Star Trek Nemesis

Star Trek: Nemesis poster
Series:	TNG
US Release:	13 December 2002
Prod. #:	010
Date:	2379
Stardate:	56844.9
Director:	Stuart Baird
Story:	John Logan & Rick Berman & Brent Spiner
Screenplay:	John Logan
Producer:	Rick Berman

"A generation's final journey begins."

Picard and the crew of the Enterprise journey into the heart of the Romulan Empire, as a new leader emerges from the ashes of political upheaval. There, Picard confronts a very personal enemy, with repercussions for the entire Federation.

Summary

On Romulus, the Romulan Senate is debating the Reman problem. Commander Suran tries to convince the Senate to ally with the Remans to fight the Federation, but the Praetor silences him, saying that the military does not dictate policy on Romulus. When the officers and Senator Tal'aura have left, a small box opens, spreading a greenish particle throughout the room. The Praetor calls for security, but it is too late -- the senators start decaying and turn into dust.

File:Wedding.jpg

The wedding.

On Earth, Jean-Luc Picard is giving a toast as best man to William T. Riker and his new wife Deanna Troi. He jokingly complains that they are not considering what they are doing to him by leaving for Riker's new command, the USS Titan. Old friends Guinan and Wesley Crusher are also at the wedding reception. Data gets up in front of all the guests and tells the couple that his wedding gift is a song that he is going to sing for them, "Blue Skies", by Irving Berlin.

While the Enterprise-E is about to set course for Betazed, where a second wedding ceremony will be held- where all participants and guests will be nude, in accordance with Betazed tradition- they detect a positronic signature from the planet Kolarus III. As this signature is only transmitted by androids created by Dr. Noonien Soong, Data's creator, Picard decides to set course for the planet.

Picard, Worf, and Data cruise around the planet's surface and find pieces of an android. Geordi La Forge's scans reveal that the android is an early prototype built by Dr. Soong. Once assembled, the android refers to himself as B-4, but he is decidedly less sophisticated than Data. Data decides to download his knowledge into B-4 in the hope that he will be able to function better, but the procedure appears to be unsuccessful.

File:Shinzon2379.jpg

Praetor Shinzon

Meanwhile, Picard is contacted by Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway, who orders him to set a course for Romulus, where the new Praetor Shinzon wants to discuss peace. Janeway informs him that the new Praetor is Reman, not Romulan. When they arrive at Romulus, a Reman, who calls himself Shinzon's Viceroy, tells Picard to beam down to the surface.

It turns out that Shinzon is actually not Reman but Human; he's a clone of Picard. Shinzon was created as a part of a Romulan plot to plant a spy in Starfleet, but the plan was abandoned some time ago. Shinzon was sent to the dilithium mines of Remus when he was only a small child, but his Viceroy took care of him and taught him how to survive.

Dr. Crusher explains

Later, aboard the Enterprise, Dr. Beverly Crusher explains that Shinzon is rapidly aging, and that he is dying of genetic degeneration. He needs a genetic transfusion from Picard in order to survive. However, Picard would die in the process.

Data and Geordi begin investigating an unauthorized signal onboard the Enterprise and find that they can use it to their advantage. Deanna finds out that the Viceroy has telepathic abilities as she is mind raped by an image of Shinzon. Shinzon captures Picard and cloaks his ship, the Scimitar. Because its cloak is impenetrable, the Enterprise can't find it. However, Data has disguised himself as B-4, who was a spy for Shinzon, and makes Shinzon believe he knows the location of the Federation fleet. Data helps Picard escape from his captors and the two board a Scorpion class attack vessel in one of the Scimitar's bays. But Shinzon has sealed the launch doors and they are forced to fly the vessel through the corridors of the Scimitar and blast their way out of it.

The Enterprise heads for a collection of Starfleet vessels where they hope to lure Shinzon, so that he will be unable to use his superweapon against Earth. When the Enterprise enters a rift that prevents communication, Shinzon's vessel attacks.

