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Star Trek - Insurrection

Star Trek - Insurrection

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Not an epic, but a worthy effort
Review:
I did enjoy "Insurrection"; to me, it's the best of the oft-maligned odd-numbered Trek films. It plays much like a two-part big-budgeted episode, though that's not a bad thing. It suffers a bit due to the fact it followed up the outstanding "First Contact" with its final Borg showdown and first alien contact, but I don't think that every Trek outing has to deal with a Universe-threatening enemy or major historical event.

Here, the Enterprise crew goes to great lengths to obey the Prime Directive (non-intervention in other societies, though that's much of what Star Trek is about), which ironically goes against their Federation orders. The Ba'ku, the several hundred people they are defending, live on a planet which has the unusual ability to preserve and even reverse, aging, afflictions, etc. The adult inhabitants are over three hundred years old but none have advanced past the appearance of a young adult (Why, after 300-plus years then, there are still only a few hundred of them, I'm not sure, but its inconsequential to the plot).

Unfortunately for them, the Federation has been observing them and decides to ignore the Prime Directive. It is determined that these never-aging, super-smart hippie folk (if there were ever such a thing) are to be forcibly relocated while the planet's atmosphere (and stuff) is broken up and used to create new technologies that can spread its healing, anti-aging effects all over Federation territories. In this, the Federation, namely Admiral Dougherty (Anthony Zerbe) are aided/goaded on by the Sona (led by F. Murray Abraham), who appear to be a race of people descended from Joan Rivers' DNA and are frequent customers of "Pay-Less Plastic Surgery".

Naturally, Picard and co. get to the bottom of what's going on and befriend the Ba'ku; Picard even gets a bit Kirk-like as he flirts and gets playful with Anij (Donna Murphy), a sexy, smart Ba'ku woman, particularly attractive for her 300+ years. A bit of humor ensues down on the planet; Anij mentions Picard's baldness (foreign to the Ba'ku), the regenerative atmosphere affects Dr. Crusher and Deanna as they notice the firmness of their breasts (hello, Deanna! We've been noticing that for years already!), while Worf goes through a sort of Klingon puberty. A cool little subplot deals with Geordi regaining his own natural eyesight (finally, we get to see Levar without white contacts or an air filter on his face!). The moment where he's able to conventionally view his first sunrise is very nice. I also, for the second film in a row, found Cmdr. Riker fairly likeable (unlike the TV show, where he was often dumb and constantly yelled obvious or pointless phrases at crewmates); perhaps uncoincidentally, Jonathan Frakes directed both films.

The wishy-washy Admiral and the Sona move from trying to maneuver the Enterprise out of the area (which the Enterprise disobeys) to the use of force later on. Picard never relents from sticking to his belief that forced-removal of a people, no matter how small the population, is inherently wrong and leads to nothing good (which is perhaps debatable, but still a noble belief). One part of the film that I felt was well-done was when Anij gets badly injured and appears to be about to die (my eyes rolled at first); somewhat surprisingly, she survives. I won't really give away too much else, though there isn't much that will surprise - the last part of the film relied a bit too much on techno-babble but all-in-all, it was a worthy effort, particularly considering it had to follow the epic "First Contact", which is the favorite Trek film of many fans.


Rating: 1 stars
Summary: waynelemagne is a THIEF!!!!! Buyer Beware
Review: This seller is a THIEF! He will take your money and you will never get the item. I purchased a CD on Jan 12 05. I never recieved the CD. I sent 6 emails with out any response.
BEWARE!!!!!!!!!!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Are you kidding me? No, Trekkers won't swallow everything!
Review: The "mighter-than-thou" crew of the USS Enterprise decide that they know better than the entire Federation Council (including the Vulcans) and override the decision to remove the _non-native_ Ba'ku from their _non-native_ planet. Humph! The audacity of the Council! Remove these handful of vagabonds so that the planet can be used to save the lives of wounded Federation defenders from a genocidal race that wishes the erratication of all Alpha-Quadrant beings?? Ridiculous!! Now, let's have cheesy love scenes, crappy special effects and a horrendously CGI-rendered Enterprise-E debut and call it a Trek movie!!

Rent this movie for 99 cents...DON'T buy it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best Star Trek Film ever!!!
Review: I absolutely loved this movie because it went back to what Star Trek is all about: the characters
Yes, sure, it is in the 24th century, and there's action, but mainly "Star Trek" is so popular because it gives us a safe vision of the future. That's why I don't understand people complaining about it being too sweet, because it isn't. It has a hopeful, positive ending, and is, in a way, the opposite of "Nemesis"(which I, by the way, also liked).
Some basic ethnic questions were discussed in "Insurrection", the old philosophical part was back. None of the characters came too short.
The movie was overall well balanced, good story, great plotline, action, humor, romance, everything was incorporated. Nothing to complain about.
Maybe the joystick scene was a little exaggerated, but come on, it's science fiction! If you can beam people and create a warp core, why shouldn't you be able to fly a star ship with a joystick?
What the movie does NOT provide:
A senseless line of action scenes without real plot.
The humor wasn't wooden, I had several good laughs.
The dialogues weren't plump or sappy, I found them rather charming and intelligent.
The story wasn't boring, what was happening to the Ba'Ku homeworld became a question of moral and ethics, going back to the "Star Trek" philosophy.
Wrong characterization: I haven't noticed anyone acting out of character, although the Ba'Ku juvenile effects have them act a little younger(cute and hilarious), it addresses the whole midlife crisis thing. And Worf wasn't any weirder than usually, he was just being Worf.

