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Star Trek: Insurrection

F. Murray Abraham in Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)

When the crew of the Enterprise learn of a Federation conspiracy against the inhabitants of a unique planet, Captain Picard begins an open rebellion. When the crew of the Enterprise learn of a Federation conspiracy against the inhabitants of a unique planet, Captain Picard begins an open rebellion. When the crew of the Enterprise learn of a Federation conspiracy against the inhabitants of a unique planet, Captain Picard begins an open rebellion.

  • Jonathan Frakes
  • Gene Roddenberry
  • Rick Berman
  • Michael Piller
  • Patrick Stewart
  • Brent Spiner
  • 563 User reviews
  • 182 Critic reviews
  • 64 Metascore
  • 3 wins & 8 nominations

Star Trek: Insurrection

  • (as Levar Burton)

Michael Dorn

  • Ru'afo

Donna Murphy

  • Lt. Daniels

Bruce French

  • Son'a Officer #1
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  • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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  • Trivia In the scene where Captain Picard and the Admiral are in Picard's ready room, there is a cloth on the back of Picard's chair. This is the cloth given to him by the Mintakans in Who Watches the Watchers (1989) , an episode in which Starfleet used a duck blind for anthropological purposes.
  • Goofs Troi comments that she had never kissed Riker with a beard before. Yet Troi had kissed the bearded Riker in Ménage à Troi (1990) , as well as in several other occasions on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) .

Admiral Matthew Dougherty : Jean-Luc, we're only moving 600 people.

Captain Picard : How many people does it take, Admiral, before it becomes wrong? Hmm? A thousand, fifty thousand, a million? How many people does it take, Admiral?

  • an extended library scene in which Riker and Troi throw small paperballs at each other. This scene also include some lines by the Librarian (Lee Arone-Biggs) and a Trill Officer (Max Grodénchik);
  • a scene in which Picard and Anij kiss each other;
  • a scene in which Picard spills cheese on a PADD displaying the Briar Patch;
  • the actual ejection of the warp core;
  • Data punching some Son'as on the planet and nailing them with iso-linear tags;
  • "There will be no cover-up!" line on the Son'a ship.
  • Connections Featured in Siskel & Ebert: The Prince of Egypt/Shattered Image/Little Voice/A Simple Plan/Central Station (1998)
  • Soundtracks Theme from Star Trek: The Motion Picture by Jerry Goldsmith

User reviews 563

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  • What is 'Insurrection' about?
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  • December 11, 1998 (United States)
  • United States
  • The Official Star Trek Web Site
  • Star Trek 9
  • Convict Lake, California, USA (Data enters the lake)
  • Paramount Pictures
  • See more company credits at IMDbPro
  • $58,000,000 (estimated)
  • $70,187,658
  • $22,052,836
  • Dec 13, 1998
  • $112,587,658

Technical specs

  • Runtime 1 hour 43 minutes
  • Dolby Digital
  • Dolby Surround 7.1

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Published Dec 11, 2023

The Secrets Behind the Making of Star Trek: Insurrection

Look back at one of the TNG crew's cinematic adventures!

Stylized and filtered still from Star Trek Insurrection featuring Jean-Luc Picard

StarTrek.com

In early 1997, story development and pre-production began on the film that would eventually become Star Trek: Insurrection . A few months after Star Trek: First Contact became a box office hit, producer Rick Berman approached Michael Piller, whose contributions to Star Trek cannot be exaggerated, to write the film.

As the producer and showrunner for Star Trek: The Next Generation , Piller's leadership helped humanize and deepen the show and its characters during the third season and the seasons following. Additionally, his innovative policy of allowing script submissions from anyone with talent, even those not represented by an agent, opened the doors for many great TNG episodes, and even helped launch the careers of many of today’s best TV writers. Piller would go on to be co-creator of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Star Trek: Voyager ; Insurrection would be his first film script.

While researching the making of Insurrection , we acquired many of the production memos and notes from the film. The materials reveal how and why stories change from their original conceptualizations, while finding solutions to limitations of time, budget, and special effects technology. These are some of the fun, interesting “what-ifs” and “could-have-beens” from these production materials.

Jonathan Frakes with his arm around Michael Piller's shoulder behind-the-scenes on set of Star Trek: Insurrection

Behind-the-scenes of Star Trek: Insurrection

Inspiration

Piller’s first treatment, entitled Star Trek: Stardust , was completed on May 9, 1997. It was a much more serious drama based on the themes of Heart of Darkness , the 1902 novella by Joseph Conrad. Early drafts of the script involved Picard going after Hugh Duffy, an old friend who claims that the Federation is in collusion with the Romulans to destroy a world in order to gain its precious ‘sarium krellide’ ore.

Beloved Familiar Faces

Early story ideas included some favorite TNG characters from the television era. The first story treatment had Picard standing before the Federation Council to answer for his defiant actions. It appears all is hopeless, with Picard possibly losing his command, until Boothby begins applauding Picard’s impassioned speech about his actions, inspiring a wave of support.

On the surface of Ba'ku, Jean-Luc Picard grins as Worf looks straight ahead in Star Trek: Insurrection

Star Trek: Insurrection

Interestingly, the film would not resolve whether Picard was sanctioned or not, leaving that answer for the sequel. Reginald Barclay also had an extensive role in the early versions of the story, but memos indicated a concern that perhaps it was too large of role, not leaving enough to do for regular crew characters of Geordi, Beverly, and Deanna.

Avoiding Comparisons

A planned action scene was to be a chase between Picard and the Son’a on anti-grav scooters, brought with him from the Enterprise to help with the evacuation. However, there was a concern in the production material that the sequence needs to be innovative to avoid comparisons to the Endor speeder bike chase scenes from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi .

Data's Arc

Data begins to reveal himself on the surface of the planet of Ba'ku in Star Trek: Insurrection

One of the original themes of the film was Data arguing in favor of moving the Ba’ku because he wanted his friends to live as long as he did. Picard and Data discuss this, with the former, explaining that it doesn’t matter if people live twice as long if they do so living without “the values we hold most dear.” One of the reason the idea was abandoned was because it was thought that Data had already established that the moral path was to oppose the move of the Ba’ku at the start of the film.

The invisibility suits, seen at the start of the finished movie, used by the joint Son’a/Federation research teams along with Data, were going to play a bigger role in the action of the film. The third draft of the script had Picard using the invisibility suits to subdue Son’a agents.

Designing the Ba'ku

The design of the Ba’ku culture had academic origins; Michael Piller consulted with an anthropologist about what a culture of long-lived people would likely look and act like during 1997. Their comments informed much of the eventual design of the Ba’ku; the anthropologist suggested that a long-lived culture would be rural dwellers who had vocations and not 9-5 jobs, and that they physically would be tall and thin. They would live in smaller groups. Many of these ideas were adopted by designers.

The inhabitants of Ba'ku react to Starfleet's arrival on their planet in Star Trek: Insurrection

Another original idea was to have the Ba’ku have no hair near their ears. This idea was abandoned for very practical reasons. According to the March 11, 1998 memo, the additional cost of shaving the hair on all of the extras would add $94,200 to the budget. Additionally, there was the concern that the extras and actors who played the Ba’ku would have trouble finding work again until their hair returned.

Final Product

On the surface of Ba'ku, Worf, Data, Will Riker holding hands with Deanna Troi, Geordi La Forge, and Beverly Crusher admiral the locals in Star Trek: Insurrection

Through collaboration and innovation, through artistry and creativity, the production team resolved challenges and limitations to produce what has been called the most “Roddenberry-esque” of the Star Trek films in terms of its social themes.

For those who enjoyed this discussion of the secrets of Star Trek: Insurrection , and for fans of the much-missed Michael Piller, the late writer’s family has published his long-awaited book, Fade In: The Making of Star Trek: Insurrection – A Textbook on Screenwriting from within the Star Trek Universe, which explores in detail the pre-production of the film from a writer’s perspective. In a conversation with StarTrek.com , Sandra Piller, Michael's widow, reveals details of how the book came together.

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This article was originally published on February 2, 2017.

Maria Jose and John Tenuto are both sociology professors at the College of Lake County in Grayslake, Illinois, specializing in popular culture and subculture studies. The Tenutos have conducted extensive research on the history of Star Trek, and have presented at venues such as Creation Conventions and the St. Louis Science Center. They have written for the official Star Trek Magazine and their extensive collection of Star Trek items has been featured in SFX Magazine. Their theory about the “20-Year Nostalgia Cycle” and research on Star Trek fans has been featured on WGN News, BBC Radio, and in the documentary The Force Among Us. They recently researched all known paperwork from the making of the classic episode "Space Seed" and are excited to be sharing some previously unreported information about Khan's first adventure with fellow fans. Contact the Tenutos at [email protected] or [email protected].

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Star Trek: Insurrection

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Watch Star Trek: Insurrection with a subscription on Max, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

What to Know

Although not terrible, the sluggishly paced Insurrection plays like an extended episode of the TV series.

Audience Reviews

Cast & crew.

Jonathan Frakes

Patrick Stewart

Captain Jean-Luc Picard

Commander William T. Riker

Brent Spiner

Lt. Commander Data

LeVar Burton

Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge

Michael Dorn

Lt. Commander Worf

Movie Clips

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A funny thing happened to me on the way to writing this review of "Star Trek: Insurrection"--I discovered that several of the key filmmakers disagree with the film's plot premise. Maybe that's why this ninth " Star Trek " saga seems inert and unconvincing.

Here's the premise: In a region of space known as the Briar Patch, an idyllic planet is home to a race known as the Ba'ku. They are members of a placid agricultural commune, tilling the neat rows of their fields, and then returning to a city whose neo-Greco-Roman architecture looks uncannily like the shopping mall at Caesar's Palace. The Ba'ku are a blissful people, and no wonder: They have the secret of immortality. The "metaphasic radiation" generated by the planet's rings acts like a fountain of youth on their planet.

The planet and the Ba'ku are currently the subject of a cultural survey team, which looks down on them from something like a stadium press box, but remains invisible. Then Data ( Brent Spiner ), the android, goes berserk and makes hostages of the survey team. The Enterprise speeds to the scene, so that Capt. Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) can deal with the crisis. The plot thickens when it is revealed that the Son'a race, which is also part of the Federation, was once allied with the Ba'ku. But the Son'a choose a different path and are now dying out--most visibly in the scrofulous countenance of their leader Ru'afo (F. Murray Abraham).

The Son'a want the Ba'ku kidnapped and forcibly ejected from their planet. There are, after all, only 600 of them. Why should their little nature preserve be more important than the health and longevity of the Son'a and billions of other Federation citizens? Picard counters with the Federation's Prime Directive, which instructs that the natural development of any civilization must not be interfered with.

