Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28052 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-12-20
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 113 minutes

Synopsis
The first feature film starring the cast of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" finds Captain Picard and crew battling a sinister scientist whose plot is a century old. Picard's only hope lies in forging an alliance with a legendary Star Fleet captain from the past.

Customer Reviews

Underated by many...
I first saw GENERATIONS as part of a "Trek Marathon" at the local cinema - films 5, 6 and GENERATIONS back to back. It may not sound much but believe me it was murder on the backside...

Still, it was worth it. Given the moans directed at the film by many critics (and even a few cast members!) I feared the worst, so was doubly delighted with the quality of the movie I actually saw. Never one to subscribe to the "only the even-numbered ones are good" theory, I revelled in the big screen adventures of characters who I'd grown to care about over their 7-year televsion stint and the plot, while riddled with holes, was a clever way of uniting two casts for a true "handing of the baton". People seem to forget that in a series like STAR TREK plots are merely a set up to explore the characters and their interactions with each other. For every problem GENERATIONS presented (Why was it impossible for Soren to simply fly into the Nexus, when that's how he got there in the first place?), we get superb character exploration as Picard faces (for the first time?) the inevitable truth of his own death. Unlike some reviewers I found the scenes of Patrick Stewart weeping for his lost family & future profoundly moving, while the "family" inside the Nexus were his perception of "perfection". If that can be interpreted as 'sacharine' then that's more an inditement of us as a culture than the scene itself.

My critisisms are minor: I certainly agree that as a send off for the original series cast, GENERATIONS was lacking. Obviously THE UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY is the "official" final TOS movie, but Kirk should have been dispatched with a little more consideration (if he had to die at all?). The appearance of the Enterprise B was a nice touch (I loved the champagne bottle lauch/opening secquence) but thought Captain Harriman seemed a little too nervous for the job.

Ultimately the film is about accepting our lot and facing the future with dignity, a staple of TREK "messages" (see also THE FINAL FRONTIER for such an example!). The film delivers this statement with passion and some staggeringly good set pieces (The Saucer crash is extraordinary!), so how it can be considered a failure by so many is beyond me. To this day the very final moments of the movie, as Picard and Riker bid farewell to the Enterprise D with grace and optimism, makes me go all misy-eyed and serve to remind us that humans aren't such a bad bunch after all.

Conclusion to The Next Generation
Generations has a great storyline, mixing the worlds of The Original Series and The Next Generation.

While it may not feel like a proper movie, as opposed to a glorified Next Generation episode, I found this to be a fitting end to the popular series, giving birth to the more movie-like First Contact that came after.

It also paved the way for Lt. Worf's move to Deep Space Nine, and an excuse to make a new Enterprise for the next movie. It also brought some closure to the on-going story arcs set in the series involving Guinan (played superbly by Whoopi Goldberg) and the infamous Duras sisters of the Klingon Empire.

We also get to see the fate of Kirk!

If you watch and have been buying the DVD sets of The Next Generation, then consider this movie the series finale and add it to your collection.

The three movies that follow, First Contact, Insurrection and Nemesis all have a different tone to the series, and should be considered a stand-alone trilogy from the series, kind of like The Next Generation Next Generation.

Star Trek - Generations: A worthy revival
I was absolutely delighted to have gotten the all-new Special Edition of "Star Trek: Generations". I enjoyed this film when I first saw it at the cinema but consequently forgot about it in light of the superior "First Contact" and "Insurrection". "Generations" is worthy of a revival. The film is so much better than I remembered it to be. Superbly acted, well written and more than competently directed, "Generations" is enhanced further by a real treasure trove of bonus features, particularly the excellent featurettes about the origins of the film, cast and crew reminiscing, some lovely tributes to the dearly departed and an illuminating look at the creation of 24th century weapons, especially knives. Deleted scenes are presented in raw and unpolished form but that's a minor quibble. On the whole, the special edition of "Generations" is as good as the previous Trek movie specials. Outstanding.