TF01 3,Generations Reviews - 2 4, Okay the debate rages on the fact of the bottle seen floating in the opening sequence of Generations. I admit after a while, once I figureed out what the hell they were doing, it got annoying. However I must disagree with the comment that it had nothing to do with Star Trek. Here's why I think so. Ships, both military and civillian are christened and launched with Champange being broken on their bow. This is done for luck (sailors are a suspicious lot.). The fact that launching ships with a bottle is tradition, now. Every single ship in the British, Canadian and American fleets are launched in this manner (with countless other practicing this tradition). Starfleet is the contiunation of these present day fleets. So it would only make sense that they would continue with the traditions established. (They still pipe aboard admirals in Star Fleet. On Canadian vessels (I sailed on a Destroyer) messages from the Captain to crew are preceeded by a pipe chime.) Starfleet carries out these traditions and cermonies (breaking a champange bottle is also a cermony in the Navy), So it makes sense that they would also lanuch a ship with champange. Remember all the cermonies and traditions that Starfleet carries out stem from naval history, and their terminology is naval (brig, deck, port, starboard, boarded, away team) and their ranks are naval (ensign, Lt jr., Lt, Lt.Comdr, Commander, captain, etc.). So the launching of a star ship with champagne is realated to Starfleet, which is a creation of the Star Trek universe. IMNSHO!. Remember Gene, the Father of all Star Trek, served in the American Navy Aviation corps (I hope I got that right) during World War Two (He flew a TBF Avenger). Michael Galway -------------------- I felt that the entire movie felt very DS9-ish. The dark lighting and the mellow "mood music" are characteristically DS9. The Enterprise in TNG was always brightly lit, but DS9 is usually quite dark, and the directors make use of this creatively by having striped shadows fall across someone's face, or what have you. I felt this quite strongly in the scene where Picard told Deanna about the deaths in his family: he stood up, and a shadow fell across his face. I also felt the DS9- like music quite strongly, although as others have noticed it was the usual Trek theme, in its somber aspect, when Picard stood over Kirk's grave. Maybe it's just that I, being also a Music Chick, notice the music very often in movies. So my theory is, since DS9 is currently the only Trek on TV (excluding reruns), TIIC are trying to subtly evoke it in the movies, perhaps in hopes of synthesizing the very different feels of TNG and DS9. I could go on and explain what I think makes DS9 and TNG different, and why and how, but I won't bore you. :) Joan Leib -------------------- First off, I'd like to say I loved the movie even though it had some YATI's. But there's something I must say about Data in this movie. Many people have been complaining about Data's blubbering in the face of danger. Even though I am a great fan of the character (that scene made me CRINGE) I would have been *extremely* disappointed in the writers if Data responded to Dr. Soran with an act of bravery and I'll tell you why. You see folks, bravery is not an emotion. Bravery is the ability to suppress or control an emotion (fear) in order to get the job done. Speaking from experience, looking down the business end of a weapon can be a very fearful experience. It takes *a lot* of experience with fear to be able to disarm someone who's pointing a weapon right at you, I don't care how lightning-quick or android-strong you are! Now when Data was looking down the business end of that fancy energy- weapon of Sorin's, his experience with emotions was maybe 1 or 2 hours of cracking stupid jokes. No wonder he acted like a coward. But take heart Data fans! Let us note that Data had the integrity to be ashamed of his cowardice and more that made up for it: 1. Data offers himself for the prisoner exchange. 2. He stayed at his post and performed well during the space battle. 3. After "Oh Sh*t!!" Data keeps his cool and levels the saucer's decent as much as possible to avoid loss of life. I think that Data's cowardice and bravery afterwards was totally consistent someone who has been overwhelmed with emotions for the first time in his life. (What do you think Lib?) James E Moore -------------------- On Wed, 23 Nov 1994, James E. Moore wrote: "Many people have been complaining about Data's blubbering in the face of danger. Even though I am a great fan of the character (that scene made me CRINGE) I would have been *extremely* disappointed in the writers if Data responded to Dr. Sorin with an act of bravery and I'll tell you why. "You see folks, bravery is not an emotion. Bravery is the ability to suppress or control an emotion (fear) in order to get the job done." I would have to agree with this. I definitely enjoyed the movie (despite the fact I have