10th Anniversary Review of Star Trek Insurrection December 11, 2008
by John Tenuto , Filed under: Feature Films (TMP-NEM), Review , trackback
On December 11th, 1998, 10 years ago today, Paramount released the third TNG era feature film (and ninth in the Trek franchise), Star Trek Insurrection. For the rest of the week, TrekMovie.com will celebrate the anniversary with a series of Insurrection themed articles, starting today with a retro review of the film, including some behind-the-scenes info on its inception.
A new writer steps in for TNG’s third film.
The story of the creation of Star Trek Insurrection took many turns and twists on its road to theaters. In early 1997, just a couple of months after Star Trek First Contact became a box office hit, producer Rick Berman again tapped Jonathan Frakes for the director’s chair, but approached Michael Piller to develop a script for the First Contact follow-up. Ron Moore and Brannon Braga had written the previous two Trek films, but had other commitments. Piller had never written a feature film, but his contributions to Star Trek were legion (as a writer and show-runner for Next Generation to his co-creation of Deep Space Nine and Voyager).
Piller’s first treatment, entitled "Star Trek: Stardust," was completed May 9, 1997 which was a much more serious drama based on the themes of the 1902 novella by Joseph Conrad "Heart of Darkness." The early drafts of the script involved Picard going after an old friend named Hugh Duffy who is claiming that the Federation is in collusion with the Romulans (whose leader is a charmer named Joss) to destroy a world in order to gain its precious ’sarium krellide’ ore. In defiance of Commander Norton of Starfleet (who was later changed to Admiral Matthew Dougherty), Picard realizes that Duffy is telling the truth and he places his four pips on a table to become a rebel fighting alongside Duffy. The early drafts includes a fight between Worf and Joss, Riker and crew helping Picard in his mission, political intrigue, and an ending of Picard standing before the Federation Council to answer for his actions. He is told his career is over until we hear Boothby applauding Picard’s comments and soon a chorus of people chant support for Picard and his mission. Based on this early version, the film wouldn’t have resolved whether or not Picard has his command back (we will have to wait for the sequel Piller promised). Many other drafts would be written during the next year, until the narrative was one with which everyone was happy. In fact, Ira Steven Behr contributed comments and notes about the script. With one of the drafts, Piller tells how he was worried because Ira took his glasses off before offering his opinion, and he never takes his glasses off! Pre-production started in early 1998 and after a quick production and post-production the film was released December 11th.
Micheal Piller on the set of "Star Trek Insurrection"
A return to traditional themes
Star Trek: Insurrection is a return to some of the more Roddenberry-esque themes of Star Trek. The movie, like Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, deals with social issues, here the notions of population transfer of the Ba’ku and the cluttering of Picard’s life because of politics and technology. Also, like Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, the narrative sides with the idea that the needs of the few (the Ba’ku) are more important than the needs of the many (the Federation). Picard carries on the Kirk movie tradition of defying orders he finds morally problematic, and the kind of giddy fun that Star Trek heroes sometimes have when being defiant for a good cause. In many ways, Piller succeeds in creating what may be the most ‘Star Trekian’ of all of the Star Trek films, although it is fair to criticize the film as perhaps too derivative of other Star Trek episodes and movies (such as using the "Sorvino Switch" from the TNG episode. "Homeward").
The themes of the film are apparent right off the bat with the opening sequence of Insurrection speaking volumes about society. Director Jonathan Frakes films the Baku as slow moving people, whose gestures flow on screen. They take the time to check their irrigation system and stop to smell the proverbial roses. There is humanity in this community, and personal interactions. This is contrast to the Federation and Son’a, huddled with their technology, dealing with each other impersonally and in their ascribed roles. The juxtaposition of the serenity with Data’s technobabble dialog ("Transferring positronic matrix functions…engaging secondary protocols") serves as a warning about what we might become if we and how much of our daily conversations is impersonal.
The techo-Feds look down on the idyllic Ba’ku
A lighter more character-focused film
As the various drafts of the script were being written, both Patrick Stewart and the studio felt that this film should be more about character than the previous TNG films and should be funnier in tone. Occasionally, the humor works, as the scene with Picard and his crew preparing for their reception with the Evora delegates or Data’s reaction to Riker’s notion that his beardlessness is as smooth as an android’s bottom. Other times it is ill advised, especially with Worf and his teenage acne, which becomes slapstick. There are many scenes of inspiring heroics and friendship, especially when the crew will not let Picard deal with the Son’a on his own. However, the ending does not add to much except a confusing space battle (added at the last minute after test audiences didn’t like the original ending) and another Picard faces Chief Villain alone scenes featured in every TNG feature film. Insurrection does take a more ‘ensemble’ approach than other Trek films. All the characters all have something to do that is unique to them, and you don’t get the sense that some of their dialog is interchangeable like you do with some of the TOS era films. For example, Geordi gets to eject the warp core and has his vision restored temporarily, Deanna and Riker have their romance, Beverly gets to act as a doctor and discovers the secret of the Baku and Son’a, Worf gets some battle action, and Data is returned to his more Pinocchio roots and has a nice relationship with the Baku people, especially Artim. And hey, Riker shaved his beard!
Insurrection lightens up and loses the beard
In search of a bad guy
The greatest challenge that Insurrection endured was trying to find an appropriate and worthy adversary for Picard. First Contact’s Borg and Borg Queen were audience favorites and the creators of Insurrection needed to make sure that their villains were equally interesting. The solution for Insurrection was to create the Son’a. The idea of a people obsessed with youth and materialism certainly works with the Star Trek format. However, while Ruafo is intriguing, the film is never willing to make true bad guys out of the Federation leadership, represented by Adm. Dougherty. Like Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, whose Sybok character could have been interesting except he wasn’t allowed to be a real villain, Insurrection is too tepid with its villains. Gallatin is nice, Dougherty is only misinformed and Ruafo in the end is a paper tiger. The problem is that while the narrative would be best served with the Federation Council being bad guys, Piller wanted to honor the Gene Roddenberry notion of superior humanity.
While the villains of Insurrection needed a rewrite, the Ba’ku are a very interesting people. Essentially alien Amish, the Ba’ku are a good alien group for playing against the more technological based Federation and Son’a. One of the best features of Insurrection (like First Contact before it) is the inclusion of good roles for female characters. Anij, played with a subtle grace by Donna Murphy, is an equal for Picard, teaching him lessons about redemption and learning how to appreciate his life.
Pick a bad guy: Ruafu (F. Murray Abraham) or Dougherty (Anthony Zerbe)
A mixed bag production
Star Trek is sometimes criticized for its depiction of outer space as just a void with stars. Insurrection addresses this by giving a very cool look to the area known as the Briar Patch. The special effects here are so good that the Briar Patch almost becomes a character in itself, and its unique look convinces that there is something unique about the Ba’ku world. Some of the planetside effects, such as the drones which tag the Baku could be better, however, the effects of Insurrection are some of the more dynamic of the 10 films because of the use of CGI technology. Fans also get to see a good variety of starships, from Federation to Son’a and especially thrilling is the Cousteau (the Captain’s Yacht) which we had heard about for years. However the big starship action sequence just feels like it was tacked on to the film just so there would be a big starship action sequence (which is exactly what it was).
As for the music, has Jerry Goldsmith ever not composed a wonderful soundtrack? Insurrection’s score helps to reinforce some of the themes of the movie, with the Baku people getting a romantic motif featuring string instruments, and the Son’a represented by electronic chords of dissonance and syncopation. Indeed, the Ba’ku theme is as beautiful as both Goldsmith’s Voyager and First Contact Vulcan music and is pleasant to listen to on its own merits. As always, Goldsmith weaves original music with previously established cues from TOS and TNG Unfortunately, some of the best music cues are not available on the soundtrack and it would be great if GNP or FilmScore would release a complete soundtrack as is available for The Motion Picture.
The rest of the production offers some highlights. The film features more sets than any Trek film (until the new 2009 Star Trek movie), and the Ba’ku village was exceptionally well done. The film primarily used the same uniform wardrobe from First Contact, but did introduce a new Starfleet dress uniform. The Son’a wardrobe was somewhat typical Star Trek generic alien, but the make-up, with it’s Hollywood facelifts gone horribly wrong overtones, was exceptional. But in the end, the production design still felt a bit too much like a Star Trek episode and not a feature film.
Riker pulls his maneuver
First Contact a hard act to follow…or is it?
Star Trek narratives are a many splendor thing. Because of its episodic nature, some Star Trek episodes are comedies, some are serious dramas. The variety of styles is one Star Trek greatest traits because it allows for a variety of adventures and character reactions. While First Contact tried to bring a different palette to Star Trek films (it is essentially a horror feature), it can be argued that Insurrection is a better ‘Star Trek film’ than First Contact. Indeed, it is only the subplot of the Riker and Cochrane narrative that has the optimism and social commentary typical of Trek, while our hero Captain Picard appears an unstable and violent, barely recognizable from the television show because of his obsession (although he returns to his normal self in the last 10 minutes). However, Star Trek Insurrection has the characters reacting as more of their normal selves, although also in surprising ways because of the narrative. Insurrection isn’t merely an adventure (as was First Contact), but also a social commentary in fine Trek tradition.
Some fans enjoy Insurrection, others do not. Yet, on this 10th Anniversary of Insurrection, it is good to think about an era when Star Trek was on television and in stores, in the mainstream, even if fading some because of the times. Star Trek Insurrection is a film worth revisiting, a film that before Wall-E warned of the dangers of letting modernity and technology affect our humanity. A film that teaches us that haste makes waste and that slow and steady wins the race. It is a refreshing, nostalgic, funny, and romantic film.
Insurrection reminds us it is about the human adventure
More Insurrection 10th Anniversary coming up
In the coming days we will have more coverage of the 10 year anniversary of Picard and crew’s travels in the Briar Patch, including looking at the film’s reception, more trivia, the science of Insurrection and collectibles of Insurrection. So get ready to stretch your faces into a smile.
More full coverage of Star Trek Insurrection at TrekCore and Memory Alpha.
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Comments»
Insurrection certainly had the best story of the TNG films.
Second!
I don’t care what anyone says, this was one of my favorite Star Trek movies. Although for me, I’m a fan of them all.
(Yes- even TMP and STV lol)
This film is often overlooked. I agree, in that it is a better ‘Star Trek Film’ than FC. All of the characters are given a moment in the sun, and it’s touching. Everytime I watch the scene where Geordie sees the sunset, I can’t help getting tears in my eyes. Beautiful.
I do however wish we saw the Picard Court Martial scene – that would have been wonderful. Boothby clapping – just the thought gives me goose bumps!
I’ve said it once on here, and I’ll say it again:
No Riker Beard = No Interest for Remington Steele
Great article, John. I would love to read that first draft by Michael Piller. Fascinating.
Despite it’s episodic feel this is still a highly enjoyable film, one that I have revisited many times!
I have to agree, a truly underrated film in the franchise. ‘Insurrection’ isn’t perfect but…when I watch it I feel myself connecting to these characters in a way I didn’t in ‘Generations/ First Contact/ Nemesis’. Some of the humour does miss the mark, but some of it lands exactly where it is supposed to, and the story is definitely more of a nod to the more allegorical stories of Trek’s past, which is a good thing for me.
All in all, a gem of a movie…perfectly polished but with the odd flaw at its centre.
Ooh and yeah, a Picard Court Martial Scene would have been great, I can see it now, the great Mr Stewart acting his socks off as he is accused….oooh goosebumps
Too bad that Star Trek: Stardust was never realized.
Apocalypse Trek sounded like an intriguing concept, thanks for bringing that up, John.
I know you guys didn’t like this one all that much, but for me (a big TOS fan, a small TNG, and no fan of other Trek), this was the 2nd best with the next gen cast.
Not a bad movie.
Insurrection is one of my favorites Trek films.
