Star Trek movies

I've been thinking somewhat - both the Original series and the Next Generation have multiple movies made out of them, but the likes of Voyager, Deep Space Nine and Enterprise never had movies based around them. Why is this? I can somewhat understand with regards to Enterprise, because it never really got a proper run, but why not the other two?

Goldstein

Great as it is DS9 never garnered the appreciation or following it deserved and its average ratings would have translated to below average commercial performance at the box office. It would have almost certainly been a flop.

Even if the audience existed bear in mind TNG had finished 8 years before Nemesis was released and DS9 had had its swansong 3 years before. It would have been important to get any DS9 movie out either around the time Insurrection was made (1998) or soon after DS9 finished on the small screen while it was still relevant and in people's minds. Paramount decided (Rightly from a commercial standpoint) to go with Insurrection which still ended up making around $50 million despite the lukewarm reception it received. Even so, it was well down on First Contact's ~$100 million success.

Then along came Nemesis to put thew final nail in the Trek movies - I cannot believe that was 10 years ago!!! It (unsurprisingly) barely broke even and any further ventures would have been major possibly even foolish risks for Paramount. Nemesis effectively took DS9's last window of opportunity but that window was unlikely to have ever been open to a DS9 movie anyway - a crossover could have worked though.

A Voyager film was never on the cards and Enterprise didn't even come close to finishing out its TV run - which is surprising given the quality of season 4 but there were other wider forces and viewing shifts at work there too.

downwithpeace

TOS movies might have had some effect on TNG getting the green light and with the success of TNG the movies were a good way of prolonging TNG. Voyager did have movie rumors during and after its run but I've no idea where they came from, DS9 didn't even have rumors that I know of but both were never really movie material, simply put (In my view) it was down to the captains.

nyarlothothep

TOS and TNG had iconic characters. TOS was brought back due to fan demand irc. TNG because it had huge ratings and was in the right place at the right time. The TOS cast were finishing up so to keep the moneyball rolling they thought, hey TNG has similar iconic characters, it has mega ratings, why not make films set in the TNG universe, build it and they will come. DS9 didn't enjoy stellar (pardon the pun) ratings and Voy was an absolute and unmitigated disaster. Neither show had iconic characters (ok some might say Garak was iconic, but Data, Picard, Spock, Bones, Kirk, Worf et al are modern day mythological titans, maybe Garak deserves a place there too but I can't say the same for Sisko, Kira, Janeway, Tuvok, Paris and so on). Personally I'm glad they didn't make films for either show. DS9 was perfectly suited to being an arc show and Voy, well no. Also this is a nerdy analogy, but the TNG movies were similar to SEGA's entry into the console market, in that they had one very successful film (First Contact) surrounded by moderately successful releases. Generations was commercially successful but critically panned, Insurrection was again moderately succesful and Nemesis was the reverse Dreamcast. So in many ways the TNG series wasn't really suited in the same way to films as TOS, the public lost interest due to sh1tty films but also the fact that TNG was something of a 90s phenomenon. So slightly contradicting myself here but whilst Picard/Data etc are iconic they didn't have that same power of affect as Kirk, Spock etc it would seem, and I'd attribute this to the fact that TOS was made in the 60s which represented something of a primordial soup for modern culture, stuff from the 60s continues to reverberate in the present because it was a time with the just the right conjuncture of art, culture and technology. It's kind of like the temporal equivalent of the industrial revolution, the effects of the 19th century are still with us today.

filmbuffboy

nyarlothothep wrote: »

TOS and TNG had iconic characters. TOS was brought back due to fan demand irc. TNG because it had huge ratings and was in the right place at the right time. The TOS cast were finishing up so to keep the moneyball rolling they thought, hey TNG has similar iconic characters, it has mega ratings, why not make films set in the TNG universe, build it and they will come. DS9 didn't enjoy stellar (pardon the pun) ratings and Voy was an absolute and unmitigated disaster. Neither show had iconic characters (ok some might say Garak was iconic, but Data, Picard, Spock, Bones, Kirk, Worf et al are modern day mythological titans, maybe Garak deserves a place there too but I can't say the same for Sisko, Kira, Janeway, Tuvok, Paris and so on). Personally I'm glad they didn't make films for either show. DS9 was perfectly suited to being an arc show and Voy, well no. Also this is a nerdy analogy, but the TNG movies were similar to SEGA's entry into the console market, in that they had one very successful film (First Contact) surrounded by moderately successful releases. Generations was commercially successful but critically panned, Insurrection was again moderately succesful and Nemesis was the reverse Dreamcast. So in many ways the TNG series wasn't really suited in the same way to films as TOS, the public lost interest due to sh1tty films but also the fact that TNG was something of a 90s phenomenon. So slightly contradicting myself here but whilst Picard/Data etc are iconic they didn't have that same power of affect as Kirk, Spock etc it would seem, and I'd attribute this to the fact that TOS was made in the 60s which represented something of a primordial soup for modern culture, stuff from the 60s continues to reverberate in the present because it was a time with the just the right conjuncture of art, culture and technology. It's kind of like the temporal equivalent of the industrial revolution, the effects of the 19th century are still with us today.

Very well put.