ripped it apart until now!), and I would have been very disappointed if data had been his normal fearless/ emotionless self in this instance. The problem I have with his emotions is that he seemed to get them under control a little to quickly. One minute he's cracking jokes left and right, laughing to point that it became annoying, then suddenly, metldown! His Positronic matrix is overloaded, he is incapacitated, and wimpering like a scared puppy. We then find him on the bridge, and he is acting completely normal (for Data), as if he had suddenly learned how to control hi emotions since Picard's "Deal with it!" speech to him in Stellar Cartography (which was a fantastic display of FX) a few minutes earlier. The next "display" of emotions is the "Oh Shit" line (which was classic). But that's it! Personnally I would be just as afraid of my ship (which is *very very* large) crashing into a planet (It would land/crash very hard, since it has the aerodynamics of a stove with a brick tied to it!) as I would of being on the wrong end of a phaser. It just seemed to incredulous to believe that Data could deal with this situation with any less difficulty than he could the previous one. BTW, since the overload to his PM incapacitated him, how was he fit for duty? He couldn't move, never mind stand up when the overload occurred. Are we to believe that Bev knows enough about cybernetics to fix him but not enough to remove the emotions chip? I find this one a little too difficult to believe. They never even mentioned how she was able to get him back "online", just that she took a gander at his insides and determined that the chip was permantly fused! Evidently they cut this scene out, or thought we wouldn't notice! Well, that's my mouthful on this topic. Until the next spoiler comes along that I can't resist to comment on! Paul Lussier -------------------- Quick non-spoiler reactions to Star Trek: Generations film. Well, I just got back from seeing ST:Generations, and I have to echo the feelings of those list members who didn't like the film -- what a letdown. What a disappointment. Now there *were* a few good moments and a few laughs, but overall, it was shocking to sit there and realize how weak and poorly done it was. I can't tell you how many times I found myself groaning or shaking my head in disbelief or just staring, dumbfounded. It looked like it was just thrown together, and I think Trek deserves much better. Now I had been waiting to enjoy a good new NG ep with all the characters i've grown to enjoy over the years. After the dismal 6th and 7th seasons, I was hoping that after "All Good Things..." and with some time to really get this production together, that they would recoup TNG as great Star Trek. But sitting through this movie was like sitting through the entire 6th and 7th seasons at once! So now I'm really afraid Paramount has lost it as far as Star Trek is concerned. I'm sure TPTB at Paramount and Berman & Co. will be laughing all the way to the bank, but if I were Berman, I'd be embarrassed to have people know I was the producer of this thing. I guess I, too, am feeling the anger that of few of us have previously written about on the list. Now I know there are a number of us who liked this film. Could any of you PLEASE tell me *what* made this a good movie? Now I'm not talking about recalling your favorite moments (e.g., Data did this, Picard said that, this looked cool), I'd like to know what about it made this a good *film*, because I see it as a dreadful mess as a movie. What is there to recommend it? I'm baffled. Douglas E Beneway -------------------- Okay... what makes Generations a good movie. Lets get beyond the cool scenes, and analyze what makes good movies. 1. Plot. The plot of this movie was straightforward and easy to follow, yet very rarely did the expected occur. There were some inconsistencies frome the plot of TNG, but it wasn't obnoxious. From the bridge full of reporters on... the different plot complications were intriguing and kept my attention. 2. Theme. The theme of this movie was mortality. This was evident in Dr. Soren's obsession, in Picard's speeches, and in Kirk's death. I felt that the theme of this movie was relevant and well handled. 3. Charecterization. Data and Picard both showed a great deal of character growth. The other charecters were consistant with past experience from TNG. 4. Pace. This was my biggest problem with the movie. At times, the action was overwhelming, but at other times, like the Ship at Sea scene, the movie lagged dreadfully. All in all, the movie exceeded the expectations I walked in with. I don't go to see many movies at full price, but this one was definately worth it. As always... Jeffrey William Carlson -------------------- It's been a loooooong time since I've posted and after being warped around the world on the various iterations of this list, I'm finally getting around to posting. How many times will I have to yell GDAPN!!! As founder of that