| Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) | |
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Rating: 6.4/10 (79,268 votes) Director: Jonathan Frakes Writer: Gene Roddenberry, Rick Berman, Michael Piller Stars: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner Runtime: 103 min Rated: PG Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi Released: 11 Dec 1998 |
| Plot: When the crew of the Enterprise learn of a Federation conspiracy against the inhabitants of a unique planet, Captain Picard begins an open rebellion. | |
Insurrection saw Frakes behind the camera again, and on the surface is a film imbued with many facets of Trek. You have conspiracy, with an Admiral assisting a race, the Son’a, to relocated the occupants of a planet without their knowledge, so that they can plunder the resources of the planet themselves. The planet is special due to the effect of a unique radiation there that reinvigorates those residing there, healing ills, and extending life. There are moments of action and excitement, both in space and on the planet, and a romantic interest for Picard thrown in for good measure. Not forgetting the trademark humour and charm of the crew, who are once again in fine form. So, what went so wrong, and why is this film derided as being one of the weakest entries in the series?
You can’t really knock Frakes’ direction. Once again, he demonstrates good use of framing and technique, and gets great performances out of his cast. The make-up design work for the decrepit Son’a, who use a skin stretching technique to try to remain ‘youthful’, makes for a fresh design for a new race (and also works to hide their true profiles, something key to the film’s twist in the third act). Goldsmith is on music duties as has become the norm by this point, and turns in a very different style of score than the previous, energy filled films, yet retaining the thematic cues we’ve come to love.
So, where did it go wrong? Well, the effects work leaves a lot to be desired. First Contact began using CGI more, but still retained models for the larger ships. Here, in Insurrection, is the first time all of the space effects are rendered, and it shows. Santa Barbera Studios provided the space-based effects, and Blue Sky Studios, a fresh effects team who would later become famous for the Ice Age series of animated movies, tried their best on the planet based effects, but sadly the results are a huge decline in quality from the previous films. The robot drone-flyers who attack the crew on the planet are poorly composited into the scene, making for the kind of quality effects that you would expect from a TV episode not a motion picture. There is the real issue here, the whole thing feels like it should have been a TV episode where the tone and story would have felt more suited. For a big screen adventure, it lacked that cinematic impact.
Insurrection is one to chalk up as a curiosity with a few well realised moments, but let down by limited ambition.