Myrddin

TOS & TNG were left wide open for continuation though. They were both purely exploration based, & neither had an arc that was completed at the end.

DS9's long story arc was completed, the war was over. Sisko was with the profits, O'Brien headed back to Earth, Worf became an Ambassador & left, Odo rejoined his people etc etc. The crew all went their seperate ways & in effect, there was nothing left to continue. Sure there could have been some kind of reunion thing, but it would have never been right.

Voyager's arc also was wrapped up. The ship made it back to Earth basically. The whole premise of Voyager was is a ship that was lost & stranded. To continue this story when the ship made it home, would effectively have made it TNG with inferior characters. Like DS9, movie continuation would have been just wrong.

Enterprise, of all of the shows since TNG, this is the only one that had potential in a movie. Unfortunately, despite really picking up for seasons 3 & 4 and actually been damned good, the show was cancelled. This ruined any hopes for further character development, & as such, a movie would have been awful.

OldeCinemaSoz

Maybe because anything after TOS was generally rubbish and
the only reason TNG got in on the act was because the original
crew were either at death's door or too old to move their zimmer
frames?!?!

IvySlayer

Wasn't there talk of a crossover movie but then they made that heap of ****e Insurrection instead?

kitakyushu

For better or worse TNG and TOS were breakout shows that people outside of sci-fi were familiar with. Check parody shows down the years. They never do skits on DS9 VOY ENT because the man on the street wouldn't even know what he was looking at. I could ask my da "who was the captain of the Enterprise or Enterprise-D" and he could tell me even tho he's not a Trek watcher. By comparison no chance in hell he could tell me who was in charge of DS9 or Voyager. The shows really made no impact with the general public. As such you're not going to bother making a film about characters nobody knows or cares about when you already have a stock of ones that (quality permitting) the public will come to see time and again.

IvySlayer

You just can't watch an episode of DS9 without knowing the basic plots though.

With TNG it's fairly obvious Worf is an angry Klingon and Data is an android.

DS9.....not so much.

I mean obviously Sisko is a Starfleet officer who commands a former Cardassion station, orbiting Bajor. He's also the Emissary so he speaks and does stuff for these gods occasionaly. His first officer is an angry Bajoran who hates Cardassians. His science officer used to be 7 people. Yes he call her Old Man...........so anyway these shapeshifters are intent on taking over the universe......BIG SPACE BATTLES.....I don't know why they like Vic Fontaine either.........

Myrddin

OldeCinemaSoz wrote: »

Maybe because anything after TOS was generally rubbish and
the only reason TNG got in on the act was because the original
crew were either at death's door or too old to move their zimmer
frames?!?!

filmbuffboy

i do think Voyager would have been better served if it had been wrapped up on the Big screen rather than being given the two parter End Game.

GreenWolfe

I've always thought it was a pity the Star Trek:New Frontier book series couldn't have been adapted into a movie or TV series. The Great Bird of the Galaxy hatching out of the Thallonian homeworld would have made quite the opener. And I've always thought Calhoun would have been a different kind of Captain. Given the proper actor, a Xenexian not always succeeding to fit in with the ideals and mores of a Federation civilisation would have been interesting. Throw the Redeemers into the mix of trying to pull together the remnants of the empire and something of a movie / TV series is there/.

I wasn't around for TOS, so it just doesn't have the same impact for me as TNG does. After TNG, I watched the TOS movies (why, oh why did I buy the director's cut of ST:The Motion Picture???) but the TOS TV series never really resonated with me.

As for canon movie ideas, it's a pity there couldn't have been an ST:Enterprise movie. Wasn't the Earth-Romulan war around that period? A new spin on a peaceful grouping of planets going to war would have been interesting. Sadly, as noted before the TV series was killed off so a movie would never have been on the cards.

Myrddin

EarthlyPangaea wrote: »

(why, oh why did I buy the director's cut of ST:The Motion Picture???)

The 20 minute musical prelude? I have to say, TMP is a different kettle of fish to the rest. It aimed itself as more akin to something like 2001, as opposed to an adventure/action flick. I love it though, for obviously different reasons to the others.

I too wasn't around for TOS, so like yourself, it doesn't quite ring to me the way TNG does. But! I do love it for what it is, it's Star Trek goddamnit

downwithpeace

Problem with a Voyager movie is it probably would have been towards the end of the series and involving the long neutered Borg in some massive scope where no one can survive but again Captain Janeway gets her crew through it.
EarthlyPangaea has hit on good story idea, Enterprise did start the Earth Romulan connection in its final series and if it was to continue then that story arc would have continued but since it was canceled that was dead, looking back now one or two direct to dvd films or big budget if money was available could have made for good viewing.

SarahBM

Dont give out to me, but Insurrection was one of my favourite films. I thought Nemesis could have been soooo much better. and what about data? I felt like they left it open for another film, but never go round to it.
Was the federation still at war with the dominion when Voyager got back to Earth? if it was then a cross over film with TNG DS9 and Voyager would have been cool, but like other have said, there probably wasnt the commercial market for it. As a fan though I would have loved it.
I have to say I thought Seven of Nine was a very memorable character, though not on the scale of Data I suppose