Nitpicker's Guide To ST: Generations

by Daniel Feit

This is the third (and hopefully FINAL) version of my Nitpicker's Guide to Star Trek: Generations. After a recent session in which I intensely scrutinized the film TWICE, I was shocked to discover how many things I had missed! Now that I've seen the film so many times, I believe that I've spotted everything I can. As in my previous versions, I picked out most of these errors myself, but a few were posted to rec.arts.startrek.current. After those months of endless Generations postings, I have no way to figure out who the ORIGINAL poster was. Those errors which I clearly remember as being spotted by someone else, I have marked with an asterisk. I'm not writing this to show-off, I'm writing it so others have have a list available, if they want it.

In tribute to Phil Farrand, chief nitpicker and author of The Nitpicker's Guide For Next Generation Trekkers and The Nitpicker's Guide For Classic Trekkers, I have organized my thoughts in the same manner that he has. The first section, Ruminations, contains a few of mythoughts regarding the movie. Great Moments are my favorite scenes from the film. Great Lines are my favorite lines from the film. Plot Oversights are self-explanatory. Changed Premises are items in the movie that contradict previous Star Trek episodes and films. Equipment Oddities are the bizarre things that Trek technology does. Continuity and Production Problems are self-explanatory. As a bonus, the Non-Errors are things pointed out by others that are NOT errors, and I explain why. That final portion will be in a Q & A format.

Obviously, this is one giant SPOILER. If you have not seen the movie, you might not want to proceed.

RUMINATIONS
Whether or not the producers were trying to hide the TV flaws or just give the film it's own feel, I really liked what they did with the bridge. Aside from the added workstations on the side walls, the lighting was very low. While not practical from a work standpoint, it gave the movie a dramatically different appearance than the TV series.

GREAT MOMENTS
The special FX scenes in Stellar Cartography and the saucer crash sequence really impressed me. Equally impressive was the destruction of Veridian III

I also enjoyed Brent Spiner's performance a great deal. Many people have complained that his emotional antics became annoying. While I do not agree with that sentiment, I understand how some people could. However, Data's antics were SUPPOSED to be annoying. By complaining, you are actually further complimenting Spiner's performance.

GREAT LINES
"If there's one thing I've learned over the years, it's never underestimate a Klingon."
--Captain Picard, admiring Worf's agility.

"They say time is the fire in which we burn."
--Dr. Soran to Captain Picard, apparently touching a senstive area in his life.

"I hope for your sake you are initiating a mating ritual."
--B'Etor to Soran, after he punched her in the face.

"It was fun...oh my..."
--The last words of James T. Kirk

PLOT OVERSIGHTS
After speaking with a variety of physics majors on the champagne bottle used to christen the Enterprise-B, I have no idea what would happen if one smashed a bottle full of a highly volatile liquid on the side of a starship. I've heard several different stories, most of which contradict each other. What I do know is that what happened in the film is not right.

Once again, Sector 001 is left totally defensless and the Enterprise is the only ship in range. For those keeping score, this is the FOURTH Star Trek film to use this gimmick.

I can understand how much stress Captain Harriman is going through. He's on a new ship, the media is everywhere, and three of the most famous Starfleet officers EVER are sitting on his bridge. But doesn't he collapse a little too quickly for a CAPTAIN?

If these refugees are from a Borg attack, why didn't they bother to tell Starfleet about them?

Why ISN'T it funny when Data pushed Dr. Crusher off into the water? Everyone in the theater with me sure laughed!

When the Enterprise-D arrives at the observatory, they find evidence of Type-III disruptors. They immediately deduce that the attackers were Klingon, Breen, or Romulan. Isn't that an awfully strong assumption? Are Type-III disruptors calibrated so that only those three species can use them? (This line was very unnecessary. The dead Romulan established their presence)

What kind of an organization is Starfleet that allows such an eclectic uniform policy? Some crewmen wear the classic TNG uniform, while others are sporting the DS9 look. It seems like the crew can basically wear whatever they feel like, which defeats the purpose of a "uni"-form.

After Soran punches B'Etor, he tells her that the Romulans came looking for their missing trilithium, and how fortunate it was that the Enterprise intervened. Huh? The Enterprise showed up after the Romulans left. They didn't intervene at all! BTW, this is one of many editing errors in the script. Any earlier version had the film open with a battle between the Enterprise-D and the Romulans. That idea was later snuffed, but Soran's line cited here wasn't snuffed along with it.

