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Star Trek - Nemesis (Widescreen Edition)

Star Trek - Nemesis (Widescreen Edition)

List Price: $19.99
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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Vintage Star Trek
Review: The previous offerings of "New Generations" were tame. It made not much difference watching it on the big screen or on TV as the movies were rather even-paced. However, Nemesis was built upon an excellent foundation: a tight script, a great cast that was comfortable in their roles, stunning fighting sequence (not in Star Wars league but still, commendable for the Star Trek franchise). Not a bad effort at all for the first time Director, Stuard Baird. A movie that asked the question, what if the worst enemy is none other than yourself. Would you simply give in & tell yourself that there is nothing that you do would make any difference or you push yourself to be a better person? That's the question Jean-Luc Picard sought & the answer he found. Bravery, loyalty, paternity, sacrifice for the common good, family are brought into light. A definite vintage Star Trek. The best movie, yet! Can't help but notice that the uniform for the commanding officers are all into black & purple, not different from the uniform that TV series Enterprise is wearing. Highly recommended even for a non-Trekkie

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: To boldly go where they've been before
Review: The Star Trek franchise (at around 10 movies and 5 series) is like farmland. It once produced bountiful and rich scripts, but has been so over harvested that story lines are increasingly stunted. Indeed, Star Trek Nemesis seems more like a rehash of the Wrath of Khan film, with additional plot elements from the TV series mixed in.

Without revealing too much of the movie, this film has a Federation's archrival suffering a crisis stemming from a mining planet (sound familiar?). A duplicate of Data comes into being and is subsequently used against the crew. From that point on, there are secret crew clones, mind melds, ship versus ship battles, the clumsily staged "death" of a major character who sacrifices their life to save the Enterprise, and so forth. All of these plot elements have been taken from earlier films or TV shows, reworked and repackaged.

Nemesis is clearly an attempt to replicate the successful Wrath of Khan movie. Unfortunately, the franchise has so focused on science fiction rather than traditional story elements, that the character identification and sentimentality that made up the original series, is absent for casual viewers. When the original Enterprise was blow-up in an earlier film or Spock died, the sense of loss that the director was trying to project, seemed tangible. Now, with a shiny new ship for each film or a multitude of duplicate crewmembers, it all seems contrived.

From an action standpoint, Nemesis is better than previous two or three films and is entertaining to watch. Nevertheless, this movie is a shadow of what the franchise once was. Perhaps if the producers let this series lay fallow for several years, it may bear fruit again.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the best ST Films
Review: It's hard to determine just which one was better, Nemesis or First Contact. This can easily been one of the two best Star Trek Films of all time. Keep them coming Paramount.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good Film Despite Its Missed Potential
Review: The problem with a franchise like Star Trek is that it has a very committed and opinionated fan base, and so these fans will tend to be overly-critical and aggressive about their feelings regarding anything new in the franchise. Star Trek has the benefit of being based in a very broad and immersive universe that is made up of a dynamic and diverse cast of characters. This is both a blessing and a curse: a blessing because in each new motion picture installment there is a lot to build from; a curse because it can be difficult to stay true to the characters and the spirit behind the universe.

When making a film from the Next Generation television series, one would be confronted with two problems: the first being that the series was at times uneven and muddled; the second being that there is a different expectation in a film than in a television show. That being said, it is the characters that made the series great, and the thing that made First Contact (Trek film #8) such a resounding success is that even though it had action, it was primarily character-based and the plot had all the things that make Trek fans salivate: time travel, tough decisions and a great villain(s). I mean, really, does it get better than the Borg?

My girlfriend (who is a die-hard fan) and I went to see this with high hopes, and left with mixed feelings. Overall, it was a pretty decent film. It was well-paced and the action was decent. The starship battle at the end was as good as the one in Wrath of Kahn (the best of the Trek films), and the special effects were top notch. Plus, to her delight, we got to see Riker and Troi get married.

However, there were some acute problems, the most glaring being the overuse of Captain Picard. The director, Stuart Baird, does not treat this like the ensemble cast-driven film that it should be. Furthermore, the carefree and loose attitude that Picard seems to have developed (a dune-buggy?) is not consistent with the character that the fans grew to know and love over the television series' seven years on the air. This isn't helped by the fact that his storyline feels contrived. The motivation that the Romulans have for building a Picard-clone (his "nemesis" in the film) is flimsy and almost laughable (kind of like America's own Missile Defense Shield). Furthermore, I felt cheated by the back-story of the planet Remus (they must really dig on Roman mythology).

Data's storyline is old-hat, and is merely a satellite to Picard's - and everyone else is just a peripheral. I found myself wishing that Picard would just die, just so we could see some more of the other characters. The wedding scene was ok, but too short. The romantic relationship that Troi and Warf began to develop in the series goes unmentioned (again!), and a chance for some great dramatic tension between him and Riker was completely missed.

Nitpicking aside however, it was a decent film and clearly better than the pile of you-know-what that was Star Trek V (as one reviewer asserted) or than its muddled predecessor, Insurrection. It was entertaining, and the plot holes, even if annoying, were forgivable. The drama on Romulus was interesting, and Shinzon's ship (can't remember the name) was threatening and scary. Despite my complaints about Picard, Patrick Stewart is still a great actor and the tension that develops between him and Shinzon is engrossing (could you kill a clone of yourself?). There are some great philosophical quandaries that are raised, even if they aren't explored much, and it was suspenseful. It was Trek film that was made with its eye on the passing fan and the general public rather than the die-hard fan - which brings me back to the point that I raised earlier about the expectations for making a film being different than for a television series. In order for a studio to green-light a big-budget film like this one, it has to have broad appeal. If the film were to depend too much on obscure references and be ensemble-cast centered, it would not be nearly as appealing to Johnny Public - even if it would make a better film.

