Would the TNG movies have benefited from a continuing story?

Its generally accepted that Treks II through IV are a trilogy of sorts, and although it was never planned as such this continuing story was very much to the benefit of the franchise. Although The Final Frontier had its own story, it cleary took place directly after The Voyage Home. The Motion Picture and The Undiscovered Country are perhaps not tied in as tightly, but they are still part of the journey for these characters.

One of the main problems with the TNG movies is that none of them really impact the other (with the exception of the destruction of the Enterprise). They are basically 4 different stories featuring the TNG cast. I cant help thinking they could have been better had the stories linked a little better.

Generally speaking, sequels usually follow on from the previous movies, but the TNG movies seem to follow on from the episodic nature of the TV series. It seems...I dunno, they just didnt take enough chances. I think they were also hampered by DS9 and VOY taking place in the background. The Trek Universe was continuing, and it seems there was a fear to tell stories that were outside of the chronology. The also had to shoe-horn in Worf as well.

I think it would have been much better to start Insurrection (if thats what the title would have been) right after the events of First Contact. The same goes for Nemesis. I think both of these movies would have turned out very different had this been the case.

Would this have been for the better? Would it make no difference?

Thoughts?

 

Re: Would the TNG movies have benefited from a continuing st

The relationship between Riker and Troi was ressurected in Insurrection then continued in Nemesis, this is the only storyline I can really think of that links the films though.

 

Re: Would the TNG movies have benefited from a continuing st

Having a continuing story through the series would not have automatically made the movies better by any means... but I wish they had done it anyway. Personal preference.

 

I agree. That's one thing that makes the TOS movies better than the TNG movies, that strong sense of continuity. Setting each movie a few years after the previous movie is fine, but they needed to make some effort to connect them. One thing I like about Generations is that it ties into The Undiscovered Country by setting the flashback scene a few months or a year after that movie. I liked that First Contact was a fresh break from GEN, it sort of marked a new beginning with the new ship, new uniforms, Geordi's ocular implants, Worf being on DS9, and so on. 8-10 should have been a trilogy. Have the Enterprise-E keep some Borg tech when we see it in INS and have Data keep the flesh he gained in FC. He acts emotional and has some flesh. When NEM rolls around, it could be revealed that he's had Starfleet doctors complete the process and extend skin all over his body. This would give Data a nice arc over the movies and an interesting end. He finally achieves emotion and flesh and then... dies. Tragic, eh? There's also the arc for the Ent-E keeping Borg technology and being upgrade and such. Worf should have been in civilian garb in NEM with his role more or less the same. I can't think of anything else right now, but you get my point. The stories didn't need to be connected, but there needed to be a sense of change. That's why I was thrilled when they destroyed the Ent-D and gave us the Ent-E, gave Data emotions, had Worf go to DS9, and so on. Unfortunately, they played it safe in NEM by ignoring Data's emotion chip and acting as if Worf never left.

 

TOS movies had an advantage over TNG's. DS9 and VOY were on the air so the writers kept TNG movies running in real time, so to speak. The movies' writers couldn't rightly and successfully disregard the ongoing events occurring in those shows. Virtually no time passed between the three TOS movies, which allowed the writers more flexibility and fewer constraints.

Data and Worf were two of Trek's richest characters before the movies. That legacy was, for the most part, ignored in the four pix. As much as I enjoy Worf, his character should've been left out of the last two films. I was disappointed by how they handled Data's emotion chip as well, although I have to admit, his sacrificial death in NEM was excellent. Still, it was cheapened by the survival of B4. What a mess!

 

Re: Would the TNG movies have benefited from a continuing st

I didn't mind the on/off feature in FC, but I agree that it was poorly handled in INS.

 

Re: Would the TNG movies have benefited from a continuing st

Star Trek 3 and 4 had to have continuity with 2 by neccessity i.e. 3 had to bring back Spock and 4 had to resolve the loose ends left by 3. There weren't any unresolved plot points at the end of 8 so no neccessity to make 9 a direct continuation.

 

Re: Would the TNG movies have benefited from a continuing st

What's the problem with it? In Generations, he gets the emotion chip for the first time, and has trouble adapting to it. In First Contact, he's advanced to where he can turn it off if need be, and is still adapting to the emotions. In Insurrection, he's advanced to where he can remove the emotion chip. This is the same in Nemesis. Seems like a natural enough progression to me. It's not like Data was going to become human overnight.

 

Re: Would the TNG movies have benefited from a continuing st

Yes! The TNG films series' longevity would have been aided by a continuing storyline. I think that making the followup to FC more of a sequel in spirit and tone would have helped, in addition to having plot developments/stories following on.

Perhaps the crew would return to a future that is in deep peril, or something. More action and a straightforward adventure...

 

Re: Would the TNG movies have benefited from a continuing st

I liked that Data had an on/off feature for his emotion chip. It kept showed that Data kept the emotion chip and is thus more Human than in the TV series, but it also reminds us he's still a machine in that he can turn it off when desired.

I agree that INS and NEM effectively regressed the character to how he was in the TV series. Besides, why would he take it out if it has an off switch?

 

Re: Would the TNG movies have benefited from a continuing st

How often is he gonna run into a cyborg?

 

Re: Would the TNG movies have benefited from a continuing st

^^
Which is why it seems like a perfectly acceptable progression to me, even if it means Data's journey towards humanity would take longer (excluding the end of Nemesis here, though ironically, by dying, Data may have achieved what he was trying for all those years)

 

Re: Would the TNG movies have benefited from a continuing st

Removing the emotion chip doesn't slow down Data's journey, it regresses it. Dying doesn't make Data Human, it makes Data dead.

I would have prefered Piller to accept that Data has changed and go from there instead of regressing him.

 

Re: Would the TNG movies have benefited from a continuing st

To be fair, the emotion chip was introduced at the start of Season 4, so I think the plan was that Data would eventually get an emotion chip, but not until the show was over. I'm guessing that had their not been movies, they would have had Data installing it in the final episode.

We see him want emotions for three years, then almost get the emotion chip only for Lore to snatch it away, want emotions for another three years, get the emotion chip, decide not to use it for a year for fear of becoming like Lore, and then finally, he got emotions, his quest has come to a close. Oops, nevermind, emotions are overrated. Thanks, Piller and Logan.