The plot of "Star Trek: Insurrection" deals with the conflict between the desperate Son'a and the blissful Ba'ku and is further complicated when Picard falls in love with the beautiful Ba'ku woman Anij ( Donna Murphy ). "You explore the universe," she tells him, "but have you ever explored a single moment in time?" (Picard is so lovestruck he forgets that his answer would be "yes!") Further complications result when the metaphasic radiation leaks into the Enterprise and inspires Riker and Troi to start acting like horny teenagers.

As the best minds in the Federation wrestled with the ethical questions involved, I was also asking questions. Such as, aren't the Ba'ku basically just living in a gated community? Since this Eden-like planet has only 600 inhabitants, why couldn't they use the planet as a spa, circling inside those metaphasic rings and bathing in the radiation, which is probably faster-acting in space than down on the surface? After all, we're not talking magic here, are we? Above these practical questions looms a larger philosophical one. Wouldn't it be right to sacrifice the lifestyles of 600 Ba'ku in order to save billions? "I think maybe I would," said Jonathan Frakes , the film's director and co-star, when I asked him that question after the movie's press screening.

"You've got to be flexible," Stewart said. "If it had been left in the hands of Picard, some solution could have been found." "Absolutely!" Spiner said. "I think I raised that question more than once." "I had to be very narrowminded to serve the character," Murphy confessed.

I agree. Our own civilization routinely kills legions of people in wars large and small, for reasons of ideology, territory, religion or geography. Would we contemplate removing 600 people from their native environment to grant immortality to everyone alive? In a flash. It would be difficult, indeed, to fashion a philosophical objection to such a move, which would result in the greatest good for the greatest number of people.

But what about the rights of the Ba'ku? Shouldn't they volunteer to help us all out? Especially since they need not die themselves? The plot of "Star Trek: Insurrection" grinds through the usual conversations and crises, as the evil Ru'afo and his men carry forward their insidious plans, and Picard discovers that the Federation itself may be willing to play fast and loose with the Prime Directive. That's not exactly new; in the previous eight movies, there have in fact been many shots fired in anger at members of races who perhaps should have been left alone to "develop naturally"--presumably even if such development involves aggression and hostility. The overriding principle, let's face it, has been the Federation's own survival and best interests. So why not allow the Son'a the same ethnocentric behavior? The movie is a work of fantasy and these questions are not important unless they influence the film's entertainment value. Unfortunately, they do.

There is a certain lackluster feeling to the way the key characters debate the issues, and perhaps that reflects the suspicion of the filmmakers that they have hitched their wagon to the wrong cause. The movie is shorter than the usual "Star Trek" saga, at 103 minutes, as if the central issue could not bear scrutiny at the usual length. Think how much more interesting it would have been if the Ba'ku had joined an interracial experiment to share immortality. What would happen if everyone in the Federation could live forever? Think how many more sequels there'd be.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film Credits

Star Trek: Insurrection movie poster

Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)

Rated PG For Sci-Fi Action Violence, Mild Language and Sensuality

103 minutes

Jonathan Frakes as Riker

F. Murray Abraham as Ru'Afo

Patrick Stewart as Picard

Brent Spiner as Data

Marina Sirtis as Troi

Anthony Zerbe as Adm. Dougherty

Donna Murphy as Anij

Gates McFadden as Crusher

LeVar Burton as Laforge

Michael Dorn as Worf

  • Rich Berman
  • Michael Piller

Directed by

  • Jonathan Frakes

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Star Trek: Insurrection

  • View history

Paramount Pictures sought a change of pace after Star Trek: First Contact (1996). Michael Piller was asked to write the script of the next installment, which was created from story ideas by Piller and producer Rick Berman . The story's first drafts featured the Romulans , and the Son'a and Ba'ku were introduced in its third draft. After Ira Steven Behr reviewed the script, Piller revised it and added a subplot involving a romantic interest for Jean-Luc Picard . The film's ending was further revised after test screenings. The special effects depicting outer space were completely computer generated, a first for a Star Trek film. The Ba'ku village was fully built on location at Lake Sherwood, California , but suffered weather damage. Sets from the television series Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine were reused and redressed. Michael Westmore created the make-up for the new alien races, and Robert Blackman revised the Starfleet dress uniform designs. Sanja Milkovic Hayes created costumes for the Ba'ku from cellulose fibers, which were baked and glued together. Jerry Goldsmith produced the film's score, his fourth for the franchise.

Insurrection was the highest-grossing film on its opening weekend, making $22.1 million [3] in the United States and Canada. The film went on to gross $70.2 million in the United States and Canada, and an additional $42.4 million in other territories, for a theatrical run of $117.8 million worldwide. Critical responses to the film were mixed; the performance of Patrick Stewart and the directing of Jonathan Frakes were praised, while other critics compared it to an extended episode of the television series. Insurrection was nominated for both a Saturn Award and a Hugo Award , but the only award it received was a Youth in Film Award for Michael Welch . It was followed by Star Trek: Nemesis in 2002.

  • 3.1 Development and writing
  • 3.2 Visual effects
  • 3.3 Costumes and make-up
  • 4.1 Release
  • 4.2 Critical response
  • 4.3 Accolades
  • 5 Home media
  • 7.1 Bibliography
  • 8 External links

Lieutenant Commander Data ( Brent Spiner ) is temporarily transferred to an undercover mission observing the peaceful Ba'ku people. While on their planet, he malfunctions and reveals the presence of the joint Federation –Son'a task force observing the Ba'ku. Admiral Matthew Dougherty ( Anthony Zerbe ) contacts the USS Enterprise -E to obtain Data's schematics for recovery purposes, but adamantly states the presence of the Enterprise is not needed. The crew decides to ignore these orders and takes the Enterprise to capture Data. Captain Jean-Luc Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) becomes suspicious of Dougherty's insistence that the Enterprise is no longer needed and orders the cause of Data's malfunction to be investigated. The crew discovers that the Ba'ku possess advanced technology, but have rejected its use to live simpler lives. Due to unique "metaphasic particles" emanating from their planet's rings, they are effectively immortal. By contrast, the Federation's allies, the Son'a, are a decrepit race who rely on medical technology to prevent death; their excessive use of cosmetic surgery gives them a mummified appearance. The Enterprise crew also begin to experience the rejuvenation effects of the planet: Lt. Commander Geordi La Forge ( LeVar Burton ) finds his eyes have regenerated and he no longer requires ocular implants, Commander William Riker ( Jonathan Frakes ) and Counselor Deanna Troi ( Marina Sirtis ) rekindle their long-abandoned relationship, and Picard develops a romantic relationship with the Ba'ku woman Anij ( Donna Murphy ).

Data and Picard discover a submerged and cloaked Federation ship containing a gigantic holodeck set up to recreate the Ba'ku home village. Data's malfunction stems from a Son'a attack, the result of his accidental discovery of the vessel. Picard confronts Dougherty and learns that top Federation officers colluded with the Son'a to deceptively move the Ba'ku to the ship and forcibly relocate them to another planet, allowing for the particles to be collected on a mass scale (poisoning the planet in the process). Dougherty orders the Enterprise to leave. Picard retorts that the medical benefits of the particles does not justify Dougherty's plans for the Ba'ku and violates the Prime Directive .

Picard is joined by some of his crew to help the Ba'ku escape from being abducted while Riker takes the Enterprise to transmission range so he can communicate the violation to Starfleet. The Son'a send robotic probes to locate and capture the fleeing Ba'ku. The Son'a leader, Ahdar Ru'afo ( F. Murray Abraham ), convinces Dougherty to allow two Son'a ships to attack the Enterprise . Riker defeats the attacking ships and the Enterprise escapes. Their plan exposed, Ru'afo insists upon harvesting the radiation source immediately. Picard, Anij, and several Ba'ku are transported as prisoners onto the Son'a ship. Picard reveals to Dougherty that the Son'a and the Ba'ku are the same race: The Son'a are a splinter faction of Ba'ku who gave up their bucolic existence a century earlier to embrace the use of technology. They attempted to seize power, but failed, and the Ba'ku elders exiled them from the planet, denying them the rejuvenating effects of the rings. The Son'a developed an artificial and imperfect means to extend their lives at the cost of disfigurement, and now seek revenge. Ru'afo kills Dougherty when he backs out of the plan and moves to finish the collection.

While Picard is being prepared for execution, he convinces the disillusioned Son'a Gallatin ( Gregg Henry ) to help him stop Ru'afo. Picard masterminds a ruse to transport Ru'afo and his bridge crew to the holoship and disable the harvester. Ru'afo discovers the deception and transports to the harvester ship to manually restart the process. Picard follows and sets the harvester to self-destruct, killing Ru'afo and escaping on the Enterprise . The remaining Son'a are forgiven and welcomed back by the Ba'ku. Picard arranges a meeting between Gallatin and his Ba'ku mother to thank him for his help. The crew takes a moment to enjoy their rejuvenated selves before returning to their previous mission.

  • Patrick Stewart as Captain Jean-Luc Picard
  • Jonathan Frakes as Commander William T. Riker
  • Brent Spiner as Lieutenant Commander Data
  • LeVar Burton as Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge
  • Michael Dorn as Lieutenant Commander Worf
  • Gates McFadden as Doctor Beverly Crusher
  • Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi
  • F. Murray Abraham as Ru'afo, the commander of the Son'a.
  • Donna Murphy as Anij, a Ba'ku woman.
  • Anthony Zerbe as Vice Admiral Dougherty.
  • Gregg Henry as Gallatin, a member of the Son'a crew and Ru'afo's second in command.
  • Daniel Hugh Kelly as Sojef, a Ba'ku man.
  • Michael Welch as Artim, Sojef's son.
  • Mark Deakins as Tournel, a young Ba'ku man.
  • Stephanie Niznik as Ensign Perim.

