Star Trek: Nemesis

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Star Trek: Nemesis
Directed by	Stuart Baird
Produced by	Rick Berman
Written by	John Logan Rick Berman Brent Spiner
Starring	See table
Music by	Jerry Goldsmith
Cinematography	Jeffrey L. Kimball
Editing by	Dallas Puett
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	December 13, 2002
Running time	116 min.
Language	English
Budget	$60,000,000
Preceded by	Star Trek: Insurrection
Followed by	Star Trek XI
IMDb profile

Star Trek: Nemesis (Paramount Pictures, 2002) is the tenth feature film based on the popular Star Trek science fiction television series. It was a box office failure, and is likely the last Star Trek film to feature the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Contents 1 Cast 2 Plot summary 3 Themes 4 Deleted scenes 5 Critical reception 6 Future films 7 Notes and trivia 8 DVD releases 9 References 10 External links

[edit] Cast

Actor	Role
Patrick Stewart	Captain Jean-Luc Picard
Brent Spiner	Commander Data/B-4
Jonathan Frakes	Captain William T. Riker
LeVar Burton	Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge
Michael Dorn	Lt. Commander Worf
Gates McFadden	Commander (Dr.) Beverly Crusher
Marina Sirtis	Counselor Deanna Troi
Ron Perlman	Reman Viceroy
Tom Hardy	Praetor Shinzon
Dina Meyer	Romulan Commander Donatra
Jude Ciccolella	Romulan Commander Suran
Kate Mulgrew	Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway
Whoopi Goldberg	Guinan (uncredited)
Wil Wheaton	Lt. Wesley Crusher

[edit] Plot summary

While the crew of the USS Enterprise prepares to bid farewell to longtime first officer, now Captain, William T. Riker and Counselor Deanna Troi, who have married each other in Alaska, they find the remnants of an android resembling Lieutenant Commander Data on a planet close to the Romulan Neutral Zone called Kolarus III. When the android is reassembled, it reveals its name as B-4, a predecessor to Data.

The ship is then ordered by Admiral Kathryn Janeway to a diplomatic mission to Romulus, the homeworld of the Romulan Star Empire, which has undergone a military coup and is now controlled by a mysterious young Reman named Shinzon. The Romulan Praetor Shinzon proves to be a clone of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, who appears to want peace but has some nasty plans for both the Romulans and the Federation.

The Enterprise crew detects a break-in on the ship's computer systems, and Picard is captured by the Remans because Shinzon needs him as his only matching supplier of genetic material needed to repair his body, which will otherwise rapidly degenerate as a result of the process used to artificially age his clone body. The crew finds out that B-4 is a spy who helped transfer information from the Enterprise to Shinzon, and is able to replace him with Data to rescue Picard. Picard and the crew subsequently find themselves battling Shinzon's completely cloaked Warbird, the Scimitar, which is Shinzon's custom-built weapon designed for one purpose: the complete destruction of Earth.

With the assistance of two Romulan warbirds whose captains and crews are not loyal to Shinzon, a space battle ensues in which the Scimitar is eventually crippled at great cost: the warbirds are damaged and forced to back off and the Enterprise rams the Scimitar, sustaining heavy damage to the forward half of the saucer section. Shinzon then activates the Scimitar's superweapon, bent on taking the Enterprise down with him. Picard and Data board it to stop the weapon, and Data ultimately sacrifices himself to save Picard and the Enterprise.

At the end B-4, into whom Data had copied the seeds of his neural net, starts haltingly singing parts of a song Data was practicing for the wedding at the start of the film, in the same manner that, as noted by Riker, Data would often try to whistle a tune but fail when he first signed on at the Enterprise.

[edit] Themes

The film has two major story arcs. One features Picard meeting his opposite in Shinzon and having to think his way out of his usual patterns to out-fight himself. As such, the experience of seeing Picard meet a younger, nastier version of himself is reminiscent of several original series episodes, most notably "The Enemy Within". Hardy was widely praised for his acting skills opposite Stewart.

The second arc involves Data meeting — after a fashion — his opposite in B-4 (he has previously encountered another double of himself, Lore, who is genuinely evil; B-4 is simply less advanced, a prototype of the android). Data eventually makes the ultimate sacrifice to demonstrate his humanity, and his emotional growth and maturity combined with his reactions to the events around him are the most touching moments of the film. This sub-plot is reminiscent of the Spock-McCoy story arc in Star Trek II & III. Spock "uploads" his memories (katra) into McCoy at the end of STII and then a "new" Spock, albeit with the same memories and a comparably aged body, is brought back in STIII. Likewise, Data uploads aspects of himself to B-4 before his destruction.