Piller always was a genius to me. The best Trek writer for me
I remember waching for the very first time this film in my house, at night, with headphones (I live in Argentina and here the film never has been shown in theaters)
#7 I agree 100%. It had that feeling of crew “bonding”, similar to Trek V for the TOS guys.
While I can appreciate Insurrection on its own, my problem with this movie lies on the huge missed opportunity it represents.
This movie was released roughly around the same time the DS9 episode “In The Pale Moonlight” had aired, in which it is revealed that Betazed is captured by the Dominion. A far better story that can deal with a lot of the same issues (as well as serve as a better way to get Worf in the movie and a better way to rekindle the Riker/Troi relationship) would have been to tell a story where Picard et al go to the ends of the Earth to save Betazed from the Dominion.
Its always bothered me that, aside from that quick reference to ketricel (sp?) white there is nothing to show that these people are at War. Having the flag ship that far away from the front never made sense to me.
Again, the movie’s not bad, but when you think about what could have been, its atrocious.
Insurrection would have made a good episode of the TV series, it wasn’t a feature film in story or production.
The thing is, TNG ran for 7 years, explored countless social and ethical issues and whilst Star Trek should never be something else, for film it needs to be bigger bolder and more action driven. First Contact was a great example of how to turn a huge TV series into a film franchise – why for the life of me there wasn’t a sequel to that movie – linking it to DS9 and the dominion war (great cinematic chances with that story) – i won’t know.
Instead we were treated to a very well written episode that to be honest, perhaps crippled the franchise.
Piller’s first treatment seems so much more appealing and broader in scale and scope than what eventually became Insurrection. A pity this was not filmed.
not a bad picture, i thought it was fun, but pretty light… the bad guy in this one was the weakest trek villain, other than his ick factor, there really wasnt much there… certainly no KAAAHHHHHNNN!
only saw this one twice, maybe its time for a re-viewing… 10 years old already?
thats hard to believe.
#13 & 14, while not being a fan of ds9 at all, i have to admit the suggestion of a sequel to FC is spot on, a real missed opportunity for the series to put that frontier outpost on the big screen.
I think “Insurrection” was really a lost opportunity to get back to the moral complexity of some of the best TNG episodes. Remember “The Hunted” from Season 3? In that episode, Picard recognizes the social complexity of the situation, helping to hunt the dangerous veterans down in the beginning, but also addressing the responsibility of the peaceful people of Angosha.
In “Insurrection”, it just seems clear cut that the Ba’ku are the good guys and the So’na are the bad guys. Even when it turns out that the So’na were outcast simply because they preferred another way of life, Picard turns it into an argument against them. But was it really necessary for the Ba’ku to outcast those among them who would later become the So’na? Isn’t that planet big enough for people who like to use technology and people who reject it?
Of course, one could argue that it would always end badly with these technology-users. But that only begs the question why technology turned out to be so benevolent in the hands of the Federation.
I think that the “message” of Insurrection boils down to petty bigotry, and it’s pretty far away from everything that was ethically relevant about TNG.
With all the information floating around on the Pile draft, does anyone actually happen to have it? Or read it? The early draft of First Contact was (or still is) on the net, too.
One of the things that made Star Trek one of the best things around is that they do have a lighthearted atmosphere, and like Star Trek 4, they really pulled it off. As well as it did go back to the basics of Star Trek. Even though it was in a middle of a war.
It also went back to the basics of the prime directive and to why they have it, and back to the realism that the bad guys may be people we are suppose to trust while avoiding a dark atmosphere, what ever dark means. Sorta like First Contact.
Star Trek: Insurrection aka Star Trek: The TV Movie.
What a waste of time! I could have gone to the cinema to see something cinematic, but instead got a ‘film’ where I kept on waiting for fades to black for ad breaks.
The film is a huge retrograde step for TNG that set the scene for TNG’s unspectacular fall in Nemesis. Data goes back to the Pinocchio cliche, since he didn’t have his emotion chip with him. We get the same bland ‘humour’ that characterised all TNG: y’know, the sort that raises a smile, but never actually makes you laugh out loud.
And worst of all is the sheer lack of ambition of the film. It’s another Best of Both Worlds Part 2-style letdown. How many times now have we had to put up with TNG coming up with a killer premise for a story only to pussy out in the second episode by not following the idea through to its logical extreme or by hitting the reset switch?
The original Heart of Darkness idea was great. It’s a feature film, so you put your characters through the wringer. You torture them to the limits of their endurance and leave them bloodied and battered so that it’ll take them the two years between the films to get their strength back.
Insurrection is stomach-churningly, vomit-inducingly saccharine, cute and fuzzy and nice. It made the Star Trek franchise look toothless and cowardly. That the TNG era fell apart and died a slow death shortly after this film was well deserved.
Insurrection is disaster of a film and the only good point about it is that the penny dropped and the scales fell from the mainstream audience’s eyes, leaving the audience to see just how vacuous TNG and its 1980s hippie-dippy, California therapy-speak values truly were.
At least Star Trek V was offensively bad. At least Generations was a disgrace. Insurrection is just achingly dull!
A waste of a good writer, a waste of a good director and a waste of a good cast.
Sad.
Sorry, but I find all this ridiculous. Insurrection was a colossal bore which might have made a decent 60 minute TV episode (though without some punching up for the storyline, I’d find even this doubtful) but certainly failed as a feature film, scriptwise.
But the problem was not lack of action; we’ve seen time and time again this assumption that the ST films must essentially be cliche action movies with a villain and whatnot. And much of this is based on the failure of the ultra-boring Star Trek the Motion Picture–as though ST producers, directors, and writers have been trying to live that one down ever since. When the formula works (Wrath of Khan) it seems like a good idea; but when it doesn’t, the assumption is that they just didn’t get the formula “right” this time, and can do better with it in the future. But this is wrong, dead wrong.
The reason the very first ST film (The Motion Pic) went south was not just that it was slow and pondering–it was–but its pace wouldn’t have been inappropriate given a better script. Unfortunately, a very great director (Robert Wise) who was one of the best film editors ever and had made classics like “The Haunting” was forced to work with a crap, half-baked idea which didn’t really GO anywhere.
Rather than come up with intriguing, well-structured stories, however, the subsequent ST films went for simplistic action-type conflict. We always had to have a villain, or some macguffin for the crew to cope with. The can be okay if they truly serve the story… but when they’re the CENTRAL focus of the story again and again, it’s just repeating a formula.
Again, there’s nothing wrong with action. It needs to be in there somewhere, because this is film we’re talking about, not a book. But look at First Contact. Great ST film. Why? Not because of the action, which is cool and moves at a great pace. No, it’s because of the atmosphere created AROUND the action. Yeah, the Borg and the Borg Queen are great villains, but that’s not what made the film work. What made it work was that it made a strong impression–films need to do that–it was a creepy, horror-driven story which got under the flesh.
But more cerebral films can work ALSO, if the script is handled properly. But the script for Insurrection had nothing new to offer, nothing intriguing about it, and the story went nowhere. Now, sure, if you want to rewrite the Federation as being bad as any modern nation-state today, trading on its good name so it can exploit the poor and the weak and so on—go for it. But that also negates the whole original vision of Star Trek. So Insurrection compromised, and once that was done, you had nothing.
But again, the pattern seems to have been for Star Trek to go the way of action or the way of the lukewarm political when its back is up against the wall. But how about this for a keen idea? How about returning to science fiction? How about that? How about intriguing concepts that don’t involve battles in space and villains or thinly-veiled pieces of humdrum political philosophizing? We used to get much more than that, all the time, in the original Star Trek, and we used to get it all the time in Sci Fi. Bring weirdness and shock back into the mix. Bring horror and tension back into it. Then slam in some twists and turns… and you’d break away from the formulas.
THAT is what Star Trek has to do to stay alive. Get back to what it was about—and what it was LIKE–in the first place.
I thought Insurrection had a pretty solid story. You just had to accept its premise. However, I sure would like to have seen a Star Trek movie loosely based on “Heart of Darkness”!
HAVE TO LAUGH…
…that even the TRAILER is filled with stereotypical TNG technobabble!
Federation Engineer: “And you want this joystick installed where??”
Riker: “Right where I said, mister, and get it done before Picard gets back. Chop chop!”
Has it really only been a decade since this turkey came out? I want to enjoy this movie. The cast is solid. Donna Murphy is yummy. But this is such a… I don’t know… Southern California movie. Not a Hollywood movie. Everything in here looks like veneer and stucco, including the script and especially the peripheral casting (Daniel Hugh Kelly needs to go back to soap operas and don’t even get me started on the generic cute kid)… and the not-so-special special effects. The Sona ships look like they came with the CGI software. Ah, and the big twist — they’re one race. Don’t hate me for that spoiler, since it was lifted directly from The Dark Crystal, and wasn’t exactly a shocker there either.
Insurrection marks a serious drift away from what a Trek movie could be… which gets much, much worse with the next film.
I remember Gene Siskel reviewed this movie not long before he passed away and gave it a glowing review – which I found odd since he was always brutal on Trek films. Then I read later that he and Pillar were friends.
I like Insurrection but it does feel more like a really expensive and well made two hour episode than a motion picture.
I thought this movie was annoying. A boring, TNG-era forgettable tv story retread involving character-free Southern California “aliens” caught up in the predictable schemes of a warmed-over leftover Khan wanna-be… Utterly uninspiring, generically designed, and worse – “small” in scope and ambition. This was an insurrection? Involving 1 (cause that’s all you see) rogue Federation admiral? And some race of aliens that can travel the galaxy with amazing warp technology, but can’t find a decent plastic surgeon? This movie pissed me off. All those resources, all that time, not to mention the ticket price…
People need to open their eyes. The only really “good” ST movies are the first, which was an honorable, interesting failure, and Khan, which was fun and smart. All the others, even First Contact, which made no sense at all (why didn’t the Borg just go back in time in their own space instead of in front of everyone thus pretty much announcing to the universe their intention to do so?) plus screwed with cannon RE Cochrane.
RE the new movie. The trailer looks good, but am a bit worried with the possible CHANGE in Kirk’s character. Now he seems to be a rebel-with-a-destiny, one of the more overused character types in Hollywood movies over the last 20 years. In TOS, he was a BOOKWORM for corn’s sake! Handsome to be sure, but a NERD nonetheless.
@Randall:
A science fiction trek movie? Unheard of!
Seriously, I’be heen hoping for something like this for too long to believe it could ever happen. I think there was a story for Trek 7 floating around that actually sounded quite science-fictiony, something about a being from a parallel universe that intends no evil but somehow threatens do destroy our space-time-continuum … that sounded intriguing.
But we got Generations. And then we got FC, which was at least a decent sci-fi-flick (as opposed to a science fiction movie). And then we got … INS.
I agree somewhat. This may have made for a mediocre TNG episode, certainly not worthy of feature length treatment.
The so-so nature of this film plus the equally poor Nemesis helped put the kibosh on the TNG film franchise. They at least pale in comparison to First Contact.
That being said, it would be interesting to revisit TNG. Probably won’t happen though.
Good trek film, really nice character moments, but some plot details make me uncomfortable. ie , the opera singing with Picard, Data and Worf, and they seemed to been using a kind of infrared remote control to turn off Data . Good movie anyway . nice to see another argentino posting in this site.( i’m from Bariloche)
Insurrection was not a bad film. Certainly not the best of the franchise but far from the worse.
My issue is with the plot and production values. It felt like an episode of TNG, not a Trek MOVIE. Like it was said in the article, TNG on for 7 years made them pretty much address every social-political issue there is.
I don’t agree with the article saying the Baku village was well done. I wholeheartedly disagree. Star Wars was out the next year and they had a feel on how to create an other planet and make you feel it’s real.
What was the Baku village? A cheap, small-scale set in California (yet again) populated by aliens who look like humans.