Patrick Stewart thought that the first Next Generation film, Star Trek Generations , was too much like a television episode but thought that his character, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, was redefined as a "movie hero" in Star Trek: First Contact . [4] He was concerned that in the new film, the character would return to that seen in the television series. Michael Piller said that in order to be a hero, Picard "should be acting out of a moral and ethical mindset, and stand for principles that are important to [humanity]". [4] Stewart was later pleased with the film's romantic sub-plot, calling it "charming" and saying that he was "feeling very good about it." [5] He thought that the film had a lighter tone than previous films, saying, "It shows our crew having a little more fun than we normally see them doing". [5] Stewart was disappointed that a scene in which Picard and Anij kiss was cut from the final version of the film, [6] saying that "It was a studio decision, but still somewhat inexplicable to me as I feel the audience were waiting for some kind of romantic culmination to the relationship, which did happen and was extremely pleasant." [7] Stewart received a producer's credit on the film. [8]

Jonathan Frakes appeared as Commander William Riker, and as with First Contact he directed the project. [9] [10] Brent Spiner starred as Lieutenant Commander Data, asking for the character to be killed in Insurrection out of concern for aging out of the role. His copy of the script came with a note from the production team saying, "Sorry, kill you later". [11] The underwater scene required Spiner to wear extra makeup to make it waterproof. [7] LeVar Burton reprised his role of Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge; a month before the release of Insurrection he appeared in the role in a guest appearance in the Star Trek: Voyager episode " Timeless ". [12]

Michael Dorn returned as Lieutenant Commander Worf, having portrayed him in Deep Space Nine since 1995. [13] Reprising her role as Doctor Beverly Crusher , Gates McFadden said that "Shooting Star Trek and getting paid to do it is great. But what's actually changed my life the most is traveling around and ... being a tiny little part of this huge mythology that has changed people's lives, in many ways for the better." [14] Marina Sirtis appeared once more as Counselor Deanna Troi. She was positive about the film, saying "we've been involved with this for eleven years, we've done 179 episodes, three movies, and there are still surprises. There are more layers in this movie, it's not as black and white. It goes back to a lot of what Gene Roddenberry felt about Star Trek  — I think he's going to be very happy up there when he sees this movie." [15]

Before the casting process, no actors had been considered for the roles of the Son'a leader, the Ba'ku woman, and the Starfleet admiral. [16] The Son'a leader, Ahdar Ru'afo, was portrayed by F. Murray Abraham, who won an Academy Award for his performance in Amadeus . [17] [18] Abraham was given the role without an audition. [18] Abraham said of the franchise, "I was around when the series was first introduced to television and it was a hoot". [7] He praised his make-up and prosthetics, saying "The idea that you can be somebody else behind the mask is an extraordinary feeling — it's very primitive and mysterious. A gap opens somewhere in the brain and it encourages wildness. It had me chewing at the scenery". [7] He was particularly pleased to be working with Patrick Stewart. [15]

Donna Murphy played the Ba'ku woman Anij, who is Picard's love interest. Eighty actresses auditioned for the role, [19] which was awarded to Murphy who had previously won two Tony Awards for her roles in the Broadway musicals Passion and The King and I . [17] [18] Murphy was such a favorite of Frakes and the producers that after auditioning, only a small number of other actresses were seen. [18] She said of the role, "I feel a great honor and responsibility to be a part of this film, because I know that the Star Trek audience has such a devotion to and affection for these richly drawn characters." [15]

Anthony Zerbe originally auditioned for the role of Ru'afo, [17] and was considered to be the best choice for it. [18] However, the production team decided instead to cast him in the role of Admiral Matthew Dougherty. [17] During Zerbe's audition, instead of reading the lines provided, he recited Dante's Inferno before seamlessly moving into the script. Frakes and the producers unanimously decided to award him the part of Dougherty. [20] In the film's smaller roles, Stephanie Niznik played Ensign Kell Perim and Daniel Hugh Kelly appeared as Sojef. Gregg Henry appeared as Gallatin, and 10-year-old Michael Welch played the Ba'ku child Artim. [21] Michael Horton returned as the tactical officer he portrayed in First Contact ; his character was called Lieutenant Daniels in this film. [22] Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello played a Son'a warrior. [23] Morello's make-up regime began at 5 am, at which time he said he would normally "be crawling back into my coffin". [7]

Several of the film's actors had previously appeared in the Star Trek franchise. Bruce French , who portrayed Son'a Officer Number 1, appeared as Sabin Genestra in The Next Generation episode " The Drumhead " and as the Ocampa doctor in the Voyager pilot episode . Son'a Officer Number 3 was played by Joseph Ruskin , who appeared in four episodes across the Star Trek franchise: The Original Series episode " The Gamesters of Triskelion ", [24] and the Deep Space Nine episodes " Improbable Cause " and " Looking for par'Mach in All the Wrong Places " and the Voyager episode " Gravity ". [25] McKenzie Westmore , daughter of make-up supervisor Michael Westmore , played a Ba'ku woman. [21] She previously appeared as a child in The Next Generation season one episode " When the Bough Breaks " and as Ensign Jenkins in the Voyager episode " Warhead ". [26] Scenes cut from the film would have featured two of the actors who played Ferengi on Deep Space Nine : Max Grodénchik , more familiar as Rom , was to have appeared as a Trill in the library scene. Armin Shimerman filmed a scene in his role as Quark , in which he tries to set up timeshares on the Ba'ku planet at the end of the film. [25]

Production [ ]

Development and writing [ ].

Following the success of First Contact , Paramount Pictures wanted a change in pace to give the follow-up film a lighter tone. [27] Because Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is light in tone, yet was the most successful of all the Star Trek films at the box office as of then, Paramount reasoned that this success could be repeated with the new film. [28] Michael Piller was asked to write the script, and accepted the position. [27] Piller wished to escape the development hell of another project he was in. [29] He wanted to give the crew a feeling of family, with a story featuring overtones of the Joseph Conrad novel Heart of Darkness . [27] Rick Berman wanted to see Picard undertake a rescue mission in a similar manner to the 1937 film, The Prisoner of Zenda . [27] Berman also originated an idea to have Picard kidnapped, and replaced with a surgically modified imposter. Piller was doubtful about Berman's idea, reasoning that the audience would not want to see an entire film in which Picard is not the lead star — the character would look like Patrick Stewart, but would be different. [30] A further idea from Berman would have seen the return of Lore , last seen in the episode " Descent ", in a film which was described as similar in tone to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan . [31]

Piller initially thought to write a Fountain of Youth -type story, later saying, "Everybody's consumed with images of youth. There's commercials, plastic surgery — our culture seems obsessed with youth." [27] He called the initial treatment "Heart of Lightness". [32] Eric A. Stillwell was Piller's executive assistant and script coordinator. When Piller agreed to write a book about the making of Insurrection , Pocket Books hired Stillwell as Piller's typist and research assistant. [33] The book went unpublished, and it was alleged that Paramount Pictures suppressed it. Following Piller's death in 2005, the book was published on the internet. [34]

Piller's first draft treatment for the film was titled Star Trek: Stardust , taken from the 1927 song "Stardust" by Hoagy Carmichael [27] after hearing Nat King Cole 's version on the radio. [32] The treatment featured Picard resigning from Starfleet after he is sent to retrieve a population and their youth-giving power, and bring them to an alien government, and included a betrayal by Picard's rogue colleague. The draft went through several versions with only the crew's mission and the Briar Patch  — named after the area from the Br'er Rabbit stories — remaining. Berman suggested that Data become the renegade crew-member that Picard must deal with. [27] The plot was similar to The Next Generation episode " Homeward " in that a people were being relocated through use of a holodeck. The use of a duck blind to observe cultures was previously used in the episode " Who Watches the Watchers ". [25]

In one draft, Picard kills Data early in the film, and the android is later resurrected to help the Captain in the finale. The first two drafts featured the Romulans as the protagonists, [27] since they had never prominently appeared in a Star Trek film. [32] The second draft was seen by Jonathan Dolgen at the studio; Dolgen was not pleased and Patrick Stewart thought that it would have been only suitable for a television episode. [35] [36] In the third draft, the Son'a were introduced as the children of the Ba'ku and the alien race that wanted to plunder the planet. That version also included the crew sub-plots, such as the Troi-Riker romance and the regeneration of La Forge's eyes. [27] Stewart, who was concerned that the film was a step back in scope from First Contact , was consulted on the treatments. [37]

Piller drafted the first version of the script and asked Ira Steven Behr , executive producer of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , to review it. Behr was critical of the script, describing the Son'a as " paper tigers ". [37] Piller said that "I knew he was right. There's no question that first draft was trying to tell two stories, and that's one too many for a movie." [37] Piller re-drafted the script, adding a romantic subplot for Picard in the shape of Anij, a Ba'ku woman. He added gravitas to the Son'a to make them more menacing, and the ending was changed to include a massive Son'a collector ship and a confrontation between Picard and Ru'afo aboard the ship. [37] A version of the script was subsequently leaked onto the internet. [17] At the same time, Piller and Berman were exploring titles for the film, including Prime Directive , The Directive , The Resignation , The Enemy Within , Breach of Promise , Dereliction of Duty and Apostasy , because, they reasoned, that they could not submit it to the studio under the title of Stardust . They could not settle on a title, so they submitted it as Star Trek IX . [38]

The studio was pleased with the post-Behr version of the script, which was the first version of the script they saw, having previously only seen pre-script treatments. [39] In a memo to Piller, it was described as "easily the funniest and sexiest Star Trek story to date". [39] They gave Piller a series of directions, including a request for a resolution to the Troi and Riker romance and for the character of Reginald Barclay to be replaced with expanded roles either for Beverley Crusher, Worf, or a new character. [40] [41]

Patrick Stewart sought a change to the script to have the crew defend the Ba'ku village in the manner of the Battle of the Alamo instead of fleeing into the mountains. Piller could not find a feasible way to include this in the script, and the budget ruled out the creation of Alamo-like structures in the mountains. [42] Several titles were considered for the film as shooting approached. Star Trek: Where Time Stands Still , Star Trek: Forever and Star Trek: Beyond Paradise were all considered but were rejected. Piller's favorite was Star Trek: Sacred Honor , but the studio rejected this, because they were concerned that it sounded too religious. When shooting began, the film was still called Star Trek IX . [43]

The final version of the script was distributed to the cast, but Patrick Stewart did not receive a copy. Berman was concerned that if anyone had a problem with it, they would call Stewart to complain and it would appear as though Stewart was being left out because he had criticized the story. LeVar Burton called Stewart to praise the script. Stewart was sent a copy and requested a meeting to discuss changes. Piller feared the worst, but after a twenty-minute meeting with Stewart, who requested several dialogue changes, the script was finalized. [44] During pre-production, the marketing department wanted to decide a title, preferring Star Trek: Revolution . Alan Spencer , a friend of Piller, suggested Insurrection , which was selected from a choice of Insurrection , Rebellion , High Treason and Act of Treason . [41]

After filming was complete, test screenings were held, [17] and the production team became aware of a problem with the ending. [45] In the original ending, Ru'afo is ejected into space from the Son'a collector ship and de-ages rapidly as he floats amongst the rings of the planet Ba'ku. [45] The revised ending saw the Enterprise swoop in at the last minute to save Picard and destroy the collector ship with Ru'afo aboard. [46] The studio liked the new ending but wanted a bigger space battle. The production team agreed providing they could postpone the release to allow enough time for this. Because the studio wanted Insurrection to be released in time for Christmas, no further revisions were made to the ending. [47]

Visual effects [ ]

