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times on "The Next Generation") that she and Soran were both trapped inside the Nexus, and they had experienced "utter joy" by living out their fantasies. In Soran's case, as we learn in the film, his entire family was killed by an alien race known as the Borg, and Soran feels he would be getting them back by entering the Nexus. Though we learn that life that one would experience after entering this nirvana is not real.

Though Picard tries to stop Soran as he attempts to destroy one last planet (which will kill millions of people who are a pre-industrial humanoid society that reside on one of the other planets of the local solar system), both men are drawn into the Nexus. After experiencing his own personal joy, Picard meets Kirk who (surprise, surprise) is alive and well. After some convincing from Picard, Kirk agrees leave the Nexus with Picard after they both discover they can travel to anytime they wish. From there they travel back to before before Soran destroys the planet, and the Enterprise which has crash-landed on the planet after a fierce space battle (with non-other than a group of dumb Klingons who were in league with Soran so that he could build them a wepon based on the that destroys stars). After acheiving victory, Kirk dies, and Picard's crew take over the film series.

The film itself is a little plot-driven if you think about it. It deals more with the death of Kirk, and it hardly focuses as much on "The Next Generation." Though it does have its moments such as Picard dealing with the recent loss of his family through a fire accident, and how it affects him very emotionally. Still, many would have like to have seen Picard be strong rather than show weakness. For a man who is as much an explorer as he has the soul of a poet, he has to be strong. Especially, if you want to introduce him to new fans. The same feeling applies with Kirk who is dealing with his own issues of never "making a differance" as the captain of a starship, or dealing with the loss of never having been with his one great love. Though in Kirk's case that could mean anything especially since he's been a womanizer from the get-go. However, the one character who steals the movie is the android Data (played excellently by Brent Spiner) as his character is given an emotion chip which allows him to be more human. Through Data's transition, he experiences anger, sadness, and great comedy. He even has the chance to utter the first cuss-word for this film. It just made me role over with laughter.

Another sad point to consider is the loss of action with this film. The character of Soran could have been a little more menacing rather being a lost soul. Though Malcom McDowell does his best with the film especially in the scenes between him and Patrick Stewart. There could have been more space battles, and not having epic encounters with dumb villains like the Klingons. Another point to consider is that many fans wanted both Captain Kirk and Picard to be at odds with each other. For me, I was all up for the idea of a cross-over between the gung-ho hero and the other being a man of diplomacy. Because lets face it both men could be right and wrong when it comes to a certain situation, and they would be better working together. Though it would have made the plot better. Still you can leave it to William shatner to satisfy that need when he brought Kirk back from the dead in his novel "Star Trek: The Return," and forced him to kill Picard. I can just see the smiling faces from the fans at that thought.

Through it all, the film is good for what it is, though it could have been done better.

Learn more about this author, Ryan Burton.
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