Jump to content

Star Trek: Insurrection

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by David Fuchs (talk | contribs) at 16:09, 30 July 2011 (Reverted edits by 201.19.107.113 (talk) to last version by 110.33.235.217). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Star Trek: Insurrection
File:Star Trek IX.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJonathan Frakes
Screenplay byMichael Piller
Story byRick Berman
Michael Piller
Produced byRick Berman
StarringSee Cast
CinematographyMatthew F. Leonetti
Edited byPeter E. Berger
Music byJerry Goldsmith
Distributed byParamount Pictures
Release date
  • December 11, 1998 (1998-12-11)
Running time
103 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$58,000,000 (estimated)
Box office$112,600,000

Star Trek: Insurrection is a 1998 American science fiction film directed by Jonathan Frakes, written by Michael Piller (with the story developed by producer Rick Berman and Piller), and with music composed by Jerry Goldsmith. It is the ninth film in the Star Trek franchise, and the third to feature the cast from the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation. It revolves around the insurrection of the USS Enterprise-E as they discover that Starfleet has been conspiring with a species known as the Son'a to steal the planet of the peaceful Ba'ku for themselves.

Insurrection was also the first Star Trek film to feature completely digital visual effects. No physical models were used.

Plot

While observing the peaceful Ba'ku people on their planet, Lieutenant Commander Data who is on secondment to the Duckblind mission appears to malfunction, revealing the hidden presence of the joint Federation and Son'a taskforce to the Ba'ku. Admiral Matthew Dougherty requests the help of the starship USS Enterprise-E to help capture or disable Data. After stopping Data, USS Enterprise captain Jean-Luc Picard becomes suspicious of Dougherty's insistence that the Enterprise is no longer needed, and his crew investigates the cause for Data's malfunction. They discover that the Ba'ku are technologically advanced but have opted to live in harmony with nature. Due to unique radiation or "metaphasic particles" in their world's rings, they are essentially immortal. The Enterprise crew also begins to experience the rejuvenation effects of the planet; La Forge finds his eyes have regenerated, and he no longer requires implants, William Riker and Deanna Troi rekindle their long-abandoned relationship, and Picard develops a romantic relationship with the Ba'ku woman Anij.

Picard and his team discover a cloaked Federation ship containing a gigantic holodeck recreating the Ba'ku village; Data's malfunction was due to a Son'a attack when he previously discovered the vessel. Confronting Dougherty with his discovery, Picard learns Federation officers and the Son'a plan to relocate the Ba'ku on the ship while they collect the planet's radiation to further Federation science, destroying the planet in the process. Dougherty orders Enterprise to leave, but Picard tells Riker to let the Federation know what is occurring while he and others beam down to the planet and evacuate the Ba'ku.

The Son'a send out robotic probes to tag and transport the fleeing Ba'ku, while their leader Ahdar Ru'afo convinces Dougherty to allow two Son'a ships to attack the Enterprise. Riker is able to narrowly stop their attack and escape. With their plan exposed, Ru'afo insists that they must begin to harvest the radiation immediately, only to have Picard deliver a revelation: the Son'a and the Ba'ku are the same race. The Son'a are a breakaway Ba'ku faction who had previously tried to take over the colony, were exiled to perish slowly and have spent a century since trying (and failing) to preserve their lives. This accounts for their altered appearance and reckless attempt to harvest the radiation. Dougherty is killed when he refuses to allow Ru'afo's scheme to continue.

Picard, Anij, and several Ba'ku are transported onto the Son'a ship. After convincing one of the Son'a, Gallatin, to help him, Picard masterminds a ruse to transport Ru'afo and the Son'a to the giant holoship, delaying the destructive metaphasic process. Ru'afo discovers the trick and transports to the Radiation Harvester ship to start it manually. Picard follows him and manages to activate the self-destruct, destroying the Harvester and killing Ru'afo. The remaining Son'a are welcomed back by the Ba'ku who forgive their actions; Picard arranges a meeting between Gallatin and his mother. The Enterprise crew take a moment to enjoy their rejuvenated selves before returning to their mission.

