Yeah, that’s it. It’s about what the changes should be, not to act like there somehow should NOT be any changes at all.

Still, they did it, so we kinda have to live with it. Nimoy’s comments about Kirk having been mouldering in the grave for a couple of decades rather puts the cap on that storyline.

Plus, we got a spiffy new cinema-worthy Enterprise out of the bargain :)

I do agree with you that TNG characters never really translated well to the screen; every movie ends up being the Picard + Data Show every time out. That’s partly due to logistics: you can’t really give every character equal screen time, but you also can’t do what a regular ensemble film does, which is to introduce the characters at the beginning. The cardboard-thin quality of the supporting characters, combined with wooden acting (Dr Crusher anyone? she makes me cringe every time she has more than technobabble to speak) just don’t have enough presence to carry a film.

Most Trek films either assume you come to the theatre with a ton of backstory and knowledge, or throw out all that backstory in the service of what they think is a good plot. So I agree – the long-built characterizations from the TV show (Picard in particular) seem to go out the window for the sake of a movie.

On top of that, even Patrick Stewart isn’t immune to being a bit stiff and wooden at times. When he’s being a Shakespearean commander and stern etc. he’s great, and he has some good “quiet” moments, but — and I don’t know if this is just bad writing or poor actor choices — he had his own number of out-of-character scenes that were cringeworthy…

I hate to say it, but there’s so much going on in your typical episode of BSG nowadays, in terms of interpersonal dynamics and b-stories, to put entire seasons of Trek to shame. PLUS they have an arc. I haven’t cringed once.