What was the last movie you saw...? Part IV

[Thelemech]

I love all 6 of the original Star Trek movies but #5 is the worst. I still think that it is a great idea that was not realized.
I think the best part of that film is the friendship dynamic between Kirk, Spock and Dr. McCoy that is sprinkled throughout the movie
#6 is imho the third best movie of the bunch just behind 4 and 2.

[Charger]

I love all 6 of the original Star Trek movies but #5 is the worst. I still think that it is a great idea that was not realized.

I feel the exact same way. Next week it'll be Generations and First Contact if all goes as planned.

[Thelemech]

I'm not a big fan of Generations and I absolutely hate the way Kirk dies 😒
First Contact is probably the best of the Next Generation movies but the attempt to turn Picard into a action star is poorly implemented and a disservice to the character in the TV show

I am not sure if I like the Next Generation movies or if I accept them for what they are.

[Zzzptm]

The NG movies fell flat for me. First Contact felt like it was trying to combine Wrath of Khan with Voyage Home and that just didn't work well.

[Charger]

Okay looks like I won't be reviewing them here then...

[Thelemech]

I would like to have your opinions on the Next Generation movies Charger

For myself being such a massive fan of Next Generation on TV, I just found the movies problematic

[Zzzptm]

Open to reviews, as well, as I know that there's stuff I like that other people find not to their liking... and stuff that is not to my liking that's a big hit with others!

[Charger]

STAR TREK: Generations

Captain Kirk is on board the brand new Enterprise B's test run when a rescue mission goes horribly wrong and Kirk is lost presumed dead. Few decades later the crew of the Enterprise D goes on a mission to find out why the Romulans attacked an astronomical station only finding out there's much more to the story and a man who has lost his entire planet to the Borg is willing to do what ever it takes to find his way to a mysterious Nexus, a sort of utopia where there is no time and no sadness.
Captain Picard in attempt to prevent him gets taken along with the ride and finds himself living a life that he back in his mind would have wanted with a wife and children. But with some help from Guinan who has also been in the Nexus he realises it's not real and tries to find a way out with a help from someone who had been trapped there years before.

The story is quite dark and the overall theme of the movie is death, first Picard learns about the death of his brother and nephew, then about trying to prevent the deaths of millions and about making the ultimate sacrifice. All ofcourse told in a very Star Trek way. The writers and creators of the Next Generations bring the story to life in a great way part from one thing ofcourse.
Captain Kirk would have deserved a bit more grandious way to go. But still his sacrifice saved over 250 million people so it's not like it was for nothing.

There could have been more interaction between Kirk and Picard and maybe bit more humor over all but this was and is the saddest Star Trek.

After the success of The Next Generation Paramount also upped the budget quite a bit from the previous movies and it shows especially during the crash landing of the saucer section which is marvellous and one of the most intense sequences in all of the Star Trek movies.

A great movie but not without it's flaws.

*  *  *  ½

[Charger]

STAR TREK - First Contact

Captain Jean-Luc Picard is brought face to face with the Borg one more time for a fight for the future of Earth. After the starfleet win the fight against the Borg cube in a desperate measure to change history the Borg travel back in time to prevent Earth from making first contact with the Vulcans. Picard orders the brand new (and incredibly beautiful) Enterprise E to follow. They travel to the eve of Zefram Cochrane's historical first warp flight. The Borg take over parts of the Enterprise and Picard and the crew need to fight back and on Earth Riker and crew need to help Cochrane, who doesn't turn out to be just how history has described him.

They packed this with more action and bit more humor than Generations while keeping things quintessentially Star Trek. Data is seduced by the Borg Queen with inclusion of real human skin and feeling that come with it...Deepening the character bit more once again.
Picard becomes hell bent for vengeance but is talk down by an unlikely companion.

The effects here are flawless (for the first time in Trek movie history) and the new Enterprise E is without a doubt the prettiest of the whole fleet. (And I still beat myself in the head for not buying the 19" model when it was still available brand new for just 59$!! Now they fetch more than twice that on ebay!)
The Borg are the best villains in the whole Star Trek universe and during the series they were criminally under used...but this movie finally does them justice.

