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The restored star trek enterprise-d bridge goes on display in may, the bridge is going on display at sci-fi world musem in santa monica, california..

Jonathan M. Gitlin - Mar 22, 2024 4:48 pm UTC

More than a decade has gone by since three Star Trek: The Next Generation fans first decided to restore the bridge from the Enterprise-D . Plans for the restored bridge morphed from opening it up to non-commercial uses like weddings or educational events into a fully fledged museum , and now that museum is almost ready to open. Backers of the project on Kickstarter have been notified that Sci-Fi World Museum will open to them in Santa Monica, California, on May 27, with general admission beginning in June.

It's not actually the original set from TNG , as that was destroyed while filming Star Trek: Generations , when the saucer section crash-lands on Veridian III. But three replicas were made, overseen by Michael Okuda and Herman Zimmerman, the show's set designers. Two of those welcomed Trekkies at Star Trek: The Experience , an attraction in Las Vegas until it closed in 2008 .

The third spent time in Hollywood, then traveled to Europe and Asia for Star Trek: World Tour  before it ended up languishing in a warehouse in Long Beach. It's this third globe-trotting Enterprise-D bridge that—like the grit that gets an oyster to create a pearl—now finds a science-fiction museum accreted around it. Well, mostly—the chairs used by Riker, Troi, Data, and some other bits were salvaged from the Las Vegas exhibit.

Unlike the actual set, which was made from wood, the replica is made of metal and fiberglass. The restoration was originally supposed to take up to two years , but the project ended up being a far bigger challenge.

When Ars checked in with the Enterprise-D bridge restoration in 2014, the science-fiction museum plan had taken shape. But that change of plans did not sit well with some of the project's original supporters, particularly after an imperfect re-creation of the captain's chair—which remained lost until recently—was sold on eBay.

Things got even uglier in 2018 when Huston Huddleston, who led the project, was arrested and then convicted for possessing child pornography. Although Huddleston still appears listed as the project's CEO on its Kickstarter page , that appears to be an artifact of its creation, and John Purdy is listed as the CEO of the Sci-Fi World Museum on its About Us page . However, Huddleston's mother remains as the museum's Chief Financial Officer.

The Enterprise-D isn't the only bridge you'll be able to find at the museum —there's also a replica of the bridge from Star Trek: The Original Series , which previously lived in a wax museum in Buena Park, California. Other exhibits include a hall of robots, as well as the "Bubbleship" and a drone from the movie Oblivion .

It's also not the only recent re-creation of the Enterprise-D's bridge. Okuda and his wife Denise both helped Paramount re-create the iconic set for the third season of Picard . The new Enterprise-D set can even be explored on Google Maps .

And earlier this month, it looked like Jean-Luc Picard's long-lost chair might be sold at auction. However, the day saw an agreement between CBS Studios and the auctioneer Propstore, which will return the chair to CBS's Star Trek Archive, which plans to restore and display it in the coming year.

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‘Star Trek’ Fans Can Now Virtually Tour Every Starship Enterprise Bridge

An interactive web portal explores the vessel’s evolution over nearly six decades

Daily Correspondent

For decades, many “ Star Trek ” fans have imagined what it would be like to work from the bridge of the starship  Enterprise , the long-running franchise’s high-tech space-exploring vessel. Through various iterations and seasons of the series, created by  Gene Roddenberry in the ’60s, the bridge has remained a constant, serving as the backdrop for many important moments in the show’s 800-plus episodes.

Now, die-hard Trekkies and casual watchers alike can virtually roam around the Enterprise’s bridge to their heart’s content, thanks to a sophisticated and highly detailed new  web portal that brings the space to life.

The site features 360-degree, 3D models of the various versions of the Enterprise , as well as a timeline of the ship’s evolution throughout the franchise’s history. Fans of the show can also read detailed information about each version of the ship’s design, its significance to the “Star Trek” storyline and its production backstory.

Developed in honor of the “Star Trek: Picard”  series finale , which dropped late last month on Paramount+, the portal is a collaboration between the Roddenberry Estate, the Roddenberry Archive and the technology company OTOY. A group of well-known “Star Trek” artists—including Denise and Michael Okuda , Daren Dochterman, Doug Drexler and Dave Blass—also supported the project.

“Through new technology, we can bring audiences back in time as if they were there on set during the making of ’Star Trek,’ providing a window into new dimensions of the ‘Star Trek’ universe,” says Jules Urbach, OTOY’s CEO, in a  statement .

The voice of the late actress  Majel Roddenberry , who played the Enterprise ’s computer for years, will be added to the site in the future. Gene Roddenberry  died in 1991 , followed by Majel Roddenberry  in 2008 ; the two had been married since 1969.

The portal’s creators also released a short video , narrated by actor  John de Lancie , exploring every version of the Enterprise ’s bridge to date, “from its inception in  Pato Guzman ’s 1964 sketches, through its portrayal across decades of TV shows and feature films, to its latest incarnation on the Enterprise-G , as revealed in the final episode of ‘ Star Trek: Picard ,’” per the video description. Accompanying video interviews with “Star Trek” cast and crew—including William Shatner , who played Captain Kirk in the original series, and Terry Matalas , a showrunner for “Star Trek: Picard”—also explore the series’ legacy.

The interactive, 3D bridge models contain a surprising level of detail, right down to the consoles and turbolifts. The site, however, has so far been hit or miss for users, suggesting that the team behind it may still be working out a few of the technical kinks, reports the  Verge ’s Sean Hollister. And as Kyle Barr writes for  Gizmodo , one big downside is that the models don’t contain any “Star Trek” characters, who he says are “the beating heart of the show and its ideals.”

“Sitting in the captain’s chair, with all the stations empty beside you,” he writes, “is enough to make one wistful.”

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Sarah Kuta is a writer and editor based in Longmont, Colorado. She covers history, science, travel, food and beverage, sustainability, economics and other topics.

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The changes in the Enterprise-D bridge in Generations...

Discussion in ' Star Trek Movies I-X ' started by Lance , May 23, 2012 .

Lance Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

Has there ever been an explanation given for the changes made to the 1701-D bridge in Generations? An explanation given within the fictional universe, I mean. Has it ever been addressed in a spin-off novel or something? Was there a refit/replacement of the bridge module between the series and the movie? I know that Set Designer Herman Zimmerman made the claim at the time that they changed it to make it look more cinematic, and that “we hope the viewers see it and say, that’s what I’ve been watching for seven years” or words to that effect. Which seems to imply that the intention behind the change was to try and say, hey, those alterations would have been on the television version if they could have afforded it. But for me, that explanation doesn’t really wash. IMO there were definitely storage lockers (or whatever they were) there on the sides of the bridge for seven seasons, and then suddenly there were all these new bridge terminals. And on a related note, what were the functions of those new terminals anyway? We all know what each of the back terminals is supposed to represent (Science I, Science II, Engineering, etc), but I can’t imagine what the side terminals were actually supposed to be. What are they for ? Or are they simply background set dressing, no more ‘important’ to the grand scheme of things than putting up some curtains?  

Maurice Snagglepussed Admiral

I thought it was ugly. I don't care about the reason.  

F. King Daniel Fleet Admiral Admiral

I thought the extra consoles in the "Generations" bridge looked great. Ditto the "Yesterday's Enterprise" one. In fact, I think every variant we ever saw was an improvement on the regular, bland, mostly-empty TNG bridge. If you really need an in-universe explanation, they simply added more consoles. Maybe those lockers were computer connections for a planned upgrade, which Starfleet took 7 years to implement. As for what the new consoles do, I dont know what most of the ones at the back did, either! Data sometimes sat at the left one (science), Geordi sometimes on the right (engineering). IIRC, the reason they didnt have more consoles usually was budgetary - more consoles = more background nobodies to man them. Oh, and yay on Worf finally getting a chair! Standing there, leant over his panel for a 8 hour shift every day could NOT have been healthy!  

Timo Fleet Admiral Admiral

I'd say the bridge looked very modular and reconfigurable from the get-go, with all those wall panels promising to reveal interesting functions, or sockets for such, if opened. The Helm and Ops stations also appear "loose" (just as in reality), as they are seen changing location between the pilot and the regular eps. The changes for ST:GEN thus don't surprise me at all. What function they might serve, though... The back stations during the show were not used all that much, really. Perhaps the ship was prepared to take onboard a visiting party of researchers who would work directly under the watchful eyes of Picard? Timo Saloniemi  

Kirby Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

I thought it was ugly, and silly to chage the bridge that everyone knew and (mostly) loved for the past seven years only to destroy it. I hated the lighting too.  

SchwEnt Fleet Captain Fleet Captain

Eh, I didn't care for the changes--the lighting or the set re-decoration. It seemed a bit of change for the sake of change. We're doing a big movie now, so let's change the bridge because we're doing a big movie now. Especially nuts if they already knew that this bridge was gonna be trashed and tossed after this movie anyway. Both in-universe and RL production, it still seems odd. If they wanted to upgrade the bridge with elevated sections and a chair for Worf and a few side consoles, it would be within the series production budget to accommodate such things. But they never did. Like I said, change for the sake of change.  

MacLeod Admiral Admiral

I think the GEN layout was the better of the layouts we saw. To do those updats might not have been within the shows budget. As money spent there would have to come from somwhere, some other set they need for a later episode or a FX or a guest star etc..  

Timo said: ↑ I'd say the bridge looked very modular and reconfigurable from the get-go, with all those wall panels promising to reveal interesting functions, or sockets for such, if opened. The Helm and Ops stations also appear "loose" (just as in reality), as they are seen changing location between the pilot and the regular eps. The changes for ST:GEN thus don't surprise me at all. What function they might serve, though... The back stations during the show were not used all that much, really. Perhaps the ship was prepared to take onboard a visiting party of researchers who would work directly under the watchful eyes of Picard? Timo Saloniemi Click to expand...

Gojira Commodore Commodore

I never thought the changes to the bridge were that dramatic. I guess I need to watch Generations and play close attention to it.  

Gotham Central Vice Admiral Admiral

As i understand it the production staff had wanted to add additional consoles to the Bridge for years (and did so in Yesterday's Enterprise). The issue was never SHOULD they add more consoles...they all wanted to. The Issue was the fact that additional stations meant that they would need to pay extras to man them. The TNG bridge, compared to all of the others, had relatively few extras in most episodes. People tend to forget that that bridge was designed to DEEMPHASIZE its role as a command center...which is why it had so few stations. Imagine what fans might of thought if we'd gotten some of the other bridge concepts that featured even fewer stations but made up for them with things like couches and one even had what looked like a restaurant booth. Speaking of weird set changes in Generations...the oddest one to reconcile for me was the change in engineering. In Encounter at Farpoint there are actually 4 corridors that run into engineering. After the pilot that number was reduced to 2 and the entrances were rather crudely covered up with large computer panels. They stayed that way for seven years. The amusing part about the change was that despite the addition of the computers they never bothered to change the carpet to reflect the fact that the opening was now a wall. So if you look closely at set pictures, you se the beige border on the carpet, that usually curves with the walls, just turn and go straight into a wall for no reason. For some reason in Generations they removed ONE of the computer panels, so that there were now 3 corridors running into Engineering. There does not seem to be a good reason for them to do this, and it does beg the question as to why Starfleet specifically built a new corridor for engineering. You cannot even use the excuse that the corridor was always there since All Good Things shows us engineering from before the pilot and the computer walls are in place just as they had been the rest of the series. (I'd always just ammued that they were supposed to have been there from the start and that the Early engineering set in the Pilot was just a work in progress. I don't think that they had originally planned to spend much time there anyway, so the early set was pretty bare)  

If we hypothesise further, the Astrometrics/Stellar Cartography room in GENS was considerably different to the one we saw in the television series, so maybe all of those areas were given an upgrade for some specific mission that we never got to hear about? Click to expand...

StewMc Commodore Commodore

Lance said: ↑ And on a related note, what were the functions of those new terminals anyway? We all know what each of the back terminals is supposed to represent (Science I, Science II, Engineering, etc), but I can’t imagine what the side terminals were actually supposed to be. What are they for ? Or are they simply background set dressing, no more ‘important’ to the grand scheme of things than putting up some curtains? Click to expand...

Funny how the contours for those pull-out chairs are still there below the console surfaces, yet separate stools are provided. Of course, it wouldn't have been practical to pull out a chair on that narrow ledge... A "communications station", let alone three, oddly goes against the one new and distinguishing thing about the TNG bridge - the total and noticeable lack of a Communications Officer. Then again, we can assume that there still exists a Communications Department in the TNG era, and Picard just didn't need a representative of that department up on the bridge, just like he didn't need a Sciences rep; he preferred to relay his wishes and possible displeasure to the departments through Data. Perhaps he had a change of (artificial) heart in that respect? Timo Saloniemi  

C.E. Evans Admiral Admiral

I liked the changes. I thought it worked well for the big screen and gave the bridge more a sense of depth and being a busy command center. But IIRC, I think one of the ideas about its more sparse look during the TV series was an initial thought that 24th-Century technology could do more with fewer consoles (or at least, the bridge didn't need to be totally filled with consoles anyway). In-universe, my theory is that the Enterprise -D was only in the first phase of her operational life during the TV series and was now about to embark on her second phase--perhaps finally embarking on a 10-15 year mission of exploration.  

I'll buy that. And also sell it forward whenever I can. Timo Saloniemi  

RandyS Vice Admiral Admiral

Maurice said: ↑ I thought it was ugly. I don't care about the reason. Click to expand...

Exactly. Something the TV show could never afford to show. It must be cool, being on a spaceship, alien sunlight pouring in the windows. Different stars, different colours.... Either that or someone broke the "Polarize the windows" control, and they all just rolled with it.  

Captaindemotion Admiral Admiral

C.E. Evans said: ↑ In-universe, my theory is that the Enterprise -D was only in the first phase of her operational life during the TV series and was now about to embark on her second phase--perhaps finally embarking on a 10-15 year mission of exploration. Click to expand...

^^^ Very much so.  

Saul Vice Admiral Admiral

It was just more of a movie feel. But for an in universe explanation check out the book 'Rogue Saucer' which took place between season 7 and the movie. The Bridge is severely damaged in a Maquis attack and needs to be refitted. While they wait for that they test out a new Saucer for the ship which can land and take off planets and has extra weapons etc. The Maquis steal this and eventually it crashes too with Riker on board. Very fun novel.  

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New Roddenberry Site Offers Virtual USS Enterprise Bridge Tours, Including Ships From ‘Star Trek: Picard’

| April 27, 2023 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 67 comments so far

Roddenberry Entertainment has been working with technology company OTOY on “The Roddenberry Archive” for the last few years with the goal of creating a digital archive of the work of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. The initial focus of this project has been virtual recreations of Star Trek ships bearing the name USS Enterprise, and they have just launched a brand-new portal where you can tour the iconic bridges.

Tour the Enterprises

The new free web portal includes many iterations of bridges for ships named Enterprise across Star Trek history. You can tour the different ships via a timeline and expand into each bridge for a 360-degree tour. In some cases, bridge details include working turbo lifts and consoles.

Roddenberry Archive Enterprise portal

The portal includes the new USS Enterprise-F and USS Enterprise-G from Star Trek: Picard .

Enterprise-F bridge

A visit to Veridian III

Season 3 of Star Trek: Picard did an update on Star Trek history, adding to the events of the movie Star Trek: Generations . This includes the saucer of the Enterprise-D being recovered from Veridian III and restored by Geordi La Forge at the Starfleet Museum. The new virtual tour reflects this update to Trek history.

Recovery of the Enterprise-D

This includes a short video showing the recovery and a certain Vulcan visiting the grave of James T. Kirk on Veridian III.

Mini documentaries

The Roddenberry Archive is a collaboration that involves a number of key figures in Star Trek history who helped build these iconic ships, including Denise and Michael Okuda, Doug Drexler, Daren Dochterman, and now Picard production designer Dave Blass. They are also getting help from Picard showrunner Terry Matalas, Star Trek star William Shatner, and Q himself, John de Lancie.

This introductory video narrated by de Lancie gives you a brief history of the USS Enterprise.

Another new video released today focuses on the USS Enterprise-D, with a history of the bridge design and details about the reconstruction for Star Trek: Picard .

They also released a preview of their extended interview with William Shatner.

For more about the Roddenberry Archive, see the Deadline report about today’s announcement and visit the new web portal at roddenberry.x.io .

Find more Star Trek history at TrekMovie .

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Here’s hoping we get the Rodenberry-Archive Vol 2 Blu-Ray then.

yes, please

The post Star Trek Generations video was very cool.

it was but also didn’t make much sense. Why would Spock have any memory of the Enterprise’s destruction over Genesis, and why would he be reflecting on that in TMP era? Weird. Technically awesome but weird

Spock probably didn’t see the Enterprise destroyed, but Kirk did. Could a Vulcan mindmeld with a dead human? Doubtful. He could with a resurrected one, though. Hmm.

Anyway, these videos do have a weird scattered memory vibe. It will be interesting to see what comes next.

Maybe because his Katra was in McCoy.

Oh, good point.

Exactly. Spock’s body did not witness anything but his Katra aka soul did via McCoy

Spock didn’t witness the destruction of the Enterprise but McCoy did. And they had a pretty in depth mind melt katra sharing session going on at Vulcan

Awesome they brought back Leonard Nimoy digitally. These, along with Yeoman Colt, would make great Short Treks.

As I understand it, that’s not a digital Nimoy, it’s an actor made to look like him with makeup and so forth. Whatever they did, it looks amazing.

It was an actor, then they put Nimoy’s face on it digitally. It’s not the actor’s face.

According to their website, it was makeup and prosthetics. There’s BTS pics you can find there.

Following the rabbit hole of Lawrence Selleck, that is one hell of an amazing transformation. I’m nearly speechless.

Yeah, if someone looks THAT much like Nimoy — dude, you’re Nimoy. :D

Lol, sure it’s not. Dude, trust your eyes and don’t overthink this.

There was a lot about this awhile back, the guy’s resemblance is amazing in b-t-s imagery. I think there was some digital sweetening that actually soured the look, because the imagery as I recall had a CG feel, whereas the guy just being shot looked like the real deal.

Interesting!

What has Colt?

Showing the sets of the Cage.

Someone from the original pilot and Yeoman Rand’s predecessor.

No, I knew who Colt is; I just wondered how she came up here.

Big shout out to the team who created the makeup and prosthetics for Spock. They’ve done amazing work.

TOS bridge, so sweet. Movie era bridge, awesome. Star Trek IV bridge, sooo good!! Colors, displays, function. Star Trek V/VI – probably the best (not sure why I like the white color scheme in IV). SNW best bridge ever? But TNG, Ent D,E,F… suddenly space is at a premium and they make no sense, walls of non function and/or stations way off that no one can communicate with the Captain. No wonder they need chairs for the shrink on the bridge after that. The TNG, I now think it would be soo funny if the carpet lit on fire, that’s got to happen in Lower Decks. The only thing on the F I like is those consoles getting some heads up displays, I guess that might work to make these far off stations useful and able to communicate with the Captain. Anyone shocked Shelby got phasered from the front as opposed to someone just walking in the door and shooting her in the back? All that wasted space with no function. Someone give the G a new bridge. Cool video with Spock. Though in the one scene where he recalls the Enterprise falling through the Genesis Planet atmosphere, pretty sure he should be wearing the red monster maroons (the best Trek uniforms!).

The various bridges we never saw- from Star Trek Is, Planet of the Titans, Phase II- all look really cool.

It would be cool if some of these came into canon.

In fact, with the 32nd century drawing in more mid-70s Space 1999 design language, some of these might work better there.

Roddenberry or paramount should buy the “stage 9” called simulation/recreation of the entire enterprise d interrior which was shut down by cbs years ago. Such a huge shame, this had so much potential and looked sooo accurate and photorealistic!

I think at least one developer from Stage 9 is working with Roddenberry on this project.

So when I met Shatner on the TOS bridge set recreation in Ticonderoga, NY for his 90th birthday celebration, I brought along my little 360 camera so that I could capture VR video of the legendary captain back in his chair. He and his PR team were so fascinated by the camera, and I implored them to consider doing a 360/VR production with Shatner while he’s still around, as a way to sort of immortalize the experience for future generations, since we really are on the cusp of creatunig truly immersive virtual worlds, but Shatner may not be around for much longer. I wonder if in some way my conversation with them was the spark for this project, because I really think it’s important work – future generations, I believe, will think of 2D video the same way we think of old, silent film. But with the leaps and bounds being taken by AI, not only will they be able to recreate the sets in some future virtual environment, but probably recreate the movies too as an interactive experience where you’re literally there. I am hoping I live to see the day when I can join Kirk and co as a member of the bridge on any one of their greatest adventures :)

I think this has been in development for quite awhile. One of the companies involved, Light Field Labs, was apparently already on the fringe of this project when I interviewed with them early in the pandemic, nearly three years back. Correction: it has been in the works much longer, see this old trekmovie story: https://trekmovie.com/2018/10/23/roddenberry-entertainment-joins-project-to-build-real-star-trek-like-holodeck/

Where is the season 2 TNG bridge and the versions from Yesterdays Enterprise, Parallels, All Good Things and Generations?

Hasten to add what was done is incredible to be sure!

There are definitely a few omissions to address.

Academy-award nominated production designer Tamara Deverell is responsible for the 1701 bridge as it appeared in Discovery S2, but the narration credits Jonathan Lee for both the Discovery and SNW versions.

Lee is responsible solely for the tweaked SNW version after the set was moved to a new, permanent soundstage.

Deverell made the effort to recreate the paint and plastic colours of the original, getting input from the 1701 recreation in NY state.

Really rather shabby omission given she’s the only woman head production designer in the history of the franchise.

I would expect the Official Archive to ensure these kinds of citations to be accurate.

Thanks for pointing this out, I’ll make sure it’s addressed on the website!

Thanks for your response.

I hope the voiceover on the video can be corrected though.

Deverell did the kind of deep dive work to recover the colours of the original, and deserves the same kind of acknowledgement that’s being given for the reproduction of the Enterprise D bridge.

This is documented in many articles from 2019. It raises genuine questions about blindspots and biases in the archive. Perhaps a featurette documenting the creation of the new 1701 bridge would address this.

See for example this from SyFy

https://www.syfy.com/syfy-wire/star-trek-discovery-designer-reveals-how-uss-enterprise-bridge-and-colors-returned?amp

Heh, these things take time, you know? Eventually, we plan on having all in there ;)

In the meantime, your video is out getting tens and hundreds of thousands of views falsely telling people that every major Trek production designer was male.

Don’t you see how a correction on a website and we’ll get to it when we get to it is not an adequate or appropriate correction for the kind of error that never should have happened?

It’s weird that they have complete bridges for seemingly small variations of some of the bridges, but the Enterprise D’s biggest changes, from Generations, aren’t represented.

That Generations short with Spock showing could use as post-credits or part of special features for a Generations Blu-Ray release.

Yeah that is incredible.

love the 360 bridge views, only wish they’d retconned the obvious CRT monitors on some of the sets

Considering they are working from a historic perspective, they should be faithful to the original.

If they were CRTs on set, then they’re CRTs. Same with the TNG consoles having visible screws. We’re recreating them as they were built. :)

Holy smokes. This is a lot of content. This is all shockingly amazing work.

I could enjoy this a lot more if they didn’t have to kill Stage 9 and other similar projects for it that I was frankly a lot more excited about

Not only is this not responsible for what happened to Stage 9, but also now several Stage 9 devs (including myself) are working on this full time!

Same. I was so excited about Stage 9. I kept up with it’s development since it started and couldn’t wait until it was complete just for it to dumped.

Hey what is 765874 ?!? I don’t suppose it could be a secret code to more of the Spock / Regeneration story. I want more!!

https://memory-beta.fandom.com/wiki/J._Mia_Colt

“ Her service number was 765874.”