Much of the film is devoted to the quest of a few of the protagonists to discover what it is to be human. After discovering that his clone is quite different to what he is, Picard is left wondering what it means to be human. He doubts his ability to defeat Shinzon, given that they are technically the same person, despite the appearance that they are opposites. Picard eventually discovers, or at least concludes, that to be human is to try to improve on one's self. Throughout his time with Data, he realizes that it was Data who understood this more than anyone else and this influences and inspires Picard to come to this conclusion.

Thematically, the plot of Nemesis is an example of power corrupting and the need for vengeance driving an individual over the edge to his doom, as also exemplified in the original series films by Khan Noonien Singh in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and in literature in Moby Dick.

Another take on the film's theme is that it is about the conflict between two different philosophies on human nature: a materialist philosophy that states that human nature is the product of an individual's experiences, and a spiritual philosophy that human beings share a common nature and hence a "soul." In this case, the theme is not about power corrupting, but about the role of human agency (free will) in a person's life. Each man must decide what actions he will take, but the real conflict is over whether he can choose to be a certain type of person, and therefore, what defines a person: his essence or his actions? It is the first Trek film to deal expressly with human nature, a notable delay considering so many Trek episodes have dealt with human nature (plots revolving around Spock, Data, Odo, and The Doctor in each of the respective series). While other films (Star Trek III and V) have focused on spiritual matters, they did not focus on human nature as such, Star Trek III using Spock's katra as a device to further the Genesis plotline and Star Trek V examining the nature of God, not of Man.

[edit] Deleted scenes

The film, as with Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, was cut by about a third from a much longer running time. Many of the deleted scenes in the movie were "character moments", which served to further the characters' relationship with one another. A frequent criticism of "Nemesis" is that many of these deleted scenes contain the best acting, emotional, and thematic content in the story, but all were deleted for time in favor of keeping special effects or action sequences. Rick Berman has admitted that about 50 minutes worth of scenes were filmed, but cut (though not necessarily all of them were usable in a final form, some might be redundant with other scenes, etc.). Several deleted scenes make up about 17 minutes of this original footage and were released with the DVD of the film. These 17 minutes of deleted scenes include:

• A private conversation between Picard and Data over a glass of wine in which they discuss the fact the crew of the Enterprise is starting to move on with their lives.
• Early introduction of Shinzon in the film (right after the wedding reception). This is the scene that includes the dialogue from the theatrical trailers, "But in darkness there is strength..." (Viceroy) and "The time we have dreamed of is at hand... the mighty Federation will fall before us..." (Shinzon).
• The second "mind-rape" scene of Counselor Troi in the Turbolift. It also includes Shinzon's line from the teaser, "Don't fear."
• A scene of Picard walking with Troi down a corridor and Troi explaining to him that he and Shinzon are two different people. This scene includes the line from the trailer, "it was like a part of me had been stolen..." (Picard)
• Sick-bay getting ready for battle, in which a short dialogue between Dr. Crusher and Picard is shown.
• An extended version of the scene in which Crusher visits Picard in his quarters. In this extended version Crusher tells Picard that Shinzon is a different person, not the man she has known for over 30 years. Picard kisses Crusher on the cheek to thank her for her visit.
• Worf warning Picard about the Romulans just before they leave for Romulus. This scene includes the dialogue from the trailer, "I recommend extreme caution..." (Worf)
• Riker and Troi discussing their honeymoon plans with Worf.
• An extended version of Picard's first meeting with Shinzon.
• Original extended ending - A new First Officer (Commander Martin Madden), is introduced on board the Enterprise and two funny moments are shown afterward. Riker tells Madden to call Captain Picard "Jean-Luc". Later in a conversation with Picard he does so and Picard only grins at Madden and Madden notices that Riker has pulled his leg. This scene is where the Enterprise finally gets seat belts. At the end Picard tells the crew that their next assignment is to survey a planet, which Picard thinks the crew will find interesting, because it is a place "where no one has gone before".

Nemesis was to have been the first Star Trek film to feature the character of Wesley Crusher (played by actor Wil Wheaton). However, his scenes were almost entirely cut from the film, leaving only a brief cameo during the wedding scene, in which he has no dialogue; as a result, he has none in the final theatrical print of the film at all. A deleted scene on the collector's edition DVD features a brief conversation between Wesley and Picard that explains that Wesley has returned to Starfleet and is a member of Captain Riker's engineering crew on the USS Titan. The scene does not address Wesley's adventures with the Traveler, with whom he left in the seventh season of TNG after leaving Starfleet Academy, but instead regresses Wesley's personality to his appearance in Season 5's "The Game" and ignores the fact that Wesley was never shown to actually graduate from Starfleet Academy (though enough time had elapsed since the seventh season of TNG that he possibly could have returned to and graduated from the Academy in the interim).

