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Special Features
- Over 2 hours of new special features:
- Text commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda
- Behind-the-scenes production featurettes
- Creating the Illusion: shuttle chase; Drones; Duck Blind
- The Star Trek Universe: Westmore's Aliens; Star Trek's Beautiful Alien Women
- Archives: story board and photo gallery
- Theatrical and teaser trailers
- Original promotional featurette
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Star Trek fans were decidedly mixed in their reactions to this, the ninth big-screen feature in Paramount's lucrative Trek franchise, but die-hard loyalists will appreciate the way this Next Generation adventure rekindles the spirit of the original Trek TV series while combining a tolerable dose of New-Agey philosophy with a lighthearted plot for the TNG cast. This time out, Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his executive crew must transport to a Shangri-la-like planet to see why their android crewmate Data (Brent Spiner) has run amuck in a village full of peaceful Ba'ku artisans who--thanks to their planet's "metaphasic radiation"--haven't aged in 309 years.
It turns out there's a conspiracy afoot, masterminded by the devious, gruesomely aged Ru'afo (F. Murray Abraham, hamming it up under makeup resembling a cosmetic surgeon's worst nightmare), who's in cahoots with a renegade Starfleet admiral (Anthony Zerbe, in one of his final screen roles). They covet the fountain-of-youth power of the Ba'ku planet, but because their takeover plan violates Starfleet's Prime Directive of noninterference, it's up to Picard and crew to stop the scheme. Along the way, they all benefit from the metaphasic effect, which manifests itself as Worf's puberty (visible as a conspicuous case of Klingon acne), Picard's youthful romance with a Ba'ku woman (the lovely Donna Murphy), the touching though temporary return of Geordi's natural eyesight, and a moment when Troi asks Dr. Crusher if she's noticed that her "boobs are firming up."
Some fans scoffed at these humorous asides, but they're what make this Trek film as entertaining as it is slightly disappointing. Without the laughs (including Data's rousing excerpt from Gilbert & Sullivan's HMS Pinafore), this is a pretty routine entry in the franchise, with no real surprises, a number of plot holes, and the overall appearance of a big-budget TV episode. As costar and director, Jonathan Frakes proves a capable carrier of the Star Trek flame--and it's nice to see women in their 40s portrayed as smart and sexy--but while this is surely an adequate Trek adventure, it doesn't quite rank with the best in the series. --Jeff Shannon
Product Description
When the crew of the Enterprise learns of the Federation plot against inhabitants of a unique planet, Capt. Picard begins an open rebellion in an effort to defend the planet’s people and the principles in which the Federation was founded.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
102 of 112 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Please note: This review is for the Special Edition of "Star Trek: Insurrection" released 6/7/05 and was updated.
Most of these reviews of Insurrection damn the film with faint praise. It wasn't this, it wasn't that. The Federation wouldn't do this. There's petty squabbles about legal points, etc. Writer Michael Piller clearly uses Star Trek Insurrection, much as Roddenberry did, as a soapbox to decry the injustices visited upon others. Usually he'd use Star Trek as a analogy of what had occurred in the past or present.
The next to last installment in the "Trek" film franchise, "Star Trek: Insurrection" received a bad rap from the very beginning. Despite the fact that it was scripted by one of the series best writers (Michael Piller a producer and writer on "The Dead Zone") and directed by series vet/actor Jonathan Frakes the film was seen as disappointing as a follow up to the action driven "Star Trek: First Contact". While the film certainly lacks the intensity of "First Contact", the humor and thoughtfulness that drove some of the best episodes of the TV series remain remarkably intact. "Insurrection" certainly is much, much closer to an expanded bigger budget TV episode but it is by no means a bad "Trek" film.