Looks like a high-end “fan-film” coming down the Pike soon. Pun intended.

Oooohhh exciting. I don’t get why they didn’t have Colt in SNW honestly, or at least a cameo and then have her transfer. I mean she was in the Cage! Wow, good catch on Colt’s service #. Guess I am not the TOS fan I thought I was to not have considered that!

This all looks amazing. Spock on Veridian III wow! CGI has come so far today seeing the saucer section. And that Spock was on the mark.

But I truly love that video discussing the history of TNG and the E-D. It’s crazy a week ago I was watching that ship and bridge in live action again on an IMAX screen. Never thought we would see it again, much less in that format. TNG and the Enterprise D has been my home ship for 30 years now and I have to thank Terry Matalas and everyone responsible for bringing it back to all us fans! This is the happiest I been as a Trek fan in decades.

Thank you again.

Well said! 👍

It still doesn’t feel real they found a way to bring the D back in canon. It’s really surreal and definitely have Matalas to thank for it.

That scene with Spock was beautifully heartbreaking

This is the icing and the cake.

The Enterprise-G (aka Titan-A aka Stargazer) bridge set looks great when you can actually see it with the light on! I hope that if Legacy is green-lit, they turn the lights up on that bridge!

While the SNW bridge set is fun, it seems too busy.

Amazing. Wonderfully executed. All of the videos. (Although wonder why they would envision raising the D’s saucer with cables and not tractor beams, but whatever)

All very cool. I hope one day we get something in VR that’s as good or better than the Stage 9 recreation of the Enterprise D was. It’s such fun to be able to virtually tour those familiar sets. It was a great bonus feature to some of the old games too like Elite Force and The Fallen.

OTOY and Spock make-up BTS – https://home.otoy.com/roddenberryarchiveaug22/

I hope this portal is made available for vr headsets soon.

I’m really happy to see so much attention given to my favorite ship in the franchisee lately. The Enterprise D will probably always be my favorite although I love the E and A as well.

love all the content being created. hoping they add the generations enterprise-d refit bridge

This is awesome! But, bummed to not see the Defiant. I hope they can add other ships!

I can not find any Enterprise bridge archive on any on the links. Is it down?I can not find any Enterprise bridge archive on any on the links. Is it down?

Same here — it’s nowhere to be found :(

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The web portal will allow fans to virtually explore the many dozens of evolutionary iterations of the famous Starship Enterprise bridge, across every epoch of Star Trek‘s history, with each bridge made accessible in the timeline as a 1:1 scale, “in-universe,” 360 recreation. De Lancie, who has portrayed extra-dimensional being Q since 1987’s Star Trek: The Next Generation, narrates a supplementary documentary, offering a deep dive into the evolution and legacy of the bridge — from its inception in Pato Guzman’s 1964 sketches, through its portrayal across decades of films and TV series, to its latest incarnation on the Enterprise-G, as revealed in the final episode of Star Trek: Picard.   This combined documentary and exploratory online experience brings the legacy and history of the starship Enterprise to life through meticulous recreations of the filming sets used for production as well as the aforementioned “in-universe” life size, functional immersive virtual interiors. The recreations were produced for the Gene Roddenberry Estate, and overseen by veteran Star Trek artists including Denise and Michael Okuda, who authored The Star Trek Encyclopedia, as well as Daren Dochterman, Doug Drexler and Dave Blass.   The Archive will also, for a limited time, allow fans to try an experimental technology preview through the web portal, enabling them to walk onto the bridges of the Enterprise (boasting working turbolifts and consoles) and explore them in every detail, all from an instantaneous livestream.

You can find out more about this engrossing project at the Roddenberry Archive website and through the OTOY YouTube channel.

• The Roddenberry Archive

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Hayley erbert will rejoin husband derek hough on the ‘symphony of dance’ tour, the roddenberry archive & otoy unveil new virtual ‘star trek’ experience allowing trekkies to examine every evolution of the starship enterprise bridge & even walk across it.

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EXCLUSIVE : Following the recent conclusion of Star Trek: Picard on Paramount+ , OTOY and Roddenberry Entertainment have unveiled the next evolution of the Roddenberry Archive, a multi-decade collaboration with the Gene Roddenberry Estate to capture Star Trek franchise architect Roddenberry’s lifetime of works for future generations, with holographic immersion and in the most historically accurate sense possible.

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The web portal will allow fans to virtually explore the many dozens of evolutionary iterations of the famous Starship Enterprise bridge, across every epoch of Star Trek ‘s history, with each bridge made accessible in the timeline as a 1:1 scale, “in-universe,” 360 recreation. De Lancie, who has portrayed extra-dimensional being Q since 1987’s Star Trek: The Next Generation , narrates a supplementary documentary, offering a deep dive into the evolution and legacy of the bridge — from its inception in Pato Guzman’s 1964 sketches, through its portrayal across decades of films and TV series, to its latest incarnation on the Enterprise-G, as revealed in the final episode of Star Trek: Picard . 

This combined documentary and exploratory online experience brings the legacy and history of the starship Enterprise to life through meticulous recreations of the filming sets used for production as well as the aforementioned “in-universe” life size, functional immersive virtual interiors. The recreations were produced for the Gene Roddenberry Estate, and overseen by veteran Star Trek artists including Denise and Michael Okuda, who authored The Star Trek Encyclopedia , as well as Daren Dochterman, Doug Drexler and Dave Blass. 

Accompanying the interactive bridge experiences and documentary film is a series of 2023 featurettes exploring Star Trek ‘s behind-the-scenes production process with commentary from Star Trek luminaries who share Roddenberry’s vision for the franchise. 

The first featurette teases Shatner’s hours-long testimonial for the Roddenberry Archive, captured holographically within a perfect recreation of the 1979 USS Enterprise bridge. The icon therein shares his memories, aspirations and intentions in bringing Captain Kirk to life in 1965 and portraying his death in 1994, as well as his personal views on the future he envisions for this beloved character, including visualizations from his 1995 novel Ashes of Eden .

The second includes interviews with leading cast and crew, including Star Trek: The Next Generation director James Conway, director-producer David Livingston, program consultant David Gerrold, consulting senior illustrator Andrew Probert and production designer Herman Zimmerman, as well as Star Trek: Picard ‘s showrunner Matalas and production designer, Blass.

The release of the immersive Enterprise recreations and documentary testimony is accompanied by a new short in the 765874 Archive concept video series, which has been available online since last year, exploring concepts from Shatner’s Ashes of Eden and Star Trek: Picard ‘s resurrection of the Enterprise-D, with actors Mahé Thaissa and Lawrence Selleck returning to explore themes from the history of Star Trek . A life-size physical prosthetic Arex was created for the production, bringing the beloved character from Star Trek: The Animated Series to life not just in CG, but also in live-action.

Work has also been completed to bring Majel Roddenberry’s voice to life as the Enterprise computer, based on phonetic recordings she made in 2008, with the goal of adding her signature vocalization to the archive. Numerous environments and set recreations are continuously being studies and worked on by the Roddenberry Archive for future updates covering production work from the The Cage pilot onwards, as well as a full and complete 1:1 scale recreation of the entire interior of the original USS Enterprise, featured in Star Trek: The Motion Picture .

“The Roddenberry Archive portal gives the public a first glimpse into the many years of incredible work done by the archive’s world class production team both in preserving Gene Roddenberry’s legacy in tandem with visually documenting 60 years of Star Trek history in quiescent detail,” said Jules Urbach, who serves as CEO of OTOY and the Roddenberry Archive. “Through new technology, we can bring audiences back in time as if they were there on set during the making of Star Trek , providing a window into new dimensions of the Star Trek universe.”

Continued Urbach, “The team’s efforts to capture Star Trek history in full lifelike detail with the highest degree of historical accuracy is an important milestone in preserving Gene Roddenberry’s vision for future generations to explore and see, through the lens of those that worked with him.”

Videos spotlighting the latest evolution of The Roddenberry Archive, and a preview of the new Shatner interview can be found below.

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Star Trek Enterprise Bridge: A New Interactive Web Portal Created by The Roddenberry Archive">Take Virtual Tours of Every Star Trek Enterprise Bridge: A New Interactive Web Portal Created by The Roddenberry Archive

in Sci Fi , Television | May 8th, 2023 1 Comment

It’s a rare young Star Trek fan indeed who does­n’t fan­ta­size about sit­ting on the bridge of the star­ship Enter­prise . That has gone for every gen­er­a­tion of fan, every Star Trek series, and every Enter­prise , whose bridges you can see in the new video above from the Rod­den­ber­ry Archive . It begins, nat­u­ral­ly, with the orig­i­nal Star Trek , the show with which cre­ator Gene Rod­den­ber­ry start­ed it all — and for which art direc­tor Matt Jef­feries designed a bridge that would become a mod­el not just for all sub­se­quent Enter­pris­es , but real-life com­mand cen­ters as well. As the nar­ra­tor says, “Jef­feries’ bridge made such an impres­sion that engi­neers from NASA, the U.S. Navy, and pri­vate indus­try have stud­ied it as a mod­el for an advanced, effi­cient con­trol room.”

That nar­ra­tor hap­pens to be John de Lan­cie, whom view­ers of Star Trek: The Next Gen­er­a­tion and sub­se­quent series will know as the all-pow­er­ful extra-dimen­sion­al being Q. He’s not the only famil­iar per­former to par­tic­i­pate in this ret­ro­spec­tive project: in the video above appears a cer­tain William Shat­ner, who as James Tiberius Kirk occu­pied the cap­tain’s chair of the very first Enter­prise .

Even those who pre­fer the lat­er, more com­plex Star Trek s have sure­ly won­dered what that posi­tion would feel like, and now they can get a vir­tu­al sense of it at the Rod­den­bery Archive’s web site , which is now offer­ing vir­tu­al tours of the bridge of every series’ cen­tral ship .

“ T he site fea­tures 360-degree, 3D mod­els of the var­i­ous ver­sions of the Enter­prise , as well as a time­line of the ship’s evo­lu­tion through­out the franchise’s his­to­ry,” writes Smithsonian.com’s Sarah Kuta . “Fans of the show can also read detailed infor­ma­tion about each ver­sion of the ship’s design, its sig­nif­i­cance to the Star Trek sto­ry­line and its pro­duc­tion back­sto­ry.” All this comes online to mark the end of Star Trek: Picard , the recent series built around Patrick Stew­art’s Enter­prise cap­tain from The Next Gen­er­a­tion , whose final episode went up last month on the stream­ing ser­vice Para­mount+. For that grand finale, pro­duc­tion design­er Dave Blass “recre­at­ed the bridge of the Enter­prise D ,” and “Picard’s tri­umphant return to his beloved ship brought nos­tal­gic tears to the eyes of more than a few fans,” no doubt regard­less of gen­er­a­tion. Take the vir­tu­al tours here .

via Smith­son­ian

Relat­ed con­tent:

Watch Star Trek Con­tin­ues : The Crit­i­cal­ly-Acclaimed, Fan-Made Sequel to the Orig­i­nal TV Series

Watch Star Trek: New Voy­ages : The Orig­i­nal Fan-Made Sequel to the 1960s TV Series

How Isaac Asi­mov Went from Star Trek Crit­ic to Star Trek Fan & Advi­sor

William Shat­ner Nar­rates Space Shut­tle Doc­u­men­tary

The Ency­clo­pe­dia of Sci­ence Fic­tion: 17,500 Entries on All Things Sci-Fi Are Now Free Online

Star Trek: World-Build­ing Over Gen­er­a­tions — Pret­ty Much Pop: A Cul­ture Pod­cast #42

Based in Seoul,  Col­in M a rshall  writes and broad­cas ts on cities, lan­guage, and cul­ture. His projects include the Sub­stack newslet­ter   Books on Cities ,  the book  The State­less City: a Walk through 21st-Cen­tu­ry Los Ange­les  and the video series  The City in Cin­e­ma . Fol­low him on Twit­ter at  @colinma rshall  or on  Face­book .

by Colin Marshall | Permalink | Comments (1) |

Related posts:

Comments (1), 1 comment so far.

All the web por­tal links just bring me back to the Rod­den­ber­ry web­site. Am I doing some­thing wrong? I was able to pull up the site with the dif­fer­ent bridges of the Enter­prise but I can’t now. If you could pro­vide me with any infor­ma­tion I would great­ly appre­ci­ate it. Thank­ing you in advance,

Luis Rosa­do

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Designing the Next Generation Bridge

Andrew Probert’s first job as senior illustrator for Star Trek: The Next Generation was to provide concepts for the new bridge.

The reason, he told Trek Brasilis in 2001, was that “the bridge was going to be the central set,” and Gene Roddenberry and his team “wanted to make sure they were very happy with it, and they wanted to have plenty of time to make any changes they needed to.”

An early writers’ bible described the bridge as combining “the features of ship control, briefing room, information retrieval area and officers wardroom. In other words, much the same kinds of things happen here as in the old bridge, but with less emphassis on the mechanics of steering the starship.”

This approach inspired the presence of couches and even a conference table in early sketches.

The couches were Probert’s idea, “to provide more face-to-face conference environment.” But he didn’t care for the table, which was the producers’ suggestion. It didn’t make sense “to furnish a table where everyone would gather to discuss their situations” on the bridge, he told Forgotten Trek in 2005 .

The upper, or mezzanine, level in his early-December 1986 designs would have contained various work stations. “When Gene was first talking about having a very large area, and he was looking at an information retrieval area, I just imagined a huge area that would have all these stations where all this information could come in and then it would somehow be passed on down to command people,” Probert recalled in another interview years later.

Such stations were later put at the back of the bridge, and they were reduced in number to give Picard’s Enterprise a more sophisticated appearance than Kirk’s. In order to show that technology had advanced in the century since The Original Series , the new Enterprise would be controlled by fewer people.

Gene [Roddenberry] really wanted the ship run by only the “Conn” and “Ops” positions, forward, with a bridge officer in charge… a total of three people.

In the event of a crisis, Probert explained, “more people would report to their rear bridge stations.” This was seldom shown on screen.

Two other elements that were never used were the panels on either side of the bridge, which Probert imagined contained emergency equipment and supplies, and the food replicators. On The Original Series , Kirk and his officers had sometimes been served coffee on the bridge. Picard took tea in his ready room.

Ryan T. Riddle and Mark Farinas took Probert’s two-level design as inspiration for the bridge of their Ambassador -class starship in the webcomic “ The Word of God ”.

Tadeo D’Oria created his own version of this design:

The set of the Enterprise bridge was erected on Paramount’s Stage 8. During the first season, the bridge and officers’ quarters were the only Star Trek sets on that stage. Ten Forward was added the following year, as was a separate observation lounge. During Season 1, sickbay had doubled as observation lounge.

Unlike the in-series configuration, the observation lounge set was never linked to the bridge. This is why we didn’t see continuous scenes between the two. Presumably a ramp, or small staircase, connects the bridge to the observation lounge in the Star Trek universe. See The Unseen Enterprise -D for more.

Generations upgrade

Several changes were made to the set during the seven-year run of The Next Generation . The small seats on either side of the three large chairs in the command area were changed several times, as did the carpeting. The wooden panels on the sides of the bridge were replaced with beige fabric in Season 2 and grey fabric in Season 3. The Conn and Ops consoles were tilted outward to place them parallel to the viewscreen and given swivel chairs that allowed the actors to sit up straight and turn around. Tadeo D’Oria and Bernd Schneider have kept track of all these changes at Ex Astris Scientia .

For Star Trek Generations , Production Designer Herman Zimmerman and Art Director Sandy Veneziano darkened the set’s colors and added more tones to its palette. They also chose richer textures.

According to John Eaves, who was invited to the Generations art team by Zimmerman, the idea was to make the bridge appear more functional. “To accomplish that,” he writes in Star Trek: The Next Generation Sketchbook, The Movies , “we raised the captain’s chair slightly (symbolically putting his authourity higher than those sitting in the two chairs flanking him).”

For functionality, we also split the ramps on either side of the command center. We still had a ramp going down, but added two elevated stations, one against either wall, where crew members could work. We also replaced an alcove filled with lockers and storage panels with a new graphics station.

“At one point,” Eaves recalls, we had added some new standup stations behind the captain’s chair, where Worf works.” They liked the design, but it would have been too much of a change from the television series.

I like how they gave Worf/tactical a little chair to sit on in Generations . Poor guy had to stand for seven straight years. I wish we had seen the side bridge stations on TV vs. just in one film, but I’ve read it would have cost too much to keep them staffed with extras.

It’s weird to have to point this out, but you got my name wrong on the article lol The 3D models I made and that are seen on the EAS piece were originally done for Stage 9, so that also reflects the care and research that went into that project.

Sorry! That must have been a typo on my part. I’ve corrected it, thank you for pointing that out.

Haha, no problem!

Glad they abandoned that table, a captain does not sit behind a table. What do you need a briefing room for then? It would have been neat if they incorporated a stainless steel and leather work into the ship. (See Sovereign ready room.) Today real steel interior pieces are cheap and easily available

Gene wanted only three people? Really, that just shows how his TNG ideas really weren’t great. I love the bridge as is, and even in the Probert early sketches

Well, I don’t know, Gene created two shows that are very popular to this day. None of the sequels have yet to achieve the same. It was never as simple as one person. Gene was the driving force, but he didn’t have complete control. He also had to feel out what Paramount would be willing to spend. Believe it or not, an early TNG concept was no Enterprise at all. The crew would have been on Earth and used transporters to go everywhere. Very much a budget option I’m glad they didn’t pursue.

You’d be surprised how many people are on the bridge on real ships. Very often it’s just the officer of the watch and a lookout.

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Meet the man warp-driving the 'Star Trek' bridge restoration

Superfan Huston Huddleston is guiding a mind-boggling restoration of the Enterprise bridge from "Star Trek: The Next Generation," taking it from trash to sci-fi treasure.

Huston Huddleston is playing a seminal role in the "Star Trek" universe right now. It's OK if you don't recognize his name. He didn't appear in any of the television shows. He hasn't been on-screen or working behind the scenes of any of the movies. He is, however, captaining a massive project that, when finished, will be a source of delight to "Star Trek" fans everywhere. He's rebuilding the bridge of the Enterprise .

In late 2011, Huddleston was working above a Paramount office in Hollywood, confessing to a colleague that he would never be able to turn his living room into an Enterprise bridge. "Be careful what you wish for," his colleague said.

"He took me to a warehouse that had a Paramount-built Enterprise D Bridge from "Star Trek: The Next Generation," made in 1997 for display (after the original had been destroyed), that sat outside for five years and was about to be destroyed," Huddleston tells Crave.

Huddleston was faced with a rare find, a nearly extinct species. He could have walked away from the daunting pile of scrap, but instead he decided to save it. What that means is a full restoration, from the chairs to the ceiling, with the goal of turning the bridge into an interactive educational museum complete with touch-screen computers and a working front screen.

'Star Trek' Enterprise bridge restoration (pictures)

The New Starship Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded to fund and shepherd the restoration process. The fragile bits, including the chairs, computers, and tactical station, are the first pieces to undergo restoration. The chairs have already been making the rounds of sci-fi conventions for fans to sit in. Huddleston expects the whole restoration to be done by the end of the year.

The foundation has received support from fans (including nearly $69,000 through Kickstarter ) and "Star Trek" celebrities alike. The "Next Generation" cast all signed a piece of rescued wall panel. Their willingness to stand behind the project has helped a great deal with bringing in interest and funding. "This is their legacy, they helped create it, and it made them icons," says Huddleston. "People who have helped us, like Bill Shatner and the cast of Next Gen -- there is no amount of money we could pay them for their time. It's a labor of love in the purest sense."

Huddleston describes the restoration in terms of doing a several-million-dollar project on a shoestring. He's hoping corporations will be the next to step up financially. "The fans are behind us because we're doing something Paramount hasn't done since Gene Roddenberry was alive: educate people through 'Star Trek,' in a museum, as a nonprofit organization. I would think Apple, Microsoft, NASA, tons of companies would see the huge potential in that, and want to be a part of it."

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What began as a pile of forgotten junk behind a Paramount warehouse has sparked a much greater journey. Huddleston hopes it will all culminate in the opening of a permanent, interactive, educational science-fiction museum by 2016. He has his eyes on a Hollywood location.

"If what we're planning is successful, visitors would want to make weekly trips to play with the robots, fly the Enterprise bridge, truly 'explore strange new worlds,' meet and learn from film legends in sci-fi, and so much more," says Huddleston. He hints that fans should keep an eye out for a big announcement about a New Starship Foundation music event in July involving the entire cast of "The Next Generation." Considering the cost of rebuilding a starship, the Enterprise bridge needs all the help it can get.

Gene Roddenberry was known as "The Great Bird of the Galaxy." Huddleston's work may some day earn him the nickname, "The Great Bird of the Bridge."

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Published Dec 9, 2012

Guest Blog: Rescuing The Enterprise-D Bridge Replica

My name is Huston Huddleston. I am the madman behind rescuing the Paramount-built Star Trek: The Next Generation U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-D bridge replica from destruction, and attempting to restore it and turn it into a non-profit educational museum. This is a project by fans/for fans, and will be available to anyone who wants to visit, take photos, watch movies, make fan films, have meetings, even get married on the bridge! And admission will be free of charge, with donations given to keep the lights on. Plus, we’ll be doing fundraising for Make-A-Wish and Habitat for Humanity .

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Star Trek: 10 Secrets Of The Next Generation Main Bridge

Read for directions to the bathroom on the bridge of the USS Enterprise.

Star Trek: The Next Generation has been off the air for almost 30 years, yet its iconography remains some of the most recognizable in the Star Trek franchise. The sleek USS Enterprise-D, the bold Starfleet uniforms , and, yes, even the main bridge are indelibly etched into many of our minds as a very specific vision of the future – a comfortable, brightly lit, carpet covered utopia.

Designed by Star Trek: The Next Generation production designer Herman Zimmerman and veteran illustrator Andrew Probert, the main bridge of the Enterprise-D retained the simple and efficient layout of Star Trek: The Original Series' Enterprise bridge, but with a sleek 24th-century slash 1980s makeover. The old "jelly bean" manual controls were replaced with advanced touch screen graphics, the plain "cardboard" walls adorned with high-tech details and built-in lighting, and those old deck plates covered up with the finest gray and taupe airport carpeting Hollywood and the Federation had to offer (seriously there was a lot of carpet in this show).

The Enterprise-D's bridge may be as recognizable as your own family living room, but behind the deceptively simple layout and plush Federation furnishings lie a few untold stories. Step into the turbo-lift and head up to deck one, here are ten secrets of the Star Trek: The Next Generation main bridge that you need to know.

10. Hilton In Space

To convey Star Trek: The Next Generation's place in the future of the future, nearly a century after the events of Star Trek: The Original Series, creator Gene Roddenberry requested the bridge of the Enterprise-D be as streamlined and comfortable as possible. The show's season one writer's bible (developed before the sets were designed or constructed) described the bridge as a control AND conference center:

The features of ship control, briefing room, information retrieval area and officers wardroom. In other words, much the same kinds of things happen here as in the old bridge, but with less emphassis on the mechanics of steering the starship.

With that directive, early sketches of the main bridge were developed by starship designer Andrew Probert and featured couches, a conference table and chairs, even a balcony looking out on a massive viewscreen. According to Probert in an interview with Forgotten Trek:

The couches were my idea, to provide more of a face-to-face conference environment for the main characters. The table idea (generated by the producers) I hated, because it wouldn’t be logical to furnish a table where everyone would gather to discuss their situations.

Ultimately, the hotel lobby-esque designs were abandoned in favor of a more straightforward reinterpretation of TOS' bridge configuration, though retaining the plush elements (comfy, laid back seats, soft uppoulstery on the walls, and all that carpeting) to indicate that the Enterprise-D was as much a living city in space as it was an exploratory, quasi-military vessel.

