My Favourite Movies: Star Trek - Insurrection

When Data apparently malfunctions and endangers a research Picard and the crew of Enterprise are called in to help shut him down. But Picard quickly discovers that not everything is as it first appears (is it ever I wonder?) when he realises that the Federation’s apparent allies in the research station are in fact running things and have their own questionable agenda. Once the agenda becomes clear Picard and the usual suspects amongst his crew determine to ruin it and expose the nefarious goings on in the locally named ‘Briar Patch’ to public scrutiny.

Despite the fact that Jonathan Frakes directed this and the rather questionable First Contact reviewed here recently, this was in many ways a much better, or at least much more consistent, film. Of course it was full of the usual silliness – the singing from HMS Pinafore to ‘reset’ Data back to normal or at least distract him, Riker and Diana Troy acting like puppies in love (yes, I know it’s all because of the metaphasic radiation, but still….), Data needing to be taught by a child the need for play and so on. As much as I’ve been a decades long fan of the Star Trek franchise these often folksy elements still grate a great deal. I’d much prefer them just to play things straight. I’m not against some humour to lighten the moment or a quip followed by a raised eyebrow but sometimes things do swing too close to comedy for my liking.

But what do I like about this film and why did it rank as one of my favourites? Part of it was that the silliness mentioned above was kept to an acceptable minimum. Patrick Stewart was on form as Picard and gave some very good performances. I particularly liked his ‘relocation’ speech. Although I would have liked him to have gone a little further but I guess it might have been a step too far. Over all the story was a good one, simple, strong and one that a great many people could identify with – the forced relocation of a small group for the benefit of a much larger and more powerful group. Insurrection is a tale of morality – when is ok for the majority, for whatever reason, to dictate to a minority? Because we can do something and because we want to do something is that a good enough reason to do it? The plot was actually handled surprisingly well and with some sensitivity. The Ba’Ku where clearly shown as an admirable people who had rejected technology to live a richer, fuller life – literally at a slower pace considering that they hardly age. The Son’a are the bad guys but have some complexity and a bit of depth that some Star Trek baddies aren’t given and of course it all ends well….. Though I would have liked to have seen a 5 years later kind of thing. After all there are 600 Ba’Ku on a planet at least the size of Mars or even Earth. If another 6 million lived on the other side of the planet they’d probably never even know. Talk about a premier vacation spot. Unspoilt planet, two weeks having fun, go back home two months or two years younger than when you arrived….. Now that would make an interesting story…..

One of the top selling points for me was the relationship between Picard and Anij played by the very lovely Donna Murphy who I found deeply captivating. It was about time Picard had a proper love interest and it was handled much better than the Riker and Troy relationship.

So, with a pretty good storyline, a reasonable amount of action, some solid bad guys and a strong central love story this actually turned out, for me at least, to be one of the best (if not the best) of the TNG Star Trek movies despite my ‘love’ of the Borg which is really saying something. Definitely one for Trek fans and not a bad film even if you’re not a dedicated Trekker.