File:Battle of the Bassen Rift 3.jpg

The Battle of the Bassen Rift

The Scimitar is more than a match for Enterprise, and when two Romulan warbirds arrive, the crew think they are finished. However, the Romulan Warbird Valdore hails them. Commander Donatra, who was an ally of Shinzon before he spurned her advances, offers assistance to the Enterprise. The two warbirds buy the Enterprise enough time for Deanna to use her link to the Viceroy to locate the Scimitar, allowing Worf to fire. But Shinzon is still powerful as he blasts away the foward section of the bridge, sucking the helmsman out into space. (See: Battle of the Bassen Rift.)

Reman boarding party

The Enterprise is boarded by Reman soldiers, and Riker and the Viceroy face off over a large chasm. Deanna takes the helm, and the Scimitar moves to face the Enterprise directly. Shinzon orders Picard to surrender, but Picard instead sends a text message to Deanna telling her to set a collision course. The two vessels collide causing severe damage to both ships leaving them adrift, but Shinzon backs the Scimitar away and activates his thalaron weapon, targeting the Enterprise. Picard beams aboard the Scimitar to stop the weapon, leaving Data in command. Data then tells Deanna to take command, and he and Geordi head for a corridor that faces Shinzon's vessel. Data leaps out of the Enterprise and boards the Scimitar.

Data uses an emergency transport unit to transport Captain Picard off the Scimitar, shortly before destroying the Reman warship.

Picard and Shinzon face off against one another, and Picard eventually kills him. The experience leaves him shocked and he doesn't realize that Data slapped a one-person transporter onto him. Picard is beamed aboard the Enterprise, and Data fires his phaser at Shinzon's superweapon and obliterates the Scimitar. Commander Donatra sends repair and medical crews to the Enterprise telling Picard that he has made the first of what she hopes will be many friends in the Romulan Star Empire. The command crew share a bottle of Chateau Picard and remember their fallen comrade Data.

A toast to Data.

While the Enterprise undergoes repairs at a drydock in Earth orbit, Picard says goodbye to Captain William Riker and wishes him luck on the Titan. Picard also talks to B-4 and tells him about Data's goal of becoming more human. B-4 doesn't understand but begins to mumble lines from "Blue Skies". Picard helps him continue by singing along. Picard leaves the room and smiles as he walks down the Enterprise's corridors.

Memorable Quotes

"Duty. A starship captain's life is filled with solemn duty. I have commanded men in battle. I have negotiated peace treaties between implacable enemies. I have represented the Federation in first contact with 27 alien species. But none of this compares with my solemn duty today...as best man!"

- Picard

"And like a thousand commanders on a thousand battlefields, I wait for the dawn."

- Picard

"Mr. Data..."

"Yes Sir?

"Shut up". (turns to look at the crowd) "Fifteen years, I've been waiting to say that."

- Picard, Data

"Can you learn to see in the dark, Captain?"

- Shinzon

"Romulan Ale should be illegal."

"It is."

"Then it should be more illegal." (This line was cut)

- Worf and La Forge

"It appears to be some sort of robotic arm."

"Very astute."

- Data and Worf

"In fact... I feel exactly what you feel"

- Shinzon to Picard

"Goodbye."

- Data's last word

"Captain Riker was pulling my leg wasn't he...sir."

- Commander Martin Madden (deleted scene)

"How do you think about a trip to Romulus?"

"With, or without the rest of the fleet?"

- Janeway, Picard

"Don't worry, Number One. We'll have you on Betazed in plenty of time, where we will all observe Betazoid tradition. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be in the gym."

- Picard

Background Information

Trivia

• This TNG film featured the longest gap between it and the preceeding movie, a span of about four years.

• There are no opening credits save the title. Both the letter 'R' in 'Trek' and the second 'E' in 'Nemesis' are presented backward within the words in order to introduce the idea of a mirror image. In the audio commentary of the DVD, Rick Berman says that he "was not crazy" about them.

• The Enterprise-E is not the first Federation starship to visit Romulus. The USS Bellerophon visited the planet in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges".

• This is the only TNG film not to feature the Mintakan tapestry (TNG: "Who Watches the Watchers?") somewhere in Picard's quarters.

• In-joke? Troi is once again put to the helm and AGAIN she crashes the ship...

• B-4's original name was B-9 (Possibly a tip of the hat to the B-9 robot of Lost in Space, as well as heavy foreshadowing that the android might not be "benign" to our heroes).

