The Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion: Revised Edition

by Larry Nemecek

  The weary Ba’ku have just made it into the foothills. Once again, the skies fill with Son’a scout ships and drones. Several of the Ba’ku, despite the mineral deposits, are transported away. Worf surmises that isolinear tags are being dispatched by the drones. The landing party starts firing at the drones. Yet more Ba’ku are transported away, but some manage to take refuge in a cave. The Son’a now target the cave, hoping to force them out. It is too dangerous to stay. The landing party uses phasers to create an exit at the rear of the cave and herd the Ba’ku out. Artim, having lost his pet, turns back. Anij notices and follows him. The captain, not wishing to leave either of them, goes back. The boy manages to catch up with the others; however a blast brings down the new opening, trapping Picard and Anij, and severely injures the Ba’ku woman.

  Frantically, the remainder of the landing party dig to free their captain. Picard is comforting Anij. He realizes how much this woman with her quiet dignity and her extraordinary ways has come to mean to him. He begs her to stay in the moment, and without realizing it the captain is able to tap into the time-slowing technique of the Ba’ku. He gives Anij what she needs to survive until the doctor reaches them. Picard picks up Anij, and the landing party heads out to catch up with the rest of the Ba’ku. The Son’a are now on the surface firing at the Ba’ku and the crew. They manage to stun several of the Son’a but still more Ba’ku are transported off the surface. As the Starfleet officers struggle to protect their charges, more are transported, including Anij and the captain.

  In a cargo hold aboard the Son’a ship, Admiral Dougherty orders Picard to have his officers surrender. Ru’afo, enraged, reports that the Enterprise damaged two of his ships. Picard surmises that the admiral approved the attack and then questions why the Son’a would want to do all this to the Ba’ku, their own people. Picard points out to the admiral that he has entangled Starfleet in a civil war. Anij surmises that these are their young people who left their world. She tries to reach out to them. Ru’afo is steadfast and orders the harvesting of the planet’s rings, regardless of the fact that every living thing on the planet will be killed. Dougherty tries to convince Ru’afo to stop. The Son’a’s answer is to kill the admiral. Ru’afo then orders Picard moved. Gal’na removes the captain from the cargo bay. Picard appeals to Gal’na. He is clearly shaken and, remembering the person he was—a Ba’ku called Gallatin—he agrees to help.

  Data is once again in a shuttle firing on the Son’a ship. The Son’a manage to defend themselves and deploy the injector assembly. An officer reports there is no change in the readings. Ru’afo realizes that the Enterprise crew has beamed them onto the holoship. On board the Son’a ship, the captain, Gal’na, and Worf are trying to keep control of the vessel and shut down the injector ship. Suddenly the countdown resumes. They realize that someone is aboard the injector and has restarted the countdown. Picard is beamed to the ship so he can manually shut it down. Aboard the injector, Ru’afo is firing at the captain. Picard, knowing he has only a few seconds, dodges phaser fire and manages to overload the injector. As the explosion rips throughout the vessel, engulfing Ru’afo, Picard is beamed out.

  The Enterprise has returned, and some adroit phaser fire has convinced the Son’a to surrender. Riker reports that the Federation Council is reconsidering their approval. The Ba’ku are returned to their world.

  Resolute, the Enterprise crew are determined to preserve the Ba’ku’s way of life The Ba’ku village, located at Lake Sherwood, was the largest outdoor set ever planned for a Star Trek movie. The spring of 1998 would bring record-setting rainfall. “Marty Hornstein [the line producer] said it’s the only time in his career that he’s had to both irrigate and drain a location at the same time,” Zimmerman observed. “Construction didn’t make the buildings waterproof,” added set decorator John Dwyer. “We had water damage and then when plastic was put over the roofs to keep the rain out, the sets—that were made from a construction foam—now warped from heat when the sun came out!”