Dr. Soran is a very clever fellow. Just on the spot, he puts together a small camera to fit into Geordi's VISOR.

For a flagship, the Enterprise cannot fight its way out of a paper bag. Regardless of their shields, the Enterprise could have responded with more than just ONE phaser blast. The Duras sisters' Bird of Prey was an old one. Their shields couldn't have been very strong.

In previous battles with the Borg, the Enterprise would rotate the shield modulation frequency in order to slow the Borg down. Unfortunately, no one thinks of that solution here, or else the fight would have been over once the Klingons lost their advantage.

Here's a quiz for you: You are in command of a cloaked Klingon Bird of Prey. The Enterprise has fired a single torpedo at your ship. If it hits, your ship may not survive the impact. Your first response is to:
[A] Frantically try to de-cloak so you can raise the shields.
[B] Order evasive manuevers.
[C] Do nothing; stare at viewscreen and contemplate death.
Apparently, Klingon Commanders are taught that [C] is the correct answer, as both the Duras sisters and General Chang (ST6) did.

Dr. Soran launches his probe into the sun. In less than 30 seconds, it impacts the star and the planet grows dark. While no one states exactly how far Veridian III is from the sun, in order to be class-M one can assume it must be at least four or five light-minutes away. Hence, the sun should have lit the planet for several minutes after its destruction.

Dr. Soran's probe is designed to stop all fusion in a star. But this would have no immediate effect on the star's mass. Since an object's mass determines its effect on gravity, stopping the star's fusion should not have altered the Nexus' path.

The Nexus is surrounded by a great deal of "gravometric flux" or something like that. This destroys or severely damages any ship which comes near it. If this is true, why didn't it tear up the planet's surface when it came onto the planet?

The Nexus passes through our galaxy every 39.1 years. That may sound slow, but it would still require a speed much faster than light. However, when we see it over the planet, ithas slowed to sub-light speed.

This Nexus is something else. When you leave it, you can re-enter our galaxy at ANY place in time or space. What's so odd about this is Picard goes back to Veridian III before he enters the Nexus. The problem here is that the Nexus had not arrived yet. So how did it return him somewhere it had never been?

Nexus-Guinan tells Picard that she can't go back with him to Veridian III because she's already there. But so is he! How is it that he can go somewhere where he already exists but she cannot?

Picard sure created a HUGE paradox with this Nexus. The only reason he succeeds in saving the star is because he entered the Nexus and brought back Captain Kirk. But when he succeeds, he prevents himself from entering the Nexus. So how did he get Kirk to help him to...ah, forget it! You see the paradox.

During his salvage of his ready room, Picard picks up the Kurlan Naiskos given to him in "The Chase." He casually puts it aside and continues looking for his photo album. He does not go back and get it before beaming up to the Farragut. That artifact was given to him by his deceased archeology professor. Does Picard not care about it anymore? Or does he just hope that someone else will remember it for him? Furthermore, how in the world did it survive the crash?

CHANGED PREMISES
The Enterprise-B scene which opens the film causes TWO conflicts with "Relics (TNG)," the episode when Scotty showed up in the future. When Riker identified himself as an officer from the Enterprise, Scotty says "I bet Jim Kirk himself pulled the old gal out of mothballs to come rescue me." First, Scotty thought he saw Kirk die. Secondly, he saw a brand-new Enterprise. No one would need to "pull the old gal" out because there is a new one. BTW, the reasons all these problems occur is because Nimoy and Kelley turned down the film. Had they appeared instead of Scotty and Chekov , we could have assumed Scotty had already left for Norphin V and had not heard about Kirk or the new Enterprise.

In "Starship Mine," trilithium was described as a highly toxic, extremely unstable by-product of the matter/antimatter reaction in the dilithium chamber. But now, it is an experimental compound which could theoretically stop all fusion in a star. To me, those sound like two different substances. However, we could assume that they are the same thing; it is a by-product that could theoretically stop all fusion in a star. If that is true, then there is a new error. Why did the Duras sisters steal it from the Romulans? First of all, Klingon warp drive uses dilithium just like Starfleet. Can't they produce it themselves? Secondly, the Romulan warp drive does NOT use dilithium at all. It is powered by an artificial quantum singularity, as seen in "Timescape (TNG)."

When Geordi opens up Data's head, it is white. During the TV series, it was a grey/silver color.

