“We are betraying the principles upon which the Federation is founded. It is an attack upon its very soul.”
- Captain Jean-Luc Picard

Star Trek: Insurrection
– Special Collector’s Edition

Review By: Dan Deevy
DanDeevy@TheCinemaSource.com

Insurrection is a very different kind of Star Trek adventure that many were extremely disappointed in, myself included. The stakes of this film were not the destruction of the human race or the life or death of a great Starfleet hero; it was simply the relocation of a unique culture short sightedly committed by the Federation itself. I’m sure some would argue that betraying the fundamental principles of the Federation is pretty high stakes, but when you wait years for a new addition to the Trek saga, you expect more.

This Jonathan Frakes helmed film finds the crew of the Enterprise investigating a malfunction in Data (Brent Spiner) that has caused him to take federation hostages on an isolated planet during a covert survey mission. Further investigation into this world and the inhabitants reveal that the planet itself is the ever sought after “fountain of youth.” A rare element found in the planets rings, continually regenerate the cells of everyone living on it. Aging is slowed to a veritable halt, increasing life spans from decades to centuries.

A ruthless, decaying race known as the Sona have developed a way to collect these particles and use them to their own advantage. The procedure, however, has the unfortunate side effect of destroying all life in the system for generations. A top level Starfleet Official, Admiral Dougherty (Anthony Zerbe), has his own intentions of bringing this miraculous new medical resource to the people of the Federation even at the cost of surreptitiously relocating the planets population. It’s up to Picard (Patrick Stewart) and his crew to keep the planet occupied and delay the procedure long enough to make their plea to the Federation Council to stop Dougherty and his Sona ally, Ru’Afo (F. Murray Abraham) from completing the procedure.

The main strength of this film has constantly been said to be the twist on morality. Questioning decisions made by higher powers to defend what is truly the right thing to do. This is what Star Trek has always done and is probably the single biggest reason for its enduring success. The only problem with this, is that at no point during the film is the audience questioning what is right and what is wrong. It’s clear from the outset that the Sona are evil and the Ba’ku are good. The only real debate over the issue occurs between the noble Captain Picard and the evil Admiral… c’mon now, who are you going to agree with?

Had the debate actually raged