Star Trek: Nemesis
From Free net encyclopedia
Star Trek: Nemesis (Paramount Pictures, 2002) is the tenth feature film based on the popular Star Trek science fiction television series. It was billed as "A generation's final journey begins" and is likely the last Star Trek film to feature the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Contents |
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Patrick Stewart | Captain Jean-Luc Picard |
| Jonathan Frakes | Commander/Captain William T. Riker |
| Brent Spiner | Lt. Commander Data/B-4 |
| LeVar Burton | Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge |
| Michael Dorn | Lt. Commander Worf |
| Gates McFadden | Dr. Beverly Crusher |
| Marina Sirtis | Counselor Deanna Troi |
| Ron Perlman | Reman Viceroy |
| Tom Hardy | Praetor Shinzon |
| Dina Meyer | Romulan Commander Donatra |
| Jude Ciccolella | Romulan Commander Suran |
| Kate Mulgrew | Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway |
| Whoopi Goldberg | Guinan (uncredited) |
| Wil Wheaton | Wesley Crusher |
Plot summary
While the crew of the USS Enterprise prepares to bid farewell to first officer Commander William T. Riker and Counselor Deanna Troi, who have married each other in Alaska, they find the remnants of an android resembling Lt Cmdr Data on a planet close to the Romulan Neutral Zone called Kolarus III. When the android is reassembled, it reveals its name as B-4, a predecessor to Data.
The ship is then ordered by Admiral Kathryn Janeway to a diplomatic mission to Romulus, the homeworld of the Romulan Star Empire, which has undergone a military coup and is now controlled by a mysterious young Reman named Shinzon. The Romulan Praetor Shinzon proves to be a clone of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, who appears to want peace but has some nasty plans for both the Romulans and the Federation.
The Enterprise crew detects a break-in on the ship's computer systems, and Picard is captured by the Romulans because Shinzon needs him as his only matching supplier of genetic material, which he needs to repair his rapidly degenerating body as a result of the cloning process used to make him. The crew finds out that B-4 is a spy who helped transfer information from the Enterprise to Shinzon, and is able to replace him with Data to rescue Picard. Picard and the crew can escape only to find themselves battling Shinzon's completely cloaked Warbird, the Scimitar, which is Shinzon's custom-built weapon designed for one purpose: the complete destruction of Earth.
Themes
The film has two major story arcs: Picard meeting his opposite in Shinzon, and having to think his way out of his usual patterns to out-fight himself. As such, the experience of seeing Picard meet a younger, nastier version of himself (reminiscent of several original series episodes, most notably "The Enemy Within") doesn't amount to much more than a rousing space adventure with a grand battle at the end. Hardy was widely praised for his acting skills opposite Stewart, however.
The second arc involves Data meeting — after a fashion — his opposite in B-4 (he has previously encountered another double of himself, Lore, who is genuinely evil; B-4 is simply less advanced, a prototype of the android). Data eventually makes the ultimate sacrifice to demonstrate his humanity, and his emotional growth and maturity combined with his reactions to the events around him are the most touching moments of the film. This sub-plot is somewhat reminiscient of the Spock-McCoy story arc in Star Trek II & III. Spock "uploads" his memories (katra) into McCoy at the end of STII and then a "new" Spock, albeit with the same memories and a comparably aged body, is brought back in STIII.
Much of the film is devoted to the quest of a few of the protagonists to discover what it is to be human. After discovering his clone is quite different to what he is, Picard is left wondering what it is to be human. He doubts his ability to defeat Shinzon, given that they are technically the same person, despite the appearance that they are opposites. Picard eventually discovers, or at least concludes, that to be human is to try to improve on one's self. Throughout his time with Data, he realises that it was Data who understood this more than anyone else and this influences and inspires Picard to come to this conclusion. This is an epiphany for Picard, who, as if to frustrate himself even further, was not able to explain this to Data before his death.
Thematically, the plot of Nemesis is an example of power corrupting and the need for vengeance driving an individual over the edge to his doom, as best exemplified in the original series films by Khan Noonien Singh in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and in literature in Moby Dick. Image:Sovereign-2.jpg
Deleted scenes
The film, as with Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, was cut by about a third from a much longer running time. Much of the deleted scenes in the movie were "character moments," which served to further the characters' relationship with one another. Several deleted scenes make up about 17 minutes of this original footage and includes:
- A private conversation between Picard and Data over a glass of wine in which they discuss the fact the crew of the Enterprise is starting to move on with their lives.