term, I see that ONCE AGAIN, someone gets promoted over our dear android, not that Worf didn't deserve it, but with the way they left Data - emotion chip and all, in a state of nervous breakdown, he'll NEVER be promoted to anything in the near future!! UGH! THE MOVIE After seeing "Generations" and being asked how it was, I wanted soooooo badly to say "WOW! Awesome! It was great!!", but I just couldn't. Before going to see it for myself, I read all the posts on r.a.s.c from those who saw the preview showing and I was intrigued by the confusion - some loved it totally and some hated it totally. Others had mixed feelings. Ultimately, I fall into that last category. Even though I will read the opinions of others, I *always* go and see and experience a film for myself. I felt that the TNG finale "All Good Things..." would have been the better choice for a plot for this movie and I will explain why later. Suffice it to say, I agree with one poster who saw basically 4 main stories that were presented. In fact, I'm sure that's how it was written and when you do that, it's usually very difficult to tie them all together. Each of us has an opinion of a certain character's behavior and we envision what that character would (should) do in a certain situation. I found that all of them pretty much acted in character (thanks to the cast), but they had to contend with some weak plots. There were certain plotlines that *I* felt were CRITICAL to the TNG universe and these were just tossed away (most likely due to editing). For example, Data's emotion chip. IF we assume that this would be a next progression, then something OTHER than his inability to understand humor SHOULD have been the reason for desiring the chip implantation - perhaps something as powerful as having Geordi (Data's best friend) close to death or something to that effect. Another plot just thrown away was having Picard's brother and nephew die. Granted, the young actor who played Rene in the ep "Brothers", had later played the young Picard in "Rascals" and he could obviously NEVER be used again to show the still young Rene, BUT the emotion that Picard showed (which I thought was appropriate given the fact that he and Robert had finally begun to reconcile) did not smoothly tie in to the scene he had in the Nexus, i.e., I assume that the news of his brother's death was expected to set Picard up for truly considering leaving Starfleet and somehow starting a family - FOR REAL. Because the Nexus scene of Picard's supposed family life was sooooo hollow (in my opinion), the tie wasn't there, it never materialized. And about THAT scene... I don't know about anyone else, but I would have preferred that Picard appear at his family home (JUST LIKE in AGT), WITH that family. If that had been the case, the emotional response he had earlier would have tied in perfectly AND he would have been hard pressed to want to leave the Nexus (IF he actually did leave - I'll get to THAT later). To use what I interpret as a retro- Victorian English family, this DIDN'T bode well with my interpretation of Picard - unless that scene was a jab at the "staidness" and uptight personality that Picard is wont to display. And the part where Picard calls one of the boys "Rene" - I wasn't sure whether that was just a reminisce on Picard's part or whether the boy WAS supposed to be Rene - at least in that vision of the life that Picard had given up. At least Kirk's version of the Nexus experience was a LOT more believable. Someone posted that once again, they killed off some "strong" women, i.e., Lursa and B'Etor. I know that alot of people hated those characters but I always thought that they were a fascinating, maniacal addition to the ST universe - a nod to the "classic and sneeky" Klingons we all knew and loved. Except for perhaps Admiral Nechayev (who I love to hate), who else is really left lurking out there?? Maybe the Voyager Captain... And it's funny that a bunch of us were actually up there picking out Klingons that we recognized from before! To think that they were our beloved TNG cast! Recycled scenes - yes, the Bird of Prey blowup - but... and I may be wrong, it seemed like we got some recycled "Cause and Effect" scenes too, (the ep with the multiple scenes of exploding Enterprise Ds) - ie., the part where Geordi yells "Coolant leak, coolant leak.., etc. and then he proceeds to evacuate Engineering. I don't know... THAT was too eery 'cause I knew the next lines... ARE THEY OR AREN'T THEY? THE NEXUS Is Picard, Kirk, and Soran STILL in the Nexus? That's the first thing I thought about when I left the theater. Too many people complained about why Geordi didn't dump the warp core (though all that happened BEFORE the Nexus enveloped Picard) to save the ship. It just seemed too pat a thing to do - just destroy the Enterprise. Granted, we've seen it destroyed before - and revived, but why now? so early in it's life? At only 8 or so years old? Too many things were left hanging and disconnected after the Nexus scenes - everything so dry. Sure there was some shock, but basically every one seemed so "normal" as if nothing had happened, and I expect that perhaps the back door WAS left open (just like with ST:TWOK - with Spock's "Remember"), ie., if Shatner wants to do it ONE MORE TIME, or if they want to resurrect the Enterprise D (Note that the Enterprise E was seen in "All Good Things..." 