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Ahead of this Thursday’s Star Trek: Picard series finale , Paramount+ has released a sepia-tone-themed collection of photos of the cast on the bridge of the USS Enterprise-D.

The new photos feature former Star Trek: The Next Generation cast members Patrick Stewart , Jonathan Frakes , Marina Sirtis , LeVar Burton , Brent Spiner , Gates McFadden and Michael Dorn , along with Star Trek: Picard season three regulars Jeri Ryan , Michelle Hurd and Ed Speleers .

Check them out below.

Star Trek: Picard series finale publicity photos:

Patrick stewart as jean-luc picard.

Jonathan Frakes as William Riker

Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi

LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge

Brent Spiner as Data

Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher

Michael Dorn as Worf

Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine

Group photos

The Star Trek: Picard season three finale “The Last Generation” streams Thursday, April 20th on Paramount+.

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The third and final season of Star Trek: Picard reunites the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation and stars Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge, Michael Dorn as Worf, Jonathan Frakes as William Riker, Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher, Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi, Brent Spiner as Data/Lore, Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine, Michelle Hurd as Raffi, along with Amanda Plummer as Vadic, Todd Stashwick as Captain Liam Shaw, and Ed Speleers as Jack Crusher.

Stay tuned to TrekNews.net for all the latest news related to Star Trek: Picard , Star Trek: Discovery, S tar Trek: Strange New Worlds , Star Trek: Lower Decks , Star Trek: Prodigy , and more.

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Founded TrekNews.net in 2011. UX, visual designer, and published photographer based in the Boston area. Connoisseur of Star Trek, sci-fi, '80s horror, synthwave sounds, and tacos. You can follow Brian on Twitter @brianwilkins .

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The Evolution of the Enterprise-D Bridge

by Tadeo D'Oria and Bernd Schneider

"Real" Bridge Alternate Versions

The bridge of the Enterprise-D, as seen in the seven years of TNG and in "Star Trek Generations", is one of the most famous sets ever built for Star Trek. While the basic layout of the doors, wall segments, stations and seats always remained the same, many details were changed over the course of the years, for the "real" bridge as well as for fake or for alternate universe versions.

"Real" Bridge

Encounter at farpoint.

The original appearance of the bridge.

The Naked Now

A new light strip was added above the aft consoles, providing better illumination for the actors' faces when they were seated on these consoles.

The captain's chair was slightly modified, with one small black inset added to the front of each armrest.

The Last Outpost

The command area was modified to add two small seats, one on each side of the already existing chairs. These new seats "disappear" for the episode "Haven", as it was filmed before "The Last Outpost".

The seats were further modified just a few episodes later to be somewhat smaller. Once again they change back and forth between the bigger and smaller seats for some episodes, as the filming order was very different than the release order.

The Arsenal of Freedom

During the first episodes, most of the LCARS of the aft consoles were turned off if they weren't in use. The keyboards in particular were almost always off, even when used, leaving only a very small usable area with few buttons. From this episode forward the keyboards will always be online, even when no one is using the console.

The command chairs used by Picard, Riker and Troi were changed to new designs using different coverings. Whatever the reason, they took the chance to change all three chairs to keep a more uniform look.

The wooden "horseshoe" tactical console changed color, now being a lighter color with more prominent wood veins. The middle support was also changed, now painted beige and with black and silver accents added.

The small wall behind the command area is covered with red carpeting instead of the previous gray paneling, probably to cover up the holes holding the old chair's support struts. The top end of this small wall was also raised a bit more.

The chairs used on the Conn/Ops consoles were also changed to a new design to use the new fabrics. They are now smaller and taller, keeping the occupant in a more traditional seating position than the previous "laid back" design.

The Conn/Ops consoles themselves were reoriented, instead of being slightly rotated inwards towards each other, they're now completely parallel to the viewscreen. The Conn/Ops consoles themselves were also modified, as a small isolinear bay was added near the floor.

The shape of the "horseshoe" was changed slightly as well where it meets the floor, to make the transition into the command area a bit more organic.

The small seats that were added on the command area halfway though season 1 were once again modified, this time completely replacing the seat with a translucent plastic of the same general shape but of no discernible use.

The circuitry access panel covers, located on each side of the bridge, were changed from the smooth wood design they had on season 1, to a more intricate design with blinking lights and pads of beige fabric.

Given the change in design of the aforementioned circuitry access panels, they were now unable to slide into the walls, so the new covers were now entirely removable.

The light strip added in season 1 above the aft consoles was changed, in order to fit in more organically into the wall design.

The walls on each side of the aft consoles were now part of the LCARS of the consoles themselves, rather than simply walls as they were before.

Most of the aft consoles were changed in purpose as well: "Science I, Science II, Propulsion, Emergency Manual Override and Environment" (left to right) became "Science I, Science II, Mission Ops, Environment and Engineering".

A small black border was added on the bottom edge of the aft consoles keyboard area.

The ceiling also underwent some changes, with black glossy rectangles added around the central dome, and the lighted segment directly in front of said dome removed.

One of the "ribs" of the forward area of the ceiling got removed between seasons. There are only five ribs now, instead of previously six.

Looking at it from the other side, we can also see the already mentioned aft wall of the command area that is red instead of beige now, and raised.

The aft console chairs are no longer on rails, now being completely free in their movement.

A ribbed inner frame was added the main viewscreen.

It's impossible to see on a screenshot, but the blinking lights below the viewscreen changed their movement orientation. In season 1, they appeared at the edge of the screen and moved towards the center. Now they appear at the center and move outward

The Outrageous Okona

The material of the new command chairs was changed, from leather to fabric.

The conn/ops chairs materials was likewise changed.

The carpeting on the floor was changed to a different shape design.

The command area received some new small seats at each side once again, replacing the previous translucent plastic piece with much smaller but functional seats.

The circuitry access panel covers were changed once again, this time keeping the design but changing fabrics, from being the same beige fabric of the seating, to the same gray fabric as the door alcove walls.

The aft console chairs received a new footprint, now having a black square one, rather than the circular gray one of previous seasons.

All the LCARS were changed to a different color combination, with the muted colors replaced with more vibrant and easy to see ones.

The inner frame of the main viewscreen was changed. It is not ribbed any more.

The High Ground

New carpets, with more subdued colors, similar to those of the previous seasons.

Sins of the Father

The small side panels where the dedication plaque and MSD sits were changed, adding a more intricate design and some LCARS near the bottom.

The LCARS colors and shapes were further defined. This is mostly evident on the aft consoles, as the Science I station changed its design slightly, and the top LCARS area changed colors, no longer having a red element beside each station's name.

The small consoles used by Riker and Troi changed the LCARS display to a schematic of the ship.

The dedication plaque was changed. The new one has a completely different shape and different information on it .

The aft console LCARS were modified slightly, more noticeably the Science I station has a different color combination, adding violet at the top of the console.

The Masterpiece Society

The chairs for Ops/Conn were modified slightly, removing the padded design of the backrest and replacing it with a smooth one.

The LCARS colors of the aft stations were changed once again. It's very apparent at the top of the panels, as the stations' names were changed from blue to yellow.

In season 7, specifically for "Homeward", the color scheme of the LCARS aft stations was changed yet again. More of the blue elements were replaced with yellow ones.

Star Trek Generations

Two steps were added to the command area (actually a leftover from the "All Good Things" bridge modifications ).

The aft consoles cutout and the aft door alcoves were further accentuated with cylindrical borders added around them. Small metallic stripes were added above the aft consoles.

Hand rails were added near all doors.

The order of the aft consoles was changed.

The formerly black details (probably created with tape) on the tactical console were replaced by a subtle extrusion with the same outlines.

Side consoles were added, three on port and three on starboard, in the place of the former access panels.

Small equipment containers were added next to the aft doors. In a deleted scene, we see Worf getting flashlights from these panels.

H-shaped struts as reinforcements were added to the ceiling. The ceiling segment adjacent to the central dome is illuminated again.

Alternate Versions

Yesterday's enterprise.

For this parallel timeline version of the bridge, all chairs in the command area were removed except for the captain's chair.

A metallic grid was added to the area under the tactical console arch.

The lower parts of the aft consoles were completely removed and replaced with access panels, turning them into freestanding wall monitors

Lateral consoles were added (here still with a different and not so organic look as those that would appear in "Generations" ). The circuitry access panels were changed to LCARS displays in the upper half. In the lower half, the covers are now pentagonal and embossed, like those of the aft consoles too.

The lighting of the entire ceiling was switched to blue.

Greebles were added to most gaps between the wall panels.

Future Imperfect

This episode shows a fake future version of the bridge, in an attempt to trick Riker. Orange details were added to the tactical console, the space above the aft consoles, and all the doors.

Circuitry access panels were replaced by the "Yesterday's Enterprise" version (but without re-adding the lateral consoles).

Big orange or red labels were also added on the Conn/Ops consoles.

Parallels, version 1

This is the version of the bridge that can be seen when Worf fails to find the right button to fire on the Cardassian ship because the tactical console has changed. In order to visualize this change, the color of the whole arch was changed to red. The central part is no longer beige but silver. An additional silver box was added on top of the arch. Furthermore, the area underneath the arch was filled with a nearly opaque glass pane.

There is a new LCARS for the vertical panel at each side of the side consoles.

Also, red coverings were added on the captain's chair (seat and armrest).

The Conn/Ops consoles were painted silver gray, just like the central part of the tactical console, rather than the regular beige.

Parallels, version 2

The tactical console was further modified for a version of the bridge that appears towards the end of the episode. Compared to the previous parallel universe version 1, additional struts extend from the tactical console arch down to the command area floor. All chairs in the command area were removed, except for the captain's chair.

A large glass pane was added between the tactical console and the aft consoles.

Circuitry access panels were replaced by a new design, similar to the "Future Imperfect" version, but without the cutout for a screen in the upper area.

An additional lighted box was placed in front of the main viewscreen.

The captain's chair now sits on a raised platform that extends nearly to the viewscreen. This changes the position of the Conn/Ops consoles further to the sides.

All Good Things

Two steps were added to the command area.

Command consoles for XO/Specialist were removed, chairs were set further apart from each other.

Circuitry access panels have the same new design as already in "Parallels".

Beige plastic cutouts were glued onto the aft consoles.

The lighted box already known from "Parallels" was placed in front of the main viewscreen again.

Yamato Bridge

In the season 2 episode "Where Silence Has Lease", the bridge of the Galaxy-class Yamato was created as an illusion by Nagilum, with an impossible physical configuration. The set was the unchanged one of the Enterprise-D, as it looked at the time. Only the dedication plaque was blurred for the HD release, which would otherwise have allowed to read "USS Enterprise".

For episode "Contagion", the USS Yamato made a second brief appearance before being untimely destroyed. The Enterprise-D bridge was quickly and cheaply redressed to become the actual bridge of this sister ship. Besides having isolinear circuitry scattered all over the set to illustrate the technical problems the ship was having, we can see that the backrest of the captain's chair was covered in a green fabric, clearly attached from the headrest by a couple of green stripes. The tactical console was likewise covered in this green fabric, with the same stripes being visible bordering the central column behind the captain. Finally, the captain's chair was raised significantly from its position on the Enterprise. This was likely just done using "apple boxes" in order to get Captain Varley better in frame (something that was regularly done for closeups of the standard Enterprise bridge chairs as well), however as this ended up being the only angle from which we ever saw the bridge, we can assume that the command chairs are really intended to be slightly raised when compared to those on the Enterprise.

Galleries - Starfleet Bridge Illustrations

Changes to the TNG Sets Between Seasons 1 and 2 - several modifications revealed in screen cap comparisons

Most screen caps from TrekCore . Thanks to Lt. Washburn of TrekBBS, who spotted some more season 2 changes.

https://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/inconsistencies/enterprise-d-bridge.htm

Last modified: 02 Dec 2022

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Fleet Yards

Why Was the Enterprise Bridge Different in Every ‘Star Trek’ Film?

• 1.2K Shares

• By Eric Pesola
• Updated Mar 22, 2023 at 5:12pm

Paramount Kirk and crew gathered on the bridge at the end of Star Trek II.

You’ve watched these movies a hundred times each. Perhaps you watched the second one a few more times than that. But as you watched, did you notice that the bridge of the Enterprise changed each time Captain Kirk sat down in his chair? There are a few reasons for this.

To backtrack a bit, the Enterprise’s bridge was perhaps the most essential set for the entire series of films. It was the place where Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and the others could belt out their lines and size up the enemy. It was where Kirk outsmarted Khan and where the Klingons heard a computer voice counting. 

From the start, the redesign of the Enterprise bridge was complicated. Though the Original Series’ bridge would not work with high-quality film cameras, it was redesigned in parts. Starting first with the initial design for Star Trek: Phase II , the bridge was modernized by designer Mike Minor. When  Phase II  morphed into  The Motion Picture  (TMP), these changes were made even more significant by production designer Harold Michelson. 

Paramount The Motion Picture bridge

The bridge for TMP was almost colorless — some would say that this reflected the film’s soul as well. Gone were the bright primary colors from TOS, replaced with steel grays and light blues. 

“I think the concept was a very  2001  approach,” Leonard Nimoy told author Jeanne Kalogridis in her book, “ Star Trek: Where No One Has Gone Before – A History In Pictures .” “[It was] very cool. Very scientific. Steely gray. A very metallic film.”

Paramount The Wrath of Khan bridge

For the sequel, Director Nicholas Meyer had the bridge repainted. Under the direction of Minor and set decorator Charles M. Graffeo, there were more colors now for fans to look at. Instead of gray and blue, we saw sandy-brown, black, and light blues. It helped that the crew themselves were decked out in the colorful “monster maroon” red uniforms. They also removed an entire station behind the captain’s chair.

Paramount The Search for Spock bridge

In  Star Trek III , the bridge largely remained unchanged unless you count the scarring leftover from their battle with Khan. Keen eyes will see slight variations on the bridge from the end of  Wrath of Khan  to the start of  Search for Spock . Art Director John E. Chilberg II made a few changes with displays and monitors, which were updated. Some of the wall “gadgets” and ornamentation also changed. 

Before you say, “there was no bridge in  Star Trek IV ,” you’re almost right. Since the Enterprise was destroyed in  Star Trek III , the crew took over the Klingon vessel. When they got back from saving the world (by delivering whales from the 20th Century), they got a new Enterprise. This ship was supposed to be the Yorktown , but Starfleet renamed it the Enterprise-A. So our heroes got their old ship back — sort of.

Paramount The Voyage Home bridge

As you can see, the bridge of the Enterprise-A is entirely different from the Enterprise-refit. It was whiter, brighter, and had more colorful displays and lights throughout. It’s almost reminiscent of the J.J. Abrams  Star Trek  series bridge, which was the work of Keith P. Cunningham and his team. 

Paramount The Final Frontier’s bridge

One might think that the Enterprise-A, fresh out of spacedock, would not need additional changes. Shouldn’t it be ready for action as-is? This was not the case, as the look of the bridge changed yet again. This time, the team under art director Nilo Rodis-Jamero added padding in interesting places. The set got a more tan color throughout. These changes were acknowledged in the film, as Kirk complained about missing his old chair. 

For their final journey on the Enterprise-A, the crew got a wholly new look. For  Star Trek IV: The Undiscovered Country , this came full circle, and Rodis-Jamero’s new-look bridge was quite different. Unlike the “steel” look in TMP, this bridge looked as if it were actually made of steel. Stainless steel, perhaps. The rest of the bridge was darkly colored, which allowed for the displays and screens to earn a lot of attention. The padding behind the captain’s chair was now burgundy, a change from the tan in the previous film. 

Paramount The bridge in The Undiscovered Country

The Answer Revealed

Why were the bridges different on a ship that was supposed to be (mostly) the same from picture to picture? There are actually two correct answers. The first was that the budget for these films was small. Producer Harve Bennett was called in by Paramount to create movies on a TV budget after TMP budget nearly wiped out any box office earnings. 

One of the ways Bennett did this was by “ redressing ” the bridge for different roles. This meant that the Enterprise and Excelsior bridge (in both Star Trek III and IV ) were virtually identical. They were the same, exact set but changed around a little to ensure that fans would not think they were looking at the same stage twice. But, since they were part of “one happy fleet,” they ought to look similar. This meant that after each redress, things were different. 

But the interesting reason (which also works with canon) is that the bridge was designed to be replaced at regular intervals. According to the “ Star Trek: The Next Generation – Technical Manual ,” Rick Steinbach and Michael Okuda wrote that this idea originated during  Star Trek V .

As the duo worked alongside Herman Zimmerman on the sets, the three agreed that the bridge was a “plug-and-play module designed for easy replacement.” They theorized that this easily changeable unit would allow for “control systems to be upgraded, thereby extending the useful lifetime of a starship.”

They noted that this would also help explain the differences in the four Miranda-class ships filmed — the Reliant, the Saratoga, the Lantree, and the Brattain. They all had wildly different bridges but were the same class vessel. 

READ NEXT: On ‘Star Trek,’ Why Didn’t They Just Replicate Starships?

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• The Inventory

‘The Bridge Is Yours:’ You Can Now Virtually Visit Every Star Trek Enterprise Bridge

The roddenberry archive worked with paramount to recreate 3d models of nearly every single starship bridge featured in the star trek show and movies..

Save for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , and—obviously— Star Trek: The Lower Decks , most of the action for Star Trek takes place upon the fabled bridge. Over the course of Star Trek’s over-five decade runtime, there have been more than one fan who has imagined themselves working under lights at their station. You can close your eyes and imagine yourself among a crew of like-minded people sharing in that optimistic hope for the future that the show was known for. Finally, there’s now a way to truly put yourself into the captain’s chair of whatever version of the show was your favorite   and watch through the viewscreen at all the twinkling stars and imagine where you too might boldly go.

To commemorate the end of Star Trek: Picard ’s third and final season , on Thursday the Roddenberry Archive created a new web portal that includes dozens and dozens of accurate 3D models of the famed Starship Enterprise alongside an inside look at its bridge. A timeline at the bottom of the page shows each Starship in chronological order from an early version of the Enterprise featured in early production artwork for Star Trek: The Original Series all the way to the Enterprise-G from Picard.

According to a release from the Roddenberry Archive and the cloud graphics company OTOY, the recreations were produced for the Gene Roddenberry Estate. This included input from Star Trek artists including Denise and Micheal Okuda, who created the series’ famed computer interfaces (both are also part of the Archive leadership team). The authors of The Star Trek Encyclopedia also assisted bringing the Enterprise bridges to live.

Alongside the navigable bridges, the Roddenberry Archive and OTOY also released a few videos describing the process bringing these original Star Trek sets to life in a digital format. Another video describes the development of the Enterprise over time narrated by John de Lancie who played series extra-dimensional character “Q” which first appeared in The Next Generation .  

Though there’s been some amazing professional and fan-made content exploring the ins and outs of Star Trek’s spaceships , this timeline easily one of the most detailed and carefully-crafted dives into the entire breadth of Star Trek history, at least one you can actually experience. 

Users can not only strut around inside each bridge, but every Enterprise rendition includes small interactable features, even a few working turbolifts. Want to sit in the captain’s chair? Absolutely. Want to feel giddy as you fold in the side consoles on The Enterprise-C from Star Trek: The Next Generation? Go right ahead, as few Star Trek fans have any reason to judge. The actual cockpits are surprisingly detailed, from the blinking screens and control consoles to the real time reflections on the glass panels.

The Star Trek timeline is a complicated web of alternate timestreams and universes. There’s the Enterprise-J from Star Trek: Enterprise season 3 episode Azati Prime and the lore-waffling mention of a U.S.S. Enterprise existing in the 32nd centuring from an episode of Star Trek: Discovery. Both of which get a biographical reference on the Archive site.

Fans can also walk through the Apple-brand white interior of the Enterprise from the recent Star Trek and Star Trek: Into Darkness movies (also known as the Kelvin Timeline). You can take a look around the bridge of the Mirror Universe I.S.S Enterprise displayed in the TOS episode Mirror, Mirror along with the bridge U.S.S Voyager for any lingering Star Trek: Voyager fans out there.

Jules Urbach, the CEO of OTOY and executive producer at the Roddenberry Archive, said the point of this attention to detail and fidelity “is an important milestone in preserving Gene Roddenberry’s vision for future generations to explore and see, through the lens of those that worked with him.”

Save the occasional glitch, the site is an amazing love letter to the series. The only thing lacking in all the set dressing and attention to detail is the people, the beating heart of the show and its ideals. Sitting in the captain’s chair, with all the stations empty beside you, is enough to make one wistful, wondering what it would truly be like to stand on the bridge of a U.S.S. starship, gazing out into the fabled horizon of stars and thinking of an endless horizon and unending possibilities.

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Star Trek experience lets you virtually walk around every Starship Enterprise bridge

The roddenberry archive team is working to launch more star trek virtual experiences in the future..

The USS Enterprise has gone through several iterations across TV shows and movies, and now Star Trek fans can explore them as much as they want to online. As Deadline reports, the latest update to the Roddenberry Archive adds 360-degree virtual recreations of the famous Starship Enterprise bridge as depicted in various Star Trek properties. It has the bridge from Star Trek: The Original Series , Picard , Discovery and Strange New Worlds , arranged according to timeline in the new web portal . Fans can click on the version of the Enterprise they want to see and then expand the virtual bridge, which they can drag around and explore to see its beeping panels and displays.

The Roddenberry Archive is a multi-decade collaboration between the estate of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and cloud graphics company OTOY. This is their largest set of digital archive works to date, and it was launched with accompanying videos, including a William Shatner interview with a holographic version of the 1979 USS Enterprise bridge as a background. John de Lancie, who has portrayed Q since 1987’s Star Trek: The Next Generation , also narrates the history of the Starship Enterprise bridge across decades of shows and movies.

The Roddenberry Archive team is working to add more virtual set recreations fans can explore in the future aside from the ones already available. One of the projects they're working on is a 1:1 scale recreation of the entire Starship Enterprise from the 1979 film Star Trek: The Motion Picture .

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Star Trek Generations

• View history

In the late 23rd century, the USS Enterprise -B is on her maiden voyage, and Kirk is no longer in the captain's chair. The ship must rescue El-Aurian refugees from a mysterious energy ribbon, but the rescue seemingly costs Kirk his life. Seventy-eight years later, one of the El-Aurian survivors leads the crew of the Enterprise -D into a deadly confrontation with the Duras sisters as he plots to re-enter the paradise of the ribbon that nearly destroyed him years prior.

• 1.1.1 23rd century (2293)
• 1.2.1 24th century (2371)
• 1.3 Act Two
• 1.4 Act Three
• 2 Log entries
• 3 Memorable quotes
• 4.1 Development
• 4.2 Preproduction
• 4.4 Costumes
• 4.5 Effects
• 4.6 Production
• 4.7 Reshoots
• 4.8 Deleted scenes
• 4.9 Official site
• 4.10 Reaction
• 4.11.1 Cast notes
• 4.11.2 References to other series and films
• 4.11.3 Sets and props
• 4.12 Apocrypha
• 4.13 Merchandise gallery
• 5 Awards and honors
• 6.1.1 Opening credits
• 6.1.2 Closing credits
• 6.2.1 Performers
• 6.2.2 Stunt performers
• 6.2.3 Stand-ins and photo doubles
• 6.2.4 Production staff
• 6.3.1 Other references
• 6.3.2 Meta references
• 6.3.3 Unreferenced material
• 6.5 Sources
• 6.6 External links

Summary [ ]

Prologue [ ], 23rd century (2293) [ ].

The launch of the new USS Enterprise -B

Floating in space , a bottle of Dom Pérignon , vintage 2265 , cracks against the hull of the new Excelsior -class USS Enterprise -B at the starship 's christening ceremony. On the drydock facility, various gathered civilians and Starfleet personnel applaud the christening. On the Enterprise -B bridge , three guests of honor, of the crew of the original USS Enterprise , Captains James T. Kirk and Montgomery Scott and Commander Pavel Chekov , emerge from the turbolift and are immediately surrounded by reporters asking the three legends of Starfleet questions all at once.