Insurrection was the first Star Trek film with space-based effects produced entirely using computer-generated imagery (CGI). [37] While CGI had been used for specific effects since Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan ; Insurrection was the first Star Trek film to be made without using physical models of spacecraft. [48] Santa Barbara Studios produced the effects, which included CGI starship models. [24] The texture on the model of the Enterprise-E was created from a series of close-up photographs of the model Enterprise which had been used in First Contact . [49] The planet-based effects, such as phaser fire, transporter effects and the Son'a drones were created by Blue Sky Studios . [24] [37] Peter Lauritson was the co-producer for post-production. [37]

Herman Zimmerman was the production designer, and had three months to design and construct 55 full sets for the film, eighteen more than used in the previous film in the series. [37] [50] Zimmerman said that it was "probably the most scenery we've built for a Star Trek motion picture since the first one, when everything was brand new". [15] The Ba'ku village was built in full scale on location at Lake Sherwood, California, with architectural designs combining Thai, Balinese and Polynesian styles. [37] The village included a bakery, a farm with a full irrigation system, a city hall, and a city square which was referred to as the "rotunda". [50] The location shoot lasted for six weeks. [51] The buildings included sections built with styrofoam , which were cut out using computer aided design and computer-aided manufacturing techniques. [52] These were covered in hardcoat to make them look as though they were made from stone, [52] but they were not made waterproof. The set suffered water damage following record-levels of rainfall during the spring of 1998. The foam warped as it dried out in the sun, causing delays in shooting while repairs were made. [53]

Sets built for use in Star Trek: Voyager were redressed to appear as the Enterprise -E in Insurrection ; Captain Janeway 's quarters became Picard's, the Voyager briefing room became Riker's quarters, and part of the Voyager engineering set became the Enterprise library. The interior of the scoutship flown by Data was originally the cockpit of the Voyager ' s shuttlecraft , [53] while the interior of the Enterprise shuttlecraft used the interior set from a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Runabout . [24] Filming began on March 31, 1998, and concluded on July 2. [15] According to Frakes, half of the time shooting was spent on location. The scenes in which the Enterprise crew and the Ba'ku take refuge in the mountains were shot on location above Lake Sabrina in the Sierra Nevada in locations which could only be reached by helicopter. The location was around 10,000 feet (3,000 m) above sea level, and a medic was on standby with oxygen if the cast or crew required it. [15]

After filming, parts of the interior sets of the So'na ships were added using CGI. [54] Stage 15 on the Paramount lot was used for the climactic scene between Picard and Ru'afo. Because of the dangers of the four-story scaffolding-like set, the actors were attached by safety cables at all times. [15] [48] Paramount's B tank, which was used to represent San Francisco Bay in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home , was used to shoot footage of Picard, Data and Anij at the Ba'ku lake. For a scene in which Data walks along a lake bed, the actor's tricorder prop was covered with plastic to make it watertight. [24]

Costumes and make-up [ ]

Make-up supervisor Michael Westmore aimed to create a look for the Son'a that was not exaggerated. He consulted several sculptors; Dean Jones , who was on the production staff for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , created the look. The prosthetics for Ru'afo consisted of overlapping layers that were stretched over Abraham's head. Westmore said Abraham's prosthetics was "like a rubber band, F. Murray Abraham could turn his head and the skin would look translucent. It was so thin, and the layers were pulling on each other." [19] The two other aliens on the Son'a vessels also had specific prosthetic make-up designs created. The Tarlac's look was based on reptilian skin, while the Ellora required only nose and forehead prosthetics. [19]

The film also gave costume designer Robert Blackman an opportunity to address issues with the Starfleet dress uniforms, which Blackman had changed on several occasions during The Next Generation . [19] The uniforms appeared for the first time in the episode " Lonely Among Us ", and were based on the 18th century designs for the Royal Navy . [55] For Insurrection , Blackman initially thought of creating a uniform with short jackets in blue, red and gold, which he later said was "not a good idea". [19] His eventual design removed the color palettes for specific divisions. Blackman said, "No matter what, white over black has a formal look to it." [19] Sanja Milkovic Hayes created the remaining new costumes for the film. She avoided making the Ba'ku look too cute, and used material made from cellulose fiber specifically created for Insurrection . She said it was organic, and was simply cooked and then glued together. [19] The Son'a costumes were made from layers of crushed velvet and metal strips. The female bodysuits were made of latex; Hayes wanted them to appear "sexy, but not vulgar" and described the outfits as "very conservative". [19]

:Main article Star Trek: Insurrection (Soundtrack)

The score for Insurrection was composed by Jerry Goldsmith ; his fourth score for the franchise. [56] Goldsmith continued using the march and Klingon themes written for Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979, adding new themes and variations. Insurrection opens with Alexander Courage 's Star Trek: The Original Series fanfare, introducing a six-note motif used in many of the film's action sequences. The Ba'ku are scored with a pastoral theme with repeating harps, string sections and a woodwind solo. The Ba'ku's ability to slow time was accompanied with a variation of this music. [57]

Goldsmith used quick bursts of brass music to accompany the starship sequences. For scenes in which observers are watching the Ba'ku unseen, Goldsmith used a "spying theme" that resembles his conspiracy theme from Capricorn One . Composed of a piano, timpani percussion, and brass, the theme builds until it is interrupted by the action theme as Data opens fire. Goldsmith did not write a motif for the Son'a, but scored the action sequence without designating the Son'a as an antagonist, suggesting the film's revelation that the Son'a and Ba'ku are related. The film's climax is scored with the action theme, which is balanced with "sense of wonder" music similar to cues from The Motion Picture . [57] [58]

One scene in the film shows Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner conducting a duet of A British Tar from the Gilbert and Sullivan comic-opera H.M.S. Pinafore . [7] This replaced the original idea of Picard and Data reciting scenes from Shakespeare 's play King Lear . [59] Stewart had suggested that they sing Three Little Maids from School are we from The Mikado instead, but the producers described this as "too vulgar". [7] Stewart and Spiner had previously sung together on Spiner's 1991 album Ol' Yellow Eyes Is Back . [7]

In 2013, GNP Crescendo Records re-released the soundtrack for the film as an expanded collector's edition [GNPD 8082], featuring previously unreleased tracks by Goldsmith plus four bonus tracks. [60]

Reception [ ]

Release [ ].

The world premiere of Insurrection launched the 1998 CineVegas film festival. [61] It went on general release in the U.S. and Canada on December 11, 1998. The film grossed $22.4 million over the opening weekend; the most of any film during that period. [62] It averaged a total of $8,417 per location across 2,620 theaters, [63] but fell short of the opening weekend takings of both First Contact and Generations , which were $30.7 million and $23.1 million respectively. [62]

Insurrection was the highest-grossing film during the first week of its release in the United States, and stayed in the top ten for a further three weeks. [63] During its first week of release in the UK, it was the highest-grossing film, exceeding the takings of the Will Smith film Enemy of the State . [64] Insurrection enjoyed a two-week spell at the top of the UK box office and eventually earned £7,429,398, roughly the same as Generations . [65] It went on to gross $70,187,658 in the US and $47,612,342 in other countries for a total of $117,800,000 worldwide against a $70 million budget. [2] It was the first Star Trek film to be promoted through the official website, which was called the "Star Trek Continuum" at the time. [66] Following the success of the film, Rick Berman said that he wanted to release the next film in the series three years after Insurrection . Referencing Stanley Kubrick 's 2001: A Space Odyssey , he said, "The notion of releasing a science fiction film in the year 2001 is very seductive." [7]

Critical response [ ]

The critical response to Insurrection was mixed. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 55% based on 67 reviews, with critic consensus being that, "Although not terrible, the sluggishly paced Insurrection plays like an extended episode of the TV series." [67] On Metacritic the film has a score of 64 out of 100, based on reviews from 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [68] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B+. [69]

The Los Angeles Daily News said that the film had the "bare bones of one of those pseudo-philosophical political allegories Trek has always done so entertainingly. But the movie blows it." It praised the directing of Jonathan Frakes and the computer generated special effects and gave the film two and a half stars overall. [70] The Daily Herald also gave the film two and a half stars, describing it as a "slickly made" movie with a plot "scaled down to its TV roots", and criticized the "frivolous" romance between Riker and Troi. [71] The Washington Times gave the film one and a half stars, saying that it was "consistently flat-footed and slow on the uptake", and that there was "ramshackle confusion during the climactic scenes". [72]

The Scottish Daily Record praised F. Murray Abraham and described Anthony Zerbe as "ever-dependable". It said the plot was good, but that it was simply an extended episode of The Next Generation , and gave it a score of six out of ten. [73] The British newspaper The People also said it was an extended television episode. [74]

The Independent said that Insurrection "never stops being familiarly jolly and antiquated", and called the entire Star Trek film franchise "old-fashioned". [75] The Washington Post also called the film old fashioned, but "in the best sense of the word", and said that the film did what the "doctor – make that Dr. 'Bones' McCoy – ordered". [76] British journalist Simon Rose , writing for The Daily Mirror was more critical of the film, saying that it failed to break the odd-numbered Star Trek film curse, and that it was "feeble", "moribund" and "tedious". [77] However, Josh Spiegel writing for The Buffalo News said that Insurrection broke the odd-numbered film rule. [78] Further criticism came from the Birmingham Evening Mail , which said that it was "an adult form of entertainment equivalent to Teletubbies for babies", and that there were "lots of repetition, rubbery faces, gibberish dialogue, characters leaping up and down in funny suits and some very basic effects". The reviewer gave the film two stars for fans, and none for non-fans. [79] In Folklore/Cinema: Popular Film as Vernacular Culture , the actions of Data and the Ba'ku child Artim in Insurrection are seen as "a metamorphosis motif where a child becomes computerlike and a computer/android becomes more childlike". [80] Data specifically "is a metaphor for a child who seeks to understand what being human means and then, like the velveteen rabbit, wishes to become. From confronting his father and evil brother to finding his mother, Data also represents the potential within all of us to quest for a fuller humanity". [81]

Accolades [ ]

The film was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film at the 25th Saturn Awards ; the prize was shared by Armageddon and Dark City . [82] [83] In 1999, it was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation , which went to The Truman Show . [84] It was nominated for Best Family Feature Film: Drama at the 20th Youth in Film Awards and won the individual award for Best Performance in a Feature Film: Supporting Young Actor for Michael Welch. [85]

Home media [ ]

The first home media release of the film was made simultaneously on VHS , Laserdisc and DVD on May 11, 1999, in the United States, [86] [87] and outside the US on VHS later that year. [88] The film was released on June 5, 2000, in the United Kingdom, and was one of the first titles to be released on DVD by Paramount Home Entertainment International in Europe and Japan. [89] [90]

A video game which followed up on the events of Insurrection was released in 2000. Entitled Star Trek: Hidden Evil , it was set nine months after the events depicted in the film. In its narrative, a Son'a colony has been created on Ba'ku, and an archaeological discovery which shares similarities with The Next Generation episode " The Chase " is made. The game was developed by Presto Studios and published by Activision . [91]