• The song Riker mentions when remembering his first encounter with Data was in fact "Pop Goes the Weasel" dating all the way back to the pilot, "Encounter at Farpoint".

• A large mock-up of the saucer section of the Enterprise, used during the collision course sequence, would later appear in the debris field of a Borg sphere in ENT: "Regeneration".

• Shinzon's death scene, in which he basically impales himself, is reminscent of a death scene in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, in which an Uruk-Hai warrior impales himself. However it is likely derived from a moment in Le Morte D'Arthur (1485) by Thomas Mallory. In this Mordred - King Arthur's illegitimate son and nemesis - dies in such a manner, dragging himself up a spear which has impaled him in an attempt to reach and slay the King. This is likely as Shinzon is a clear Mordred figure for Picard, an 'offspring' (in this case a clone not a natural child) created without the hero's knowledge by his enemies, who then grows to manhood hating his 'Father' and determined to destroy all that he holds most dear.

• If observed closely, the two Romulan Warbirds shown in the Bassen Rift are not the same color. Donatra's vessel is green while the other is brown.

• John Logan named the character of Commander Martin Madden after his long-time partner, Marty Madden. The scenes about him were finally cut from the final movie, but they can be seen on the DVD edition.

• As with the actors portraying Remans, Michael Dorn's voice was electronically lowered in post production to give Worf a more "alien" feel.

• The contact lenses used in Data's makeup differed from those used in previous outings as, this time, they were more opaque yellow.

• In an interview early in the film's preproduction, John Logan stated that a Gorn would be present in Riker and Troi's wedding reception. However, no such alien appeared in the final movie due to the prohibitively high cost of creating such a creature.

• Logan also wanted the battle in the Bassen Rift to be fought with a fleet of vessels, not just four, however this too would have been prohibitively expensive.

Cast trivia

• Shannon Cochran had previously appeared as Kalita in TNG: Preemptive Strike and DS9: "Defiant" and as Martok's wife Sirella in "You Are Cordially Invited...".

• J. Patrick McCormack had previously played Admiral Bennett in DS9: "Doctor Bashir, I Presume" and Prax in VOY: "Counterpoint"

• Bryan Singer, director of the first two X-Men films (which featured Patrick Stewart), can be seen in one scene as the replacement tactical officer.

• Although Wil Wheaton's (Wesley Crusher) only scene in the movie with any dialogue was cut from the final film, he can be seen sitting to the left of his mother at the far end of the front table during the wedding celebration (Note inset photo marked "The wedding"). Several deleted scenes, including that one, can be seen in the two-disc DVD Special Collector's Edition

• Steven Culp, who would later play Major Hayes in ENT Season 3, was filmed portraying the Enterprise-E's new first officer, Commander Martin Madden. This scene was cut from the theatrical release, but is available as a deleted scene on the DVD release.

References to other series and movies

• The film contains references to all five live-action Star Trek television series. Riker employs an evasive maneuver named after James T. Kirk, the entire cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation appears, Riker discusses the Remans participation in the war with the Dominion, Admiral Kathryn Janeway appears, and a USS Archer is listed amongst a Starfleet Battle Group.

• The name of the Romulan ship IRW Valdore would later be reused as the name of a 22nd century Romulan senator and admiral, Valdore, in Star Trek: Enterprise.

Sets and props

• The interiors for sickbay and crew quarters were new sets specifically built for this film. In previous outings, redressed interiors for Voyager were used.

• The free-standing terminals used on the Scimitar bridge are actually reused Jem'Hadar consoles from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

• The free-standing terminals used on the Valdore bridge are actually reused Klingon consoles from throughout the various series.

• The Valdore bridge itself was actually a redress of the bridge of the Enterprise-E.

• The Starfleet hand phasers were reused versions from VOY: "Endgame".

• The Reman costumes were re-used as Xindi-Reptilian uniforms in Star Trek: Enterprise.

• Director Stuart Baird requested the redesign of many aspects of the universe, such as phasers and other props, to make them seem more realistic. He also requested a darker scheme to be used in the sets, hence a complete overhaul of the LCARS displays throughout the ship.

• The costumes worn by the Romulan guards seen briefly in the Senate were based upon ancient Japanese armor.