" I remember reading about your missions when I was in grade school. "

Their frantic questioning is interrupted by Enterprise -B's commanding officer , Captain John Harriman , who says there'll be plenty of time for that later – and welcomes the new arrivals to the bridge. He then tells Kirk how he's pleased to have welcomed a group of living legends aboard and how he read about their exploits when he was in grade school. After a rather awkward moment, Kirk asks if they can look around, and Harriman obliges. As the three men disperse, Chekov sees a young female Starfleet ensign and calls out her name. Kirk is asked by a reporter about how he feels for the first starship Enterprise in thirty years to be launching without him in command. Kirk says he's fine with it and that he's happy to be aboard to send the Enterprise -B on her way. Before he can be grilled further, an Enterprise -B crewman asks the reporter to let Kirk look around first and the former Enterprise captain stares longingly at the captain's chair .

Chekov then calls Kirk over and introduces him to the Enterprise 's helm officer, Ensign Demora Sulu . Demora tells Kirk that her father has told her some interesting stories about him. It surprises Kirk to learn that Hikaru Sulu is her father. Chekov reminds Kirk that he's met her before – which Kirk remembers, but didn't think it to be that long ago. Chekov tells Kirk it was twelve years previous . Kirk shakes Demora's hand and tells her, " It wouldn't be the Enterprise without a Sulu at the helm. " She thanks Kirk and Chekov tells her that her father must be very proud of her. She says she hopes so. As Demora returns to the helm, Chekov marvels at her, remarking to Kirk that he was never that young. Kirk agrees, but tells Chekov that he was younger. Scott walks by and remarks that the new Enterprise is a "damn fine ship." Kirk tells Scott he's amazed that Sulu found time to have a family. Scott says that just as Kirk would say, " If something's important, you make the time. " He then wonders if that might be what Kirk's problem is and that he might be finding retirement a little bit lonely. Kirk remarks that he's glad Scott is an engineer – because with tact like that, he'd make a lousy psychiatrist. Just then, Harriman steps up and tells Kirk and Scott it's time to go and if they would please take their seats.

Kirk – somewhat reluctantly – and Scott move away from the captain's chair and Harriman starts to order the ship out of dock. But then, Harriman turns and asks Kirk to give the order to get them underway. At first Kirk begs off, but Harriman persists. Kirk continues to try to get out of it, but Harriman insists and with the reporters all there, Kirk finally stands and orders to the helm, " Take us out. " After everyone on the bridge applauds, Chekov says " very good, sir " and Scott remarks " brought a tear to me eye " in regard to his choice of words, whereupon Kirk tells them both to be quiet. Then, the Enterprise -B leaves drydock on its maiden voyage around Earth's solar system . As the Enterprise -B cruises out of drydock and into open space , Kirk, Chekov, and Scott complete a full tour of the ship. Upon returning to the bridge, they're asked how it feels to be back after having seen the whole ship to which they all rather awkwardly reply " Fine. " Harriman informs the reporters that the Enterprise 's course today will take them out just beyond Pluto and then back to spacedock, " Just a quick run around the block. "

Three legends reunite

Just then, a distress call comes in over the com . The voice on the distress call notes that their ship, the SS Lakul , is one of two ships in their convoy that are currently trapped in a severe gravimetric distortion . They cannot break free and need immediate help. The voice also reports that it is tearing their ships apart before the transmission is cut off. Ensign Sulu tells Captain Harriman that the ships are only three light years away. At first hesitant, Captain Harriman asks to signal the closest starship; stating that Enterprise is currently in no condition to mount a rescue. At this, Kirk jumps up from his chair and stares at Harriman. The captain tells Kirk that they don't even have a full crew aboard. The operations officer notes that they are the only ship in range. Faced with this, Harriman reluctantly orders the Enterprise into action, having the ship accelerated to maximum warp. Kirk nervously shifts around in his chair. Scott notices this and asks if there is something wrong with his chair, implying that he knows of Kirk's desire to take over the situation. Not far out, the Enterprise encounters the two El-Aurian refugee ships, the Lakul and the SS Robert Fox , caught in a strange energy ribbon .

Faced with gravimetric distortions that threaten to destroy his ship, Harriman – at the urging of Captain Kirk – resolves to take the Enterprise into the ribbon. Once they get close enough, the ship finds both ships being battered by the energy ribbon. Kirk immediately suggests that the Enterprise use its tractor beam to pull the ships away, only to be told (much to his disbelief) that it hasn't even been installed yet, not until Tuesday . Harriman then tries a couple of safe maneuvers to try and free the ships, but to no avail before the Robert Fox explodes, killing all 265 people on board. Admitting that he's out of his depth, Harriman turns over control of the situation to Captain Kirk who immediately leaps into action and suggests they attempt to get close enough to meet transporter range and beam the El-Aurians off the Lakul . When Harriman points out the hazards, Kirk replies that danger is part of a Starfleet officer's life, especially if one is aboard the Enterprise and sitting in the chair. Harriman orders the ship in, however the initial attempt is made difficult as the El-Aurians life signs phase in and out of the space-time continuum . Scott begins a transport from the Lakul as it, too, explodes. He manages to save 47 – out of 150. Shortly afterward, the Enterprise herself gets trapped by the energy ribbon.

Chekov and Guinan

In sickbay, Chekov and two of the reporters he wrangled to be nurses (as the Enterprise 's medical staff also hasn't arrived) attempt to help wounded refugees as the ship is rocked by the gravimetric distortions. A distraught, middle aged man is particularly violent in his desire to return, and has to be sedated by Chekov. Also among the refugees is Guinan , whom Chekov notices standing in the corner of the room in distress and takes her to somewhere where she can lie down. On the bridge, Kirk, Scott, and the Enterprise crew frantically work to free the ship to no avail. Scott determines that a photon torpedo blast would free the ship… but once again, no torpedoes are present. " Don't tell me… Tuesday? ", Kirk retorts to Harriman. Scott suggests using the navigational deflector to simulate the effect of a torpedo blast.

" Your place is on the bridge of your ship. I'll take care of it. "

Initially Harriman volunteers to go to deflector control to make the necessary modifications, and asks Kirk to take command, but after Kirk savors the moment of sitting in the captain's chair one last time, he quickly realizes it's no longer his place and tells Harriman that he will go instead: Harriman's place is on his bridge.

The Enterprise hit by an energy discharge

In the bowels of the Enterprise , Captain Kirk charges to the rescue, climbing into the guts of the ship to modify the main deflector. The ship shakes and shudders under the stresses of the ribbon. When Kirk finishes the modifications, Harriman orders the deflector activated, creating a resonance burst that pushes the Enterprise free. As the ship begins to move away, an arc of energy lashes out, opening a gash along the hull . When they get free, they find out in the damage report from Ensign Sulu that the hull breach was located in the engineering section on decks 13, 14 and 15 – including the very section Kirk himself was in. Failing to contact Kirk by communication, a horrified Harriman and Scott rush to the scene.

Harriman, Scott and Chekov survey the damage at the site of Kirk's apparent death.

When they get there, joined shortly by Chekov, they find nothing but mangled technology and empty space, with no sign of Kirk. Chekov incredulously asks if anyone was in here, and all Scott can muster is a grim sounding " Aye ." Scott, Chekov, and Harriman stare somberly out through the enormous breach as the damaged Enterprise begins its journey back home.

Act One [ ]

24th century (2371) [ ].

Picard and Riker honor Worf

78 years later, Captain Jean-Luc Picard , Commander William T. Riker , and the rest of the senior staff of the USS Enterprise -D have gathered on the ship's holodeck . Acting as the crew of a 19th century sailing ship , also named USS Enterprise , the Starfleet officers celebrate the promotion of Lieutenant Worf to Lieutenant Commander . As a rite of passage, Worf is made to jump while balancing on a plank to retrieve his hat which he does successfully and smartly dons it, but is then purposely sent into the water when Riker orders the computer to remove the plank. While the rest of the crew laughs, Data admits to Doctor Crusher that he doesn't understand why Worf falling into freezing cold water is so amusing to people. Crusher tells him that it's just a bit of harmless fun, and he should try and get into the spirit of things and "do something unexpected." Data tells her he understands, then suddenly pushes her overboard, falling into the sea, and taking Worf back in with her. Data turns expecting laughter, only to find the faces of his horrified crewmates Geordi La Forge and Deanna Troi , with La Forge telling him that was "not funny," leaving the android even more confused.

Savoring the simpler times the holographic ship represents, Captain Picard receives a personal message from Earth on the holodeck arch . While reading the communiqué , Picard's expression changes to one of obvious distress, which Deanna Troi picks up on. Picard looks out to sea in silence, and when Troi asks him if he is all right, he just replies that he's fine and abruptly leaves the celebration. Just after he's gone, a call comes in from the bridge: the Amargosa observatory is under attack. " Red alert ! All hands to battle stations, Captain Picard to the bridge! ", Riker orders while leaving the holodeck.

The Enterprise -D arrives at Amargosa

Arriving at the observatory orbiting the Amargosa star , Picard and company take their positions on the bridge still dressed in formal naval uniforms. Finding the station suffering from severe damage and casualties, a still visibly upset Picard orders the ship to stand down from red alert. He then has Riker and an away team head over to search for survivors and retreats to his ready room after snapping at Riker to "just do it" when his first officer tries to get more specific orders. This confirms Counselor Troi's suspicions that something is seriously wrong. Beaming over to the devastated Federation installation, Riker, Worf, Doctor Crusher, and security officers find an El-Aurian scientist , Dr. Tolian Soran , injured and buried among the wreckage. Elsewhere, Worf locates the remains of one of the station's attackers: a Romulan .

In his quarters , Data and Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge are sitting together at a table hard at work, despite frequent interruptions by the android's cat , Spot . Data ponders his difficulty with humor and other Human emotions and comes to the conclusion that he cannot continue to grow without the aid of Dr. Soong 's emotion chip . Despite the risks it poses to his positronic brain , Data urges La Forge to install the chip. La Forge reluctantly agrees. Meeting with Picard in his ready room, Riker reports that its obvious from the initial investigation that the Romulans attacked the station looking for something but have left no clues as to what, but a recovered tricorder may yield some answers. Picard tells Riker this may indicate that the Romulans are increasing their presence in that sector and orders him to contact Starfleet Command . Riker is surprised, given that this is normally done by Picard himself, but agrees before reporting that Dr. Soran urgently wishes to meet with the captain. Picard complies, but coldly rebuffs Riker when inquired as to what is wrong.

Picard meets Dr. Soran

Later in Ten Forward , Data is all smiles with his new emotion chip activated. He and La Forge approach Guinan at the bar and sample a new beverage from Forcas III . Immediately, Data experiences an emotional reaction: he hates it! As the two officers sample more of the revolting beverage, Captain Picard enters and finds Dr. Soran among the crowd. Soran implores the captain to let him return to the observatory to continue a critical experiment – time is running out and years of research will be lost. However, Picard is clearly not in the mood for an argument and tells him bluntly that he can only return once his officers have concluded their investigation. However, Soran cryptically tells Picard that " time is the fire in which we burn and right now, my time is running out. We leave so many things unfinished in our lives … I'm sure you understand. "

This eerie statement breaks through Picard's stony resolve and he agrees to see what he can do. After Picard leaves, Soran checks his pocket watch and starts to look around, and is shocked when he spots Guinan behind the bar and makes a quick exit. As he leaves, Guinan senses that something isn't right, but Soran is gone by the time she looks around. In engineering , Commander Riker checks on the status of the analysis of the retrieved Romulan tricorder that Farrell is examining. Worf reports that the Romulans were searching for a compound called trilithium , a substance capable of destroying a star. However, the Romulans never found a way to stabilize it. Riker doesn't understand why the Romulans would ransack a Federation facility for it, but orders Data and La Forge to have the observatory searched.

On the station, Data and La Forge use tricorders to search for trilithium. As they perform their scans, Data laughs incessantly and tells stupid jokes , including one he had heard La Forge tell on the bridge seven years previously during the Farpoint Mission that he just finally understood. He congratulates La Forge: " Very funny! " The punchline is " The clown can stay, but the Ferengi in the gorilla suit has to go. " Despite the distraction, La Forge finds a large hidden doorway that is magnetically sealed. Data is able to open it by reversing the polarity by attenuating his axial servo found on his wrist . After Data waves his wrist in front of the large door, it opens up. Found behind the door is a secret lab, filled with solar probes that show signs of trilithium. Data is doing nothing but laughing now and when an annoyed La Forge finally asks him to knock it off, Data says, while laughing, that he can't help it and something must be wrong and starts reeling in pain, before collapsing as his neural net has been overloaded by the emotion chip. Unable to contact help through a dampening field protecting the lab, La Forge is confronted by Soran, who knocks the engineer out and turns a phaser on Data, who is filled with fear and begs him not to shoot.

Troi and Picard mourn the dead

In the captain's quarters, Picard sits with his family photo album . Counselor Troi enters and he begins to tell her about his brother and nephew and his plans to get together with them on Earth in San Francisco the following month so he could show René Starfleet Academy . As he affectionately describes his nephew, he breaks down in tears and tells Troi that both Robert and René have burnt to death in a fire. Troi comforts him and Picard tells her that when he was growing up, he was always told about the Picard family line and his famous ancestors. When Robert got married and had a son, he no longer felt the responsibility to carry on the family line and as he got older and felt time creeping up on him, he took comfort in the fact that his family would go on. But now it won't; and once Jean-Luc is gone, there will be no more Picards. The somber mood is interrupted when suddenly the Amargosa star flashes brightly out the viewport . Arriving on the bridge, Picard and Troi learn that the observatory has launched a trilithium probe in the sun. The star has collapsed, all fusion reactions arrested, creating a level 12 shock wave that will destroy everything in the system. With the away team still on the station, Picard orders Riker and Worf to retrieve Data and La Forge.

The bridge when the Amargosa star goes dark

On the observatory, Riker and Worf find Data and La Forge held hostage by Soran who responds to the appearance of the Enterprise officers with phaser fire. Suddenly, a route to La Forge opens and Riker asks Data if he can get to the engineer, but the android is clearly paralyzed by fear and tells him he can't. Entering coordinates into a computer, Soran disappears in the transporter beam with La Forge… transporting aboard a Klingon Bird-of-Prey , de-cloaking near the observatory and warping away. As the away team returns to the ship with Data, Picard orders the Enterprise to warp just as the shock wave obliterates the Amargosa observatory.

Act Two [ ]

On the bridge of the Klingon getaway ship, the Duras sisters , Lursa and B'Etor , are admonished by Soran for allowing the Romulans to attack the Observatory (it emerges that the trilithium was stolen from a Romulan outpost by the sisters), reminding them that their plans to use trilithium to conquer the Klingon Empire are dependent on him. The El-Aurian demands they set course at maximum warp for a planet in the Veridian system and the sisters grudgingly comply. In the bowels of the ship, Soran holds La Forge captive. Marveling at the engineer's VISOR , Soran interrogates La Forge to learn all he knows about trilithium.

Guinan describes the "Nexus": " Like being inside joy. "

Back on the Enterprise , Dr. Crusher has done some research into Soran's background, telling Commander Riker that he was one of the survivors rescued by the Enterprise -B eighty years ago after the Borg destroyed their world and that Guinan was also listed on the passenger manifest. To learn more about the scientist, Captain Picard visits Guinan in her quarters. There she describes the energy ribbon as the " Nexus ," a blissful realm where time has no meaning, and a place Soran must be desperately trying to get back to. The experience left such an impact on Guinan that she suspects it has turned Soran into a dangerous threat. As he is trying to get back to the Nexus, this raises the question: Why destroy a star? Picard leaves after thanking Guinan for her help, but she warns him that if he goes into the Nexus, he will not care about anything. Not his ship, Soran, nothing. All he'll want is to stay in the Nexus – and he will not want to come back.

Picard and Data track the path of the Nexus

In the cavernous stellar cartography section of the Enterprise , Picard and Data work in front of a huge projection of space, and Picard asks for everything affected by the destruction of the Amargosa star. Data is clearly distracted and doesn't immediately respond, and when Picard asks the android if he's all right, Data admits that he is feeling intense guilt over his failure to save La Forge in the observatory. Composing himself, Data reports that one of the things affected was that the USS Bozeman had to make a minor course correction due to a change in the gravitational field. Picard asks Data to chart the ribbon's course. Data stands up and tells Picard that he cannot continue with the investigation, and asks to be deactivated until the emotion chip can be removed. Picard tells him that he is not willing to allow it and tells Data he must attempt to integrate the emotions into his life. Data tries to argue with this, but Picard matter-of-factly tells him that he will not be deactivated as he is a Starfleet officer on his ship and orders him to continue to perform his duties. Data agrees to try, and resumes his position at the console. Picard tells him that it takes courage to try and that courage can also be an emotion.

Data is able to chart the ribbon's course, and Picard asks if the Amargosa star's destruction was taken into account when he charted the course. Data tells him that he didn't, and makes the adjustment. However, when this is done, it becomes clear that the gravitational change has altered the ribbon's course. Unable to fly into the ribbon with a ship, Soran is attempting to make the ribbon come to him, and they find that the ribbon comes close to Veridian III . Data then simulates the course if the Veridian star was destroyed, and this causes the ribbon to come into direct contact with the planet. Now they know where Soran is going. Data points out that if the Veridian star is destroyed, it will also produce a shock wave that will destroy the system, similar to the one produced by Soran at Amargosa. This will claim the lives of the 230,000,000 people living on Veridian IV . Knowing they have to stop Soran, Picard taps his combadge and orders Worf to take the Enterprise to the Veridian system at maximum warp.

The Enterprise in orbit of Veridian III

Finished with the interrogation, Soran returns to the bridge of the Klingon vessel as they enter orbit of Veridian III: he provides the Duras sisters with the information required to make a trilithium weapon, though as a guarantee against betrayal, informs them he will only provide the means to decrypt it once the Klingons have transported him to the planet's surface. The discussion is interrupted by the arrival of the Enterprise , transmitting a message to the cloaked ship demanding the return of La Forge and threatening to destroy any probes fired at the Veridian star. Irritated by the interruption, Soran orders the sisters to destroy the Enterprise but they remind him that their Bird-of-Prey would stand no chance in battle against a Galaxy -class starship. Soran cryptically has a solution in mind to give the sisters the edge, an idea which involves La Forge's VISOR…

On the bridge of the Enterprise , the Klingon vessel decloaks on screen and Lursa and B'Etor greet the captain. Claiming they have merely had La Forge as a guest aboard their ship, they agree to a "prisoner exchange," taking Picard in his place. First, however, they agree to allow Picard to beam to Soran's present location, somewhere on the planet's surface. As the captain beams down, a stricken La Forge rematerializes on the Enterprise transporter pad and promptly collapses. Dr. Crusher and Nurse Alyssa Ogawa rush to his aid.

Appearing on an arid desert mountain top, Picard finds Soran hard at work on a solar probe launcher. Attempting to reach the scientist, Picard is blocked by a huge force field . Keeping his distance, the captain appeals to Soran, but the El-Aurian is unconvinced. On the Enterprise, Data visits La Forge to apologize for being too frightened to help him on the observatory, but La Forge assures the android he understands and notes that Data is now acting a lot more like a Human. Full of happiness, Data reports to his station to aid in the search for Picard and is so jubilant he plays his console like a piano as he scans for lifeforms causing the whole bridge crew to stare at him.

In space, the Duras sisters watch their viewscreen and see from the perspective of Geordi La Forge's modified VISOR. They watch impatiently as he moves from sickbay, to his quarters, then finally to engineering. As the engineer checks several readouts, the sisters discover what they have been looking for – the exact shield modulation of the Enterprise . With this new knowledge, they will be able to fire through the Enterprise 's shields by adjusting their torpedo frequency.

The Enterprise under fire

On the Enterprise bridge, the search for Captain Picard on the planet below is interrupted as the Bird-of-Prey opens fire with photon torpedoes , which pass straight through the shields to hit the secondary hull. Disruptor blasts likewise pass directly through, hitting the portside nacelle . The Enterprise returns fire, but the Klingons' shields hold up against phaser fire. The bridge is engulfed in explosions, injuring Jae , the conn officer. Riker orders Counselor Troi to take the helm and to get the ship out of orbit, but the Duras sisters' assault is relentless and they pursue the helpless Enterprise , firing non-stop. Riker asks Worf if their ship, an older model, has any exploitable weaknesses, and Worf states that their Bird-of-Prey is a class D12, retired because of defective plasma coils . He doesn't see how they could use that information, but the plasma coil is a part of the D12's cloaking device .

Riker asks Data what effect an ionic pulse aimed at a defective plasma coil would have. Enthusiastically, Data realizes that a low-level pulse could reset the coil and trigger the ship's cloaking device, disabling its shields and weapons. As the Duras sisters continue their onslaught, Riker orders Worf to target their primary reactor with photon torpedoes; they will only be vulnerable for a few seconds at best and this is the Enterprise 's only chance. Making a few quick modifications, Data triggers the pulse just as a direct hit from the Klingons causes an aft bridge terminal to explode, hurling the hapless crewmember manning it over the tactical station and down onto the command chairs.

Aboard the Bird-of-Prey, Lursa and B'Etor triumphantly order the weapons targeted at the Enterprise 's bridge to deal the death blow, when their bridge officer reports with alarm that their cloaking device is engaging and their shields are dropping. The sisters are allowed only a few seconds of horrified realization, before the Enterprise fires a single photon torpedo from the aft torpedo launcher , and their vessel is completely destroyed, killing Lursa and B'Etor in a fiery explosion. The Enterprise crew stares silently at the remains of the destroyed ship, as Data triumphantly exclaims " Yes! "

Meanwhile, on Veridian III, Picard carefully walks around the force field's edge as Soran continues to work on his probe. Picard nonchalantly throws a small rock into the force field, prompting Soran to look up and ask if Picard hasn't got anything better to do. At that, Picard sits down and Soran resumes working. While Soran is distracted, Picard notices a small hole in the rocks and tosses another rock through it and sees the force field doesn't cover it, providing a way in. Picard waits for Soran to move away so he can try to get through that hole unnoticed.

" Oh, shit! "

In engineering, La Forge finds a new problem: the magnetic interlocks have been ruptured, and while he's reporting this to Riker, plasma coolant begins violently leaking out of the warp core. Evacuating engineering, La Forge tells Riker that he can't shut it down and gives an estimate of five minutes until a warp core breach , rolling out of engineering as the last one out just in time before the isolation door comes down to the floor. On the bridge, Riker orders Troi to evacuate everyone to the saucer section and Data to prepare to separate the ship . The crew and their families hurry to evacuate their doomed stardrive section with Dr. Crusher leading her staff and patients out of sickbay and La Forge guiding the crew to safer locations. As the breach nears critical and with the crew cleared of the stardrive section , the ship separates and begins to move out of range. However, just as Troi begins engaging the impulse engines the core breaches prematurely, completely destroying the damaged stardrive section of the Enterprise and creating a ion shock wave that disables the entire saucer section including all helm controls and pushes the saucer into the atmosphere of Veridian III. On the bridge, the Enterprise crew watches in horror as they begin to plummet toward the surface of the planet. Data, for the first time, swears.

The saucer section of the Enterprise falling into the atmosphere

As Picard climbs through the hole in Soran's force field, he jostles the rocks which sets off the field. Soran, spotting Picard caught in the hole, fires his weapon, sending rocks raining down on the captain. Careening out of control towards the planet, the bridge crew desperately attempts to regain control of what's left of their starship as the rest of the crew seeks safety as best they can on the lower decks. Data is able to route the remaining auxiliary power to the lateral thrusters in an attempt to stabilize the Enterprise 's descent as Riker warns the crew to brace for impact. As the ground rushes towards them on the viewscreen, the saucer impacts off a slight rise in the terrain, briefly forcing it back in the air. As the crew fights to regain control, the saucer nosedives into a large hill, destroying all remaining ship functions and knocking the crew to the deck.