An Insurrection "Special Collector's Edition" two-disc set was released in 2005 at the same time as three other Next Generation films and Star Trek: Enterprise ' s fourth season, marking the first time that every film and episode of the franchise was available on home video. [92] The film was presented with the same technical specifications as the previous release and a new DTS soundtrack, but it shipped without an audio commentary. [93] The DVD includes a text track by Michael and Denise Okuda that provides production trivia and relevant facts about the Star Trek universe. [93] [94] The second disc contains six "making-of" videos, including one about the construction of the Ba'ku village and one about Michael Westmore's make-up designs for the film. [93]

As part of a collection of Star Trek: The Next Generation films, Insurrection was released on Blu-ray and DVD on September 22, 2009. The Blu-ray transfer is presented in 1080p high definition enhanced for widescreen television and features 5.1 Dolby TrueHD audio in English, French and Spanish. The release also contains "Creating the Illusion" featurettes and new commentary by Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis. [95]

See also [ ]

  • Star Trek film series
  • Wikipedia:List of films featuring extraterrestrials List of films featuring extraterrestrials]]

References [ ]

  • ↑ " STAR TREK - INSURRECTION (PG) " (December 9, 1998).
  • ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 " Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) - Financial Information ". The Numbers .
  • ↑ " Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) - Weekend Box Office Results - Box Office Mojo ".
  • ↑ 4.0 4.1 Reeves-Stevens (1998) : p. 278
  • ↑ 5.0 5.1 Boyar, Jay. " Patick Stewart's Capt. Picard gets a love life in 'Star Trek: Insurrection' ", December 3, 1998.   Template:Subscription required
  • ↑ " Patrick Stewart's view ", January 1, 1999.   Template:Subscription required
  • ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8 " It's Star Trek Jim... but not as we know it! ", January 2, 1999.   Template:Subscription required
  • ↑ " Star kisses goodbye to a cling-on ", December 16, 1998.   Template:Subscription required
  • ↑ " Frakes set to direct 'Thunderbirds' kidpic ", July 19, 2002.   Template:Subscription required
  • ↑ " Frakes set to direct 'Thunderbirds' kidpic ", July 19, 2002.  
  • ↑ "Brent Spiner's view of Star Trek: Insurrection", January 8, 1999.  
  • ↑ Eramo, Steve. " To Boldly Go – LeVar Burton Talks Star Trek: The Next Generation ", August 9, 2011.  
  • ↑ " Burton, Dorn co-star in top rated 'Star Trek' film ", December 19, 1998.   Template:Subscription required
  • ↑ Groves, Bob. " 'Star Trek' Fans Beaming ", November 29, 1998.   Template:Subscription required
  • ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5 15.6 " Star Trek: Insurrection Production Notes ". Star Trek.com.
  • ↑ Reeves-Stevens (1998) : p. 283
  • ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 Nemecek (2003) : p. 337
  • ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 18.4 Reeves-Stevens (1998) : p. 284
  • ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 19.5 19.6 19.7 Nemecek (2003) : p. 336
  • ↑ Reeves-Stevens (1998) : p. 285
  • ↑ 21.0 21.1 Nemecek (2003) : p. 338
  • ↑ Nemecek (2003) : p. 322
  • ↑ " Rage's Tom Morello To Turn Up in New "Star Trek" Film ", December 9, 1998.  
  • ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4 Nemecek (2003) : p. 342
  • ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 Nemecek (2003) : p. 343
  • ↑ " Westmore, McKenzie ". Star Trek.com.
  • ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 27.4 27.5 27.6 27.7 27.8 Nemecek (2003) : p. 334
  • ↑ Piller (1998) : p. 11
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  • ↑ Piller (1998) : p. 10
  • ↑ "ST IX pitches for a slice of Khan's accalaim" (September 1997). Dreamwatch (37).  
  • ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 Piller (1998) : p. 12
  • ↑ " Recalling "Yesterday's Enterprise" with Eric Stillwell – Part 2 ". Star Trek.com (February 18, 2011).
  • ↑ Piller (1998) : p. 2
  • ↑ Piller (1998) : p. 34
  • ↑ Piller (1998) : p. 35
  • ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 37.3 37.4 37.5 37.6 37.7 37.8 Nemecek (2003) : p. 335
  • ↑ Piller (1998) : p. 55
  • ↑ 39.0 39.1 Piller (1998) : p. 57
  • ↑ Piller (1998) : p. 58
  • ↑ 41.0 41.1 Piller (1998) : p. 59
  • ↑ Piller (1998) : p. 72
  • ↑ Piller (1998) : p. 87
  • ↑ Piller (1998) : p. 92
  • ↑ 45.0 45.1 Piller (1998) : p. 98
  • ↑ Piller (1998) : p. 102
  • ↑ Piller (1998) : p. 109
  • ↑ 48.0 48.1 Reeves-Stevens (1998) : p. 274
  • ↑ Reeves-Stevens (1998) : p. 275
  • ↑ 50.0 50.1 Reeves-Stevens (1998) : p. 265
  • ↑ Reeves-Stevens (1998) : p. 266
  • ↑ 52.0 52.1 Reeves-Stevens (1998) : p. 267
  • ↑ 53.0 53.1 Nemecek (2003) : p. 341
  • ↑ Reeves-Stevens (1998) : p. 271
  • ↑ Nemecek (2003) : p. 39
  • ↑ Bond (1998) : p. 163
  • ↑ 57.0 57.1 Bond (1998) : p. 164
  • ↑ " Star Trek: Insurrection ". Film Tracks (December 6, 1998).
  • ↑ Piller (1998) : p. 80
  • ↑ Jerry Goldsmith (1998). "Star Trek: Insurrection Expanded Collector's Edition" Archived October 7, 2013, at the Wayback Machine GNP Crescendo Records. Retrieved August 21, 2013
  • ↑ " World Premiere of Latest 'Star Trek' Movie Launches Cine-Vegas Film Festival ", December 13, 1998.   Template:Subscription required
  • ↑ 62.0 62.1 Fleeman, Michael. " Ninth 'Star Trek' movie beams up $22.4 million for first place ", December 14, 1998.   Template:Subscription required
  • ↑ 63.0 63.1 " Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) ". Box Office Mojo .
  • ↑ " UK Top 10 films ", January 8, 1999.   Template:Subscription required
  • ↑ " Archived copy ".
  • ↑ Hartigan, Paul. " Techie Trekkies in Cyberspace ", December 4, 1998.   Template:Subscription required
  • ↑ " Star Trek – Insurrection (1998) ". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media .
  • ↑ " Star Trek: Insurrection (1998): Reviews ". Metacritic .
  • ↑ " CinemaScore ".
  • ↑ Strauss, Bob. " Lower Orbit for 9th Trek Film ", December 11, 1998.   Template:Subscription required
  • ↑ " Rebel with a Cause ", December 11, 1998.   Template:Subscription required
  • ↑ Arnold, Gary. " 'Insurrection': Placid planet, inert enterprise ", December 11, 1998.  
  • ↑ " Love written in the stars ", January 1, 1999.   Template:Subscription required
  • ↑ " Bald truth as the Starship crew go oldly ", January 3, 1999.  
  • ↑ Quirke, Antonia. " Film: Also showing – The Vegetarian's Guide to the Galaxy, Star Trek: Insurrection (PG) The Acid House (18) ", January 3, 1999.   Template:Subscription required
  • ↑ O'Sullivan, Michael. " 'Insurrection': Resistance Is Futile ", December 11, 1998.   Template:Subscription required
  • ↑ Rose, Simon. " Film: Star Trek: Insurrection: To baldly go there.. again ", January 1, 1999.   Template:Subscription required
  • ↑ Spiegal, Josh. " 'Insurrection' Breaks an Odd 'Star Trek' Streak ", December 29, 1998.   Template:Subscription required
  • ↑ " Film: This weary old space yawn is a Trek too far ", January 1, 1999.   Template:Subscription required
  • ↑ Sherman; Koven (2007) : p. 4
  • ↑ Sherman; Koven (2007) : p. 87
  • ↑ Rice, Andrew. " Sci-Fi Saturnalia in La-La Land ", September 6, 1999.  
  • ↑ " Past Saturn Awards ". Saturn Awards.
  • ↑ " 1999 Hugo Awards ". The Hugo Awards.
  • ↑ " The 20th Annual Youth in Film Awards ". Young Artist Awards.
  • ↑ " Stores Going Hog Wilf ", May 8, 1999.   Template:Subscription required
  • ↑ " Star Trek: Insurrection Review ".  
  • ↑ " Top Videos ", August 22, 1999.   Template:Subscription required
  • ↑ " Amazon Advantage Links With Internet Movie Database To Showcase Indie Films ", April 8, 2000, p. 63.  
  • ↑ Beckley, Piers. " Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) ", September 4, 2001.  
  • ↑ Samuel, Jason. " Star Trek: Hidden Evil ", February 1, 2000.   Template:Subscription required
  • ↑ Staff. "Star Trek burns up", Herald Sun , December 14, 2005, p. H10.  
  • ↑ 93.0 93.1 93.2 Schorn, Peter (May 31, 2005). " Star Trek: Insurrection Special Collector's Edition ". IGN .
  • ↑ Szadkowski, Joseph. "Star Fox unleashes adorably furry fury", The Washington Times , March 7, 2005, p. B4.  
  • ↑ Pascale, Anthony (July 20, 2009). " Details On Star Trek TNG Movie Blu-Ray & DVD + TOS Season Two Sets + more ". TrekMovie.

Bibliography [ ]

  • Piller, Michael (1998). Fade In: From Idea to Final Draft, The Writing of Star Trek: Insurrection .  
  • (1998) Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Continuing Mission , 2nd, New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 978-0671025595 .  
  • Bond, Jeff (1999). The Music of Star Trek . Los Angeles: Lone Eagle Publishing Company. ISBN 1-58065-012-0 .  
  • Nemecek, Larry (2003). Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion , 3rd, Pocket Books. ISBN 0-7434-5798-6 .  
  • (2007) Folklore / Cinema: Popular Film as Vernacular Culture . Logan: Utah State University Press. ISBN 9780874216752 .  

External links [ ]

  • Official website
  • Memory Alpha
  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek:_Insurrection
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Insurrection

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This article has a real-world perspective! Click here for more information.

Captain Picard and his crew must commit treason to protect an alien people's secret to eternal youth from both an attacking alien race...and from the Federation itself.