25 years in the future, WITH 3 *UGH!* nacelles), etc. I don't know - maybe we read too much into things... "ALL GOOD THINGS..." Why do I think that this 2-hour TNG finale should have been THE movie? It's got all the elements. It's got emotion, it's got action - hell, it even has YATIs to spark discussion. It's a sweeping saga that shows basically what "Generations" *tried* to show - Picard happy at home with his vines ('though sans family - but THAT could have been thrown in there as part of a Nexus scene) Geordi is no longer blind, Data has (under control) emotions, Riker is in command of "an" Enterprise, etc., etc. Because of the anomaly - they could have EASILY shown Picard (with Q's help) move to the past - as far back as Kirk's time, and since the paradoxical anomoly grew bigger the further back in time you went - SURELY Kirk and crew would have been there to try to figure out what it was and what to do about it! The special effects in this mere TV episode were superior. Imagine having a movie budget to do the same thing! I don't know... I think I'll try to go see the thing again - AND I'll read the book. I want to jump up and down but I can't. If anything - talk about the cash cow and suckers like me - I bought the James T. Kirk and Jean-Luc Picard "Star Trek: Generations" action figures about a week before I saw the movie - which I saw on opening day. And the movie cost only $4.50, mind you, for those who wanted to know where it cost that low. That was the 1:10 pm matinee price here in Philly at one of the United Artists mega-theaters. Well I think that we Trekkers are almost at the point where we will be ready for say, a movie of the popular book "Spock's World". A modification could tie in the TNG cast rather than TOS cast and it could also show the problems that Vulcan/Romulan unification would cause, especially knowing that you have many on Vulcan who want to secede from the Federation. Who knows? Nimoy could direct. Anyway... Hoping "Generations" will become like a fine wine... Bettina J. Henry -------------------- I've seen "Generations" twice and paid a total of $0 for it. (I did pay about $3 for refreshments.) I went once with a group from school and they bought my ticket in exchange for my providing transportation; then I went again with my mom and she paid. :) Another thought: Someone had theorized that Picard never really left the Nexus: that everything that happened, starting when he and Kirk returned to the planet and beat up Soren, was a continuation of Picard's Nexus fantasy. That theory doesn't work, and here's why: When Picard enters the Nexus he doesn't know that the Enterprise has crashed. So he can't include that crash in his Nexus fantasy. Thank you, you've been a wonderful audience. *bow* Joan Leib -------------------- I saw "Star Trek: Generations" yesterday, and felt that I had to review it. So, here is my review. If you haven't seen the movie yet, you'll most certainly be spoiled. I have to say two things about the movie: 1) WOW! 2) I'm disappointed. I know, I know: the two don't exactly go together, but that's how I felt. When I walked into the theater I was excited. When I left, I felt cheated and empty. As sorry as I was to see TNG canceled, "All Good Things..." made me feel a great deal better than the movie did. Despite what I just said, I have to note that the movie was done exceptionally well. The effects are absolutely spectacular (I'd even say stunning) and acting is exceptional. However, I agree with Siskel and Eilber (Simon Plumbe?) about the story: it is stupid. The two hours (the movie is nearly 2 hours long) went by amazingly fast. When the credits rolled out I felt that its only been 30 minutes since I entered the theater. The action is fast paced most of the time (there were a couple of moments that seemed to drag by). About the music I can only say this: it was there. I can't tell you anything else about it. Maybe once I see it a couple of more times I'll be able to make it out. There is a great deal of humor, and I think it was done very well. Kirk had some excellent scenes, as did Picard. Data (make that Brent Spiner) shined in the film. As you may or may not know, he finally installs the chip (more on that later) and acts very strange indeed. Worf finally gets promoted to Lt. Commander, although it doesn't show in his actions (again, more on that later). The entire film seemed to focus on Picard, Soran and Kirk. The rest of the characters got surprisingly little screen time, with the exception of Data. Now we come to the major problems of the movie and they