[edit] Critical reception

The movie's gross domestic income was the lowest of the series at $43,254,409 as of December 2004. It was also the first Trek film to not open at #1 at the US box office. It earned $67,312,826 worldwide on a budget of $60,000,000. Some fans have noted that Nemesis ends the perceived trend of even-numbered Trek films being better than odd-numbered films.^[1]

Burton and Sirtis appeared at the 2005 DragonCon in Atlanta, where they talked candidly about the failure of Nemesis at the box office. When hearing this from the interviewer (TrekTrak director Eric Watts), Burton bluntly replied, "That's because it sucked!", prompting boisterous laughter and applause from the audience. Later, Sirtis directly placed the blame on director Stuart Baird, claiming that up until Nemesis he had never watched a single episode of TNG.^[2]

An argument could be made that the studio released the movie at the worst possible time (December 13, 2002). This put the movie in direct competition against Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (released November 15, 2002), the 20th James Bond movie Die Another Day (released November 22, 2002) and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (released December 18, 2002). All three were sequels to hugely successful motion pictures and continued the trend of their predecessors. It is not known why the producers failed to take that fact into account but it is quite possible that wrong timing contributed significantly to the movie's lacklustre box office performance.

[edit] Future films

Main article: Star Trek XI

The poor performance of Nemesis, along with the generally low ratings of Star Trek: Enterprise (the series was cancelled in 2005) and the split of Viacom (parent company of Paramount and Star Trek) into two companies (one is what the old Viacom became–the "new" CBS Corporation–and the other is the "new" Viacom, which was spun-off from CBS), has left the franchise with an uncertain future. The rights to the Star Trek TV franchise are now owned by CBS Paramount Television, the successor-in-interest to the TV division of Paramount Pictures, which currently owns the home entertainment rights to the shows and movies. Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, and Patrick Stewart have all publicly said that The Next Generation has reached the end of the line and that probably no future Next Generation films (as it were) would be made. To that end, the not-so-subtle tagline of Nemesis was "A generation's final journey begins." Many of the TNG cast would have preferred to make a movie with more closure than Nemesis, as Star Trek VI was for the original series cast.

Nonetheless, in the summer of 2004, there were reports that pre-production work was under way on the 11th Star Trek film, which may, like Enterprise, be a prequel to the original Trek series. However, prior to the cancellation of Enterprise in early 2005, Paramount Pictures denied that an 11th movie was in production at that time. There have been rumors floating around various Trek websites that Paramount is less than pleased with the film's intended direction.

In late 2005, Patrick Stewart stated that he had attended several serious meetings with Paramount executives about doing another movie based on The Next Generation. This news was further added to when director Bryan Singer stated that he would be interested in directing a new Trek movie.

However, in April 2006, it was announced by Associated Press that the 11th Star Trek movie will be directed and produced by J. J. Abrams and co-produced by Damon Lindelof and Bryan Burk, who worked with Abrams on Lost. The most prevalent rumor suggested that the movie would be a prequel to the original series, with a re-cast young James T. Kirk. Abrams has since indicated that while he has an option to direct, he may only produce the film. The expected release date is anticipated to be in 2008, however Paramount has yet to announce an official date.

