The weirdest scene inStar Trek Generationswas actually brilliant. The last movie starring thecast ofStar Trek: The Original Seriesopens with Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Montgomery Scott (James Doohan), and Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig) touring the USS Enterprise-B, waxing nostalgic about time gone by. The Enterprise-B has been passed to its next commander, Captain John Harriman (Alan Ruck).As expected,Star Trek Generations' prologue runs with themes already established in theTOSmovies, and also introduces the Nexus as a timeless, wish-granting energy field that will unite two generations ofStar Trekcasts.
Following the opening prologue with the familiarTOScrew,Star Trek Generationspasses the narrative baton to the cast ofStar Trek: The Next Generation.Instead of shifting to the USS Enterprise-D, the action takes place on a 19th-century British naval vessel.Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the USS Enterprise-D’s bridge crew are dressed in period-appropriate military garb to celebrate Worf’s (Michael Dorn) promotion to Lieutenant Commander. At first, this weird scene seems entirely out of place in aStar Trekmovie, but the cinematic debut of theStar Trek: The Next Generationcast is actually quite clever.
Why Star Trek Generations’ Weird Holodeck Scene Was Actually Brilliant
Star Trek Generations' 19th Century Enterprise Introduces The TNG Cast To Movie Audiences
Star Trek Generations' weird holodeck scene was a brilliant way to introduce theStar Trek: The Next Generationcastto the wider movie-going audience. There’s something intriguing about seeing the caption reading “78 years later”, and then being introduced to a mucholderEnterprise before seeing the Enterprise-D right away.TNGfans already knew about the holodeck, butgeneral audiences who might have only watched theStar Trek: The Original Seriesmovies hadn’t seen the holodeck in a movie before.The holodeck was a great way to show just how advanced 24th-century technology was compared to the 23rd century.
The Enterprise-D bridge crew is a tight-knit family, which gives Picard a reason to resist the temptations of the Nexus later in the movie.
The holodeck scene inStar Trek Generationsis an interesting way to meet the USS Enterprise-D crew and also sets up individual character arcs within the film.EachTNGcharacter gets a moment to show who they are and what their role is.Explaining a joke to Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) sets up the importance ofData’s emotion chip. Showing theTNGcharacters' comfortable interactions in an off-duty situation shows that the Enterprise-D bridge crew is a tight-knit family, which gives Picard a reason to resist the temptations of the Nexus later in the movie.
There’s A Practical Reason To Use Dixon Hill Against The Borg
There was an even better holodeck scene inStar Trek: First Contact. While Captain Picard and Lily Sloane (Alfre Woodard) are trying to outrun the Borg on a chase through the USS Enterprise-E, they take momentary refuge in the holodeck. Specifically, Jean-Luc and Lily enter a nightclub inPicard’s Dixon Hill 1940s detective program. The Borg are essentially immune to energy weapons like Starfleet phasers, since they quickly adapt to the different phase variances. With the holodeck safety off, however,Dixon Hill’s machine gun does real, physical damage that the Borg can’t adapt to.
Star Trek’s 20 Best Holodeck Episodes
Star Trek’s holodecks entertain, fulfill fantasies, heal old wounds, train cadets, and malfunction badly, as seen in these 20 best episodes.
The Dixon Hill scene inStar Trek: First Contactwas one of the last times the holodeck was significantly used in aStar Trekmovie.Star Trek: Insurrection’s extended away mission meant there was no need to escape to the holodeck.Star Trek: Nemesisdownplayed beingStar Trekat all, instead focusing on action-adventure elements. Obviously, correlation is not causation, but it’s interesting to note that neitherStar Trek: InsurrectionnorStar Trek: Nemesiswere particularly well-received. Could that have been different if they’d taken a page fromStar Trek Generationsand included moreTNGstaples like the holodeck?