I’m just happy the new Trek movie has huge production values. The “cheapness” of production especially for TNG movies cost them a lot of their reputation.
Singing should be banned from Star Trek movies. The sense of humor in this film is also hard to bear.
how about this for a keen idea? How about returning to science fiction? How about that? How about intriguing concepts that don’t involve battles in space and villains or thinly-veiled pieces of humdrum political philosophizing? We used to get much more than that, all the time, in the original Star Trek, and we used to get it all the time in Sci Fi. Bring weirdness and shock back into the mix. Bring horror and tension back into it. Then slam in some twists and turns… and you’d break away from the formulas.
Nothing to add to this – I just thought it was worth repeating! :-)
Sorry – should have put that text in quotes: #21, Randall
John, you talk about Frakes’ efforts to make the Baku’s gestures flow and show their humanity. And yet, they just look like really, really dull people. You almost expect one of them to fall in the river and start to drown until Riker jumps in and saves ‘em. And by the way, that’s just one of many things that feels pre-visited in this film.
Also, you’re much kinder about which humorous bits works and which bits do not. I could forgive Worf’s zit. But, Data’s balloon-arse… no way. Just too stupid an image to get out of my mind.
I respect any Trekker’s right to like what he/she (one?) likes. This film is the least watched in my Trek collection. (As bad as Nemesis is, it had better special effects.)
This is my least favourite Star Trek film. I think it’s worse than TFF and TMP. Here’s why:
First, we’re supposed to sympathise with the Ba’ku and think of the Son’a as the aggressors. But we actually discover that the true situation is reversed: both the Ba’ku and the Son’a are (were) one-and-the same race; and the Ba’ku decreed that their zero tolerance approach to technology is correct and simply forced the Son’a to accept this or leave. So the putative victims are the true aggressors.
Second, the Ba’ku planet could be used to help millions and millions of people throughout the galaxy. But we, the audience, are supposed to care more about the handful of simple Ba’ku not leaving their homes than we are about the millions and millions of people throughout the galaxy, who are suffering and dying! After spending a short time on the planet, Geordie’s optic nerves begin to regenerate and cure his blindness. Imagine how many countless people, of all races, could be similarly benefited. And, I am correct in saying that the Ba’ku planet is in Federation Space? If so, the Ba’ku may inhabit the planet; but it’s not their planet. Move them!
Third, we have too many silly moments in this film. We have Picard, Worf, and Data singing; Data talking about breasts; Worf getting a pimple, etc. And the Riker-Troi romance was just painful to watch. As has been said, this film is largely responsible for the poor performance of Nemesis, which was, in my opinion, a good TNG film.
I think we ought not to celebrate, but rather forget, the anniversary of Insurrection.
STV and ST:Insurrection are the stinkers of all the movies. One poster noted that Insurrection would have made a better TV episode than a movie. I agree.
Tepid movie. I’ve only seen it once, in the theater.
But, as the review mentions, the score was good enough for me to buy. I didn’t know there were missing tracks though — strange, considering how the one thing I would criticize about the soundtrack is that it is a bit repetitive.
Scott B. out.
Just a quick note: The Star Trek: TMP soundtrack is NOT quite complete. There is still music missing (the “Captain’s Log” pieces featuring the Alexander Courage theme for example) not to mention Goldsmith’s alternate cues.
I’m sure GNP, Film Score Monthly, Intrada, or Varese Sarabande would love to release expanded Trek scores but it would be very expensive.
26. SK – December 11, 2008
‘RE the new movie. The trailer looks good, but am a bit worried with the possible CHANGE in Kirk’s character. Now he seems to be a rebel-with-a-destiny, one of the more overused character types in Hollywood movies over the last 20 years. In TOS, he was a BOOKWORM for corn’s sake! Handsome to be sure, but a NERD nonetheless’.
They’re not changing Kirk’s character. They’re changing Kirk. For the Kirk that we have at the moment, Shatner’s Kirk, had a completely different past to the one which will be depicted in Trek XI. This ‘Kirk’ is from an alternative time-line to Shatner’s Kirk, after the temporal shenanigans of Nero. Both Kirks share the same genetics; but their social conditioning is very different. They will make different choices and their paths will be different. This Kirk may be a ‘rogue’; whereas Shatner’s Kirk was a bookworm.
So we must remember that, when we watch this film, the young Kirk we see is not temporally continuous with Shatner’s Kirk; and they are raised in totally different environments. Think of him as a mirror-Kirk…
This is my second favorite of the TNG films, behind First Contact. It does have some uneven moments, but my overall memory of it is fond. The moment when Anij slows time down for Picard is enchanting – I always found myself holding my breath through it.
I kind of LIKE the fact that the villains and victims are all morally gray rather than one being “good” and the other being “bad.” In general, this principal works better on TV than in cinema, but I think it’s something TNG fans have grown to expect. To have it otherwise would have seemed like a gross oversimplification to me.
“…it’s not their planet. Move them!”
HA! Agreed, Alec, but why even bother. There are like what 52 Baku? Draw a radius 500 klicks around them and leave it at that. The whole rest of the planet becomes the ultimate spa experience. Free or wildly overpriced, let the Fed decide… but to not use it is stupid. Even the Son’a could have simply moved to the far side of the planet and lived in peace (instead of in pieces.)
#40
If they only were depicted as morally gray! But we seem to be expected to accept the Ba’ku as the good guys without question.
Meant to add – Yes, they did over-egg the comic relief pudding (although not as egregiously as STV).
#42 – it didn’t seem at all to me that that was what was expected of the audience, but YMMV.
What?? No mention of the joystick in the review?? lol
I’d have been pleased if Piller’s original draft story had come to the screen instead of what Insurrection wound up being: an OK two-part episode.
#44
OK, let’s say at least PICARD seems to accept the Ba’ku as unambiguous good guys. And since Picard is the “moral center” of TNG (if not of all of Trek), I kind of felt bullied into sharing his position …
To 41. CmdrR – December 11, 2008
Exactly! The planet is big enough for both the Ba’ku and the Son’a. So where is the conflict? Where is the plot?
I think what has always put me off this movie is the shoddy details. While the story is wonderful and refreshing, there are just too many elements in this movie that make it feel cheap. Here are a few that make me cringe just remembering them:
– Dougherty’s oversized belt buckle makes it seem like he’s wearing a Halloween costume instead of a Starfleet uniform.
– Data distracted by singing? I guess anything’s possible, especially given that he was damaged at the time. But what could have possibly lead to Picard to think that that’s what would happen? If someone hits my computer with a shovel and it starts acting up as a result, I’m not going to think to myself, “Aha, the last thing I was working on was editing my photos. I bet that if I work on them some more, the computer, in its damaged state, will act especially quirky.” It’s just not believable.
– Riker choosing to use a Commodore 64 joystick at the end to manually pilot the Enterprise. It’s not something any Enterprise helmsman ever needed to do before, even in far more perilous situations than the one Riker was in, so it just seems like a gimmick. By comparison, how many present-day Captains would willingly turn AWAY technology in an emergency?
– Details like the countdown on the Son’a ship being in Roman numerals. It would of course be less exciting for us, the audience, to see a countdown in an alien script, and not know if we’re coming up to six seconds left or sixty seconds left, but there are so many better ways one could accomplish that.
– While all of the above could be explained away or justified to some degree, I think the deleted library scene is beyond reprehension. I could understand having a reading room in the 24th century, but why on Earth would Troi and Riker go there to research their mission? It’s not like they couldn’t access that information on their private terminals, or from anywhere else for that matter (you can pretty much do that today). So the only reason I can think for why they’d go there is so as to be rude to everyone who might be there, silently reading or working. And the librarian, with her horn-rimmed glasses…ugh. I’m grateful they cut the scene, but it definitely goes to show the poor taste in which this movie was made.
I think Insurrection solidified in my mind the idea, proven a few years later by Nemesis, that the people working on Star Trek then either did not care about it at all or just had very little talent and ability. Stories which could have been good (even the story in Nemesis COULD have been good) were ruined by ridiculously over-the-top costumes and sets, unbelievable plot elements and unrealistic details. It just wasn’t the Star Trek of the TNG series anymore.
To 46. Jakob – December 11, 2008
The Ba’ku are, in fact, the bad guys! See my post: number 35.
Oops, “Roman numerals”…hehe. No, they didn’t go quite that far. I meant Arabic numerals, of course.
When I was 14, the one fact about this film that drove me away from this movie was that the visual effects weren’t going to be done by Industrial Light and Magic. I was a big visual house junkie and I always looked at the VFX crew as part of any ordinary crew on a film’s production.
When I saw Star Trek V, I knew the moment I saw the Enterprise’s shuttle bay that these were not ILM’s work. And the effects just got worse from there on out with the god awful “Warp Speed now!” effect that made the Enterprise look like a printed picture being moved from right to left.
So when Insurrection came out to theaters, I was expecting the effect to be mediocre. And sure enough, they were. I thought the Isolinear Tag shooting droids were very unrealistic looking, and the space effects looked too bland with no richness, depth or detail.
Now that’s a lot of negative I’m putting on the film for just it’s visual effects, but the story wasn’t that great either. In fact, I found it insulting. I’m sorry to say this, but SCREW this civilization’s immortal life style! If substance from the planet’s rings can actually make the universe better, don’t you think the Baku ‘might’ be alright with being relocated if it would mean to save millions of lives across the galaxy? It’s not like if they’re relocated that they won’t get the same treatment that we’ll give everyone else. And if they say no, that pretty much makes them one heck of an arrogant and self-centered society.
A crappy movie. But no worse or better than the other TNG movies, all of which have been abysmal.
Lipstick on a pig.
#13…we have no way of knowing when Insurrection took place within the Trekverse… it could’ve been set after The Dominion War, but before Worf assumed his Ambassadorial duties…the timeline Ru’afo referred to (24 months) in reference to The Borg, The Cardassians, The Dominion having attacked The Federation, and the theme of rebirth, of new life the movie conveys, certainly implies as much. Plus the ‘Dominion negotiations’ reference in the beginning of the film lends credibility to said supposition.
Can’t believe it’s 10 years since Insurrection!
It’s been too long since there was any new TNG Trek.
I agree with the review – a lot of the Trek films didn’t feel like proper films, but just feature length episodes. Insurrection was no exception.
Some of the comedy definitely fell flat for me. And those awward moments of bad jokes are what makes the movie not work well in my opinion.
Also, i’m sorry to say that i think this movie marked the beginning of the end for Trek appealing to mainstream audiences. Try watching the movie again andpretend that you are not a fan…that you have little knowledge of the characters and the universe they inhabit. I think those casual, non-fan movie goers were sorta taken back very early in the film with a kind of “what the hell am i watching?’ feeling. the opeing is ok with DATA flipping out in the village, but the dinner party at the begining is probably silly and unimpressive to mainstreamers. And the the SINGING! The singing when picard and worf are tryin to “confuse” data and capture him and his ship. That part just gives me an embarrassed feeling. I mean, we as fans “know” how data works. and we understand what picard is trying to do to data by singing a song from his recent past. but that part has to leave mainstreamers with a baffled feeling. like i said “what the hell am i watching?!”
I’ve always liked this movie. I don’t *love* it, but I enjoy it whenever I see it.
John’s review is extremely fair. INS is alot easier to defend than TFF, that’s for sure!
For me, the concept of the Federation outpost was a rather weak rehash on the TNG season 3 ep “Who Watches the Watchers”… and the whole movie spirals downward from there.
idk tho…that singing scene in the shuttles always had a homosexual vibe to it…but that could’ve been the Gilbert & Sullivan they sang XD
By far a horrible movie, the worst one of the entire series. I rate it last, followed closely by Star Trek TMP.
I don’t agree with #52. I think First Contact and Nemesis were two of the best movies in the entire Trek franchise, beat out only by Star Trek VI and Star Trek II. But that’s just my opinion.
