Star Trek: Generations is an odd duck. Released twenty five years ago this year, in 1994, Generations was the first motion picture that featured the cast of characters from Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Star Trek sequel series that had just concluded a successful seven year run in syndication the same year this film premiered. Yet Generations was also the last Star Trek film to feature the old guard cast from the original Star Trek TV series--although it wasn’t really the entire original series cast; just Kirk, Scotty and Chekov, played by William Shatner, James Doohan, and Walter Koeing, respectively.
At the beginning of Generations Kirk and his esteemed colleagues are aboard the brand new Enterprise-B, the next ship to bear the legendary name of Enterprise. Under the command of Captain Harriman (well-played by Alan Ruck, best known from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), the Enterprise-B is off on its first voyage out of space dock when it encounters a mysterious energy field called the Nexus that threatens to wipe out several spaceships carrying refugees. The Enterprise-B crew manage to rescue a handful of refugees from one of the ships, but not without losing someone of their own. James Kirk is presumably killed (his body was never found), which might be considered a pretty bad jinx for the Enterprise-B.
But this opening scene resonates with long-time Trek fans with the introduction of Demora Sulu (Jacqueline Kim), the grown daughter of Hikaru Sulu, the helmsman aboard the original Enterprise that’s played by George Takei. Tim Russ, who would go on to play Tuvok in Star Trek: Voyager, also appears on the bridge of the ’B’ as a Starfleet officer. And Jenette Goldstein, best known as Vasquez from Aliens, plays the Enterprise-B’s science officer.
The Next Generation crew picks up the story 78 years later by first promoting Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn) to the rank of Lieutenant Commander on an 18th century sailing vessel in the holodeck. But that’s not the only change in sight, for throughout the movie, the Enterprise-D crew adopts new uniforms in a subtle but nice acknowledgement to the passage of time and the changes that it brings. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Steward) and his crew uncovers the nefarious plans of Dr. Soran (Malcolm McDowell), who is willing to destroy entire solar systems just so he can return to the energy ribbon known as the Nexus.
Star Trek: Generations was a movie that was made for Star Trek fans. When it was released, Star Trek was at the height of its popularity, with Next Generation having just ended its run, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine still chugging along nicely in syndication, and Star Trek: Voyager waiting in the wings to premiere in January 1995. At that point in time, in the pop culture zeitgeist, Star Trek had overtaken Star Wars (which had gone largely dormant back then). The majority of the people who saw Generations in the theater (and I was one of them) were familiar with Star Trek in all of its TV incarnations. However, someone watching Generations today, who hasn’t seen the TV series the film is based on, might not enjoy the film as much as the diehard fans did.
But that’s not to say that Generations is without its problems, even for the most devoted Star Trek fans. Mainly, it botched its sole purpose for existing, which was to unite Captains Kirk and Picard in an adventure. While the writers did a good job at creating a way for these men to meet without resorting to time travel, having Kirk and Picard waste time by making omelets in the kitchen, or riding horses around in the pastures, was really not the best way to utilize these characters. And the climatic battle doesn’t really feel worthy of these two legendary captains. Even with a great actor like Malcolm McDowell playing the villain, the finale still feels uninspired.
But when I re-watched this film recently, I still enjoyed it, despite its flaws. It’s got one of the coolest spaceship crash scenes in the movies, and the vivid cinematography breathes new life into the Enterprise-D sets. The big budget finally allows for the hiring of a multitude of extras, giving places like Ten Forward--as well as the Enterprise-D overall--the feeling of being a massive city in space. If nothing else, Generations certainly looks like an epic cinematic adventure, and it serves as a sturdy bridge between the Kirk and Picard eras of Star Trek. --SF
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