Monday, April 08, 2013

Star Trek Generations

G is for Generations. Star Trek Generations was released in 1994, directed by David Carson. 78 years after the Enterprise-B's mysterious encounter with a energy portal the past and future collide.  This movie engages TNG in a galactic rescue mission of epic proportions by enlisting the help of Captain Kirk whos stuck in a magical place. The films baddie, Dr Tolian Soran will do anything to re-capture the family he lost by opening a "doorway" in an energy ribbon zipping through space. Kirk and Picard team up in a final battle as the "Captains on the Bridge" determined to defeat the El-Aurian madman Soran. The plot thickens when Klingon sisters Lursa and B'Etor kidnap the USS Enterprise-D's Chief Engineer, Geordi and doctor his VISOR! Its a whole different ballgame now with Picard on Veridian III giving Commander Riker his big chance in the captain's chair without a safety net!

The movie earned mixed reviews from critics, as it currently holds a 48% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 46 reviews. So okay, lets get serious for a second, whoever dreamed up captain 'under the bridge' deserves to be beamed onto an asteroid penal colony infested with hungry Salt Vampires and left there for all eternity. Captain Kirk's death is an ill conceived ending for Star Trek's greatest defender of the galaxy. Kirk's demise was sorrowful and deserved so much more for such a heroic, intrepid, interstellar explorer of the Final Frontier. Jeremy Conrad of IGN gave the film a score of 7 out of 10, calling it "one of the better of the odd numbered Trek films," referring to a belief that even numbered Star Trek films are traditionally of higher quality.



The idea of Captain Kirk's death was originally mooted by writers Brannon Braga and Ronald Moore so Paramount Pictures insisted they consult William Shatner. Everyone was surprised Shatner was cool about his demise except us trekkies, of course. Shatner eventually realised it was too late to back out and admitted he was genuinely saddened by his characters death. Loyal fans vowed to "Bring Back Kirk" with a an exciting internet campaign except resurrecting Kirk was never meant to be, sniff.


Live Long and Prosper, Trekkies and Trekkers.

14 comments:

Mark Means said...

I've never been a huge Kirk fan because I've never been a big Shatner fan. For the story, though, it was a sad demise.

Left and Write

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

The Next Gen cast hit their stride with the next film, First Contact. That one was awesome.

Julie Jordan Scott said...

As a Kirk fan, I am thrilled to read of this! I didn't even realize his character had been killed off. I'm learning a lot from visiting your blog!

I think it is cool that Shatner was cool with being killed off. He seems so genuine with his acting these days... like the old saying goes, "I am who I am who I am!"

Thanks again for turning me back onto Star Trek!

Happy A to Z-ing!
Julie Jordan Scott
Our Literary Grannies from A to Z:G is for Gail Hamilton
tweet me - @juliejordanscot

Jeremy [Retro] said...

wait i never saw this one... did you spoil something with out stating spoiler? dammit...

Tony Laplume said...

I've always been a fan of Generations. I must admit that the phrase "captains under the bridge" fires all sorts of ideas in my head.

I've always been fine with the way Kirk died in the film (and in truth would have been fine with the original version as well). He died alone, like he said he would. He died heroically. And it wasn't cliched at all. It was totally unexpected. It was his best appearance since Voyage Home. Not having to be the sole star seemed to take a great deal of pressure off of Shatner. He was far more loose than normal. That translated for me into a performance that sold what we were given, and that was enough for me.

Of course, for the die hards, Shatner then wrote an entire series of books about Kirk's later adventures, beginning with The Ashes of Eden and The Return, which involved the Borg. If any of you are still upset about it, go climb a rock.

-Warren Zoell said...

"Oh my".

katie eggeman said...

Generations is not one of my favorite movies. I didn't realize it was an odd number movie. I guess the odd number curse might not affect the new movies as the first one was really good, I thought.
Katie atBankerchick Scratchings

sfdada said...

Love Data's inappropriate laugh in the middle of the trailer. I did like this one, but First Contact was so much better. I was really liking the Borg back then.

Krista McLaughlin said...

I didn't really care for this movie, specifically because Kirk dies and it was kinda dumb. Shatner shouldn't have agreed, poor guy.

Maurice Mitchell said...

I know they brought him back in the books via cloning or something, but it was such a senseless death Spacerguy.

Deb Betz said...

I was an fan of the original TV series, they lost me with the other series, did not really enjoy the movies until this last one. I am a re-engergized trekkie. Can't wait for the new movie next month.

( Spock fan)

www.wearinglemon.blogspot.com

Craig Edwards said...

Generations has grown on me in the years since.

MOCK! said...

I was so stoked for this when it came out I overlooked any MINOR issues and saw it so many times in the theater!!

SpacerGuy said...

Soran was a mad hatter for sure but I thought he added an edge to Generations which was otherwise missing. Kirks death was an empty death Maurice but seemed a good way to hand over to captain Picard, Tony. Thanx Alex, read my review, maybe I did jeremy - sometimes I get carried away. Yeah Mock, we're trekkers, hehe!

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