- Early introduction of Shinzon in the film (right after the wedding reception). This is the scene that includes the dialogue from the theatrical trailers, "But in darkness there is strength..." (Viceroy) and "The time we have dreamed of is at hand... the mighty Federation will fall before us..." (Shinzon).
- The second "mind-rape" scene of Counselor Troi in the Turbolift. It also includes Shinzon's line from the teaser, "Don't fear."
- A scene of Picard walking with Troi down a corridor and Troi explaining to him that he and Shinzon are two different people. This scene includes the line from the trailer, "it was like a part of me had been stolen..." (Picard)
- Sick-bay getting ready for battle, a short dialogue between Dr. Crusher and Picard is shown.
- An extend version of the scene in which Crusher visits Picard in his quarters. In this extended version Crusher tells Picard that Shinzon is a different person, not the man she has known for over 30 years. Picard kisses Crusher on the cheek to thank her for her visit.
- Worf warning Picard about the Romulans just before they leave for Romulus. This scene includes the dialogue from the trailer, "I recommend extreme caution..." (Worf)
- Riker and Troi discussing their honeymoon plans with Worf.
- An extended version of Picard's first meeting with Shinzon.
- Original extended ending - A new First Officer (Commander Martin Madden), is introduced on board the Enterprise and two funny moments are shown afterward.Riker tells Madden to call Captain Picard "Jean-Luc". Later in a conversation with Picard he does so and Picard only grins at Madden and Madden notices that Riker has pulled his leg. This scene is where the Enterprise finally gets seat belts. At the end Picard tells the crew that their new aim is a place "where no man has gone before".
Nemesis was to have been the first Star Trek film to feature the character of Wesley Crusher (played by actor Wil Wheaton). However, his scenes were almost entirely cut from the film, leaving only a brief cameo during the wedding scene, in which he has no dialogue in the final theatrical print of the film. A deleted scene on the collector's edition DVD features a brief conversation between Wesley and Picard that explains Wesley has returned to Starfleet and is a member of Captain Riker's engineering crew on the USS Titan. The scene does not address Wesley's adventures with the Traveler, with whom he left in the seventh season of TNG after leaving Starfleet Academy, but instead regresses Wesley's personality to his appearance in Season 5's "The Game" and ignores the fact that Wesley was never shown to actually graduate from Starfleet Academy (though enough time had elapsed since the seventh season of TNG that he possibly could have returned to and graduated from the Academy in the interim).
Most of the lines in both the theatrical and teaser trailers were in scenes that wound up being cut from the movie.
Public opinion
This movie's gross domestic income was the lowest revenue-generating film of the series at $43,254,409 as of December 2004. It was also the first Trek film to not open at #1 at the US box office. It earned $67,312,826 worldwide on a budget of $60,000,000. Some fans have noted that Nemesis ends the perceived trend of even-numbered Trek films being better than odd-numbered films. (All figures according to Box Office Mojo).
The blame for the film's disappointing performance has been laid in several places. Paramount Pictures has been criticized for releasing the film only a few days before the powerhouse opening of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Others blame the negative response many Trekkies have towards Star Trek: Enterprise, and general dislike of Star Trek executive producer Rick Berman. Others point to the fact that early drafts of the script were leaked onto the Internet more than a year before the film's release, generating a tidal wave of negative word-of-mouth criticism that built up over the course of many months.
Displeasure with the film's editing has been regarded as another contributing factor to its lukewarm reception, and has spread outward since its release. Actors and fans alike were annoyed at the large number of substantial character-building scenes lost at the eleventh hour by director Stuart Baird and producer Rick Berman, ostensibly in the name of "reduced running time" and pacing concerns. Patrick Stewart himself personally sounded off on the severely-edited, less-than-robust final cut of the picture in the June, 2003 issue of Dreamwatch Magazine:
- "I think if ever there was a real need for an extended edition of any of the work we've done, it would be for Nemesis," he said. "It wouldn't be a Director's Cut of the film — that might be even shorter. But maybe an Actors' Cut."
With two DVD releases to date (2006), neither featuring an extended version of the film, despite much fandom demand, it seems highly unlikely that any such re-cut will be released in the future with the participation of Berman or Baird.