Data (Brent Spiner) while on a covert mission to gather information on an alien race called the Ba'ku malfunctions and exposes the mission to the natives. It seems that the radiation belt that surrounds the planet is a fountain of youth reversing aging for those that live there. The Federation in collaboration with a race called the Son'a plan on relocating the Ba'ku so that the Federation can "harvest" the radiation belt and use it to cure people of illnesses. The leader of the Son'a Ru'afo (F. Murray Abraham) demands that Vice-Admiral Dougherty (Anthony Zerbe) contact the Enterprise and find out how to deactivate or destroy the android. Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) elects to take the Enterprise there to the Ba'ku's planet and try deactivating Data while keeping him intact. He discovers a conspiracy among the Federation and the Son'a that he would never suspect.
While it appears this is the same digital transfer as the first DVD issue, there's considerably better detail and crisper images as the result of improvements made since that first disc appeared. The deep, rich blacks and bright vivid colors of the planet come to life on this DVD. The wonderfully rich 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround and DTS mixes both sound terrific using the surrounding speakers exceedingly well. The DTS mix has the edge here with a deeper, richer bass and better overall presence but the two are exceptionally close in quality otherwise.
Disc one is devoted to the film and text commentary. Disc two has all the extras on it. There's a number of deleted scenes including, most importantly, an alternate ending not previous seen. The alternate ending is actually fascinating although it might have been a bit confusing for some folks. Evidently Ru'afo's exposure to the metaphasic radiation turns him younger and younger. Sadly, the optical effects aren't in the alternate ending beyond some simple computer graphics. We also have Peter Lauritson introducing the deleted scenes and giving us background on why they didn't make it into the movie including an extended version of Ru'afo's facelift. Image quality for the deleted scenes aren't quite as good as the movie because they weren't color corrected and/or completed. We get more scenes of Riker and Troi flirting which are quite funny and actually would have worked within the film quite well as part of a "director's edition". There's also a scene where Picard kisses Anij that was cut.
"The Star Trek Universe" focuses on the aliens created by make up artist Michael Westmore and the beautiful alien women throughout the run of the entire series and films. Jonathan Frakes comments on his favorite alien women that Riker has seduced.
"Production" looks at everything from the creation of the Ba'ku village in Thousand Oaks, California to the creation of one of the most elaborate stunts that wasn't SEEN in the movie. We get to see Data save some of the Ba'ku fighting three aliens who are armed taking all three out with one punch. "Creating the Illusion" shows us how the visual effects were created for three sequences; the shuttle chase involving Data, Picard and Worf; when the drones attack trying to transport the Ba'ku and the sequence involving the Duck Blind at the beginning when Data reveals there are Federation personnel invisible among the Ba'ku in their village. Each one is introduced by co-producer/ 2nd unit director Peter Lauritson. We also see the storyboards for the sequence and what the visuals look like at various stages of production.
"The Story" features Michael Piller discussing their take on the screenplay. Piller relates the story to the obsessive culture of youth we live in and relates a personal experience that inspired the story. He discusses the metaphorical nature of the story but also the real world issues that underlie the story and that could be applied to the 21st century. We also get footage from the original featurette and interviews from around the same time incorporated into a new featurettte on the making of the movie. There's also a section on the advertising featuring the teaser trailer, theatrical trailer, the original promotional featurette that appeared on the previous DVD and the Borg Invasion Trailer for the Las Vegas attraction. There's an archieve section with Storyboards and a photo gallery.
"Director's Notebook" consists of video footage shot behind the scenes of Frakes shooting the film. Featuring a new interview with Frakes discussing the approach to the story which he felt wasn't quite as strong as "First Contact". He felt that the look of the movie was a highlight of the film. He also discusses the difficulty in balancing the story so that both old Trek fans can enjoy it but also so that new Trek fans won't feel excluded. It's tremendously difficult with a franchise with so much backstory as the franchise has. He also discusses the challenges of acting in a film he's directing.
Oh, and keep your eye out for Easter eggs on the second disc. There's one that shows the craft services food and Marina Sirtis discussing how difficult it is for the actors to remain so slim. It's a bit tongue-in-cheek but also interesting. Look for some of the little logos to the left and right of the area where the menu is and click on them to access the Easter eggs.