Riker, arising from the destroyed bridge of the Enterprise

The saucer section of the Enterprise crash landed on Veridian III

With their fate now left to chance, the bridge crew protects themselves any way they can as the Enterprise skids through a heavily forested area, cutting a large swath of destruction. Fires burn and structural supports rain down from the top of the bridge as the crew weathers the horrific ride, completely sensor blind and only lit by the fires and emergency lighting. With one final violent lurch forward, the momentum slows and the saucer finally comes to a stop. Data and Troi regain their senses first and survey the damage. What was once an immaculate nerve center for the flagship of the Federation is now largely destroyed; the large viewscreen has been shattered, consoles and displays are burnt out, chairs have been ripped out from the deck and the only light comes from the broken top of the bridge dome as the blue Veridian sky shines in from above.

Soran enters the Nexus

Miles away from the crash site, Dr. Soran looks out over the rugged terrain of Veridian's desert only to be surprised by Picard who attacks him outright. The two men struggle, and Picard manages to disarm Soran quickly, but is knocked back by Soran's blows and thrown down a hill, landing face down in rock and sand as the Nexus appears in the sky. Picard recovers, and tries again to get up to the launcher to stop the countdown… however he is too late as Soran's launcher engages and his solar probe streams into the sky. Watching from the surface, Picard is horrified as the probe finds its target and the star is destroyed, darkening the sun in seconds. Soran climbs to a high platform and throws his arms into the air as the Nexus changes its course. Sweeping down toward the ground, the ribbon envelops everything, taking Soran and Picard along with it. Gliding away from the planet and out into space, the Nexus departs the system just before the shock wave hits, which destroys the entire planet, taking the Enterprise saucer section, its crew, as well as the rest of the solar system, with it. Soran has succeeded.

Act Three [ ]

" What… where is this?! Where am I? " Captain Picard's voice echoes as he transitions from the real world to the Nexus. A hand reaches toward him from space and removes his blindfold to suddenly find himself in a Victorian -style house where his wife and children greet him on Christmas morning. Picard quickly allows himself to be absorbed into the fantasy, enjoying a perfect life with a wonderful family. René, also present, gives Picard a gift. Picard happily receives it, then remembering what happened gives his nephew a loving hug before sending him to help his aunt.

Picard finds himself in his own Nexus

Later Picard strolls through his home, into a study and to large bay windows overlooking snow-covered trees, decorated with colorful lights and bulbs. Standing at the windows, Picard finds himself staring into a strange, surrealistic world, the bulbs on the trees containing small stars that flash brilliant bursts of light and begins to realize that something is wrong. Suddenly, he turns to find Guinan standing behind him in the study. The El-Aurian bartender tells the captain that she exists both here and in the real world, a part of herself she left behind so many years ago – an echo of her former self. Picard is unable to believe how perfect the fantasy is around him, knowing that although he never had a family, he knows the children are his own. Guinan tells him that in the Nexus time has no meaning, so he can travel to any point in his children's past or future as he wishes.

An "echo" of Guinan in the Nexus

With the appearance of Guinan, Picard is at first divided, tempted by the prospect of staying in the Nexus and living out this fantasy life. But he soon realizes that action must be taken to save the hundreds of millions of people who would be killed if Soran destroys the Veridian star and asks Guinan if he can leave the Nexus. Guinan tells him that the timeless nature of the Nexus would allow him to go any place, any time. Picard knows exactly where he wants to go: to the mountaintop on Veridian III to stop Soran from destroying the star, but he will need some help. As she already exists in the real world, Guinan tells the captain that she cannot go with him. But she says there is somebody who can help, who as far as they are concerned, just arrived in the Nexus themselves…

Kirk meets Picard

Suddenly Picard finds himself standing outside a rustic cabin in the woods, daylight shining down through the trees. A few feet away, James T. Kirk stands, chopping wood with an ax. Seeing Picard, Kirk smiles, " Beautiful day. " Picard agrees and helps Kirk chop wood. Kirk is then drawn inside the cabin, hurrying into the kitchen where eggs are burning on the stove. Kirk tells Picard to come on in, this is his house – at least, it used to be. He had sold it some years prior.

Two captains, one breakfast

Picard steps inside and into the kitchen, helping Kirk prepare a fresh set of scrambled Ktarian eggs on the stove. Picard hesitates momentarily, then introduces himself as captain of the Enterprise , from what Kirk would consider the future, the 24th century . Kirk is too distracted by the memories of the past to fully take in what Picard is telling him, excited to be in his old home, with his beloved dog Butler , who seemingly died seven years ago . A woman calls down to him and he instantly knows who it is: Antonia , a lost love. While Kirk is preparing breakfast, Picard asks " How long have you been here? " Kirk isn't quite sure; one second he was aboard the Enterprise -B, the next thing he knew, the bulkhead in front of him disappeared and he was here, chopping wood, right before Picard walked up. Picard then tells Kirk that history records him as dying while saving the Enterprise -B and that both of them are caught in some kind of temporal nexus. He then tries telling Kirk of the dire situation on Veridian III, but as Kirk tries to get his head around the situation, he realizes that he has gone back to the day he told Antonia he was leaving her to rejoin Starfleet… but this time he won't make the same mistake, now he intends to go upstairs and propose to her. The two argue, as Picard tells him that as a Starfleet officer he has a duty to help him, but Kirk argues that all duty ever got him in the end was an empty house and figures that after all he's done for the galaxy, it owes him a favor. Kirk then enters Antonia's bedroom, noting that this time, it is going to be different.

Picard follows Kirk up the stairs and after a moment's hesitation, opens the bedroom door and walks into a barn on Earth. " This is not your bedroom, " Picard half asks Kirk, who says that it is even better: his uncle's barn in Idaho . Noting this as a spring day eleven years prior – the day he met Antonia – Kirk grabs a saddle, jumps onto a horse , and gallops out into rolling hills. Picard, no stranger to horseback riding himself, grabs a saddle and rides after him. Ahead of Picard, Kirk and his horse come to a deep ravine. Without equivocation, Kirk jumps the ravine, then turns around and jumps it again, stopping to consider it. As Picard rides up, Kirk knows something is wrong: " I must have jumped that fifty times, scared the hell out of me each time. Except this time, because it isn't real. Nothing here is. Nothing here matters. " He looks up and sees Antonia mounted on her own horse on the horizon, waiting. " She isn't real either. " Kirk moves his horse next to Picard and gives the new Enterprise captain a once over. " Captain of the Enterprise , huh? "

The two men sit on horseback and discuss the situation. Kirk admits that he does not miss the house or the family he never had, he misses his days on the USS Enterprise , and offers Picard some advice; to never retire, accept a transfer, or get promoted out of the command chair of the Enterprise , because it is only as the Captain of the Enterprise that they can truly make a difference. Picard appeals to Kirk, " Come back with me, help me stop Soran – make a difference again. " Kirk considers it, then agrees, " Who am I to argue with the captain of the Enterprise ? "

Kirk and Picard leave the Nexus

" I take it the odds are against us and the situation is grim, " Kirk says. Picard admits that it is. Kirk continues, " You know, if Spock were here, he'd say that I'm an irrational, illogical Human being for taking on a mission like that… " and then grinning, adds, " sounds like fun. " Together, they ride off and a beam of light envelops them as they exit the Nexus.

" Just who the hell are you? " " He's James T. Kirk. Don't you read history? "

The immediate past replays; the Enterprise -D saucer section crash-lands and Picard crawls through the hole in the force field. Soran stands on the Veridian III mountaintop and checks his pocket watch when a lone figure steps toward him. Soran looks up at the man and scowls, " Just who the hell are you? " Behind him, Picard appears, " He's James T. Kirk. Don't you read history? " Soran knows he is in trouble and jumps away, down onto the rocks below and makes a quick retreat. Picard heads for the launcher as Kirk sets off in pursuit of the El-Aurian.

Soran fires his phaser

Rounding a corner, Kirk is caught by Soran who shoves a phaser in his face. " Actually I am familiar with history, " Soran growls, " and if I'm not too mistaken… you're dead! " Picard jumps down behind Soran, catching him off guard long enough for Kirk to get in several blows. Kirk and Soran fight, exchanging punches until Kirk is able to knock Soran off a cliff. Grabbing onto a dangling rope, Soran saves himself, entering a command into his PADD that cloaks his rocket launcher. Suddenly the rope snaps and Soran drops suddenly, then jolts to a stop, losing his control PADD which falls onto a metal bridge spanning a chasm.

Kirk and Picard work together to stop Soran

Realizing they must decloak the launcher in order to prevent it from launching, Kirk and Picard run onto the bridge toward the PADD. A volley of phaser fire flies through the air, narrowly missing the two Starfleet captains and slicing the bridge in half. Picard is thrown clear, but Kirk hangs on to what is left of the bridge. With all his might, Picard pulls Kirk to safety and the two collapse on the ground, noticing the PADD intact on the other half of the bridge, a deep chasm away. They then see the Nexus begin to appear in the sky. Kirk volunteers to go, telling Picard to get to the launcher and prepare to deactivate it once it is decloaked. Picard maintains Kirk will never make the jump himself and that they should work together to get the PADD. Kirk reminds Picard that they are working together and to trust him. He tells Picard to call him "Jim." Picard smiles at the Starfleet legend and heads for the launcher.

Kirk thinks before he leaps

Gingerly stepping out onto the broken bridge, Kirk stands at the edge, preparing to jump over the chasm to the other half. As the delicate bridge collapses under his weight, Kirk leaps, catching himself on the other half of the bridge and grabbing hold of the PADD. Entering in a command, Kirk decloaks the rocket launcher and begins to try to climb up. But it is too late. The bridge buckles and careens down the rock face, taking Kirk with it.

Soran's launcher explodes

Running up a platform and onto the launcher, Picard frantically works the controls, trying to prevent it from launching. Aiming his phaser at Picard, Soran demands the captain step away from the launcher. Picard jumps down and runs around a rock face and out of sight. Soran heaves himself onto the launcher, just in time to read the display screen: the locking clamps have been engaged. Soran only has time to recognize his doom as the launcher fires and explodes in an enormous fireball that covers the entire area in a thick cloud of smoke and dust. With the Veridian sun still intact, the Nexus passes the planet, never making contact.

Captain Kirk dies

Emerging from the cloud, Picard makes his way down into the chasm where the bridge has collapsed. Digging through the twisted metal wreckage, Picard uncovers Kirk, laying broken among the debris. Kirk is bloody and faint, " Did we do it? Did we… make a difference? " Picard assures him they have and thanks the captain. " The least I could do, " Kirk says, " for the captain of the Enterprise . " He manages a weak smile, " It was… fun, " then turns and faces his destiny, " Oh my. "

Picard at Kirk's grave

Burying Kirk beneath a cairn of large rocks on the mountaintop as the sun sets, Picard stands and keeps silent vigil.

The following day, Picard begins trekking through the desert until a shuttlecraft locates the captain and picks him up.

" Perhaps the chip is malfunctioning. "

At the saucer crash site, Starfleet rescue shuttles have begun a salvage effort. In the ship's destroyed cargo bay , crewmembers carry out salvageable equipment, belongings, and patients out while Deanna Troi and Data use tricorders to search for survivors. Data tells Troi that after experiencing 261 distinct emotional states, he believes that he will be able to control his feelings in the future so he has decided not to remove the emotion chip. As Troi wishes him luck, her tricorder detects a faint lifeform in the wreckage. Tearing through the debris, Data finds his cat, Spot, alive and well. As he cradles his pet in his arms, Data begins to break down in tears. When Troi asks if he's all right, Data tells her that he is unsure – he is happy to see Spot, yet is crying. Data thinks that perhaps the chip is malfunctioning but Troi kindly reassures him that she believes the chip is working perfectly.

" I'm gonna miss this ship. She went before her time. "

In what is left of Picard's ready room, Commander Riker and Captain Picard retrieve the Picard family album under broken pieces of the room's furniture and then move out onto the bridge, a burnt-out shell of its former glory. Riker laments that the Enterprise went before her time, and Picard relates to his first officer his thoughts, " Someone once said that time was a predator that stalked us all our lives, but I rather believe that time is a companion that goes with us on the journey, and reminds us to cherish every moment because they'll never come again. " They stand near the center seats and survey the damage. Picard holds his family album close and smiles, " What we leave behind is not as important as how we lived. After all, Number One, we're only mortal. " Riker grins mischievously, " Speak for yourself, sir. I plan to live forever. "

" Somehow I doubt this will be the last ship to carry the name Enterprise . "

Riker is disappointed that he will no longer have the chance to command this Enterprise and stands near the ruined captain's chair, but Picard assures his first officer that he very much doubts that this will be the last ship to bear the name. After nearly eight years of calling the Enterprise -D home, Picard and Riker take one last look around their destroyed starship and Picard signals the Nebula -class starship USS Farragut for two to beam up. The Farragut , along with a Miranda -class starship and an Oberth -class starship, goes to warp leaving Veridian III behind. While the Enterprise -D may be gone, her legacy , like the name, will live on.

Background information [ ]

Development [ ].

Star Trek: The Next Generation Executive Producer Rick Berman was approached by Paramount Pictures executives (first by Brandon Tartikoff , and subsequently by his immediate successor Sherry Lansing ) in the fall of 1992 (during the series' sixth season ) in regards to a seventh Star Trek film . While the studio intended Star Trek VII to be a TNG vehicle, Berman and Tartikoff felt the outing was an opportunity to "pass the baton." In February 1993 , Berman and the studio commissioned two stories and three writers. A fourth, TNG writer and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine co-creator Michael Piller , passed, objecting to what he viewed as "competition" for the assignment.

As written by former TNG writer/producer Maurice Hurley , the film had Captain Picard recreating Captain James T. Kirk ( William Shatner ) on the holodeck to help him solve a dilemma involving an interdimensional species wreaking havoc by crossing into our realm. [1] Then-current TNG writing staffers Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga , whose script was ultimately greenlighted, chose to feature Kirk appearing in the flesh, as well as (initially) the entire Star Trek: The Original Series cast.

Though Moore and Braga at first bandied about ideas which involved the two Enterprise crews battling each other, the pair of writers quickly abandoned this concept. Ron Moore explained, in 1994 :

Rick Berman and Whoopi Goldberg discuss the script on set

Braga and Moore nonetheless continued searching for a major "event" to anchor the film. Recalled Moore:

As proposed by Moore and Braga, the film would feature Kirk and his Star Trek: The Original Series shipmates in a prologue, with Kirk later appearing at the film's climax. Berman later recalled the process:

Berman and the studio pursued the Moore/Braga story. Early drafts of the script took shape under the guidance of Rick Berman and with input by Shatner. The film's villain, "Moresh", was later changed to Dr. "Soran" to avoid recalling David Koresh , the infamous cultist. ( Information from Larry Nemecek )

A first draft script was completed during TNG's sixth season hiatus, dated 1 June 1993 . As of 1 October of that year, the scripted prologue contained Kirk, Spock , McCoy , Scott , Uhura , Sulu , and Chekov . The script was in its third draft by 6 December 1993 , and the third draft's first revised pages (colored blue) were added to the screenplay on that date. ( Information from Larry Nemecek )

The early scripts featured large action set pieces that were later removed. Among them was the Romulan attack on the Amargosa observatory, cut when TNG writer (and Star Trek: Voyager co-creator) Jeri Taylor suggested something more "charming". ( citation needed • edit ) Another major revision to the script revolved around the Duras sisters and their crew: surviving the destruction of their ship, they would have battled the Enterprise -D crew in the jungles of Veridian III. ( AOL chat , 1998 )

The producers eventually chose to pare the appearances of the TOS cast down to two select cameos. This decision was made by 28 January 1994 , when the fourth draft of the script was issued, with Kirk, Spock, and McCoy in the prologue. ( Information from Larry Nemecek ) The producers then sought their guest stars. While William Shatner agreed to appear pending script approval, Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley – the two preferred cameo appearances – were less eager to return. Stating that they had felt their characters made sufficient exits in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , both actors declined to appear in Star Trek VII . Leonard Nimoy – having been offered the director's chair – reportedly requested script changes, but was rebuffed. In his memoir Star Trek Movie Memories , William Shatner wrote:

In an interview with Trekmovie.com 's Anthony Pascale in July 2007 , Nimoy explained the issues he had with the Generations script and why he declined to appear. After proclaiming that "there was no Spock role in that script", he elaborated:

After DeForest Kelley and Leonard Nimoy declined to appear, the final draft of the film's script was submitted on 16 March 1994 . Its prologue featured Scott and Chekov along with Kirk, as it stayed from then on. ( Information from Larry Nemecek )

Later drafts of Generations and the full TNG finale " All Good Things... " were written simultaneously. This often led the writers to mix the stories up. In their joint 2004 commentary for the Star Trek Generations (Special Edition) DVD , they admitted that they felt "All Good Things…" turned out to be the superior effort. During the scripting stages, however, the studio had few qualms and pre-production proceeded even as filming on Star Trek: The Next Generation was winding down and Deep Space Nine continued.

Preproduction [ ]

David Carson surrounded by Klingon-playing actors, including Barbara March, Gwynyth Walsh and Guy Vardaman

John Alonzo with Whoopi Goldberg and Malcolm McDowell

With the start of pre-production, Berman battled the studio over budget figures, the film cut in cost to an estimated US$35 million. [4] Hopes for location shooting in Hawaii and Idaho were dropped in favor of more local shoots in Hollywood, Marina del Rey, Pasadena, Lone Pine, and the Valley of Fire State Park near Las Vegas, Nevada. By 16 March 1994 , Moore and Braga's script reflected budget and cast changes.

In place of first choice Leonard Nimoy, veteran TNG and DS9 director David Carson was hired, in turn recruiting veteran cinematographer John Alonzo of Chinatown and Scarface fame. Herman Zimmerman – who designed the initial TNG and DS9 sets – was called back into service on the film, working with Alonzo and illustrator John Eaves to refresh the aging TV sets. Budgetary constraints reined in some of the proposed sets; the new stellar cartography set reduced from three levels to two. As with most of the previous Trek movie installments, visual effects giant Industrial Light & Magic was hired to produce space and spaceship shots, while TNG mainstay CIS Hollywood was brought in for phaser shots, transporter effects, cloaking and decloaking transitions and the Picard family Christmas ornament.

Last minute decisions included the hiring of actor Malcolm McDowell as the man who would (at least in the final draft script) gun down Captain Kirk, reportedly later receiving death threats from obsessed fans. [5] The actor's nephew and DS9 star Alexander Siddig later said during an interview that McDowell thought the script was "shit". [6] (X) McDowell had previously explained his reason for accepting the role:

Stellar cartography on screen and in real life

Despite its reuse of sets built, in some cases as early as 1978 for Star Trek: The Motion Picture , production designer Herman Zimmerman and his art department – namely John Eaves – began designing and redesigning as early as December 1993 . One of the first and most elaborate sets generated from Paramount's motion picture art department was the two story stellar cartography room . Initially conceived of after a visit to Griffith Park's Laserium in Los Angeles, the room was imagined as a large sphere, eventually becoming a more budget-friendly cylinder. John Eaves described the process in his book, Star Trek: The Next Generation Sketchbook: The Movies :

While a hoped-for floating platform proved to be too expensive and impractical, the set was realized with a combination of large, back-lit graphics and blue-screen projection created at ILM. The set was created in sections with wild walls that could be moved in and out. Lighting elements were integrated into the ceiling requiring little modification from shot to shot. A small section of Enterprise -D corridor was erected behind the upper level platform.

Also conceived of in December, the Enterprise -B's deflector control room was designed to be a large, vertical area dominated by large machine elements, a second-level observation balcony and access panels built into the stage floor. Again, as the film's budget tightened, the design team returned to the drawing boards in February 1994 to design a smaller, vertical access shaft. David Carson recalled:

Regarding the most visible section of the Enterprise -D, the main bridge, Zimmerman and Eaves took the opportunity to alter the set. Echoing modifications it received in the TNG episode " Yesterday's Enterprise ", the bridge gained additional computer stations situated along the port and starboard bulkheads. John Eaves:

Worf, however, did finally receive a chair to sit on at his post. The set was also repainted and recarpeted with handrails added near the doors to the observation lounge and aft turbolift, working video monitors were incorporated into many of the ship's status displays. The captain's ready room, adjacent to the bridge, received a new, larger fish tank built into the wall and a larger window. Other sets aboard the Enterprise received only minor reworking. Engineering was connected to another corridor set by removing the "plugs" from the walls. The four red-alert lights in the hallway of the engineering set were also illuminated during the engineering scenes, even when the ship was not in battle, as well as some of the beige beams being painted a darker copper colour around the engineering pool-table. Overhead lighting was reduced in all of the sets, with display screens popping from the darkness. Of the modifications, Zimmerman said:

Following the end of production, the interior sets of the Enterprise were struck and replaced with those belonging to a new starship, the USS Voyager , for the upcoming series Star Trek: Voyager . Of the original sets, only small sections of the corridors, sickbay, transporter room and engineering were left standing, although the new sets were constructed directly over the basic framework and floor plan originally designed and built for the aborted Star Trek: Phase II . Of those remaining sets, only a small piece of the Enterprise -D sickbay (the ceiling) remained in use during Star Trek: Enterprise . However, the Enterprise -D observation lounge set (the only TNG set not used for the film) was spared the wrecking ball and saved against future need, eventually appearing (in modified form) as the observation lounge of the Enterprise -E in First Contact and Nemesis .

The interior of the Amargosa observatory was a redress of the Enterprise -B main bridge, which was itself a redress of the USS Enterprise -A main bridge from Star Trek VI . Details built into the observatory set were meant to imply that it had been built around the time of TOS, with jeweled buttons and labels similar to those used on the original Enterprise . A half-globe map of the cosmos used in the Enterprise -D stellar cartography lab on the TV series appears in the wreckage of the observatory, along with an elevator from Data's lab.

Costumes [ ]

As his first task when recruited for the pre-production phase of Star Trek Generations , John Eaves created several new combadge designs, first creating a flip-top version like the communicators of TOS. Told to first review tapes of TNG to become more familiar with the new show, Eaves ultimately redesigned Rick Sternbach 's oval-shaped communicator badge that appeared in the TV series and early DS9, refining it into the oblong-backed design later used in DS9 , VOY , and later TNG movies: Star Trek: First Contact , Star Trek: Insurrection , and Star Trek Nemesis , as well as the early flashback episodes of PIC .

Costume designer Robert Blackman , working simultaneously on the outgoing, current and incoming series as well as the film, reworked Starfleet's uniforms. ( AOL chat , 1997 ) The uniforms, however, were all scrapped at the last minute for fear of introducing too many new facets to the universe. Unaware of the change, Playmates Toys went ahead with production of action figures for the film, depicting the TNG cast in the unused uniforms. The producers opted instead to use a combination of the uniforms from Star Trek: The Next Generation and the uniforms from the early episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and throughout Star Trek: Voyager . Because filming was set to begin shortly, Jonathan Frakes and LeVar Burton had to borrow Avery Brooks and Colm Meaney 's costumes respectively, but neither of them fit very well on Frakes and Burton as Frakes had the sleeves on Brooks' costume rolled up and the sleeves on Meaney's costume was way too big on Burton.