Finally, the film itself is a piecemeal recombination of a number of previously-used ideas and characters: Data already has an identical evil brother (Lore); Picard's ramming maneuver instantly recalls the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Year of Hell" (and the non-canon novel, Federation, written by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens; in this case, the Enterprise-E rams and damages a Reman Warship); and writer John Logan freely admits to having modeled much of the plot on Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. This is especially apparent during both films' final battles, which play out very similarly. (The final battle also rehashes the concept of a ship that can fire while cloaked, a plot device previously used in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.) Logan, a long-time franchise fan, calls these parallels "homages" — and, to his credit, he manages to slip references to every Star Trek series (including Star Trek: Enterprise) into the film — but on-screen, the results simply felt "reused" to many critics.
Some Trekkies also point out inconsistencies and errors in the film, including the mentioning of a Deck 29 when previous films had mentioned the Enterprise had 24 decks, ruined the feeling of the film for many fans who noticed these details. Other Trekkies point to some of the "anachronisms" in the film, including the Enterprise's use of photon torpedoes (rather than quantum torpedoes, which had previously been established as the ship's primary ballistic payload) and the presence of Worf and Wesley Crusher in Starfleet. Along those same lines, other Trekkies mention with over 15 years of direct and indirect backstory, trying to keep an eye on all these balls is a daunting challenge for any writer, and this might explain Star Trek's loss of appeal as a whole; too much daunting backstory to come up with new plots.
Many long time TNG fans were also angered at the lack of screen time for the majority of the cast. Picard and Data were the clear focus of the movie, while the rest of the cast took a back seat. Gates McFadden, Michael Dorn, and LeVar Burton had very little screen time.
The film was released four years after the previous film, Star Trek: Insurrection — the longest gap between films to date — and some defenders of the movie feel this interval might have also contributed to the film underperforming since the Trek franchise in general had been experiencing diminishing returns since the release of the previous film, with the ratings for Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise shrinking with each passing year.
Overall, due to its failings at the box office and bashing by critics and fans alike, the film has been granted the dubious 'honor' of breaking with the Star Trek movie curse, in which previously, only the odd-numbered sequels did poorly.
The Future of Star Trek films
- Main article: Star Trek XI
The poor performance of Nemesis, coupled with the generally low ratings of Star Trek: Enterprise (the series was cancelled in 2005) has left the franchise with an uncertain future. Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, and Patrick Stewart have all publicly said that The Next Generation has reached the end of the line and that probably no future Next Generation films (as it were) would be made. To that end, the not-so-subtle tagline of Nemesis was 'A generation's final journey." Many of the TNG cast would have liked to have made a movie with more closure than Nemesis, like Star Trek VI was for the original series cast.
Nonetheless, in the summer of 2004, there were reports that pre-production work was under way on the 11th Star Trek film, which may, like Enterprise, be a prequel to the original Trek series. However, prior to the cancellation of Enterprise in early 2005, Paramount Pictures denied that an 11th movie was in production at the then-present time. There have been rumors floating around various Trek websites that Paramount is less than pleased with the film's intended direction.
In late 2005, Partrick Stewart stated that he had attended several serious meetings with Paramount executives about doing another movie based on The Next Generation. This news was further added to when director Bryan Singer has stated that he would be interested in directing a new Trek movie. Both Stewart and Singer have stated that they would not be able to commit to the movie until 2007.
Notes/trivia
- This is the first Star Trek film to not have any opening credits; only the title is shown.
- In the opening scene, set in the Romulan Senate chambers, two of the Romulans - Praetor Hiren, and the military officer Commander Suran - were played (respectively) by Alan Dale and Jude Ciccolella who appeared together on the TV series 24. (Dale played Vice President Jim Prescott, and Ciccolella played Mike Novick, assistant to President David Palmer). In an ironic twist, Alan Dale is the victim of a coup in this film, while he is behind a coup in 24.
- Brent Spiner had reportedly wanted this to be his final appearance as Data, in part because he was 16 years older than when he first appeared as the android, whereas Data presumably is ageless (although the seventh season TNG episode "Inheritance" makes mention of Data's ability to age himself). B4's existence, however, leaves open the possibility that he may return in a future installment.
- In one scene, Picard is shown looking at a photo of himself at a younger age. This photo was supposedly taken during the time Picard was at Starfleet Academy or shortly afterwards, and shows Hardy as a younger Picard. The younger Picard shown in the photo is also bald, which contradicts earlier Next Generation episodes in which Picard had a full head of hair early in his career. One possible explanation for this could be that he shaved his head. In some scenes, it becomes quite evident that Hardy (Shinzon) had shaved his head, and is not naturally bald.
