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Star Trek Generations
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2007) |
| Star Trek Generations | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | David Carson |
| Produced by | Rick Berman |
| Written by | Rick Berman (story) Ronald D. Moore (story and screnplay) Brannon Braga (story and screenplay) Gene Roddenberry (creator) |
| Starring | See table |
| Music by | Dennis McCarthy |
| Cinematography | John A. Alonzo |
| Editing by | Peter E. Berger |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | November 18, 1994 |
| Running time | 118 min. |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $35,000,000 (estimated) |
| Gross revenue | $118,100,000 (worldwide) |
| Preceded by | Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country |
| Followed by | Star Trek: First Contact |
| All Movie Guide profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Star Trek Generations (Paramount Pictures, 1994) is the seventh feature film based on the Star Trek science fiction television series. It is the first film in the series to star the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The film tag line was "Two Captains, One Destiny".
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Captain James T. Kirk attends the christening of the USS Enterprise-B, successor to the USS Enterprise-A, which he commanded. This unfinished and unprepared Enterprise-B is commanded by the young and inexperienced Captain John Harriman. Pressed into a rescue mission during its maiden voyage, Enterprise rescues 47 El-Aurian refugees caught in an "energy ribbon." Among those rescued is Tolian Soran and Guinan. Captain Kirk appears to be killed during the rescue mission.
Seventy-eight years later, the USS Enterprise-D, captained by Jean-Luc Picard, receives and responds to a distress call from the Amargosa solar observatory station. The crew finds that the station has been attacked, apparently by Romulans. One survivor, Tolian Soran, returns to the station ostensibly to complete an important experiment. Soran then launches a trilithium-based projectile into the heart of the Amargosa star, causing it to nova. He takes Geordi La Forge prisoner aboard the station, and escapes with him aboard a Klingon bird-of-prey belonging to the Duras sisters.
Guinan explains to Picard that Soran's goal is to return to the "Nexus", and that the energy ribbon is a gateway to this place where all of one's desires become reality. With Data's help, Picard determines that Soran's destruction of stars alters the local gravitation field, allowing him to alter the energy ribbon's course. Picard and Data discover that for Soran to enter the Nexus, he must bring the ribbon to him as he waits on the planet Veridian III. In order to bring the ribbon that close, Soran must cause the Veridian star to nova, which would destroy all the planets in the solar system, one of which is inhabited.
When the Enterprise arrives at Veridian III, they are met by the Duras sisters, who offer to trade Picard for La Forge. As Picard transports to the planet and attempts to reason with Soren, La Forge returns to his duties, unaware that Soran has implanted a transmitter in his visor. The Duras sisters use the transmitter to determine the frequency of the Enterprise's shields, configure their weapons to penetrate them, and shortly thereafter attack. Although the Klingon ship is destroyed, the Enterprise crew is forced to evacuate to the saucer section as the warp core explodes. The saucer section crash lands on Veridian III and is unsalvageable.
Picard discovers that Soran has a trilithium weapon aimed at the Veridian star set on a timer and protected by a force field. Picard is unable to stop Soran's missile in time, and before the shockwave of the nova hits the planet and destroys the Enterprise, both he and Soran are pulled into the Nexus. There Picard experiences his greatest dream: to have a family. He encounters a shadow of Guinan who reminds him to focus on his mission. Captain Picard then meets Kirk, who had been pulled into the Nexus 78 years earlier. While Kirk is initially reluctant to leave the Nexus, Picard eventually convinces him that his duty to Starfleet is a greater calling. They leave the Nexus and return soon before Soran's missile is set to launch. Together, they defeat Soran by locking the launching mechanism, causing the missile to explode on the launchpad, killing Soran. Kirk suffers a fatal injury during the battle. Picard buries Kirk, then travels to the wreckage of the Enterprise's saucer section. There, he and Riker find Picard's photo album and talk about the nature of time before beaming aboard one of the Starfleet rescue ships. Picard doubts that "...this will be the last ship to carry the name Enterprise."
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Patrick Stewart | Captain Jean-Luc Picard |
| Jonathan Frakes | Commander William T. Riker |
| Brent Spiner | Lt. Commander Data |
| Levar Burton | Lt. Commander Geordi LaForge |
| Michael Dorn | Lt. Commander Worf |
| Gates McFadden | Commander (Dr.) Beverly Crusher |
| Marina Sirtis | Commander (Counselor) Deanna Troi |
| Malcolm McDowell | Dr. Tolian Soran |
| James Doohan | Captain Montgomery Scott, retired |
| Walter Koenig | Commander Pavel Chekov, retired |
| William Shatner | Captain James T. Kirk, retired |
| Alan Ruck | Captain John Harriman |
| Whoopi Goldberg | Guinan (uncredited) |
| Jacqueline Kim | Ensign Demora Sulu |
| Patti Yasutake | Nurse Alyssa Ogawa |
| Barbara March | Lursa |
| Gwynyth Walsh | B'Etor |
| Tim Russ | USS Enterprise-B Tactical Lieutenant (human) |
| Majel Barrett | Computer voice |
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This section does not cite any references or sources. Please improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (November 2007) |
As in several earlier films, Generations contrasts a man who will stop at nothing to get what he wants (Soran) with men who are willing to put aside everything they love and cherish to save others. Kirk makes the ultimate sacrifice, as does the Enterprise-D, in one of the most spectacular special effects sequences of the film series. A related theme is the contrast between Soran and Picard in handling personal tragedy. The Enterprise-B rescues Soran as his ship was being destroyed by the Nexus, and he became obsessed with going back into the Nexus. His wife had been killed in a Borg attack some time earlier and Soran seeks the Nexus as a means to return to his relationship with her while ignoring the fact that the "reality" that the Nexus presents is illusionary.
