A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

Before I tell you how I feel about Patrick Stewart’s return to  Star Trek  in a CBS Access series about which little is known, let’s get our showbiz terminology straight. First, let’s stop referring to “reboots” in cases where it is not necessary. For instance,  Star Trek: Picard  (for lack of a better name) is  not  a reboot; it’s a sequel to, and a continuation of,  Star Trek: The Next Generation.  Based on what little information CBS (the owner of the  Star Trek  franchise’s television half; Paramount Pictures handles the features) has released, the new show starring Stewart in his TNG role is set 25 years after the events of  Star Trek: Nemesis. A “reboot” would be a totally different animal. It would involve a re-telling of  Star Trek: The Next Generation  with an all-new cast and would be presented as either a “hard” reboot (the 1987–2002 series and features  never  happened, thus allowing CBS to re...

“Star Trek: Nemesis” (2002) Also known as: “Star Trek X: Nemesis” Directed by Stuart Baird Screenplay by: John Logan Story by John Logan & Brent Spiner & Rick Berman Based upon “Star Trek” created by Gene Roddenberry Starring: Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, Tom Hardy, Ron Perlman “Star Trek: Nemesis” is the 10th feature film based on Gene Roddenberry’s “Star Trek” television series and the fourth to star the cast of the spin-off series “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”  Released on December 13, 2002 as a “generation’s final journey,” “Star Trek: Nemesis” ended the voyages of the Starship Enterprise-E on a less-than-glorious note and put Paramount Pictures’ movie franchise in deep-freeze for seven years. “A Generation’s Final Journey Begins” (Stardate 56844.9 - Earth Calendar Year 2379) Captain Jean-Luc Picard: Duty. A starship captain's life is filled with solemn duty....

Pros:  Good mix of storylines; nice way of reintroducing the Romulans Cons:  The writers' strike delayed the development of the Borg storyline; otherwise none The Neutral Zone Stardate 41986.0 (Earth Calendar Year 2364) Original Air Date: May 16, 1988 Written by Maurice Hurley Story by Deborah McIntyre and Mona Glee Directed by James L. Conway   On stardate 41986.0, the  Galaxy- class starship  USS Enterprise  (NCC-1701-D) is under the temporary command of First Officer William T. Riker (Jonathan Frakes).  Capt. Jean-Luc Picard  (Patrick Stewart) is on his way back to the Federation’s new flagship after having been summoned to an emergency conference in Starbase  718.  As Riker and the rest of the  Enterprise’s  crew   await their commanding officer’s return, the ship’s sensors detect something unexpected; a very old space capsule launched centuries ago from Earth. Ops officer Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spine...

Pros:  Solid script. Great performance by James Sloyan.  Gripping Cold War-style tale Cons:  A few plot holes and other minor errors Although Gene Roddenberry did not conceive  Star Trek  as a "space war" action-adventure series when he pitched it to the Big Three networks (ABC, CBS and NBC) in the mid-1960s, he realized that if he wanted his show to be an outlet for socio-cultural commentary on American and world society he would need to create interstellar adversaries to his United Federation of Planets. Because in storytelling terms the Federation is a 23rd Century "America-in-futuristic-avatar," Roddenberry and the  Star Trek  writers created two different stand-ins for the now-vanished Soviet Union: the Romulan Star Empire and the Klingon Empire. a In  Star Trek: The Original Series  and its six feature film spin-offs ,  the Klingon Empire was the predominant "Soviet" stand-in, appearing in seven episodes of the 19...

The Arsenal of Freedom   Stardate 41798.2 (Earth Calendar Year 2364)   Original Air Date: April 11, 1988   Written by Richard Manning and Hans Beimler   Story by Maurice Hurley and Robert Lewin   Directed by Les Landau       On stardate 41798.2, the  Galaxy- class  Starship USS Enterprise  (NCC-1701-D), under the command of Capt. Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), arrives at Minos, a Class M world located in the Lorenze Cluster.  Her assignment: to find any trace of the missing  USS Drake  (NCC-20381), a Federation starship of the  Wambundu  class commanded by Capt. Paul Rice (Marco Rodriguez).  For the  Enterprise’s  First Officer, Commander Will Riker (Jonathan Frakes), the disappearance of the  Drake  is of interest on both a professional and personal level, for not only is Capt. Rice a friend of Riker’s from their Academy days, but Riker had been offered command of the  Dr...