Missed opportunities in Generations (but not in the way you might think).

[The Rock]

I'm not referring to the quality of the movie itself. That's not the subject of this thread. What I'm talking about are things about the Enterprise D that we never got to see during the show but could've been seen in Generations but for some reason we didn't.

I wish we could've seen the inside of the main shuttlebay (the one on the saucer section), up close and personal (not from the outside like in the episode "Cause and Effect"). I also wish we could've seen Cetacean Ops......or at least Enterprise D crew members who were not humanoid! And I'm sad the TNG theme was never in the movie in at all (IIRC) but at least they made up for that in First Contact. Oh well, seeing the new Stellar Cartography was cool at least.

I wonder, did the writers/producers ever have any plans to show these things in Generations but couldn't because of budget constraints?

 

[fireproof78]

Probably not. The focus was the meeting of Generations and their financial priorities seem odd, to put it nicely.

 

[Dukhat]

As far as the Enterprise-D was concerned, the only real thing they wanted to show was its destruction, followed by the saucer crashing on the surface of a planet. B&B stated that that was something they always wanted to do in the show but didn’t have the budget to do it realistically until Generations.

 

[The Rock]

Probably not. The focus was the meeting of Generations and their financial priorities seem odd, to put it nicely.

As far as the Enterprise-D was concerned, the only real thing they wanted to show was its destruction, followed by the saucer crashing on the surface of a planet. B&B stated that that was something they always wanted to do in the show but didn’t have the budget to do it realistically until Generations.

I honestly wish they hadn't destroyed the Enterprise-D in Generations. To me, the Enterprise-D looked absolutely beautiful on the big screen, both inside and out (especially with the renovated bridge). I wouldn't have minded if she had been in FC, INS, and Nemesis. In fact, I think it would've been more fitting had she been destroyed in the battle against Shinzon. Of course, I think by the beginning of FC (since Starfleet was going more militaristic by that time), Starfleet would've demanded that families no longer be stationed on the Enterprise-D anymore. Also, I bet the interiors of the ship would've been repainted to a grayscale color scheme to match with the new FC uniforms along with new quantum torpedo launchers as well as bio-neural circuitry.

 

[fireproof78]

I honestly wish they hadn't destroyed the Enterprise-D in Generations. To me, the Enterprise-D looked absolutely beautiful on the big screen, both inside and out (especially with the renovated bridge). I wouldn't have minded if she had been in FC, INS, and Nemesis. In fact, I think it would've been more fitting had she been destroyed in the battle against Shinzon. Of course, I think by the beginning of FC (since Starfleet was going more militaristic by that time), Starfleet would've demanded that families no longer be stationed on the Enterprise-D anymore.

Honestly, I would have demanded there be no families on board, aside from maybe Insurrection. The rest of those plots are just gross incompetency to put families in to immediate battle with the Borg.

 

[Dukhat]

I honestly wish they hadn't destroyed the Enterprise-D in Generations. To me, the Enterprise-D looked absolutely beautiful on the big screen, both inside and out (especially with the renovated bridge). I wouldn't have minded if she had been in FC, INS, and Nemesis. In fact, I think it would've been more fitting had she been destroyed in the battle against Shinzon. Of course, I think by the beginning of FC (since Starfleet was going more militaristic by that time), Starfleet would've demanded that families no longer be stationed on the Enterprise-D anymore. Also, I bet the interiors of the ship would've been repainted to a grayscale color scheme to match with the new FC uniforms along with new quantum torpedo launchers as well as bio-neural circuitry.

TPTB wanted the Enterprise-D destroyed because they’d had seven years of it on screen and simply wanted a new ship. There were some comments that the D wouldn’t look good on the big screen, but that was absolutely false.

 

[Markonian]

The tweaked interior of the Enterprise-D in Generations looks great. I wish it would be available as Starship Interior on STO. It captures the iconic look of the 1980s/2360s Enterprise but gives a modern makeover.

 

[fireproof78]

Generations almost made the D tolerable.

 

[drt]

The tweaked interior of the Enterprise-D in Generations looks great. I wish it would be available as Starship Interior on STO. It captures the iconic look of the 1980s/2360s Enterprise but gives a modern makeover.

I attribute a big part of that to the moody lighting, which I wouldn’t be surprised they needed to use because most of the sets probably looked pretty rough for the big screen otherwise after seven years of television production.

 

[Markonian]

I attribute a big part of that to the moody lighting, which I wouldn’t be surprised they needed to use because most of the sets probably looked pretty rough for the big screen otherwise after seven years of television production.

That, and the bridge had additional stations and levels.

 

[saladdays]

TPTB wanted the Enterprise-D destroyed because they’d had seven years of it on screen and simply wanted a new ship. There were some comments that the D wouldn’t look good on the big screen, but that was absolutely false.