- This is the only Star Trek film to feature a car chase. The wheeled vehicle was the "Argo" and the aliens chasing them had vehicles comparable to the Humvees of the early 21st Century.
- Jude Law and Michael Shanks both auditioned for the role of Shinzon.
- Steven Culp, who plays the Enterprise's new first officer in a scene cut from the final film, joined the cast of Star Trek: Enterprise several months later as Major Hayes. This was the second occasion in which an actor in a Star Trek film would join the cast of a Star Trek TV series within months of the film's release (the other occasion was Tim Russ appearing in Star Trek: Generations a few months before joining the cast of Voyager.)
- An early draft of the film's script was leaked onto the Internet 9 months before the theatrical release.
- Bryan Singer appears briefly in a cameo role as an Enterprise Bridge Operations Officer. Singer is the director of the X-Men, in which Patrick Stewart has a starring role as Professor Xavier.
- It was planned that Worf is rescued by a Romulan doctor but then the film would have become too long.
- There is no attempt to explain why Worf is once again tactical officer on the Enterprise despite accepting the position of Ambassador to the Klingon homeworld at the end of DS9 three years earlier. An unused line from one draft of the script features a conversation between Worf and Dr. Crusher at the wedding in which Worf says the life of a diplomat is not for him. This cut dialogue doesn't jibe with several scenes from the series in which Worf acts very much like a diplomat, and in alternate futures is depicted as a Klingon politician.
- This is the first Star Trek film to be released in the same year as a Star Wars film. The Star Wars film in this case being Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.
- In the DVD version of this film, it has been noted that director Stuart Baird provided the Scimitar's computer voice.
Quotes
- Worf, with a hangover: Romulan ale should be illegal.
Geordi La Forge: It is illegal.
Worf: (groans and puts his head down on the table) - Geordi La Forge: So, Guinan, have you thought of getting married again?
Guinan: No. Twenty-three was my limit. - Jean-Luc Picard, after informing Worf that the Betazoid tradition regarding nude marriages will be upheld by the crew: Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be in the Gym.
- Jean-Luc Picard: You have the bridge... Mister Troi.
- B4, referring to Riker's beard: Why does the tall man have a furry face?
- Data: I aspire sir, to be better than I am. B4 does not. Nor does Shinzon.
- Data: I have never understood the human predilection for driving at unsafe velocities.
- Jean-Luc Picard, being shot at during the car chase: I believe this calls for some unsafe velocities!
- Jean-Luc Picard: On screen.
Picard, after realizing the screen has been smashed to pieces: Open a channel. - B-4: Never saw the sun... never saw the sun... never saw the sun...
Jean-Luc Picard: Shining so bright...
B-4: Never saw things going so right... - Jean-Luc Picard: Mr. Data?
Data: Sir?
Jean-Luc Picard: Shut up
Data: Yes, sir
Jean-Luc Picard: 15 years I've been waiting to say that. - Jean-Luc Picard, to Shinzon: I'm a mirror for you too!
Shinzon: Not for long, captain...
DVD Releases
On May 20, 2003, Star Trek: Nemesis was released on DVD in both anamorphic widescreen and full screen editions in Region 1. This initial release contained an audio commentary by director Stuart Baird, four featurettes on the film's production, seven deleted scenes, a photo gallery, and a preview for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine on DVD.
The initial release was followed up wih a "special collector's edition" in Region 1 on October 4, 2005. Although this two-disc set contained several additional features, it also duplicated some of the features found in the initial release.
External links
- Official Star Trek: Nemesis web site
- {{{2|{{{title|Star Trek: Nemesis}}}}}} at The Internet Movie Database
- Template:Memoryalpha article
- Review by Science Fiction Weekly
- Star Trek Nemesis Pictorial Plot Synopsis — parody, contains spoilers and coarse language
| Star Trek television series and feature films | ||
| Television Series The Original Series · The Animated Series · Phase II · The Next Generation · Deep Space Nine · Voyager · Enterprise | ||
| Feature Films The Motion Picture · The Wrath of Khan · The Search for Spock · The Voyage Home · The Final Frontier The Undiscovered Country · Generations · First Contact · Insurrection · Nemesis · XI | ||
de:Star Trek: Nemesis es:Star Trek: Némesis fr:Star Trek : Nemesis ja:ネメシス/S.T.X pl:Star Trek: Nemesis sv:Star Trek: Nemesis