Introduction

Star Trek Generations is a 1994 American science fiction film directed by David Carson and based on the franchise Star Trek.

It is the seventh film in the Star Trek film series, and brings together cast members from the original 1960s television show and Star Trek: The Next Generation.

In the film, Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise-D joins forces with Captain James T. Kirk to stop a villain from destroying a solar system.

Outline

In the year 2293, retired Starfleet officers James T. Kirk, Montgomery Scott, and Pavel Chekov attend the maiden voyage of the USS Enterprise-B, under the command of the unseasoned Captain John Harriman. During the shakedown cruise, the ill-equipped Enterprise is pressed into a rescue mission to save two El-Aurian ships from an unknown energy ribbon. Enterprise is able to save some of the refugees before their ships are destroyed, but becomes trapped in the ribbon. Kirk goes down to engineering and modifies Enterprise’s deflector dish to effect escape, but is presumed dead after the trailing end of the ribbon hits the ship’s hull before he can be retrieved.

In 2371, the crew of the USS Enterprise-D celebrate the promotion of shipmate Worf to Lieutenant Commander. Captain Jean-Luc Picard receives a message from Earth that his brother and nephew were killed in a fire. Picard is distraught that the Picard family line will end with him. Enterprise receives a distress call from an observatory in the Amargosa star system. There, an El-Aurian, Dr. Tolian Soran, launches a trilithium probe at a star. The probe causes the star to implode, creating a shockwave that destroys the solar system. Soran kidnaps Enterprise engineer Geordi La Forge and is transported off the station by a Klingon Bird of Prey belonging to the treacherous Duras sisters.

Guinan tells Picard that she and Soran were among the El-Aurians rescued in 2293 and that Soran is obsessed with reentering the ribbon to reach the “Nexus”, an extra-dimensional realm that exists outside of normal space-time. Picard and Data determine that Soran, unable to fly a ship directly into the ribbon, is altering the path of the ribbon by destroying stars. He plans on destroying the sun of the Veridian system to bring the ribbon to him on the planet Veridian III, killing millions on a nearby inhabited planet in the process.

Upon entering the Veridian system, Picard offers himself to the Duras sisters in exchange for La Forge, but insists that he be transported to Soran directly. La Forge is returned to Enterprise, but unwittingly transmits Enterprise’s defense details to the Klingons. The Duras sisters launch a surprise attack, and Enterprise only destroys the Bird of Prey after sustaining critical damage. Commander William Riker evacuates the crew to the forward saucer section of the ship, which separates from the engineering section and crashes onto the surface of Veridian III.

Picard fails to talk Soran out of his plan and is too late to stop him from launching another probe. The collapse of the Veridian star alters the course of the energy ribbon and sweeps Picard and Soran into the Nexus. Picard finds himself surrounded by an idealised family, but realises that it is an illusion. He is confronted by an “echo” of Guinan, and after being told that he may go “wherever and whenever” he wishes within the Nexus, Guinan sends him to meet Kirk, also safe in the Nexus. Though Kirk is at first entranced by the opportunity to make up for past regrets in the Nexus, he likewise realises that nothing there is real. Picard convinces Kirk to leave the Nexus and return to Veridian III shortly before Soran launches the probe.

Working together, Kirk and Picard distract Soran long enough for Picard to lock the probe in place, causing it to explode on the launchpad and killing Soran. Kirk is fatally injured in the effort, and Picard buries him in a makeshift grave on the mountain. Three Federation starships arrive to retrieve Enterprise’s survivors from Veridian III. With Enterprise declared un-salvageable, Picard muses that given the name’s legacy, the ship will not be the last to carry the name Enterprise.

Star Trek Films

You can find a full index of Star Trek films here.

Star Trek TV Series, Films, and Documentaries

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Trivia (Film)

• Generations was conceived as a handoff from the original television series cast and their movies to The Next Generation.
• Writers Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga worked on the script concurrently with the last season of The Next Generation; production began while the series was still being shot.
• Parts of the film were shot at the Valley of Fire State Park, Paramount Studios, and Lone Pine, California.
• The film uses a mix of traditional optical effects alongside computer-generated imagery.
• The film’s score was composed by regular Star Trek composer Dennis McCarthy.
• Generations opened on 18 November 1994 in the United States.
• Paramount promoted the film with a number of merchandising tie-ins, including toys, books, games, and a website – a first for a major motion picture.
• It was a box office success, grossing $118 million, but received a mixed critical reception. Generations was followed by 1996’s Star Trek: First Contact, exclusively featuring the Next Generation cast.

Trivia (General)

You can read interesting trivia and background details about the Star Trek franchise here.

Production & Filming Details

• Director(s): David Carson.
• Producer(s): Rick Berman.
• Writer(s) (Screenplay): Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga.
• Writer(s) (Story): Rick Berman, Ronald D. Moore, and Brannon Braga.
• Music: Dennis McCarthy.
• Cinematography: John A. Alonzo.
• Editor(s): Peter E. Berger.
• Distributor(s): Paramount Pictures.
• Release Date: 18 November 1994.
• Running Time: 118 minutes.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.