The new Starfleet uniform worn by Patrick Stewart was auctioned off in the It's A Wrap! sale and auction [7] along with LeVar Burton's. [8] Also auctioned off was Dr. Soran's costume upon arriving on the Enterprise -B. [9]

Effects [ ]

A digital Enterprise -D

Between the release of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and the preproduction phase of Star Trek Generations , several advancements had been made in the art of motion picture visual effects. Primarily spurred by steps forward in computer-generated animation in films like Jurassic Park and Terminator 2: Judgment Day , Generations marked the first Star Trek production in which many starships were rendered digitally by ILM. Despite this advancement, physical models were utilized for the majority of effects shots.

Unpacking the original six-foot model they built for " Encounter at Farpoint " in 1987 , the ILM effects team completely overhauled the Enterprise -D. In order to stand up to high-resolution film cameras and a big screen project, the starship was repainted and redetailed, receiving a new interior lighting scheme. Once again resulting from budgetary cuts, stock footage shots of the Enterprise -D were interspersed with new model photography and CG imagery, specifically during the first captain's log segment and the start of the saucer separation sequence. Stock footage from the previous film was also used to depict the destruction of the Duras sisters' Bird-of-Prey, as well as that ship's escape from Amargosa.

Also reusing the original USS Excelsior miniature from Star Trek III: The Search for Spock , ILM and John Eaves were tasked with redesigning the ship to be used as the Enterprise -B:

For the single shot of the Enterprise -B at warp, footage of the Excelsior from the previous film was re-used. A computer-generated model of the Enterprise -B was also created for scenes that required it to interact with the digital Nexus energy ribbon.

An all-new miniature was created by ILM, designed by John Eaves, to represent the Amargosa stellar observatory. The model was later reused with minor alterations in DS9's " Destiny " as the wormhole relay station . The Enterprise -B model also turned up on that series as the USS Lakota . ( DS9 : " Paradise Lost ") Yet another refurbished model appeared as the drydock the Enterprise -B was moored in, repainted and reconstructed from its first appearance in Star Trek: The Motion Picture .

Arguably one of the film's most memorable sequences, the crash of the Enterprise -D was shot almost entirely live by ILM. Storyboarded by Mark Moore, the shots were achieved through the creation of a twelve-foot model of the Enterprise -D saucer section and a large landscape model. Suspended by large cables, the saucer model was repeatedly flown into the landscape, shot with high speed cameras and then slowed down in post production and mixed with several composite shots of Veridian III. A major sequence in the script, the crash of the Enterprise saucer section was inspired by drawings of an emergency saucer landing in the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual .

Following the crash, effects master John Knoll and his team donned Starfleet uniforms to appear as crew members of the Enterprise -D, standing on a large blue tarp draped over the ILM parking lot. Footage of the team was later integrated into shots of the Enterprise hull and the Veridian landscape.

Production [ ]

William Shatner, Rick Berman and Patrick Stewart at the Valley of Fire location

With production on TNG's seventh season still underway, cameras rolled on Generations . ( citation needed • edit ) Principal photography began on 28 March 1994 . ( Information from Larry Nemecek ) Scenes focused on Scotty, Chekov and Kirk aboard the USS Enterprise -B and the later deleted orbital skydiving sequence. A ten-day hiatus followed the conclusion of production on The Next Generation before that series' cast went to work. Shot on a relatively short schedule, the film was slated for only fifty days of production. ( citation needed • edit ) The last day of the main filming was 9 June 1994 . ( Information from Larry Nemecek )

Location filming in the Valley of Fire was required for reshoots, which took place over eight days in September. ( Information from Larry Nemecek ) For these reshoots, Director David Carson's production offices temporarily moved to a Las Vegas hotel. Suffering through the 110-degree heat and dust storms of the Nevada desert, the behind-the-scenes crew quenched their thirst with Gatorade until the sports drink began attracting bees. Carson was forced to wear an eye patch for at least one day of filming when his cornea was damaged during a surprise sand storm. More comfortable filming days were spent in Pasadena at the Nexus fantasy Picard home, a week aboard the Lady Washington for Worf's promotion in Marina del Rey, and in the mountains of Lone Pine for Kirk's cabin – a real residence that acquired a new kitchen and staircase built specifically for the shoot. ( citation needed • edit )

Reshoots [ ]

The original death of Captain Kirk: Soran shoots him in the back

Completing principal photography in the summer of 1994 , rough cuts of Star Trek Generations were screened for test audiences. Despite generally favorable reactions to the bulk of the film, audience comments reflected negatively on the film's finale. In their joint DVD audio commentary, Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga recalled a feeling of disconnect washing over the audience, " We'd lost them. "

Returning to the motion picture head Sherry Lansing's office on the Paramount Lot, Rick Berman, Moore and Braga were told, " You have a great movie, but a bad ending. " The production was given a budget of US$5 million and told to reshoot the ending, specifically scenes in which James T. Kirk is shot in the back by Soran. Forced to utilize the same location, the writers struggled to insert a brand new finale into the framework already established. In late September 1994 , the production crew and cast of Generations returned to the Valley of Fire and James T. Kirk was killed all over again. Having recently grown his hair for another project, Patrick Stewart wore a specially fashioned hairpiece which covered his longer hair during these scenes. Additional shots at the Pasadena "Picard family home" location were also required to clarify plot elements. Ronald D. Moore commented:

Deleted scenes [ ]

Picard and La Forge board the shuttlecraft Hawking in a deleted scene

Along with the original ending, several minutes of footage were left on the cutting room floor. Some of this footage is available on the Star Trek Generations (Special Edition) DVD. Most of the deleted scenes were minor character moments set following the crash of the Enterprise -D. Among the deleted material were sequences involving Dr. Crusher and Nurse Ogawa returning to sickbay, Geordi La Forge and Worf piloting a damaged shuttlecraft to rescue the captain, additional footage aboard the Enterprise sailing ship and an alternative version of the Nexus Christmas segment.

Scripted and shot at the request of William Shatner, the film's original opening featuring Kirk skydiving from orbit to find Scott and Chekov waiting on the ground below was also cut, replaced with the champagne bottle opening.

The original script also called for a more extensive torture scene between Soran and La Forge, involving Soran injecting nanoprobes into La Forge's chest which caused his heart to stop for 5 seconds. While this scene did not appear in the movie, Soran's comment of "his heart just wasn't in it" references the torture as does Doctor Crusher's medical examination where she discusses how she has "removed the nanoprobes" and that La Forge has suffered some myocardial damage.

Walter Koenig recalled filming an emotional scene with Doohan in which Chekov and Scott reacted to Kirk's demise, which was also ultimately cut, much to Koenig's dismay. [10]

Official site [ ]

The official website for Star Trek Generations , created on 28 October 1994, was the first site on the internet to officially publicize a feature film. After being personally approved by then-Paramount Motion Picture chairman Sherry Lansing, the site was constructed by a team at Paramount Media Kitchen in Palo Alto, California, using press kit materials, videotapes of the film's trailer, and two dozen slides. The site was an immediate success and prompted Paramount and other motion picture studios to create sites for their own films.

Two versions of the official site were available for view, a graphics-rich version and a text-only version. Upon entering either version, the viewer was taken to a brief synopsis of the film followed by a greeting and an explanation of the site. From there, the viewer could watch the two movie trailers, view production stills, and listen to clips and music from the film. A behind-the-scenes page included sections on the history of Star Trek , cast and crew biographies, production notes, film credits, and a downloadable interactive multimedia kit. In addition, there was a Star Trek shop promoting Star Trek merchandise and an input page where viewers could send comments via forms or email.

The site was a collaborative production of Paramount Pictures , Viacom Consumer Products, and Viacom Interactive Services. The site credits are as follows:

The site was last updated on 23 November 1994. It has since been removed and a section at StarTrek.com has become the film's official web destination. [11] StarTrek.com, before its recent overhaul, provided a copy of the original 1994 site, along with commentary. Portions of it are still accessible. [12] (X)

Reaction [ ]

The release of Star Trek Generations was widely covered in the news media, with Patrick Stewart and William Shatner appearing in character on the cover of Time Magazine in the winter of 1994 . On its opening weekend, the film reached number one at the box office with a first weekend gross of US$23,100,000. [13] Critical reception, however, was mixed.

The film earned a split decision from Siskel & Ebert ; Gene Siskel gave the film thumbs up, while Roger Ebert gave it thumbs down. Writing for the Chicago Sun Times , Ebert said of the film, " The "Star Trek" saga has always had a weakness for getting distracted by itself, and "Star Trek Generations," the seventh film installment, is undone by its narcissism. " Giving the film two stars out of a possible four, Ebert concluded:

The film review website Rotten Tomatoes calculated a 47% overall approval rate for Generations . [15] BBC reviewer Tom Coates ranked the film at two out of a possible five stars' "Generations feels like three lacklustre episodes of the TV series mashed together with one of the earlier Star Trek movies. Devotees may find it necessary (if depressing) viewing, but there's little here for anyone else. " [16] FILM.COM's Lucy Mohl however said of the film, " The meeting of Patrick Stewart's Jean-Luc Picard and William Shatner's James T. Kirk is worth the price of admission or video rental: it's the clash of the titans, Shakespeare meets the Sixties. " [17]

Regarding some of the oft-mentioned plot discrepancies within the film, Ronald D. Moore commented:

Moore and Braga further elaborated on this during the film's DVD commentary, saying that the question kept coming up and they even asked themselves, " Why would they go back to a point when their life would be in danger? Why not just go back a couple of months or so, find Soran in the bathroom or somewhere and take him out? " They also said that questions like that apply to films like The Terminator and you have to just hope that your film is compelling enough that the audience does not start asking questions like that.

The film went on to gross a total of US$75,668,868 in the US, totaling US$120,000,000 worldwide. [18]

Generations premiered in the United Kingdom on 10 February 1995 . It became the highest grossing Star Trek film in that territory up to that time with £7,340,239. [19]

Cast notes [ ]

• The only people, aside from the regular cast, to participate in both this film and the final TNG film, Star Trek Nemesis , are Majel Barrett and Whoopi Goldberg . In both films Barrett voiced the Enterprise computer and Goldberg appeared as Guinan .
• This is William Shatner's only appearance as Kirk without Leonard Nimoy.
• Though the film marks the final canon appearances of William Shatner and Walter Koenig (Chekov), both appeared again in the computer game Star Trek: Starfleet Academy .
• This is James Doohan 's last appearance as Scotty, although he had previously appeared in the role in TNG : " Relics ". The events of that episode chronologically take place well after the events of the first act of Generations.
• Uhura is the only major character from Star Trek: The Original Series not to appear or be referenced in dialogue.
• This is Whoopi Goldberg's first appearance as Guinan since TNG : " Suspicions ". DS9 : " Rivals " (in which the name El-Aurians is first established) was originally intended to feature Guinan as Martus Mazur 's mother, but Whoopi Goldberg was unavailable.
• Tim Russ appeared aboard the Enterprise -B in the opening of the film. He had previously appeared in TNG : " Starship Mine " and DS9 : " Invasive Procedures " as different characters and would soon after be cast as Tuvok in Star Trek: Voyager .
• Robert and René Picard were portrayed by different actors in the photographs in Picard's album, and in the Nexus scene as in the episode " Family ".
• Christopher James Miller plays the film version of René, Captain Picard's nephew. He had previously portrayed William Shatner's son in an episode of seaQuest DSV .
• According to The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) , Patrick Stewart was aided in his portrayal of Picard's grief by the script for Jeffrey , which he was reading on set.
• Shots of Picard standing over Kirk's grave did not actually feature Patrick Stewart , but rather Dennis Tracy . Tracy acted as Stewart's stand-in and appeared earlier in the film as an unnamed Bolian waiter in Ten Forward.
• Although Data is the owner of Spot the cat, Brent Spiner objected to the scene where Data finds Spot in the wreckage of the Enterprise , saying " Does he have to find the cat? Can't he find, like, Geordi or something? "
• The captain of the Lady Washington (the ship used for the sea vessel "Enterprise") appears during the holodeck sequence of the film, taking over the helm from Deanna Troi.
• Generations marks the deaths of several major characters: Captain James T. Kirk, Robert Picard, René Picard, and the Duras sisters, Lursa and B'Etor. It also marks the destruction of the Enterprise -D and the final appearance of La Forge's VISOR.
• After the release of Generations , William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy made a joint appearance on Live with Regis and Kathie Lee . Host Regis Philbin asked Nimoy if he would appear in another Trek film to which he replied " if he [Shatner] shows up, I'll be there. " Shatner then quipped: " You are such a liar! I showed up and you didn't! " Ironically, Nimoy later appeared in both the 2009 film Star Trek and the 2013 film Star Trek Into Darkness , without Shatner.
• Of the two Duras sisters, only Lursa's name is ever mentioned within the context of the movie. B'Etor's name is never spoken. The only time her character is actually identified is in the closing credits.
• Malcolm McDowell (Tolian Soran) is the real life uncle of Alexander Siddig , who played Julian Bashir throughout Star Trek: Deep Space Nine .

References to other series and films [ ]

• According to Soran's file, he and Guinan were fleeing a Borg attack on the El-Aurian homeworld. That event was first referred by Guinan in the episode TNG : " Q Who ".
• Footage of the interior of the Bird-of-Prey being destroyed appeared again later in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes " Tears of the Prophets " and " What You Leave Behind ".
• Though not heard on screen, the name of the Lakul 's counterpart was the SS Robert Fox , named for Ambassador Robert Fox from TOS : " A Taste of Armageddon ".
• The scene in which Picard buries Kirk's body on a cliffside under rocks is reminiscent of Kirk burying Gary Mitchell in " Where No Man Has Gone Before " and D'Amato in " That Which Survives ".
• After Data's emotion chip is installed, he references a joke La Forge told during their mission at Farpoint . The punchline of the joke had to do with a "Ferengi in a gorilla suit." This must have happened during the events of the Star Trek: The Next Generation first season episode " Encounter at Farpoint ", although the actual joke was not heard on screen.
• Doctor Soran ridicules and uses Geordi's VISOR as a transmitter to gain a tactical advantage on the USS Enterprise leading to the ship's destruction. Geordi chooses to replace his VISOR with ocular implants for Star Trek: First Contact .
• Kirk's retirement, relationship with Antonia, and decision to return to Starfleet might have occurred in a (previously unreferenced) period of his life, between Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan .
• When the past version of Guinan appears to Picard in the Nexus, she acts as if she already knows him. This is because, from her point of view, she sees him for a second time; she first met Picard when she lived in 19th century Earth in TNG : " Time's Arrow, Part II ".
• The dress worn by Antonia was previously worn by Fenna .
• The film takes place one year after the events in the final episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation , " All Good Things... ".
• The destruction of the Enterprise -D is very similar to its alternate timeline counterpart from " Yesterday's Enterprise ". Both ships meet their ends at the hands of a Klingon Bird-of-Prey and both as a result of a coolant leak. The main timeline Enterprise crew was able to escape because, unlike its counterpart, the battle was over when the coolant leak began.
• This is the only TNG film to not feature the gray-shoulder uniform or the USS Enterprise -E , as they are not introduced until Star Trek: First Contact .
• Worf is the only male main TNG cast member from the main cast to not wear the DS9 uniform in this film. However, he wore it upon joining the main cast of DS9 itself in its Season 4 premiere episode, " The Way of the Warrior ", albeit in command red rather than the operations gold that he wears in this film.
• None of the women from the TNG main cast wear the DS9 uniform in this film.
• Kirk's line to Picard, "I was out saving the galaxy when your grandfather was in diapers", echoes Scotty's line to Geordi from " Relics " (I was drivin' ships while your great-grandfather was in diapers), aired 2 years previously.
• The destruction of the Enterprise -D was mentioned by Worf and Sisko in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 4 premiere episode, " The Way of the Warrior ".
• This is the only time where the Enterprise battle bridge is not used during the saucer separation sequence, mainly due to the warp core breach in the stardrive section. It is also the only time where Wesley Crusher and Miles O'Brien are absent during the saucer separation sequence.
• Picard's DS9 uniform looks a lot different than the ones seen on the early seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager in this film as he wears a black velcro belt around the waist, making it the only time where a black velcro belt is worn on the DS9 uniform.
• Picard, Riker, Data and LaForge are the only four characters of the TNG main cast to wear the DS9 uniform in this film. Alyssa Ogawa is the only female to wear the DS9 uniform in this film.
• Riker's DS9 uniform in this film has his sleeves rolled up (similar to Miles O'Brien 's in the early seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ).
• Spock , Leonard McCoy , Hikaru Sulu , and Nyota Uhura are briefly seen in a photograph (along with Scott, Chekov, and Kirk himself) on Kirk's trophy wall when Kirk first enters his cabin in the Nexus. The photograph was a publicity photo for Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country . The wall (including the photo) is only briefly seen in the film, though it is showcased in The Art of Star Trek on p. 288. Star Trek Beyond would later more prominently feature a publicity photo of the same crew members taken for Star Trek V: The Final Frontier .
• The time travel in the movie works differently than time travel depicted in similar events previously and later. When Picard goes back in time, he should also see a previous version of himself at that time. If somehow the time travel when Nexus is involved is different, then it would have been impossible to find Soren on the planet because the future version of him is already in the Nexus. This inconsistency is never explained.

Sets and props [ ]

• A bottle of Saurian brandy can be seen in the reception room at the christening of the Enterprise -B.
• Captain Picard's chair was stolen from the set mere hours before shooting was scheduled to commence. A new one was quickly fabricated. This incident became infamous enough that novels relating to Star Trek: The Next Generation written after the movie often have Picard's chair being stolen for one reason or another.
• Data's emotion chip has varied in shape and size since its last appearance in TNG : " Descent, Part II " (which, in turn, was different from its previous appearance in TNG : " Brothers "). Also, Geordi inserts the chip into Data's head, while in "Brothers", Dr. Soong implanted the chip in Lore 's (whom he thought was Data) neck. The piece itself seen in this movie was a gold-plated plastic weapon common in the Zoids model kit line from Japan and America. ( citation needed • edit )
• Among the items visible in Captain Kirk's house are a painting of the original Federation starship USS Enterprise , the ship's dedication plaque, a publicity photo of the cast of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , a Klingon bat'leth , a Starfleet phaser from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , and a Jem'Hadar weapon from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
• While searching through the wreckage of the Enterprise -D's bridge, Picard happens upon the top half of the Kurlan naiskos originally seen in TNG : " The Chase " and places it back on the floor.
• A box of video tapes, which includes the graphic displays such as RADAR and subspace scan from the Enterprise -B's red alert sequence, was sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay. [20]
• A tank full of water seen briefly in the background at the Enterprise -B's sickbay would later be reused in VOY : " Phage " in the USS Voyager 's sickbay.

Apocrypha [ ]

• Coinciding with the film's marketing campaign, a hardcover novelization was released by Pocket Books . Written by frequent Star Trek fiction contributor J.M. Dillard , the novelization differed from the movie on a number of minor points, but was generally faithful to the structure and dialogue of the original screenplay. The reshoot of the climactic Kirk scenes meant that the hardcover, and the Simon & Schuster Audioworks adaptation, had already gone to press with the originally scripted version. Dillard was asked to rewrite the final chapters for the eventual paperback release of the novelization to agree with the theatrical version of the movie.
• In the novel all other members of the original cast are part of the story. Chekov contacts Sulu aboard Excelsior to tell him about Kirk. In their conversation, Chekov tells Sulu that Scotty is contacting Uhura and Kirk's nephew . McCoy and Spock are also seen arriving early to the memorial service for Kirk.
• Also in the novelization, but missing from the film, a scene between Chekov and Guinan occurs in which she tells him that his friend is still alive within the energy ribbon.
• In the novelization, Picard successfully defeats Soran hand-to-hand; however, by the time he defeats him the rocket takes off to plunge into the sun. The movie depicts Soran as being a better fighter than Picard.
• In the original ending of the film, the fight between Kirk and Soran is much longer and they are much more evenly matched in terms of fighting skills. In the original ending, it's Kirk who's knocked off the cliff and is forced to climb back up the mountain to stop Soran.
• In Engines of Destiny , following the events of " Relics ", Scott travels back in time to rescue Kirk in a Bird-of-Prey recovered from a distant solar system, believing that he can save Kirk by approaching the Enterprise -B in a shuttle and beaming Kirk to safety after he has reconfigured the tractor beam, thus preserving Kirk's disappearance while changing the exact cause of it. However, this change in the timeline allows the Borg to almost completely overtake the Alpha Quadrant , as, without Kirk's aid, Picard died during the confrontation with Soran. Consequently, Earth is conquered by the Borg during the time-travel events of Star Trek: First Contact . Aided by the Enterprise -D crew after they followed Scotty's stolen Bird-of-Prey through its slingshot maneuver and arrived in the new timeline, as well as alternate versions of Guinan and Sarek , Scott is forced to return Kirk to the Nexus, restoring the original timeline at the moment the Enterprise is destroyed by a Borg fleet.
• In the novel The Return , the Romulans and Borg went back in time and copied Kirk's brain waves before he died. They later stole his buried body, inserting the brain waves and using some Borg modifications to re-animate his body, turning him into a killing machine to hunt down Picard. At the conclusion of the novel, Kirk is freed from the brainwashing and his life is saved after a final attack on the Borg central node, disrupting the connection that keeps every branch of the Borg Collective in contact with each other and thus limiting the threat they will pose in future.
• According to Star Trek Online , the unseen child of Lursa has been born by the events of the film; Online also establishes that his name is Ja'rod and he survives to become an influential soldier of the Empire.
• In the novel The Star to Every Wandering , Kirk's death is interrupted by a converging temporal loop, caused by an excessive amount of chronometric particles in Kirk's body and of his trip in and out of the Nexus destroying all of spacetime between the places where he entered and exited the Nexus (near Earth and Veridian III) and from those times as well (2293 to 2371). Kirk, pulled back into the Nexus just before he could die, has to find a way to stop the converging temporal loop and save untold billions of lives without altering the timeline, managing to do so with the aid of his own echo in the Nexus who leaves and travels through time via the Guardian of Forever in order to maintain the timeline without destroying it.

Merchandise gallery [ ]

Awards and honors [ ]

Star Trek Generations received the following awards and honors.

Links and references [ ]

Credits [ ], opening credits [ ].

• Patrick Stewart
• Jonathan Frakes
• Brent Spiner
• LeVar Burton
• Michael Dorn
• Gates McFadden
• Marina Sirtis
• Malcolm McDowell
• James Doohan
• Walter Koenig
• William Shatner as " Captain James T. Kirk "
• Junie Lowry-Johnson , CSA and Ron Surma
• Dennis McCarthy
• Peter Lauritson
• Robert Blackman
• Peter E. Berger , ACE
• Herman Zimmerman
• John A. Alonzo , ASC
• Bernie Williams
• Gene Roddenberry
• Rick Berman & Ronald D. Moore & Brannon Braga
• Ronald D. Moore & Brannon Braga
• Rick Berman
• David Carson

Closing credits [ ]

• Picard – Patrick Stewart
• Riker – Jonathan Frakes
• Data – Brent Spiner
• Geordi – LeVar Burton
• Worf – Michael Dorn
• Beverly – Gates McFadden
• Troi – Marina Sirtis
• Soran – Malcolm McDowell
• Scotty – James Doohan
• Chekov – Walter Koenig
• Kirk – William Shatner
• Capt. Harriman – Alan Ruck
• Demora – Jacqueline Kim
• Science Officer – Jenette Goldstein
• Com Officer – Thomas Kopache
• Navigator – Glenn Morshower
• Lieutenant – Tim Russ
• Tommy Hinkley ( #1 )
• John Putch ( #2 )
• Christine Jansen ( #3 )
• Ensign Hayes – Michael Mack
• Lieutenant Farrell – Dendrie Taylor
• Nurse Ogawa – Patti Yasutake
• Transporter Chief – Granville Ames
• Security Officer – Henry Marshall
• Girl with Teddy Bear – Brittany Parkyn
• Computer Voice – Majel Barrett
• Lursa – Barbara March
• B'Etor – Gwynyth Walsh
• Klingon Guard – Rif Hutton
• Klingon Helm – Brian Thompson
• Marcy Goldman
• Jim Krestalude
• Judy Levitt ( Survivor #3 )
• Kristopher Logan
• Gwen Van Dam ( Survivor #9 )
• Picard's Wife – Kim Braden
• Picard's Nephew – Christopher James Miller
• Matthew Collins ( Matthew Picard )
• Mimi Collins ( Mimi Picard )
• Thomas Alexander Dekker ( Thomas Picard )
• Madison Eginton ( Madison Picard )
• Olivia Hack ( Olivia Picard )
• John Nowak (Stunt double for Patrick Stewart)
• Randy Hall (Stunt double for Malcolm McDowell)
• Pat Tallman (Stunt double for Gates McFadden and Gwynyth Walsh, and an Enterprise -D officer )
• Don Pulford (Stunt double for William Shatner)
• Bernie Pock (Stunt double for William Shatner)
• Eric Stabenau ( Bridge Crewman )
• Michael Haynes (Stunt double for Malcolm McDowell)
• Robert Grand
• Yudi Bennett
• Chris Soldo
• Daniel Silverberg
• Ronald B. Moore
• Michael Westmore
• Michelle Wright
• Sandy Veneziano
• John M. Dwyer
• Robert Fechtman
• Ron Wilkinson
• Dianne Wager
• Michael H. Okuda
• Pernell Youngblood Tyus
• Krishna Rao
• George J. Billinger III
• Gregory W. Smith
• Jeffrey P. Greeley
• Alan Gitlin
• Jorge Sanchez
• David Goldstein
• Elliott S. Marks
• Stuart Spohn
• Frank X. Valdez III
• Scott McKnight
• Jesse Tango
• James R. Renfro
• Robert E. Griffith
• Joseph Dianda
• Scott Mayhugh
• John W. Harmon II
• Thomas D. Causey
• Joseph F. Brennan
• Richard Kite
• Terry D. Frazee
• Donald L. Frazee
• Logan Frazee
• Eugene Crum
• Greg Curtis
• Donald E. Meyers, Jr.
• Brian McManus
• June Haymore
• Debbie Zoller
• Joy A. Zapata
• Carolyn L. Elias
• Patricia Miller
• Laura Connolly
• Douglas I. Fox
• Bill Cancienne
• William K. Dolan
• Denise Okuda
• Alan Kobayashi
• Anthony Fredrickson
• Doug Drexler
• Elena Del Rio
• Camille Argus
• Matthew A. Hoffman
• David Roesler
• Jamie Thomas
• John Coniglio
• Marty November
• Jonathan Cates
• Stephen M. Rowe
• James W. Wolvington
• Joseph A. Ippolito
• Masanobu "Tomi" Tomita
• Jon E. Johnson , MPSE
• Sean P. Callery
• Jeffrey L. Sandler , MPSE
• Raoul , MPSE
• Gloria D'Alessandro
• Richard Corwin
• Becky Sullivan , MPSE
• Nicholas Korda
• Pamela Bentkowski
• James Likowski
• Jeffrey R. Payne
• Thomas Small
• Lance Laurienzo
• Scott G.G. Haller
• Randy Singer
• David Lee Fein
• Barbara Harris
• Chris Jenkins
• Adam Jenkins
• Paramount Pictures
• Mark McKenzie
• William Ross
• Brad Warnaar
• Dennis Yurosek
• Carl Fortina
• Bob Bornstein
• Paramount Pictures Scoring Stage M
• Robert Fernandez
• Christine Bonnem
• Diane Friedman
• Arlene Fukai
• Kelley Wood
• Gerald J. Frasco
• Thomas J. Arp
• Larry E. Clark
• Aaron Rockler
• Gary A. Clark
• Central Casting
• Kristine Fernandes
• Victoria Wilson
• Carolyn M. Dahm
• Dawn Velazquez
• Cheryl Gluckstern
• Jackie Edwards
• Tim L. Pearson
• Debbie Tieman
• Joseph A. Unsinn III
• Larry Markart
• Lisa J. Block
• Brian Manis
• Jamie Cohen
• Megan Hickey
• Penny Juday
• Michael Williams
• Gaston Veilleux
• Steve Brodsky
• William Nuzzo
• Harold Fowler
• Home on the Range
• Denny Allan
• Critters of the Cinema
• Aerotech, Inc.
• Terry Haggar
• Theresa Repola Mohammed
• Industrial Light & Magic , a division of Lucas Digital Ltd.
• Alex Seiden
• Roni McKinley
• Bill George
• John Schlag
• Alia Almeida Agha
• Ginger Theisen
• Bart Giovannetti
• Barbara Brennan
• Donald S. Butler
• Rob Coleman
• Scott Frankel
• Henry LaBounta
• Stewart W. Lew
• Mary McCulloch
• Barbara L. Nellis
• Doug Smythe
• Laurence Treweek
• Dennis Turner
• Habib Zargarpour
• Michael McGovern
• Patrick Sweeney
• Kate O'Neill
• Joe Biggins
• Michael Olague
• John Goodson
• Lorne Peterson
• Jon Foreman
• Steve Gawley
• Brian Gernand
• Mark Anderson
• Charlie Bailey
• Michael Cummins
• Giovanni Donovan
• Nelson Hall
• Michael Lynch
• Scott McNamara
• Richard Miller
• Tony Sommers
• Steve Walton
• Bill Mather
• Yusei Uesugi

Miniature Crash Sequence Photography Unit

• Edward Hirsh
• Pat McArdle
• David Heron
• Geoff Heron
• Joseph Fulmer
• Carl Assmus
• Duncan Sutherland
• Pat Fitzsimmons
• Bruce Vecchitto
• Zoran Kacic-Alesic
• Joshua Pines
• Tim Geideman
• Chris Chaplin
• Michael Min
• Ken Corvino
• John Stillman
• Margaret Lynch
• Patricia Blau
• CIS, Hollywood
• C. Marie Davis
• Steve Bowen
• Danny Mudgett
• Ernie Camacho
• Selena Cornish
• Lenny Forher
• Karey Maltzahn
• Joni Jacobson
• Dawn Guinta
• Peter Koczera
• Andrew Mumford
• Larry Gaynor
• Gregory Oehler
• Bill Feightner
• Richard Moc
• John Bartle
• David M. St. Clair
• Tripp Hudson
• Santa Barbara Studios
• John Grower
• Bruce Jones
• Eric Guaglione
• Ron Moreland
• Mark Wendell
• Will Rivera
• Chalermpon "Yo" Poungpeth
• Kathi Samec
• Pacific Title
• The Post Group
• Jeff Matakovich
• Illusion Arts, Inc.
• GNP Crescendo Records, CDs and Cassettes
• Music by Alexander Courage
• Todd A-O Studios
• Grays Harbor Historical Seaport Authority and the Lady Washington
• Special Artwork provided by The Philip Edgerly Agency
• The Nettman Camera Remote Systems by Matthews Studios Electronics, Inc. Burbank, CA
• TFT LCD Color Monitors provided by Sharp Electronics Corporation USA & Japan
• Shockwave Entertainment
• State of Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Division of State Parks
• Valley of Fire State Park
• Nevada Film Commission
• US Forest Service
• Kern County Board of Trade
• City of Pasadena
• Akela Crane
• Public Missiles Ltd.
• Jeri Taylor
• Dan Dickman
• Gary Rimbey
• James Van Over
• Delmore Schwartz – " Dreams Begin Responsibilities " – © 1978 by New Directions Pub. Corp. used by permission of New Directions

Uncredited [ ]

Performers [ ].

• Sam Alejan as El-Aurian survivor
• David Keith Anderson as Armstrong
• Kimberly Auslander as J. Jonah Jameson
• Lena Banks as operations ensign
• Buzz Barbee as maiden voyage official
• Enterprise -D civilian
• Klingon officer
• Joe Baumann as Garvey
• Rina Bennett as Starfleet officer
• Eddie Berman as Bolian boy
• Tom Berman as Vulcan boy
• Pam Blackwell as El-Aurian survivor
• Joey Box as Enterprise -D command officer
• Steven Boz as security ensign
• Brandy as Spot
• Debbie David as Enterprise -B crewman
• Cameron as Kellogg
• Tracee Lee Cocco as Jae
• Steve Diamond as command officer
• Andrew DePalma as El-Aurian survivor
• Mizarian civilian
• operations division ensign
• Michael Echols as Klingon bridge officer
• Tarik Ergin as Medical technician
• Gunnel Eriksson as sciences officer
• Margaret Flores as civilian
• Kevin Grevioux as Starfleet security officer
• Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan
• Darrell Hall as Enterprise crewman
• Star Halm as Enterprise -D lieutenant (uncredited)
• Adolphus Hankins as maiden voyage official
• Command officer
• Kerry Hoyt as security ensign
• Gary Hunter as Vulcan civilian
• Penny Juday as Woman in Ten Forward
• Kai as sciences officer
• Dale Kasman as Starfleet officer
• Bill Larson as Enterprise helmsman
• Nora Leonhardt as civilian
• Stewart W. Lew as crewman in Ten Forward
• M. McCahill as Starfleet officer
• Mary Meinel-Newport as Bolian woman
• Lorine Mendell as Enterprise -B crewman
• Rad Milo as Enterprise -D ensign
• Monster as Spot
• Karlotta Nelson as El-Aurian survivor
• Michael Papajohn as Enterprise -D command officer
• Jim Portnoy as Enterprise -D civilian
• Jerry Quinn as Enterprise -B crewman
• Keith Rayve as command crewman
• Raul Reformina as command officer
• Allen Rice as Enterprise -B crewman
• Rick Ryan as Fletcher
• Richard Sarstedt as command officer
• Lou Simon as operations officer
• Spencer as Spot
• Noriko Suzuki as Enterprise -D engineer
• John Tampoya as Enterprise -B crewman
• Dennis Tracy as Bolian waiter
• Darien Wallace
• D. Danny Warhol as engineering crewman in hallway
• Terryl Whitlach as civilian during saucer section crash
• Harry Williams, Jr.
• S. Williams as Starfleet officer
• Zoe as Spot
• Alien evacuee
• Enterprise -B crewman
• Enterprise -D bridge officer (voice)
• Enterprise -D communications officer (voice)
• Two Human maiden voyage officials
• Romulan corpse
• Six Starfleet officers
• SS Lakul comm voice
• Starfleet officer
• Ten Human launch spectators
• Thirteen Enterprise brig crewmen
• Twenty-three El-Aurian survivors
• Two journalists
• Vulcan woman

Stunt performers [ ]

• Jane Austin as stunt double for Gates McFadden
• Joni Avery as stunt double for Marina Sirtis
• Jay Caputo as Enterprise -D bridge crewman
• Eugene Collier
• Erik Cord as stunt double for William Shatner
• Chris Durand as Enterprise -D bridge crewman
• Norman Kent as stunt double for William Shatner ( deleted sky diving scene )
• Rusty McClennon as stunt double for Michael Dorn
• Jeff Mosley as stunt double for Michael Dorn
• Denney Pierce as Enterprise -D flight controller
• Mark Riccardi as stunt double for Jonathan Frakes
• Pat Romano – stunt rigger
• Lynn Salvatori as Antonia
• Cris Thomas-Palomino as Enterprise -D crewmember
• David Wendler as stunt double for William Shatner (horse jump)
• Brian J. Williams as stunt double for Brent Spiner
• Merritt Yohnka as Enterprise -B crewman
• Unknown animal actors as Nexus horses

Stand-ins and photo doubles [ ]

• Stand-in for LeVar Burton
• Stand-in for Tim Russ
• Margaret Flores – stand-in for Marina Sirtis
• Lauren C. Kim – stand-in for Jacqueline Kim
• Nora Leonhardt – stand-in for Marina Sirtis
• Lorine Mendell – stand-in for Gates McFadden
• James Minor – stand-in for Michael Dorn
• Kevin Reed O'Hara – photo double for Walter Koenig
• Keith Rayve – stand-in for Brent Spiner
• Richard Sarstedt – stand-in for Jonathan Frakes
• Dennis Tracy – stand-in for Patrick Stewart
• Guy Vardaman – body double for Brent Spiner
• Philip Weyland – stand-in for William Shatner

Production staff [ ]

• Dave Archer – Artwork Provider: Paintings
• Rey Barrera – Rigging Electrician
• Rob Bloch – Animal Trainer: Critters of the Cinema
• Tom Bookout – Grip
• Kelli Cole – Animal Trainer: Critters of the Cinema
• Bernie Dresel – Orchestra Drummer
• Christopher Flick – Foley Editor
• Edward J. Franklin – Special Effects Artist
• Bill Hawk – Prop fabricator
• Jack Haye – Modelmaker
• Joe Lombardi – Special Effects Artist: Full Scale Effects
• Jim W. Pearson – Advisor
• Dan Purinton – Rigging Gaffer/Lot Best Boy
• Clark Schaffer – Production Illustrator
• Karen Thomas-Kolakowski – Animal Trainer: Critters of the Cinema
• Cogswell Video Services, Inc. – Visual Effects Unit Video Assist Company

References [ ]

1743 ; 21st century ; 2265 ; 2281 ; 2282 ; 2284 ; 2286 ; 2293 ; 24th century ; 2337 ; 2351 ; 2364 ; 2371 ; ability ; acceleration ; " all hands "; alternate timeline ; Amargosa ; Amargosa observatory ; Amargosa system ; Amargosa system sector ; amusement ; antimatter containment ; Antonia ; arterial damage ; Badge of Office ; barn ; bat'leth ; Bateson, Morgan ; Battle of Trafalgar ; Battle of Wolf 359 ; battle stations ; bearing ; Bolian ; " Bones "; Borg ; Bozeman , USS ; brace ; " brace for impact "; Breen ; buckling ; Butler ; cabinet ; cargo management unit ( workbee ); cat ; champagne ; Christmas ; cloaking device ; clown ; communications station ; course ; crew quarters ; cup ; damage report ; dedication plaque ; deflector control ; deflector dish ; diaper ; dill weed ; disruptor ; doll ; Dom Pérignon ; drydock ; Du'cha ; duotronics ; Duras sisters' Bird-of-Prey ; Earl Grey tea ; Earth ; ebs terranews ; El-Auria ; El-Aurian ; El-Aurian homeworld ; emotion chip ; emotional response ; energy ribbon ; Enterprise , USS ; Enterprise , USS ; Enterprise , USS dedication plaque ; Enterprise -A, USS ; Enterprise -B, USS ; Enterprise -B, USS dedication plaque ; Enterprise -D, USS ; Excelsior -class ; Excelsior class decks ; family history ; family line ; Farpoint Mission ; Farpoint Station ; Farragut , USS ; fear ; Federation ; Ferengi ; fly ; Forcas III ; force field ; FPC ; freedom ; Galaxy -class ; Galaxy class decks ; Galileo -type shuttlecraft ; gamma emission ; gigawatt ; GNN ; God ; gorilla suit ; grade school ; gravimetric distortion ; gravimetric field ; gravitational force ; graviton field ; Hawking ; heart ; Herbert, George ; holodeck ; horse ; horseback riding ; House of Duras ; humor ; Idaho ; ionic pulse ; joke ; Kirk's uncle ; Klingons ; Klingon Bird-of-Prey ; Klingon Empire ; Klingonese ; Ktarian eggs ; Kurlan naiskos ; Lakul , SS ; Lakul crewmembers ; Lakul refugees ; Leandra ; level 3 diagnostic ; level 12 shock wave ; listener ; Livingston ; locking clamp ; madman ; magnetic field ; magnetic interlock ; maiden voyage ; main engineering ; Martian colonies ; mating ritual ; maximum warp ; McCoy, Leonard ; MCH ; medical staff ; megahertz ( MHz ); Miranda -class ( Miranda -class starship ); mistress ; mortality ; myocardial degeneration ; NAR-30974 ; NCC-7100 ; Nebula -class ; Nexus ; NFT ; Nobel Prize ; normal ; number one ; Oberth -class ( Oberth -class starship ); oregano ; Papa ; passenger manifest ; phenomenon ; photon torpedo ; Picard family album ; Picard, René ; Picard, Robert ; Picard's grandfather ; plank ; plasma coil ; plasma coolant ; plasma generator ; Pluto ; pocket watch ; polarity ; predator ; pre-industrial society ; prisoner ; prisoner exchange ; prosthesis ; psychiatrist ; quantum implosion ; RADAR ; refugee ; retirement ; Robert Fox , SS ; Romulans ; Romulan outpost ; Romulan tricorder ; royal ; San Francisco ; saucer section ; saucer separation ; Saurian brandy ; science station ; SD-103 type ( 1 , 2 , and 3 ); shelf ; shield modulation ; shit ; sickbay ; Sol system asteroid belt ; solar probe ; Soran's children ; Space Marine Evac Fighter ; speaker ; Spock ; Starfleet ; Starfleet Academy ; Starfleet Command ; Starfleet uniform ; Stellar cartography ; stirring ; stunsail ; subspace scan ; Sulu, Hikaru ; System J-25 ; teeth ; temporal energy ; Ten Forward ; t'garns'l ; time ; tractor beam ; transport ship ; transporter range ; Transporter Room 3 ; tricorder ; trilithium ; trilithium weapon ; Tuesday ; type 3 disruptor ; Type 6 shuttlecraft ; Type 7 shuttlecraft ; United Federation of Planets Press and Information ; universe ; universal constant ; Veridian ; Veridian system ; Veridian I ; Veridian I moon ; Veridian II ; Veridian II moons ; Veridian III ; Veridian III moons ; Veridian IV ; Veridian IV moons ; Veridian IV natives ; Veridian V ; Veridian V moon ; Veridian VI ; Veridian VI moons ; VISOR ; " walk the plank "; warp core breach ; warp drive system ; warp plasma ; water ; YPS pulse fusion

Other references [ ]

• List of USS Enterprise -D personnel
• USS Enterprise dedication plaque: San Francisco Fleet Yards ; Starship class
• USS Enterprise -B dedication plaque: Advanced Technologies ; Alonzo, John ; Arp, Thomas ; Bennett, Yudi ; Berman, Rick K. ; Blackman, Bob ; Braga, Brannon ; Carson, David ; Causey, Thomas ; Curry, Dan ; Dwyer, John M. ; Eaves, John ; Engineering Division ; Fleet Operations ; Fredrickson, A. ; George, William ; Kobayashi, Alan ; Lauritson, Peter ; Mandel, Geoff ; Moore, Ronald B. ; Moore, Ronald D. ; Office of Science Ops ; Okuda, Denise ; Roddenberry, G. ; Silverburg, Dan ; Starfleet Charter ; Tactical Unit ; Tyrus, Pernell ; UESPA ; Van Over, James ; Veneziano, Sandy ; Westmore, Mike ; Wilkinson, Ron ; Williams, Bernie ; Wright, Michelle ; Zimmerman, H.
• USS Enterprise -B MSD: antimatter fill port ; antimatter generator ; antimatter storage ; battle bridge ; cargo bay ; cargo conveyor ; computer core ; crew lounge ; deflector grid buss ; deuterium loading port ; field geometry sensor ; impulse reaction system ; junior officers quarters ; lateral sensor ; lateral sensor array ; main bridge ; main engineering ; main shuttlebay ; main sickbay ; navigational sensor cluster ; observation lounge ; phaser emitter ; photon torpedo launcher ; plasma injection system ; primary navigation deflector ; rcs mooring emitter ; rcs thruster assembly ; sensor module ; sensor platform ; subspace field coil system ; tractor beam emitter ; vectored exhaust direct assembly ; warp drive nacelle ; warp nacelle pylon ; warp reactor core
• Stellar Cartography Star Chart: Angosia III ; Antica IV ; Antide Prime ; Archer IV ; Beta Renna system ; Beta V ; Betazed ; Boreal III ; Canopus Major ; Chalna ; Cheron ; Clarus system ; Coalition of Madena ; Daled V ; Daran V ; Delta IV ; El-Adrel IV ; Epsilon Canaris ; Gamma Eridon ; Gravesworld ; Halee system ; Hayashi system ; Hansen's Planet ; Idran Star Cluster ; Ilecom system ; Janus VI ; Jaros colony ; Lauren III ; Lima Sierra system ; Lorenze Cluster ; M24 Alpha system ; Makus III ; Manark IV ; Manu III ; Maxia Zeta ; Melina II ; Milika III ; Miridian VI ; Nimbus III ; Ogus II ; Omega Centus I ; Organia ; Pentarus system ; Penthara IV ; Razzbo system ; Seiji Major ; Septimus Minor ; Serlay ; Sherman's Planet ; Straleb ; Strnad solar system ; Thasus IV ; T'lli Beta ; Torona IV ; Turkana IV ; Tycho system ; Tyken's Rift ; Vandor IV ; Vaytan I ; Wolf 359 ; Zeon Minor ; Zeta Antaras IV

Meta references [ ]

Unreferenced material [ ].

brain damage ; crystalline trench ; lava ; orbital skydiving ; rafting ; Selar ; Starfleet Engineering Corps ; ventricle

• Picard Family album: Alpha Centauri ; Andor ; Appellation controlee ; Apollo 11 ; Barbicon Theatre ; Battle of Maxia ; Bordeaux ; Broadway ; Brussels ; Chateau La Barre ; Cheron ; Committee for Quadcentenial ; Copenhagen ; Copernicus City ; Corps of Cadets ; Crusher, Jack R. ; Danula II ; Daystrom Institute ; De La Barre ; de Picard, Françoise ; European Union ; French language ; Gallic-Klingon Debating Society ; Gershwin ; Golden Gate Bridge ; Grankite Order of Tactics ; Hippolyta ; Howard, Isabel ; Howard, Paul ; It's Federation Day! ; Kell, Natha ; KT ; La Barre ; Latin language ; London ; Louis ; Louis XIV ; Luna ; major general ; Michelle ; Midsummer Night's Dream, A ; North America ; Oleet, Titus : Onizuka Wing ; Picard VIII ; Picard XXII ; Picard, Christophe ; Picard, Georges ; Picard, Jon Michael ; Picard, Maurice ; Picard, Robert ; Picard Maneuver ; Picard Vineyards ; Pinter ; Phobos Inn ; plomeek soup ; President of the United Federation of Planets ; Presidio ; Risa ; Romulan War ; Romulans Repulsed ; Sarahd ; Saumur ; Silver Spade ; Sol ; Sol system ; Solar News Network ; Starfleet Academy marathon ; Starfleet Internet ; Stargazer , USS ; Strasbourg ; T'Jan ; Tahiti ; Tellar ; Tellarite ; Terran Winemakers Association ; Tivoli Gardens ; Trustees of Starfleet Academy ; Tycho crater ; UDF-RPR ; Vanderbilt, Thomas ; UFP Council ; UFP Constitution ; United Nations ; Vice-President of the United Federation of Planets ; Vulcan ; wine tasting ; Yuri Gagarin Hall
• Star Trek Generations (Blu-ray)
• Star Trek Generations (Special Edition DVD)
• Star Trek Generations (DVD)
• Star Trek Generations (soundtrack)
• Star Trek Generations (novel)
• Star Trek Generations (game)

Sources [ ]

• Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (3rd ed.), Larry Nemecek , Pocket Books, 2003 .
• Star Trek: The Next Generation Sketchbook: The Movies , John Eaves & J.M. Dillard , Pocket Books, 1998 .
• Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Continuing Mission , Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens , Pocket Books, 1998 .
• Star Trek Movie Memories , William Shatner & Chris Krenski, Pocket Books, 1994 .
• Star Trek Generations (Special Edition) DVD , Ronald D. Moore & Brannon Braga , audio commentary .
• Star Trek Generations (Special Edition) DVD, Michael & Denise Okuda , text commentary .