  • 1 Introduction (blurb)
  • 3.1.1 Movie characters
  • 3.1.2 Novelization characters
  • 3.1.3 Junior Novelization characters
  • 3.2 Locations
  • 3.3 Starships and vehicles
  • 3.4 Races and cultures
  • 3.5 States and organizations
  • 3.6 Science and technology
  • 3.7 Ranks and titles
  • 3.8 Other references
  • 4.1 Background information
  • 4.2 Related Stories
  • 4.3.1 Novelization images
  • 4.3.2 Film images
  • 5.1 Translations

Introduction ( blurb ) [ ]

Star Trek: The Next Generation is the most popular, longest-running series in science fiction history. Now, after the spectacular worldwide success of Star Trek: First Contact , Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the Starship Enterprise return to the big screen in a thrilling new adventure that captures all the fun and excitement of Star Trek at its best.

Star Trek: Insurrection reunited the hugely popular crew of Star Trek: The Next Generation : Jean-Luc Picard, Starfleet 's finest captain; Commander William T. Riker , his stalwart first officer ; Lieutenant Commander Data , the indispensable android ; Commander Deanna Troi , the empathic Betazoid counselor ; Lieutenant Commander Worf , the fierce Klingon warrior; Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge ; chief of engineering ; and Dr. Beverly Crusher , the ship's able medical officer .

Together, they have faced many challenges over the years, but nothing has prepared them for the unexpected crisis that tests both their skills and their convictions.

On an unnamed planet in a distant sector , Starfleet, in an uneasy alliance with a mysterious new alien species of unknown origin, has discovered a secret with astounding implications that could transform the future of the entire Federation. But this secret has a price that may be more than some are willing to pay.

The secret first turns Data against Starfleet, then draws Jean-Luc Picard and the Starship Enterprise into a tense and dangerous situation that has unexpected effects on every member of the crew -- and presents them with an agonizing moral dilemma. Faced with orders he cannot obey and a crisis he cannot ignore, Picard finds himself torn between his conscience and his uniform.

Bestselling author J.M. Dillard has written a powerful and exciting novel based on the major motion picture directed by Jonathan Frakes ("Commander Will Riker"). Star Trek: Insurrection is sure to delight audiences throughout the world.

Summary [ ]

References [ ], characters [ ], movie characters [ ], novelization characters [ ], junior novelization characters [ ], locations [ ], starships and vehicles [ ], races and cultures [ ], states and organizations [ ], science and technology [ ], ranks and titles [ ], other references [ ], information [ ], background information [ ].

  • The novelization features the original ending of the film, where Ru'afo is exposed to the radiation and gets younger and younger.

Related Stories [ ]

  • Section 31 : Abyss ( DS9 novel ) - Abyss establishes Admiral Dougherty's operation was in fact a Section 31 project and that the Holoship was eventually procured by Elias Vaughn and an anti-Section 31 organization.
  • Armada ( TNG video game ) - The Son'a appeared in Armada attempting to retake the Ba'ku system, fortunately by that time Starfleet had built a Starbase above the planet and with the assistance of USS Avenger the Son'a forces were defeated.

Novelization images [ ]

Novelization cover image.

Film images [ ]

Ensign Kell Perim.

Connections [ ]

  • Insurrection article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .

Translations [ ]

  • 1 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
  • 3 Ferengi Rules of Acquisition

Star Trek: Insurrection

Star Trek: Insurrection ( Paramount Pictures , 1998 ) is the ninth feature film based on the popular Star Trek science fiction television series. From a script by Michael Piller , it features the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation . An idyllic planet in the middle of an unstable region within Federation space serves as home to the peaceful Ba'ku - and a veritable fountain of youth. However, when the Son'a and the Federation plan to exploit the planet in order to rejuvenate themselves, Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the crew of the USS Enterprise -E must rebel against their own people in order to save the Ba'ku and expose the atrocities that are about to take place.

  • 1 Jean-Luc Picard
  • 2 William Riker
  • 4 Adhar Ru'afo
  • 7 Main cast
  • 8 External links

Jean-Luc Picard [ edit ]

  • Can anyone remember when we used to be explorers?
  • Come out, come out, wherever you are.
  • But some of the darkest chapters in the history of my world involved the forced relocation of a small group of people to satisfy the demands of a large one. I'd hoped that we had learned from our mistakes, but it seems some of us haven't.
  • How many people does it take before it becomes wrong? A thousand? Fifty thousand? A million ? How many people DOES IT TAKE, admiral?
  • I am not pleading for my life. I'm pleading for yours.
  • Mr. Worf, destroy that thing.
  • Ru'afo, we're getting too old for this.
  • Sorry. Time's up.
  • And you? It's turned you into a coward. A man who denies his own conscience. A coward without the moral courage to prevent an atrocity. You offend me.

William Riker [ edit ]

  • [Notices a large pimple on Worf] Klingons never do anything small, do you?
  • We're through running from these bastards.

Worf [ edit ]

  • Definitely feeling aggressive tendencies, sir!
  • Captain, the Son'a crew want to negotiate a cease-fire. It may have something to do with the fact that they have 3 minutes of air left.
  • I have an odd craving for the blood of a live kolar beast

Adhar Ru'afo [ edit ]

  • The Federation will never know what happened here.
  • In six hours, every living thing in this system will be dead or dying.
  • Federation support. Federation procedures. Federation rules. Look in the mirror, Admiral. The Federation is old. In the past 24 months, they've been challenged by every major power in the quadrant: the Borg, the Cardassians, the Dominion. They all smell the scent of death on the Federation. That's why you've embraced our offer. Because it will give your dear Federation new life. Well, how badly do you want it, admiral? Because there are hard choices to be made now. If the Enterprise gets the news to the Federation about their brave captain's valiant struggle on behalf of the defenseless Ba'ku, your Federation's politicians will waver. Your Federation opinion polls will open a public debate. Your Federation allies will want their say. You-- need I go on?
  • Picard's first officer? You really believe he'll listen? My ships are powerful enough to intercept the Enterprise before it reaches the perimeter. I could send them to... escort it back. But Commander Riker might not want to come.
  • If Picard, or any of his crew interfere... eliminate them.
  • Admiral Dougherty will not be joining us for dinner. Deploy the collector.
  • I'm going to miss these little flesh-stretching sessions of ours, my dear.
  • After today, that won't be a problem... for either of us.

Dialogue [ edit ]

Taglines [ edit ].

  • The battle for paradise has begun
  • Eternity awaits beyond the final frontier
  • Eternity is closer than you think
  • Six hundred lives... one directive
  • Meet the new face of evil
  • The future of the galaxy, and the survival of a race, depend on an act of rebellion
  • Join the rebellion
  • On December 11th, Stand in defiance, Hold your ground, and Join the rebellion.

Main cast [ edit ]

External links [ edit ].

  • Star Trek: Insurrection quotes at the Internet Movie Database
  • Official Star Trek: Insurrection web page

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  • 2.1 1999 VHS (Version #1)
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Ahdar Ru'afo

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Ahdar Ru'afo is the main antagonist of the 1998 film Star Trek: Insurrection , the ninth installment of the Star Trek film series.

He is the exiled leader of the Son'a , who betrayed the Ba'ku, their race, in an attempt to object to the species' anti-technology policy. Ru'afo later joins forces with the Starfleet admiral Matthew Dougherty in an attempt to exterminate the Ba'ku from their planet in revenge.

He was portrayed by the Academy Award winning actor F. Murray Abraham , who also played Omar Suarez in Scarface , Antonio Salieri in the 1984 Amadeus film adaptation, Bernardo Gui in The Name of the Rose , Cyrus Kriticos in Thirteen Ghosts , Grimmel the Grisly in How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World , Khonshu in Moon Knight and The Traveler in Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities .

Biography [ ]

Ahdar Ru'afo was born Ro'tin of the Ba'ku race, part of a group who had settled on a planet in the Briar Patch where the metaphasic radiation gave them advanced lifespans. However, he and other younger people objected to their anti-technology policy and attempted a coup. They were defeated and sent into exile. They became known as the Son'a , with Ru'afo becoming their leader with the title of ahdar. Deprived of the metaphasic radiation, their bodies began to degenerate to the point they were no longer recognisable as Ba'ku and no-one knew of their connection. They established a technologically advanced society, conquering two other races and using them as a labour class.

Ru'afo dreamed of controlling the metaphasic radiation again in order to halt his people's deterioration, while starving off their physical deformities with constant cosmetic surgeries and skin stretching. He contacted the Federation and convinced them of the medical benefits of the metaphasic radiation, and that since they were not native to the Briar Patch, the Ba'ku's use of it was not part of their natural development. Allying with corrupt Starfleet admiral Matthew Dougherty , he made plans to use a holoship programmed with a recreation of their village to remove the Ba'ku from the planet. They would then trigger a metaphasic collector which would gather the radiation in a way that would be fatal to anyone in the region.

As cover for the operation, they arranged for a joint Federation-Son'a cultural observation of the Ba'ku. Data discovered the true intention and took the Starfleet and Son'a observers prisoner. They were freed thanks to the intervention of the Enterprise but this resulted in Picard learning the truth and confronting Ru'fo and Dougherty. Picard and many of his command staff travelled to the surface to protect the Ba'ku from removal while the Enterprise attempted to leave the Briar Patch in order to communicate with the Federation and convince them to halt the operation. Ru'afo received authorisation from Dougherty to send ships after the Enterprise , to "escort them back" by force if necessary.

Although the Son'a managed to destroy some of the Enterprise crew's transporter inhibitors and beam some of the Ba'ku on board, the remainder took refuge in the hills where mineral deposits shielded them. Ru'afo wanted to send a team to take them by force but Dougherty was worried about the public reaction. Ru'afo's second-in-command, Gallatin convinced him to instead send down drones to tag their targets with darts that they could transport. This met with limited success, with many of the drones being destroyed by the Enterprise crew but did lead to them capturing Picard.

Picard had learned the truth - that the Ba'ku and Son'a were the same species and the operation was motivated by revenge - and shared it with Dougherty and the Ba'ku prisoners. Ru'afo had by now tired of doing things the Federation's way and decided to activate the metaphasis collector, killing anyone remaining in the system. Dougherty attempted to object but Ru'afo killed him by subjecting him to an invasive cosmetic procedure. He ordered the remainder of his Starfleet "allies" imprisoned in the aft section of the ship where the radiation would kill them.

At this, Gallatin changed sides and helped Picard beam Ru'afo and the bridge crew to the holoship, which fed them the illusion of still being on their ship and witnessing the Ba'ku's destruction. Ru'afo quickly realised the deception and beamed over to the metaphasic collector, activating the procedure. Picard also beamed over and, after an exchange of fire, operated the collector's self-destruct. The Enterprise beamed Picard clear but Ru'afo was killed in the explosion.

