Customer Reviews

Star Trek: Nemesis (Full Screen)

5 star:		(96)
4 star:		(90)
3 star:		(59)
2 star:		(48)
1 star:		(57)

 

 

Would have give 2 1/2 stars if offered. The story started off with a coup from the Remans, the race that has only been ever so briefly mentioned of in the Star Trek universe. I found it a very unlikley plot to have a human of any type...even Picards clone to take over the Romulan Empire. The Romulan Star Empire was never written in Star Trek to be this weak. They had a wonderful underground story established in the TNG series with Spock helping out that a civil war would have made more sense. Spock woulldn't had to even be in this series. Perhaps just some references of his work.

I was also very dissapointed at how little a on screen time that Beverly Crusher, Riker, and Worf and Troi had. First Contact clearly proved that quality time could be allocated if a good
producer/director were running thinngs.

The film was riddled with inconsistencies. How B4 come about is weak at very best. Wesley's appearance in a Starfleet unform is ridiculous if you knew under the terms he left (he nearly started a war with the cardassians and left with the traveler and basically told Picard to stuff it). Picard did have hair in his youth. There are several more but I have said enough. Add it to your collection to complete your set, but a good rental will cover it.

One the one hand, it was rather refreshing to have a Romulan-themed story in quite a long time. The action sequences are super and the effects shots are great.

On the other hand, this latest (last?) Trek installment did leave this reviewer with several questions. Why did Wesley Crusher show up at First Officer William Riker and Counselor Diana Troi's pre-wedding banquet (see TheNextGeneration episode "Journey's End") ? What is Worf doing on board the Enterprise-E (see DeepSpaceNine series ender "What You Leave Behind II") ? And with Data ceasing to exist as a sentient being (he is said to have been killed off though he never in fact lived) and hence unable to assume the role of Second in Command, who then would assume Riker's role - Geordi, Worf, or someone else?

Part of the blame for this movie's dismal box office performance must rest with the studio, both for releasing it up against "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" and deleting at least 41 minutes of filmed material. Having said all this, the movie itself comes up somewhat short indeed. The main flaw seems to be that it never sufficiently delves into the cause(s) for Shinzon's anger and enmity towards Picard and the whole human race. After all, was it not the Romulans who treated him so shabbily all these years?

It is far from certain if a feature-length story featuring DSN characters will be made, either with a few crossover characters from TNG or none. However, given the unexpectedly weak showing at the box office for this film and the less-than spectacular track record of its preceding films (only one is said to have reached the US$100M threshold) it is highly unlikely that there will be any more Star Trek theatrical movies; The Wrath of Khan, a film from which this one is unjustly accused of ripping off, nearly became a non-theatrical movie.

I really wanted to like this film. I really did. That's why it hurts so much to have to write this. But I must warn others. Do not see this film. I remember the excitement I felt when I discovered this film was going to be released. Alas.

There are possible spoilers below, so beware.

The film starts pleasantly enough, with Riker's wedding to Troi after showing trouble in the midst of the Romulan government. Wesley Crusher is finally given his due screen appearance. He is as gorgeous as always. I know that they cut out an entire 45 minute segment featuring him, which I was unhappy to hear.

Next, the Trek crew finds scans indicating posotronic activity on a planet, so they go to investigate, finding parts to an android almost identical to Data. They land on a desert planet and Picard acts completely unlike his character. The reserved French captain is now a high testosterone mini-dimensional fun lovin' bad cop kind of guy roving through the desert in a Jeep/Hummer-esque vehichle. I can't quite grasp how Data could locate this new android if only the brain is posotronic, which has been hammered into our heads since the series began. But forget all the rules made so far. To quote the Fantasticks, this movie "defies logic and achieves ignorance!" In the desert the crew meets nasty creatures that look like copies of Max Shreck's 1922 Nosferatu. Of course the vehichles are equipped with laser cannons and such and much F/X money was spent making loud booms.

After this lame adventure, the new android is put together. It is Data's mentally disabled brother. Blah blah blah. We already did this. It would have been much more interesting to do exploration with the Lor character. Hmm.. imagine doing battle with Lor. At least THAT would be a match for the Trek crew. Anyway, the new android is called B4. How tacky. A very uninteresting subplot altogether.

The "story" continues, if you can call it that. We learn the Romulan senate has a new praetor, Shinzon. Jean Luc gets an awesome cameo from Janeway. Next, the Enterprise-E visits Romulus, and of course war breaks out, blah blah blah.

**end of obvious spoilers you already figured out from the preview**

The villain, Shinzon is underdeveloped. The story is too. It felt like echoes of Wrath of Khan were bubbling here. This is the first Star Trek I've seen that was simply a lame battle scenario. Half of the movie was spent at war. It felt felt the Matrix Revolutions to me. Pointless one dimensional buildup and buildup, huge battles, but absolutely no pleasure or satifaction in any of it.

