Generations

We’re a month into 2020. The decade is moving quickly.

            That thought fits perfectly with this week’s topic: a movie review of Star Trek Generations. “Boldly going where no man has gone before.” Actually, many people have forayed into Star Trek movie reviews. I’m joining the ranks.

            As a relative young person, one might wonder how I got into Star Trek. My father, a “Trekkie” since the 1960s, would watch TV reruns of Star Trek and Star Trek The Next Generation, and I would join in. At first, I didn’t understand what all the fuss was about, but soon I came to appreciate the series. I became such a fan that at one point I had a Star Trek T-shirt. I became a fan not for the action or acting, which has always been subpar (“Kahn!”), but rather for the storytelling and compelling themes.

Star Trek Generations was no different. I’ve seen it a number of times, but in watching it again, I remembered why I like Star Trek. It is a great story even though the acting and action is sometimes B-rate.

            The movie starts with the retired Captain Kirk going on the maiden voyage of the Enterprise B. During the initial cruise, Enterprise B has to rescue a ship stranded in a strange energy field. During the rescue, the Enterprise B gets stuck in the energy field. Kirk, helping during the crisis, goes to a section of the ship. The energy field destroys the section of ship where Kirk was at. Captain Kirk is nowhere to be seen and presumed dead.

            Fast forward a hundred years or so, and the movie is now following Captain Picard and the crew of the Enterprise D. Early in their travels, Picard learns that his brother and nephew died in a fire on Earth. This news weighs on Picard throughout the movie. Picard’s nephew was the last of the Picard family line, and with no wife and children of his own, Picard feels the sting of time.

            A federation research outpost needs help and the Enterprise D comes to their aid. When the Enterprise arrives at the station, almost all of the scientific researchers are dead. There is a lone survivor, a man named Soran.

While at first Soran seems normal, the crew of the Enterprise soon learns that Soran has an evil plan. Soran wants to get back to the “Nexus,” an energy field where time doesn’t exist, and you can relive all of your life’s memories. To get back into the Nexus, Soran plans to destroy a star, which would kill millions in a nearby planet.

            At the end of the movie, Picard battles Soran to stop him from destroying the star. Because Picard fails, Soran destroys the star and both Picard and Soran are swept into the Nexus. Immediately, Picard is experiencing a Christmas with his wife and children, but he knows it isn’t real, as Picard doesn’t have a wife and children. Realizing what has happened, Picard seeks to leave the Nexus, go back in time, and stop Soran from firing the missile. But first, Picard seeks the help of another Starfleet officer: Captain Kirk. Captain Kirk, who’d mysteriously disappeared years earlier, has been in the Nexus. Picard convinces Kirk to leave the Nexus and defeat Soran. Of course, they succeed.

            What I really loved about the movie was the theme of time. Both Picard and Kirk are confronted with how they spent their time. Picard realizes the finiteness of life with the death of his brother and nephew. In the Nexus, Picard sees what might have been. Kirk, in the Nexus, also experiences moments in his life he’d like to do over. Soran famously tells Picard that, “Time” is a “predator that stalks us all of our lives.” Reflecting on Soran’s grim view, Picard realizes that, “time is a companion who goes with us on the journey and reminds us to cherish every moment because they'll never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we lived.”

            As I reflect on the beginning of a new year, I couldn’t agree more.