External links [ ]

• Star Trek Generations at StarTrek.com
• Star Trek Generations at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• " Star Trek Generations " at MissionLogPodcast.com , a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast
• Star Trek Generations at Wikipedia
• Star Trek Generations at the Internet Movie Database
• Star Trek: Generations script  at Star Trek Minutiae
• Behind the scenes on Star Trek: Generations  at Forgotten Trek – features production history, concept art, and set design
• 3 Star Trek: Discovery

William Shatner Is Wrong About His Regret for Kirk's Death Scene

• Star Trek: Generations aimed to honor the franchise's past while paving the way for the future, bringing iconic characters together.
• William Shatner's regret over Captain Kirk's death scene stems from his final line portrayal, not the decision to include it.
• Star Trek: Generations marked the end of an era and the beginning of a new one, providing fans with more time with their hero.

Thirty years ago, Star Trek was ready to boldly go from Star Trek: The Original Series era of movies to make Star Trek: The Next Generation into the next film franchise. Still, in order to bring along the people who supported the six previous installments, they wanted to honor the past while paving the way for the future. The most significant moment was when William Shatner returned as Captain James T. Kirk just to die in 1994's Star Trek: Generations. The film didn't quite stick the landing for fans or, it seems, Shatner himself.

After the success of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country , many in the veteran cast were reluctant to return, especially since it was going to end their characters' stories for good. Similarly, the new cast almost wanted to ensure Generations was their movie, while still being gracious hosts and stewards of the Star Trek legacy. Both DeForrest Kelly and Leonard Nimoy (who was offered the role of director) passed on the film because they felt it diminished their characters' legacy to cameo-fodder, according to Shatner in The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman. The Kirk actor would also regret the film , but for a much different reason.

Why William Shatner Calls Kirk's Death in Star Trek: Generations His Biggest Regret

William shatner joins leonard nimoy's family in remembering the star trek legend.

When considering producer Rick Berman's relative feature film inexperience and the studio-mandated decision to make it concurrently with The Next Generation's final season, Star Trek: Generations is a much better film than it has any right to be. While promoting the documentary You Can Call Me Bill , William Shatner admits he doesn't regret doing the movie. For what it's worth, the scenes in which Captain Kirk appear are welcome to longtime fans.

The actor's only regret is his final line-reading as Captain Kirk. "In my mind, I failed horribly. I wish that I’d had the backing and the courage to do the things I felt I needed to do," Shatner said in an interview. After helping Captain Picard stop Soren (played by Malcolm McDowell), Kirk is crushed to death under debris. He doesn't go quickly nor does he seem to be in pain. In fact, he talks about how "fun" it was to help Picard "make a difference." Shatner wanted his final line of dialogue, "Oh my," to play with a lifelong explorer's amazement at the threshold to the truly final frontier.

To him, that's not what's there in the take the director used. Shatner thinks Captain Kirk's last words play as fear, and the last thing he wanted for his most iconic character was to send him off that way . While the scene can play that way, at the same time, looking at it as if Kirk is fearful at the moment of his death diminishes the equally nuanced performance by Shatner.

Would William Shatner Want the Chance to Redo Kirk's Death Scene?

How william shatner unearthed star trek: tng's early troubles.

In 2023, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds co-showrunner Akiva Goldsman said he was open to digitally recreating characters for retcon purposes . At the time, he was speaking about completely erasing the death from the Star Trek timeline, but also admitted there was no plan to do so. Still, Goldsman, Star Trek: Picard showrunner Terry Matalas and other Star Trek fans all felt that Captain Kirk's death was mishandled. However, it had nothing to with William Shatner's performance, but rather the lines and scenes he was given to play. Knowing that he regrets the scene as it is in the film, there may be another option.

The idea of undoing the events of Generations would be a disservice to The Next Generation cast and even Matalas' own Season 3 of Picard . Perhaps there is a way to snatch Kirk out of harm's way at the last second, but it's hard to see how such a retcon would serve Generations ' story or the character's overall arc. However, as George Lucas proved with Star Wars ' Special Editions, just because a movie is decades old doesn't mean it can't be tweaked. William Shatner is preserving himself with interactive AI , though for his family not Hollywood. Still, it means he might be open to using AI and deepfake technology to get one more take of that "Oh my."

If it truly is a regret that eats at William Shatner and his legacy as Captain Kirk, then it should be his choice . If Paramount is willing to spend the money and Shatner is game, he could redo it. Yet, it's not something he must do because Shatner is wrong about Captain Kirk's death coming across as fearful. Taking into account his long history with the character, the way he delivers Kirk's final line is something fans can (and should) debate from now until the real 24th Century.

Fans Who Think Captain Kirk Is Afraid of Death Don't Understand Him

Which star trek captains capture the spirit of jim kirk and william shatner.

Actors are naturally self-critical, and at 93 years old, William Shatner is perhaps more reflective now than he ever was before. He is right that audiences could watch Kirk's death scene in a vacuum and see it as fearful. Yet, anyone who has seen a tenth of his work in Star Trek should know Kirk would not fear death . At worst, the "Oh my" plays as something unexpected . As Bones said in The Search for Spock , Kirk "take[s] death and turn[s] it into a fighting chance to live." As Kirk is recounting to Picard how fun the adventure was for him, perhaps he hadn't yet realized there was no turning this one around.

Yet, Captain Kirk isn't just a space-cowboy getting in and out of scrapes across the galaxy. He is, at his core, an explorer. He isn't as contemplative as Spock nor emotionally attuned as McCoy. The power of his experience doesn't usually hit Kirk until he's in the thick of it. He doesn't overreact, but he does acknowledge the wonder. Knowing this, the "Oh my," doesn't just play as surprise. Like in the Genesis cave or on the planet Sha-Ka-Ree, Kirk discovers that oncoming death isn't a door closing, but opening on an experience unlike any he'd imagined .

Feelings about how Captain Kirk dies aside, Star Trek: Generations gives audiences more time with their hero. The Next Generation never commented on it directly, but the implication was that Kirk was long dead. Generations didn't "kill" Kirk, time did that. The movie brought him back, if only for a short while. The scene in which Kirk explains to Picard why life in the Nexus is not for him is one of the character's best. The movie understands what motivated him in the series and films that preceded it. Yet, it's still not how most fans think Kirk should have met his ultimate fate.

Captain James T. Kirk Should've Died on the Bridge of 'a' USS Enterprise

William shatner's quick thinking saved star trek's interracial kiss milestone.

There was nothing wrong with the decision to film Captain Kirk's death scene nor with William Shatner's performance of it . Still, it is fair to complain about how it happened. Considering the USS Enterprise-D was also destroyed in the film, he should've been in command of the saucer section. Put another way, Kirk should've gone down with the ship saving the lives of a Starfleet crew a century after his time.

If any Star Trek captain deserved a blaze of glory , it's Captain James T. Kirk. In the commentary track with Moore and Braga, the two writers discussed countless versions of the final sequence, with Moore saying he didn't "even know where this bridge stuff came from." Still, both he and Braga wanted Kirk's final line to be "It was fun," as commentary on the entire Star Trek adventure. "Oh my," was Shatner's line. In The Fifty-Year Mission both Moore and Braga admit they would've liked more time to work on the story.

Production schedules and budgets were largely in command of where characters appeared and what they did. It would've also been difficult to logically divine a reason for Kirk to stay on the bridge of the saucer section while everyone else escaped. It would've been awesome to watch, but it may not have made much sense. As it stands, in Generations , Kirk dies saving billions of lives after first almost dying saving the lives of a ship of refugees and the newly-minted USS Enterprise-B. Was it a "good death?" Maybe not. But it was a heroic one just the same.

Star Trek is not real-life with fantastic technologies like transporters or warp drive. Yet, what makes it so enduring is that the relationships at the stories' cores feel as real as any other fiction. Both Kirk's death and William Shatner's regret provide a unique layer of authenticity to that scene . Death doesn't give people a second take, even larger-than-life figures. Sometimes seemingly small acts have a huge impact and an even bigger cost.

Star Trek: Generations is available to own on DVD, Blu-ray, digital and streams on HBO Max.

Star Trek: Generations

With the help of long presumed dead Captain Kirk, Captain Picard must stop a deranged scientist willing to murder on a planetary scale in order to enter a space matrix.

Director David Carson

Release Date November 18, 1994

Cast Michael Dorn, LeVar Burton, Walter Koenig, Jonathan Frakes, Patrick Stewart, William Shatner, Marina Sirtis, Alan Ruck, James Doohan, Gates McFadden, Malcolm McDowell

Writers Rick Berman, Gene Roddenberry, Ronald D. Moore

Runtime 1 Hour 58 Minutes

Main Genre Science Fiction

Genres Mystery, Action, Science Fiction, Adventure

Production Company Paramount Pictures

The Future of ‘Star Trek’: From ‘Starfleet Academy’ to New Movies and Michelle Yeoh, How the 58-Year-Old Franchise Is Planning for the Next Generation of Fans

“I can’t believe I get to play the captain of the Enterprise.”

“Strange New Worlds” is the 12th “Star Trek” TV show since the original series debuted on NBC in 1966, introducing Gene Roddenberry’s vision of a hopeful future for humanity. In the 58 years since, the “Star Trek” galaxy has logged 900 television episodes and 13 feature films, amounting to 668 hours — nearly 28 days — of content to date. Even compared with “Star Wars” and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Star Trek” stands as the only storytelling venture to deliver a single narrative experience for this long across TV and film.

In other words, “Star Trek” is not just a franchise. As Alex Kurtzman , who oversees all “Star Trek” TV production, puts it, “‘Star Trek’ is an institution.”

Without a steady infusion of new blood, though, institutions have a way of fading into oblivion (see soap operas, MySpace, Blockbuster Video). To keep “Star Trek” thriving has meant charting a precarious course to satisfy the fans who have fueled it for decades while also discovering innovative ways to get new audiences on board.

“Doing ‘Star Trek’ means that you have to deliver something that’s entirely familiar and entirely fresh at the same time,” Kurtzman says.

The franchise has certainly weathered its share of fallow periods, most recently after “Nemesis” bombed in theaters in 2002 and UPN canceled “Enterprise” in 2005. It took 12 years for “Star Trek” to return to television with the premiere of “Discovery” in 2017; since then, however, there has been more “Star Trek” on TV than ever: The adventure series “Strange New Worlds,” the animated comedy “Lower Decks” and the kids series “Prodigy” are all in various stages of production, and the serialized thriller “Picard” concluded last year, when it ranked, along with “Strange New Worlds,” among Nielsen’s 10 most-watched streaming original series for multiple weeks. Nearly one in five Paramount+ subscribers in the U.S. is watching at least one “Star Trek” series, according to the company, and more than 50% of fans watching one of the new “Trek” shows also watch at least two others. The new shows air in 200 international markets and are dubbed into 35 languages. As “Discovery” launches its fifth and final season in April, “Star Trek” is in many ways stronger than it’s ever been.

“’Star Trek’s fans have kept it alive more times than seems possible,” says Eugene Roddenberry, Jr., who executive produces the TV series through Roddenberry Entertainment. “While many shows rightfully thank their fans for supporting them, we literally wouldn’t be here without them.”

But the depth of fan devotion to “Star Trek” also belies a curious paradox about its enduring success: “It’s not the largest fan base,” says Akiva Goldsman, “Strange New Worlds” executive producer and co-showrunner. “It’s not ‘Star Wars.’ It’s certainly not Marvel.”

When J.J. Abrams rebooted “Star Trek” in 2009 — with Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Zoe Saldaña playing Kirk, Spock and Uhura — the movie grossed more than any previous “Star Trek” film by a comfortable margin. But neither that film nor its two sequels broke $500 million in global grosses, a hurdle every other top-tier franchise can clear without breaking a sweat.

There’s also the fact that “Star Trek” fans are aging. I ask “The Next Generation” star Jonathan Frakes, who’s acted in or directed more versions of “Star Trek” than any other person alive, how often he meets fans for whom the new “Star Trek” shows are their first. “Of the fans who come to talk to me, I would say very, very few,” he says. “‘Star Trek’ fans, as we know, are very, very, very loyal — and not very young.”

As Stapf puts it: “There’s a tried and true ‘Trek’ fan that is probably going to come to every ‘Star Trek,’ no matter what it is — and we want to expand the universe.”

Every single person I spoke to for this story talked about “Star Trek” with a joyful earnestness as rare in the industry as (nerd alert) a Klingon pacifist.

“When I’m meeting fans, sometimes they’re coming to be confirmed, like I’m kind of a priest,” Ethan Peck says during a break in filming on the “Strange New Worlds” set. He’s in full Spock regalia — pointy ears, severe eyebrows, bowl haircut — and when asked about his earliest memories of “Star Trek,” he stares off into space in what looks like Vulcan contemplation. “I remember being on the playground in second or third grade and doing the Vulcan salute, not really knowing where it came from,” he says. “When I thought of ‘Star Trek,’ I thought of Spock. And now I’m him. It’s crazy.”

To love “Star Trek” is to love abstruse science and cowboy diplomacy, complex moral dilemmas and questions about the meaning of existence. “It’s ultimately a show with the most amazing vision of optimism, I think, ever put on-screen in science fiction,” says Kurtzman, who is 50. “All you need is two minutes on the news to feel hopeless now. ‘Star Trek’ is honestly the best balm you could ever hope for.”

I’m getting a tour of the USS Enterprise from Scotty — or, rather, “Strange New World” production designer Jonathan Lee, who is gushing in his native Scottish burr as we step into the starship’s transporter room. “I got such a buzzer from doing this, I can’t tell you,” he says. “I actually designed four versions of it.”

Lee is especially proud of the walkway he created to run behind the transporter pads — an innovation that allows the production to shoot the characters from a brand-new set of angles as they beam up from a far-flung planet. It’s one of the countless ways that this show has been engineered to be as cinematic as possible, part of Kurtzman’s overall vision to make “Star Trek” on TV feel like “a movie every week.”

Kurtzman’s tenure with “Star Trek” began with co-writing the screenplay for Abrams’ 2009 movie, which was suffused with a fast-paced visual style that was new to the franchise. When CBS Studios approached Kurtzman in the mid-2010s about bringing “Star Trek” back to TV, he knew instinctively that it needed to be just as exciting as that film.

“The scope was so much different than anything we had ever done on ‘Next Gen,’” says Frakes, who’s helmed two feature films with the “Next Generation” cast and directed episodes of almost every live-action “Trek” TV series, including “Discovery” and “Strange New Worlds.” “Every department has the resources to create.”

A new science lab set for Season 3, for example, boasts a transparent floor atop a four-foot pool of water that swirls underneath the central workbench, and the surrounding walls sport a half dozen viewscreens with live schematics custom designed by a six-person team. “I like being able to paint on a really big canvas,” Kurtzman says. “The biggest challenge is always making sure that no matter how big something gets, you’re never losing focus on that tiny little emotional story.”

At this point, is there a genre that “Strange New Worlds” can’t do? “As long as we’re in storytelling that is cogent and sure handed, I’m not sure there is,” Goldsman says with an impish smile. “Could it do Muppets? Sure. Could it do black and white, silent, slapstick? Maybe!”

This approach is also meant to appeal to people who might want to watch “Star Trek” but regard those 668 hours of backstory as an insurmountable burden. “You shouldn’t have to watch a ‘previously on’ to follow our show,” Myers says.

To achieve so many hairpin shifts in tone and setting while maintaining Kurtzman’s cinematic mandate, “Strange New Worlds” has embraced one of the newest innovations in visual effects: virtual production. First popularized on the “Star Wars” series “The Mandalorian,” the technology — called the AR wall — involves a towering circular partition of LED screens projecting a highly detailed, computer-generated backdrop. Rather than act against a greenscreen, the actors can see whatever fantastical surroundings their characters are inhabiting, lending a richer level of verisimilitude to the show.

But there is a catch. While the technology is calibrated to maintain a proper sense of three-dimensional perspective through the camera lens, it can be a bit dizzying for anyone standing on the set. “The images on the walls start to move in a way that makes no sense,” says Mount. “You end up having to focus on something that’s right in front of you so you don’t fall down.”

And yet, even as he’s talking about it, Mount can’t help but break into a boyish grin. “Sometimes we call it the holodeck,” he says. In fact, the pathway to the AR wall on the set is dotted with posters of the virtual reality room from “The Next Generation” and the words “Enter Holodeck” in a classic “Trek” font.

“I want to take one of those home with me,” Peck says. Does the AR wall also affect him? “I don’t really get disoriented by it. Spock would not get ill, so I’m Method acting.”

I’m on the set of the “Star Trek” TV movie “Section 31,” seated in an opulent nightclub with a view of a brilliant, swirling nebula, watching Yeoh rehearse with director Olatunde Osunsanmi and her castmates. Originally, the project was announced as a TV series centered on Philippa Georgiou, the semi-reformed tyrant Yeoh originated on “Discovery.” But between COVID delays and the phenomenon of “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” there wasn’t room in the veteran actress’s schedule to fit a season of television. Yeoh was undaunted.

“We’d never let go of her,” she says of her character. “I was just blown away by all the different things I could do with her. Honestly, it was like, ‘Let’s just get it done, because I believe in this.’”

If that means nothing to you, don’t worry: The enormity of the revelation that Garrett is being brought back is meant only for fans. If you don’t know who the character is, you’re not missing anything.

“It was always my goal to deliver an entertaining experience that is true to the universe but appeals to newcomers,” says screenwriter Craig Sweeny. “I wanted a low barrier of entry so that anybody could enjoy it.”

Nevertheless, including Garrett on the show is exactly the kind of gasp-worthy detail meant to flood “Star Trek” fans with geeky good feeling.

“You cannot create new fans to the exclusion of old fans,” Kurtzman says. “You must serve your primary fan base first and you must keep them happy. That is one of the most important steps to building new fans.”

On its face, that maxim would make “Section 31” a genuine risk. The titular black-ops organization has been controversial with “Star Trek” fans since it was introduced in the 1990s. “The concept is almost antagonistic to some of the values of ‘Star Trek,’” Sweeny says. But he still saw “Section 31” as an opportunity to broaden what a “Star Trek” project could be while embracing the radical inclusivity at the heart of the franchise’s appeal.

“Famously, there’s a spot for everybody in Roddenberry’s utopia, so I was like, ‘Well, who would be the people who don’t quite fit in?’” he says. “I didn’t want to make the John le Carré version, where you’re in the headquarters and it’s backbiting and shades of gray. I wanted to do the people who were at the edges, out in the field. These are not people who necessarily work together the way you would see on a ‘Star Trek’ bridge.”

For Osunsanmi, who grew up watching “The Next Generation” with his father, it boils down to a simple question: “Is it putting good into the world?” he asks. “Are these characters ultimately putting good into the world? And, taking a step back, are we putting good into the world? Are we inspiring humans watching this to be good? That’s for me what I’ve always admired about ‘Star Trek.’”

Should “Section 31” prove successful, Yeoh says she’s game for a sequel. And Kurtzman is already eyeing more opportunities for TV movies, including a possible follow-up to “Picard.” The franchise’s gung-ho sojourn into streaming movies, however, stands in awkward contrast to the persistent difficulty Paramount Pictures and Abrams’ production company Bad Robot have had making a feature film following 2016’s “Star Trek Beyond” — the longest theaters have gone without a “Star Trek” movie since Paramount started making them.

First, a movie reuniting Pine’s Capt. Kirk with his late father — played in the 2009 “Star Trek” by Chris Hemsworth — fell apart in 2018. Around the same time, Quentin Tarantino publicly flirted with, then walked away from, directing a “Star Trek” movie with a 1930s gangster backdrop. Noah Hawley was well into preproduction on a “Star Trek” movie with a brand-new cast, until then-studio chief Emma Watts abruptly shelved it in 2020. And four months after Abrams announced at Paramount’s 2022 shareholders meeting that his 2009 cast would return for a movie directed by Matt Shakman (“WandaVision”), Shakman left the project to make “The Fantastic Four” for Marvel. (It probably didn’t help that none of the cast had been approached before Abrams made his announcement.)

The studio still intends to make what it’s dubbed the “final chapter” for the Pine-Quinto-Saldaña cast, and Steve Yockey (“The Flight Attendant”) is writing a new draft of the script. Even further along is another prospective “Star Trek” film written by Seth Grahame-Smith (“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”) and to be directed by Toby Haynes (“Andor,” “Black Mirror: USS Callister”) that studio insiders say is on track to start preproduction by the end of the year. That project will serve as an origin story of sorts for the main timeline of the entire franchise. In both cases, the studio is said to be focused on rightsizing the budgets to fit within the clear box office ceiling for “Star Trek” feature films.

Far from complaining, everyone seems to relish the challenge. Visual effects supervisor Jason Zimmerman says that “working with Alex, the references are always at least $100 million movies, if not more, so we just kind of reverse engineer how do we do that without having to spend the same amount of money and time.”

The workload doesn’t seem to faze him either. “Visual effects people are a big, big ‘Star Trek’ fandom,” he says. “You naturally just get all these people who go a little bit above and beyond, and you can’t trade that for anything.”

In one of Kurtzman’s several production offices in Toronto, he and production designer Matthew Davies are scrutinizing a series of concept drawings for the newest “Star Trek” show, “Starfleet Academy.” A bit earlier, they showed me their plans for the series’ central academic atrium, a sprawling, two-story structure that will include a mess hall, amphitheater, trees, catwalks, multiple classrooms and a striking view of the Golden Gate Bridge in a single, contiguous space. To fit it all, they plan to use every inch of Pinewood Toronto’s 45,900 square foot soundstage, the largest in Canada.

But this is a “Star Trek” show, so there do need to be starships, and Kurtzman is discussing with Davies about how one of them should look. The issue is that “Starfleet Academy” is set in the 32nd century, an era so far into the future Kurtzman and his team need to invent much of its design language.

“For me, this design is almost too Klingon,” Kurtzman says. “I want to see the outline and instinctively, on a blink, recognize it as a Federation ship.”

The time period was first introduced on Season 3 of “Discovery,” when the lead character, Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), transported the namesake starship and its crew there from the 23rd century. “It was exciting, because every time we would make a decision, we would say, ‘And now that’s canon,’” says Martin-Green.

“We listened to a lot of it,” Kurtzman says. “I think I’ve been able to separate the toxic fandom from really true fans who love ‘Star Trek’ and want you to hear what they have to say about what they would like to see.”

By Season 2, the “Discovery” writers pivoted from its dour, war-torn first season and sent the show on its trajectory 900-plus years into the future. “We had to be very aware of making sure that Spock was in the right place and that Burnham’s existence was explained properly, because she was never mentioned in the original series,” says executive producer and showrunner Michelle Paradise. “What was fun about jumping into the future is that it was very much fresh snow.”

That freedom affords “Starfleet Academy” far more creative latitude while also dramatically reducing how much the show’s target audience of tweens and teens needs to know about “Star Trek” before watching — which puts them on the same footing as the students depicted in the show. “These are kids who’ve never had a red alert before,” Noga Landau, executive producer and co-showrunner, says. “They never had to operate a transporter or be in a phaser fight.”

In the “Starfleet Academy” writers’ room in Secret Hideout’s Santa Monica offices, Kurtzman tells the staff — a mix of “Star Trek” die-hards, part-time fans and total newbies — that he wants to take a 30,000-foot view for a moment. “I think we need to ground in science more throughout the show,” he says, a giant framed photograph of Spock ears just over his shoulder. “The kids need to use science more to solve problems.”

Immediately, one of the writers brightens. “Are you saying we can amp up the techno-babble?” she says. “I’m just excited I get to use my computer science degree.”

After they break for lunch, Kurtzman is asked how much longer he plans to keep making “Star Trek.” 

“The minute I fall out of love with it is the minute that it’s not for me anymore. I’m not there yet,” he says. “To be able to build in this universe to tell stories that are fundamentally about optimism and a better future at a time when the world seems to be falling apart — it’s a really powerful place to live every day.”

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