10. Crash Landing (Star Trek: Generations, 1994)
The first big screen adventure featuring the Next Gen crew proved to be the last one for their dependable spaceship, the Enterprise-D.
Aiming to provide a little spectacle, writers Brannon Braga and Ronald D Moore (the man who brought us Battlestar Galactica) decided that the ship should be critically compromised and forced to separate.
The catastrophic explosion of the engineering section causes the front section to crash-land on the planet it’s been orbiting.
The sequence, which uses models instead of CG, is big and loud and affecting, even if the odd moment comes off looking more like Thunderbirds than Trek.
And it really wasn’t necessary to have Data exclaim, “Oh, shit!" as they veered towards the planet.
Trek Trivia: The other big reason the ship was destroyed was because the original had been designed for narrower TV screens and producers wanted a ship/bridge that could look cool in cinemas.
9. Borg Body Horror (Star Trek: First Contact, 1996)
A nifty, horror movie-worthy moment opens the first movie carried by the Next Gen crew.
Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) suffers nightmares that see him back under the control of the nefarious, mechani-nasties The Borg, with sweeping shots of the alien ship superbly directed by thesp Jonathan Frakes.
And then there's the wonderful moment where Picard thinks he’s woken up, only to have a spiky Borg unit burst from his cheek... It’s Ridley Scott meets Saw.
Trek Trivia: This is the first Trek film that earned itself anything stronger than a PG rating in the US. Probably for this scene alone.
Next: Punk On The Bus, A Meeting For The Ages
Comments
mattburgess
May 4th 2009, 16:33
Star Trek Generations, and the Enterprise-D is moments from being destroyed by a vastly inferior klingon warbird. But thanks to a nifty little trick by Data, they force the warbird to drop its own shields, and in one brilliant, heart stopping, breath taking moment, Commander Riker gives the order: "Fire!" A single, fateful photon torpedo later, and the warbird is a complete wreck. Brilliant! (Never mind the fact that Riker has previously asked for a spread of torpedos)
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jhr01
May 5th 2009, 21:42
6. “This Far. No Further!” (Star Trek Generations, 1994) The scene involving Patrick Steward and Alfie Woodward's Lily Sloane is from First Contact, not Star Trek's Generations! Shame on you Total Film!!!!
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jwhite
May 7th 2009, 21:26
Argh! My bad. I'm turning in my phaser and heading to the Agony Booth for a sesh. Error fixed!
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Juliette
May 8th 2009, 19:53
Brilliant article, thanks! Though I think Spock's death has to be No 1 for me, and I also have a soft spot for Chekov's 'Now would be a good time!' in Star Trek IV
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stewart
May 10th 2009, 18:08
A really good article, thanks! Personally I thought your number 3 was probably the number 1 - Kirk destroying that which he coveted above all else - and of course the exchange between Kirk & Bones that followed. I felt that Star Trek III was the best of the lot - despite the critics harangueing it no end, and largely because of the scenes from that filn that you included in this article!
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