Surprisingly Jonathan Frakes either wasn't asked or elected not to do a commentary track for this film. It's a pity because Frakes' entertaining commentary track for "First Contact" was a highlight of that disc. He knows when to say something informative and when to stay quiet letting the film do the talking. Many directors could take lessons from Frakes in terms of doing a commentary track.
There is an extensive text commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda that's both informative with trivia about everything from Gilbert and Sullivan, to set redresses from the "Voyager" TV show and "First Contact" movie. There's also humor which has been a hallmark of all the text commentary tracks that the Okudas have done. There's also plenty of trivia about various episodes and how they relate to the film. Of course, there's also some useless information that is there just to be there but, on the whole, the Okudas continue to be a fount of useful "Trek" information.
"Insurrection" certainly deserved the deluxe treatment that "First Contact", "Generations" and "Nemesis" received in their DVD incarnations. Hopefully "Nemesis" (one of the most polarizing of "Trek" releases) will also be expanded to a two disc edition but incorporate the best features of the previous version. While not the best of the "Trek" films, "Insurrection" is a good, solid adventure that has lots of humor and fun throughout the film. The visual effects are, as usual, spectacular and this is our first glimpse of a completely computer generated Enterprise in a film. A top notch release from Paramount, I'd be curious to see how Paramount could possibly improve this edition when they release the High Definition version of this film on disc.
Most of these reviews of Insurrection damn the film with faint praise. It wasn't this, it wasn't that. The Federation wouldn't do this. There's petty squabbles about legal points, etc. Writer Michael Piller clearly uses Star Trek Insurrection, much as Roddenberry did, as a soapbox to decry the injustices visited upon others. Usually he'd use Star Trek as a analogy of what had occurred in the past or present.
The next to last installment in the "Trek" film franchise, "Star Trek: Insurrection" received a bad rap from the very beginning. Despite the fact that it was scripted by one of the series best writers (Michael Piller a producer and writer on "The Dead Zone") and directed by series vet/actor Jonathan Frakes the film was seen as disappointing as a follow up to the action driven "Star Trek: First Contact". While the film certainly lacks the intensity of "First Contact", the humor and thoughtfulness that drove some of the best episodes of the TV series remain remarkably intact. "Insurrection" certainly is much, much closer to an expanded bigger budget TV episode but it is by no means a bad "Trek" film.
Data (Brent Spiner) while on a covert mission to gather information on an alien race called the Ba'ku malfunctions and exposes the mission to the natives. It seems that the radiation belt that surrounds the planet is a fountain of youth reversing aging for those that live there. The Federation in collaboration with a race called the Son'a plan on relocating the Ba'ku so that the Federation can "harvest" the radiation belt and use it to cure people of illnesses. The leader of the Son'a Ru'afo (F. Murray Abraham) demands that Vice-Admiral Dougherty (Anthony Zerbe) contact the Enterprise and find out how to deactivate or destroy the android. Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) elects to take the Enterprise there to the Ba'ku's planet and try deactivating Data while keeping him intact. He discovers a conspiracy among the Federation and the Son'a that he would never suspect.
While it appears this is the same digital transfer as the first DVD issue, there's considerably better detail and crisper images as the result of improvements made since that first disc appeared. The deep, rich blacks and bright vivid colors of the planet come to life on this DVD. The wonderfully rich 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround and DTS mixes both sound terrific using the surrounding speakers exceedingly well. The DTS mix has the edge here with a deeper, richer bass and better overall presence but the two are exceptionally close in quality otherwise.