Picard, on the other hand, learns early in the film that his brother Robert and nephew Rene were killed in a fire. He had placed all his hopes of continuing the Picard family line with them and laments to Troi that his life path will most likely not allow him to take on that task. However, when the Nexus presents him with a scenario in which he is married and has many children, he is able to overcome the temptation to stay in that "reality", realizing that it is a falsehood.
Lt. Commander Data also has to grapple with the effects of the emotion chip Dr. Soong had made for him, which he has La Forge install in his positronic net after a very embarrassing failure to understand humor. When it fuses with his positronic net, he is unequipped to handle the rush of unfamiliar emotional input, which threatens to overwhelm him. Recognizing and overcoming his own personal failings is his story arc, which also provides many of the comedic moments in Generations.
Much of Soran's motivations are meditations on time he has spent attempting to return to the Nexus. Soran's line, "They say time is the fire in which we burn...", is based on a line from a poem by Delmore Schwartz called Calmly We Walk Through This April's Day. Permission was sought to use this line in the film and Schwartz' name appears at the end of the credit. Malcolm McDowell was so taken with this line that he had it engraved on the watch he wears (as Soran) in the film.
Rick Berman was asked to develop a Star Trek: The Next Generation movie in early 1993. Two different scripts were written, one by Maurice Hurley, script editor for season 2 of TNG, and the other by Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga, who had co-written several popular episodes. The latter was chosen.[1]
Leonard Nimoy declined to appear in their film, and DeForest Kelley was unable to appear since his failing health prevented him from acquiring the necessary health insurance (a requirement for any actor). Their lines, as Spock and McCoy, were modified for James Doohan and Walter Koenig, as Scotty and Chekov. In Scotty's case, it created a continuity error as Scotty's dialogue in the TNG episode "Relics" establishes that Kirk was alive when Scotty left on a transport called the Jenolan to live out this retirement on the Norpin colony. After Scotty and the Jenolan are trapped in a "Dyson Sphere" they preserve themselves in a transporter beam to be rescued 75 years later. When one of their rescuers, Commander William Riker, mentions he is from Enterprise, Scotty exclaims "I'll bet Jim Kirk got her out of mothballs to come looking for me."
Production work on the film started immediately after Next Generation finished, with many staff members starting work on the film while still working on the television show or transferring immediately to the film production team as soon as their work on the television show finished.
During the film the newer Starfleet uniform design from Deep Space Nine is seen being worn by starship crew members for the first time, with some characters shown wearing the older Next Generation' versions of their uniforms early in the film, and later switching to the newer design. This echoes the early episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series (specifically The Corbomite Maneuver and Mudd's Women) in which characters are shown wearing an older uniform design dating back to the pilot film, Where No Man Has Gone Before.
The director, David Carson, had no feature film experience, but had directed several episodes of Star Trek, including the popular Next Generation episode "Yesterday's Enterprise" and the Deep Space Nine two-part pilot episode "Emissary."[2]
Generations grossed $75,671,125 in the U.S. and $118,100,000 worldwide against a $35,000,000 budget.[3] Although the film did relatively well internationally compared to previous "Star Trek" films, its final U.S. gross was seen by some as disappointing, considering the media blitz that accompanied the film and its impressive $23,116,394 opening weekend.
Paramount's Generations website was the first site on the Internet to officially publicize a major motion picture.[4]
Tim Russ makes a brief appearance as an unnamed human officer aboard the Enterprise-B. Soon after the film's release, Russ would assume the role of the Vulcan tactical officer Tuvok in Star Trek: Voyager. An episode of Voyager, "Flashback", established that Tuvok served aboard the USS Excelsior during the events of the previous film, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
- ^ Marc Shapiro. "Rick Berman: Executive Producer", Star Trek Generations: Official Movie Souvenir Magazine, Titan Magazines, January 1995.
- ^ Marc Shapiro. "David Carson: Director", Star Trek Generations: Official Movie Souvenir Magazine, Titan Magazines, January 1995.
- ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=startrek7.htm Boxofficemojo.com Retrieved on 05-26-07
- ^ http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/features/specials/article/7647.html Startrek.com Retrieved on 05-26-07
- Star Trek Generations at the Internet Movie Database
- Star Trek Generations at Rotten Tomatoes
- Star Trek Generations at Box Office Mojo
- Official Star Trek Generations web site
- Star Trek Generations article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki
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| Television series | The Original Series (Eps) · The Animated Series (Eps) · The Next Generation (Eps) · Deep Space Nine (Eps) · Voyager (Eps) · Enterprise (Eps) |
| TOS-era feature films | The Motion Picture · The Wrath of Khan · The Search for Spock · The Voyage Home · The Final Frontier · The Undiscovered Country |
| TNG-era feature films | Generations · First Contact · Insurrection · Nemesis |
| Upcoming films | Star Trek (2008) |
| Other | Star Trek: Phase II · Books · Comics · Games · Memory Alpha, the Star Trek Wiki |