Star Trek has been great because each episode/movie dealt with a moral dilemma choice, well built characters and intriguing situations. This movie has none of that. It's just a big battle. If you like explosions and loud sound effects, this movie is for you. If not, beware. Characters are altered for no reason whatsoever. There is no real emotional buildup, just constant fighting, so the climax is boring and uninteresting. It feels like this is the end of Trek, which truly saddens me. It feels like Star Trek is trying to reinvent itself. It was fine before, people! That's why there is still a fan base! Even the music felt similar to the hokey music from the first season of TNG - even with those crappy 80s synth sounds. I cannot say enough: avoid this movie.

1/5

I can only hope 'Star Trek' can't get any worse than this. A recycled and dumbed-down plot stolen from Star Trek II fails to awe me as the TNG casts supposed final mission.

This movie blatantly defies the even-odd rule of Trek movies, therefore requiring the rule to be modified. I suggest the following:

"While even-numbered Star Trek movies are inevitably better than odd-numbered ones, every fifth movie is terrible, regardless of numbering."

Anyway, this movie has very few redeeming qualities. The special effects are very good, though they obviously can't be the driving force behind a movie (this must've been what Berman was going for). I've read that Paramount dropped ILM for this movie; and if so, another thing it has in common with Star Trek V. Though in that case, the result was awful effects detracting even more from an awful movie. In 'Nemesis', the effects were the only thing that kept me awake.

The actors seem bored, and I honestly can't blame them. You'll be bored to, if you have the courage to sit through the disgrace in the first place. If they'd wanted to kill off Data, they should've done it in 'First Contact', where his death would've had more meaning (saving humanity from the Borg as opposed to a perverted, dying megalomaniac with the brains of a peanut). Overall, this movie is a terrible entry into the 'Star Trek' series, and I hope never to see it again.

If Paramount decides to do another one (which I very much doubt, given how much this one bombed), they should attempt to recapture the spirit of the previous Trek movies. Nemesis seems as if it was made in a desperate attempt to appeal to an almost non-existant mainstream audience. Unfortunately, due to the stigma attached to the 'Star Trek' franchise, this audience simply doesn't exist. If Nemesis had been made as a generic sci-fi/action movie, it may have done better. But attaching the ST name to a movie ensures you attract very few people other than fans of the series.

Though I feel a bit out of place reviewing a "Next Generation" Star Trek Film--I was never a huge fan of the second Star Trek TV series or any that came after it--there's enough wrong with this particular entry to deserve comment. Even on the small screen, ho-hum Jean-Luc Picard and crew were tedious substitutes for the original series' wonderfully adventurous and colorful characters, and it's that lack of charisma that is the main problem with "Star Trek: Nemesis." Without caring much about the characters, there's no emotional punch to the film's often poorly conceived and executed scenes, even if some seem lifted from the much less expensive but much more watchable predecessor, "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan." In this one, several rather awkward plot contrivances pit a heretofore unknown clone of Picard named Shinzon against the Federation, though the reasons for the clone's psychotic hatred against humanity are murky, at best. (From what we see onscreen, it makes more sense for him to hate his Romulan keepers.) While the film's opening ten minutes are gripping--featuring the brutal assassination of the Romulan government--things go downhill from there, including a tired wedding sequence that has little to do with the rest of the film, several space battles created with topnotch special effects but that are as exciting as watching bathtub toys bobbing along, and the inevitable, surprisingly bland face-to-face confrontation between Shinzon and Picard. The film's pace and story are so unengaging that I even had time to consider how silly it was to use vehicles with wheels in an age of spaceships zipping around (through a ship's corridors, no less) and people beaming themselves from place to place; "Star Trek: Nemesis" gave me plenty of time to disengage from what was happening on the screen. So far, only one "Next Generation" movie has held my interest--the surprisingly fun "Star Trek: First Contact"--but that's probably because it came closest in spirit to the 1960s TV series (though it contradicts what we learned there). Even Jerry Goldsmith's score can't seem to pump any excitement into what should have been Captain Picard's finest hour.

I seem to rember the stupid people saying that even if you don't like Star Trek you'll like this movie. YYYYYYOOOOOOOUUUUUUU LIARS! This was not nonstop action!!!! Action is where thier lips stop flapping and thier ...tazers i guess START FIRING! I got fooled by two movies that had made similar statements. The James Bond movie that came out this year made promises that said that ddn't like Bond would like that. Next time I hear a statement like that I'm gonna march over to the nearest movie theater and piss on the projector!!!!!!

I'm not going to be too harsh, but honestly, it could have been better. This is only the third star Trek movie I have seen, and out of all three it is definately the worst.
It just seemed so....cheesy. Especially the ending. None of the characters came across as very real, unlike the ones in the old movies (with Kirk, Spock, etc.)
If you're considering seeing this movie, I advise you, for the love of God DON'T! See the old ones first, and then if you're courageous try to make it through this one without falling asleep.

