Star Trek – Kirkless Generations

I'm reviewing from memory, but I thought this was a lovely edit. Whilst I prefer Kirk in the movie (despite how he was written), this beautifully crafts a final chapter for the TNG era before heading into the later movies. Picard exiting the nexus and the end sequence all work fine, no complaints, although I do agree with everyone about the slow-motion shots, but these were probably unavoidable.

The one thing I miss is the triumphant Generations overture, but the new opening is far more appropriate for this edit.

Nice one!

Review by L8wrtr — May 4, 2010 @ 10:30 pm

Star Trek – Kirkless Generations by CBB

Reviewed by L8wrtr

A fantastic edit from a highly flawed source.

Owning the theatrical version of Generations is more an act of loyalty than any indication of enjoyment, so I had high hopes for this edit. I was not disappoitned.

Video editing
Overall this fan-edit is fairly seemless. There are one or two transitions that felt abrupt, and the slow-motion turn was a bit jarring, but you have to work with what you get in fan-editing so I didn’t have a complaint about this. The narrative that this edit creates is great, particularly when you consider the mess that is the original. The focus on Picard’s struggle is far more believable and his struggle enjoys the proper focus in the film.

My only complaint regarding this edit is the sequence of events once Picard returns to the planet from the Nexus. The original screenplay already suffers from the McFly Time-Travel Blunder, where our hero, able to select any point in time/space chooses to barely give himself enough time. This flaw is exaggerated by this new sequence because Picard chooses to return outside the shield. If not for his serendipitously finding the hole in the shield, Picard would have been unable to stop Soran the second time either.

This sequence would have flowed a lot better (IMO) if Picard’s discussion/attempted persuasion with Soran happened all before the rocket fires, and then when Picard returns from the Nexus, it instantly is right where the action starts on the cat-walk. From that point, the fight sequence is perfect and believable. It is a skillful integration of the original footage into a 2-man fight without Kirk. (Of course, a truly bold solution to the McFly conundrum would be to simply cut out the Nexus all-together, Picard slips into the shield, saves the day, no time travel needed, and the Nexus remains a mystery to us. Unfortunately that would cut out how Picard comes to terms with his grief, which is what makes the scene worth keeping). This however is my only criticism. 9 out of 10

Video Quality
I found no flaws in the video quality, no reason to give it anything other than 10 out of 10

Audio Quality
Overall, quite good, but a few harsh transitions stood out and ruined the seemless flow. I have not watched this movie in years and do not have it memorized, so that I recognized the transitions keeps it from being perfect. 9 out of 10

Overall Entertainment
This edit rescues a very disappointing movie that I watch rarely, and has turned it into a movie that I will actively watch again and will share with friends. 9 out of 10.

Review by spelledaren — June 15, 2009 @ 11:03 pm

This edit certainly improved on what was a badly written movie, but the sad truth is that it’s still kinda crappy. Boon has done the right choices throughout, for which I’m happy. But it’s still just so stupid!

There was one audio transition that was highly noticable around the end fight, something I did not expect due to my earlier viewings of cbb productions.. I assume that the fight was the hardest part to edit, and that it was the best way out. The hand knocking down Soren doen’t really look like it fits, but I’ll buy it.

I’m not entirely pleased, yet impressed by other parts. I’m rating this 8 out of 10, as I don’t think it stands up to other edits that have reached a 9 from me..

If you missed that part: this is better than the original.

Update Oct 14, 2012.

Added ratings for the categories. Enjoyment down to 7.

I rather enjoyed this fanedit. It's much better than the original (since I do not need to see a beloved character be killed for no good reason). But there was an obvious slow-down effect and it was obvious when Kirk hit Soren and not picard.

There isn’t much I can say that hasn’t been said. Overall, I enjoyed the edit. While I never disliked the opening with the original crew, I didn’t miss it. However, cutting out Kirk while in the Nexus was very good. I only had a few minor issues: there were a couple shots that were slowed down to the point of stuttering. They looked bad. I’m not sure why the editor chose to do this. Second, I didn’t care for the new credits. They looked a little cheap, like something done on an old tape linear editing system. Finally, and L8wrtr hit the nail on the head with this one, Picard could return anywhere in time and he chose to appear outside the shield. I really like what L8 recommended as a solution.

While none of these things make the film unwatchable (far from it... this cut is very enjoyable) it would be nice to see a revised version with a few tweaks.