Star Trek - Nemesis (2002)

The sacrifice of a beloved character is just one of many highlights in Nemesis, the 10th feature in the lucrative Star Trek franchise. Enigmatically billed as the beginning of "A Generation's Final Journey," this richly plotted Next Generation adventure maintains the "even number rule" regarding Trek's feature quality, and it's one of the best in the series. It hits its brisk stride when Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his Enterprise-E crew encounter Shinzon (Tom Hardy), a younger clone of Picard, rejected by the Romulans as the human weapon of an abandoned conspiracy. Raised on the nocturnal Romulan sister planet Remus, Shinzon now plots revenge against Romulus and Earth but needs Picard's blood to carry out his scheme. A wedding, a childlike "duplicate" Data named B-4 (Brent Spiner), spectacular space battles, and uncommon acts of valor make this a tautly-paced action thriller, poised to pass the franchise (but not quite yet) to a new generation of Starfleet personnel. Die-hard Trekkers will not be disappointed. --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com

Not So Much An "Out Of This World" Send-Off Of The TNG Cast...

What a sad, depressing way to pretty much end an amazing franchise, Star Trek Nemesis, the tenth film in the series, finally ended the Trekkie theory that every even numbered movie was colossal while the odds were medicore at best. The early 2000's weren't a good time for the franchise, with ST:Voyager ending it's run less than a year earlier and leaving ST:Enterprise alone and not doing a good job ratings or storywise. This was the third solo Next Generation film (not counting '94's Generations which was old with new casts), and the appeal was stating to really, really wear thin.

Once again the Next Gen crew are sent on a typical mission (much like the previous film, the "hippie-like" Insurrection) to speak to a missionary representative of a subrace of the Romulans known as the Remans, who look nothing like them with their white disfigured bat-like faces. But when Captain Picard and crew get there, they find out their new leader is actually a twenty-something clone of the Captain known as Shinzon. He says all he wants is peace between the three parties, but of course in true Star Trek fashion his real mission is to destroy the Romulan Empire, the Federation, and his dopperganger Picard himself.

Sure, the special effects are up to typical Star Trek fashion but that's all they reach, which is typical. Not much new is going on here except for an out-of-place, land based, dune-buggy race (in Star Trek?) and many endings/beginning of the ST:TNG storyline. After a twenty year courtship, Riker and Troi are getting married and leaving the Enterprise (with Riker getting his own command), and Data discovers another android like him, though not as intelligent, that he refers to as his brother known as B-4....get it, "before"....all while glossing over the fact that Data's had a brother before in the series known as Lore that this movie completely ignores.

I think that cast and crew knew when making this film that the franchise truly had dried up at this point. There just wasn't much more to do with this crew and it shows all around. While die-hard Trekkies will find this entertaining, this was not the way they should have ended it. Tom Hardy as the younger Picard clone does look & sound alot like Patrick Stewart (minus a much larger upper-lip), but as a main villain he has no spark or appeal like ones in the past and Sci-Fi favorite Ron Perlman as his viceroy doesn't make things any better. And in true desperate writing fashion, one important main cast member dies, though like Spock earlier yet alot easier, could come back just like nothing ever happened.

As for the Paramount 2 Disc Special Edition, like the others it's filled with amazing CGI menus, detailed behind-the-scenes footage, and tons of extras, but after seeing the film realizing that it didn't work as well as Picard and crew are now forever in drydock, you might not want to see them to know more of what went wrong. Though, even if you're a somewhat Star Trek or Sci-Fi fan, you'll should see this to know how it all ends, but don't expect a great warp into the sunset like Shatner's cast did in Part Six. Seeing Nemesis, it will probably explain to you why it's taking seven years to make another film, plus being a reboot going back to the Original Series storyline instead of continuing this one. But you never know in the world of Star Trek, maybe in the future we'll see Picard, Riker, and Data again....yes, even that third guy.
(RedSabbath Rating:7.5/10) August 24, 2008

Nemesis one of the best, misses mark with non-fans

My apologies up front, but my review of this film, and reaction to some of the other reviews present, is more personal and less detached than reviews of this type usually should be. But where Star Trek is concerned, my opinions are more emotional, and even deeply more personal than usual for TV and film subject matter. If this will derail you, read no further.
After watching so many people regurgitate their semi-informed views on the state of Trek and recent projects, and this film in particular, I have abandoned my "to each their own" stance on the subject, and will have my say.
Another reviewer writes: "I'm simply amazed at how many Star Trek fans abhor this movie! I guess I'm not enough of a Trekkie to understand the hatred, though I have been a fan since the 1970's."
I was thinking the opposite. I myself have been a fan since the '70's. I believe that makes people like us "real" fans, and provides sufficient credentials to have an opinion. At first I also wondered why so many bad reviews. Then, I realized, in settings like this, you are not seeing the opinions of Star Trek fans. You are getting the opinions of "a majority of the people." Big difference. Star Trek never was truly appreciated by a majority of the people. A majority of the people apparently thought the original series should be cancelled....
Asking people who probably did not truly "get" Trek, and what made it work to begin with, to rate which movie is the best, is like asking my mom and dad (children of the 50's) if Iron Maiden is a great band, and just taking their word for it. Not the proper audience.
You have people that are too young to appreciate the original, and wish it were more like Babylon 5, or folks that think Sci-Fi should run like a reality show. But, I digress....
Nemesis is, along with Star Trek II, probably one of the best of all Trek films. (As a true cinematic artwork, and excellent overall expression of the "Great Bird" 's original concept for ST without the limitations of weekly serial TV, Star Trek: The Motion Picture tops them all, and has not been surpassed. But, it lacked the sting of battle, heat of conflict, and the shrill squeal of phaser fire that fans craved.) Like Star Trek II, Nemesis has its share of flaws and inconsistencies, but like STII these are out shined by the action, drama, and spirit of adventure. These were seriously lacking in TNG episodes and films, and this final TNG piece seems to have been given a major transfusion of TOS blood. Ironic that yet again, when Paramount finally gets it right, they again nip it off at the bud because box office returns weren't exactly what they wanted, after trying this exact formula with newer TNG cast a total of ONE time. Those of us long suffering fans have come to expect nothing less from them. If it is time to let Star Trek be, it is not because its potential is gone, it is because those to whom the reigns have passed do not know how to utilize it creatively, and refuse to listen to the people who really watch it loyally: Longtime Fans. Not the "bloggers" online that tune in now and then when taking a break from World of War Craft, or there is nothing good on Sci-Fi Channel. I hate to say it, but: If you don't like this film, you probably just don't like Star Trek anyway, and should just go watch your old episodes of "Earth2", and leave this fine film, and its fans in peace.
August 7, 2008

