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Star Trek: Insurrection (PG, 1998)

common sense media says

Like a long episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

parents & educators say
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What parents need to know

Parents need to know that two longtime characters in the Next Generation cast plunge into a playful sexual relationship under the aphrodisiac influence of an alien environment, and they cuddle in a hot tub with alcoholic beverages (by the next movie, Star Trek: Nemesis, they are married). No explicit sensuality or nudity, though. Ray-gun space battles, explosions, and perils include combatants taking fatal falls, and children and families fleeing from an ariel attack -- though rather than being killed the victims are beamed into captivity, making it more like "tag." There is some barely-PG-worthy profanity, and the villains are ugly aliens who undergo frequent plastic surgery. One uses a sort of facelift machine to kill a character.

Positive messages: Starfleet is notably racially, gender, and species-integrated (with the addition of Mr. Data, even machine-integrated), and there is a strong sense of friendship and loyalty. Customary themes of military-style unfailing duty to Starfleet are replaced with the Enterprise crew rebelling when they sense injustice being committed.
Violence: Spaceship explosions, ray-gun fire, hand-to-hand combat. Somewhat gruesome plastic-surgery procedures. One character killed in some sort of face-distorting machine.
Sex: Mostly flirty talk, as two longtime series characters, a former couple (as every fan knows) suddenly rekindle their sexual relationship, and are shown intimate (demurely) in a hot tub together.
Language: "Hell," "bastard," and "boobs."
Consumerism: Star Trek itself is a space armada of products, toys, video games -- even a Las Vegas attraction.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking: Drinking between an amorous couple. Brief mention of an addictive space narcotic that was a major plot point in one of the Star Trek TV shows.
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More on Star Trek: Insurrection

What to talk about

Talk to your kids
Families can talk about Picard's decision to defy Starfleet. Compare the attitudes in this movie with those in the original 1960s TV show, when Starfleet -- pretty much an idealized vision of the U.S. military -- was a righteous authority that simply never made any mistakes. You could also talk about the parallels this script makes with the real world. What historical events are similar? What other sci-fi books and movies draw parallels to real history?

What's the story?

What's the story?
Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) of the 24th-century starship Enterprise, receives an emergency summons to a remote, Eden-like planet to corral a member of his crew off on a mission. It's the intelligent android Data (Brent Spiner), gone beserk during some sort of secret surveillance of the planet's civilization, a small society of gentle, contented people who have renounced space travel and technology. Picard and the other crew members do some detective work and discover that behind Data's breakdown is an unethical deal between their commanders in Starfleet and some nasty local aliens to banish the innocent natives and exploit the planet's miraculous resources.

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 

STAR TREK: INSURRECTION seems uncommonly like a typical episode of the hit Star Trek: The Next Generation cast TV show, with the budget for special effects kicked up a notch, but otherwise a fairly routine escapade for the well-drawn, principled, and likeable space-traveling heroes. Early script drafts called for the famously bald Capt. Picard to find his hair growing back courtesy of alien rejuvenation, or Data getting killed. But these Very-Special-Episode gimmicks were ultimately excised, making Insurrection just an ordinary entry in an admittedly extraordinary and high-quality science-fiction franchise.

Even the big payoffs -- stalwart Picard revolts against an ignoble Starfleet and falls in love with an enticing alien -- carry little impact because much the same happened every week on the various TV shows (especially with Capt. Kirk at the helm). Conclusion: if your family loved the television program and considers the characters like old friends, enjoy the ride and the reunion, but don't expect the loftiness attained by earlier Trek theatrical features.

Movie themes & details

Movie Details
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Director: Jonathan Frakes
Cast: Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes, Michael Dorn
Genre: Science Fiction
Run time: 103 minutes
Theatrical release: December 12, 1998
DVD release: June 7, 2005
MPAA Rating: PG
MPAA explanation: sci-fi action violence, mild language and sensuality.
This review was written by Charles Cassady Jr.
 
 

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Most useful reviews by all members

cashed12
parent of 12 , and 14 , 16 year old
11
 
A Very Good Star Trek Adventure...
Heroes call for fans,Star trek fans that is!,Star Trek:Insurrection is the next chapter in the PG-rated Star Trek Movies
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helped me decide (5) | had useful details (4) | read my mind (5)
Tsion
parent of 15 year old
11
 
A Very Good Star Trek Adventure...
This movie is tons of fun, and I highly recommend it to any fans of Star Trek. From a person who has seen, now, every Star Trek film but one, I can say that this is one of the best. I am partial to the old Spock/Kirk crew as opposed to Next Generation crew, and this one feels much more like a Kirk/Spock adventure than the good, but threatening, FIRST CONTACT. The story is average Star Trek fare: Picard and his crew must save a utopian planet from a disastrous union between the Federation and a violent race bent on vengeance. There really isn't anything too bad in this PG adventure. Some people are shot, and one man burns alive (off-screen) but none of it's graphic. There is some mild, harmless sexual innuendo between Riker and Deanna, and later they are shown together in a bathtub (no nudity at all). There is also one "d**n" and three "h*ll"s.
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was this review useful?
helped me decide (6) | had useful details (3) | read my mind (4)

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