STAR TREK: GENERATIONS

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STARRING: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spinner, Michael Dorn, Malcolm McDowell, William Shatner

1994, 113 Minutes, Directed by: David Carson

Description: Star Trek: Generations unites Capt. Kirk (William Shatner) and Capt. Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) in a time-jumping race to stop a madman's quest for heavenly contentment. When a mysterious energy coil called the Nexus nearly destroys the newly christened U.S.S. Enterprise-B, the just-retired Capt. Kirk is lost and presumed dead. But he's actually been happily trapped in the timeless purgatory of the Nexus--an idyllic state of being described by the mystical Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) as "pure joy." Picard must convince Kirk to leave this artificial comfort zone and confront Dr. Soran (Malcolm McDowell), the madman who will threaten billions of lives to be reunited with the addictive pleasure of the Nexus.  — Amazon.com

Like watching a long version of the Star Trek: The Next Generation television show on the big screen. Nothing wrong with that, except that . . . well, one wanted something more. Perhaps glitzier special effects, a better story. Captain Kirk makes a guest appearance to symbolically pass the baton to the new crew.

One cannot escape the feeling that this sort of thing should be relegated to the small screen where it goes down much better. Except for a stunning opening sequence there is nothing that makes one feels that the price of your movie ticket has been well-spent.

Even so-called trekkies had several bones to pick with the plot and characterisation of this movie. Of course non-trekkies only stood by in amazement muttering what Captain Kirk, er William Shatner, once said in an unguarded moment: "Get a life!" (Perhaps some day somebody will explain to me why nobody bothered fitting any safety belts on the Starship Enterprise's bridge . . .)

Further sequels based on the Next Generation TV show are Star Trek - First Contact (1996), Star Trek - Insurrection (1998) and Star Trek - Nemesis (2002).
 

• Read the script.