Wow, it was ten years ago?!? I remember going to see this with my Mom – I was ten at the time and it was the first Star Trek movie I saw in theatres. It was also the first time I had seen the TNG crew, since I had been raised on TOS.
I actually liked the film, and it still remains my favorite Trek film to this day – mostly because it’s the only film in which they actually sought out new worlds and new civilizations, and dealt with new allies and new enemies. A lot of films just dealt with things we had already seen before (Klingons…ad nauseum…), so they always felt stagnant.
Insurrection felt fresh and exciting, and was accessible to people who don’t know much about Star Trek (like myself at the time), but with enough references to the rest of the Star Trek Expanded Universe to really give a depth to the film that more educated fans can pick up on and enjoy (like myself when I saw it again years later).
Everytime I dust this DVD off (about every 18months, or so…) I find myself enjoying it more each time…
Great article!
My most hated Trek film. The “Shades of Gray” of the TNG films. I say that because it’s a limp clip-show of a movie. Idea after idea after idea lifted and rehashed from the most mediocre TNG episodes. Horrible.
I’ve long felt that INS was in some sense undermined by the ending that came before it. Stay with me . ..
The reason I’ve never gotten into FC was because of the two deux ex machinas tacked on at the end of the film–one with the Enterprise conveniently hiding from the Vulcan ship, and then the Enterprise’s sudden ability to initiate time travel (talk about opening a huge can of worms!).
I always believed that FC would have been better with a cliffhanger ending–about how is the E going to get home? That would have been a great hook, and would have given the next one more urgency (and kept alot of the same plot).
Moreover, it would have helped address the central problem with the NG films–there was no narrative continuity from film to film, which I always felt was one of the strongest aspects of TOS films, in my opinion.
“And, I am correct in saying that the Ba’ku planet is in Federation Space? If so, the Ba’ku may inhabit the planet; but it’s not their planet. Move them!”
Dude, there is no “Federation Space.” There are planets who have joined the Federation and placed their solar systems and colonies under Federation Protection, and Starfleet maintains a protective sphere against the Romulans, Klingons, Cardassians, etc. But just because your planet falls with the Federation’s Protective territory doesn’t mean they own your planet. What kind of fascist Star Trek fans are they raising these day?
The only problem I had with this picture is that I sided with Dougherty and not Picard, which made me root against our traditional heroes. If the planet’s rings were going to mean great medical advances for millions of people within the Federation, why not relocate 600 of them? I also thought the Ba’ku were smug, uninteresting, and unlikeable, with their condescending lectures on seizing the moment were tiresome.
It’s easy to rag on INSURRECTION, but I still hold it above the other TNG movies. It was the one that most felt like a TNG episode to me, and most of the episodes were far better than NEMESIS or GENERATIONS (still contend they should have held onto “YESTERDAY’S ENTERPRISE” as a script; with some re-tooling, it could have made the perfect crossover film).
A media professor friend of mine recently said, “Think what you will of “The Phantom Menace”, but years later it’s still provoking more discussion than many more high-minded films that have come since.”
It appears that ‘Insurrection’ still provokes as well- I remember that, upon its release, even the *actors* were questioning the decisions made in regard to the Ba’ku in this film, which is puzzling, considering their eleven years’ experience with TNG’s ‘advanced sensibility’.
When neophytes ask about TNG, I always direct them to this movie- it really does demonstrate how humans are different in TNG’s era- that however trivial the problem, they are determined not to repeat a mistake of the past- in this case, as Picard says, “the forced relocation of a small group of people to benefit a large one.”
When people place their 20th/21st century values on this story, it just doesn’t jive, but if you really think it over, you quickly come to the conclusion that actions like the ones taken in this evoke what Star Trek is all about, and moreso than any other of the films (so far……!).
No discussion of the production values of this film should occur without mentioning the fact that they never even finished the climax of the movie. I don’t hate this film, but it drives me nuts to see the blue screen instead of space or some other appropriate background material at the end while Picard fights Ruafo on the platform. Did they simply not have time because they tacked on this ending? Or did they just now want to spend the money?
Either way, this really ruins the movie for me in the same way that the pathetic effects in ST V do much to undermine that movie.
Ok, well since everyone is sharing their opinions: my preferred order of TNG films is-
1. First Contact
2. Insurrection
3. Nemesis
4. Generations
To me, First Contact is about as good as TNG is ever gonna get on the big screen. Insurrection, while boring and warm-fuzzy like for some, really hits the core of what Star Trek is about, Nemesis has some great moments but just had the wrong idea (clones times 2-Shinzon & B4). Take those two elements out and replace them with a new idea, the rest is a lot of fun and action. Generations, while having Kirk, Scotty, and Sulu falls flat, feels rushed and contrived. It’s so sad that Kirk had to die because it was the easy and lazy way to create drama for a hastily put together Star Trek movie. Stupid for Paramount to have rushed this one.
I still think Frakes would have done my bottom two choices more justice as the director. I also feel a Q related movie would have been a good follow-up to First Contact, since it was Q who actually brought the Borg into Picard’s life.
Oops, I have a heache….did I say Sulu? Lord, I meant Chekov!
Ok, headache….Kirk OUT!
The first draft with some minor changes would have been a hell of a story to tell.
Even if i’m a Star Trek fan, and i enjoy watching this particular movie, i still think this is one of the weakest Star Trek film ever done.
yes, jimj…a Q movie would be great!
The film was episodic, predictable, and heavy handed with the moral platitudes.
One of the worst in Star Trek film history, I’d say in the bottom 3. Just a bloated TNG episode that we have all seen before.
I liked Insurrection when it first came out, saw it twice on opening weekend. But over the course of time the movie does not hold up for me. The movie just feelings like a made for tv movie blown up on the big screen. There are character moments in the movie I just have to skip over if I catch on TV. Worf’s zit is one of them and Picard dancing is another. I think are other ways of showing Picard becoming younger then having him dance. And of course the singing. That didn’t bother so much has in I could see the general public walking out of the movie thinking what the hell?! The themes of the movie I was fine with it was the execution of the movie was just not very good. And even Jonathan Frakes admitted that he didn’t feel the script was that great so his directing was not that good. And Michael Piller who I thought was a great writer just didn’t have the time fix all of the story issues with the script. Insurrection was the beginning of the end of TNG. If Paramount and Berman would have waited and not rushed the movie into production I think that insurrection could have been much more.
What’s that new word they added to the dictionary?
Meh
It was okay, but whenever I watch it I always get to the end and think…meh.
I’m a bit curious, but what was the original ending that didn’t sit well with test audiences?
10 years already? Wow.
Insurrection is not a bad film. It’s biggest problem was that it was the follow-up to First Contact, combined with the fact that it feels more like an episode than a movie. It needed a more “epic” feel.
But it’s a good story. I like it. I place it about fifth on my list of favorite Trek movies.
@77…
Meh is an interjection, an expression of apathy, indifference, boredom. It can also be an adjective, meaning mediocre or boring.
Hmm. Never did see this film; the ads didn’t impress; the reviews at the time did nothing to contradict the impression I got from the ads, and my friends who did see it and who know my tastes said “meh; give it a miss.” So, I gave it a miss.
This review is a bit different. I still feel no particular urge to see the film (there are still dozens of TNG episodes I’ve never seen, for that matter), but I’m definitely more open to seeing it if someone happens to have it on, or if I stumble across it on late-night TV. By viewing it simply as a TNG episode that happened to be shown in theaters, I’d probably be cool with it. It sounds like a reasonable mid-season sort of episode.
Re: “…it is good to think about an era when Star Trek was on television and in stores, in the mainstream, even if fading some because of the times.” … I see a lot of that kind of nostalgia on this site, and my reaction is bemusement. I look fondly back on my many pleasant Star Trek memories, but they’re all about the quality of the show (or the quality of some especially choice tie-in material related to the show), never about the show’s varying levels of market success. There seems to be a common thread around here of many fans who take particular pleasure in Trek selling/marketing well, which I find interesting (if a bit baffling) :) Just a difference of subcultures within subcultures, I guess.
Excellent story, thanks — it’s fascinating to learn about the original story, and I wished they’d incorporated more of those themes. The thing that always drove me nuts about this movie was that the “Insurrection” was against one Starfleet admiral who didn’t even have a ship. Pretty lame stakes, if you ask me.
Anyway, yes, INS has lots of wonderful character moments but also lots of embarrassing moments.
Horrible movie. The high points- Worf’s Zit? Enterprise Joystick control? UHHHHHHHhhhhh….
38. ScottDS – December 11, 2008
You can find the bootleg for the last three TNG movies on eBay. Each one of them is around 80min. Goldsmith’s music is pure magic.
What about the missing music from Nemesis? There is an AWESOME cue right at the end of the movie when you see the Enterprise being built in Drydock with a reprise of the TMP theme..it wasn’t on the soundtrack:((
Still a good movie…
Calling the script initially Star Trek: Stardust should have been Paramount’s first clue about ANY iteration of the outcome of this film.
84. Ran: ‘Goldsmith’s music is pure magic.’
You see, I disagree with that. I remember how excited everyone was when he was brought in for First Contact, but all he did was reference his past scores. The only good original piece of music in FC, in my opinion, was the percussion Borg theme, which was the work of Joel Goldsmith.
I can hum the music from TMP and TWOK and TVH easily. TSFS rehashed themes from TWOK. What is new and memorable about any score since TVH? I can’t remember anything of them!
I’m so glad we’ve got Michael Giacchino on the new film. It’ll likely be the first truly memorable Trek score in 23 years!
I hate to burst anyone’s bubble, but Insurrection is my least favorite of all the Trek movies. I was extremely disappointed when I saw it ten years ago and that disappointment continues. It is probably the only Trek movie that I could count on one hand the amount of times I’ve watched it. The score is the only redeeming factor.
I don’t see how anyone could find it better than The Final Frontier honestly…
Insurrection was a glorified TV episode with nothing really going for it. Final Frontier at least had brilliant character moments and I can sit all the way through it.
I wanted a TNG movie with a Q in it as the main villian thrusting the Enterprise into some sort of do or die situation with heart-wrenching sacrafice built in, such as the death of Data, as Q wouldn’t give a crap as Data was artificial, which would help to solidify him as a bad ass villian to Picard. Villian Q could have been cast as anyone, big time hollywood A-list actor, not necessarily John DeLancie, who was awesome, but we know movies need star power. DeLancie could of had a cameo at the end of the film to pick up the other Q and take him back to the Continuum. The possibilities of a Q movie would be endless.
One of my favorite trek movies, and a great birthday present from Paramount.
So does Data really double as a flotation device?
I just always hated how the Ba’Ku look EXACTLY like humans, not even a funny nose or forehead. I understand that in TOS this happened b/c of limited budget, but there’s NO excuse for this in a feature film! That plus there’s supposedly the Dominion War going on…only the biggest threat to the Alpha Quadrant since…oh, the Borg? And the crew is off playing in the villages with the Aryan race aliens? Once you get over those 2 things, it’s not a bad film, I guess.
68. zirclet ‘A media professor friend of mine recently said, “Think what you will of “The Phantom Menace”, but years later it’s still provoking more discussion than many more high-minded films that have come since.” It appears that ‘Insurrection’ still provokes as well . . .’
It provokes yawns perhaps! ;) Quite honestly, I think you’ll find this is a film so inconsequential that most people don’t give it a second thought unless provoked by an article such as this one. FC gets discussed because it was the only half decent film: by being a zombie film set in the Trek universe, it attracted the punters. Generations killed Kirk, so it gets plenty of (negative) attention. Nemesis was the nail in TNG’s coffin, so that inevitably gets picked on. Insurrection, meanwhile is so twee, so naff and inoffensive as to be forgotten.