Disc one is devoted to the film and text commentary. Disc two has all the extras on it. There's a number of deleted scenes including, most importantly, an alternate ending not previous seen. The alternate ending is actually fascinating although it might have been a bit confusing for some folks. Evidently Ru'afo's exposure to the metaphasic radiation turns him younger and younger. Sadly, the optical effects aren't in the alternate ending beyond some simple computer graphics. We also have Peter Lauritson introducing the deleted scenes and giving us background on why they didn't make it into the movie including an extended version of Ru'afo's facelift. Image quality for the deleted scenes aren't quite as good as the movie because they weren't color corrected and/or completed. We get more scenes of Riker and Troi flirting which are quite funny and actually would have worked within the film quite well as part of a "director's edition". There's also a scene where Picard kisses Anij that was cut.
"The Star Trek Universe" focuses on the aliens created by make up artist Michael Westmore and the beautiful alien women throughout the run of the entire series and films. Jonathan Frakes comments on his favorite alien women that Riker has seduced.
"Production" looks at everything from the creation of the Ba'ku village in Thousand Oaks, California to the creation of one of the most elaborate stunts that wasn't SEEN in the movie. We get to see Data save some of the Ba'ku fighting three aliens who are armed taking all three out with one punch. "Creating the Illusion" shows us how the visual effects were created for three sequences; the shuttle chase involving Data, Picard and Worf; when the drones attack trying to transport the Ba'ku and the sequence involving the Duck Blind at the beginning when Data reveals there are Federation personnel invisible among the Ba'ku in their village. Each one is introduced by co-producer/ 2nd unit director Peter Lauritson. We also see the storyboards for the sequence and what the visuals look like at various stages of production.
"The Story" features Michael Piller discussing their take on the screenplay. Piller relates the story to the obsessive culture of youth we live in and relates a personal experience that inspired the story. He discusses the metaphorical nature of the story but also the real world issues that underlie the story and that could be applied to the 21st century. We also get footage from the original featurette and interviews from around the same time incorporated into a new featurettte on the making of the movie. There's also a section on the advertising featuring the teaser trailer, theatrical trailer, the original promotional featurette that appeared on the previous DVD and the Borg Invasion Trailer for the Las Vegas attraction. There's an archieve section with Storyboards and a photo gallery.
"Director's Notebook" consists of video footage shot behind the scenes of Frakes shooting the film. Featuring a new interview with Frakes discussing the approach to the story which he felt wasn't quite as strong as "First Contact". He felt that the look of the movie was a highlight of the film. He also discusses the difficulty in balancing the story so that both old Trek fans can enjoy it but also so that new Trek fans won't feel excluded. It's tremendously difficult with a franchise with so much backstory as the franchise has. He also discusses the challenges of acting in a film he's directing.
Oh, and keep your eye out for Easter eggs on the second disc. There's one that shows the craft services food and Marina Sirtis discussing how difficult it is for the actors to remain so slim. It's a bit tongue-in-cheek but also interesting. Look for some of the little logos to the left and right of the area where the menu is and click on them to access the Easter eggs.
Surprisingly Jonathan Frakes either wasn't asked or elected not to do a commentary track for this film. It's a pity because Frakes' entertaining commentary track for "First Contact" was a highlight of that disc. He knows when to say something informative and when to stay quiet letting the film do the talking. Many directors could take lessons from Frakes in terms of doing a commentary track.
There is an extensive text commentary by Michael and Denise Okuda that's both informative with trivia about everything from Gilbert and Sullivan, to set redresses from the "Voyager" TV show and "First Contact" movie. There's also humor which has been a hallmark of all the text commentary tracks that the Okudas have done. There's also plenty of trivia about various episodes and how they relate to the film. Of course, there's also some useless information that is there just to be there but, on the whole, the Okudas continue to be a fount of useful "Trek" information.
"Insurrection" certainly deserved the deluxe treatment that "First Contact", "Generations" and "Nemesis" received in their DVD incarnations. Hopefully "Nemesis" (one of the most polarizing of "Trek" releases) will also be expanded to a two disc edition but incorporate the best features of the previous version. While not the best of the "Trek" films, "Insurrection" is a good, solid adventure that has lots of humor and fun throughout the film. The visual effects are, as usual, spectacular and this is our first glimpse of a completely computer generated Enterprise in a film. A top notch release from Paramount, I'd be curious to see how Paramount could possibly improve this edition when they release the High Definition version of this film on disc.
14 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
OK, lets face it. We want to love Star Trek movies because we feel so apart of the series. And for the most part, the movies just don't hit their mark. As a movie, this one probably ranks fourth in the series behind, Kahn, IV, and First Contact. But it's certainly not a bad film, which can't be said for about half of the Star Trek movies. However, if you have a sub woofer, surround sound speakers and are buying this for your 5.1 DVD... Pull out your wallet and get it. Star Trek is perfect for DVD. The Laser Fights, the Space Battles, the hiding in caves during an alien bombing give ample opportunity to be pounded into your chairs. In DVD no one can hear you scream, simply because the movie is so darn loud. I LOVE IT. So if you're a Star Trek fan or just someone who enjoys your home theater. Pull out your wallet and have a great time. However, if you don't have 5.1 DVD with all the trimmings, buy the wrath of Kahn, or simply go buy a better movie.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I've read many reviews, with most being off or not thought out. Insurrection was a really good installment, it just had a hard act to follow. For those who say it was a giant tv episode, it can't hold a candle in that department compared to Generations.
What gets me is people complaining about too strong of a humorous element. Star Trek has always held some humor in it. From Bones and Spock arguing, to Data's misunderstandings, Quark in general, the Doctor and Neelix, humor has always been a strong element. Besides, this isn't even the funniest movie in the series. Everybody remember The Voyage Home? Kirk and Spock trying to get around in 1985, along with Chekov just being Chekov, made #4 a lot funnier.
There are some holes in the plot, but not as many as you'd think. Like, why was Data on that planet in the first place? And what was so special that Worf took a vacation and happened to on board. Besides a few others, this movie was very good, albeit not quite as good as First Contact. Fear not though, I guess that they are going all out in Star Trek X: Nemesis.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Star Trek: Insurrection
It was a good movie, but you need to provide more movies like. I am a Star Trek fan so its hard for me not to appreciate the movie.
Published 1 day ago by Roshawn Clark
5.0 out of 5 stars
I liked it. So there.
The movie was entertaining and everything one would expect from a tv to big screen production. Kudos Keep up the good work. Party on. Am I to twenty words yet?
Published 15 days ago by JC
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Measage of the Prime Directive...
I have always loved this movie. I love the interaction of the actors, and how they embrace the futuristic concepts well. They really know their craft! :-)
Published 20 days ago by Kimberly A. Johnson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Trekkie
Great story, always fun to re-watch the old favorites. These movies should be archived as Gene Roddenbury was a man ahead of his time.
Published 1 month ago by Dale Gibson
2.0 out of 5 stars
Star Trek for younger folks
I thought I was watching the real Star Trek but turned it off as soon as I saw it was not. Sure wish Amazon would put Star Wars on Prime. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Micheala A. Johanson
5.0 out of 5 stars
a great film
The best of star trek including a scary enemy, thrilling action and awesome effects with humor and funny jokes. Dont miss it
Published 2 months ago by Sean
3.0 out of 5 stars
Well, It's An Odd-Numbered Star Trek Movie
Need I say more? It sure seems like the odd-numbered Star Trek movies are subpar. The franchise showed so much promise after the successful and high-rated First Contact; now we're... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Todd7
3.0 out of 5 stars
Standard Next Generation Fare
I just caught this on television. This is the one Next Generation movie I missed when it came to the theater. I really didn't miss much it seems. Read more
Published 2 months ago by David F. Mamrak
4.0 out of 5 stars
It's Pure Prime Directive
For Star Trek affectionados (Trekkers) this movie does use the Prime Directive concept as an element of the story, but rather, puts it up front and center by raising the stakes. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Marshall Masters
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Descent View
Some of the movies are over the top in their effort to appeal to the public at large, rather than hard core trekkies. This one, however, has more trekkie appeal than mass appeal.
Published 2 months ago by S. Immak
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