  The revamp of several Star Trek television sets—from Deep Space Nine and Voyager—allowed for flexibility in the shooting schedule. Hornstein scrambled to keep cameras rolling through nearly thirty changes in the shooting schedule. Voyager’s transporter and sickbay sets were repainted and re-dressed. Captain Janeway’s quarters were re-dressed for Picard’s. Voyager’s ready room became Troi’s office, and its briefing room became Riker’s quarters. The entry to Voyager’s engineering set morphed into the Enterprise library. Voyager’s shuttlecraft cockpit—with a change of graphics—became Data’s scoutship. The DS9 runabout interior was transformed into an Enterprise shuttlecraft.

  For the first time ever in a Trek feature, two entirely new cultures had to be realized. Zimmerman had suggested that the Ba’ku written characters be based on a cuneiform style, the Son’a on a hexagonal. Trek scenic artist Alan Kobayashi, Geoffrey Mandel, and longtime modelbuilder Greg Jein tackled the huge load of graphics, along with Denise Okuda on video and scenic artists Doug Drexler and Anthony Frederickson.

  Filming wrapped on July 1 in Paramount’s B tank, the same floodable parking lot that stood in for San Francisco Bay on Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Here would be shot the needed close-ups of Data, Picard, and Anij. “The Sierra mountain lake was a little cold,” Dwyer noted. “It’s all spring-fed, probably about forty degrees!” For Data’s brief underwater scene, his prop tricorder was specially encased in watertight plastic.

  Santa Barbara Studios’ task was to create all the CG models of not only all the new ships but the Enterprise-E as well. Meanwhile, Blue Sky/ VIFX was busy with their effects load: simple phasers, shield shots, the mountainside drone fights, the tagged Ba’ku beam-outs, the cloaked isolation suits, and alien life-forms.

  Son’a Officer Number 1 was Bruce French, already known for Sabin Genestra (“The Drumhead”/195) and the Ocampa doctor (“Caretaker” VGR). The alumni award has to go to Joseph Ruskin, whose small yet historic appearance here as Son’a Officer Number 3 connects him to the five incarnations of Star Trek. He appeared as Galt (“Gamesters of Triskelion” TOS), a Cardassian informant (“Improbable Cause” DS9), the Klingon Tumek (“Looking for par’mach in All the Wrong Places …” DS9), and a Vulcan master (“Gravity” VGR).

  Picard is the only one who can stop Ru’afo.

  Sharp-eyed fans may note some changes on the Enterprise bridge. A standard viewscreen is back. Two small L-shaped consoles seen at Riker’s and Troi’s chairs in First Contact are gone. The bridge stations in First Contact did not have the headers stating their functions; here they are labeled Science I, Environment, Engineering I going aftward to starboard, while portside are Engineering II, Mission Ops, and Science II. The stand-up stations flanking the captain’s chair are Tactical I (starboard) and Tactical II (port).

  At Patrick Stewart’s request the captain’s yacht was named in honor of Jacques Cousteau. The craft’s dedication plaque motto was a Cousteau quote: “The future is in the hands of those who explore … and from all the beauty they discover while crossing perpetually receding frontiers, they develop for nature and for humankind an infinite love.” In engineering, there was a major redesign of the “pool table.” It lost its rectangular shape and is now a “coffin shape”—the shape preferred by Matt Jefferies, art director on Star Trek.

  Dougherty’s plan to relocate the unwitting Ba’ku with a holoship echoes Nikolai Rozhenko’s plan for the Boraalans (“Homeward”/265). As they worked on the story, Piller and Berman referred to the ploy as the “Sorvino switch.” The use of a duck blind to observe other cultures was first seen on “Who Watches the Watchers?” As in First Contact, explaining Worf’s appearance away from DS9 had to be dealt with. Ultimately, Berman thought any explanation might prove too confusing for nonviewers and it was avoided. Some of the story points of the feature did carry over to Deep Space Nine. The Son’a are mentioned in “Penumbra.” After failing in Insurrection, they have become allies of the Dominion and now manufacture ketracel-white.

&
nbsp; Time and pacing killed scenes featuring two of DS9’s Ferengi. Lost in the shortened library scene was Max Grodenchik (Rom), as a Trill ensign. The final scene of the feature would have Quark (Armin Shimerman) trying to erect timeshare resorts on Ba’ku. In a nod to continuity, Picard’s order to have him removed and returned to DS9 was met with a tired “Must we, sir?” from Worf.

