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Posted By: The Master Dec 12, 1998 - 10:01 pm

I went to the opening of Insurrection and thought I'd share my impression (don't worry, no big spoilers here).

First off: in my opinion, this movie breaks the "odd movie curse", but not in a big way. Also note that despite the very action oriented commercials, this is a much quieter movie than First Contact.

The familar Next Gen cast has some fantastic interaction and dialog to throw around. Data once again gets the lions share of the best "one liners", but the whole crew gets in on the word play similar to the best aspects of ST4. In fact, there are several big belly laughs that had the whole audiance rolling.

The cinematography is very good. The Enterprise action sequences are beautifully filmed and quite stunning, but far too brief (actully, very little of the movie takes place on the Enterprise). The outdoor scenes on the planet feature breathtaking mountain vistas, a nice departure from the sets ST generally relys on. The alien ships were another notable treat, looking both menacing and graceful. I definitely recommend going to the theatre to see this one even if its just to get the full visual impact of the scenery.

As for the plot...well, I have to admit I was disappointed. The main problem I saw was that it seemed much like a series episode perhaps better left to the Voyager crew than a movie. Don't get me wrong, it comes together well (credit to Johnathan Frakes for a fine job directing) and doesn't leave you moaning (like ST5), but it lacks "gee whiz" appeal to make it special.

Audiance reaction was mixed, if not a bit odd. Our theatre wasn't quite sold out (almost, just not quite)--very strange for a ST premiere at 7pm on a Friday night. Despite the hearty laughter and a solid round of applause at the end, the audiance didn't seem very excited. I've come to expect people to cheer for their favorite actors names as they roll across the screen...a ST phenomenon that was noticably missed at this opening. My companion also noted that the crowd was more "normal folk"--families, people on dates, that sort of thing--than it was hard core fans. Of course, it was playing on three screens, so maybe we just ended up with a tame group. Still, I have to wonder if this is a sign that the excitment is dying out.

RATINGS: (out of *****)
Action: *
Plot: **
Performace/dialog: *****
Visual appeal: ****

Overall: **½

Posted By: Nightice May 05, 1999 - 09:39 am

I don't think the exitement is dying out. I watched a preview and every last seat was sold out. And that was for the English version of the film, the German versions are supposed to have been even fuller (I know that's not possible, but you know what I mean).
But the movie itself wasn't so great. I had the feeling that the creators were sort of making fun of the fans. Sure, the movie had some great jokes, but it really wasn't very Star Trekky.
It was sort of superficial. I guess it will be the last NextGen movie. I don't follow the rumors overmuch but I'm willing to bet all the money I don't have that the next film will be something out of DS9.
The best you can say about INSURRECTION was that it was a humorous farewell.