Coming only a few months after the Next Generation series came to a close, Generations was to be the film to bridge the original series and the Next Generation.
And there was a hope that it might bring together both crews in an exciting meeting of titans so to speak.
Opening in 2093, the new ship the Excelsior is making it’s maiden flight. Kirk, Scotty and Chekov are part of the celebration when the ship encounters a distress signal. They beam the inhabitants to their ship, but in an accident, it appears Kirk was killed.
The film jumps to the present (I mean, for the Next Generation Crew) where they are having a celebration. They answer a distress call from a science vessel. There they discover a scientist who claims they were attacked by Romulans.
The scientist wants to get back to his experiment, to the point of attacking the crew. Picard learns that he is part of the same long lived race as Guinan and he is trying to get to another dimension known as the Nexus. But doing so could be highly destructive. Add to the mix Klingon mercenary sisters who are working with the scientist and things look bad for the Enterprise Crew.
Picard ultimately finds himself alone with the mad scientist on a planet where he must try and stop him…but he finds an ally in a man thought long dead.
To be honest, for a long time I just did not like this film. I came to realize that this was mainly due to the fact that it was not what I wanted it to be. Only Picard and Kirk meet. And upon revisiting the film recently, I think I hold this one up a bit higher than in the past. There are some things I really enjoy.
Everyone is great, but I confess I find Stewart and Spiner to be the MVPs here. Stewart gives real heart to Picard who is suddenly facing a sense that maybe he made the wrong choice in never having a family.
Meanwhile, Data opts to install and activate his emotion chip. At first, this is mined for humor, with Data recalling jokes from early in the television series and discovering-with joy- that he hates a particular drink. However, he starts to become overwhelmed by his emotions, ultimately becoming paralyzed with fear, leaving Geordi to be taken captive.
They try and up the stakes with the destruction of the Enterprise, which is a pretty exciting crash sequence.
Is Generations the movie a younger me wanted? No. Is it a better film for not being what the younger me wanted? Yes.
Tripping Through Gateways 
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