  • Arnold Schwarzenegger was first offered the role of Ru'afo.
  • Anthony Zerbe originally auditioned for the role of Ru'afo, and was considered to be the best choice for this. However, the production team decided instead to cast him in the role of Vice Admiral Dougherty .
  • On the DVD commentary, Jonathan Frakes says that for the scene where Ru'afo has his skin folded over his head, producer Rick Berman and several of the make-up artists had visited a plastic surgery clinic and watched surgeries being performed to get ideas for that particular scene.
  • An alternate ending had Ru'afo escaping the explosion in a pod only to drift into the metaphasis radiation, which rejuvenated him to the point that he ceased to exist. Despite the scene being cut, the finished film still credited Philip Glasser as playing the young Ru'afo.

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Star Trek: Insurrection

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Joining forces with some unsavory Rubber Forehead ... and face... Aliens offering their technology friendship, The Federation decides that the Prime Directive is optional so that they can relocate the new-agey Space Amish inhabitants of a paradise planet. After all, Utopia Justifies the Means , right? The Enterprise crew uncovers the plot and rebels against Starfleet (hence the title) to save the day.

With bigger guns, the rekindling of the Riker/Troi romance, and a generally out-of-character original cast, the movie is a far cry from Star Trek: The Next Generation , clearly created to draw in a broader audience. It is considered by some to be among the worst of the Trek films, though not without its merits.

  • Badass Boast : "We're through running from these bastards."
  • Beauty Equals Goodness : Thanks to centuries of living with eternal youth, the Ba'ku look like catalog models
  • Then Dougherty turns out to have standards , so Ru'afo kills him and becomes sole Big Bad .
  • For many fans, this is the only thing they remember about him as the villain.
  • Black and White Morality : Geordi uses this idea to describe the thought processes going through Data's head after having his memory engrams damaged by a phaser blast . Which comes across as frightening when one considers that Data attacked Picard and Worf's shuttle, believing Starfleet personnel to be someone who would take advantage of his memory loss. It sets up a Black and Gray Morality theme for the whole movie ( The Federation attempting to advance medical technology through the harm of the Ba'ku vs. the Son'a, mostly Ru'afo, seeking revenge on the parents who exiled them from home ) with the crew of the Enterprise as the only people trying to settle things reasonably. It also sets up how easily music can distract Data after experiencing his equivalent to a concussion.
  • Character Shilling : The movie has the crew go on and on about how perfect and wonderful the Ba'ku and their society are, right down to the movie's tagline being "The battle for paradise has begun".
  • The script has been accused of being racist in tone: the group who Picard was perfectly willing to deport were Ambiguously Brown while the Ba'ku are lily white yet they get to keep their planet. Many fans don't like turning one of the most peaceful and enlightened captains in Star Trek into a racist.
  • An argument that doesn't really hold water. The Boraalans of TNG were on a planet that was going to naturally die out. Picard refused to interfere with the natural order by saving them. Once forced into it he went along still trying to minimize the damage to their culture thus upholding the Prime Directive. With the Ba'ku he was again refusing to interfere, and further more damned well not going to allow someone else to simply force people off of their homeworld and then destroy it utterly. Not so the Son'a could further unnaturally extend their lives, or so that the Federation (which isn't exactly a cesspool of dying people, instead a highly medically advanced civilization) can gain a new medical technology. His point stands, if they were moving six hundred people it would be just as wrong as six million. Completely different situation.
  • There's actually several episodes which feature a vaguely comparable situation. It's hard to think of a case where Picard actually allows a native population to be exploited, whether out of racism or some other reason, but there are at least two instances of him being asked to relocate colonists who have ended up on someone else's planet: He actually does relocate a planet of white people (and the odd Token Black ) in "The Ensigns of Command" but ultimately leaves a group of Native Americans alone, albeit under Cardassian rule, in "Journey's End".
  • The important detail is that in both cases, the colonies were made up of Federation citizens, and in the case of the Native Americans, he only left them alone after they had renounced that citizenship.
  • Eureka Moment : Picard salsas happily in his quarters until he catches sight of himself in the mirror, sporting quite the youthful sheen. The very next shot is him standing at the Ba'ku's front door: "How old are you?"
  • Even Evil Has Standards : Dougherty is fine with forcibly relocating the Ba'ku, but draws the line at genocide. So Ru'afo kills him.
  • Evil Overlooker
  • Fan Sequel : The sixty-episode series Hidden Frontier takes place almost entirely in the Briar Patch and explores it extensively beyond Ba'ku, with an (obviously recast) older Artum joining Starfleet after developing a case of wanderlust from meeting Data. Many jokes can be made about it being superior to the actual movie, the show's shoestring-budget being the punchline.
  • Troi and Dr. Crusher talk about how much firmer their boobs are, using that exact word. The fans weren't exactly happy.
  • Picard's Machine Empathy ; in the scene where it comes up, he mentions that it was much more acute when he was younger.
  • At one point Crusher notes that the Captain was quite a dancer, when he was younger .
  • Once we get to the Ba'ku planet, there's the rekindling of the Riker/Troi romance and Worf's Klingon Zit .
  • Fountain of Youth
  • Freudian Couch
  • Government Conspiracy
  • Heel Face Turn : Galatin. Dougherty tries as well but Ru'afo kills him.
  • Hidden Elf Village : The Ba'ku's planet.
  • Human Alien : The Ba'ku, they look exactly like humans.
  • Not really. Especially the thing by the dam with the wheel and chain system. Any tool of sufficient complicated nature is technology. Heck, depending on one's definition, a hammer can be considered technology. If the Baku meant "fully automated machines" they could have been more clear. Irrigation is typically considered technology, as is a dam.
  • In fact, the wheel, inclined plane, wedge, screw and lever are all what are typically known as "Simple Machines," the basis of all more complex devices. A truly machine-free society would be more primitive than a stone-age society, with no tools.
  • Well, after that, what reason does Ru'afo have to continue trying to capture the population?
  • Immortality Begins At Twenty : The magic radiation takes some time to have its full effect allowing children to age normally.
  • Invisibility Cloak : In the opening scene Data runs around cloaked while being chased by several cloaked away team members. Then later they find a cloaked ship hidden in a lake.
  • Jerkass Has a Point : In their argument, Admiral Dougherty actually makes a valid point that Picard seemingly ignores.
  • Love Transcends Spacetime : Anij's ability to slow down time seems linked to how romantic it makes the moment.
  • Ludd Was Right : The Federation are portrayed as the villains, using their advanced technology to bully peaceful agrarian settlers. Linkara stated that this was one of his least favorite Star Trek films because of this trope, as it was a blatant contradiction to Gene Roddenberry's original intent of embracing technology.
  • The Magnificent Seven Samurai : Complete with "Seven to beam up." Hmm....
  • Star Trek Nemesis indicates that Picard was born with a rare genetic condition that gives him supersensitive hearing. Although treated in his youth to ensure that even the slightest of sounds don't cause him pain, it's entirely possible that Picard would retain extremely acute hearing (by most human standards) into adulthood.
  • Mundane Utility : So its implied that all of the Ba'ku have developed the ability to significantly slow the passage of time. What is stopping them from using this to avoid being tagged by the seeker drones?
  • Nightmare Face : The Son'a with that face-stretcher device. Okay, maybe that's not being fair to them; how about Admiral Dougherty with that face-stretcher device.
  • Obstructive Bureaucrat
  • Obviously Evil
  • Especially since the drug they are mentioned to be dealing is often brought up in Deep Space Nine - as the drug the Dominion uses to keep its Jem'Hadar stormtroopers in line. Which means that the Son'a are the allies of a nation which the Federation is at war with. This is actually lampshaded when Troi is clearly flabbergasted by the Federation's involvement with them, but the Phlebotinum is starting to affect her and she's too busy flirting with Riker to take the thought any further.
  • What other people? Ketracel-white's sole purpose is to keep the Jem'Hadar healthy. It's never stated that it has uses for other people. It was created just for the Jem'Hadar. Though, I can get around this by saying maybe Ru'afo's group was not part of the Dominion alliance.
  • In the Deep Space Nine relaunch novel Section 31: Abyss , Commander Vaughn says that the entire operation was organized by Section 31, and when it went bad, the deceased Admiral Dougherty was made the fall guy.
  • Made Hilarious in Hindsight since in Star Trek Online you can use a joystick to pilot your starship, and if you own the exact same model of joystick...
  • Yet, years later, the NX-01 would be piloted by a joystick. I'm not even kidding.
  • Which is actually a nice bit of foreshadowing; the Son'a are just non-pacifist non-luddite Ba'ku.
  • Precision F-Strike : After detonating the warp core to neutralize the Son'a's sub-space weapon :
  • Which they subvert with the kid...who's twelve. The Ba'ku settle into age stasis sometime in their mid-20s .
  • Redemption Equals Death : When Admiral Dougherty develops a sense of morality, Ru'afo kills him.
  • Reed Richards Is Useless : The Ba'ku have discovered a planet with amazing healing/rejuvenating powers, which would surely help billions more, but keep it to themselves because... they believe a life without technology is better?
  • Series Continuity Error : Troi saying she's never kissed Riker while he had a beard. Number of times this happened in the series: four . You'd think at least Frakes (who was also directing, remember) or Sirtis would point this out.
  • Space Amish : the Ba'ku.
  • Theme Tune Cameo
  • Especially since this was taking place at around the same time as The Dominion War, where such advanced medical technology would have been especially useful in the war that the Federation was losing.
  • The tagline was The Battle For Paradise .
  • Villainy Free Villain : With the sole exception of killing Admiral Dougherty, Ru'afo really doesn't do anything but complain and moan throughout the movie.
  • ↑ Anyway, they already have.
  • 1 Low Tide in Twilight/Characters
  • 2 Double Standard Rape (Female on Male)
  • 3 Kuroinu Kedakaki Seijo wa Hakudaku ni Somaru/Characters

Memory Alpha

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Ahdar Ru'afo was the leader of the nomadic Son'a people , who attempted to oust the Ba'ku people from their homeworld in 2375 .

  • 1 Attempted takeover
  • 2 Alliance with Starfleet
  • 3.1 Background information
  • 3.2 External link

Attempted takeover [ ]

Born Ro'tin of the Ba'ku, Ru'afo became dissatisfied with the simple life that the other inhabitants of the colony endorsed, and led a group in an attempted takeover of the settlement. Ru'afo was eventually foiled, and he and his compatriots were exiled from the planet, becoming the Son'a. Over the course of the next century, the Son'a built up their military forces, and even conquered two primitive races, the Tarlac and the Ellora , integrating them into their society as a labor class.

The Son'a soon found, however, that in the absence of the metaphasic radiation being emitted from the rings of their planet, the aging process began to take its toll, and they became obsessed with recapturing their youth, undergoing numerous medical procedures to rejuvenate themselves and maintain a younger appearance. By the 24th century , Ru'afo initiated a plot to take revenge on those who had banished him, and harvest the metaphasic radiation with which to reinvigorate the Son'a.

