However, while you begin to actually unpack a topsy-turvy hypothetical world during which these tales had been launched within the order they had been written, abruptly, a barely cooler model of the TNG movie period emerges. Let’s faux, only for enjoyable, that Shatner agreed to do The Subsequent Technology finale, and that finale was pretty near the plot of Generations, however this time, it’s an enormous TV episode. In a means, this could have been historical past repeating itself. In 1991, Leonard Nimoy visitor starred as Spock on The Subsequent Technology within the episodes “Unification I & II,” which was partially achieved to advertise Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Nation later that yr. Shatner doing a TV spot within the TNG finale may have been the passing of the torch second, which may have made the primary TNG movie really feel like their very own journey.
Plus, in the event you crash the Enterprise-D for actual within the TNG finale, then abruptly, you may have a model of “All Good Issues…”—this time a film with a special identify—during which Picard and the crew have simply began on a brand-new Enterprise. Sure, the time-spanning story of “All Good Issues…” could not have been a mainstream kill-the-bad-guy film like Generations, nevertheless it may have began the TNG movie franchise out with an mental bang. For one factor, think about Q on the large display, after which ask your self why Q was by no means on the large display. Significantly. Why?
But it surely’s extra than simply the cool gee-whiz awesomeness of imagining a big-screen model of “All Good Issues…” to contemplate right here. The themes of “All Good Issues…” really feel extra fitted to a film, at the very least in distinction with the themes of Generations. The movie is about demise. It’s about Picard dropping his household in a fireplace. It’s about Kirk dying, twice. And it’s about Soren and Guinan having been a part of one thing that displays the character of time and mortality. Generations additionally kills the primary character of the unique Star Trek TV sequence along with the TNG Enterprise herself, a starship that has appeared in additional precise hours of Trek than some other model of the ship, ever. In brief, Generations looks like the tip of one thing.
Against this, “All Good Issues…” is a narrative about new beginnings. Crusher and Picard take into consideration admitting their emotions to one another. Riker and Worf vow to ensure their friendship doesn’t develop into poisonous, and famously, Picard ends the present by doing what he’d by no means achieved earlier than, sit down and play poker along with his crew. Arguably, these themes are too intimate for a movie, at the very least a movie that was designed to draw viewers who weren’t taken with The Subsequent Technology. However looking back, I’d argue that leaning into worldwide love for TNG was well worth the threat. At its peak, The Subsequent Technology had 20 million households watching each week, a determine that so-called “profitable” reveals in the present day would kill for. We had been fortunate to get a sequence finale pretty much as good as “All Good Issues…” again then. However it now, subsequent to Generations, it feels a lot larger and extra momentous.
In 1996, with First Contact, the Trek movie franchise completely embraced a movie that was truly concerning the TNG crew—and solely the TNG crew—and it labored. Earlier than the J.J. Abrams’ reboots, First Contact made $92 million in 1996, making it, at the moment, the second most financially profitable Trek film ever, proper behind The Voyage Dwelling. However in 1994, Generations solely made $75 million, making it about as profitable on the field workplace as The Undiscovered Nation, however not almost as effectively reviewed.
No one bought tickets to “All Good Issues…” in 1994, as a result of it aired on the small display. However when you think about the robust viewing figures for TNG at the moment, a Subsequent Technology film that appeared extra like The Subsequent Technology may need achieved wonders. Generations is under no circumstances a nasty Star Trek film. However had it switched locations with “All Good Issues…,” the primary Trek film starring Picard and the crew may need gone down as not simply among the best Trek motion pictures of all time, however perhaps, among the best sci-fi motion pictures of the Nineteen Nineties.