  Insurrection premiered on December 11, later than either of its TNG predecessors. While the film was off from First Contact’s record pace at the box office, it drew just as many positive reviews, ensuring that there would be at least one more feature.

  STAR TREK NEMESIS

  “At first, because Insurrection did not do as well as the previous film, there was a little bit of pause,” producer Rick Berman recalled. “I had no idea how long the gap was going to be. Some of the actors felt the two-year turnarounds were a little short and that it might be fun to go with a three-year gap. Then came the complications of schedules, and making deals … and all of a sudden the three years became four.”

  While in an acclaimed Broadway revival as John Adams in the musical 1776, Brent Spiner was introduced through a mutual friend to a screenwriter whose name was about to burst on the Hollywood scene: John Logan. Some of his credits are Any Given Sunday, RKO 281, and Gladiator—which garnered an Oscar nomination. Logan is also a Star Trek fan: “My mom still has photos of me as a kid, trick-or-treating as Captain Kirk.”

  Logan and Spiner initially pitched two stories that Berman didn’t go for. “Because of John’s wonderful writing, and because of his enthusiasm for the project,” the producer recalled, “I suggested John, Brent, and I try to come up with something else.”

  They went with a storyline that used Logan’s favorites. “I wanted the Enterprise to slam into another ship, I wanted them to actually collide,” the writer recalled. “I wanted the Riker-Troi wedding to be the opening of the movie, and I want a villain who is young, male, sexy and has a very close relationship to Picard. And most importantly, I want Romulus and I want Remus,” Logan declared. “The Romulans are smarter. They’re crafty. They’re political.” One key event would drive the plot of this movie, pushed by Spiner—Data’s death. “Brent was saying, ‘You know, we don’t want to do just another movie, we want something really special—and what could be more special than actually killing off one of the most beloved characters?’” Logan recalled. “I thought about that a lot, and said, ‘Okay—if it could be done with respect and with gravity.’”

  Berman took the idea in stride. “Well, we killed Kirk off, we’ve killed a lot of people off—and as we know from Star Trek II and III, people can get killed off and come back!” He laughed, recalling Spock’s death and resurrection. “Killing off Data was a bold idea, but I also thought it was interesting in that we get to know another character, B-4, who is a predecessor of Data’s but who looks just like Data and is played by Brent!

  Only the Enterprise stands before the massive Reman warbird Scimitar.

  “The stakes are not Earth, the stakes are not the destruction of the universe,” he noted. “Kirk in Star Trek II with Khan, and Picard in First Contact with the Borg queen, faced a villain with whom they had a personal connection.” Thus Shinzon, a clone from a failed covert Romulan project, was created.

  Family would also be a key theme; however, for this feature it would be family in transition. Riker and Troi are married and leaving to serve on another starship. Dr. Crusher is going to Starfleet Medical. Data discovers another Soong android.

  “I got a first draft in a time frame that was frightening,” Berman added. “John just needs to write—it’s the thing that gives him most pleasure.” For one thing, he noted, this was the first time in four TNG films where the writer involved was focused solely on the script in question, without the distraction of a full-time job.

  Aside from the psychological thrust and parry between Picard and his clone, the writer was pleased to address Patrick Stewart’s concern that the captain tends to brood on the big screen. “Picard is a man who feels things deeply and responds to the world deeply,” Logan said, “and he is not at all a superficial character. So anything that is happening, he’s going to feel deeply. He just doesn’t have to get bummed out about it.”

  Subsequent drafts eventually cut down the Romulan moments, as well as a much larger space battle between fleets. “When choices had to be made, Rick would always call and say, ‘Do you want more special effects at the end, or do you want this scene?’ I would always say, ‘I want more special effects!’” Spiner, Logan revealed, originated the idea of flying a Reman fighter down corridors and out a window.

