"Star Trek: Insurrection"

1998
-directed by jonathan frakes
ANIJ: I wonder if you're aware of the trust you engender, Jean-Luc Picard. In my experience it's rare-
PICARD: For an off-worlder.
ANIJ: For one so young.
The most overlooked film in the STAR TREK canon...and the only one which makes me cry. Well-received by fans, but generally considered "too much like a TV episode". I find this criticism suspect. Is a fine television show inherently less entertaining than a fine film? No. INSURRECTION will age much better than your basic blockbuster-of-the-moment (i'm looking at you, abrams). It's adventurous, thought-provoking, and the only film that rivals STAR TREK IV for humor. You could argue that it's less accessible to non-fans...but at what point is a franchise allowed to stop catering to the uninitiated? Should the biggest TV/movie franchise ever, be afraid of giving fans what they want? If your goal is to break the box office bank each time, you've perhaps lost sight of the bigger "picture". And in what universe is a $58,000,000 film that "only" grosses $119,000,000 cause for dumping a director? The helmer in question was franchise star jonathan frakes. I defy you to name any other TREK director who has a higher percentage of four-star success. Okay, nick meyer. But the gap between frakes and #3 is a chasm.
Enterprise uncovers a Federation-complicit plot to remove an alien culture from their home world. Picard and crew disobey orders, to step in and fight a genocidal maniac (the sublime f. murray abraham - AMADEUS, THE NAME OF THE ROSE). Equally exquisite is Broadway star donna murphy (WHAT ABOUT JOAN, THE DOOR IN THE FLOOR) as anij, a ba'ku who falls into romance with picard. Their scenes are breathtaking. Her line about trust always reminds me of the only essential quality to which i've ever aspired.
It's the most successful TREK treatment of the notion of living in the moment. The ba'ku have renounced violence and technology and warp drive, turning their explorations inward, onto the world of immediate experience. They've achieved a stunning level of perception, coordination, and ability to affect the world around them. Also, in a way so subtle that most viewers won't be consciously aware of it, the film makes the point that cosmetic surgery is at best mildly horrific. Daniel hugh kelly (HARDCASTLE AND McCORMICK, GROWING UP BRADY) and gregg henry (GILMORE GIRLS, THE RICHES) give nuanced supporting roles. When picard is asked to lay aside his weapon, as the ba'ku community is a sanctuary of life...that's where the tears start, if they haven't already. The regulars all have wonderful moments. Levar burton's soulful eyes, freed of the visor...riker and troi finally returning to the intimacy of silly teenagers...another indelible pinocchio performance from spiner...wonderful. Not just wonderful, but the TREK film most true to the classic vision.
"You stop reviewing what happened yesterday. Stop planning for tomorrow...nothing more complicated than perception. (Your ships) explore the universe. We've discovered that a single moment in time can be a universe in itself, full of powerful forces. Most people aren't aware enough of the 'now' to even notice."