Cast

Production

Development

By the start of 1998, pre-production on Star Trek: Insurrection began with set and conceptual drawings generated by Herman Zimmerman and illustrator John Eaves as early as January. Director Jonathan Frakes returned to helm his second Trek film and co-star as Commander Riker, Patrick Stewart also did double duty as Captain Picard and associate producer. With Industrial Light & Magic busy with work on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Frakes and company turned to a new visual effects house for the first time since Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. Splitting the workload, Blue Sky Studios and Santa Barbara Studios were hired to contribute almost entirely digital effects with model photography limited to the explosion of the Son'a collector ship.

Music

Insurrection was composer Jerry Goldsmith's fourth film score for the franchise.[1] Goldsmith continued using the march and Klingon themes he crafted for Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979, with adding new themes and variations. Insurrection opens with Alexander Courage's Star Trek: The Original Series fanfare, also introducing a six-note motif used in many of the film's action sequences. The Ba'ku are scored with a pastoral theme, repeating harps, string sections and a woodwind solo. The Ba'ku's ability to slow time uses a variation of this music.[2]

Goldsmith approached starship sequences with quick bursts of brass music. While observers are watching the Ba'ku unseen, Goldsmith employed a "spying theme" that bears resemblance to the composer's conspiracy theme from Capricorn One. Composed of a piano, timpani percussion, and brass, the theme builds until interrupted by the action theme as Data opens fire. Goldsmith did not write a motif for the Son'a, choosing to score the action sequence without designating the Son'a as an antagonist (suggesting the film's revelation that the Son'a and Ba'ku are related.) The film's climax is scored with the action material, balanced by "sense of wonder" music similar to cues from The Motion Picture.[2][3]

Controversy

Michael Piller, the screenwriter for this film, had intended to publish a book chronicling the process of creating the script, and completed a draft manuscript. Paramount Pictures (the copyright owner at the time) refused to allow publication of the book. The manuscript (Fade In: The Writing of Star Trek: Insurrection) has appeared online, but the Piller family has asked that it be removed.[4]

Reception

Critical response

The film received a mixed reception from critics, with a general consensus that it seemed to be little more than a "glorified episode of the television series".[5]

Reviewers Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel were split in their response, one thumb down from Ebert, one thumb up from Siskel. Ebert wrote in his Chicago Sun Times review that he felt the movie's problem lay in its morality play, stating that he wasn't sure that 600 Ba'ku lives weren't worth sacrificing to help billions of Federation citizens. Siskel, however, felt differently, and though he died not long after screening the film, his wife later told Michael Piller that it was the only Star Trek movie Gene Siskel truly enjoyed.[citation needed]

Box office

Insurrection grossed $70,187,658 in the U.S. and $112,600,000 worldwide against a $58,000,000 budget.[6] The previous Star Trek movie, First Contact, grossed $92,027,888 in the USA and $146,027,888 worldwide.

Notes

  1. ^ Bond, 163.
  2. ^ a b Bond, 164.
  3. ^ Star Trek: Insurrection soundtrack review at Filmtracks.com. Retrieved 2011-03-03.
  4. ^ Fade In: The Making of Star Trek: Insurrection - Michael Piller's personal account on the writing of a feature film, in: thebitterscriptreader.blogspot.com, September 24, 2010.
  5. ^ Star Trek: Insurrection from Rotten Tomatoes
  6. ^ Star Trek Insurrection performance from Box Office Mojo, Retrieved 2007-05-26.

References

  • Bond, Jeff (1999). The Music of Star Trek. Lone Eagle Publishing Company. ISBN 1580650120.
  • Nemecek, Larry (2003). Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (3rd ed.). Pocket Books. ISBN 0743457986.
Wikiquote has quotations related to Star Trek: Insurrection.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Star_Trek:_Insurrection&oldid=442218376"