I think the E-D looked pretty good with the tweaks they made, but I also don't fault them for wanting to have sets that were made specifically for film instead of TV.

I also don't mind the destruction of the E-D in and of itself, but don't like how the plot allowed it to happen.

 

[StalwartUK]

They also wanted to (re)use the sets for Voyager. Of course in turn some of the Voyager sets made their way into First Contact and Insurrection such as the Sickbay and Engineering (as the library in the latter).

 

[DataMat]

I honestly wish they hadn't destroyed the Enterprise-D in Generations. To me, the Enterprise-D looked absolutely beautiful on the big screen, both inside and out (especially with the renovated bridge). I wouldn't have minded if she had been in FC, INS, and Nemesis. In fact, I think it would've been more fitting had she been destroyed in the battle against Shinzon. Of course, I think by the beginning of FC (since Starfleet was going more militaristic by that time), Starfleet would've demanded that families no longer be stationed on the Enterprise-D anymore. Also, I bet the interiors of the ship would've been repainted to a grayscale color scheme to match with the new FC uniforms along with new quantum torpedo launchers as well as bio-neural circuitry.

D was great in Generations but in all honestly the E was just way cooler and more suitable for big movies. People complain about TNG not shaking away the TV VIBE but at same time seem to want to retain things like the TV ship.
The E was fantastic. IMO the best movie enterprise we have seen up to now. Its not ridiculously bright and busy like the JJ Enterprises and its suitably more believable and exciting compared with the earlier movie Enterprise sets and designs.

 

[DataMat]

Honestly, I would have demanded there be no families on board, aside from maybe Insurrection. The rest of those plots are just gross incompetency to put families in to immediate battle with the Borg.

Is it not possible that Picard and crew are now not reassigned to more security based operations anyway during the movie era post Generations? They already tend to be based closer to Earth anyway compared with the TV show.
FC they are essentially within the area near to the BORG incursion even when diverted to the Neutral Zone.
INS they are hosting diplomatic first contact negotiations/reception. Very important federation business.
Nemesis send to Romulus to do negotiations with a Remun who has a history of very violent activities and otherwise is little known.
Picard and crew basically seem to be peacemakers/negotiators rather than explorers like in the TV show.

 

[fireproof78]

Is it not possible that Picard and crew are now not reassigned to more security based operations anyway during the movie era post Generations? They already tend to be based closer to Earth anyway compared with the TV show.
FC they are essentially within the area near to the BORG incursion even when diverted to the Neutral Zone.
INS they are hosting diplomatic first contact negotiations/reception. Very important federation business.
Nemesis send to Romulus to do negotiations with a Remun who has a history of very violent activities and otherwise is little known.
Picard and crew basically seem to be peacemakers/negotiators rather than explorers like in the TV show.

My larger point is that the ship is almost always one warp jump away from becoming a forward action area, which isn't appropriate for families.

 

[Eddie Roth]

D was great in Generations but in all honestly the E was just way cooler and more suitable for big movies. People complain about TNG not shaking away the TV VIBE but at same time seem to want to retain things like the TV ship.
The E was fantastic. IMO the best movie enterprise we have seen up to now. Its not ridiculously bright and busy like the JJ Enterprises and its suitably more believable and exciting compared with the earlier movie Enterprise sets and designs.

I politely disagree. The E-E always seemed overdesigned to me, and in a sense it was, if you read John Eaves' thoughts on how ihe went about it. There's not a strong enough visual link/lineage between it and the D as there was between the original Enterprise and its TMP refit.

As for the interior, I felt it did FC a disservice as a narrative because the whole Borg assimiliation angle had less impact on a ship we hadn't seen before - and which was rather monochrome, gray-ish-looking to begin with.

 

[Jeyl]

I'll always find it ironic that they wanted to destroy the E-D in Generations because they didn't think it'd work as a movie ship even though it does. When you use nothing but the 6-foot model in a widescreen ratio, bam. All of a sudden the E-D looks way better than it ever did in the show.

 

[arch101]

The D never looked better than the cgi jump to warp to Veridian III.

 

[The Rock]

I'll always find it ironic that they wanted to destroy the E-D in Generations because they didn't think it'd work as a movie ship even though it does. When you use nothing but the 6-foot model in a widescreen ratio, bam. All of a sudden the E-D looks way better than it ever did in the show.

The D never looked better than the cgi jump to warp to Veridian III.

The Enterprise-D looked absolutely gorgeous on the big screen. We finally got to see her in all her majesty.

 

[C.E. Evans]

I'd like to think that (in-universe) the upgrades to the Enterprise-D's interiors were because after seven years of staying relatively close to home, the ship had completed the first phase of her operational life and was finally gearing up for a long-term deep-space exploration mission.

Then came Veridian III...oh well.