What I would ask for is a longer cut: I would watch 2 ½ hours of this film if it meant that I could see more of everyone else (not another dune-buggy chase). The rumored deleted scenes sound as if they would make a killer director's cut. In future Trek films I would ask for more Brent Spiner (he is a great actor, probably the best in the bunch), for Geordi to get his cool visor back, for Picard to be treated like the Captain of a crew rather than an action star, and lastly, for a plot that involves more of the rich Trek universe, thank you.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Don't listen to those bad reviews
Review: i am not a hard core fan, but i do collect the dvds and watch all the series on tv. This in my perspective is better than Generations and Insurecction, I, II, IV, V, VI. This is a loaded movie with lots of action it by far is top 3 in the star trek movie series. I rate it B+, 4 stars. Because of the action, storyline, (SPOILER>>>>>>) and the ... ending.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: How can Sci-Fi be so boring and unoriginal?
Review: IMHO, the Star Trek Franchise® ran out of steam sometime around 1996. Voyager was lame, the TNG movies--which had some promise with "First Contact"--fizzled out.

How could Science Fiction become so boring? This movie is like a checklist. Evil brother of an existing character that's never been seen before? Got it. A voice from the past threatens the future, done. Big space battle, check. Lots of special effects, got it. Evil looking BDSM-wearing bad guys who want to destroy Earth for some reason, check.

Watching this movie, you get the feeling that the actors feel the same way. As soon as one of them is about to do something different or intersting, the film cuts away. No wonder they all look bored.

With the focus on following the formula, you would think that they would at least try for some consistency. At the end of DS9, Worf became ambassador to Klingon but here he's back at his old post as security officer on board Enterprise. Wesley left starfleet to go with the Traveller, but here he is in Starfleet uniform. I guess we're supposed to pretend that the TV show never existed, which might be one way to make this movie watchable I suppose.

Watching this movie, you have to believe that Berman--or whoever's in charge--has no clue. Pick up any anthology of ten Sci-Fi stories and you'll find ten ideas more original than any of the ST:TNG pictures, doing a massive disservice to fans. ("First Contact", the only watchable picture in the TNG series, relies on that boring old chestnut "time travel").

It is time to either reinvent the franchise (and "Enterprise" ain't gonna do it) or put it to bed. The well has been dry for quite some time now.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Out on a high note
Review: This is quite possible the best Trek film since The Undiscovered Country. If you enjoy the franchise then you will definately want to see this film. I have been waiting for Star Trek to get back to dark and dramatic story telling and stop trying to be funny. I'm glad they did it before they retired this crew.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not Compelling
Review: I am at a quandry in this review. This film is certainly better than some of its predecessors, but weaker by far than the best. Basically, it amounts to an average Trek movie, and hence, I would rate it at 2 and a half stars if halves were allowed.

The film had its moments in purpose and in action, but spent far too much time and effort dwelling upon setting up for the climax. Much too "talky" as the movie continues to reiterate the same points over and over again. For instance, there is a scene where the villanous Shinzon makes a surprise visit to the Enterprise with an offer/request to Picard. While the visual of Shinzon walking through the captain's desk was striking, his speech and Picard's response was precisely the same as was presented mere minutes before. No new ground was explored in either the relationship nor in the conflicting situation. Shinzon's presence left the chambers with still no resolution nor any progress toward the plot, making this scene one of those questions about why it wasn't edited out of the final cut. Talk, talk, talk, talk, talk ... with nowhere to go.

Is it worth seeing? Yes. Is it worth owning it on tape or dvd? Ehhhh ... only if you are truly a fan.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A emotional farewell
Review: I want to say something right off the get go, Nemesis was a great Star Trek story, one the Great Bird would have liked, however, to people who arent fimilar to the Star Trek way of thinking, this movie would seem slow and drawn out. Star Trek TNG has all along dealt with humanity and ethics, this is no exception. Patrick Stewart(Picard) and Tom Hardy(Shinzon) do a great job of playing the good versus evil and it truly relates to the series. Nature vs Nurture, a true debate in todays time, a scared Picard clone growing up in the worst possible conditions versus the great Captian Picard. I didn't like the character death but they did leave an out if they should prefer to make another movie. Something had to deal with some Empire other that Borg or Klingon. And I am glad that they brought the Romulans into the mix finally and they way they did was brillant. Not a bad story for a mailed scrpit from an amatuer. A true Trek movie start to finish.
P.S. we have waited for 15 years for Troi and Riker to hook up, its about time!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Whole Lot of FUN !!
Review: This is a great installment in the Star Trek saga. This movie is eye dazzling and a lot of fun for fans and non-fans alike. If you are an anal critic and snob of Star Trek movies and you can't enjoy the simple idea of going to a movie and having fun. Then don't see this movie because you will dissapoint those around you with your constant criticism. I hope Paramount continues to develop more Star Trek films and continues to make going to a movie fun.


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