Screening of Star Trek Generations

Malcolm McDowell's new tag line:
"Two Captains. One Hairpiece."

Well I am only into the second season of TNG, but last week I went to a screening of the first Next Generation film Star Trek Generations (having not seen it before) because Malcolm McDowell and Michael Dorn were having a Q&A session in addition to the screening.  I really didn't want to watch the films and the show out of order but I obviously had to go to this! (And unfortunately there was no way I could finish 5 seasons in a couple weeks!)  Another draw was being able to experience a Star Trek film for the first time with other fans!  And it was so much fun!

When I got to the theatre, there was already a little line to get in, and I waited patiently while violinists dressed as Starfleet officers walked around playing Star Trek themes on their violins.  Oh and there were props from the film around the theatre.  Already this event was off to an AWESOME start.  And it was compounded by the fact that some Star Trek alumni were in the audience including The Nichelle Nichols - Lieutenant Uhura guys!!  I was super excited to see her!  And I was hoping some TOS alumni would be there, and it happened!  I wish I could have gotten her autograph!

Michael Dorn and Malcolm McDowell

The Q&A came first and Michael Dorn did a terrific job with asking Malcolm McDowell interesting questions while interspersing some of his thoughts and experiences working in Star Trek.  It was kinda hilarious too how much Malcolm "took the piss" out of William Shatner!  Michael Dorn didn't seem like he wanted to participate in that, but Malcolm was more than competent to do it on his own.  I've always liked Malcolm McDowell - I'm not sure why, I feel like I haven't seen many of his films, but what I've seen, I thought he was .... well nice to look at for one thing, and also sort of sweet and funny.  (I'm probably mostly thinking of the film Time After Time here.  I have not seen Clockwork Orange because I'm afraid to!)  But Malcolm is so wonderfully mischievous as well.  Probably at his age he feels like he can say anything he wants, and he should!  It was interesting how he was very set against doing a Star Trek film, but they paid up, so he did it and ended up really enjoying it.  His stories about Bill Shatner's massive ego was also freaking hilarious, but I'm sure it's not news to anyone.  There was one story where Bill was spotted by fans and he and Malcolm both made a run for the elevators, with Bill kicking at the fans through the elevator doors to keep them from getting in.  Malcolm was mock shocked at how Bill treated his fans.  I don't even know how much of that is true, but that's pretty hilarious!  (Maybe not for those fans though)

So the film!  Captain Kirk is in this so I was automatically sold on this film.  The opening scenes with Kirk, Chekov and Scotty just gave me a lot of feels because it was dear to see them together again.  I really appreciate how the crews from the different versions of the shows all feel like a family!  The first scenes with the Next Gen crew was a bit confusing though - only because I didn't immediately realize they were in the holodeck.  I almost thought they had time traveled!  But they all looked good in those uniforms!

For pure enjoyment, this was a fantastic film!  I loved how it felt intimate and also grand with all those epic special effects.  Seeing the Enterprise crash land on the planet on the big screen was so nerve-wracking!  I felt like I was in the ship with them!  But.  I was majorly confused by the timey wimey aspect.  The nexus causes temporal distortion from what I understood, so that time had no meaning while you were in it, but I didn't understand how the nexus could put Kirk and Picard back before the nexus was in place to prevent the nexus from shifting??  I thought the nexus was a place and not like a time machine.  Especially since when you are in the nexus everything you see is not real.  So how come it could send them back to the real timeline?  But at the very least, there should have been two Picards at that point before Soran shot the rocket?  Well the time travel aspect felt a bit like a cop-out to me and it was also curious how Kirk's death wasn't overly emotional.  Maybe because that would have detracted too much from Picard to dwell on Kirk's last outing.  But I didn't tear up at all, and I feel like I should have been more emotional.

But anyways, I do think this was an excellent film.  They managed to give all the main actors some screen time, characters continued to develop and the moments of humor were well placed.  Malcolm McDowell was excellent as the fanatical villain, and I think they handled having two Captains in one film very well.  I was really impressed by what they accomplished in this movie and now I get to go back in time and see everything that happened in the show before this film.  (TV shows and films - my favorite kind of time travel.)

The props in the theatre (there was also Klingon costumes) and Nichelle Nichols!

Oh and now I have a new favorite quote: "Time is the fire in which we burn."  I looked up that quote and read the original poem (Calmly We Walk Through This April's Day by Delmore Schwartz) - the last part of it is particularly affecting and beautiful to me:

What am I now that I was then?
May memory restore again and again
The smallest color of the smallest day:
Time is the school in which we learn,
Time is the fire in which we burn.