In "The Mind's Eye (TNG)," Romulans kidnap Geordi and play with his VISOR to turn him into an assassin. The Enterprise eventually detects the transmissions to Geordi's VISOR and foils the plot. So how come no one picks up on the transmissions from Geordi's VISOR to the Klingons?

Kirk identifies his Nexus-cabin as being from his past, nine years ago. He realizes that he is reliving the day that he told Antonia he was leaving her for Starfleet. I interpreted that line meaning "I'm leaving to go somewhere you can't go with me" such as a five year mission. Kirk thinks the present year is 2294. Count back nine years and he left Antonia in 2285. In case you did not know, that was the year Star Trek II was set in. That film established that Kirk was living in San Francisco as an Admiral with a desk job at Starfleet Academy. As I recall, he was awfully lonely there. Why couldn't Antonia go with him?

More along that line: Kirk's dog, Butler, died seven years ago. He seemed very attached to the dog, so I think he had him around for a few years. Isn't it reasonable to assume that Kirk would have had the dog around his apartment in 2285? But Butler was nowhere to be seen.

Kirk is a very poor judge of age. He tells Picard that he was saving the galaxy when Picard's grandfather was in diapers. Picard was born in 2305. Kirk had his adventures in the 2260's. That's only about a 40-year difference. (I know I'm being petty, but I just hate this line. Ronald D. Moore, who co-wrote this film and the episode "Relics," gave a similiar line to Scotty in that show. There, it was dramatic in allowing Scotty to express his frustrations. In this film, however, it's just stupid.)

EQUIPMENT ODDITIES
Shortly after arriving at the Nexus, Ensign Sulu reports that the starboard, or right, vessel's hull is collapsing. On the viewscreen, the port, or left, ship explodes.

When Picard asks for the arch on board the frigate Enterprise, it appears in the middle of the ship. There are real people on BOTH sides of it. What's more, some people are actually beneath it. The holodeck has always been a single-level room with one entrance covered by an arch. While I understand that people could be in many different places in respect to the arch, how could they get behind it? Or, considering how the floor is flat, beneath it? BTW, the easy way to solve this problem would have been to have the arch appear on the side of the ship.

What happened to the lights on the bridge? Did they burn out? Or did Geordi not use Energizer batteries? (I appreciate the dramaticeffect the lights provided, but they're not at all practical)

Picard made a deal with the Klingons; in exchange for Geordi, he'd beam over to their ship so they could beam him down to Dr. Soran. After Picard dematerializes, he appears on the planet sans communicator. But he is in a Federation beam. This is an error for one of two reasons:
[1] If he beamed onto the Bird of Prey and they took his communicator before sending him down, he should have appeared in a red Klingon beam.
[2] If the Klingons told the Enterprise where to send Picard and they beamed him down, then we have a continuity error. Picard has his communicator when the Enterprise sends him, but it is not there when he appears on Veridian III.

Dr. Soran must have set up this mountaintop lab a long time ago. Not enough time elapses between his arrival on board the Klingon ship and his beaming down to set it all up. So, if this was all in advance, Dr. Soran either has great foresight or is completely paranoid. For whatever reason, the forcefield and the cloaking device are designed to protect him and his work from outside interference. For a secret project, he expected unfriendly company.

Another point about Soran's missle launcher: How is it that Picard operates the controls even though the system uses an alien text (presumably El-Aurian). Even stranger, when Picard backs away and Soran comes up to investigate what damage Picard had done, the screen reads "Translation Enabled" and the warning message comes up in English so the audience can read it. First, why would Picard screw up the launcher in El-Aurian and activate a translation program when he finished? Secondly, and more importantly, why does this thing come with a translation program? If you are designing a top secret weapon and you and only you will use it, why would you make it bilingual?

When Data and Troi search for Spot in the cargo bay, you can see the label on another canister. For some reason, it bears a Starfleet logo with an elliptical background. What's wrong with the new design?

CONTINUITY AND PRODUCTION PROBLEMS
I can recall two lines I saw in previews which did not appear in the film. One was Kirk talking to Harriman, "Let's try and cheat death together." The other was Kirk saying "The 24th centruy isn't so tough!"

On a related note, there were two scenes that were filmed but not shown in the theaters. One was an opening sequence where we see Kirk performing planetary skydiving. This scene was very heavily publicized; I can recall seeing portions of it in magazines and ET. Personally, I think Kirk's daredevil attitude shown here would have supported his lack of interest in the Nexus once he realized it was false.