are, of course, treknical: 1) Geordi and the camera in his visor. As I recall the dialogue, Crusher told Geordi that she removed "the nanoprobe." Which nanoprobe was she referring to but the one in his VISOR, and if she removed it, how could Lursa and B'Etor see what it was showing on their viewscreen? Furthermore, why didn't anyone detect the transmissions of the camera from the ship? 2) The shields. While it was very clever of the writers to use the idea of shield frequency to allow our Klingon sisters to damage the Enterprise, it seemed that they forgot, very conveniently, I might add, about the Borg episodes. All the highly experienced and well trained personnel of the Enterprise had to do was change shield frequency and: voila! working shields. Of course if they did that, the surplus Bird of Prey wouldn't stand a chance against a Galaxy class starship, and we'd have a big problem (the ship would survive). 3) While we're on this subject, I want to note that the writers seem intent on making Riker an incompetent officer. Any time Picard gives him the ship (I'm thinking of "Rascals" and this time) he loses it. Only this time, he blew it up. While I can't say who is a better Captain when it comes to Picard and Kirk, I can certainly say who it is when it comes to Riker and Kirk, and it is Kirk. When the Enterprise-prime blew up it was over 20 years old. When the Enterprise-D blew up, it was only 7. 4) The destruction of the Enterprise-D. Besides the fact that this was obviously a ploy to make more money for Paramount by creating a new ship for the next movie and releasing new model toys, there was absolutely no reason for the ship to be lost. First of all, as I already mentioned in #2, they could've easily saved the ship before it got too damaged. But, even if they didn't do that, there is no reason to abandon ship just because of a warp core breach which didn't even start yet. In "All Good Things..." the breach on Pasteur was already in progress. Here it was still 5 minutes away. I don't know for what the highly experienced and very smart engineers of Starfleet put in an emergency warp core release system if not for this. All they had to do was to dump the warp core, and the entire ship would still be intact. However, they didn't even discuss this possibility in the movie (well, perhaps they did and it was cut out?). Immediately Riker decided to evacuate the entire crew to the saucer section and separate the ship. And of course now they crashed the saucer section on the planet below. So there goes a ship that is full of Federation's latest technology, blown out of the sky by an old Klingon Bird of Prey. Now don't get me wrong, the scenes were spectacular (the crash of the saucer was absolutely stunning), but I just feel that there was no need to crash the ship. It seems to me that the Captain of the Yamato was right: these Galaxy class starships were not such a good idea. There were 6 built, and now let's count how many were lost since then: Yamato, Odyssey and Enterprise. In only 7 years, Starfleet lost 3 of its top-of-the- line starships which have a projected life of 100 years, with 25 years between major system upgrades. Another thing that probably left me disappointed more than anything else was how lightly both Riker and Picard took the destruction of the Enterprise. 5) Picard and the Nexus. Is he totally nuts or what? Why the hell would he want to leave the Nexus (isn't that a shampoo brand?) and go to just a couple of minutes before Soran was about to launch his torpedo? Why not go to the time before he escaped and launched the torpedo into the first star? He'd have much more success at stopping him then. Of course if he did that, we wouldn't have that much of a story. So once again, we have the writers to blame. 6) Worf. Despite his promotion to Lt. Commander, he didn't perform any better. I don't think he could shoot a still target at 2 meters or arrest a 70-year-old thief in New York City judging by his actions. He should've been fired a long time ago for his incompetence. The writers just don't let Worf be Worf. 7) Data. The new Data is just as interesting at the old Data. Despite him having emotions (how convenient for the writers that the chip has been fused in and can't be removed) he is still as interesting as ever, although in a different way. He provided some great comic relief during the movie and delivered some excellent lines. I think my favorite exchange in the entire movie was between him and Guinan after he drinks something she put on the bar: Guinan: "It seems that you hate it." Data: "Yes, that's it! I hate this." Extends the glass. Guinan: "More?" Data: "Please." 8) Is Shatner younger than Stewart or what? Kirk looked younger than Picard in the movie. 