• The Enterprise-E observation lounge features a bank of computers that would later reappear aboard Enterprise, NX-01. (ENT: "The Xindi")

• While in Star Trek: Generations the displays in stellar cartography were created with blue-screens and digital compositing, stellar cartography in this film simply featured a large screen with a rear-projected display.

• Also, the console in the center of stellar cartography, in this film, was a reuse of the table featured in the Son'a conference room in Star Trek: Insurrection.

Promotion

• The fast food restaurant Del Taco featured promotional tie-in to the film.

• Trailers and TV spots featured Shinzon's line "Kill everything aboard that ship, then set a course for Earth" edited into "Set a course for Earth -- kill everything". The latter would become a somewhat unofficial tagline before the film's opening.

Merchandising

• The toy company Art Asylum released four action figures based on the film in the likeness of Picard, Data, Shinzon and the Viceroy. However, its replica of the Enterprise-E (with lights and sound) was finally released in February 2006, over three years later.

Reviews and opinions

• Most reviews for this film were lukewarm at best, which was possibly one of the reasons it struggled at the box office. Many also attribute this to the fact that it opened mere days before The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, one of the highest grossing films in recent years.

• While the TV series Star Trek: Enterprise would also ultimately fail to garner audience attention, the cast would blame this on the show's lack of promotion. Star Trek: Nemesis, on the other hand, was the largest marketed film in the franchise, and the second-to-lowest grossing.

• Many fans point to glaring inconsistencies, tonal problems, and simple characterization flaws for the relative failure of this film. This may or may not have something to do with the fact that director Stuart Baird was so unfamiliar with the Star Trek universe that he would often mispronounce character names and more specifically erroneously refer to Geordi La Forge as an "alien".

• Following the box office disappointment, various members of the cast stated that this was in fact the final outing for the crew of the Enterprise-E, despite the fact that the film's tagline "A Generation's Final Journey" was never acknowledged as being definitive. Recently, however, cast members such as Patrick Stewart and Michael Dorn have stated their belief that the Next Generation crew will return to the big screen in the future.

Box office performance

• Opening on Friday, 13 December 2002, Star Trek: Nemesis earned a lower-than-expected $18.5 million in its opening weekend. It became the first Star Trek film to not debut in the number one spot at the box office. That honor instead went to the Jennifer Lopez comedy Maid in Manhattan, which beat out Nemesis by less than $200,000. Nemesis would go on to lose over 76% of its business the following weekend, falling to eigth place in the face of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. The movie closed on Thursday, 13 March 2003 with a total gross of $43.25 million – the lowest of the ten Star Trek films.

Inconsistencies

• Some confusion exists as to how many decks are aboard the Enterprise-E. Following the intruder alert, Worf orders a security team to Deck 29 where a fire fight takes place, sending Riker and the Reman Viceroy to a lower deck where they proceed to fight in a vertical shaft that appears to extend at least another 5 levels lower. Unfortunately in Star Trek: First Contact, Picard explicitly stated that the ship had only 24 decks, which is supported both by the deckplan seen on the bridge of the ship, as well as the ship's designer, John Eaves. However, a later reference in the film states that there are 27 decks, so the true number remains a mystery.

• At one point Data states, "I feel nothing". While he did recieve an emotion chip in Star Trek: Generations, he seems to have removed and ceased using the chip some time before this story began. There is also the possibility he just chose to have the chip deactivated for the duration of the film's events. He had previously demonstrated the ability to shut off the emotion chip at will in Star Trek: First Contact.

• A scene featuring the Picard family album shows a photograph of Picard as a cadet sporting a shaved head. Early TNG episodes had previously indicated that Picard in fact did have hair in his early years in Starfleet. Compounding the confusion, Dr. Crusher states that she remembers Picard as a cadet, despite the fact that Crusher would have only been a couple years old at that time.

As well, in the TNG Episode Violations during Dr Crusher's mental assault by one of the Ullian passengers. It reenacts a time that Picard and Crusher were arriving on starbase to view Jack Crushers Corpse. At this time, Picard was shown to have a large amount of hair, although beginning to go bald.

• While the Dominion War is mentioned several times over the course of the film, the fact that the Federation and the Romulans were allied during that war is conveniently left out. However, Luther Sloan stated in DS9: "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges" that after the Dominion War ended, he expected the Federation and Romulans to become sole rivals for dominance in the Alpha Quadrant, because the Cardassians were occupied after their defeat and it would take ten years for the Klingon economy to recover.