[edit] Notes and trivia

• Nemesis features a direct quote from the Bible. Picard quotes 1 Corinthians 13:12 as part of his scene with Data discussing the differences between Shinzon and Picard: "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." This reference is to the difference between light and darkness, implies a necessary maturation that includes mature thinking and actions instead of childishness, and refers to the "glass" or "mirror" that shows the differences between the men. Reference was also made to this in the title of the Star Trek: Enterprise episode "In a Mirror, Darkly".
• This is the first Star Trek film not to have any opening credits; only the title is shown, as the opening scenes of flying through space to Romulus would have been drawn out for too long.
• It was only the second Star Trek movie to receive an MPAA rating higher than PG (It was PG-13) The first was Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
• In the opening scene, set in the Romulan Senate chambers, two of the Romulans–Praetor Hiren, and the military officer Commander Suran–are played, respectively, by Alan Dale and Jude Ciccolella, who appeared together on the TV series 24 (Dale played Vice President Jim Prescott, and Ciccolella played Mike Novick, assistant to President David Palmer and President Charles Logan). Strikingly, Alan Dale is the victim of a coup in this film, while he is behind a coup in 24.
• Brent Spiner had reportedly wanted this to be his final appearance as Data, in part because he was sixteen years older than when he first appeared as the android, whereas Data presumably is ageless (although the seventh season TNG episode "Inheritance" makes mention of Data's ability to age himself). B-4's existence, however, leaves open the possibility that he may return in a future installment.
• B-4 ("Before") was originally called B-9 ("Benign") in the script. This was changed because the Lost In Space robot's name is B-9.
• In one scene, Picard is shown looking at a photograph of himself at a younger age. This photo was supposedly taken during the time Picard was at Starfleet Academy or shortly afterwards, and shows Hardy as a younger Picard. The younger Picard shown in the photo is also bald, which contradicts earlier Next Generation episodes in which Picard had a full head of hair early in his career. One possible explanation for this could be that he shaved his head. In some scenes, it becomes quite evident that Hardy (Shinzon) had shaved his head, and is not naturally bald.
• This is the only Star Trek film to feature a car chase. The wheeled vehicle is the "Argo" and the aliens in pursuit have vehicles comparable to the Humvee.
• Jude Law, Michael Shanks and James Marsters [1] auditioned for the role of Shinzon.
• Steven Culp, who plays the Enterprise's new first officer in a scene cut from the final film, joined the cast of Star Trek: Enterprise several months later as Major Hayes. This was another occasion in which an actor in a Star Trek film would join the cast of a Star Trek TV series within months of the film's release (the other occasions were Tim Russ appearing in Star Trek: Generations a few months before joining the cast of Voyager and Rene Auberjonois's scenes in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country a little less than a year before he would begin work on the set of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine).
• The new Captain´s Chair that appears earlier in the same scene was later used with additional blinking colorful lights as Captain´s Chair In Enterprise´s fourth season.
• The new Captain´s Chair has additional seatbelts, which gets a positive remark of Picard ("It was about Time"). In Star Trek Enterprise Episode Borderland Trip makes a reference to it by warning Archer, while introducing him to the chair "Don´t touch that button!!"
• Bryan Singer appears briefly in a cameo role as an Enterprise Bridge Operations Officer. Singer is the director of the films X-Men and X2: X-Men United, in which Patrick Stewart has a starring role as Professor Charles Xavier.
• It was originally planned that Worf would be rescued by a Romulan doctor but this scene was never filmed.
• There is no attempt to explain why Worf is once again tactical officer on the Enterprise despite accepting the position of Ambassador to the Klingon homeworld at the end of DS9 three years earlier. An unused line from one draft of the script features a conversation between Worf and Dr. Crusher at the wedding in which Worf says the life of a diplomat is not for him. This cut dialogue doesn't jibe with several scenes from the series in which Worf acts very much like a diplomat, and in alternate futures is depicted as a Klingon politician.
• This is the first Star Trek film to be released in the same year as a Star Wars film. The Star Wars film in this case being Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones.
• In the DVD version of this film, it has been noted that director Stuart Baird provided the Scimitar's computer voice.
• This film marks the second time that a character from Voyager (Janeway) makes a crossover appearance on a TNG episode or movie, the first being the holographic doctor in First Contact, though it should be noted that the holographic doctor is simply the same type of program and is not the actual doctor from Voyager.

[edit] DVD releases

On May 20, 2003, Star Trek: Nemesis was released on DVD in both anamorphic widescreen and full screen editions in Region 1. This initial release contained an audio commentary by director Stuart Baird, four featurettes on the film's production, seven deleted scenes, a photo gallery, and a preview for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine on DVD.^[3]

The initial release was followed up with a "special collector's edition" in Region 1 on October 4, 2005. Although this two-disc set contained several additional features, it also duplicated some of the features found in the initial release.^[4]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Star Trek: Nemesis at the Internet Movie Database
• Star Trek: Nemesis at Rotten Tomatoes
• Star Trek: Nemesis at Box Office Mojo
• Official Star Trek: Nemesis web site
• Star Trek: Nemesis article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
• Review by Science Fiction Weekly

Star Trek television series and feature films
	Television series The Original Series · The Animated Series · The Next Generation · Deep Space Nine · Voyager · Enterprise
	TOS-Era Feature films The Motion Picture · The Wrath of Khan · The Search for Spock · The Voyage Home · The Final Frontier · The Undiscovered Country
	TNG-Era Feature films Generations · First Contact · Insurrection · Nemesis
	Unknown-Era Feature films XI