Star Trek: Insurrection
Director:Jonathan Frakes
Screenplay:Michael Piller
Starring:Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, Michael
Dorn, Levar Burton, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, F. Murray Abraham, Donna Murphy,
Anthony Zerbe
John's Review
��� Since the inception of Star Trek, the mission of the various
Enterprise spacecrafts has been to boldly go where no one has gone before. In the newest Star Trek feature film, Star Trek Insurrection, the crew of the Enterprise
go where Frank Capra took movie gooers in his classic film Lost Horizon back in 1933
(which happens to be one of my all-time favorites).
Insurrection calls this utopian world the planet of the Ba'ku, but there's no disguising the fact it's really a galactic version of Capra's Shangri-La.
Like the inhabitants of Shangri-La, the Ba'ku have stumbled on a paradise that slows the
aging process.
��� When Cpt. Picard (Stewart) is smitten by the beautiful, serene and almost exotic Anij (Murphy), he is understandably intrigued to learn that she is not 35
but actually 350 years old. What shocks Picard is his discovery that there are plans afoot
to relocate the peaceful Ba'ku without their knowledge and to use technology to steal the
life-giving powers of their planet.� He is then horrified to learn that the Federation is behind this.
��� Though it's never actually dealt with in Insurrection, anyone familiar with Lost Horizon knows that on their new planet, the unsuspecting Ba'ku will age at a rapid rate. The argument of the masterminds behind the elaborate kidnapping scheme is that the lives of a mere 600 Ba'ku are nothing compared to the countless millions who will benefit medically from the metaphysic radiation that reverses the aging process.
The first half of Insurrection, which plays as a sci-fi version of Lost Horizon, is great fun as Picard and his crew members begin to feel the effects of the Ba'ku rings. Worf
(Dorn) begins experiencing side- effects of puberty while Geordi (Burton) gains sight. Riker (Frakes) and Troi (Sirtis) feel particularly amorous and even the android Data (Spiner) is not not entirely unaffected.
��� How and why all this happens is explained in a kind of leisurely, witty way. But it all does get explained, which is one of the reasons I enjoyed this film so much. Why not just take the life restoring radiation from the Ba'ku? Well, because when it is done the planet will be uninhabiatble for decades. Why hasn't anyone ever found this planet before? Because it is hidden from the rest of the galaxy by a belt of intergalactic
something or other (where's a trekkie when I need one?) Why not just kill the Ba'ku and take the radiation? Well, I'd answer this one, but it's kind of a plot point.
��� Then suddenly, Insurrection shifts gears into warp speed. The evil geniuses behind the unthinkable kidnap plot start beaming Ba'ku onto a spaceship, so Picard has to try to hide the remaining frightened Californians..er...pacifists in
mountain caves.
��� The conflict really heats up as the hideous Ru'afo (Abraham) who apparently smokes, eats red meat and all the other vises he really shouldn't do, and the duped Admiral Dougherty (Zerbe) try to prevent Picard from alerting the Federation to what
is happening. This means one chase sequence after another and a plethora of explosions.
��� Insurrection is pretty standard Star Trek fare and feels more like a two-part TV episode than a feature film. Still, there is enough clever humour and hi-tech action to keep fans of the franchise amused and excited. And although the special effects at times are a little week, by no meanse are they as near as bad as say... Star Trek V. Thanks to Jerry Goldsmith the music is right back on par with where it should be.
��� Much of the success of the film's jokes, morality and action is in direct proportion to the viewer's knowledge of Star Trek lore, so non-trekkies beware, it may all seem like goblygook to you.
��� What any viewer will instantly realize is that these are talented actors having fun with some pretty flimsy material.
They're having a grand old time eating up the scenery before the special-effects people
get time to blow it up.
Grade: B-
�
