XPost: rec.arts.tv, alt.startrek, alt.tv.star-trek   
   XPost: rec.arts.sf.tv   
   From: weberm@polaris.net   
      
   The fourth and final Star Trek: The Next Generation movie, Star Trek:   
   Nemesis, put a nail in the coffin of what was—at the time—a dying Star Trek   
   franchise. Star Trek: Nemesis saw Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart)   
   confront a younger clone of himself, Shinzon (Tom Hardy), who had been   
   created by Romulans to secretly replace Picard. Shinzon had been discarded to   
   the mines of Remus before becoming the new Romulan Praetor to exact his   
   revenge. Star Trek: Nemesis' subplot featured the discovery of B-4 (Brent   
   Spiner), an inferior Soong-type android built before Lt. Commander Data   
   (Brent Spiner).   
      
   In theory, Star Trek: Nemesis' high-stakes cinematic action, with a   
   screenplay and story by Academy Award-nominated John Logan with Brent Spiner,   
   was designed to draw casual moviegoers. Further, Star Trek: Nemesis' themes   
   of identity and duality in its Picard and Data storylines were supposed to   
   create that cerebral Star Trek touch. In practice, Star Trek: Nemesis fell   
   apart by packing its 1 hour and 57 minute runtime with more style than   
   substance. Star Trek: Insurrection's lukewarm reception soured suits on   
   Jonathan Frakes taking the helm again, but franchise newcomer Stuart Baird   
   directed Nemesis like a Star Trek movie that was afraid to be Star Trek,   
   leaving Star Trek: The Next Generation's beloved ensemble rudderless and   
   inconsistent.   
      
   Star Trek: Nemesis’ Ending Explained   
   Captain Picard And Lt. Commander Data Team Up To Destroy Shinzon   
   Star Trek: Nemesis ends with a face-off between the USS Enterprise-E and   
   Shinzon's massive starship, the Scimitar. Shinzon vowed to take revenge by   
   using deadly thalaron radiation to wipe out all life on Earth, which the   
   Enterprise must prevent at all costs. Romulan Commander Donatra (Dina Meyer)   
   arrives to help the Enterprise, not Shinzon, citing "internal security".   
   While the Scimitar is distracted by Donatra's Warbirds, Counselor Deanna Troi   
   (Marina Sirtis) empathically locates Shinzon's cloaked ship, and opens fire.   
   The Enterprise is outgunned, however, and Remans board the ship to seize what   
   Shinzon truly wants: Captain Picard.   
      
   There have been thirteen Star Trek movies over the last 40 years, but which   
   is the boldest big-screen adventure to go where no man has gone before?   
      
   Rather than suffer more casualties, Picard yields to Reman capture, while   
   Data crosses the space between the Enterprise and Scimitar's open hulls. As   
   the thalaron emitter charges, Shinzon and Jean-Luc meet in single combat,   
   with Picard victoriously spearing Shinzon, who's consumed by his own hubris.   
   Data places an emergency transport key on his captain and beams Picard back   
   to the Enterprise, before Data destroys the thalaraon emitter, sacrificing   
   himself in the process. Data's memory is celebrated on the Enterprise-E, and   
   Donatra promises Picard a friend in the Romulan Empire.   
      
   Shinzon's determination to find and unleash the darkness in Picard's heart is   
   his own downfall,   
      
   At the end of Star Trek: Nemesis, Shinzon's determination to find and unleash   
   the darkness in Picard's heart is his own downfall. Shinzon and Picard share   
   DNA and a sense of justice for the downtrodden, but Shinzon insists that   
   Jean-Luc would be as megalomaniacal as Shinzon is had Picard also been raised   
   in the darkness of the Reman mines. Picard's equally steadfast insistence   
   that Shinzon is capable of doing good only proves how alike they are, instead   
   of supporting the movie's stated point that their backgrounds make them   
   different.   
      
   At the end of Star Trek: Nemesis, Lieutenant Commander Data heroically   
   sacrifices himself to destroy Shinzon's thalaron emitter and save all life on   
   Earth. Data's act of bravery ensures the Federation's survival, but   
   ultimately contributes to Star Trek: Nemesis' reputation as a franchise-   
   killer. Compared to Spock's (Leonard Nimoy) death in Star Trek II: The Wrath   
   of Khan, Data's death rings hollow. Unlike The Wrath of Khan building to   
   Spock's sacrifice, Nemesis doesn't have a narrative throughline that supports   
   Data's decision, and his replacement is already lined up in B-4.   
      
   Data’s death in Star Trek: Nemesis was supposed to provide the film with an   
   emotional climax, but it was an unworthy end to a much beloved character.   
      
   Brent Spiner co-wrote Star Trek: Nemesis' story with John Logan, creating his   
   own graceful exit from Star Trek by killing off Data. As an android, Data   
   wasn't supposed to age, and Spiner's advancing years were becoming more   
   difficult to mask with Data's makeup. Star Trek: Nemesis ended with B-4 in   
   possession of Data's memories on the USS Enterprise-E, however, leaving the   
   door open for Spiner's return in a future Star Trek: The Next Generation   
   movie.   
      
   Star Trek: Nemesis set up a potential fifth Star Trek: The Next Generation   
   movie that never happened. Conceptualized by Nemesis screenwriter John Logan   
   and Brent Spiner, the final TNG movie would have been a crossover between   
   Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek:   
   Voyager. Characters from all three TNG-era Star Trek series were slated to   
   join forces against a massive threat that only a team-up between Star Trek's   
   finest could thwart. Just as Star Trek Generations passed the franchise to   
   the TNG cast, the Nemesis follow-up would have led to DS9 or Voyager movies.   
      
   Waning interest in Star Trek as a franchise, low box-office returns, and poor   
   fan reception led to Star Trek: Nemesis ultimately killing future Star Trek:   
   The Next Generation movies. As Star Trek: Enterprise's pivot to earlier in   
   the Star Trek timeline suggested Star Trek might be done with the 24th   
   century, Star Trek: Nemesis opened to a disappointing US$18.5 million box   
   office. Ticket sales dropped 76% for Nemesis' second weekend, indicating fans   
   were dissatisfied with the latest TNG movie. Star Trek: Nemesis closed three   
   months later, after grossing a woeful $43.25 million domestically.   
      
   *********************************************************************   
   Film Title		US & Canada	Worldwide	Budget   
   ----------		-----------	---------	------   
   Star Trek Generations	$75,671,125	$118,071,125 	$38 million   
   Star Trek: First Contact $92,027,888	$146,027,888 	$46 million   
   Star Trek: Insurrection $70,187,658	$112,587,658 	$70 million   
   Star Trek: Nemesis 	$43,254,409	$67,336,470 	$60 million   
   *********************************************************************   
      
   Seven years passed before Star Trek returned to cinemas with J.J. Abrams'   
   2009 reboot. The Kelvin Timeline Star Trek movies were a change of pace that   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)