The other scene was Dr. Soran torturing Geordi on board the Bird of Prey. The doctor used a nanoprobe to stop Geordi's heart for 10 seconds, then twenty, then thirty, etc. Unfortunately, when they cut this scene, they left in two lines which refer Trek Inconsistencsaying to the sisters "His heart wasn't in it" loses its pun. Dr. Crusher tells Geordi "I removed the nanoprobe." Without previously reading the script, the average movie-goer has no idea what she is talking about!

For some bizarre reason, Robert and Renee Picard look TOTALLY different in this film than in "Family (TNG)" (Yes, I know the real reason. They are played by other actors).

Watch Malcolm McDowell's makeup carefully, and you'll notice that the scars on his eyebrows and forehead seem to shift slightly thoughout the film.

When Dr. Soran opens fire on Riker and Worf, Data is sitting down, leaning against the torpedo rack that Dr. Soran is using for cover. But Data somehow ends up leaning against a completely different cabinet which Dr. Soran is shooting at when Riker comes to talk.

When Picard beams down to Veridian III, he is not wearing his communicator. However, when he enters the Nexus, it comes back. When he returns to Veridian III, it is gone again. One could speculate that he really wanted to wear one, so in the Nexus one was created for him.

Upon separation, the saucer heads away from the stardrive section and Veridian III by flying up and to the right. But when the explosion occurs, the shockwave hits the saucer and manages to completely alter its flight path so that it hits the planet. It pushes the saucer DOWN and to the LEFT. Based on its original course, the saucer would have to be pulled into a crash course.

The crash of the saucer was so well done, I feel awful pointing out an FX error. With the intense heat of the saucer from re-entry combined with that of friction between the saucer and the planet, a forest fire should have been ignited in the wake of destruction.

In Kirk's Nexus Love Shack [:)], he decides to marry Antonia. He marches up the stairs and opens a door. It swings in to his left. Picard needs his help so he marches up the stairs too, but the doorhe opens swings in to his RIGHT. I don't know where he went, but it wasn't to the same room as Kirk.

You want real nitpicking? You got it! Elizabeth Newell, my girlfriend and member of the University Equestrian Club, noticed that Kirk used an Australian stock saddle for his ride. Due to its design, that kind of saddle would be VERY uncomfortable to jump with.

In pursuit of Dr. Soran's control pad, Kirk heads onto a bridge. Soran shoots at him, trying to stop him. One of his shots lands dead center and breaks the bridge in half. Look at the bottom of the screen and you'll see another platform below the bridge. That platform is not supposed to be there; it must have been a safety platform for the stuntmen that snuck into the shot!

On the aforementioned bridge, Kirk must leap from one half to the other to get the pad. Before he jumps, it is resting on the inside of the bridge, held up by a metal bar. After Kirk jumps, the pad jumps too! It has shifted to the outside of the bridge. No, his impact couldn't have caused this...watch the scene carefully and you'll see.

NON - ERRORS
"If Guinan was on already on Earth, why was she on a refugee ship to Earth?"
Guinan was seen visiting Earth in the 19th century in "Time's Arrow II (TNG)." I'm sure she could have returned to her homeworld by the 23rd century.

"The Guinan in the Nexus entered before she ever met Captain Picard. How come she recognizes him?"
First, she met Picard during the aforementioned visit shown in"Time's Arrow II (TNG)" Secondly, there is evidence to suggest that the Nexus Guinan is somehow in contact with the Guinan on board the Enterprise. This would explain Guinan's second sight in "Yesterday's Enterprise (TNG)."

"Where did Data get this emotion chip from?"
The chip was introduced in "Brothers (TNG)," a fourth-season episode. Data met Dr. Soong in his secret labratory, and he is presented with a chip which allows Data to experience emotion. Unfortuantely, Lore arrives and steals the chip. When Data took Lore out in "Descent, Part II (TNG)," he kept the chip.

"I thought the chip was damaged. How could Data use it?"
Given that a year and a half have elapsed between "Descent" and this movie, I'm sure Geordi and Data could have fixed it.

"Why is the chip so big all of a sudden? It used to be a paper-thin circle, now it's a big cube."
There are two possible answers, both of which are valid.
[1] Geordi and Data put all of that stuff onto it when they fixed it.
[2] That was just a display case, the real chip was in the box.

"Didn't Lore hold the chip in his fingernail? How can Data put it in his head if they are twins?"
Lore pushed buttons under his fingernail to feed emotions to Data. There is no indication of the chip down there. Secondly, we do not know where Data put it, because we did not see Geordi install it. Geordi opened Data's head, but all we saw was him working up there.

