Star Trek: Insurrection
Summary
Star Trek : Insurrectionalmost had more compelling scoundrel than the Son’a , but they were turned down by Patrick Stewart . publish in 1998,Insurrectionwas conceived by Rick Berman and Michael Piller as a light-headed movie , following the dark tone ofStar Trek : First Contact . However , the development of the thirdStar Trek : The Next Generationmovie was a moderately excruciate process .
Michael Piller ’s posthumously put out bookFade In : From Idea to Final Draftdetails the various treatments he write forStar Trek : Insurrection , many of which sound better than the finished film . Piller ’s original mind was to do aStar Trekversion of Joseph Conrad’sHeart of Darkness , which would seeCaptain Jean - Luc Picard ( Patrick Stewart)sent to the wilderness . Picard ’s mission was to cut through down an old Starfleet Academy fellow who had die rascal to defend a planet from the Romulans . Unfortunately for Michael Piller , Patrick Stewart had other ideas for his thirdStar Trekmovie .
The movies star the cast of Star Trek : The Next Generation are notorious for their wildly varying lineament , with plenty of highs and lows .
Patrick Stewart Didn’t Want The Romulans In Star Trek: Insurrection
“After the Borg - the Romulans? Oh, my”
After receiving a copy of the second discussion , Patrick Stewart wrote back with some harsh word about this former version ofStar Trek : Insurrection , delivering particularly minus unfavorable judgment of the Romulans . Michael Piller ’s bookFade In : From Idea to Final Draftreprints Stewart ’s letter , which include his dismay about Romulan involvement inInsurrection :
" It has little sport . It is dull . I guess what dismays me most about the story is the dredging up of the Romulans - a race already unexciting in TNG - as the bad guys . It is revisionist and backward looking in a most disappointing room . After the Borg - the Romulans ? Oh , my . [ … ] I am very sorry my reaction are so minus but they are so because my hope to make this a brilliant film are so high . "
disappoint by Patrick Stewart ’s reception , Michael Piller wrote to theStar Trek : The Next Generationstar to accost his concerns . While Piller passionately defends many of the element of the motion picture - many of which would feature in the finished edition - he does yield that the Romulans could be a problem . Towards the end of his letter to Patrick Stewart , Piller bid to swap out the Romulans :
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" The Romulans . We have , from the outset , intended to re - invent the Romulans because we agree with you . We ’ve been talking about a complete renovation of their look as well as their persona . If it means a gravid good deal to you , I ’d personally be willing to exchange it to another race . Do you have any suggestions ? "
Patrick Stewart did have prompting , some of which would finally make it into the finished version ofStar Trek : Insurrection . However , he was very crying that the villains not be Romulans , specially not radically redesign ones . hash out this idea in his response to Michael Piller , Stewart enunciate :
" Yes , the Romulan doubt does mean a fate to me . I think it is a deadly melodic theme to have even an ‘ pass ’ Romulan villain . After the Borg Queen it will see as if we just could n’t arrive up with any newfangled bad guys . But we must . Could they be the Federation Executive Council ? ( cistron , cease spinning . ) Or a cadre inside the Council ? The bad guys are mightily there in the heart of the Federation . That is sure as shooting contemporary and , God fuck , depressingly relevant . "
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Of course , Patrick Stewart ’s concept of corruptness at the heart of the Federation made it into the final version ofStar Trek : Insurrection . His anti - Romulan smell also lead to the creation of the Son’a as new bad guy wire . However , it ’s fair to say thatInsurrection ’s nefarious aliens did n’t make anywhere near the kind of impression that the Romulans would have .
DS9 brought Star Trek ’s Romulans and the Federation nigher than ever before as they united to fight the Dominion , but that was n’t the only adult change .
Would Insurrection Have Been Better With The Romulans In It?
It ’s hard not to feel that Patrick Stewart ’s Romulan veto madeStar Trek : Insurrectiona less interesting movie . One of Stewart ’s criticisms of Michael Piller ’s treatment was that it " miss endangerment " , but what could have been more perilous than the breakdown of the flimsy diplomatical relations between the Romulans and the Federation during thewar against the Dominion?Insurrection ’s floor would have been more compelling if Captain Picard ’s morality jeopardized the Federation Alliance at a key stage in the Dominion War .
By taking out the Romulans as villains and not reckoning with what Picard ’s insurrection meant for the spacious galaxy , the thirdTNGmovie ended up as disposable fluff .
Although theTNGmovies could n’t tread onStar Trek : Deep Space Nine ’s toes , there were ways to reference the Dominion War . Michael Piller ’s book could have adumbrate in some evocative dialog that tiedStar Trek : Insurrectioninto the larger history of the Dominion War , and added genuine stakes to the predicament of the Ba’ku . Instead , there was a reference to the Son’a ’s role in ketracel white production and that was about it . By taking out the Romulans as villain and not reckoning with what Picard ’s insurrection meant for the wider beetleweed , the thirdTNGmovie ended up as disposable frippery .
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Jean - Luc Picard ’s go-ahead - E was notably absent from seemingly all the major battles of the Dominion War as depicted on Star Trek : Deep Space Nine .
Patrick Stewart’s Hated Romulans Became A Major Part Of Picard’s Story
It ’s ironic , given Patrick Stewart ’s steadfast refusal to confront the Romulans inStar Trek : Insurrection , that they became such a major part of Jean - Luc Picard ’s narrative . The very next flick , Star Trek : Nemesis , was all about political intrigue imply the Romulans , the very thing that Patrick Stewart opposed inInsurrection . Whether Stewart face more favourably onNemesisbecause it was co - compose by his booster Brent Spiner is hard to say .
Rick Berman ’s original idea forStar Trek : Insurrectionwas to preface a double of Captain Picard , an idea carried over intoStar Trek : Nemesis .
When Patrick Stewart render to the role of Jean - Luc forStar Trek : Picardin 2020 , the character had led the efforts to evacuate Romulus and was know out his retirement in his château , staffed by two Romulans . All of that was before he was thrown back into legal action to expose a Romulan conspiracy at the heart of Starfleet , the exact same taradiddle that Stewart had opposed inStar Trek : Insurrection . Perhaps Patrick Stewart had memorize his object lesson with the Son’a , and was more willing to entertain a Romulan returninStar Trek : Picardseason 1 .