9) Weapons. Is it me or do Trek movies seem to like torpedoes more than phasers lately? Both STVI and STVII seemed to use torpedoes a great deal. What's with them anyway? Phasers are supposed to be much quicker and more difficult to avoid. Whew. Well, I think this is it. I've been rambling on for longer than necessary. Overall I give this movie a B+, although I'm incredibly sorry that we lost the Enterprise-D. I will miss that beautiful ship with all my heart. P.S. What's with the uniforms? They kept switching them from TNG to DS9 back to TNG back to DS9 back to TNG! Sergey Polak -------------------- I actually saw this before Thanksgiving. But since I was on the road traveling, I didn't have time to write until now. I will also comment on those things not commented before on this discussion list. That's because I think that some of the comments have been disucssed and wanted to bring up things I haven't seen discussed on this list. 1) In the old strek-l I remember a discussion on the lack of Media (news, reporters, etc) in the Star Trek Universe. I was quite surprised to see the mob of reporters in the beginning of the movie. I thought it was a funny bit, but I was surprised to see it. What do you guys think? 2) The lighting. Has been commented on its darkness. But I was equally surprised by the "golden" color lighting in several scenes such as the bridge and 10-forward. I kept thinking this wasn't the lighting they used in the TV show. It may also be the reason why some of the sets looked a little strange to me. Also I thought it must of impacted on Data's makeup, cause his face coloring seemed off to me. (Maybe my eyes are going :) :) 3) Cameos. Capt Harriman was the guy from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" He played Ferris' friend. Also on the bridge was Jeanette Goldstein (sp?) who was in "Aliens" and Terminator 2. She was the communications officer in the background. Also saw Nurse Ogawa. Although they didn't want to pay her for any speaking lines. (She was a slim as ever, so she either had the baby, or its another YATI). 4) Saucer Separation & Crash. For a brief moment after they separated and during the crash, I thought "It's the Jupiter 2". The next movie could have been the "Swiss Family Generations" crashing landing on an alien planet and having to learn to survive. The crash was a specular F/X. You could tell that's where the money went. I think that's why it also was shown twice. Did they think anyone missed it the first time through? It did bring comments from my companions after the show, like after hundreds of years didn't anyone think to put in seatbelts or breaks on that ship? :) :) I have more. But I have to save them for another time. (Got to get to work). Til we meet again. Carol D. -------------------- Even though it's a bit late in the discussion, I'd like to share my thoughts on the latest ST cinematic endeavor. ST films are like sex in that they're never all bad. Flawed ST films like ST V and ST:TSMP have their redeeming moments and most fans will watch them given the chance no matter how much criticism they have for the film. That of course does not mean that fans have to settle for a sub-par film. I think that ST:Generations is an average ST film that is a good first outing for the NG crew. While it has its flaws, I found Gens to be a good ST film especially for the series' maiden bigscreen voyage. First, the good parts of Gens: STORY: I thought that Gens handled several plotlines rather well. While some fans have complained that Gens had far too many plotlines (i.e. Kirk's death, Picard's loss of family, Data's emotions, the Duras sisters scheme, and Soran's quest), I felt that Gens gave each plot element sufficient time to develop w/o becoming boring. Furthermore, the plot elements weren't just a bunch of ideas thrown together to fill up two hours as other NG 2 hour shows have done (ex. the ep where Worf finds the planet of Khitomer Massacre survivors). ACTING: There were some very good performances in this film by Bill Shatner, Malcom M., and Brent Spiner. Bill gave one of his best performances as Kirk without giving in to his over the top style too much. Malcom M. made Soran a good villain, something that NG really doesn't have except for Q. Brent Spiner is always exceptional as Data but really made the most of Data's new emotions. MUSIC: The orchestra music in Gens was a welcome alternative to the cheesy synthesizer/Muzak that passed for music on the NG TV series. I know that the producers of Gens wanted to make the film something more than a TV ep on a big screen and the use of orchestra music was a step in the right direction. Now, for the things I didn't like about the film. LIGHTING: While the producers obviously wanted to give the film a different look than the TV series, I thought that their use of lighting was poorly executed. The E-D looked as if it was being light up by candles. I think the producers went too far in using the different lighting. It was like being hit over the head with a hammer while being told, "We're a film now!!". While the use of shadows was appropriate in the scene where Troi comforts Picard over his nephew and brother's death, the other uses of lighting