This is pretty much a perfect movie. Nothing's a miss and everything works. This is right up there with Voyage Home as my favourite Star Trek movie. Pure brilliance from start to finish.

*  *  *  *  *

[Charger]

STAR TREK - Insurrection


After Data becomes damaged and attacks a bunch of researchers spying on a peaceful race on a very secluded planet Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise E goes to find out what has happened only to discover a large conspiracy involving a mysterious dying race and the Federation to remove the people living on the planet in order to harvest a valuable substance that can seemingly give eternal life. Against an Admiral's orders Picard decides to stand up to the people and go against direct orders and stay true to the prime directive.

This plays out bit slowly and more like an episode of the series rather than a movie. But the story is very good and very Star Trek. But this suffers a lot from the same thing V did...following an absolute masterpiece is virtually impossible. But the cast does a great job but honestly F Murray Abraham doesn't get quite enough to play with as he surely could have been a better villain. Donna Murphy does a great job however as someone who becomes rather close with Picard.

Great movie but still a bit of a letdown after First Contact's brilliance.

*  *  *  ½

[Thelemech]

I like this one too

I think it's much better than it's reputation and I like the way it feels like an episode of the TV show

I do like all the next generation movies too different degrees sometimes I forget that

[Charger]

STAR TREK - Nemesis

Enterprise E is sent to the Romulan homeworld after a apparent coup and with the new leader wanting peace with the Federation. Once Picard arrives he soon realises the new leader is someone or something that's familiar...too familiar...and that his talks of peace was instead a trap laid for Picard and to all humans as he holds a weapon so powerful it can kill entire planets.

The final Next Generation movie stands bit further from the Star Trek formula and is trying to be a worthy final for the crew. The movie has gotten quite a bit of hate especially on time of the release and it was indeed a bit of a flop. But I don't think it was the movie's fault. The times had just gone past Star Trek already and all the "classic" shows had ended....and Enterprise hadn't quite gotten off to a good enough start.

The biggest problem with the movie is that it's trying to fit bit too much into it's two hours. The original version of the movie was almost an hour longer but that was deemed way too long at the time. But maybe bit more length would have been good as now things especially at the end get bit rushed.
This is without a doubt the darkest of the NG movies and the death of a major character echoes that of Wrath Of Khan. So this tries to be Khan and Undiscovered Country at the same time...not really managing to do either one much justice. TNG would have deserved a bit more epic end to their story at the time. Not saying that this is a bad movie, it really isn't...but it just isn't GOOD ENOUGH.

But still this remains as the last TRUE Star Trek movie and as such it is very important and deserves to be called a classic.

*  *  *  ½

[Thelemech]

When I first saw this one I actually thought it was okay but it really bothered me that Data had to die as he was always my favorite character in the show
I heard that Brent Spiner felt that as he was getting older he couldn't do the part of an ageless android justice
I have not watched much of the Picard show but I do know that Data is back on

[Charger]

Yeah Spiner wrote the part of Data's death. That was his story. And I understand his reasoning. I wasn't too happy about this passing at the time either. Although having B4 there kind of let the door open for Spiner to return if another movie had been made...

Data did come back in Picard season 1. It wasn't perfectly written though...but very few things about that show was well written sadly.

[Charger]

THE VOID


After a deputy finds a distressed man on the side of a road and takes him to the hospital strange things start to happen, starting with a mysterious cult surrounding the hospital preventing them from leaving but that's just the start of it. As it soon becomes evident that something really sinister is going on at the hospital and people who die don't stay dead but when they come back they come back as something completely different.

This was a crowd funded indie project that I just stumbled on and usually these low budget indie flicks are rather useless but this one hit a spot.
Imagine The Thing mixed with HP Lovecraft.

All the special creature effects are done 100% practically which shows and gives a "real" feel to it. The way it should be done. Sure there are some limitations caused by the low budget but for the most part the effects are spot on.

There are some holes left in the story which according to the writers and directors Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski is intentional and they wanted the viewer to fill up the gaps as they please which is an interesting concept in itself.

All in all a fun little surprise find on HBO Max. High recommendation for anyone liking practical effects and freaky looking monsters!

*  *  *  ½