The film is just another example of TNG’s patronising, faintly racist attitude to non-human races. Humans are superior, non-humans are there to be mocked (Worf and his zits) or looked down upon as primitives that humans used to be like. TNG isn’t about exploring and learning: it’s about an imperialist, fascist ‘Federation’ forcing its values on other races.
DS9, ironically, was the only show with the balls to point that out!
This movie has some special meaning to me in that it was the first time I got to work on a Star Trek film, even if it was a short stint.
I got to work as a camera assistant on several shots, and the shot with the little humming bird when Picard first “slows thing down.”
I remember what a happy crew it seemed to be even tho that particular shot had some technical problems plaguing it.
I remember what a jolly and open guy Jonathan Frakes can be and how it was obvious that he was having a great time. I have worked with him now on two other films, Clockstoppers and Nemesis, and he’s really terrific.
It was fun.
89. Jordan: ‘I don’t see how anyone could find it better than The Final Frontier honestly… Insurrection was a glorified TV episode with nothing really going for it. Final Frontier at least had brilliant character moments and I can sit all the way through it.’
TFF was a hugely ambitious project scuppered by an iffy script, studio-enforced ‘humour’, a series of strikes, a third-rate FX house, because ILM wasn’t available, and a huge budget cut (50 per cent) just before filming began.
TFF had lofty ambitions and failed. Insurrection had no ambitions and boldly went nowhere!
Something that always bothered me was that with the TNG films we never really got a feel for the Federation, it was always Picard and the Enterprise. Had Piller’s early draft made the film I believe it would have touched what the TOS movies did with showing us that there is in fact a full fledged Federation behind the Enterprise.
I would have loved to see a court marshal scene with Picard. Insurrection was a fine film, but it always feels detached from the rest of the TNG movies, which I suppose makes it unique, but at the same time it really doesn’t move the characters forward. A throwaway romance and an alien world is far too episodic in nature. Nothing of consequence really happened during the film.
Also, this would have been the perfect film for more Picard/Crusher, but I suppose it will always be Riker/Troi for the films.
95. Chris Dawson
It’s interesting that you won’t hear anyone criticising Jonathan Frakes. Star Trek was way too producer-led. His hands were tied from the outset! pretty much everyone likes and respects him! Given more freedom, he could have been TNG’s Leonard Nimoy!
#90 Adam – Yes, I was disappointed they never made Q the antagonist in one of the features. He was a truly theatrical character who would have worked well on the big screen. Over the years, especially in his non-TNG series appearances, he kind of got neutered and defanged. It would have been a blast to see him return to his more malevolent roots.
Am I the only person who’s on the side of the Son’a here? Honestly, the inahbitants of this planet are selfish enough that they would keep the fountain of youth for their little backwards community rather than sharing it with the galactic community. I would have been all for transporting the selfish pricks to a new planet.
This movie was just plain dumb.
I realize we all sort of grew tired of Trek (Voyager and Enterprise sort of played into formula to much) but I don’t want us to overlook the positive aspect of having “producers” that tie the hands of writers and directors. It helps maintain a consistent world from show to show and movie to movie. That is a good thing.
Barf. The greastest example of plain white bread with mayo mediocrity.
I recall sitting in a relatively full house for this… and people nodding off or leaving.
it was not that bad, but THE JOYSTICK ruined everything.
101. McCoy: ‘I realize we all sort of grew tired of Trek (Voyager and Enterprise sort of played into formula to much) but I don’t want us to overlook the positive aspect of having “producers” that tie the hands of writers and directors. It helps maintain a consistent world from show to show and movie to movie. That is a good thing.’
I disagree. That a major cinema feature film has to play it safe because of a TV show is deeply stupid. This is where all this ‘canon’ crap has got us: movies that can’t be movies for fear of unsettling a space-station-based TV show and a TV show set on the other side of the galaxy.
Quite frankly, it’s pathetic!
Oh yeah, the joystick..
I forgot about that. That was one thing that was just silly about this movie. The Worf zit thing was funny, and it made sense. Then again, when this movie came out I was 8. (Holy crap that was a long time ago) So humor was a big point for me. That is another reason why I look back at SW Episode 1 with fond memories.
Still the joystick…. Gene would be spinning in his grave. The Enterprise should be something that takes years to learn how to drive (the academy). The joystick made it so that even little 8 year old JP could drive it.
Why are we celebrating the anniversary of this piece of trash. The death of the TNG franchise can be directly tracked back to this movie.
A few of the posters are right; when you think through it logically, the Ba’ku are really the bad guys, denying immortality and eternal youth to the entire galaxy.
Interesting they didn’t deal with more metaphysical quesitons. If, on earth today, we discovered how to live for ever, we would overcrowd our planet in a generation. But in Trek future, we have an entire UNIVERSE! at our fingertips. This is where, i think the movie really pulled away from Roddenberry’s vision. Imagine the possibilities, in Trek universe, of immortal astronauts able to breach the galactic barrier and explore OTHER galaxies. But no, we’ll let this stupid planet keep their immortality stardust.
106. This is why we need a reboot
Plus, to be blunt about it, think of the opportunities for prisoner interrogation. Section 31 could have a field day torturing prisoners to the brink of death, letting them return to full health for a few hours, then start all over again!!
@ 96 Dom:
I get what you’re saying, but TFF is still way better than Insurrection…even by default. TFF was entertaining in my opinion and is also very quotable. I have never quoted Insurrection, because it is a forgettable film.
100.
I think that’s the secret genius of this movie. The Ba’ku were the most evil villains in the history of Star Trek, and the crew was tricked into helping them.
The next movie should have been about the crew returning to earth (paradise) and being eaten by an angry mob for helping them.
Also, 106. You’re right. This is EXACTLY why we need a reboot. Who else here thinks Kirk would have helped the Ba’ku even for a second? He would have said F*&k the Prime Directive. Thank God we’re bringing him back.
Not that it matters, but throw my vote in for “this movie is a disgrace.” Perfect example of why the reboot was necessary.
Despite it’s un-popularity among the TREK community, I still liked Insurrection.
I had never looked at this movie as the death of the franchise, but after seeing all of the points made previously this movie is way worse than I had originally thought. It is truly the perfect example of a franchise needing a reboot. More so than Nemesis or Enterprise.
I wonder if this is what JJ was talking about when he said the trek franchise eventually disconnected for him?
In all fairness, I loved TNG, and that’s why this movie upsets me so much. I feel like expectations were really high after First Contact. It’s just really too bad that Picard and Co. never really got a fair shake.
That being said, I never really knew too much of the production history behind this movie. I think it’s a tragedy they didn’t go with the original Heart of Darkness concept, but instead decided to follow Arnold Shwarzeneggar’s rule of doing “a serious film followed by a funny one.”
88: wow what a poor sense of taste..the borg musical notations where just horrible, boring, uninspiring and dull. Its only when goldsmith lets loose does he come alive too bad his son doesn’t have that magic.
If they had dropped the opera singing, the film woulda been perfect, IMHO.
still godaweful 10 yrs later
I heard, back when this film was in development, called Star Trek: Millenium as I recall, Spock was in a version of the script (Dougherty’s part?) and instead of Baku/Son’a it was Vulcans/Romulans.
Could have been epic.
I heard that Stardust also featured Picard being ordered to kill Data after he went haywire.
I’d love to read the draft script(s) if anybody has them.
I like this movie though, yes, dodgy villain, felt like an episode, but very enjoyable. And I like the tagged on space fight!!
Except for the joystick….
106
“A few of the posters are right; when you think through it logically, the Ba’ku are really the bad guys, denying immortality and eternal youth to the entire galaxy.”
Then the Federation are bad guys too in numerous episodes for denying technology, both medical and tactical, to worlds that requested their aid. The Ba’ku never denied immortality to the entire galaxy because no one ever asked them for it. Instead the So’na and the Federation tried to steal it, hence they had a right to deny the galaxy the gift.
Sounds like the original script was far more interesting. Too bad ‘the committee’ stepped in and we ended up with a less-than-satisfying result. Could have been a great story. And jeez, how do you get F Murray Abraham and then completely waste him in a go-nowhere role? Sad.
#106
So, by your reasoning, if say, Ethiopia had some fantastic natural resource we could all benefit from, but by taking it for ourselves it would not only devastate the lives of their citizens but leave the country uninhabitable, it would be ’selfish’ of them to deny us this?
Sorry, but you won’t be getting my vote for Federation President any time soon…
I reckon this one broke the “odd-numbered film curse”. It is an amazing story, it’s just a pity that not as many people went to see it. They obviously wanted all-action, and this film has a great plot.
Agreed with #2, I love all of them.
Well. Except Generations and Nemsis. So never mind.
@120
a) we’re not talking about oil or gold or something. Think about it this way… if Ethiopia had a natural resource that could cure HIV, but we would need to destroy their country to do it however were willing to peaceably move their population to another just as desireable area, would you say no, let the ethiopians sit on it? I don’t think so. And if you would, and would deny the entire world the cure for the plague of the 20th century, well, you definately dont have my vote for Federation President.
Think of this as galactic eminent domain.
#106
“But no, we’ll let this stupid planet keep their immortality stardust.”
It was the forced relocation part that was at the heart of the story, not just using the radiation. Most of the Ba’ku would have died whilst the Federation took apart the planet.
Imagine it this way. The Federation gains a new planet, after its occupants ask to be entered into the Federation. They have very rare minerals that could help improve warp drive, but the planets inhabitants don’t want to just give it away. Would the Federation forcefully take it? It’s like “Mirror, Mirror”, where the Halkans tell Kirk that with their power they could just take the dilithium, but Kirk tells the Halkans they won’t, because the Federation is not like that. See what I mean?
I’m not sure the original script would have been better. We’ve seen the court-martial thing before, and it sits better with Kirk anyway. Starfleet and the Federation don’t always have to be the bad guy. In fact, I think they’re supposed to be the good guys. Last I checked anyway. That said, Insurrection as is doesn’t work for me either. No character growth (and in Data’s case, character regression) or memorable villainy, and yeah, lots of bad jokes. And MY GOD the joystick…ack.
When the lights came up in the movie theater, i felt i had seen this movie before, then it dawned on me, I had!!!
The Magnificent Seven, about a group of hired gunmen protecting a Mexican village from bandits.
Yul Brynner
Steve McQueen
Charles Bronson
Robert Vaughn
Brad Dexter
James Coburn
Horst Buchholz
Star Trek Insurrection, about the Enterprise-E crew, protecting a Ba’ku village from Son’a bandits.
Patrick Stewart
Jonathan Frakes
Brent Spiner
LeVar Burton
Michael Dorn
Gates McFadden
Marina Sirtis
I like this movie. I find it dynamic and funny. For me, it’s better than FC, because it is not so dark. And the Jerry Goldsmith score is fantastic, I also hope for a complete score release.
I love this one. It’s like a two-part TV episode of TNG. I also like the fact that it’s the least “dark” movie of the TNG movie run.
The story uses a lot of elements from TOS: The Omega Glory, though that episode completely lost it in the final 15 min, while the movie had a good finale.
As noted in the review, a solid TNG concept that lost something in translation, the result being an uneven film. The humor was too often forced, which leaves one squirming. The adversaries were not as sympathetic as they should have been given their circumstances. Yet the story was, at bottom, a good one, great work by Jonathan Frakes as director, an appropriate departure from the ‘big-freaking-scary-adventure tale’ of First Contact, and certainly better than the largely disappointing Nemesis.
#13 took the words out of my mouth. No excuse for not making this Trek film at the time Star Trek: Dominion. This was not the film the franchise needed at the time.
@ 123
“a) we’re not talking about oil or gold or something. Think about it this way… if Ethiopia had a natural resource that could cure HIV, but we would need to destroy their country to do it however were willing to peaceably move their population to another just as desireable area, would you say no, let the ethiopians sit on it? I don’t think so. And if you would, and would deny the entire world the cure for the plague of the 20th century, well, you definately dont have my vote for Federation President.”
