Star Trek Generations (1994)

With the help of long presumed dead Captain Kirk, Captain Picard must stop a renegade scientist willing to murder on a planetary scale in order to enter a space matrix.

Director:

David Carson

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (television series Star Trek), Rick Berman (story)

Stars:

Patrick Stewart, William Shatner, Malcolm McDowell

2 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Patrick Stewart	...	Picard
Jonathan Frakes	...	Riker
Brent Spiner	...	Data
LeVar Burton	...	Geordi
Michael Dorn	...	Worf
Gates McFadden	...	Beverly
Marina Sirtis	...	Troi
Malcolm McDowell	...	Soran
James Doohan	...	Scotty
Walter Koenig	...	Chekov
William Shatner	...	Kirk
Alan Ruck	...	Capt. Harriman
Jacqueline Kim	...	Demora
Jenette Goldstein	...	Science Officer
Thomas Kopache	...	Com Officer

Storyline

In the late twenty-third century, the gala maiden voyage of the newly-christened U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-B boasts such luminaries as Pavel Chekov, Montgomery Scott, and the legendary Captain James T. Kirk as guests. But her maiden voyage turns into a disaster as the unprepared starship is forced to rescue two transport ships from a mysterious energy ribbon. The Enterprise manages to save a handful of the ships' passengers and barely succeeds out intact, but at the cost of Captain Kirk's life. Seventy-eight years later, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D crew find themselves at odds with renegade scientist Dr. Tolian Soran, who is destroying entire star systems. Only one man can help Picard stop Soran's scheme, and he has been dead for seventy-eight years.

---

Plot Keywords:

female empath | half human half alien | empath | human alien hybrid | captain | 

---

Taglines:

Two captains. One destiny.

---

Genres:

Action | Adventure | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for sci-fi action and some mild language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Klingon

Release Date:

18 November 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Star Trek VII

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$75,668,868

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$120,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the opening scenes on board the Enterprise-B, three different news networks (each with a reporter and a camera person) are represented. They are: the Federation News Network, Starfleet Broadcasting, and the Earth Broadcasting Service.

---

Goofs

During the saucer separation sequence, there is a brief shot from under the Enterprise-D showing the saucer leaving the stardrive section. In that shot, what appear to be stars can be seen through the saucer itself, seemingly, due to ineffective or incorrect compositing. However, some of these "stars" appear to move, suggesting they are in fact jetsam being released from the docking area.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
[the journalists are all talking at the same time, trying to get their questions in]
Journalist #3: How does it feel to be back on the Enterprise bridge?
Journalist #1: Captain Chekov, what are the most significant changes...
Journalist #3: Captain Kirk, can I ask you a few questions?
Journalist #1: Did you participate in the redesign?
Journalist #3: We'd like to know how you feel about being...
Kirk: I appreciate the...
Harriman: Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me. There will be plenty of time for questions later. I'm Captain John Harriman and I'd like to welcome you all ...
[...]

---

Alternate Versions

When Worf explains the workings of 'trilithium', all his words were overdubbed. In the filmed scene (and in the novelization), Worf simply says that trilithium is a very powerful explosive. In the actual film as seen in theaters, Worf's overdubbed lines now say that trilithium is a "nuclear inhibitor" which can stop all nuclear reactions within a star.

---

Connections

Referenced in Salt (2010)

---

Soundtracks

Deck 15
(uncredited)
Composed, Conducted and Produced by Dennis McCarthy

User Reviews

Perhaps The Best Of The Star Trek Movies

In my opinion, "Generations" is the best of the Star Trek movie series for a number of reasons. Although "The Undiscovered Country" represented a fitting ending for the original crew, this movie was a good way of blending original Trek with Next Generation Trek. Given almost 80 years difference in the generations, I though the solution for doing this was quite ingenious. 78 years apart, both Kirk (William Shatner) and Picard (Patrick Stewart) find themselves sucked into the "Nexus" - a huge energy "ribbon" in which time has no meaning - where they meet each other and join forces to defeat this instalment's villain - Dr. Soren (Malcolm McDowell, in what I thought was an excellent performance; he's one of the better villains to appear in the Star Trek movies.)

James Doohan (Scotty) and Walter Koenig (Chekhov) both make appearances at the beginning of the movie (which opens in the era of the original cast) and - given the premise in which they appear (kind of an honorary visit to the Enterprise "B" as it prepares to launch for the first time) - their ages really don't matter that much. This was always a bit of a problem for me with the movies starring the original cast. They always seemed to be getting just too old to keep being sent on these emergency missions. Here, their presence on the Enterprise "B" makes sense. I thought that Alan Ruck (playing Captain Harriman of the Enterprise "B") did quite a good job of playing a nervous young captain, a bit overwhelmed at the presence of the heroic and famous Kirk on his bridge. The Next Generation cast, having only recently ended the TV series, slipped into their roles without effort. Brent Spiner I thought was extremely good playing Data, who has recently added an "emotion chip" to his positronic brain, and is having to adjust to his new feelings while trying to do his duty.

The movie revolved, though, around Stewart and Shatner. Interestingly enough, I thought this may have been Shatner's best outing as Kirk in the movies, perhaps because although he was still playing Kirk as the hero, he wasn't burdened with being the only star. Stewart was clearly playing that role (and Kirk was appropriately deferential to Picard - as he was to Harriman for that matter.) Shatner and Stewart seemed to work well together, giving Kirk and Picard a real chemistry.

Flaws? Well, a few minor things. It bugged me that the transporter technician (speaking only on radio) referred to "Commander LaForge and Mr. Data." Why not "Commander Data?" After all, Data outranks LaForge. Why honour LaForge with his rank, but not Data? No respect for android officers? That's a minor point, of course. I also thought that the connection between the two generations might have been even stronger if Leonard Nimoy had somehow been written into the story as Spock. Spock spanned both series, and a reunion of Kirk and Spock 80 years later might have been quite touching. But overall, minor weaknesses aside, this was an excellent movie with a good story and flow and interesting all the way through.

8/10