When watching this film at the theater I almost walked out. It really seamed not to be a Star Trek film and certainly not one of the Star Trek The Next Generation films. Something there is missing, the now classic characters seemed bored and very boring. As with Generations I didn't care for the lighting which gives the Federation ship a very dark look. The film was promotted as the film with the vilian as good as Kahn, should be because he was a carbon copy. When are they going to just release a good story that doesn't have a vilian?

This is not only the worst star trek film by far,it is the worst
destruction of any sci-fi series ever.The writers might as well have raped picard and data by an angry klingon/borg.
It flies in the face of multiple facts about the star trek universe (remans ?!, what the f#$%).It is like horrible fanfiction , written by a drunken retard in vulcan ears.I would rather watch a Harry Kim epic miniseries then watch this load of crap again.
I encourage you to seek out this movie watch it, and loathe it.
If you care about picard ,data and the rest at all you will plot to kill braga,berman and spiner.
This film is the ultimate culmination of the makers of star trek's hatred of thier fans.
Phantom Menace has nothing on this load of s*#$.

What a disappointment. Let me tell you that I'm a big fan of Star Trek, and that I think TNG is the core of the whole Star Trek universe. I've seen every TNG episode several times and loved the series for its philosophy, its actors, and its emotional factor.

Yet with Nemesis, everything is destroyed. You know, Generations was very good. First Contact was excellent. Insurrection was not so bad after all. But entry #10 is a disgrace for the franchise, battling with "The Final Frontier" and "The Motion Picture" for the title "Worst Trek Movie Ever".

Dear Lord, Star Trek isn't about space battles, evil aliens and blowing things up. It's about exploration of space and mankind, carried by good dialogue, good ideas, and good acting. Unfortunately, the people at Paramount don't seem to share that view.

They promised us a "Generation's Final Journey"; a final journey for our beloved characters - Fine. The opening scene at the wedding even is quite touching. However, after this, everything wents downhill very fast. The boring and senseless Data subplot begins (Lore, anyone?), totally disregarding the emotion chip from Generations and First Contact. Worf's role has been reduced to that of a clown, getting sick of Romulan Ale and being concerned of showing up nude at a Betazed wedding. This character's main attributes used to be honor, valor, justice, and a constant struggle between Human and Klingon culture. Not so in Nemesis.

Worf? Wait a second... Worf? What is doing there anyway? Didn't the people at Paramount watch the ending of DS9? Why is Worf suddenly back on the Enterprise? Geez, that's the opposite of character development, really. In First Contact, Worf's appearance didn't feel forced at all. It was logical for him to fight there with the Defiant and being beamed aboard the Enterprise. In Nemesis, we don't even get to hear an explanation (I know, I should be grateful for this, since the explanation would have been hilarious anyway.)

Beverly, Riker and Geordi get nothing to do throughout the rest of the film. At least Deanna gets more screen time this time. As for Picard, his role is saved only by Stewart's brilliant acting, though Stewart obviously has a hard time fighting against the awful script. And THIS was the last time I've seen my beloved characters? Not how I had once pictured it. What a way to kill of my TNG crew.

The plot is essentially... well, boring. What do they fight for anyway? It all bodes down to killing the villain. Boy, they had the Romulans and did nothing with them. Instead, they invent another new redundant alien race. How imaginative. Besides, what about the Romulans from the series? They don't even mention Sela or Tomalak. Another huge disappointment for the fans.

In my phantasy, I picture an alternate Star Trek 10... The true ending of a generation, involving Romulans, Klingons, Cardassians and Vulcans. Perhaps a fight for peace in the quadrant, a fight for Earth, for Starfleet and the Federation. A new era of Star Trek. Something revolutionary. Important roles for every member of the cast. Much nostalgy, cameos for Sela, O'Brien, Ro Laren, and Pulaski perhaps? Continuity with the TV epsiodes and previous movies, Worf being Klingon ambassador, Data having emotions, and so on. A big epos combined with something imagantive and groundbreaking... like the invention of Warp 10 or anything. *sigh* Unfortunately, this is all just a dream now, and it won't happen anymore. Nemesis has absolutely nothing of what I just tried to describe. Nothing. It leaves you with such an empty feel in your stomache you almost want to cry.

I give it the second star only because non-fans will probably like the movie a bit more, because the special effects are good, because of the DVD extras, and because Goldsmith's score is very nice as well (albeit a bit repetitive, isn't it?). Actually, I'd like to remove 1/2 stars for the infamous dune buggy scene (in which Picard consciously violates the Prime Directive for no obvious reason), but Amazon only allows full stars, so...

If only they could undo this dreadful movie falsely titled "Star Trek". Can we just say it never happened, please?