Deanna and Will finally got together, how sweet! I don't think it was too sudden, but about time!
Picard finally had a love story.
Geordi was able to see for a while.

The use of music and imagery in the film was wonderful, beautiful landscape instead of grey star ship!
But don't worry, there's still enough action.

Summary: A beautiful and hopeful picture, true to the spirit of "Star Trek"! A great movie, not just for Trekkies, but for anyone to see!


Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Have You Noticed......
Review: HOLD THE PHONE!!'Star Trek-Insurrection' is a VASTE improvment over the insipidly awful 'First Contact'.It just
happened to be made when filmgoers couldn't have cared less
about Star Trek.Plot goes-some galactic thugs have located the
fountain of youth in the wrings of a planet populated by the
Baku,a race of Amish-like people who choose to live without
advanced technology.But the thugs,called the S'ona have to remove the Baku from the planet to get what they want.Even so the Federation agree's to help these thugs to it's advantage until Captain Picard and his crew are forced violate Starfleet regulations to have the Baku from destruction.
The movie has love scenes,alot of action and some
great special affects but thankfully relies on heavy social
commentary about bitterness and forced relocation-a quality
the last movie completely skimmed over.And it's lacking in the
obnoxiously silly catch phrases from it either!So for a good
intruduction to the Next Generation of Trek films I'd be inclined towards this!


Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Star Trek Meets Walt Disney
Review: If you like the one about the whales, you'll probably enjoy "Star Trek: Insurrection," too. Unlike its successor, the bloated and ill-conceived "Star Trek: Nemesis," this third foray into theaters for the "TNG" crew is a competent, if not particularly riveting, adventure that often feels more like an old-fashioned Disney film than anything else. That's actually the best thing going for it, as Captain Picard and crew discover an intergalactic Shangri-La that is the focal point for a generational civil war. Comfortable as director, co-star Jonathan Frakes does what he can with a script that is frequently sweet (and sometimes needlessly violent) but like many of the modern Trek episodes, short on plot and long on technobabble. He had more success with the last film, which managed to evoke the spirit of Captain Kirk's era, but Frakes here still finds new ways to show us things we've seen a million times before, no mean feat. He's aided by the late, great Jerry Goldsmith's evocative score, which is present almost as much as the film's key players, some beautiful special effects, and good turns by guest stars Anthony Zerbe and F. Murray Abraham. Over the years, I suspect, this one will become more endearing to fans, who may better appreciate the film's gentler themes and personality with age, even if moments of pure corn--like breast jokes and Data's singing--still elicit well-deserved groans.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A cute fuzzy Trek
Review: To non-fans of Star Trek,there is the"odd numbered film curse",which odd numbered Trek film come off as disappointing (finally broken with Star Trek Nemesis).
Usually the problem is the filmakers second guessing fan expectation after the sucess of an even numbered film, injecting a bigger budget
The budget was more than the average box office take of the other films.Overall Insurrection was a better movie than most of the Oddies(except 3).It had some very funny moments,and Patrick Stewart seemed to be having fun as Picard.But one can't help but feel the story would've been better suited on TV.And considering the great quality of DS9 episodes with the Dominion War,you also feel the writers should've strived for more on the big screen.
As expected the Box office tally was lower than expected.But in the end,it was a very entertaining film but you feel it could've been better.


Rating: 4 stars
Summary: It Takes Six...
Review: The rule of odds and evens continues to apply in Star Trek Insurrection. Being the second true Next Generation film it is a must-see for fans.

The film opens with scenes on a tranquil, agricultural planet. Then things heat up as we run into Data and some Federation personnel. It seems they are observing the tranquil society in what is called Operation Duck Blind (the inhabitants don't know they are being looked at). From there we run into the rest of the main cast and the plot begins to develop. It involves a malfunction Data experiences while assisting at Operation Duck Blind that results in the mission being compromised.

As the crew of the Enterprise investigate what went wrong with Data they begin to raise more and more questions. As the main plot is revealed the crew must band together and stand up for what they feel is right. In the end the crew triumphs (did we really think it would be otherwise?).

This is really not a film for people who are not already fans of the show as it is the way the characters act and their personal interactions that makes the film so entertaining. Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis seem to have a tremendously fun time with this film. Fans are treated to some great scenes of their favorite characters (although Gates McFadden was not particularly important). We even learn some more about Data's design and operation. But do not be misled by the title and the trailer, the scenes are all there but in the trailer they tell a much different story.

There are a few technical problems in the movie but you don't really think about them until afterwards. These include small things like not being able to count (claiming two slave races and showing three), the Federation is pretty stupid (giving membership to a race that has just managed warpdrive but only has been around for less than a hundred years, has only six members and seems to have better ships). There is the inevitable total ignorance of nebulae and what they are and just how not dense they are. But these are all minor things that don't jump out as the movie progresses.

So if you are a Next Generation fan and want to see the crew back together in a story that is really just a long, but very good, episode, then you really should take the opportunity to see this one. On a final note it passes Lynch's Law for a successful Next Generation episode in that it does not rely on techno-babble to drive or advance the plot but uses situation, character and emotion for fuel instead.


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