So by your logic, lets say the US has enough food surplus to feed Ethiopia, then it would be within Ethiopia’s right to demand they be fed because they can’t do it themselves. Also, the world would BUY the cure from Ethiopia, not steal it. That’s called genocide. Good to know that you think the outcome would justify the needs as long as enough people benefit.
Also, have you looked at the world today? That’s how it operates. Just because you have something people can benefit from doesn’t mean those people have the right to take it from you. If that were the case then we’d all be a happy equal global community because everyone would share everything for fear of being killed for not doing so.
67. Ralph F –
“It’s easy to rag on INSURRECTION, but I still hold it above the other TNG movies. It was the one that most felt like a TNG episode to me, and most of the episodes were far better than NEMESIS or GENERATIONS (still contend they should have held onto “YESTERDAY’S ENTERPRISE” as a script; with some re-tooling, it could have made the perfect crossover film).”
This is the heart of my issue with INS and with it’s defenders: INS felt like a big episode because of it’s lower budget, sloppy continuity, TV-level guest cast and cut-and-paste TNG episode ideas and moments. Defenders of the film often bring up the “It’s a good episode-like film but I still would’ve rather seen “Yesterday’s Enterprise” retooled into a movie” point. I disagree with that, too. “Yesterday’s Enterprise” was admittedly one of TNG’s finest hours. Rehashing it into a movie years after the fact would diminish it’s greatness and, again, we are left with a TNG movie that simply revisits what we’ve all seen and done before on TV.
If you’re going to bring TNG (or any other Trek) to the big screen it should be something special — an original script by an actual movie writer, not one that is written by a TV writer who’s run out of ideas. Of course that doesn’t always insure success — Nemesis’ John Logan proves that.
Sorry, also wanted to point out that the Baku being so blond/white and representing a perfect society was ill advised.
Oooooh sorry they couldn’t have been immortal anymore.
And couldn’t we have just given them some stardust anyway? The federation wasn’t talking about nuking them for God’s sake.
I always liked this movie, but I find that the more time that elapses between the production end of The Next Generation and then the production end of the last movie that I enjoy the episodes and movies that weren’t my favorites to begin with. But now I can at very least enjoy the character moments that can be found within them.
133 – Agree completely. I thought that at the time.
If there’s anything for JJKO to take from INSURRECTION and this board, it’s that there should be a generational [30y] moratorium on shooting any alien planet in the west San Fernando Valley of LA. Once they showed the Baku village [I refuse to use useless apostrophes in Science Fiction], this instantly became a crap-ass episode. It’s the same general location that was used in PLANET OF THE APES, MASH, THE A-TEAM and DUKES OF HAZZARD. For shame. As if Southern California isn’t blessed with nearly every climate zone known to man and one of the greatest diversities of flora… but for some reason 80% of the alien planets have California Life Oaks! Amazing!
This movie sucked. The Sona make up was cartoonishly craptastic. Admiral whatever was too on the nose evil-looking. F. Murray Abraham may have been in a Shakespeare troop with Patrick Stewart, but he’s not 5% of a leading man/villain. Losing Riker’s beard was Bad Idea Jeans. My appreciation for Worf as a character has never recovered from the zit joke.
Wrong, wrong, wrong. Piller may have had the right idea, but funneling that idea through Sherry Lansing’s moribund regime was probably what did it. She’s a smart, respectable woman, but she never really got STAR TREK.
Great work by Jonathan Frakes as director. He really was the best person to direct TNG films. I think if another TNG film ever gets made, he should be the director. Probably the “Number One” way to get all the TNG cast back together, especially Patrick Stewart, as they all love working with Jonathan.
Oh…. and I dont think its too late to make STAR TREK: DOMINION into a movie. The Dominion still exists, and even with ODO now back with the Founders, there is no guarantee they wouldn’t go back to war.
This film managed to be dull even with Anthony Zerbe in the cast. Not an easy feat!
107, I love your idea.
I did not care for Insurrection. It was cliche’ NG for sure. The first season of TOS was what great Trek was about- intrigue and exploration, interwoven with thematical concepts that incorporated contemporary issues. This was an obvious exploitation of the Bosnian War or the Japanese relocation camps. It was small in scope. It had no real action. We were told the story and forced to believe it. The comedy was cliche’ NG as well. The whole Data as humor thing had gotten worn out, even by 1998. All in all, this movie and Nemesis can be summed up with one word- cliche’. Blah blah- same old same old Next Generation. It went on for seven years and that was probably two years too long. The movies were completely unnecessary.
Dull. Yeah, so dull that I’m not inspired to write anymore about it.
…and the adventure continues…
‘Insurrection’ is my favorite of the NG films.
It truly harkens to the ideals of what made the franchise great… a moral tale about social issues.
I wish all the TREK films would follow such a lead.
I loved this film, it was light hearted, but delt with important social/political issues that exist in our world today. Some people were upset that it felt too much like a regular episode of TNG, but I think we needed one of those.
Insurrection is not horrible…. I don’t like that it seems to have more technobabble than the other tng films.
To follow up my original post, although I do love this movie, I did see a few posts that I totally agree with. Why were we given these strange new characters when we could have done something familiar like The Dominion or Q. Infact, although I have accepted Insurrection and Nemesis, I think they should have been replaced with those films. It would make sense to end TNG with a Q story line since that’s pretty much where it started.
This film to me has always been TNG’s version of STIII. More about the characters than about the actual going-ons. It miscues in places (and is not without a plot hole or two) but at least there were no dune buggies.
” … it would be great if GNP or FilmScore would release a complete soundtrack as is available for The Motion Picture.”
The expanded STTMP soundtrack released commercially a few years ago is still not the complete soundtrack. It omits several memorable cues from the film. Thankfully the complete soundtrack *is* widely bootlegged in excellent quality.
Insurrection is my least favorite Star Trek film so far. Too watered down, too derivative of other Star Trek projects, too cutesy in places, and lacking the courage of its convictions in regards to its villains. Mr. Piller’s original story sounds much better but, I assume, was a victim of too many witches spoiling the brew.
#123
So the ends justify the means? Scary reasoning there, friend.
Besides, what the Baku were sitting on was not comparable to the cure for HIV/AIDS. More like a really good stash of botox. Your argument is that the Federation had a *right* to something that would give them – to borrow a phrase – unnaturally long life. Says who?
Of the four films w/ the TNG crew, I think FC and Insurrection were near perfect as big-screen representations of the series- one for its gritty action and one for its humor and humanity. Together, they show both sides of the TNG coin.
Generations and that other film whose name I will not dignify by typing didn’t come close IMHO.
#133
Jeez, I never thought I’d be defending this film (I really hate a lot of it) but who ever said the Baku were ‘the perfect society’? They were 300 people on a remote world that just wanted to be left alone. And the two Baku leads had brown hair, not blonde hair. Sorry, but I think reading racism into that plot is a bit much.
137: Please, no? Can we start a petition so that Frakes is NOT the next director..for the love of god.
Awful movie. I can’t understand the posters who would have called this an even decent TNG episode.
If you’re not going to give us anything interesting to look at, why charge us ten bucks? Because they know we’re going to pony up for it.
I loathed the Baku — from conception to wardrobe, dull and misguided. No jeopardy, no real peril, no memorable images and larded with tedious humor.
A disaster.
Insurrection is still my absolute favorite of the TNG films, and my second or third favorite ST film of all time.
Cheers, Jonathan Frakes. This one’s pure wonderment.
84. Ran – December 11, 2008
Re: bootlegs – I know. ;-) In fact, I have boots of FC, INS, NEM and some (but not all) of Goldsmith’s alternate cues from TMP (the alternate version of “The Enterprise” is wonderful).
What a snoozer of a movie. Any true TNG fan will tell you FC was the best.
I have a friend who is a huge Trek fan and I don’t think he can be in the same room as this movie. This film had so much potential and it would be interesting to read Piller’s first draft. I know he was hoping to publish a book about screenwriting using this film as an example (?) but it never happened.
The visual effects aren’t terrible but you can tell they didn’t get ILM this time. There’s definitely one shot of the drones on the planet (a high angle, I think) that looks really fake. The space shots are alright. Since it’s all CGI, we did get some interesting camera moves and other touches (seeing Data through the shuttle window as it flies by camera, for example).
But the zit joke and the “boobs firming up” lines kill it for me. And I didn’t care for the wardrobe, especially after the crew’s civilian clothing from FC (which I really liked). When my friend and I talk about this film, I tell him, “Oh, you mean the film where they have to protect those crazy-looking aliens?! You know, those white-skinned people who look like us?! Yeah, talk about alien!” :-D
@149
Or think of it this way… why do the Ba’ku have the right to keep it for themselves and exclude everyone else.
Selfish, selfish, selfish
@158
Or think of it this way…why does the Federation have the right to keep technology for themselves and exclude everyone else?
Rights, Rights, Rights.
The movie starts out really well. But once they get to the planet, it turns into some feel good funny ha ha movie. It had such a good story going for it, but the jokes kinda ruined it.
I think that Insurrection was a great film. It was the second best TNG film and it was one of the Trek film franchise’s better films. I know a lot of people bash this film, I never have. (The only Trek films I bash are TMP and TFF, but even they have their good points.) I look forward to more articles about Insurrection.
A snorefest of all treks..I just didnt care about the villians. I mean everyone cared about Khan, the Borg Queen..I even felt something for Sybok..It was like a very boring episode of the three stooges, or even worse..the stooges cartoon series. It had very brief moments but It wasnt enough to save this turkey. I tried watching it again about a few weeks ago and the same thing happened, Thank god was able to shut it off in time before I died of boredom all over again. I hate to rip on frakes about this , but truth is truth.
I wonder what Orci and Kurtzman thought of it? I bet they saw it and said, “Hey, we could do something better than that..”
How about that in depth look at The Cage we were promised?
Good analysis, makes me want to go revisit the film which I’ve only watched a handful of times (as compared to countless viewings of I-VIII)
108. Jordan
Maybe I wasn’t clear enough. I was agreeing with you. :)
Better to be an ambitious failure than a plodder with no ambition!
114. SexyAsianGurl: ‘wow what a poor sense of taste..’
Ahem . . . manners? ;)
‘the borg musical notations where just horrible, boring, uninspiring and dull. Its only when goldsmith lets loose does he come alive too bad his son doesn’t have that magic.’
But you remember them. Hum me any other part of the score that’s not lifted from TMP, darlin’!
What’s that?
Silence?
I rest my case!
I even like Nemesis better than Insurrection. You care more about the crew in Nemesis.
Quote : “it can be argued that Insurrection is a better ‘Star Trek film’ than First Contact. ”
Hearing someone finally say that made my day!
John, your review is probably the best ever written on the movie, which has been very underrated.
Frakes always comments that he thinks INS is a wonderful film and, not only do I thing he’s being honest, but I whole-heartedly agree.
Unlike FC, the characters were IN character and all- except for Data (a misstep)- learned and grew.
I really think that anyone who doesn’t appreciate the humor in the film obviously has no “sense of.”
INS is a feel-good film, unlike NEM, which was a “WTF?” film.
I happened upon a 2-disc set of the INS score at a con and it is very wonderful. Again, superior to FC’s score. Unfortunately, why Goldsmith chose to re-hash so many motifs is beyond me. He got very repetative in his later years- almost like James Horner!
The effects? Come on! They’re far more dynamic and well-designed than the plodding Digital Domain stuff in NEM.
All in all, if a movie ever represented what a TV show was about, this is it.
I thought that “Insurrection” was the most “even-numbered” of the odd-numbered Trek films, i.e. it was definitely one of the better-quality of the odd-numbered films, save maybe “Search for Spock.” It was definitely funny and exciting. Still, I enjoyed “First Contact” better.
God bless!