were poorly done (especially the day-glo from hell scenes in Ten-Forward). PACING: The film was moving at a decent pace until the nexus scenes. While the nexus scenes were inaginative, they really slowed the film's pace to the point where everything after the battle with the Duras sisters seemed anticlimatic. TV SYNDROME: I think that the film's biggest disappointment was that for the most part, it seemed like just another TV ep (albeit a good ep) with a special guest star (Shatner). I think that the NG films' biggest obstacle will be making the movies seem special enough where fans don't feel as if they're paying $6.50 to watch an episode of a TV show. I have to admit that the only reason I was eager to see Gens was because Kirk was in it. Otherwise, the film would not have been that appealing. Still, in spite of its flaws, Gens was a good ST film (largely in part to the presence of the TOS characters particularly Kirk). My ranking of all seven of the ST films is as follows (with 1 being the best): 1. ST II 2. ST IV (a close second) 3. ST VI 4. ST:Gens 5. ST V 6. ST:TSMP 7. ST III Michael W Rickard -------------------- Money, the final frontier These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise and it's continuing mission... to recycle tired, shallow plots to seek out new fans and licensees to boldy grab as much of the green stuff as possible! According to the December 12 LA Times Generations has made about 64 million dollars to date. It's earnings this last weekend were about 2.2 million and are quickly decreasing. Sorry, I could have done better with the spoiler space if I had more time. Summary of feelings: It might just be me but I didn't enjoy that champagne bottle sequence, it was way too long! I was expecting to see some dramatic buildup but I wanted to see the Enterprise B soaring through space at the beginning! As it was I didn't get to see enough of it except to note that I like the Ent-A and D much better. I barely noticed the music at all! I think that's pretty sad! I don't even know if it was good or not. The story line was okay, but I couldn't get myself to pay to see it more than twice. Characterization was okay. Aside from Picard, Kirk, Soran, and Data there wasn't much screen time for anyone. I liked the movie and was very happy to see things on the big screen. Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner did tremendous acting jobs. Shatner turned in a fine performance as well. I've grown very accoustomed to his "style" and was busting up with my roommates at almost every line he said. Captain Harriman came off as an incompetent moron who had no place being captain. I didn't like the way they wrote that character. I enjoyed the Worf's promotion because, for a change, we get to see his superior Klingon strength make a difference for something! I am suprised that he didn't complain about the outfit he had to wear. I thought Data's new emotions were handled fairly well but his laughing got really irratating. I wish Geordi would have slapped him to make him stop. From this point I think Data should go into counseling with Troi to learn how to better cope with his emotions and feelings. If Geordi doesn't get some kind of new eye implants in the next movie I'm going to be p****d! This is the upteenth time he's had his mind screwed with because of that darn visor! I was glad to see some more of Picard's vulnerable side. I do not think this was out of character but just not a side of him we are usually allowed to see. One big thing I missed in the film is a sense of camaraderie. The Enterprise-Sea scene showed a little but I didn't get a real sense of their deep care for one another. All the other ST films had a better sense of that. Maybe that is because it was a reunion every time the OS crew got together in a movie and here there has been no parting of ways or separation. The ending was sad but it is hard to be satisfied with anything that shows the death of a character that you have known well for so long. There were some flippant remarks but no Kirkian speech, no Kirkian conquest either. Maybe his last words "It [pause] was [longer pause] fun" were appropriate. The movie was entertaining and exciting, especially with those ILM effects I just hope they give us a little more with the next outing. I think the movie would have done better if they spent more time on the script and waited another year or two to create more anticipation and allow it to be more distanced from the TV show. Then there wouldn't have been as many comments about the movie being like a pretty good extended episode. My rankings: 1. ST II (Khaaaaan!) 2. ST IV (Double dumb ass on you!) 3. ST VI 4. ST VII (It [pause] was [longer pause] fun but slightly behind VI) 5. ST III 6. ST I 7. ST V (Row, row, row your boat) All comments are, of course, IMHO Anthony R. Hayes -------------------- Now go to our Generations section to read all the opinions of the Infinite Frontiers team and those of our readers - Simon