Review by Dragan Antulov
2 stars out of 4
From time to time almost everyone experiences peculiar
feeling of being born too early or too late. The author of
this review is reminded of such phenomenon any time he
thinks about STAR TREK phenomenon. I was too young to watch
original series of STAR TREK. Afterwards, certain
unpleasantness in this part of the world prevented me and
most of my generation from enjoying STAR TREK: THE NEW
GENERATION and STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE. As a result, the
only incarnation of Roddenberry's universe I have complete
insight belongs to STAR TREK: VOYAGER and STAR TREK movies.
That probably explains why I wasn't particularly
enthusiastic about STAR TREK: GENERATIONS, 1994 film by
David Carson - project that was supposed to pass the torch
from one generation of STAR TREK crew to another.
Plot begins in 23rd Century when legendary Starfleet Captain
James T. Kirk (played by William Shatner) joins the crew of
Enterprise B on their maiden voyage. But this routine affair
turns into disaster because Enterprise B gets involved into
rescue of two ships, endangered by mysterious energy ribbon
called Nexus. Some of the passengers are saved, but Kirk
disappears. 78 years later, crew of Enterprise D, led by
Captain Jean-Luc Picard (played by Patrick Stewart), must
also deal with Nexus, but their efforts are complicated by
gang of renegade Klingons and activities of Dr. Soran
(played by Malcolm McDowell), evil scientists whose plans
include destruction of entire solar systems. Soran's schemes
also cause interesting shifts in time-space continuum that
would bring Picard and Kirk together.
Being the seventh film in STAR TREK movie series,
GENERATIONS is another example of "odd numbers" malady that
plagues this particular franchise. Screenplay by Ronald D.
Moore is burdened with the need to depict "passing of the
torch" between two generations of STAR TREK, so the film
gets stuffed with references to the past glory of ST:TOS and
ST:TNG - Romulans, Klingons, Borg etc. Unfortunately, many
of those references are completely lost to those viewers who
lack proper "trekkie" credentials and who are forced to
watch rather uninspired and cliche-infested plot (including
the mother all bad SF cliches - mad scientist, played by
tragically typecast Malcolm McDowell) and heavy-handed
attempts of humour. Luckily, the acting is more than
satisfactory, especially in the scenes that combine talents
and charismas of William Shatner and Patrick Stewart. The
last appearance of Shatner as Kirk is probably one of the
most memorable moments in STAR TREK history and even those
viewers who were never fans of the original series could
feel its effect. But this sentimental dimension can't ascend
GENERATIONS from the levels of Hollywood's mediocrity and
this film is one of those pieces of cinema that can be
enjoyed and appreciated only in its proper context.
Copyright © 2000 Dragan Antulov
|