You mean that awful green screen shuttle chase that looked like a fan made movie?
by they way I have added a poll on INS, opinions are already forming a bell curve, which is not surprising
“Saddle up, lock and load” is probably the most embarrassing line in Trek history. It could have been a much better movie without the often cringe-worthy humour, but it was pretty good for what it was.
I never Once blamed Micheal Piller for this Travesty of a Trek film. I had Heard He Wanted to do something darker, but then Frakes and Berman stepped in and well….we got H.M.S. Pinafore. uhg.
No one mentions that it was Patrick Stewart who wanted a lighter story after FC,
You can only slap some new paint on a set so many times, the sets except the bridge were recycled form other Trek series and in general the Next Gen movies looked cheap, First Contact seemed to have some scale but the rest were overhyped episodes…..This was Paramount being Cheap asses the wondering why the movies didn’t make money?
The new movie DOESEN”T look cheap and actually looks kinda epic!
Darth “CheapASS” BAllz
You know. I actually like this movie. I always kind of considered it a “full length TV episode”. It was everything I like about the TV show, in a full length feature. As mentioned in the review, it was nice to see all the characters get their chance to shine. Sure, it’s not the best produced movie, or the most polished script, but isn’t that was we always like about episodic TV? Well, that’s what I like about it, at least :-)
KHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN Gives it a thumbs up :)
It amazes me people consider this movie close to the TV show. The TNG show I know is much more serious than this, and there’s no cutesy jokes, and it’s visually awesome. Insurrection is a Trek movie for people who aren’t too into Trek.
I am glad the cliched librarian scene was deleted. In an already cheesy film that scene was completely insipid — right in step with the stupid Data-as-flotation-device joke. No one’s mentioned how Piller (inexplicably) attempted to shoe-horn Quark into the final scene of the movie — only to have the scene end up on the cutting room floor. A veritable grab-bag of bad ideas.
I disagree that the original premise of this film “had a lot of promise” as some have argued above. From the moment I heard the plot described I groaned.
Can anyone name all the TNG episodes from which this film lazily steals? Let me start off with a few…
1.) “Homeward” The notion of relocating an apparently unsophisticated race to another planet via holodeck-based deception was the centerpiece of that episode and the ‘insidious’ plot at the core of INS.
2.) “Who Watches the Watchers” This episode, like the movie, starts off with a Federation holographic duckblind suddenly being revealed to an apparently unsophisticated race.
3.) “Brothers” Data inexplicably goes rogue and puts Starfleet personel in jeopardy as if being conrolled remotely — just as he does during the movie’s opening scenes
Next?
178 – Not even worth responding to. (hook firmly in mouth) Oh wait.. I already did… KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!!!!
Quite simply the worst TNG movie (then again, the other TNG movies also sucked) and was one of the proverbial nails in the coffin that finally finished off Berman Trek (thank God!).
I always wanted a sequel to First Contact where the Federation mounts a proactive full on attach to permanently defeat the Borg at any cost. Before the Borg could adapt after FC. I always felt that when the Borg activated the deflector dish mod they built, that it actually had a few seconds where it was sending before the wires unplugged and Worf destroyed it. Assimilate This!
When The Enterprise gets back Picard rallies for the need to totally annihilate the Borg once and for all and gains that support after humanities witness of the Borgs desire to assimilate all humans at any cost. The ultimate Ahab maneuver. Picard can not rest until they are eliminated. Picard would take more risks and ruffle more feathers…….
Instead we got Insurrection and the beginning of the end for TNG……
The first draft of the story sounded great! I wish we had seen that movie instead. I’m not a fan of Insurrection, I’m afraid. I thought it was bland. F. Murray Abraham wasn’t allowed to go crazy, the cast and story were boring. My opinion. But I didn’t like Nemesis either, and I can discuss the finer points of TNG (trivia and otherwise) with the best of them.
I think TNG on film would have been great if they did a trilogy of sorts like what Treks II, III, and IV were.
184. Enterprise: Yeah. First Contact took Picard to a dark place mentally. Insurrection should have built upon the fragmentation of the Federation amidst the Dominion War with Picard going rebel in a strange area of space that a rogue admiral believes could be the key to winning the war. And Nemesis should have told the story of how Picard overcomes corruption within the Federation and becomes President, launching a bold new era of space exploration, with Riker becoming commander of the Enterprise!
President Picard would have been a great way to end the ‘diplomat’ phase of Star Trek. Plus, a movie could have come out later on featuring Jean-Luc after his term as president is over!
Judging just on that paragraph alone, the first draft would have been much better than the final version. Not that Insurrection was a bad movie, but it just had something missing, probably Picard’s court martial.
The Borg and Q in a TNG trilogy would have been spectacular. We could see trips to Borg space – have some Voyager interaction – have trips to Q’s Continuum. Maybe the Q and The Borg are in battle with each other for the fate of the galaxy?
182. ThePhaige –
“I always wanted a sequel to First Contact where the Federation mounts a proactive full on attach to permanently defeat the Borg at any cost. Before the Borg could adapt after FC.”
After the last eight years I’ve more than had my fill of pre-emptive wars, thank you.
I thoroughly enjoyed Insurrection. It wasn’t as good as First Contact, but it was still very good. Donna Murphy was excellent as Picard’s love interest (about time for the old man). Geordi, Worf had good roles. Crusher’s was kind of pointless, but she often was. I was very happy to see the renewed Riker/Troi pairing. Data I thought was really poorly placed in this movie. His let me be a kid thing was really dumb. F. Murray Abraham, Daniel Hugh Kelly and Anthony Zerbe (yes! Teaspoon from the Young Riders!) were all great. The CGI was terrific. A cameo from Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine! Honestly I don’t have many complaints with Insurrection, and I think it has been unfairly lampooned by some fans over the years, similar to ST V.
One last thing, it is the only Trek film to be written by Michael Piller, my favorite post-TOS Trek writer. Still can’t believe he’s gone.
I watched half of this a last week and I was surprised at how much more I enjoyed it than the last time I saw it (which was probably 8 years ago). I think the film has aged well. Also, the scenes where the Ba’ku are getting tagged struck me as actually a very frightening concept, especially for the youth, who may have never seen technology in their lives. Much like getting taken away by monkeys in the wizard of oz, or getting snatched by nazi’s in the middle of the night. My respect for the film really came through in that moment, that I was capable of feeling intense dread for those people. It kinda bugs me how wasps the Ba’Ku are though. Be scared for these attractive white people!
OH and BTW can someone hunt down the original draft of Star Trek: Stardust, like many of the commentors, I too would love to read that script.
I think using Q in a movie would have been a very tricky thing.
Very true, but Voyager did it pretty well with their budget. Imagine Q on a movie budget? Wow!
@166 Dom
No worries. I just get into a mode of defending TFF whenever a “which Trek movie is the worst” argument pops up.
On a different thought: Even though I know this is the 10th anniversary of Insurrection, I don’t believe it’s a film worth a retrospective. It’s like giving Gigili (soelling?) an anniversary review.
Ask yourself: could this movie have been easily made as a TNG TV episode? Yes.
I don’t think you could say the same about any other TNG film. There’s the problem, and that’s why so many fans feel let down by this movie.
The humor everyone seems to hate in this movie is one of the few things I liked. I kind of feel the same way about TFF… if it weren’t for the humor and some of the touching character moments, I’d really hate the movie.
I’m with the others who would have loved to see Pillar’s original idea on film. This article shows how much potential was there. Sometimes scripts are over-consulted. This is one of those cases.
I always enjoy this one when I see it, but it’s always the last one I remember when thinking of all the films. I think in my mind it’s an extra-long TNG episode and not quite a ‘movie.’
Some plot holes and cringe-worthy moments in this film, yes… but…
GOOD MOVIE!
My favorite.
Sure, it’s really just a long TNG episode. Thing is, I *liked* TNG episodes–usually a lot more than any Trek movies.
Oh, # 26….It’s not cannon, it’s canon. Cannon is not canonical. Come on, read all the posts. Please?
Maybe the Dominion ravaged the Baku world anyway. Weren’t the Sona supposed to be part of the Dominion?
Mr. 200. Please pardon the misspelling… But to my point?
And Alec, #39, an interesting stretch, but a stretch nonetheless.
Er, that’s 199 – not 200 – RE the misspelling apology.
Piller’s first draft sounds a hell of a lot more interesting than the final product we all endured. My least fave TNG film by far. But even my least-favorite Trek films offer plenty of things to enjoy.
My biggest issue with this movie is that it had no continuity with the other events going on in the Star Trek universe at the time. Namely, DS9. Which, if I recall correctly, was deep into the war with the Dominion. And here is the flagship of the Federation off on some little 2-hour stand-alone episode.
204. Robofuzz –
“My biggest issue with this movie is that it had no continuity with the other events going on in the Star Trek universe at the time. Namely, DS9. Which, if I recall correctly, was deep into the war with the Dominion. And here is the flagship of the Federation off on some little 2-hour stand-alone episode.”
I agree Trek continuity seems to be completely ignored in this one — and it’s baffling why Piller would ignore current events on DS9 since he created the show. His indifference to the Dominion War was sort of a dis to the folks making DS9 at the time, like Piller was saying ‘no one watches DS9 anyway so why validate it with a nod to its continuity?’ I got a good laugh from the above article’s description of DS9’s Ira Behr’s reaction after reading the script!
194 Jordan
So are we gonna fight over who keeps the name “Jordan” or what?
I liked Insurrection. The story itself was “meh”, felt like it would have been a really good two-part episode, but it made up for it with the warmth and the chemistry between the cast members. First Contact was more badass by far, but Insurrection always leaves me feeling happy.
The best Next Gen film by far, obviously.
I think the film was a good light hearted followup to FC but that description of the first idea sounds like it could have made one hell of an epic star trek movie, at least had it been more refined. Hell, if they ever did do another TNG movie that seems like it could be a cool primes, and a better way to end TNG than stupid Nemesis.
Love the scene where Data asks Worf if he’s noticed his boobs firming up, and the scene when Data becomes a flotation device. Great stuff.
I think we’re seeing a trend of “meh” commentary on this story. That’s exactly how I would some it up, “dull and forgettable”. Sure i’ll watch it on Spike tv or AMC just for kicks but…but…man I don’t even care about this Insurrection story. Time to click on what Shatner is up to.
I know it is popular on this site and in trek circles to bash Berman and that era of trek, because now we have ‘cool guys’ in charge, and ones who do interviews for this website. But, while we make fun of the joystick in insurrection or the kid in that movie, lets make fun of that stupid Corvette scene in the new movie and the mickey-mouse sounding kid playing young Kirk. As we make fun of the humor in Insurrection, lets make fun of stupid terms like ‘buckle up’ in the new film. While we make fun of how it looks like CA lets make fun of the new movie’s ‘Iowa’ locations. And while we make fun of Insurrection ‘tacking in’ the ship battle scenes, lets make fun of the non-stop action in the scenes of the new trek movie, the ones that were ‘tacked’ in for the average lame theater goer, who cant sit for 5 min. because they have ADD. As we attack the graphics in Insurrection, lets attack the thus far lame CGI looking graphics in Trek 11, they look on par with Insurrection- and that was 10 years ago and with less than half the budget. And as we make fun of the villians, lets, make fun of a rat looking tatooed romulan who time travels, for what end? why bother? Really just a paper tiger…….
I’m glad Insurrection was what it was and not some trumped up Dominion war story as has been suggested here. This bears some passing resemblance to what makes Trek different from Star Waresque ships blasting each other in space (and I am a Star Wars fan, at least the originals, but they don’t offer much grist for the noggin’). To me the big downfall, was the Picard as Rambo motif. First seen in First Contact, continued here, and topped off in Nemesis. The same boring Picard vs. Enemy De Jure square off played over and over again. Couldn’t another climax be posited? Definitely an indication that Trek was right to die and in need of fresh blood (here is hoping JJ is it).
