16 Bracefor
impact:the
Enterprise-D’s
saucersection
plummets
toward
VeridianIII.avatarforAbramsinrebootingthe
wholekitandcaboodle)knowingit
wasvitalthathisyoungerselfand
Kirkcometogether,thattheirkinship
wasessentialtothefutureofthe
Federation(aliasthefranchise).
TheEnterpriseis key.The BigIdea
is vital.Butthepeople,thecrew,are
everything. Kirk,Spock,Bones,Scotty,
Uhura,Sulu,andChekovarethe
reasonwehavenearly 800 hoursof
TVTr e kand 13 films.
Asspace-boundfamiliesgo,they
arethebenchmarkforengaging,
enthralling,andentertainingcasts.
It’sthesharedlaughter,tears,
andexcitementthroughouttheir
adventuresthatmakesit work– and
thoserelationshipsareat theheartof
bothofStarTrek’s bigscreenlaunches.
Yes,The MotionPicturewas
decidedlylessovertlyemotionalthan
2009’sKelvincast,butthatwasthe
tenoroftheemotion,nota lackofit.
WitnessKirk’sarrivalonthebridge
in1979,thecrew’sjoyandunbridled
excitementat seeingSpockagain,and
thetroubledromancebetweenDecker
andIlia.The finalewasessentiallya
huge,glowingclimaxofemotional
lovemakingona galactic/existential
level,a literalmomentofcreation
thatevolvedthreeentitiesintoa new
formoflife.That’sprettyemotional.
(Althoughmaybenotas emotionalas
SpockandUhuragettinghot’n’heavy
ina turbolift...)
The keydynamicwasthebringing
togetherofthemainplayers.ForThe
MotionPicture, it wasthereunion,
withallitspermutations,trials,
and(ahem)tribbleations.Forthe
Kelvincrew,it wasthefirstmeetings,
showcasingcosmeticdifferencesinthe
otherwiseessentialfamiliarityofthe
crewforanexpectantaudience.Both
foregroundedthejoyofcharacters
whoweremeanttobetogethertaking
theirplacebesideeachotheronthat
bridge,onthatship,actingas our
mirror,ourgaugefortheBigIdea
sciencefictionbeingplayedoutbefore
us.Bothmovieswerepurecinema,
fodderfortheheart,soul,andmind.
Epicandintimate.Complexand
simple.Alienandhuman.StarTrek
inallitsglory.
That’showyourelauncha
franchise.
StarTrek Generations was something of a middle-ground
movie relaunch: much of Star Trek: The Next Generation
was transported directly to movie theaters. But the film
still needed a bit of starry support...Nipped & Tucked
StarTrek Generations
Storyby: Rick Berman & Ronald D.
Moore & Brannon Braga
Screenplay by: Ronald D. Moore &
Brannon Braga
Directed by: David Carson
Released: November 18, 1994
Original US domestic gross: $76m
Adjusted for infl ation: $163mTherewas barely a pause between
TVand movies for Picard, Riker,
andco. The cast only had a week
offin between, and fans knew
they’d get a movie sharpish after
theseventh season fi nale – and
theyhad Star Trek: Deep Space
Nineto be going on with during
thebrief wait.
The Enterprise-D only had
a superfi cial makeover, getting
greater detail, a few more bridge
terminals, moodier lighting, and a
pedestal for the command chairs.
Until,that is, the stardrive section
wasdestroyed and the saucer
section crashed into Veridian III.
Butbefore it was wrecked, the
shipsure looked gorgeous. During
thefateful “landing,” Generations
alsofinally got to show a saucerseparation on the big screen –
something that had originally
been planned for and designed
by production illustrator Andrew
Probert for The Motion Picture. It
had, of course, been seen a few
times on The Next Generation, fi rst
in pilot “Encounter at Farpoint,”
and most memorably against the
Borg in “The Best of Both Worlds.”
The biggest similarity of
Generations to its relaunch siblings
came with its reliance on the original
series cast. The Motion Picture had
the entire original crew; Star Trek
(2009) had Leonard Nimoy and
new versions of the whole crew;
Generations had William Shatner,
Jimmy Doohan, and Walter Koenig.
Of course, the big hook was Kirk
and Picard meeting up to pass
the torch (on horseback, no less),
fi ghting side by side. The Big Idea
was the Nexus – an energy ribbon
containing a nonlinear existence/
nirvana – which offered the age-old
conundrum “would you be happy
in a perfect world if you knew it
wasn’t real?” For Kirk, we all knew
the answer, but it was fun watching
Picard persuade him.16YESTERDAY’S ENTERPRISE