  Cameos, ever a fan favorite, were a challenge for the writers to work in. Whoopi Goldberg’s Guinan appeared at the wedding reception. Originally, La Forge’s date was going to be Dr. Leah Brahms (“Booby Trap”/154, “Galaxy’s Child”/190), until actress Susan Gibney had a conflict. Unfortunately, Wil Wheaton’s appearance as Wesley Crusher was cut from the film. Logan got a kick including Star Trek: Voyager’s Kathryn Janeway, and promoting her to admiral. A major regret was missing out on a cameo for Leonard Nimoy’s Ambassador Spock. “Once we had a political coup in the very first scene of the movie, there was absolutely no reason or opportunity for our people to talk to anyone on Romulus, other than Shinzon and his people,” Logan noted.

  Ending the wedding with Data’s song was Spiner’s idea. The actor quickly endorsed Logan’s choice, “Blue Skies.”

  “The studio felt very strongly that since we had gone outside the Star Trek family for a writer, it might be also fun to go outside for a director,” Berman recalled, and he brought up several directors for the execs to consider before they introduced him to Stuart Baird. The director was mindful of the challenge. “I knew I was walking into a family and into a franchise,” Baird noted. “That has been difficult, insofar as you want to do x, y, and z but you are really working within an established aesthetic, and you have to respect that. But presumably they want me to put in my own input—otherwise, lots of other people could do it. I’ve certainly pushed the envelope in certain areas.”

  Baird brought in director of photography Jeff Kimball to help get the “darker, sinister feel” he wanted. His first assistant director was David Sardi and the editor was David Puett. Friend and costume designer Bob Ringwood was also part of the Nemesis crew. Ringwood had worked on the two Alien sequels and all four of the Batman movies. Feature and series veteran Robert Blackman would handle the Starfleet costumes, including Troi’s wedding dress, and Ringwood would handle the “alien” costumes. Baird suggested that the costume designer use the iridescent sheen of oil on water to reflect the Remans’ dark environment. Ringwood expanded on that, adding insect elements to Shinzon’s costume.

  Herman Zimmerman, back for his sixth Trek feature as production designer, used the interlocking thoraxlike panels in a Reman breastplate as inspiration for the X-shaped crossbraces throughout the Scimitar. “And then that form went back to the costumer,” Zimmerman noted, “for the design of the belt buckles and shoulder ornaments.”

  The Scimitar bridge and its three immense levels have visual clues of the ship weapon with its folding legs. The set floor space was only slightly bigger than that of the Enterprise bridge, but the addition of a ten-degree outward tilt to the walls made it look enormous. The Scimitar observation lounge echoed that scale, with its dome and a steeped stairwell. Zimmerman’s favorite set was the regal Romulan Senate chamber. “It’s the most architecturally complete set—we did marble columns, gold-sheathed capitals and bases for the columns; we did travertine blocks for the walls, with pattern glass in the windows.”

  Veteran makeup designer Michael Westmore used the script’s imagery of Nosferatu for the Remans’ makeup design. He carried the look through in a series of applications for the actors’ faces and added contact lenses with dilated pupils. The Reman look was completed with long fingernails, and teeth that were quite fanglike. The Kolarans’ makeup included individually painted shades fro
m green to brown. As a practical matter, Westmore had safety helmets built into the prosthetic headpiece, and, as a precaution considering all the stunt work, added glasses worn as protection against the dust.

  Scattered across a desert of Kolarus III are pieces of a Soong android.

  Outnumbered and outgunned, the captain considers options for their escape.

  The producers now had to find a young, charismatic actor for Shinzon, someone who could hold his own with the Shakespearean-trained Patrick Stewart while also resembling him. “The father/son aspect of it doesn’t make any sense if they look similar in age,” Baird noted. From hundreds of tapes and six final screen tests, they chose relative newcomer Tom Hardy, of Band of Brothers and Black Hawk Down. The pivotal role of the Reman viceroy went to the very skilled actor Ron Perlman, known for his role as the leonine Vincent of television’s Beauty and the Beast.

  STAR TREK NEMESIS

  * * *

  Stardate: 56844.9 Code: ST:N

  Opened December 13, 2002

  Directed by Stuart Baird

  Story by John Logan, Rick Berman & Brent Spiner

  Screenplay by John Logan

  CAST

  Capt. Jean-Luc Picard: Patrick Stewart