Alliance with Starfleet [ ]

In 2375 , Ru'afo entered into an alliance with the Federation through Starfleet admiral Dougherty in order to facilitate the Ba'ku's forced relocation from their planet in the area of space known as "the Briar Patch ." According to their agreement, Starfleet would covertly transport the Ba'ku from their colony in a Starfleet holoship , and the Son'a would subsequently perform a procedure on the planet's rings to collect the metaphasic particles, leaving the planet uninhabitable.

Dougherty was convinced that the technology which would evolve from the alliance would be of a great benefit to the Federation , particularly due to the hardships suffered by them during their then-ongoing war with the Dominion , but Ru'afo actively hid the fact that the Son'a and the Ba'ku were the same race. Eventually, however, their plot was uncovered by Jean-Luc Picard , captain of the USS Enterprise -E . As Picard and a group of his officers remained on the planet in an effort to defend the Ba'ku, Picard's first officer , Commander Will Riker , attempted to reach the perimeter of the Briar Patch to inform the Federation Council of the Son'a assault against the Ba'ku.

Knowing that, if the Federation were to become aware of the assault, they would put the project in hiatus, Ru'afo managed to convince Dougherty to authorize the deployment of two Son'a battle cruisers to intercept the Enterprise . Ultimately, however, Riker was successful in defending the Enterprise against the Son'a attack, and Picard was able to protect the Ba'ku. When Picard informed Dougherty of his discovery that Ru'afo was simply trying to gain revenge on those that had exiled them, Dougherty attempted to put an end to the mission, a decision to which Ru'afo responded by killing him.

Son'a collector self destructs

Picard and Ru'afo witness the destruction of the collector

Ru'afo eventually decided to activate the Son'a collector , a vessel designed to collect the metaphasic particles, while the Ba'ku were still on the planet, an act which would have resulted in the deaths of all life on the surface. Picard managed to win over Ru'afo's second-in-command, Gallatin , who deactivated the collector and transported Ru'afo and his bridge crew to the holoship. Ru'afo, however, was able to beam aboard the collector alone and restart the launch sequence.

To stop him, Picard boarded and attempted to activate the self-destruct . Ru'afo attempted to kill Picard, but Picard was able to avoid his attack long enough to attain his objective. As Picard activated the self-destruct, the vessel began to explode around the two of them. Ru'afo was killed in the destruction of the collector while the Enterprise returned in time to beam Picard out. ( Star Trek: Insurrection )

Appendices [ ]

Background information [ ].

Phillip Glasser, Insurrection

Phillip Glasser as a young Ru'afo

Ru'afo was played by F. Murray Abraham . Phillip Glasser played a younger version of Ru'afo in a scene that was ultimately deleted from the film.

In a character description that was written by Michael Piller and was used by Casting Directors Junie Lowry-Johnson and Ron Surma to seek a performer to play the role, Ru'afo was described thus: " One of two primary villains, he is an alien leader, 52 to 70 years old, of a race known as the Son'a […] They are a dying race and have come to the Ba’ku world to steal the magic of the environment, which will help them survive. Ru'afo has formed an uneasy alliance with the Federation in order to accomplish this, but he and his people are far more willing to do anything, including total destruction of the environment, to get what they need. " ( Fade In: The Making of Star Trek Insurrection [ page number? • edit ] )

In an earlier version of the script, reflected in the early editions of the novelization of Star Trek: Insurrection , Ru'afo escaped into space before the collector exploded. He was protected from the vacuum by a personal shield, but drifted into the planet's rings, where the metaphasic radiation was so intense that it didn't just reverse his aging, but also disintegrated him completely.

External link [ ]

  • Ru'afo at StarTrek.com
  • 2 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

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  1. Star Trek: Insurrection

    Star Trek: Insurrection is a 1998 American science fiction film directed by Jonathan Frakes.It is the ninth film in the Star Trek film series, as well as the third to star the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, with F. Murray Abraham, Donna Murphy, and Anthony Zerbe appearing in main roles. In the film, the crew of the USS Enterprise-E rebels against Starfleet after they discover a ...

  2. Star Trek: Insurrection

    This was the last Star Trek film to have the cast and crew credits at the start of the movie. Star Trek Nemesis, Star Trek and all Star Trek movies since have their credits after the movie had finished, as is now standard for most major Hollywood films. This is also the last Star Trek film to use the 1986-2002 Paramount Pictures logo.

  3. Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)

    Star Trek: Insurrection: Directed by Jonathan Frakes. With Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton. When the crew of the Enterprise learn of a Federation conspiracy against the inhabitants of a unique planet, Captain Picard begins an open rebellion.

  4. Star Trek: Insurrection

    Star Trek: Insurrection is a 1998 American science fiction film directed by Jonathan Frakes. It is the ninth film in the Star Trek film series, as well as the third to star the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, with F. Murray Abraham, Donna Murphy, and Anthony Zerbe appearing in main roles. In the film, the crew of the USS Enterprise-E rebels against Starfleet after they discover a ...

  5. Star Trek: Insurrection

    Star Trek: Insurrection is a 1998 American science fiction film directed by Jonathan Frakes. It is the ninth film in the Star Trek film series, as well as the third to star the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, with F. Murray Abraham, Donna Murphy, and Anthony Zerbe appearing in main roles. In the film, the crew of the USS Enterprise-E rebels against Starfleet after they discover a ...

  6. Star Trek: Insurrection (4K Ultra HD)

    Star Trek: Insurrection is the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray/Blu-ray/Digital combo release of Star Trek: Insurrection. It was initially conceived to be part of the Star Trek: The Next Generation 4-Movie Collection, but it was decided to give it also a concurrent individual release in both the 4K UHD and Blu-Ray formats. The one-disc latter incidentally, was not only included in this set, but saw its own ...

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  8. The Secrets Behind the Making of Star Trek: Insurrection

    In early 1997, story development and pre-production began on the film that would eventually become Star Trek: Insurrection.A few months after Star Trek: First Contact became a box office hit, producer Rick Berman approached Michael Piller, whose contributions to Star Trek cannot be exaggerated, to write the film.. As the producer and showrunner for Star Trek: The Next Generation, Piller's ...

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    Jul 20, 2023. Rated: 2.5/4 • Jun 19, 2023. A Federation mission to the planet Ba'ku takes a dangerous turn when a malfunctioning android, Data (Brent Spiner), takes a cultural task force hostage ...

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    Star Trek: Insurrection. A funny thing happened to me on the way to writing this review of "Star Trek: Insurrection"--I discovered that several of the key filmmakers disagree with the film's plot premise. Maybe that's why this ninth "Star Trek" saga seems inert and unconvincing. Here's the premise: In a region of space known as the Briar Patch ...

  11. Star Trek: Insurrection

    Star Trek: Insurrection is a 1998 American science fiction film directed by Jonathan Frakes. It is the ninth film in the Star Trek film series, as well as the third to star the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, with F. Murray Abraham, Donna Murphy, and Anthony Zerbe appearing in main roles. In the film, the crew of the USS Enterprise-E rebels against Starfleet after they discover a ...

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    Star Trek: Insurrection is the ninth movie set in the Star Trek universe.It was made in 1998 by Paramount Pictures.Captain Picard fights a Starfleet admiral who wants to move a race from their planet to use its natural resources.. Other websites. Star Trek: Insurrection on IMDb; Star Trek: Insurrection at AllMovie

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    The Secrets of Star Trek: Insurrection is a behind the scenes reference book describing the production and design process that went into Star Trek: Insurrection. From the book jacket NEW SHIPS! NEW ALIENS! NEW WORLDS! NEW ADVENTURES! This is the chronicle of how they came to be - the story behind Paramount Pictures' newest cinematic epic, the third feature film starring the cast of Star Trek ...

  15. Star Trek: Insurrection

    Star Trek: Insurrection (Paramount Pictures, 1998) is the ninth feature film based on the popular Star Trek science fiction television series. From a script by Michael Piller, it features the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation.An idyllic planet in the middle of an unstable region within Federation space serves as home to the peaceful Ba'ku - and a veritable fountain of youth.

  16. Timeline of Star Trek

    The USS Enterprise 's five-year mission under Captain Kirk lasts from 2207 to 2212. [57] The events of Star Trek: The Motion Picture occur in 2217. [57] The events of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan occur around 2222 (dialogue in the film says it is set "fifteen years" after the Season One episode "Space Seed").

  17. Star Trek: Insurrection (novel)

    The novelization of Star Trek: Insurrection is an adaptation of Star Trek: Insurrection, written by J.M. Dillard. Published by Pocket Books, the novel was first released in hardback in November 1998. From the book jacket On an unnamed planet in a distant sector, Starfleet , in an uneasy alliance with a mysterious new alien species of unknown origin, has discovered a secret with astounding ...

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    Menus. Features. The Star Trek Universe. Westmore's Aliens Star Trek' s Beautiful Alien Women. Production. It Takes a Village Location, Location, Location The Art of Insurrection Anatomy of a Stunt The Story of Insurrection Making Insurrection Director's Notebook. Creating the Illusion.

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  20. Ahdar Ru'afo

    Ahdar Ru'afo is the main antagonist of the 1998 film Star Trek: Insurrection, the ninth installment of the Star Trek film series. He is the exiled leader of the Son'a, who betrayed the Ba'ku, their race, in an attempt to object to the species' anti-technology policy. Ru'afo later joins forces with the Starfleet admiral Matthew Dougherty in an attempt to exterminate the Ba'ku from their planet ...

  21. Dougherty

    2375, Ru'afo's flagship. Played by: Anthony Zerbe. " It was for the Federation. It was all for the Federation. - Dougherty, 2375 ( Star Trek: Insurrection) Vice Admiral Dougherty was a Starfleet flag officer in the 24th century . In 2375, Dougherty entered into an alliance with the Son'a, led by Ahdar Ru'afo, to covertly relocate the Ba'ku ...

  22. Star Trek: Insurrection

    Love Transcends Spacetime: Anij's ability to slow down time seems linked to how romantic it makes the moment.; Ludd Was Right: The Federation are portrayed as the villains, using their advanced technology to bully peaceful agrarian settlers. Linkara stated that this was one of his least favorite Star Trek films because of this trope, as it was a blatant contradiction to Gene Roddenberry's ...

  23. Ru'afo

    Deceased ( 2375) Died: 2375, Metaphasic collector. Played by: F. Murray Abraham. " Ru'afo, we're getting too old for this. " " After today, that won't be a problem… for either of us. - Jean-Luc Picard and Ru'afo, 2375 ( Star Trek: Insurrection) Ahdar Ru'afo was the leader of the nomadic Son'a people, who attempted to oust the Ba'ku people ...