Star Trek: Insurrection (Special Collector's Edition)
One Half Star
by Brad Brevet, ropeofsilicon.com
Only a couple of months ago I was treated to the best bit of Star Trek I had seen out of the "Next Generation" bunch as I previewed the Collector's Edition of First Contact, so I was more than interested to check out Insurrection considering I had not seen it and my faith in the TNG crew was rising. What a major let down that anticipation was.
Star Trek: Insurrection is undoubtedly the worst Star Trek feature I have seen to date, and that is saying a lot as the final films in the original crew's portfolio were less than stellar, as was Generations. Insurrection however surpasses anything before it as the whole idea of Star Trek is completely lost. Ninety-percent of the battle is waged on land, not to mention a land that looks exactly like Earth; as a matter of fact it looks just like the hills in California.
F. Murray Abraham stars as the baddie in this feature as he leads a dying race of aliens in an effort to relocate a small group of people living on Ba'Ku, a planet whose surrounding rings offer a sort of fountain of youth like effect keeping the inhabitants young well upon their years. Luckily the friendly crew of the Enterprise is nearby and ready to assist however they may can.
I have been holding on to this review for quite some time as I was looking for ways to expand on my criticism of this picture because I didn't want it to seem as if I was taking this large two-disc release lightly but I simply have nothing good to say about it from the film to the special features, they all bored me stiff.
The fact that I fell asleep several times while watching the multitude of making-of features is the best way I can describe them and on top of that I tried checking out the original trailers to see if they could even liven up the mood, but even they were utterly boring. I am quite astonished this film ever got greenlit.
The writing of "The Next Generation" is so wooden and the acting supplied by such members of the cast as Brent Spiner as Data and Michael Dorn as Worf are just two more things that I just can't overlook. Then there is that cheesy "love" story surrounding Captain Picard (Stewart) and the 300+ year-old fossil Anji (Donna Murphy), it was all too much for me to handle.
My only advice is to stay clear of this one. Trust me your collection will not look incomplete as this movie can hardly be considered part of the franchise. Visit the official Star Trek website.