"Why would Picard own a photo album in the 24th century? Isn't that awfully anachronistic?"
Remember, his family is centuries old. The album is probably some sort of heirloom.

"Robert and Renee burned to death in a fire? Why didn't they own any smoke detectors or anti-fire forcefields (as mentioned in "Up the Long Ladder (TNG)")?"
When we met the Picards on Earth, we learned that they don't like technology one bit. They didn't even have a replicator, so it can be assumed that they were not technologically protected.

"Why is Jean-Luc whining about being the last Picard? Didn't we meet his son last season?"
No. Picard explains at the end of that show, "Bloodlines," why Jason Vigo is not his son.

"How could Geordi make a joke about a Ferengi during the Farpoint mission? The official first contact did not come until "The Last Outpost (TNG)."
While Geordi did not see a Ferengi until "Outpost," he certainly knew they existed. And that is enough to use as a basis for a joke. When I was a little kid, I heard countless Polish jokes from kids who had never met a Polish person. All they had heard about Polish people was that they were stupid. Geordi, I'm sure, had heard about Ferengi being greedy.

"How come when Dr. Soran punched B'Etor, she had red blood? Didn't Star Trek VI establish that Klingons have purple blood?"
Actually, that was a Changed Premise on ST6's part. Klingons in TNG have been previously seen with red blood. I remember seeing Worf draw his hand over a knife and bleed red. Also, didn't red blood show up during Worf's mating with K'Ehleyr? Of course, maybe Klingons do have purple blood and that was actually Soran's blood on her face. hmmm, I doubt it....

"When we saw through Geordi's VISOR during the TV series, it was a colorful jumble that only Geordi seemed able to interpret. How come the Duras sisters saw through it like a camera?"
Because that's probably what Dr. Soran put in there. He did not say exactly what he did, so we must make assumptions.

"If the Duras sisters are dead, how can the Duras family still be a force in the future, according to "First Born (TNG)?"
There are two possibilities:
[1] The Duras sisters have procreated and the children were not on board at the time.
[2] The Duras sisters are not dead. Hey, stranger things have happened...

"How come Riker didn't ask Geordi to eject to the core? He just packed up and ran!"
This nit was in my earlier versions. But when I listened closely to Geordi's technobabble, he slipped in "There's nothing I can do!" Ejecting the core would certainly be something he could do, so Riker ordered the evacuation.

"During the evacuation into the saucer section, Dr. Crusher gets everyone out of sickbay. But sickbay is in saucer section already (according to the accepted deck charts, it's on Deck 12)."
Deck 12 is on the underside of the saucer. It also might be towards the rear. These places would be the first hit during a crash landing or a warp-core breach.

"During the crash landing, shouldn't the saucer have burned up/rolled over/crumpled up/or otherwise been mutilated?"
The Enterprise has an awful lot of shields. While the Inertial Dampers seemed to fail, there was no indication that they lost main power.

"This Nexus is supposed to be a place of joy that no one can resist. Guinan tells Picard that he won't care about anything else. So how come he just gets up and leaves?"
First off, Picard quickly realized that what he was experiencing was not real. Secondly, he is an extraordinary creature of duty. Time and again during the TV series, Picard turned down games, vacations, even women because he had a job to do.

"Isn't anyone worried about the saucer being found by the people living on Veridian III?"
There is no one living on Veridian III. Veridian IV was inhabited.

"Why did Starfleet leave the saucer behind? Isn't that like interstellar litter?"
The crew was Starfleet's first priority. We can safely assume that other vessels were sent to pick up the remaining pieces.

"There were more than 1000 people on board the Enterprise. How could they be evacuted by only three ships, two of which were pretty small?"
Starships have a lot of space. I once heard that the Enterprise, if they made full use of all their cargo bays and guest quarters, could transport 11,000 people! And the USS Farragut looked about as big as a Galaxy-class starship.

"Wait a minute. The Enterprise-D is finished? What about "All Good Things...?" Wasn't that the Enterprise-D, twenty+ years in the future? Or does this mean that was the Enterprise-E?"
Yes, that was the Enterprise-D in "All Good Things," but no, there is no conflict. The future as it was seen in "All Good Things..." was entirely fantastic. It was all a dream, invented by Q.

Copyright 1994, 1995 by Daniel Feit. All rights reserved. This file may be distributed electronically provided it is not modified without the author's consent and this copyright information remains intact on all copies.

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