• One of the more common fan explanations for the current state of Federation-Romulan relations is that the Romulan Empire discovered that Captain Sisko and Garak had duped them into joining the war and they resented the Federation as a result.

Goofs

• During a briefing in the observation lounge, a close-up of a computer terminal reveals the reflection of both the camera and green screens behind it.

Deleted scenes

• Seven deleted scenes appear on the DVD edition with introduction by producer Rick Berman. In the intro, Rick Berman confirms that roughly 50 minutes of footage was trimmed from the original version. The seven deleted scenes make up about 17 minutes of this original footage and includes:
  • A private conversation between Picard and Data over a glass of wine.
  • Early introduction of Shinzon in the film (right after the wedding reception). This is the scene that includes the dialogue from the theatrical trailers, "But in darkness there is strength...(Viceroy)" and "The time we have dreamed of is at hand... the mighty federation will fall before us...(Shinzon)."
  • The second rape scene of Counselor Troi in a turbolift.
  • A scene of Picard walking with Troi down a corridor and Troi explaining to him that he and Shinzon are two different people. This scene includes the line from the trailer, "it was like a part of me had been stolen...(Picard).
  • Sick-bay getting ready for battle, a short dialogue between Dr. Crusher and Picard is shown.
  • Worf warning Picard about the Romulans just before they leave for Romulus. This scene includes the dialogue from the trailer, "I recommend extreme caution...(Worf)."
  • The original extended ending - A new First Officer is introduced on board the Enterprise and two funny moments are shown afterward. Instead of ending while the Enterprise is docked above Earth, this new ending shows the Enterprise warping away.

Links and References

Cast

• Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard
• Jonathan Frakes as William T. Riker
• Brent Spiner as Data and B-4
• LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge
• Michael Dorn as Worf
• Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi
• Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher
• Tom Hardy as Shinzon
• Ron Perlman as Viceroy
• Shannon Cochran as Tal'aura
• Dina Meyer as Donatra
• Jude Ciccolella as Suran
• Alan Dale as Hiren
• John Berg as a Romulan Senator
• Michael Owen as Branson
• Robertson Dean as a Reman Officer
• Kate Mulgrew as Kathryn Janeway
• David Ralphe as a Romulan Commander #1
• J. Patrick McCormack as a Romulan Commander #2
• Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher
• Majel Barrett Roddenberry as computer voice
• Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan (uncredited)
• Bryan Singer as Starfleet Bridge Officer #1 (uncredited)
• Doug Wax as Starfleet Bridge Officer #2 (uncredited)
• Michael Wickson as Reman Subcommander (uncredited)
• Steven Culp as Martin Madden (uncredited-deleted scene)
• Stuart Baird as the Scimitar computer voice (uncredited)

References

Archer, USS; Argo, Aries, USS; auto-destruct; Bassen Rift; Battle of the Bassen Rift; Berlin, Irving; Betazed; Blue Skies; Borg; Chateau Picard; cloaking device; clone; dilithium; Dominion War; drydock; Earth; Galaxy, USS; Hood, USS; Imzadi; Intrepid, USS; ion storm; Kolarin System; Kolarus Prime; Kolarus III; medical tricorder; memory engrams; Nova, USS; Opal Sea; positronic brain; positronic matrix; Praetor; Remans; Remus; Romulan ale; Romulan Neutral Zone; Romulans; Romulan Senate; Romulan Star Empire; Romulan Warbird; Romulus; Son'a; Soong, Noonien, Dr.; Scimitar; Scorpion-class; Shalaft's syndrome; Soong-type android; Spot; Starfleet Academy; Starfleet Command; Starfleet Intelligence; Stellar Cartography; thalaron radiation; Titan, USS; Valdore, IRW; Valdore-type; Valiant, USS; wedding traditions

External Links

• Star Trek: Nemesis at Wikipedia
• Star Trek Nemesis at the Internet Movie Database
• Linux and Star Trek - a discussion with the studio Digital Domain on using Linux to render special effects in Star Trek: Nemesis and other films, including anecdotes and some code used in the process

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