shuttle craft. They just wanted to get rid of Kirk so people stopped asking for Kirk, and to get rid of the Enterprise D because it wasn't "Big Screen" filming friendly. That said, I thought Kirk and Picard should have talked more. I mean Picard just lost his family, and Kirk had lost a son and just realized everyone he knew (except Spock) was dead. The only good line they get is when Kirk tells him never to give up the Enterprise, but that's because Kirk was actually well developed in the movies, whereas Picard was dumbed down for audiences.

 

[Ronald Held]

could it be that Shatner fought harder for his dialogue lines versus Stewart?

 

[Kirk1980]

Nah, Ronald...

I think Shatner just had a better idea of what made Kirk...Kirk.

Whereas Stewart seemed to think the TV forum was limiting Picard's potential as an action movie hero.

 

[Admiral_Young]

The idea in the first post is interesting. I thought the way Kirk was written was fine and I agree that he should have had more screen time with Jean-Luc. I also would have changed Kirk's nexus experience so he could have been with Edith Keeler (I think as suggested in an above post) and Picard would have understood why he didn't want to leave it (since everyone would have known about the Guardian mission).

I would have liked Spock and Bones (I do indeed think DeForest's health was in decline) on the bridge of the Enterprise-B perhaps with Checkov in command of the ship instead of Harriman. They were in the original script, they're lines are given to other crew members along with Scotty and Checkov (especially the nurse joke).