@206 Jordan
You take it, I’ll use something else…
Maybe the people in charge of this movie felt the same way I did about how silly the whole DS9/Dominion story was in the first place.
Gah! Itchy trigger finger there. I meant to add, there’s really no way they could have kept up with the DS9 story, since the whole structure of it seemed to be that every week there was Some Big Shocking Revelation That Fundamentally Changes Everything You Thought You Knew™, that even if they tried to incorporate it in writing the script, by the time the film hit the theaters everything would have changed and become irrelevant.
184: A TNG trilogy would have been a GREAT idea, both creatively and financially. I think the key to the success of the TOS movie trilogy was that it gave both fans and non-fans an emotional narrative to follow the characters through.
Conversely, however- ENOUGH with the Dominion/DS9 suggestions, folks! No matter if you loved the show; it still had a miniscule fanbase in comparison to TOS & TNG, and would fail worse than Nemesis did at the box office, even if it was a crossover. Anyone who wants Star Trek to become a living part of the culture again should agree…
Insurrection is a great film–more in the tradition of Trek, exactly as they said. I really don’t understand why people hate it so much. Whatever, to each his own.
As for me, I really don’t like Generations or Nemesis. Generations is okay, but one of the weakest, imo. Nemesis… there are parts of it that I like (Shinzon is a good villain, the actor did a fine job), but the movie as a whole I think is the WORST of the series. I feel like it tried to have the same kind of emotional impact as TWOK and failed miserably.
Other than that, I think all the Trek films are great. TMP is probably my favorite (yes, seriously–it vies with TWOK for the top spot), I really like III (people hate it for some reason), and I love watching STV (again, seriously), even with its problems.
#214 Thanks buddy.
This movie was ahead of its time. Prior to that, I don’t think we had seen any TV episodes in animorhic widescreen. >8-O
I’ll crack open a luke warm bottle of champagne to celebrate.
A Trilogy of TNG fils would of been a great idea. I always thought the alien takeover of starfleet from season1 of TNG should of been revisited and could of opened up some great storylines. imagine the enterprise being one of the very few starfleet ships to be infected and being hunted down whilst trying to come up with a way to save the day. That would of been great, Could of been dark and action packed whilst still being true to “trek”. The final movie could involve the enterprise finding a way to the aliens part of the universe to eliminate the threat once and for all….man i wish i wrote nemesis now :-)
Let’s face it: they screwed up. Berman and company rushed in moving TNG from the small to large screen. There was virtually no noticeable break between “All Good Things…” and Generations (especially with DS9 episodes still airing and VOY debuting a couple months later). With the exception of First Contact, none of the TNG movies ever really felt like honest-to-zod movies. Insurrection is the most noticeably TV episode-like of the four. I still don’t know why Berman and company, with two other Trek series airing new episodes on tv, thought it would be a smart move to green-light this inconsequential bit of fluff for the big screen. The stuff going on on DS9 weekly was far weightier and more interesting than INS. In the final analysis, TNG’s big screen forays were largely forgettable and, well, unneccessary. Yes, had someone actually had a plan — a trilogy or overarcing storyline playing out over a few films — maybe it would’ve been worth it to even bother. In the end we got one good film and three other half-baked stews — C-grade episodes filmed for the big screen. There is nothing of consequence or note about Insurrection or Nemesis or even Generations that warrants making them into movies. Season 7 episodes at best. Insurrection is also the most family-friendly of all the Trek films and I don’t think that’s neccessarily a good thing. The whole thing feels dumbed down to Chronicles of Narnia-level cuddliness. I really felt imbarrassed like I was leaving a kid’s movie after I first saw it.
Wow… I think this article is much too kind to Insurrection. It’s not wholly unwatchable, but it’s just an extra long episode. And not even a terribly good episode. I ate to speak ill of the late Michael Piller, because he was generally a fine writer and producer (especially on DS9), but this movie just fell flat. Maybe ST: Stardust would’ve been a better film?
I just think TNG films never got the budget they needed to look more “epic” (it never looked much different than the show), the supposedly “lighter” tone for Insurrection was poorly thought out (Worf and his zit… Honestly?) and not nearly as imaginative or fun as ST IV was. It’s like they were trying to hard to be, um, “cutsey”? It felt forced, and it seemed kind of schizophrenic against the main plot of the film. A plot that was really, really thin IMO.
F. Murray Abraham was chewing scenery, and certainly wasn’t a villain worthy of Khan, or the Borg and their Queen, or Gul Dukat over on DS9. The film had the unenviable task of following up First Contact, and it was never going to succeed without a stronger concept. Such as ST IV was, coming on the heels of ST II and ST III.
But it was still better than Nemesis.
#215 – You call DS9 “silly” but you go by the name The Underpants Monster. Hoo-kay then…
#217 – Not everything about the Dominion War arc on DS9 worked, but it was the most ambitious plotting that any of the Treks ever had and that show was one of the best things on TV for just about its entire run. I felt the final season ran out of gas a bit, but it was damned good TV.
No, the show didn’t have as large a fan base as TNG, but it was still popular enough to top the syndie ratings for much of its run, a seven-year run just like TNG’s, and the show’s ratings actually went back up its last couple of seasons. Just imagine what they could’ve done if Paramount had given that show some proper promotion! It lived in TNG’s shadow, and then VOY got the promotion because Paramount tried to build a network around that show, while DS9 was the middle child stuck in syndication.
DS9 had great film potential. It’s probably way too late for that now. It’s really Paramount’s short-sightedness for not knowing what a gem they had. People who enjoy Ron Moore’s work on BSG should go back and see what they might have missed on DS9.
This is the only Trek film I do not own and the only one that made me want to walk out of the theater before it was over. Picard, Data and Worf nearly sang the love of Trek out of me.
224. Shaun: ‘People who enjoy Ron Moore’s work on BSG should go back and see what they might have missed on DS9.’
I bought nine sesons of The X-Files and the first movie in a set for £60. When I can buy as set of the complete DS9 for the same, I might well buy it!
“184: A TNG trilogy would have been a GREAT idea, both creatively and financially. I think the key to the success of the TOS movie trilogy was that it gave both fans and non-fans an emotional narrative to follow the characters through.”
It was going to be Nemesis and 11 and 12, they were starting a trilogy, but, none of you went and saw it, instead, complained about Wesley Crusher and the # of decks on the ship, if the fans would have supported it, and seen it multiple times, as with the others, we would be seeing TNG 12 right now! So, blame yourselves!
#227
And thankfully no one did see Nemesis, or they would have made even more crap movies.
I hate this movie. I’d almost say it’s the worst of all the Trek films.
I remember seeing it on opening day with my college roommate and trying to convince myself I had liked it. Even saw it a second time, but never bothered to buy it on tape or DVD because after that second viewing, the popular opinion that it was just an episode on the big screen rang true for me.
Many years passed. I didn’t see it again until I was channel surfing back in 2003 or 2004. I couldn’t believe it, but somehow the film had gotten even worse. It was unwatchable Cringe-inducing. It was smug, arrogant and preachy and that attitude was completely undeserved.
It’s astonishing to see the process this movie went through, starting from that original promising premise to the ultimately toothless, self-satisfied and cheapo-looking production.
Seriously, the kids playing hackie-sack is about the most memorable image from the movie.
One thing that would have made this movie great was if it was an extended (great) episode. I don’t mind movies being like an extra long episode, but this plot was way too slow/weak.
224: I’m not saying DS9 was bad, just that it realized its potential on the small screen. Many episodes in that final season were bigger and broader than anything done in the films.
And you’re so right in mentioning BSG- it’s called the best program on TV for all of its political allegory, but Deep Space prophesied (no pun intended) all of the religious terrorism and wartime decisionmaking issues that would have seemed incredibly relevant if only it had aired just a few years later…
227: I *did* go see Nemesis, twice in the same weekend. I don’t think it’s the fault of the fans, but of the hack job Stuart Baird did with John Logan’s script. I think the way that film’s promotion and production were mismanaged were the true death knells of Trek- otherwise it could possibly have continued the even-numbered trend, re-established the TNG cast as the viable movie heroes they became in First Contact, and maybe spawned the trilogy you’re talking about…
- ‘INSURRECTION’ was a movie with great new aliens..great costumes…pretty good for a TREK movie..with a story good enough for a new tv series …
Was always one of my favorites. Sirtis really ticked me off once when she defended Nemesis by saying that it was a terrible as Insurrection.
Sorry. What I meant to say was that Sirtis defended Nemesis by saying it wasn’t as terrible as Insurrection. Oops.
I really appreciate this article.
I always thought that Insurrection was by far the best of the TNG films, mostly because of its adherence to the true purpose of Star Trek: character and social commentary.
It’s probably the only film where the TNG characters are really themselves. Nemesis had the potential, as the dialogue was masterfully scripted, but the story was somewhat lame and the film was very poorly directed.
#78-
The ending the test screeners didn’t like involved RuAfo regressing in age until he was a single cell- this alternate ending is included on the SE DVD along with a deleted scene involving Quark showing up and getting ready to open a business there.
Good call, putting that one on the cutting room floor.
As to the rest of the movie, it played mostly like a 2 part TV episode, and a pretty weak one at that. The plot, the scale, the action, the danger, were more suited to the small screen than a major motion picture. There were many episodes of the series that would have fit the bill better than this pedestrian glop.
21. Randall – December 11, 2008
I really like your stance on Insurrection and the approach ST should go or should’ve gone. Really good and exciting Sci-fi story first, and then character and everything else. I had the same feeling with Insurrection ten years ago (since I watched it only once and was annoyed with it). Some seem to like it though. Damn, I wish I wasn’t broke … otherwise, I might be more inclined to check it out again.
#224 – If the time ever comes when I try to write that name into a pretentiously broody TV show, I’ll be happy to discuss its relevance as an analogue.= to the topic at hand.
I rewatched this one just to see if my current impressions would match my original ones. Still think this one would have been a mediocre TV episode.
* The Prime Directive — consistently overridden when the motives were good. In this case, the fountain of youth was a little shaky as a motive. Hard to believe the Federation Council and Star Fleet Command would go along with this forced relocation plot.
* The Gilbert & Sullivan sequence was bad.
* The “living in the moment” philosophy. I guess if you don’t age, then you don’t really have to worry about the future. The rest of us do.
* The conversation between the Zerbe and Stewart. This 2 minute conversation tried to quickly fill in the plot holes — can’t duplicate the technology, the So’Na need to have concentrated metaphasic radiation therefore they can’t just move there, etc. Not a good story device.
* The joystick scene — pretty stupid. Why don’t they have a joystick as part of the regular helm console?
* Overall, the story came off as contrived. A harbinger for the need of a franchise reboot. (Admittedly, where you do you after 700 stories?)
Ehh as a movie.
I also prefered Pillers original outline.
And I was always all for a TNG Q movie – the last one would have been fitting.
So IX should have been about the Dominion and X about Q. :)
As for Insurrection:
I was a little dissapointed after watching it in the theaters cause it couldn’t satisfy my expectations after “First Contact”.
Later on VHS and DVD I really liked IX almost as much af VIII and I was glad that they did a less action and less dark Trek film again but that changed in recent years.
Now I don’t like the huge majority of TNG anymore and I even more like dark an ambigious movies but I would still apreciate a non action and very lite Trek movie if it’s actually GOOD.
But this one isn’t. The whole conflict isn’t believable NOR is the selfrightiousness of the Baku or Picard and Co. ever adressed in this movie – I mean who the heck knows who are the baddies. This isn’t clear anymore halfwy in the movie.
Next thing is the embarrassing humor and it ends with a boring second half (the beginning is really OK) .
That’s for the content but what I never will understand is that they have Californian Arians as “aliens”! This should never have happened not in a movie and not in 1998.
Strictly speaking that kind of “aliens” shouldn’t be in the TV-Show since TNG in the 1980ties.