The Ultimate Enemy Is Oneself

The Good Things
*Lots of cool action and special effects.
*Very different filming style. Much more vivid and interesting use of colors and camera angles. Also a bit darker and more dramatic.
*Storyline is interesting. It's cool to finally see the Romulans in a film.
*Characters are smashing. There are lots of paralells involved; Picard vs his clone, Data vs B-4 (his clone), Troi vs that ugly alien, Riker vs the same ugly alien, and so on. Duality is the key point, and it makes for some very interesting interactions and dialogue.
*Writing is good. Not so much comedy, but definately lots of drama.
*As mentioned above, strong themes of duality.
*Okay music.

The Bad Things
*The ending is a little dissapointing. Data is dead, the Enterprise is destroyed again, and everybody moves onto different paths. It almost warrents a whole new Star Trek TV series.

The Questionable Things
*It's almost too different. Definately a strange departure from previous films.

I didn't really like this one at first, but I'll be darned if it didn't grow on me. The action and special effects are very slick and cool. Above all, there are a lot of interesting issues involving duality between the characters, with the Romulans, and overall light and dark. It's dark and deep, but also a little too dreary and different. Still, it's very interesting and entertaining.

The one-disc version had good video and sound quality, and had some deleted scenes and featurettes. The two-disc version has good quality still, some of the same extras, plus additional featurettes. August 4, 2008

Nemesis of My Eye

I had stayed clear of this film mainly on recommendations of others, but when the Special Collectors Edition Series came along, I could hardly resist it. As Sci Fi Films go its not bad, but as a Star Trek film goes, I'll take a Captain Kirk film any day. I thought the basic story line was quite good, in the sci fi sense, but a total goose in the Star Trek Sense. Its not hard to see why things went to horribly bad in the film, the director, as well as the principal writer were all non-trek oriented ( the main writer did admit to being a "Trekkie" however, when his idea
of advancing a plot was the glasses in Star Trek 2 that Bones gave to Kirk, then somethings wrong), also you can see how much of a heavy hand the Studio had in the edits with the deleted scenes... some of the most "Star Trek" styled moments just got the chop. Nemesis is a Good Sci-Fi film, but a superb example of how a franchise film is wrecked in the "do a film by Committee" style of film making that has so successfully killed many films.

THE DVD: Great Extras. Lots of informative material in the commentaries, and in the disc 2 extras. Great to see Ron Perlman out of Makeup and without his digitally enhanced voice as Vice-Roy ( which he plays in NEMESIS).Very Good Collection of Interviews and lookbacks. June 23, 2008

The Franchise Crashes To A Halt

After the so-so box office totals brought in from Star Trek: Insurrection, as well as an overall downturn in viewership of Star Trek TV shows on the air, the Star Trek franchise heavily promoted "Nemesis" as the film that would keep the franchise alive and kicking. Instead, this horrible film had the exact opposite effect.

With "Nemesis", the Star Trek writers/producers tried to emulate the story of "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan", where Captain Kirk squares off against hated rival Khan. In this story, Captain Jean-Luc Picard discovers he has a clone who is trying to take over the Romulan High Council. This plot fails for two reasons: First, the tension between Picard and his clone is not nearly what it should be, as the clone is so evil that Picard (and thus the audience) can feel no sympathy towards him. Second, the Romulans are just weak villains. They have never been featured in any previous Star Trek movies, and their appearance in this film does not better that reputation.

Also, for the third consecutive movie, the fan-favorite Data character is heavily featured. While this is usually a good thing, the plot surrounding Data seems a bit contrived this time. The "drama" of finding "Data's" severed head...already used in the Next Generation series. A Data clone...same deal. Plus, the end scene (which is supposed to be reminiscent of "Khan's" ending) does not carry with it the emotional punch of Spock's death.

To conclude, though the graphics and action scenes in this movie are on par with the other Next Generation movie installments, as well as some character development at the wedding of Riker and Troi, the drama is severely lacking, turning to outright boredom in some spots. If you are a hard-core Star Trek fan who will watch this film no matter what I say, enjoy the slim good moments when you can. If you are just looking for a good sci-fi film, avoid this movie and wait for J.J. Abram's re-boot of the Star Trek franchise in 2009. June 11, 2008

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