Star Trek: Generations

Star Trek: Generations (1994)

Image From IMDB

I find it fascinating how history can be kind or destructive to art. I always thought Generations was an ok film, but re-watching it thirty years later, and probably for the first time in a good fifteen years, the themes hit a lot harder than they did as a kid. The ideas of death or mortality. The importance of painful emotions as well as joyful ones. Worrying about what we leave behind, when we can make a difference in the here and now. It’s classic Trek, and the movie as a whole works for me a lot more now as an adult who’s experienced these things as opposed to a teen who was just getting started.

Generations is about the crew of the Enterprise trying to stop an insane scientist Soran (The wonderful Malcom McDowell) from going back to his happy place, the Nexus. They cruelly fight his every attempt, and even get some help to make sure he can’t be happy again by recruiting James T Kirk to the cause. Fuck you Soran, you can be unhappy like the rest of us… also your plan involves blowing up two stars and killing hundreds of millions of people so we can’t let you do that.

It’s a wonderfully twisted idea to have your bad guy just want to be happy. His mission is to be content and live in permanent joy away from the cruelty of life. But as with all cults or flights of fancy, it’s often the method and journey to reach these ideals that need to be closely examined, and i’m glad the movie didn't overlook that. Picard, even after Soran had blown up the first star, offered to help him find a better way to reach the Nexus that didn’t involve destroying a planetary system, but unfortunately Malcom was having none of it.

As mentioned the themes really are strong in this one, and are the backbone of the movie. Even the big space battle gives way to them so that the third act had focus on the message of the film. Patrick Stewart is as always amazing as Picard, and William Shatner just is Kirk, he could do that role in his sleep, without it ever losing any of its incredibleness (is that a word) I also love how vicious Riker is with his enemies in the Trek movies, dude is the definition of fuck around and find out in the twenty fourth century.

Generations is filled with good performances and character arcs. Classic moments like the Enterprise’s crash on the planet and the female Klingon duo, not to mention every line uttered by McDowell. I think my issue with the movie at the time was I like many others didn’t want to see Kirk die, and maybe wanted something a little more after the OG Trek finished on perhaps its best movie with Undiscovered Country.

But now I can appreciate Generations a lot more. The themes are incredibly well played out striking that balance of not being too preachy while getting their point across. Every character and scene plays into them as well. from the observations aboard the sailing ship at the beginning to searching through the wreckage at the end.

It’s a very tight script in that regards but maybe could have just done with a little more time in the Nexus and I still think the ending was a little rushed. However, It’s a much better movie than I remember, and I can’t help but think that’s an ironic feeling considering the themes of the movie. Maybe my emotion chip is damaged.